I moved my blog!

When I say I moved my blog what I  mean is my husband moved my blog.  He’s amazing.   The new address is  http://www.fancynonsense.com This will allow us to do more here at Fancy Nonsense, and when I say us, I mean me, unless I get some awesome intern for the summer.

So if you are an RSS feed person or a Google reader person or and email notification person, I wasn’t able to transfer you automatically.  So go check out my new spot, you don’t even have to get off the couch.  Just like a new house it needs some love, but I’ll be all settled in no time.

Tuesday Treasure at Trader Joe’s : A Simple Valentine’s Day Breakfast for Lovers

Maybe it’s just my stage of life of parenting small people, or maybe it’s because I’m more of a morning person, but the thought of a lounging breakfast with strawberries and chocolate croissants with the one I love sounds so amazing. It would be a fantasy to sit and drink coffee for 4 hours, read a book (or a blog), laugh about our life, and plan for the next 6 months.
So today I bring you my simple fantasy.

These chocolate filled croissants are so simple.  You put them out the night before, wash them with egg in the morning, then they cook for 25 minutes. While they are cooking or the night before, slice your strawberries and make your coffee.  Happy Valentine’s Day to you.

May you find love and love find you!

9 Months to Make a Home: Weekend Laundry Room Update

The laundry room is starting to take shape!

Two weekends ago

Hazel, while eating In-and-Out french fries, and I were able to clean the dust and grime off all the walls, and start prepping for paint.

Loren and a a great friend (check out his family’s blog) with lots of power tools were able to cut an Ikea counter top to put over the washer and dryer.

We are going to re-purpose these drawers from Ikea that were in our shed for the laundry room.  They will go on the wall opposite the washer and dryer.  And we will buy a smaller counter top to go over these that will match the other side.

With the kids help, we cleaned and set up the drawers.

If you notice behind Hazel, we had an old gas pipe hanging out of the wall from when the room was our kitchen. We met a great handy man named Scott, who we now keep on retainer. He removed the pipe and is now working on patching the plaster walls.

This Past Weekend

We were able to get started painting!  Like I have mentioned this room used to be the kitchen.  So to cover up the grease stains that the gross flat paint soaked up, we primed the whole room.  Hopefully we won’t need to spend time priming in our other rooms, it’s sooooooooo boring.

Here is Loren hard at work.

And here is the room all primed.

I’m sure you are wanting to see the colors.  We aren’t quite finished painting, but when we are I can’t wait to share.

A Perfect Moment : Lemon Granola

You know when you get those fleeting moments that feel like perfection? Like when there is a perfect sunset on the beach, and you are with the one you love. Or when your two year old looks at you with big blue eyes, says something in a toddler language you don’t understand, and then gives you a big hug. You never want those moments to end or leave or change, but inevitably they do. I hope that heaven is filled with moments like that. Just one perfect moment after the next.

This morning my perfect moment was in my bowl of warm homemade granola. The recipe came from my friends blog, 5 Little Homesteaders.  I of course started making the recipe before checking to make sure I had the ingredients.  And  of course I did not.   So I improvised, (my favorite thing to do ever) and subbed out cooking oil with lemon infused olive oil from Trader Joe’s.

I then omitted the cinnamon because lemon and cinnamon sound gross together.

Let me tell you this stuff is delightful.

Bored at work? I need your input on a project!

Okay! So during a perfect moment, of a baby’s morning nap, and a toddler watching Elmo, I was able to peel off the contact paper on these shelves. My plan was to paint the inside shelves a beautiful green color. But after pulling up the contact paper I am finding that the wood shelves are starting to, shall I say splinter? See pictures below.

Would you spend the time sanding the wood and continue with the paint idea? Or would you paint everything but the shelf and find some awesome vintage wallpaper to cover the mess? Can you help me decide? Post a comment, email me, put in a comment on facebook, send a smoke signal. I’d appreciate your help.

9 Months to Make a Home : Month 1 The Laundry Room

We are getting ready to start our second weekend of projects in the laundry room. Much like I was when I was pregnant,  I keep reminding myself that this will all be over in 9 months and we will have a beautiful home to enjoy at the end of all this work.  At the end of a long day the last thing I want to do is put on my paint clothes and go to town for the next three hours.  But I think that’s the only way we are going to get anything done around here.  I need to start having a coffee instead of a beer around 5 pm and push through till 10.  I think I will start seeking friends to help.  Anyone? Anyone?

We started with the laundry room because it’s in the center of the house. It won’t cost a ton of money, and it’s small and seemed like an easy win that would also benefit the function of the house.   This room is also a hallway.   And when we first moved in, this room was our kitchen. (A very small kitchen)

Here are two horrible pictures of it before we moved in.  We will call these the Before Before pictures. I tried to find some pictures of the way we had it set up after we moved in, but I just can’t find any.  Even though this kitchen was small, we made it so functional the only time I noticed the size was when I needed counter space.

This will sound crazy to people who live in new homes.  It sounds crazy to me even now.  But to create a more functional house we switched our kitchen and laundry rooms.  The laundry room was way bigger than the kitchen and right on the backyard.    (Pictures of the kitchen to come in the kitchen post)

Here are the before pictures of the Laundry Room

This seriously makes me cringe.  It’s not until I see a picture of my house that I judge it.  I now understand why there are so many blogs and pins out there about organizing.  CLEARLY I HAVE READ NONE OF THEM.  But in an effort to humble myself I will remember that these are before pictures and now that I know I have a problem you can all help me fix it.

The plan includes :

• Remove some old gas pipes
• Add a shelf over the washer and dryer
• Paint all surfaces
• Add storage
• Improve lighting
• Add a carpet runner
• Hang pictures on the wall

Click through to my  laundry room Pinterest board to see where some of the ideas are coming from.

