Our Cozy Little Home Pt. 1

Pinterest (and BuzzFeed) are my two "pleasures" while I'm nursing or getting little miss down to sleep. We lay in bed together or cuddle on the recliner, she snuggles up or nurses, and while I wait to make sure she's sound asleep enough to move I browse Pinterest for ideas and longings and I browse BuzzFeed for sarcastic but always true hilarity. It's a fun part of my day!

Pinterest inspires me to craft or build or move or rearrange, and that's just what I did this week. Eleven thirty on Sunday night I was moved to organize my kitchen. I am usually a so-so cleaner, I clean or tidy as I go but when I get into a "marathon mind" and my mind is set on something I go hard until completion. So I cleaned out and organized the cupboards above and below my sink, always the messy/cluttered/gross cabinets, right?! Then, because Bree is tall enough to reach into our silverware drawer (and take out spoons, lick them, and put them back) I decided to clean out that drawer and fashion a pinterest-worthy solution. Enter, my jars!

My silverware probably is now solved and looks too cute. Woo! (But dang that picture is off center and it is killing me.)

Soo I organized the rest of my kitchen, and the next day rearranged my dining room and cleaned off one of our bookcases, it ended up to be a cute little office area! I have a gorgeous antique typewriter from my godmother and I've been looking for the perfect spot. Thanks to my cleaning/rearranging it is now proudly displayed on my desk. (Just look, it's too cute.)

{This is the nasty bookshelf I cleaned up. And this is it organized!!!

 I found a darling little post here with over 15 uses for tension rods and it inspired me.

I'll be getting a tension rod to go along the top of the shelf with a curtain to

hide the office clutter on the shelves that we need but don't

have to look at. So it'll be hidden away but accessible!

Can't wait.}

{The Fierce Marriage calendar I made Justin for Christmas.}

Our little home is just that, little. But it's cozy and perfect for us till we are ready to move and expand. Seeing as how it's little however, we've had to consolidate and make things fit like puzzles pieces. So over the next few posts I'm going to give a little tour of our apartment and share what we've done to store our lives and decorate!

This is just a little preview, so be sure to check back soon!!!

Much love!

Today With Bree

Oh I love my little girl! She's just so cute I can't even handle it. Today had it's ups and downs but has been a really fun day.

We enjoyed some cleaning this morning while we listened to Spotify's perfect day somethingorother playlist (I swear I'm not being paid to talk about them, I just have always been a Pandora girl and recently discovered their magic and now I'm in love haha).

Then we had a mom and baby playdate with some friends! Bree got to play with her little friend and I chatted with mine, we enjoyed lunch and attempted naps and tired crankiness and baby giggles and snacks. Oh, and coffee for the mamas ha! We enjoyed some Dr. Seuss and now we wait for daddy to come home with groceries so we can make dinner.

I love this little girl so much. She teaches me lessons daily and wows my mind. She is so loving, compassionate, empathetic, and wild and crazy and wonderful! So here's my little ode to Bree, in our most recent pictures!

Homemade Olive Garden Dressing

    

 I went into the kitchen today to make myself a salad for lunch, and the only dressing at my disposal was less than savory in my opinion. Alas, I used it anyway and I was extremely disappointed in my lunch. Boo!

As I sat stewing about my icky salad dressing I remembered I had a recipe saved in my "mom binder" that I'd been dying to use, and I checked my cupboard to find that I had all the ingredients to make it!!!!

Who doesn't adore Olive Garden's neverending salad or the dressing that comes on it?! Ohhhhh my goodness.

A while ago I came across a link on Pinterest to make copy cat Olive Garden dressing but I'd just never gotten around to it.

You can read the original post at The Happy Money Saver, she has a bunch of yummy dressing recipes. I'm sharing the recipe and my short little journey making it here!

So first off, I gathered all my ingredients and my Magic Bullet cup (which ended up being the perfect size for mixing it all) and got to it!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1 packet dried Italian salad dressing packet
• 4  1/2 Tbs water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

(I didn't have any Parmesan, oops, so I obviously didn't include it.)

I also highly suggest listening to the "Sweet Songs for Sunny Days" 

playlist on Spotify when doing anything in the kitchen

It's pretty perfect.

Combine all your ingredients! Easy peasy!

And blend until well mixed!

And there you go! All finished. 

Store in any well sealed container, I had jars lying around so I used those.

Chill overnight for a stronger taste or just eat right away, whatever floats your boat.

And my favorite part, minimal mess to clean up afterwards!

Looking forward to yummy salads! Woo!

Thanks for readin' folks! You can find the Happy Money Saver's printable recipe here.