Dresser makeover to media cabinet

 

Ugly dresser gets a makeover!

This sad dresser had seen better days and had sat in my parent's garage for AT LEAST a year although from the cobwebs pretty sure it was MUCH more! We were moving to a fun new apartment that has an open floor plan, modern and Fun! Also I realized why hang onto decor I don't like?! We had our tv on the wall and the cords hung down and it looked pretty tacky so I decided to ask my parents if I could have this dresser. My Dad said YES with excitement as it had been taking up space empty in their garage.

Things you will need...

- junky but structurally sound dresser (check Craigslist free!)

- belt sander

- chalkboard spray paint 

- new drawer pulls

- spray paint color of your choice

-wood stain

- polyurethane 

Pretty self explanatory but here is how we made it pretty, besides cleaning off the cobwebs. First we took off the old drawer pulls and sanded down the dresser . Then we spray painted the fronts of the dresser with chalkboard spray paint. At the same time we spray painted the dresser itself turquoise. My husband applied one layer of stain to the top, after it dried we applied a coat of polyurethane.     Once it dried we "cured" the chalkboard. Basically you rub chalk all over it then rub it off with a dry paper towel. We then put on the new drawer pulls we got at Target. I wrote on the fronts what was going to be inside the drawers with chalk then popped them into the dresser and done! It took a weekend  but totally worth it. See how pretty it is....

Look Ma no cords!!! No more ugly cords hanging on the wall waiting to be yanked on by a soon to crawl baby! Yet low enough for Big sister to operate on her own!

Happy St. Patty's day!

 
   My brother is Greek Orthodox (and our family history has deep roots in Ireland). His patron saint is St. Patrick so every year for the last few years we have a big party where he invites his church friends over to play celtic games (Caber toss - a BIG pole, and Stone Throw- kettle ball) it is a lot of fun to watch the guys gather round to test their strength and try to beat the other guy you can smell the testosterone in the air! They also do a kids version where they used a pilates roll and a nerf ball. SOOO cute!

   In addition to this we also have GREAT food by my Mom and sister in law. My sister in law makes this amazing seafood stew (think clam chowder on CRACK!) I had 3 bowls!! BUT I also only ate one tiny muffin for breakfast before we got there, trying to eat less. I also didn't eat ANY cupcakes but I did have ONE bagel bite although my sister in law gave me crap for it saying that I should've had a mini shepherd's pie that my Mom made instead of a bagel bite ;) because they are so chalked full of crap.
   We also had a BIG fruit and veggie tray that I hung out by! MAN we should have made my Dad's guacamole (his stuff is KILLER!) I mean it's green so that works right!? We will need to do that next year. And next year I am going to start inviting some of our friends to come and hang out too!

Isn't she the prettiest almost 7 year old you have ever seen!? (not partial or anything ;)

   I ended up talking with one of my Dad's coworkers and he was giving me healthy food and nutrition advise. I love that stuff, finding out new tips and tricks. One was that I should get a Lara bar, which I love, and have that in the morning with my tea or coffee. He was also talking about how raw honey is good for you and that they found some raw honey in ancient Egypt that was over 2,000 years old that was still good! He also suggested that I take melatonin at night to help me go to sleep and not sit up writting blog posts at 12:30 at night!
   We also decorated cupcakes which my Mom made. They were rainbow cupcakes and she pre-iced them so the kids could stick on the decorations which were Sour candy striped fruit strips to make the "rainbow". A Rolo for the "pot of gold" and marshmellows for the "clouds". THEN my Mom whipped out her artist side and did face paint for the kids. The kids had a blast!
   It was all SUPER cute I could show you but my phone DIED today as well as my point and shoot (these photos were taken from my husband's Iphone). THEN me and my pro camera have been on "speaking terms" I need to fall in love with her again. It is just so cumbersome to take everywhere and takes forever to edit things and post etc. I have fallen for Instagram although I am hoping to start a new blog with one of my long time friends Jen over at jensadventuresinwonderland.blogspot.com (she was my maid of honor in our wedding almost 8 years ago). Which when that starts I neeeeeeed to start using it again for blog posts but until then I will stick to quick and easy :).
   We are going to do a lot of planning before we launch that new blog but we will keep you all posted!! It is going to be FABULOUS I am super excited about it!

   P.s. Libby rode in her first tree swing today at Nana's house and LOOOOOVED it! Daniel would hide under her and she would CRACK UP LAUGHING! It was the cutest and funniest thing I have seen in a long time!

P.P.S. Already have 506 views with only 10 posts!!?? NICE!!