 

 

Tuesday Treasure at Trader Joe’s: Valentine’s Day for the Single Ladies

I dedicate this post to all my single girlfriends who will most likely not be swept off their feet this Valentine’s day 2013. If prince charming get’s caught up and doesn’t come for you, don’t worry Mr. Trader Joe will serve it up at home.

Up first, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, paired with Olive Tapenade, on Crusty Bread.

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Recipe

This is to be made ahead of time. It can sit in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.
Ingredients:
1/2 a jar of Trader Joe’s Julienne Sliced Sun Dried Tomatoes with oil
4 cloves garlic (or more if you are up for it, you won’t be kissing anyone anyway)
3 cranks from a salt grinder
1 1/2 handfuls of toasted pine nuts

Add all ingredients to a food processor until combined. This whole recipe takes no longer than 10 minutes. IT WILL NOT DISAPPOINT.

Now, the night of, bake a par-baked ciabatta or open a box of Pita Bite Crackers and spread the pesto and the olive tapenade all over it. My mouth is watering.

Grab a bottle of Dearly Beloved I Thee Red wine.

I picked this wine because it has a big skull on the bottle.  No sweet little hearts to muddle the night. This is a not overly sweet, coastal, red blend for $7.99

And now for the Truffle Brownies.

As you can see I omitted the main dish for this night.  Why bother yourself with cooking when all you want to eat is bread, wine, and brownies anyway?  And these brownies are the mother of all brownies in my opinion.  They are easy to make and delicious to eat.  If you like coconut oil, substitute it for the butter.  Coconut oil has more fat than butter so that can only mean coconut oil will make the brownies better, right?

Don’t forget to grab some flowers.

I have a prince charming,  but I’d be waiting years for flowers if I didn’t buy them myself.

No matter what your dating status, I hope you find a way to celebrate all the  love you do have in your life.   And if you happen to be a Prince Charming reading this, (and not a single man dweeb)….grow some man courage,  find a lady, and go have yourself a good time.

Hearts

It’s February! Today while I was driving to Home Depot for the 4th time this weekend I had one of those out-of-body moments when you can’t remember what year it is. Is 2012 really already over? Are we really into our 2nd month of 2013. I had to verify with some friends as I was still not sure by the time we had our Super Bowl party.

I am excited about this month. There are a few things going on. My daughters 2nd birthday, Valentine’s Day, working on our “making a home” project, and I’d like to do a small give-away to help welcome spring! Let the fun begin.

9 Months To Make A Home

Things get neglected when one is pregnant, and I have been pregnant for what feels like the past 3 years.  So you can imagine all that has been neglected.  Top on the list is our house (a close second would be my wardrobe).  We moved into this house the month I found out I was expecting Hazel, our second kid.  The “nesting” I had was less about hanging pictures and more about making no-bake cookies. By the time we were getting back on our feet from Hazel’s newborn phase I got pregnant again with our third kid, Trevor. The house as of now functions as a place to eat, sleep, and play, but it doesn’t yet have the makings of a home.   We are just now getting back on our feet again, Trevor is now 6 months old, and I really want to make this house a home.  I want hooks for everything, bold colored walls, empty hanging frames, order and beauty to take hold of this house.

The Idea

Instead of making a baby this year we are going to make a home.  We are going to tackle this house by taking one room a month for nine months.  We don’t have a lot of time or a lot of money to make everything perfect.  But we are going to do our best to make this house more functional and beautiful.  This house is a great start.  It is a 1926 bungalow and most of what it is lacking is color, attention to detail, and making sure everything has it’s place.  Many of the walls are bare. There are blankets piled up in corners, make shift cabinets in the kitchen, and many unfinished projects.

I am humbled when I look at the “before” pictures and honestly a bit embarrassed at what my house really looks like.  Sometimes I can pretend that my house looks great and Real Simple could come in at any moment to put us on the front cover.  But that’s just because I get used to looking at things so long that I don’t see them anymore.  Or I have given up the fight of finding a home for them.    I want the house to exude hospitality, functionality, beauty and love.  An example of hospitality would be the proper lighting in the front yard that would welcome friends. Functionality, would be hooks for coats, and backpacks and the right equipment to store my washi tape and spray paint.  Having the house full of beauty and love might be more abstract. But I hope it will come through in our design and in how we use the actual space to create community with each other, our children, and our neighbors.

The House

We live in a 1926 bungalow in the heart of Phoenix in what I think is to be the best neighborhood ever!  It’s called, The Coronado Historic District,  and it is full of architects, artists, activists, entrepreneurs, innovators, firefighters, and people who care about their neighbors.  One thing I am thankful for is that it is also made up of many families who have decided to have one parent home with the kids.  Since I stay home with my brood, this has created a rich community for us during the week.  Living here has been one of the sweetest times I have known when it comes to knowing/loving my neighbors.

This is when we moved in 3 years ago.

The Plan

List every possible project we want done in each room.

Pick one room a month and get as much as we can complete.
Take photos and share with you on our progress and how we have come up with some of our ideas.
Get your input on things we aren’t sure about.
I am so thankful for this house, and we are excited to make it a warm inviting home.

Tuesday Treasure at Trader Joe’s: Babble Wine $6.99

This weeks Trader Joe’s Treasure is a bottle of wine called Babble.  #1 Reason to drink this wine, it says it has hints of bacon fat!  Check out This Confetti Life for her great review and photos of this wine.  She said it all so well I thought it silly to duplicate.

This photo is from http://www.thisconfettilife.com click the photo to go to her awesome blog.