Vegan Shepherds Pie Recipe

Straight out of the oven!

Hopefully this photo gets your tummy grumbling! This was actually quick and easy. Just prepare it like they tell you on the recipe and you will be done in about an hour!

Find the original recipe here ----->   http://food52.com/recipes/19408-vegan-lentil-shepherd-s-pie-with-parsnip-and-and-potato-mash


All I did to modify it was sub out the white potato for sweet potatoes. Delish!


Enjoy!

Girls Day in NYC

Today I had the day off! Woot. I decided to treat myself by visiting a friend in NYC that I don't see often enough. It was just the right amount of food, beverage and conversation. Here is it in pictures...

The easy way to get there!

Stopped at a great vegan restaurant , Blossom, in the Chelsea section

Breakfast and drinks for lunch on a Monday. It's the new Monday Funday!

After lunch and two mimosas, why not have some dessert!

After walking the Chelsea Market, we stopped and had some happy  hour beer. Supporting local NY brewers! 

Every now and again you should treat yourself. I typically don't spend $50 on lunch, but when it's with a friend over good convo, splurge! Heck, I even bought blue mascara that day. Just doing something that makes you feel girlie (for the ladies of course, or gents if they prefer). You have to take care of yourself so that you can take care of others.

So my advice to you, take a week day off, go and splurge. <3 yourself!

We had an ugly foot stool

Good Morning! Well, it is on my end. It's really beautiful out for once. A nice cool breeze through the open windows. Ahh. I feel inspired!

This post will be a quick one, as I never remember to take step by step photos when I am in the process. The short of it is this. I bought a vintage foot stool at an auction months ago. I paid $1 for it. Silly me was worried that someone else might be interested, so I set my max purchase price at $3. Needless to say, I didn't have to worry. Ha

In the beginning...

The mustard yellow is lovely correct? This sat in my poor husbands office for many months. Finally, I decided to use the fabric I had set aside to do my folding chairs with on this project. I have never done anything like this before. I have no upholstering experience, and I don't really even know if this counts as one! It was more like fold the fabric like a Christmas present, staple underside, flip over. Woohoo. haha. I did one more step and took the legs off (they just unscrew) and spray painted them black. They originally had little metal "socks" on them, and I just spray over all of it. 

Haven't painted the legs yet...

In it's place! My camera is old, so the colors are way off. But it's a nice mix of purple, grey and black!

This is my finished project. You can still see the lines where the leather (might have been fake leather) had been. I am personally very happy with it, and that is the key to a project! They don't all have to be store bought perfect! This fits lovely in front of my corner chair, and my cat has adopted it as her new bed. Everyone in the family is happy! :)

Total cost = $5 :)

Trash Picked Table Facelift

We had bulk trash again this month. 4 times a year it's like Christmas in my neighborhood. Everyone puts to the curb their sad and tired furniture. I however, empty my car and start the slow drive through the streets looking for projects. People are very friendly about this too. Recently I stopped to pick up a chair and the woman came out of the garage asking if I wanted a really beautiful ceramic planter (well duh yes!).

Today was a medium warm day with no humidity. I waited until the shade moved to the front of the house then proceeded with my project. I had to scrape off some wood glue that they had used way too much of. After a little sanding, I was ready to roll!

It's a small table that has a latch that allows you to fold the top down to one side. I am sure there is a name for this, but I honestly have no idea what to call it! I taped the metal latch with Frog Tape and started spraying (Rustoleum) . I am pleased with the outcome. I had all the stuff laying around from previous projects, so technically this cost me $0. :)

This is how I found her, sitting by the curb, lost and lonely

All sprayed up with some temporary decor to keep her company!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed the mini project.

Back from a Break

Well, I did it again.  I always get rolling on blogs, then life gets busy and the blog gets pushed back. Honestly, I blame it on Barb! She fell off the wagon which in turn killed my motivation. The good news is, we are back!

I had some career changes in the past few months. I am now checking off my bucket list and being a cocktail waitress at a casino! Glamorous right? I had always wanted to try it. Let's see how long before I die of lung cancer!

I am still part of dog rescue! My latest dog is Baylee. She is a bluetick mix coonhound from Georgia. She is a princess :)

 

 She is up for adoption, so if you are interested, let me know ;)

I am still trash picking! I have a few projects that I will post in the upcoming days! It's amazing how much money you can save with a little sandpaper and spray paint!

