Curling Farms

Well Miss Ella decided that she wanted to start this Monday at 5:20am!!!  My wonderful hubby dragged himself jumped out of bed to entertain the bean so I could catch a few more Zzzzz's.  I soon relieved him and now both of my loves are sleeping peacefully.  Back in April Josh and I grew a green thumb.  I planted an herb garden and hubby built me a planter box for some veggies...

 

-Chives-Rosemary-Lavender-Oregano-Basil-

-Lettuce-Cucumbers-Eggplant-

The herb garden did excellent and we used a lot of them for cooking!  I had big plans for the veggies but unfortunately they did not cooperate.  I can't decide if it was the veggies or their farmer.  So after choking down bitter lettuce and never seeing an inch of growth from the cucumbers I decided that I will just stick with the herbs and buy my produce elsewhere :(  

BUT WAIT!!!  The crop season was not a complete waste because yesterday I picked my first blue ribbon eggplant!!!!

-Haha!  I should have sliced it up for dinner last night!-

What I'm loving right now...

Philosophy amazing grace lotion & shower gel (Thanks mom for replenishing my supply)

My lime green faux fur throw

This little critter... our yorkie, Milo

and of course this face (ignore the bed head and look at the cuteness)!!!

Fabulous Four Day Weekend

Josh had a 4 day weekend and we were very busy!  On Friday morning we decided to go to Hunt Club Farms to pick out our perfect pumpkins.

I think I found the BEST little pumpkin :)

On Friday night we attended a family costume party hosted by our dear friends.  After carrying a tired and screaming baby in 3 stores, fighting deciding that we are NOT going to paint our child GREEN, we found our costumes...

Princess Leia, Yoda, Luke Skywalker ( my husband is such a trekkie)

On Saturday we ate lunch at the mall and did a little shopping, Josh even picked up a few things, can you believe it!!!?  Later that evening I went to P.F. Changs with my awesome mother-in-law and sister-in-laws... and little Sam :)  It was delicious and I always have good time with just the girls!

On Sunday morning Josh went to Rodanthe in hopes of finding waves, so Miss Ella and I put on our Sunday's Best and headed to church.  After a great lunch with family Josh and I went to an afternoon movie.

Josh also had Monday off and I wanted to go to Home-a-Rama at Ocean View but I was nervous to take Ella because she hates riding in the stroller, but if we let her walk she would be EVERYWHERE!  So before we left I ran up the road to a local baby consignment shop and found the perfect solution!!!

Where's Ella????

The baby backpack carrier worked great and she was actually excited to get in it!

Side note:  I want a room like this...

So easy even Devyn can do it!

           I try to be am domestic and all that housewife stuff so I am always looking for new recipes online and last night I stumbled upon a bread recipe that sounded so simple that I was immediately convinced that even I could actually make/bake it!  So at 8:30 this morning Ella and I put on our aprons and got to work.  When you see the pictures I am sure I won't knead to tell you how delicious it turned out.

Step 1

Mix 2 cups of water, 1-2 tbsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. yeast

and let it sit for about 10-15 mins. so that the yeast can do its magic.

Step 2

Add 5 cups of flour, 2 tsp. salt, 1-2 tbsp. butter and then mix all together and knead (adding flour to work the dough as needed), then place the dough ball in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth for a few hours.

Step 3

Once it has risen to the top of the bowl punch it back down (once again adding flour as needed).  Then separate the dough into two greased bread pans ( I only had one so I used a round cake pan and it worked just fine).  Cover and let the dough sit and rise in the pans.  After they have risen to the top of the bread pans bake at 350' for 35-40 mins.

BEFORE

AFTER

I enjoyed my slice with some delicious apple butter from Ashley Miller Baker's wedding :)

"I have a project"

So I received an email from my mom yesterday with the subject title "project".  If you know us then you know we are always doing some sort of craft.  Well she was surfing the web and came across hanging mason jar lanterns on Martha Stewart (watch the video on the lower right).  All you need for this project is any type of glass jar with a lip, 20 gauge wire, and wire cutters.  Well I jetted off to Taylor's (a local hardware store) and bought the wire while my mom pulled out the mason jars hiding in the dusty corner of her cabinet.  I will fully admit that about 5 minutes into the job we almost threw away the wire and smashed the mason jars, but after a few trial and error attempts we finally produced this...

~Before~

~After~

You can use a tea light candle or even fill it with sand and use a medium candle stick.  I also think that it would look pretty filled a few flowers.

What is a fun and easy craft that you have done lately???

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

I looooove Summer and everything about it, but now that Fall has quickly joined us I am excited about...

~Boots

~The Pumpkin Patch

~Cozy Sweaters

~Pumpkin Bread

~Colorful Scarves

~Beautiful Mums

~Wrapping up in a warm blanket

What are some of your favorite things about Fall???

Tuesday Tour

Today I decided to give you an exclusive tour inside The Curling Corner.  We bought a condo in Virginia Beach in 2007 and it was definitely a fixer-upper.  While it is small and nothing you would see in a magazine, we still call it our cozy home.  So enjoy your stay :)

Welcome

Dining table and computer nook

Kitchen #1

Kitchen #2

Kitchen #3

Downstairs 1/2 bath

Living room area

Top of the stairs

Ella's nursery

Ella's bathroom

Our bedroom #1

Our bedroom #2

Our bathroom

p.s. Dashboard Confessional's album, Dusk and Summer, was the perfect picture-taking music :)

Curling Acres

Hello on this dreary Monday morning.  Even though this week was filled with rain and gloominess, the sun managed to show its beautiful face on Saturday.  It was the perfect fall day for an outdoor wedding.  My dear friend, Ashley, married her bestfriend, Chris, at her parent's lovely home, Brown Wren Acres (check her mom out at tidybrownwren.blogspot.com). Here are a few pictures of their special day...

This is a picture of their fire-pit in their background!

Self-timer= perfect

On our way home we even came across these sign... How fitting!!

On another note,  Jack Johnson's album, On and On,  is the prefect music for Monday morning blogging :)