Day One of my weightloss journey

So I decided that I NEEEEEEED to loose weight. The other day I was sick and went into the Dr. office and they weighed me. I don't normally share these numbers but as I could use a starting point and some accountability I will share with you I weigh 258!!!!!! WHAT!!!?? Granted I did get pregnant with my second at 245 and during the pregnancy went up to 275. Since having her I have lost 20 lbs in the 4 months she has been here but I need to keep going! When I got married I was 175 and I thought I was FAT!! Looking at pictures I realized that I was actually pretty healthy. Before I met Daniel (my husband) I weighed about 155 (see the photo above is from our engagement session 8 years ago). My hope is to get down to 158 which would mean loosing 100 lbs!! Today I will be planning out some goals for every 10 lbs I loose I will get a reward. I will share those with you tomorrow or later this week.
   Today was my first day to use a suggestion from my sweet Aunt Teresa. It is an app on your phone my fitness pal. I will review it more as I go but so far it is pretty awesome! I was able to put in my weight and goal weight as well as how many times I plan on exercising how long etc and it calculated how many calories I need to eat everyday to loose weight which is drumroll...... 1875! So that comes out to about 625 a meal, totally doable!

  Photo above:  475 calories ( with 60 to spare for lunch or dinner); 3 egg whites, 2 tbs cheese, I slice of bacon, 1 slice of gluten free bread with 1 tbs homemade lemon curd, and a coffee that sucked up over 200 calories. 

Things I learned from this meal....
1. I was eating WAY too much! I need to drink more water to "fill me up" but even now as I type I am pretty full without drinking any water. But "normally" I wouldn't have used egg whites I would have used two hole eggs, two  pieces of bacon, and two pieces of toast to make a sandwich. In other words tooo much!
2. The way I drink my coffee has way too many calories and not sure it is worth it! Maybe I will do it on occasion but from now on I think I will do it in a coffee cup without the extra milk and cut the creamer down to maybe 2 tbs. (this girl loves so creamer! but then again that is why there is so much cream on my body!)
3. Egg whites are not that bad! I sprayed some olive oil spay onto the pan and heated it up to med. heat and just poured it onto the pan. 
4. Eating on a "salad plate" helps to make your eyes think you are full since you are eating a "whole plate". 

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: I set my alarm to go workout in the gym literally 4 doors down from our apartment and I just COULDN'T get out of bed this morning. SOOOO I am going to workout tonight and hopefully get to bed earlier so I can get up in the morning to workout. When I was my smallest my routine was to wake up every morning and go running. So I want to try to get back to that.

So that is one meal down still have lunch and dinner. I feel it in my bones that I can do this, that and I have been forewarned by my Mother that if I don't I will get diabetes and osteoporosis like she has as we are about the same weight. So I need to make changes NOW!  Wish me luck! You can follow me on instagram- jessica_monnich or you can follow my hashtag #watchthismommaloseweight. 

How Anthropologie saved my marriage!

     I have the sweetest husband on earth! No really I do! He opens my door, tells me I'm beautiful even though I have gained 100 lbs. since we married, rubs my feet, gives me massages. A couple of years ago I read this book Five Love Languages it talked about how everyone has a "love language" and it described what they are. I don't remember all of them but Daniel's is "service" which after reading the book I realized that he likes me to cook dinner for him and take his glass into the kitchen when I am going that way etc. But not in a macho way because he does it for me too. But realizing this made me more aware that it is a big deal for him and it opened my heart to doing those things for him because I realized that he was doing them for me. 

      Mine was a little harder for me to come to terms with. I guess because I always felt selfish, entitled, spoiled but I realized that as long as I was giving love the same way I wanted to receive it then that wasn't the case at all. So my love language is "gift giving". I love to give gifts and I love to receive them!  

     When I was a kid I remember getting a gift for a friend's birthday party and I wanted to open it and play with it sooooo bad. Then my Mom said "You know you got someone a good gift when you want it yourself". This opened my joy for giving gifts because I KNEW they were going to be excited about the gift I was giving them. So from that point on whenever I give someone a gift I think about their interests, their talents, what they do, about who they are as a person etc. I try to put a lot of thought into it if I am buying something for someone or I put a lot of time into it if I am making something for someone. 

      So here comes the hard part to admit, the first several years of our marriage (ok until about 2 years ago, we will be married 8 this year!!) at every gift giving exchange with my husband the gifts he would give me were not my style and we would get into big fights about it and I would end up feeling like a brat and unloved since I felt like he didn't put a lot of thought into it. But in reality the poor man was trying soooo hard, like I said he is the sweetest man on earth! 

     One year I think it was Christmas time and out of desperation he asked me what I wanted instead of just guessing. And a lightbulb turned on and I said "You could go to Anthropologie and get something, because honestly ANYTHING from there I will love it!!". And this plan works because he loves their stuff too. (Side note: I am planning on working out this year to loose some weight to fit into their clothes but for now alllll of their housewares are AMAZING!) 