Our home reno is moving along. We decided to get new windows in our living room, so all our hard work on trying to make them look nice is out the window (no pun intended). Hopefully we can get them installed within a month.

Ok, this was just a quick peak back into my boring life! ha. Within the next couple of days I will post about my newly decorated ottoman! Less than 5 bucks for the whole thing! :)

Thanks for sticking around!

An old dresser and some spray paint

You will see a few spray paint jobs from me, since this is my first home and I am on a budget! Honestly, if I had more money I'd probably just spray paint more stuff! :) This post is about a tall dresser that I fell in love with.

The search began for a dresser when I realized, well, I didn't have one. I set the budget amount and began searching craigslist (you will see I love this site, even got my job from there!). I figured I'd want to spend no more than $50 for a smaller dresser. I checked out Ikea, and found some that I liked for $100, so I set the challenge at half that! It took a week, but I found one! Asking price was $50, but I knew I'd bargain, after all, I still needed to buy the paint! I took the ride, loved it, asked for $40 and loaded it into my car. The intent for this dresser was to go into "my" room. (I have my own private room for all my stuff, perks of no kids)

First you will see it sitting in there as we do demolition on the room. It was a sad dresser used for dirty tools and drywall dust.

Sad Dresser

So dusty and lonely

Now you can get a glimpse of it all pretty and blue! I had taken step by step photos, but I think they were swallowed up my my computer. If I get around to it, I will add a nice head on picture!

Pretty Blue Dresser <3

The walls are all new drywall, fresh paint, and some decorating by me :) This tiny room has come a long way, with still more to go! I will talk more about this room later. (like how much I love my sunglasses holder!)


This one I did use a spray paint primer, which made the color pop and I had to use less of the colored paint. Plus I did light sanding, then wiped it down with a damp cloth. Easy Peasy! Now go start your project!

Updating Plastic Drawers

Before I bought a house, my husband and I moved around, a lot. We never really bought enough furniture to hold all of our clothing (plus my junk) etc. I purchased several of those 3 tiered plastic storage bins on wheels. They work like mini dressers, craft stations, hide all your junk you have no other place for containers. They are great! Downfall, they are ugly. Companies tried to make them fun, bright colors (higher prices), wider drawers etc. I am too old for a bight purple bin sitting front and center in my tiny room. I have seen many creative people use modge podge and basically redo the entire thing. I think they look great, but I am WAY too LAZY for that! Below is my quick solution. I didn't even worry about making the paper go all the way to the top of the drawer, just to where there was a line that made life easy. I used some extra scrapbook paper I had laying around.

The beginning of hiding my junk

I measured with a ruler to the line, then cut the paper to fit. The nice thing if you use a 12x12 scrapbook piece of paper is, you only have to cut straight across to the measured height. These containers have 12 inch drawers. I used scotch tape to hold the paper in place (no messy glue or drying time)

Finished in less than 5 mins

I used map looking scrap paper, but you could use old maps if you had any laying around. Or, pick out paper that goes with your decor. I made this really easy for me, but you are welcome to get really crafty and bust out the glue and fancy paper and show me up!

I'd love to see what you came up with! :)

Fostering Dogs

We bought a house, we rescued a dog. For me that seemed like the American thing to do. Then of course, we wanted another. I had known people who had fostered dogs, and the thought had always been in the back of my mind. So, I jumped. I think that is the only way to really start. You know a shelter animal dies every 8 seconds, so I figured if I can just save a few a year I should.

It all started with Bella.

Look at that face!

She was a 10 year old Bluetick Coonhound sitting in a shelter. Cement floors, no real bed, as much love as volunteer staff could give her. I got to thinking...If I was an old lady, and no one wanted me, how would I feel? So, I made a call to an amazing person who made a call, then before I knew it, I had this lovely lady in my yard. She was soooo stinky and dirty (plus a little chubby), but we loved her from the beginning. We created her FB page, and waited! It took a week before I was given a contact who had been interested in her while she was in West Virginia. At the time, they thought she was too far away, but NJ, that was a bit closer! We figured out the logistics, and within a months time, our Bella was on her way to her wonderful/perfect/amazing/loving/caring (it goes on) forever Mom! It felt great!! This little lady went from West Virginia, to NJ, to Maine! So never let distance stop you from getting what you want!

Next came Missy.

OMG!!!

