Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

As always, Milo and Daisy were huge helps during the powder room project; please sense the sarcasm if you can't already. Milo made sure the old mirror wasn't going anywhere (he is obsessed with his own image!) and Daisy helped me determine if the new mirror was going to work in the space. Here they are playing the "I'll pounce first and then retreat and then you pounce and then we'll repeat 1,000 times" game while we were hard at work.

Making our House a Home: Powder Room Update

Our house was very much move in ready, something we were definitely looking for with our longer work hours and out of town schedules. That being said, we plan to take on several small projects to make our new house feel more like our home. The first being an update in the main floor powder room. The former owners chose great wall colors for the most part and we really don't plan to change much; with the exception of this room. I don't know what they were thinking with the army /puke green, but it had to go. It made the space feel small and dark, and being a room that 99% of our guests use, this turned into a prime candidate for our first re-do.

I wanted something bright, airy and welcoming and Sherwin Williams' "Friendly Yellow" definitely fit the bill. (Thanks kid brother for the extended family discount card!!) We wound up using a tinted primer and then having to use two top coats as well as painting the ceiling and trim ... that army green was really trying to hang on! I had picked out new art decor and storage a few weekends prior and we chose a new light fixture and faucet while the first coat of paint was drying. I am definitely in love with Lowe's, IKEA and Home Goods ... not just because of the pricing, but the selection makes each store a bit of a one-stop shop.

Vanity, light fixtures and faucet before

Vanity, light fixtures and faucet after

Wall Color / Artwork before

Wall Color / Artwork after

Back wall before

Back wall after

Click on to enlarge any of the pictures. Apologies for the picture quality, it's hard to get good shots in a small space and lighting was a challenge ... hopefully each of you can see the room in person sometime soon : )

Spilling the beans ... finally ...

Last year three of my closest girlfriends and myself got hitched. Between the bridal showers, bachelorette parties and weddings themselves, we covered Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati, Nashville, Cabo San Lucas and Punta Cana ... and had a wonderful time. We determined toward the end of "Wedding Extravaganza 2009" that we needed to find a way to reconnect as a group at least yearly for a few days. I have been pushing for this for a while but life and hectic schedules always seemed to get in the way. Cue the magazine Real Simple and their feature on a group of six ladies that did just that on an annual basis.
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The premise is simple ... the group agrees on a long weekend and a budget. Then one person, on a rotating basis, is in charge of all major travel plans and choosing the location. So, you are only responsible for details and planning one out of every six years. On your "off" years you are only asked to mail a check and agree to a weekend. The "secret location" is revealed a few weeks ahead of time with flight itineraries and vital information.

We all agreed this was a great idea and the wheels started turning. I volunteered to take on the role of planner for our inaugural trip and hounded the group for dates around March. We decided our trips will be a Friday through Monday and settled (after many, many, many e-mails) on Sept 17 - 20. The budget was set at and was to include airfare, lodging and any major excursions. And, most importantly, the location was to be kept a secret until about 3 weeks before departure.

If you know me, you know I love the beach ... everyone knows I can and am content to go on vacation and lay in the sun most of the day, clean up and hit the town in the evening. But, that's not for everyone ... and as I'm getting older I'm finding that the sun isn't as kind me as it used to be ... and my ADD kicks in. And, I was dead set on proving this group of friends wrong - I wanted to show that I could plan a non-beach vacation. I mulled several options ... New York ... Austin ... Savannah ... LA ... in the end I decided on San Francisco.

We knew with five girls we'd need at least 2 hotel rooms, or even better, a house or condo. In my mass internet searching I found HomeAway, a vacation rental site that is awesome. After weeks of searching and what felt like 100 e-mails to different owners, I found this property in the heart of San Fran and fell in love; it didn't hurt that the price was definitely right and could easily house six gals.
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Through a miracle of mass proportions I was able to find flight times from four different cities that land on Friday and depart on Monday within an hour of each other. I have general ideas of what the group may want to do over the weekend, but only planned one major outing and the city is our oyster for the rest of the trip.

