{top five: weird cravings!}

"Have you had any weird cravings?"

This has to be one of my top-asked questions since becoming pregnant.  (Well, lately it has been: "Are you having twins?") So to answer this very pressing questions, I have compiled this handy list of five food items that have been crossing my mind a lot.  No ice cream and pickles.  Mostly just really fatty, really greasy foods...which I suspect is my bad karma for eating annoyingly healthy for the past 2 years.  

The things I used to love (salmon, veggies, rice, coffee) have been replaced with more, um, high calorie grindage.  So without further ado...

1. Corn dogs

This is weird, considering I avoid meat and corn dogs contain God-only-knows-what kind of meat.  However, I have ate corn dogs for dinner at least 4 times in the last month...because {right now} they are just darn delicious.

{source}

2. Rainbow sherbert

Ice cream really isn't doing it for me.  Nope.  But rainbow sherbert?  OH YES.  That perfect combo of lime, orange and raspberry...e-gad gimme a bowl right now.

{so good}

3. Sugary chinese donuts

Okay, so this was an instance where I forced hubby to get me some -- asap!  I usually only eat these on rare occasion at super-unhealthy chinese buffets, but one night we were ordering Chinese and I had to have some.  So that was all I ordered:  one box, containing 10 sweet, sugary donuts.  Ate every one.

{yum-o}

4. ANY donuts!

I had all but given up on these sweet treasures!  But one day, while driving home from work, I just had to have one frosted, sprinkled cake donut.  There is still frosting on the steering wheel to prove it.

{happy things}

5. Blueberry pancakes

Okay, this one required a special trip to the grocery store last Saturday morning for a carton of yummy blueberries {healthy, right?} and some real butter {not the calorie-free spray stuff I usually use!}  Then my Hubby, who happens to make THE best ginormous pancakes ever made me a plate of yummy, juicy blueberry pancakes.  Mmmmmm just writing about them makes me crave more.... {cue Homer Simpson-like drooling.}

{foodiesfavorite}

So those are my top-most crave-worthy items for the moment.  I am really hoping to start craving some veggies soon!

So Mamas...what did you crave while preggo???

G

kitchen re-do: {a room to cook in}

Considering that before I got married I did not cook at all, it may seem strange that three years later I feel the most important room in a home is the kitchen.  The fact is...

 I fell in love with cooking

{and I'm trying my best to like baking as well.}  

Therefore, when we moved into our current home a year and a half ago I pushed pretty hard for a kitchen makeover!  Our shotgun-style home has pretty small rooms, but even so, the space in the kitchen was NOT being maximized.  I knew we could design better.

Here is a look at the {BEFORE}

I wasn't a big fan of the mustard-colored walls, white countertops, white appliances, white floor tiles...so we ripped it all out!

 And here is the {AFTER}

Pretty much we replaced everything: dark cherry, more visually interesting cabinets, granite countertops, natural stone floor tiles, stainless appliances...oooooh and do you spy my potfiller???  Yes, I do actually use it. :)

{BEFORE} : a strangely-placed refrigerator (you had to walk sideways to get between it and the tiny center island.

 {AFTER} : We instead did a peninsula, allowing for more counter space, and put the sink in a spot where I could look in on the dining room...instead of facing a corner full of cabinets!

Uh, the TV above the Ikea metal shelf (aka pot rack, $15) was completely my husband's idea.

I never always watch it. Hey, I spend a lot of time in there.

:)

So that is my kitchen...a place I love to cook in - or at least spend a lot of time trying!

Happy Monday!

G

{attempting to focus} : my new camera!

For Christmas I received a gift that I have longed for, wished for, dreamed of for quite a while...

...a digital SLR camera!

My husband's parents gifted me the fabulous Canon Rebel XSi (which my wedding photographer had recommended to me as being her pick for a humble beginner, such as myself.) I just might possibly have the best in-laws EVER.

I love it and feel incredibly blessed!

Sadly, for the past two weeks I have had a awful flu/cold, so actually figuring out how to use the camera has been low on the priority list.   Not that I didn't try.  

One day, lying on the couch in a Tylenol stupor, I was reading a book I bought at Barnes and Noble (B&N to the those who know) that revolves around how to use the Rebel.  I was seriously geeking over this book!

Then my dog came over...

He was curious about what I could possibly be doing besides playing with him???

{Please forgive his nasty mouth. We bath him, really.}

Well, I was reading about focus...

...and then, being unable to, um, focus I was obliged to pet my precious pup...

...and his nasty snout.

G

{decor dreams} two thousand eleven

I like to dream big.

Now that I'm pregnant and spend a ridiculous delicious amount of time napping {I completely adore you Baby for this!} I also spend a lot of time dreaming and planning various home design projects...

Here are my Decor Dreams of 2011:

1.  Baby's Nursery!

It will go in this space...

This is one of the Jack and Jill bedrooms on one side of our 2nd floor.  We currently sleep here.  I have so many cute plans...but we will have to wait and see if we are having a boy or a girl. 

So, when Baby sleeps here, where will we sleep?  That brings us to #2...

2.  Master Bedroom Suite Redo!

This is the room we will one day sleep in...

currently the guest suite.