This lady is a 4 year old Treeing Walker Coonhound. She came from the same shelter that Bella came from. I like this place, and I want to be able to help them as much as I can. So this pretty girl came to my rescue, filling that missing piece of my heart that Bella took with her. She took a little longer to get adopted. We had her from the first week in Jan, until, well, tonight! (which prompted me to write this post) People were nervous about her age (4!!!!!) and that she was a hound, and they didn't hunt. (fyi, hounds are family couch potatoes that don't need to hunt).



Next in line is Helen. I don't have her yet, but hopefully by the end of the month!

Another beautiful lady!!!

I am just not noticing a trend in the dogs! I love HOUNDS!!! Helen is a Redtick Coonhound. I can't wait to tell you her story!

If you want to help get her to me, please feel free to chip in!

http://www.youcaring.com/other/Vetting-and-Helen-s-Ride-to-Freedom/46485

Contact your local rescue and ask how you can become a foster! It is so rewarding to see them go from down and out to up on top of the world!

Crunchy Chickpea Snack

Crunchy Chickpea Snack

I don't know why these have intimidated me for years, but I finally gave them a shot. I love chickpeas and spices, all I needed to do was pop this love affair in the oven!

Here is what I did...

1) Lazily opened a can of chickpeas, rinsed and threw them in a bowl
2) Drizzled olive oil and dashed with cumin, garlic powder and salt (do it to your taste and play with spice options)
3) Placed them on a cookie sheet and tossed them in  @ 400 degree oven
4) Every 10 minutes, stirs those babies!

Bake for 40 minutes or until crunchy.

From a thrift store to a photo shoot

Well it's Thrift Shop Thursday! These photos are from last year, so I can't take credit for buying them this week. The photographer is Michelle Smith, located in Sewell, NJ. This was just a fun little outing for no real reason!

One nice thing about thrifting it is you don't look exactly like every other person walking the street. Sometimes girls/guys look like advertisements for H&M and Forever21 (don't get me wrong I love those stores). My personal taste is all over the place, and I love the thrill of the hunt! I set a budget for myself and see how many awesome things I can get for one low price!

This photo shoot(insert model hobby) I did wearing mostly thrift store finds, and a few other regular store sale items I had laying around.

I hope to inspire you to at least pop into a local thrift store and see what they have to offer. I like shopping them for a few reasons, of which I will state now!

1) Uniqueness
2) Cheap!!!! You won't believe what you can get name brand items for
3) Green. You won't be purchasing from a store that needs to restock its shelves and recycling!
4) Helping others. Most of my thrift stores benefit those in need. Examples: One is for a Children's Home, one feeds the homeless, another helps raise funds for those who need funds for hospital stays (to name a few)  I have stopped shopping at Goodwill and Salvation Army, but if that is all you have around you, give them a look too!

Here are a few shots!

$8 vintage dress, 99 cent necklace, 1.99 clip on earrings, clearance target boots

2.99 vintage shirt, 3.99 pants

Vintage shirt 99 cents, vintage skirt 2.99, scarf 99 cents, clearance target shoes

The hair and makeup were nothing fancy, just done by myself.

The direction I was going for here was vintage, which is not always everyone's idea of fashion. Don't worry though, I will have more normal styles coming up in future blogs!

A little paint...goes a LONG way

Want to update your home? When we bought our house, the whole thing was a mixture of yellows. Not bright sunshine yellow, but yellow you might find in a diaper. (exactly) We had been doing major reno lately, we had to knock down all the walls in the 3 bedrooms we had, so finally making it down to the second floor took a little longer than planned. I had been going insane looking at the dining room/kitchen in that nasty yellow color, so one day I snapped and bought some paint. We decided that having some imperfections in the wall was going to be ok, and that we would just spackle a little to fix major bumps. I did a few swatches, fell in love with a light grey, then got started!

We use the Behr paint and primer in one. The color we chose is called Gentle Rain. (I love it!)

Here are the before and afters. You tell me what you think!

Yellowish-Brownish

Testing out swatches

On it's way to Gentle Rain!

This is really just a middle of the way picture. I will post a finalized photo in a separate post bc since this paint job, we have added new windows (installed by my husband), granite counter tops (not installed by us) and assembled a pantry style shelving unit. (installed by us!) Once we get the rest of the trim up around the window I'll snap the pic and show you the cost breakdown.

Flea Market Finds!