Our one major excursion is a trip to Napa Valley, we have a limo reserved for the day and are planning to explore the Silverado Trail. We have lunch reservations at Cook in St Helena and plans to officially tour one winery, while casually exploring (and tasting) the rest of the day.

So, after months of planning, internet searching and forcing myself to keep quiet around five of my best friends, I can spill the beans ... The best news is that due to cooperative flight pricing and a deal on the lodging, we have about $500 of group funds that will go toward wine tours, dinners, local transportation, etc.
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** If you've been to San Fran and have any restaurant or outing ideas you'd like to pass along, please share. **

What's Cookin': Chicken Salad

My friend Whitney's Dad, John Browning, makes the BEST chicken salad I've ever tasted, and I love chicken salad. He makes the kind with nuts and grapes and general homemade goodness. He also makes a killer homemade pimento cheese ... and her Mom makes homemade bread to die for. Anytime I visit them in Greenville, KY I have the time of my life ... and walk away 10 pounds heavier to prove it.

There are certain recipes that just don't taste the same if you try to replicate on your own, this is one of those, another is my grandmother's potato salad; she's passed, but my uncle makes a pretty dang close version for me each time I'm in Lexington. In those cases I prefer to enjoy the "original" as a rare treat, but I made an exception as I was hosting a baby shower last November for my step-sister and was pretty sure chicken salad croissants were a requirement. So, I e-mailed Johnny for the recipe; in his response he offered to make it for me as he'd likely be in town to see his son coach the LCA football team to the state championship that same weekend. I mean, what a sweetheart!

I still need to upload pictures from that baby shower as I have a few other recipes to share, but recently made chicken salad croissants, summer salad and berry shortcake for a ladies lunch. I'm not kidding that everyone that has tasted this recipe comments it's the best they've ever had ... and it's soooo easy.

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John Browning's Chicken Salad:

• Boil 3 - 4 large chicken breasts with a stick of celery or two, letting the chicken cool before chopping.
• Chop the chicken into large pieces and pulse in a food processor, don't let it get too fine, leave it chunky.
• Use light mayo and mix it to your liking with quartered seedless red grapes, finely diced celery and chopped pecans.
• The secret ingredient is sugar. Add a few teaspoons to taste.
• Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
• Best if served within 1-2 days, but let sit for a few hours or overnight before assembling sandwiches.

Get your shop on

It's a win-win, really, ... you can help out Leukemia and Lymphoma survivors like me and add a few new pieces to your closet while saving some dough next weekend ... click here to print a 30% off coupon good for use at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy stores from August 26 to 29. Five percent of what you spend will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Happy Shopping!

Wordless Wednesday

What's Cookin': Strawberry Cake

I decided to veer from the traditional red velvet cake I usually make for my Dad on Father's day. This year the crew was once again coming to Cincinnati for the day and I was recreating a steakhouse meal - marinated flank steak, creamed spinach and roasted sweet potatoes - and thought a lighter dessert would be more appropriate. I recently started reading Annie's Eats and love, love, love her recipes. I knew I could count on her for this recipe and she delivered - the cake was delicious!

And, on a related side note. I use these annual Father's Day gatherings to entice my Dad and brother to try new dishes. This year was creamed spinach and they obliged me by trying bites, but I can't say that I converted them ... the ladies and Mike all loved it though! Recipe to follow in a future post.

Don't waste a breath ...

... on the silly things in life ...

For reasons that aren't even worth recapping I had a rough morning yesterday related to work. Although I was taking a vacation day, a series of e-mails came through on my blackberry that made for a sour morning.

I tried to shrugged off the ordeal and went about enjoying my morning, got a run in, watered plants, caught up on e-mail and then decided to check out a few videos that had been making the rounds on Facebook. This one had me in hysterical tears. And my goodness did it put the stupid work situation in perspective. There are sooooooo many more important things in life I can and should focus my energy toward.

