House Tour

Ok, so we don't really live in a house, it's a cute little apartment, but it's where we call home! It's the perfect size for our little family & we couldn't be happier with it!

I've seen house tours on other blogs & I liked the idea to do one. We've been here a couple of months & still have a bit of work to do in the decorating department, but I wanted to get some photos up of what our home looks like before the holidays get here!

We really love our living room & most of all the couch. It was one of the home items we couldn't wait to purchase! I would still love to get a couple more pillows, but I just haven't found the perfect ones yet.

Another item on the future shopping list are a couple of bar stools. We have extra chairs in our garage for seating, but it would be so nice to have seating at the counter!

The foyer to our bedroom is one of my favorite little areas! 

Our bedroom is the one room that needs the most decorating attention. I need to hang photos, buy side table lamps & possibly do a some rearranging. Our dresser situation kind of bothers me. I don't have a photo, but our side tables are mismatched, but I kind of like it that way! They're the same height & same colors, so they go well together!

I will be sure to post more photos as I complete all the projects on my to do list. And of course I will share photos of all the holiday decorations, which I'm so excited for!

Happy Monday! :) XO

Yummy, Yummy

I've been really into baking & cooking some yummy dinners lately. One dinner I recently made took the cake. It was 3 cheese tortellini with spinach & tomatoes with a side of rosemary flatbread. The meal was really easy with minimal ingredients. Win. Win.

Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbread:

Pillsbury pizza dough
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Sea salt
Parmesan Cheese

Cut the dough into square slices
Heat about 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet or on a griddle on medium heat. After about a minute, add 3-4 pieces of dough (they should sizzle a little). I found it best to add the rosemary & sea salt before flipping because it allowed them to stick in the bread. Obviously, fresh rosemary would be best, but I used dried rosemary leaves & it was still delicious. Cook until golden brown. Remove from heat and sprinkle with parmesean cheese if desired.

Spinach Tomato 3 Cheese Totellini:

1 package 3 cheese tortellini
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups spinach
3 tbsp basil
2 tsp oregano
6 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese, for topping as well
Red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)

Cook the tortellini according to the directions on the package.

In a large, deep skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic & saute briefly, then add flour & onion powder and cook, stirring constantly, about a minute. While whisking, slowly pour in milk & heavy cream, then whisk together until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to simmer. Add the can of tomatoes, spinach, basil & oregano. Cook several more minutes until the sauce begins to thicken & the spinach has wilted. Add the parmesan cheese and stirr until melted. Remove from heat & mix the tortellini into the sauce. Serve with parmesan cheese & red pepper flakes if desired.

This recipe would work really well with any type of pasta & even some sort of meat added! I didn't used fresh herbs & it still tasted delicious, but the one fresh item you should use is the fresh parmesan. It will definitely add more flavor to the dish.

Happy almost weekend! I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did! XO :)

Friday Randomness

It's Friday! Or FriYAY! Or whatever you'd like to call it, either way... it's the weekend! :)

I baked the most delicious, chewy, gooey, chocolatey cookies EVER! Like seriously. The best piece of baking specimen I have every come in contact with. Nate literally uttered the words "this is the best cookie I have evvveerrrrr eaten." And that guy has eaten a lot of cookies in his life... including the 10 he ate in the few hours he was home.

The recipe is insanely easy too. Win. 

I'm also sweet enough to include it for you!

Triple Chocolate Pudding Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/12 sticks)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 packet instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips (obviously you can use whichever type of chocolate you prefer!)

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl with electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and beat on medium-high until creamed and well combined.

2. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the pudding mix, and beat on low speed until just combined.

3. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the flour, baking soda, salt and beat on low speed until just combine.

4. Stop, scrape the sides of the bowl again and add the chocolate chips and beat on low speed until just combined.

5. Using a cookie scoop form mounds of dough in balls and flatten slightly.

6. Place the mounds on a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. This will help the dough from spreading during baking.

7. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake for about 10 minutes. I did around 13-15. They will appear "uncooked" but if you test them with a toothpick the toothpick should come out clean. They will be gooey & delicious!

Moving on.

Friday has (for God only knows what reason) been grocery shopping day in our household for the last couple of years. We love it. I've mentioned before that going really late is the perfect time to go. Sadly, all our local grocery stores actually have a closing time & Nate has not been able to go with me the last six weeks. Boo, hiss.

So, I've had to go it all alone for a while now. Let me tell you, it's just not the same! We shop at Wegmans (shout out to you East Coasters) & we really love it. It's one of the greatest grocery stores on the planet, but there are a couple things I just can't get over.

Numero uno - Their cereal selection. Nate & I are cereal whores. We would live on cereal if it were possible. But Wegmans selection is sub par & I will literally march that aisle for 15 minutes and still be empty handed.

Second - The produce section. They have a great selection! A lot of organic & local goods which is amazeballs, but gosh darn it you have to weigh & print out a sticker for every single fruit or vegetable you purchase. It's an undertaking especially when you're like us & buy every produce item there is. It takes for. ev. er. You have to tag team that shit & I have had to go it alone tooooo long now.

I'm terrified of spiders. I mean true arachnophobia up in here. This morning there was a gigantic spider in our room. Big. Huge. ENORMOUS. I stayed calm & hollered to Nate. Problem solved.

A few hours later I'm in our closet putting away my clothes when I notice a "bug" on my shoe rack. Nate was long gone so I had to take care of the situation alone. It wasn't too bad since I knew it was not a spider, but I was positive it was a worm, centipede or mini snake. Naturally I grab another shoe to get rid of the critter. I slowly lift the shoe because I didn't want to make any sudden movements & I quickly go to take a whack and then I realized...

it was a shoelace.

Weekend plans? We're hitting up the public market & one of the local breweries.

Happy weekend to you all! :) XO

Dogs Are Explorers Too.

So, recently I was outside on our patio enjoying the the b-e-a-utiful weather, painting my toes a pretty shade of hot pink & minding my own biz. Next thing I know, our neighbor walks by with her little, white, fluffy dog, prancing all queen like on one of its frequent potty breaks. She goes on by as if I'm not sitting r i g h t there & lets that little thing lift its leg on one our newly planted shrubs right outside our apartment! Ohhhh, let me tell you, I was fuming.

But, I think to myself, "That shrub is brand new, and strong & I've watered it & loved on it, it'll be alright."

I may not have done the planting & clearly we only rent the place, but by golly I want our little section of rental to look darn good.  

No joke. 5 minutes later another woman walks right on by me & lets her little dog lift its leg alllllll over that brand new, strong shrub of a plant I've been loving on.

Needless to say, there are 3 leaves left hanging on by a thread only a week after it was planted.

I'm really glad Joe pees like a gentleman, or a girl, whichever way you want to look at it.

I've been filling my time with zucchini breads & creating holiday chalkboards for my shop.

The holidays. Oh so full of fun & cheer. And daunting & slightly overwhelming at the same time. But truthfully I cannot wait! Especially since we get to deck out our new abode. But enough of that! Too soon, too soon.

With Nate's current schedule it is a rare occasion that we actually leave the house other than to go for a run or to the grocery store. Since we only have a day at a time together we always really like to find something that we can involve the dog in as well. We recently traveled to Letchworth Park, which is the #1 state park in the country! Woot woot.

Super pretty, great hiking & I would highly recommend it. 

The one negative: other humans. Rude humans. 

Do not mince my words, I like people. People are great, but clearly we are all there to see the waterfalls. You take your peek, snap your picture, admire a brief moment & move on. 

Lets just say, not everyone got the memo.

Happy Tuesday! :)