It's Tuesday. For some, this can be worse than Monday. My advice to you, look at cute owls online. Ha. Always works for me! Here is a little more treasure hunting inspiration. Let me know if it's working.

Yes, along with Thrift Shopping I enjoy walking flea markets. You would too if you gave it a try! Yummy foods, treasures to be found, conversations to strike! My flea market is always friendly and fun. A lot of misconceptions about flea markets are that trashy people shop there, stuff is dirty or smelly and "there is nothing for me there". Technically you can find that everywhere. I have tried some clothing on in a mall that was a little too worn for my taste, and some places stink! Ha. Anyway, not sure where I am going with this! How about I just show you a few cute things I picked up in hopes of getting you excited to go out and save/spend some money!

Like owls?

Super cute 1979 sugar and cream set. 2 bucks!

Need a flower vase? Juice container? Wine carafe?

Adorable right??? $1

How about the same thing but bigger?

I have 4 of these already. They hold a full size bouquet! $.25 (yes, a quarter)

I also scored a pair of vintage lucite sunglasses ($2), a brass unicorn bookend ($2) , a vintage boned red velvet corset top ($1) and 3 stuffed animal dog toys ($1).

Not all of these things may be your cup of tea, but there were thousands of things that I didn't buy! Just think of how lovely it would be to give someone a gift in a vase this unique, or to spray paint a book end to be that pop of color that you have been looking for!

The possibilities are endless! Be the modern day treasure hunter you have always wanted to be!

No Arms No Legs No Worries

Here is some Motivation for your Monday

This post is about perspective. I always try and search for positive news on the internet, and although often hard to find, every now and then a gem pops up. For me this is not a tear jerking one, but one of just plain good advice. We constantly live in a world where we want to change ourselves. It could be from wanting to lose weight, clear our skin, hide a birthmark, buy the latest clothing we can't afford, the list goes on. This video shares the story of one man who manages to carry on, be happy, healthy and positive, all without arms and legs. He is a motivational speaker. I wouldn't doubt that he is also a life saver. Watch the video, share it with your friends, make a difference <3

http://samuel-warde.com/2013/02/the-most-inspiring-human-being-youve-never-seen-video/

Gluten Free Soy Free Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

I was checking out some pins shared on the VegNews boards today, and I came across something that I had to make asap. I am a big fan of the classic pairing of Lemon and Poppy Seed. I can't help it! I love lemon and the crunch of little poppy seeds keep me entertained. So, I pull up the recipe and start whizzing in the kitchen. *sudden pause* apple puree??? Hmmm, I don't have that. So, I thought, apple sauce! *another pause* don't have that either. Looks around...rotting banana? Perfect! I never follow a recipe. It must be a disease. I was determined to follow this one, but it wasn't in the cards. Luckily I know my substitutions pretty well, and these turned out YUMMY!!

Here is the link to the original pin (gotta give credit where credit is due)
http://www.includingcake.com/2012/09/lemon-poppy-pancakes.html

And here is my version!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Bob's Redmill GF All purpose mix.

¾ tsp baking powder
Tiny pinch salt
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
3 Tbsp Smashed Banana

Juice and Zest of one whole lemon

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1/3 cup Almond Milk with 1 tsp chia seeds mixed in

Method:

Mix the chia seeds and the milk together first and let it get slimy (yum right?) 
Mix all the dry ingredients together
Add mashed banana and mix with a fork
Add in the rest of the ingredients


It makes a think batter, but don't worry, they puff up :)

I use a spray of olive oil on a hot pan and cook until they are done to my liking. I have to apologize to those of you who like a lighter colored pancake. I like when mine have a slightly crunchy skin to it, so they are typically a little darker.

Tada! Serve with whatever makes your heart flutter. In my case, too much earth balance and a ridiculous amount of maple syrup.

Makes 4 medium sized cakes :) Now get cookin!

Helping the Beaches Recover from Sandy

I am sure you have read the news a time or 2 in the past few months. NJ beaches took a beating in October when Hurricane Sandy came to town. I luckily live an hour West of the beach, but those that lived down there were not so lucky. I took this as an opportunity to give back to the beaches that have given me so much in the past years (LBI!!) and as a chance to teach my wonderful nieces how to be active and give back as well.

 I know in times of disaster people often feel helpless. I know I do. I am writing this post to show you just how helpful you can be, even if you live really far away! Here are some things you can do!