If you haven't already seen this, make sure you have the tissues handy ...

Soundtracks: Live At The Troubadour

Mike and I have really come to love CBS Sunday Morning. It's just the perfect way to start a Sunday; with a big ol' cup 'o' coffee, the paper and a few cuddly kittens. Some time ago they featured a review and story on a newly released CD from James Taylor and Carole King, Live at the Troubadour. I put it on my mental list to check out, but well, my mental list isn't quite as sharp as it used to be, so it was lost almost immediately.

Fast forward to this past weekend when I caught a portion of the concert broadcast on PBS and then saw the CD/DVD on sale at Target the next afternoon. It was fate. I have since not listened to anything else in my car and have reverted back to a 13-year-old playing tracks on repeat. The entire CD is fantastic, the way they collaborate on certain tunes and let each other shine on others; it's hard to pick favorites, but if you held a gun to my head, I'd go with #8, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and #14, Up on the Roof.

Happy listening!

Wordless Wednesday

Marriage Moments: Annual Boys Trip

Mike and his college buddies take a trip each year, the goal being to visit each of the Major League Baseball parks. For my ski trip peeps, it's kind like that, complete with a yearly t-shirt. They even have a web-site and twitter feed. The trip will be in it's 10th year next summer and although participation ebbs and flows with marriages, kids and busy lives, they always have a great time and are always "over-served" in the cities they visit.

Baseball Bender IX was held this past weekend in Seattle. Mike and I realized a long time ago that trying to have meaningful conversations while on a trip without each other is hard and we don't sweat it if we aren't able to have long chats while away with friends. We generally talk before the other person leaves, when they arrive and then as we can the rest of the time. Text messages and voicemails prevail for the most part. And, we both learned a long time ago that our fingers get loose as the alcohol flows ...

Voicemail message from Mike very early Sunday morning:

"Hey ..."

"Yeah, just wanted to let you know we're at a bar in Seattle. I guess you already knew about the Seattle part ,, and you probably guessed the bar part."

"Well, I've played Lionel Richie's 'Dancing on the Ceiling' about 3 times now and everyone here loves it!"

"So ,, yeah ,, I'm basically the most popular person in here right now ..."

I just chuckled to myself, hoping the other patrons were having "as much fun" as he was ... don't get me wrong, I love some 80s tunes, but you'd have to be in a special mindset to truly enjoy that song on repeat.

May Days

May is always an exciting month around the Kelly household; this year I celebrated 4 years in remission on the 15th, Mike and I celebrated one year of marriage on the 23rd and I turned 31 on the 28th. For the first time in 3 years we didn't have a destination wedding or planned vacation coming up, so we took matters into our own hands and went to Naples, FL to celebrate all of the above.

We had both vacationed in Florida on several occasions, but never Naples, and chose our destination by process of elimination based on hotel deals and flight times. We loved everything about the trip ... direct flights from Cincinnati to Fort Myers made travel quick, a rental car allowed us to explore and get around as we pleased, our hotel was awesome and we loved, loved, loved the area. And, did I mention that my birthday present from Mike was a spa morning including a massage and facial?

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Views from our room and out and about on the property:

The heart of downtown Naples stretches about 10 city blocks in total and is filled with fantastic cafes and shopping. Our hotel was within walking distance and we loved stopping for breakfasts, quick snacks and desserts:

The food was by far one of the highlights of our trip, and to boot we found a hole-in-the-wall-namesake:

Day trip to Marco Island, about 20 miles from Naples and simply beautiful:

Come on-a my blog

Welcome, welcome ... so glad you found me!

I am hopeful that my five readers from Jenny from the Block are able to find their way to my new site. I needed a change of pace and a fresh start in the blogging world. Aside from my old blog being linked to a gmail account I rarely use, I just wanted to start over. I plan to be more diligent with this site by creating a few regular installments around cooking, life in general and my random musings.