Gone Blonde...

Not me! Our office has decided to go blonde. We finally decided on a color to paint it. Previously it had been blessed with some rather interesting green & white striped wallpaper to about waist-high level. We knew right away that we wouldn't be wading in that sea of uglyness for long, but being novice home decorators it has taken us awhile to agree on a new color. I wanted something bold, since the rest of the downstairs is beige, with only the dining room being a olivey-sagey green color. Not too exciting. But, our office is small and we didn't want it to feel even smaller by painting it a dark color. So Kev agreed that we could paint the powder room downstairs RED (Chianti, to be exact... how appropriate, eh?) and we chose Blonde for the office. It's not quite as bright as it appears in this photo... It's much more dirty blonde. I'll have to wait until the sun reappears before I'll be able to get any more accurate photos. Isn't it lovely?

P.S. Pretend that you don't notice that my husband not only painted the walls, but also a bit of the outlet itself. Sloppy work, I tell ya... ;-)

The aftermath...

We had a lovely first married Christmas in our new home. I couldn't have asked for more. My hubby is so thoughtful, sometimes I feel undeserving. I'm quite domestically challenged. Santa (aka: my inlaws) got us a grill for xmas, so Kev and I decided to do Christmas dinner for just the two of us. It was nice to have some quiet alone time after the bustle of the holidays. Sometimes it's hard trying to merge two familes... you want to spend time with each family, which made our holidays rather stressful when we were dating. Always a rush. I think we've got things ironed out. This year was perfect. We spent Christmas Eve afternoon Kev's parents, the evening with his side of the family, Christmas brunch at my parents, and then headed home for our romantic solo dinner. Kev grilled some filets, and we had asparagus cooked with soy sauce, garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes. So delish. Oh, and mashed potatoes. And some wine from our favorite local winery. Perfection...

Unrelated to Christmas, Kev got me these flowers last week so I was just practicing on them. It's going to be quite an adjustment with my new camera. I feel like I'm starting all over again!


The survival of my favorite tree in our backyard... I think it's a Japanese Maple tree. Pretty exotic, don't you think?

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday!

Mushroom & Sherry Soup

Kev made this soup for the second time tonight and it is delicious. It's perfect for a cold, blah, winter day like today. Since my mother in law requested that we share the recipe, I thought I'd post it here so that everyone can enjoy it's rich, creamy yummyness. 

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 onions, sliced

1lb mixed white and chestnut mushrooms, sliced (Kev likes to get creative with the mushrooms... last time we used white, portabella, and porcini. This time we used white, portabella, cremini, and oyster mushrooms. 

3 1/2 oz. fresh cepes or porcini mushrooms, sliced

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

generous 2 cups vegetable stock 

salt and pepper

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp sherry

1/2 cup sour cream

Melt the butter in a large pan over low heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring. Add the chopped parsley, pour in the stock, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Put the flour into a bowl, mix in enough milk to make a smooth paste, then stir it into the soup. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining milk and the sherry and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream.

Return the pan to the heat and warm gently. Remove from the heat and ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with sour cream and chopped fresh parsley, and serve the soup with crusty rolls.

The end.

One of Those Days...

Ever have one of those mornings when you think it would be in everyone's best interest if you just crawl right back into bed? That's my today...

10 months...

This morning I woke to kisses on the cheek and the sound of Kev setting breakfast in bed on my nightstand. All my favorite things... pancakes, raspberries, orange juice... and pumpkin spice coffee waiting downstairs for me. Confirmation, yet again, that 10 months ago today I made the best decision of my life. Strange how the past 10 months seems to have flown by, but at the same time it feels like we've been married forever. I can't imagine my life without this man.
And another thing that I awoke to this morning...
SNOW! Our first real snow of the year. It wasn't even enough to cover the grass or stick on the roads, but SNOW! Bah. To me, the magic of snow ended when snow days were no longer a possibility. It's not completely terrible on a day when we can light a fire and snuggle on the coach watching movies, but commuting in snow is plain dreadful. Each and every winter I wonder why we don't move someplace warm, someplace where we'd never have to worry about 2.5 hour commutes in the snow, salt, snow tires, shovels, plows, black ice, and bone chilling temperatures. And each and every year, here we are again...



The one thing that I do enjoy about the snow is seeing Chloe in it. Here is the big debut of Chloe's pepto pink sweater...

JPG

JPG is my new favorite photography magazine. Very cool. I've only received my second issue, so I can't give a very thorough review just yet. But from what I've seen so far, I'd definitely recommend it. It's outside the box kind of photography. Unconventional. Inspiring. I've checked out a couple other photography mags, but many of them seem filled with advertisements more than substance. And it makes for a pretty coffee table magazine...