1) Donate money to whatever organization you believe will do the most good.
2) If you have a FB, share/join events and spread the word on cleanups, food and clothing drives, donations etc.
3) If you live close enough, make a trip to the location. Speaking of our experiences here, you could have called any church and they would have directed you to the closest shelter if they didn't have one themselves.
4) Start a donation drive! A few of my friends posted on their FB walls that they would collect local donations and do all the leg work to get them to the locations!
5) If you are in high school, start a group for fundraising/donation collections!

These were just a few things that I saw popping up around on my FB walls and community when the disaster happened. I am sure I am leaving many things out, but the possibilities of helping those in need are endless! It has been many months and so much help is still needed here. If you want to help, contact me and I can fill you in on what I know! Just keep in the back of your mind that no gesture of help is ever too small! Just think if the whole world made small gestures, big things would happen!

Team Beach Bums for a Cleaner LBI!

One small site we cleaned

Another trip down, cleaning LBI bay

Cleaning Bay access. The house wasn't built there, it drifted.

I am dedicating this post to my awesome nieces, who every time I call them to wake up early on the weekend, they jump at the chance to go help others!

Thrift Shop Thursday, DIY high waist jean shorts

Since Thursdays are typically my thrift shopping days, I plan on showcasing some of my finds. I can't promise the post will be up on Thursday, most likely Friday, but I will definitely get something up asap. It's hard to spend all day treasure hunting then find time to write about it. (I usually shop til I drop!)

When I shop I try to manifest what I am looking for. Yesterday I was in the market for a pair of those reallly ugly 1990's high waist jeans. (in the ugliest color possible!) My intentions for them were to make a cute pair of distressed shorts, like the kind I have been noticing on high priced racks across the mall! (I can't pay $50 for shorts!) My first store was a score! I found 2 pairs! One actually fit me, the other I will sell on my etsy store ( WinterGreenVintage) 

Here it goes...

I forgot to take a picture before the cut!

I had cut my jeans to the length that I wanted. I have really long legs, so I tried not to make them too short.

They already look much better!

Now that I had them cut to the length I wanted, I had to start distressing them. What I did to fray the edges a little bit was take a coarse nail file, hung the cut ends over a box, and just ran the nail file across in different directions to get the fray started.

The nail file work on the edges. 

Next I love adding rips and tears. Might as well go all the way if you are already wearing cut offs!

Adding the tears

So to add the tears, you have to make 2 cuts in the jeans as big as you want the tear to be. When you have the shorts in front of you, the cuts will be a top and bottom cut (horizontal with the shorts). Then all you have to do is start pulling out the colored threads with tweezers. Sometimes this part takes a good bit of time to get the first thread out, but once that happens, they all start coming out much easier.

Do these poor illustrations help??

My finished product! Cost = $2.99

I don't add tears to the back bc my underwear is never that cool! 

Inspired to save money? I would have shown a picture with these on, but I still have my winter legs, so I am doing your eyes a favor! You can do this! Just start your cuts on the long side so you don't make booty shorts off the bat (unless you were going for that). You can google "how to distress jeans" and they can show you youtube videos of how to make the tears I attempted to explain (probably confused you).

I'd love to see your thrifting finds! Feel free to share!!!

Updating a Standing Mirror

I wanted a yellow mirror. I had the vision in my head. I started browsing Craigslist immediately. I wanted my price range to be really low, like 30 bucks low. I found what I wanted (not yellow yet) for 50 bucks. It was close enough in distance, so I called to check it out. I managed to get the woman down to 20 bucks because she was tired of having it sit around (always bargain!) On my way home I stopped to pick up some Krylon spray paint, in the exact yellow I had in my head!

This being my first spray paint job ever, I didn't sand the wood (it did just fine without sanding). I covered the mirror with newspaper and taped the edges down under the wood frame. I grabbed my masks and I went to town. I forgot to prime it, so it ended up taking 2 cans of paint (I have learned since then!). I am in love with my mirror!!! The whole project was under $30 and I have a nice accent piece in my room now!

My lovely tape job

Anyone for the news?

Tada! My Mirror!

Remember when shopping on craigslist always go with a friend and never pay cash up front for anything! If it's not in your hand, don't pay them!

Now go and spray paint something (and wear a mask for safety!)