Pretty boring!

• Going to revamp with:   New wall color! 
• Our modern bedroom furniture, adding a few pieces.  
• Rip out carpet and refinish hardwoods underneath
• California-style closet design
• New window treatments.  Thinking bamboo shades...bliss!
• Dual vanity -- I we need more counter space!
• New tiled shower.  With rain shower fixure.  Uber -bliss!
• Updated floor tiles.  Something more spa-like and less, well, white.  Yech.
• I better stop dreaming there...that already sounds like more than we can handle!

3. Finish my photo wall!

You can't really tell, but these three photos take up a very small portion of a very large wall as you ascend our steps.  These same three photos have been all by their lonesome for the past year.  Honestly I have more pictures and frames...why is it so hard to get them up there?!?!  Oh yeah...I have a beautiful little being sucking the energy out of me sharing all the nutrients I lovingly scarf down. :o)

Okay, enough dreaming for me...for now!  

What are your decor dreams for 2011?

G

spruce up your champagne toast!

I'm a sucker for champagne.

(Especially on New Years Eve!)

However, on this low-key New Year's night I will have to pass on the bubbly, with a bun-in-the-oven, after all. Yup, I am sticking to Pellegrino...but that doesn't mean our guests have to!

I'd like to share a cute way to make your champagne toast a little more fun and festive. First of all, let me say that one of my favorite holiday purchases this year was this rosemary "tree." I'm sure you noticed them at the grocery store: cute little shrub, looks like a pint-sized Christmas tree, smells like hhhhhheaven? Yeah, I bought one of those little lovelies. I set him on a small plate {to catch drainage} wrapped his base with some festive garland, and delighted in the fact that his black plastic pot acted as a fun little chalkboard:

Cute, right?

Back to the carbonated loveliness that is champagne. I found this garnish idea on a sweetener ad last holiday season, and finally am able to do it! {I am a firm believer of ripping pictures out of magazines and shamelessly using the ideas. Admit it. You do it, too!} Plus, this gave me an excuse to use my favorite stocking stuffer from hubby -- my herb mincer! Ain't she a beaut?

You'll need:

fresh rosemary (1/4 cup finely chopped and 1 small sprig for each champagne glass)

1 tsp lemon zest

1/4 cup water

several packets of all-natural sweetener

To make:

1. Combine chopped rosemary, lemon zest, water, and 1 packet sweetener in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Empty shaken concoction into a glass.

2. Take a sprig of rosemary, dip in mixture, allow excess to drip off.

3. Sprinkle the sprig with sweetener until a layer of "snow" covers it.

4. Set sprig on rim of champagne glass, fill with champagne -- or in my case, Pellegrino! -- and serve. Enjoy the Christmasy aroma with every sip!

PS: For some extra zip, pour a little of the mixture into the glass with the champagne!

Happy New Years Eve, my friends, old and new!

G

thirty before 30 #5: a secret revealed!

I am terrible at keeping secrets...

...especially those wonderful, happy, ridiculously awesome secrets worthy of shouting from the rooftops!

But now, since we have finally told the rest of our immediate family and most of our dear friends, I can share with the rest of the world...

I am pregnant!!!

People keep telling me life is about to change...but it already has! I have traded in my wine for ice tea, my afternoon Red Bull for unreasonably long naps, my size S clothing for, well...let's just say more loose-fitting attire.

Yes, life has changed already - and will change much more!
We are ready {as we'll ever be}!
Change is definitely oh-so-good in this case!



{we can only pray that baby has my ginormous head}



Oh, and did I mention I'm done with my first trimester? Yes, Baby and I have made it through 12 weeks together.

{the little one waving at you}

Some answers to some questions you may be dying to ask:

• Yes, we are going to find out the sex, and yes, we will share that the world!
• Yes, we DO have our girl and boy names picked out, but unless you are my sister you will not know until baby has been born. I know, annoying, right? :o)
• Due date = July 12th, 2011
• Yes, you can rub my tummy! Please do!

So that is #5 on my list of Thirty Before 30 checked off: get pregnant. {This was definitely my hubby's favorite - ha!} I had to keep it a secret as we really had no idea when it would happen. Turns out first official try is a charm. :)

Welcome, Baby Ford - to the world, er, womb!

G

thirty before 30 #10: hostess a wine tasting

{wine enthusiast}

I consider myself a lover of wine. An oenophile, if you will.

:o)

I've always wanted to host a wine tasting, but since my energy has been down to nil and planning/executing a large party seems a little overwhelming at the moment, I decided to incorporate a mini-tasting into a small gathering of girlfriends last Saturday night.

The style I chose was simple, as my guests were admittedly novice wine drinkers: three different varietals, from three different vintners, paired with three complimentary cheeses: Swiss with the pinot, cheddar with the cab, and {my personal favorite} g-g-g-goat cheese. LURVE!

I led the tasting, poured the wine, shared my meager technical knowledge, and had a lovely time doing it all! :)

Have you ever hostessed a wine tasting?

What type was it? I would love to do this again on a grander scale, and would value any advice you might have!

Another item accomplished on the {30 before thirty} list - phew!

Salute!

G