Birthday perfection

Don't you just love when you find the perfect gift for someone? I do. Especially when it's a super awesome Craigslist find that saves you a whole lot of money! The hubby's birthday is coming up and he has been wanting to set up a home gym ever since we moved in together years ago. Living in apartments made that wish of his a little difficult but boy did he try anyway. We had a weight bench shoved in our tiny storage unit, free weights in the pantry, and an ab lounge in the living room that sometimes doubled as extra seating for guests! Well now that we have a house with a two-car garage there is plenty of space for his dream, and being the awesome wife I am I wanted to add to his collection. A quick search on Craigslist turned up the monster you see below. This particular piece of equipment retails for around $800, but someone who was making a short-notice move across the country was willing to part with it for $300. Score! This system does almost any workout possible. Bench press, leg extensions, curls, lat pull-downs, squats...you name it. I'm so excited to see the look on his face when he comes home after work the day of his birthday and this is all set up. I'm also excited because just as I love finding the perfect gifts, I also love finding gifts that I can put to use too!

Tasty Tuesday-Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip

I lurve me some spinach dip. It goes great with tortilla chips, pita points, and regular ol' bread. This particular recipe is perfectly creamy and calls for lots of cheese, which is my favorite ingredient of all time. Make this dip when you have a crowd over and I guarantee you won't have any left over afterward.

You'll need:

1 14oz. can artichoke hearts-drained

1/3 cup grated romano cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 10oz. package frozen chopped spinach-thawed and drained

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 sour cream

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place artichoke hearts, romano cheese, parmesan cheese and garlic in a blender. Pulse until chopped then set aside. In a medium bowl mix together spinach, heavy cream, sour cream and mozzarella cheese. Stir in artichoke mixture and then spoon into baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Meet Myles!

The hubs and I just recently picked up our first foster dog. He is a one and a half year old boxer/boston terrier mix who is just absolutely full of energy! So far he is getting along great with our other dogs although he does like to play a little rough which takes some getting used to. He's already housetrained and in the short time we've had him he has already mastered "sit," so he seems to be a fast learner. I'm hoping he will find a forever home soon as the more time I spend with him the more I feel myself becoming attached. I refuse to be a foster failure on the first dog! Here is a picture of him:

His lips often get caught on his teeth and reveal his little underbite. It cracks me up! We're working on leash training right now as well as more basic commands like "come" and "stay." I'll keep you all updated on his progress!

I heart glass tile

I love the look of glass tile. I love it in kitchens, bathrooms, anywhere. I've been googling it lately to get some inspiration for when we are finally able to do our kitchen reno and I've collected quite a few photos in the process. Since I love glass tile, and I like sharing things I love here on my blog, get ready to feast your eyes on some serious tile porn.

I love the soothing color of this tile. That black stripe gives it a nice polished look.

I want this tile for our bathroom. The shades of blue would be perfect for our coastal-inspired space!

The glass tile really works great to enhance the beauty of the slate used here in this kitchen.

Gotta love traditional subway tile!

This mosaic tile is beautiful. I love the abstract look of it.

I'm kinda diggin' this pebble look. It really adds interest to the basic tile surrounding it.

Shiny mirrored tile! It creates a very modern look.

More mirrored tile. I'm absolutely loving the look of this one!

A whole entire wall of glass tile? Yes, please :)

I love the clean, fresh look this tile creates.

Penny tile is kind of awesome.

This backsplash is fabulous. It's so fun!

I saved the best for last. The color, the shape, the texture...what's not to love?

Thanks for letting me share! What kind of tile style do you prefer?

I met James Franco!!

That hot piece of man candy you see above you? Yeah...I bumped into him. On a crosswalk. In my hometown. My mind is still reeling from the randomness of it. Apparently he is a super genius and is working on various degrees at a few different colleges, including one close to me. He was incredibly nice and just as good-looking in person as he is on the big screen. I'm still geeking out! Best chance encounter ever :)

Tasty Tuesday-Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

I made this dessert over the holiday weekend (added blueberries to make sure I had my red, white, and blue!) and thought I'd share the recipe with you all here. It's an easy dessert to make and chances are pretty good if you take this to a party/reunion/cookout you will have brought a unique, un-duplicated dish that everyone can rave over.

You'll need:

2 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 cup melted butter

1 8oz package cream cheese

1 8oz cool whip

2 3oz packages of jello

2 cups boiling water

3 tablespoons+3/4 cup sugar

2 cups sliced strawberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar together. Press the mixture into a 9x13 pan and bake for 7 minutes. Set aside to cool. Beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar. Fold in the cool whip and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled. Dissolve jello mix in the boiling water then let cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pour over cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

I'm only a little obsessed

Up until recently I had never been to a yard sale. Shocking, right? I've coordinated plenty of them for fundraisers when I was involved in school athletics and organizations, and I've even held my own when I find my house is feeling cluttered with stuff I don't need, but actually going to one is a much different experience. An amazing, thrilling, adrenaline-inducing experience! It's true what they say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I found so many items that I was shocked people wanted rid of...and for so cheap! I've definitely caught the yard sale bug, and now I find myself giddily scoping out Craigslist for upcoming sales. I was recently introduced to yardsaletreasuremap.com and that has raised my level of insanity a bit. It uses listings posted on Craigslist to create a map and route of all the sales within a set radius of your address. It's pretty neat and helps make me a much more efficient yard sale fanatic haha I will be sure to post pics of any thrifty awesomeness I find this weekend so keep your eyes peeled for that in a separate post!

Bath & Body Works find

I'm probably loving a $5 item way more than I should, but that doesn't stop me from being super excited about my little find at the Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale.

It's a soap sleeve! A cheap, pretty way to dress up your soap dispenser. I thought this was neat as I typically use Bath & Body Works soap and sanitizers anyway and now I can make them look a bit snazzier. Bonus points for being chrome and matching the accessories and fixtures I already have in my bathroom :)

Tasty Tuesday-Potato & Popcorn Soup

This morning I had a not-so-pleasant dentist appointment that left me temporarily unable to chew solid food, so how about a nice soup recipe since that's what I had for dinner? I realize this isn't exactly a soup most of you would typically make, but sometimes plain ol' soup gets boring and an unexpected ingredient (yes we're using popcorn!) can give it that little something extra it needs to look and taste interesting.

You'll need:

1 ounce butter

1 onion chopped very fine

3 shallots chopped very fine

1 pint chicken stock

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

1 pound smoothly mashed potatoes

4 tablespoons white wine

2 cups popped popcorn

salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and shallots and stirring often cook for about 3 minutes until they are soft but not browned. Stir in the stock and thyme and bring to a boil. Gradually stir in the potatoes and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat to low, then stir in the wine and let simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Put the soup into bowls and garnish with popcorn. For a different taste experiment with popcorn seasonings. Kernel Season's brand has a sour cream and onion seasoning as well as a garlic seasoning that I find work well with the taste of the potato.

Curse you, Pottery Barn!

Thanks to a recent Pottery Barn catalog being mistakenly placed in my mailbox, I've now got it in my head that I have to be the proud owner of the following items:

These candle holders would look great in my coastal-inspired guest bath.

This mirror is simplistically awesome. I think it would be pretty on my mantel!

I don't even know where I would put this chandelier but that doesn't stop me from wanting it!

Pillows this stylish would really freshen up our outdoor space.

Apothecary jars are awesome. These taller ones are extra great!

Anyone else have anything they're drooling over at the moment?