      So for Valentines he asked me what I wanted and I said " Just hit up Anthropologie". I am soooo glad he did because he bought the BEAUTIFUL quilt above! Not only have I been wanting a quilt for our bed but it saved me the time of making it AND he loves it too so for the first time in our married lives we can share the same quilt!!! So I thank you Anthropologie for saving my marriage and making gift giving exciting again! 

Gluten Free chocolate Chip banana bread

I adapted this recipe from a recipe in my Betty Crocker "bridal edition" cookbook. This cookbook has been through a lot  in the last 8 years and it is all bent up and written in. It will defiantly stay with me until it is in pieces! HA HA HA! There are a lot of great recipes in that cookbook and some basic ones too that is perfect for a new bride who is inexperienced in the kitchen (which was me!) Growing up we ate out a lot and my parents worked full time so I didn't get to cook with or see my Mom cook that much. Which I am trying to change that and cook with my daughter and let go of my perfectionism and learn how to include her in my cooking tasks. Maybe one day I will create a cookbook that gives directions on how to include kids. Well I should get to the recipe already so you can enjoy it's yummmmmmy goodness!!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups BROWN sugar*
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk*
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup gluten free flour: bisquick mix
1 cup gluten free flour: sandwich bread mix (Gluten free pantry)*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup HOT water*
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Move oven rack to low position so that the tops of the pans will be in the center of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non stick spray or grease 2 loaf pans with butter.

2. Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. STir in bananas buttermilk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour and salt. Beat in HOT water. Add baking powder (don't over mix at this point or it won't rise well). Fold in chocolate chips if desired. Sometimes I sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top (but would omit the chocolate chips, unless you just really want to go to the dentist).

3. Divide batter into two loaf pans. Bake for about 45 min continue to check using a toothpick ( poke it in the middle of the bread your bread is done when the toothpick comes out clean).

4. Cool the bread, your suppose to cool it for TWO HOURS before slicing (good luck!!). Wrap tightly and store at room temp for 4 days or in the fridge for 10. BUT it rarely makes it past 4 days in our house! ENJOY!!

* Brown sugar helps moisten the bread so it isn't so "crumby".
* If you don't have buttermilk you can use milk (I use our lactose free milk) and lemon juice. For this recipe you would need 1/2 cup a milk and 2 tsp of lemon juice.
* The link for the sandwich mix is for 6 boxes of mix that is why it is $30! But most supermarkets carry this brand. I suggest using the brands I suggested they have good flour combinations and taste!
* Hot water again helps to create a moist bread. I have found that without it GF breads are often pretty dry and cardboard tasting!

Parks and Recreation cracks me up!

Sometimes I need to laugh and one thing that really gets me is the T.V. show Parks and Recreation! Ron Swanson cracks me up!! One of the latest episodes (without giving it away) he was making something and said "People who buy stuff are suckers." My hubs and I CRACKED up! And then it got me to thinking that is a pretty "wise" statement and would be funny to have printed by my craft area. Although I do have to buy somethings it would inspire me to create more and make me giggle or at LEAST smirk when I saw it. So I made this funny printable and thought I would share it with you all feel free to print it and put it by your crafting area.

Click on link below to download...

People Who Buy Stuff are SUCKERS by

Parmesan Baked Potato Remix

    Today we took over some pictures to our new apartment. We are getting really excited about our move!  Because of hub's job we will only be paying about $300 for rent!!!! AND it is a nice modern 2 bedroom with real granite counter tops! All I can say is AMLI is an awesome company! So after that we hit up the Savers right next door which is similar to Goodwill. I found a CUTE Valentines dress for $7.99! We also scored some sweet kids books for $.69!
    After that fun trip we went to Sprouts (a cheaper version of Whole Foods) and got a bunch of food for upcoming Valentines day as well as the next couple of weeks till we move. I got a pineapple to try out the inspiring video recipe I found the other day. I will say it was pretty good for no added sugar but I caved and added some sugar. I will probably make a simple syrup to add to it tomorrow it is sitting in the fridge hopefully soaking up the juice I will share with you all how I change it.
   When we got home from our big shopping trip I decided that I wanted to make this recipe I saw on Pinterest last night... http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2012/03/parmesan-baked-potato-halves.html
Here is how I changed it up and it was DELISH and half the cooking time as the original.

Ingredients

• Bag of baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in quarters length wise
• Olive oil
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Garlic powder
• Tyme
• Dried basil
• Oregano

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour olive oil into a 9x13 inch pan and spread evenly across the bottom. Generously sprinkle parmesan cheese and lightly sprinkle other seasonings all over parmesan. Place potatoes face down on the parmesan the quarters that were cut on both sides I pressed them into the mix in the pan and flipped them over so both sides had yummy parmesan on both sides. Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Enjoy!!