 

Quick Bean Dip

The one nice thing about committing to a blog is the fact that it forces me to not be lazy during the day, bc I need something to blog about! So this afternoon, after running around like a crazy person, I became hungry. You will see that this is a trend with me, I eat a lot! I just bought a bag of bell peppers, and I am famous for eating them like an apple! Today I wanted a little something to dip them in, so I decided for the sake of blogging, I better make something from scratch! I reached for the can of garbanzo beans, and alas, I have none. Story of my life! I do however have about 15 cans of kidney beans thanks to a great sale and some serious coupon usage (organic beans down to 9 cents a can!!). So, this is how my lunch goes...

1 can rinsed kidney beans
3 Tbsp flax seed oil (tryin to get my omega 3s in)
4 shakes of my hot peppers flakes
3 Tbsp of Franks Red Hot Sauce ( I put that s**t on everything!)
A couple shakes of garlic salt

And a few minutes spinning around in the food processor!

A little extra hot sauce in the middle!

Quick and Healthy!

This recipe clearly doesn't have to be followed as is. This is more of an inspiration! It's a good way to fill up on protein and get some omega 3 in your diet. You can dip whatever veggies you want into it, smash it in to a wrap or do both!

The rest of my day consists of hanging out with a 5 and 8 year old (not mine, work) and then hopefully taking a nap then waking to a bottle of wine!

Too Cheap to Subscribe!

I will admit, I love reading magazines. I love ones about food, arts and crafts, fashion, travel (the list goes on!). A few things bother me about magazines though. First, that is a lot of paper to waste in one sitting. Most of us can breeze through a mag in less than an hour. Then what? I have a stack of magazines sitting next to my unused tv collecting dust. Second, they cost too much. After paying to subscribe to everything I think I want to read, I have spent well over 100 bucks! Some magazines are realllly expensive. I could always get the fancy online subscriptions, but that means I am still spending money. I have 2 ways to avoid cost and wasting paper!

1) Visit a Book Store!  I know they are now few and far between thanks to many E products on the market (all of which I have yet to cave in and buy). I do however, have a Barnes and Noble down the road that I frequent on a slow Sat. I love just grabbing a stack of mags and walking over to the cafe. I typically bring my own tea and sit sipping while cruising for FREE!! Love it.

2) Go to the Library! I know some people might think it tacky to read mags at a book store when we have no intent to buy them. I have heard the line,  "it's not a rental service". Well,if you feel that way, head to the library! I started doing this when I realized my library let me check out last months magazines. If you don't mind being a little behind on the craft mags, grab last months and see if the circulation desk will let you check them out. Or, just sit in a quiet corner and read all you want! That is what they are there for! Plus some libraries have cafes now too! The first time I saw one I had felt my elementary school teacher breathing down my neck about food or drink in the library, but that shock quickly wore off and I ran out to my car to grab my mug!

3) Pinterest! I started following my magazines on pinterest and now I can save the recipes I like without having to cut them out or keep a whole magazine for one thing! My vegetarian times subscription will be sad to see me go, but I can still find all the good stuff!

I hope this doesn't seem to long and boring! I am sure some of you feel like I am stating the obvious, but this is for those who always feel like you want to read something yet don't want to subscribe!

Let me know where you go to read your magazines! I'd love to learn new locations to hang out.

Another fun possibility is a magazine swap!!!! Start moving those old mags you no longer read and get some new goodies for free!  Don't forget to invite me! I have a few years worth of Marie Claire and Glamour to get rid of!

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my first post!


It have been wanting to start this blog for about a month now, but I couldn't for the life of me come up with a good name! Today I was laying in bed mid day (1pm to be exact) and I was thinking about the pressure from my BFF about writing this blog. Knowing we secretly just want to spy on each others daily live, the name came to me! Ten Thousand 300 miles is the distance we now live from each other (insert sad sounds). We were college roommates and best friends via random trips and a constant Internet connection for over 10 years now! I live in NJ, she lives in Melbourne Australia and according to online research, we are about 10,330 miles apart. 

I hope this blog inspires you to be creative and possibly even caring! I will post everything from pinterest fails, cute Internet discoveries, thrift shop finds, yummy recipes and maybe even boring details of my normal days! Please be patient with me as I grab my camera and try to organize my thoughts and actions in ways that you the reader might actually enjoy! I will be open to comments and sharing!! I love when people share tidbits from their daily lives!! 

For now I will leave you with this brief introduction. I will be back shortly!

College. Bad taste in fashion, good taste in friends!

I am the bride and Barb is the one trying to kill me!