{SweetasaPea}

Drum roll please...

My Etsy shop is finally up and running! I've posted a few teasers, but please pop by my shop, SweetasaPea!

I have had so much fun creating these coffee cozies and look forward to the many future additions to my shop! Hope you like what you see and check back often as I will be updating frequently:)

Sew Long, Work Week!

Hehe-sorry for that cheesy title! I'm just a little excited for the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE parties and having friends over to our house {like, a lot}, but after several weekends of get-togethers, I'm kind of thankful for a few days of downtime! And when I say downtime, I mean a Saturday morning spin class, sewing with my mom and yummy dinners that require more than 30 minutes!

I'm looking forward to having a full weekend of making pretties to list on my Etsy shop! Yep, it's going live next week!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

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This is the Stuff

"In the middle of my little mess

I forget how big I'm blessed"

Loving these lyrics from Francesca Battistelli's new song, This is the Stuff. Every time I hear it on the radio I laugh because I can totally relate. Listen to it here!

Have a blessed Wednesday!

A Comforting Carrot Soup

A Sunday evening is the perfect time to try a new carrot soup recipe. I find it especially perfect when someone else (that someone being my mom) has already done the leg work and all I need to do is warm it up, place a couple of paninis on the grill and call it a night. But don't be fooled, as I would have gladly put in the time over my stove to cook up this warm, savory and absolutely perfect soup.

I don't use the word perfect lightly, either. Oh no, it literally pleased my taste buds to no end with it's comforting flavors and gentle creaminess. Like I said, we paired it with rosemary ham and sharp cheddar paninis, but it would easily be a classy accompaniment to a beef tenderloin. And yes, I am already planning its next appearance in our kitchen. That is, after I finish off the rest for lunch today!

Psst-the fact that this soup is so healthy is such a sweet bonus!

Carrot Soup
recipe from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Recharged

1/4 cup melted coconut butter
1 cup onion, peeled and chopped
6 cups sweet carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, passed through a press
7 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 tsp freshly ground white pepper
1 Tbsp sea salt
juice of 2 fresh oranges
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Place coconut butter in dutch oven. Heat over medium-high flame. Add onion and saute until soft. Add carrots, sweet potato and garlic. Cook until vegetables soften. Remove from heat and add chicken stock, pepper and salt. Return to heat over medium-high flame. When boiling, reduce heat and add orange juice and freshly grated ginger. Simmer for one hour. Using and immersion blender, puree soup. Ladle into soup bowls and serve hot.

I also added a bit of chopped chives and a touch of freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

Stop and Smell..er..Cut the Roses?

This weekend was such a productive, fun and relaxing few days! In large part, we dreamed about future landscaping plans for our front and back yard! I suppose the much welcomed warm streak we're having has got us focusing our attentions outdoors. Not only have we been itching to get our hands on our new yard, but the warm weather has got us drooling for Springtime!

With our home, we inherited a very large collection of rose bushes that desperately needed to be cut back. Remember them from the days of yore? While they had definitely seen better days, there were still some blooms when we bought it in early fall:


After getting some solid advice about rose pruning, this weekend we got to work on cutting down the old muck to make room for some new growth. What a great feeling to begin the process of beautifying the outside of our house!

After taking a beating of rain and frost this winter, here's what we had lining our front yard.



Pretty sad, huh?

But with the help of my parents, we were able to chop the old growth off pretty quickly!

And we're thanking our lucky stars that green waste pick-up is today because as you can see, our can is pretty full {ahem, understatement of the century!}.



The finished product is a slightly more bare front yard, which in a few months will be producing a bounty of lovely roses!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Happy Monday!

Hello, Gorgeous!

I have been one majorly clumsy gal lately. Three days in a row last week I dropped and broke something. First was our pepper mill, then the canister I keep flour in and then a juice glass. The pepper mill was by far the most disappointing, and not to mention messy!

Though my husband seemed less brokenhearted about our loss, considering he has been wanting a new one for some time now. Unfortunately, despite its sleek design, we could just never seem to get the grind right. So this morning we did some internet browsing and landed on the infamous Peugeot, which let's be honest, we've wanted for some time but have never wanted to shell out the beans for one.

Apparently we were swayed by all the awesome reviews (and a credit on Amazon!) because we now have our very own 9-inch Peugeot pepper mill being shipped this week! Isn't she pretty in that curry lacquer hue?!

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Happy Birthday, Chris!

To my husband,

Happy birthday, my Love! I am so lucky to be your wife! You always know how to make me smile with your willngness to work on projects around the house, scraping the ice off my car in the wee hours of the morning and pouring me countless cups of hot tea. You always make me laugh with all your silly voices, your "secret" candy stash in the glove box and your Jim Carey impersonations. I adore your fervent love for family traditions, affinity for great Halloween costumes and your deep desire to be a good daddy someday. You are one of a kind and I love you with all my heart!

Love, Kate

Birthday Weekend!

Happy Friday, lovelies! I can't wait to get this weekend started! Hy husband turns 26 tomorrow and to celebrate I am throwing him a poker party! It should be tons of fun, what with family and friends and a celebratory cigar!

Of course the celebration all starts tonight with a family dinner of his faves {his mom's lemon chicken and my mom's cheesecake!} and then some special surprises tomorrow. He is most definitely loved!!

Have a lovely 3-day weekend!

Psst-I can't wait to give him his birthday present! It's been a horrible secret to keep-though somehow I managed!

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Bedroom Talk

After living in our house for nearly 2 months, I have a nagging urge to finally paint our bedroom. We initially decided to focus on the downstairs since it's the area everyone sees the most and also to get a feel for what we wanted in our bedroom. I'm not gonna lie to you, it's been really hard to wait on this project! But, it gave us ample time to not only live in the space, but get a better grasp on how we wanted the whole project to go down.

I'm not saying I know exactly what I want for the master re-do just yet, but one thing I do have is a paint color and I'm excited! Details to come as this little project unfolds!

Now to find a free weekend! Happy Thursday!

{Curiously Strong}

Did you know Altoids come in flavors? Well it was news to me-and happy news at that! We each received a tin of our own for Christmas. Ginger for me and black licorice for Chris. They definitely pack a punch like the original, but have some flavor to go along with it, making the experience much more pleasant! I would highly recommend!

{Hers}

{His}

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Long Time Coming

Today's post brings with it a kept promise to delight you with new, healthy ventures in my kitchen! And yes it still counts if I made this last year and forgot to share is because this time around I tweaked the recipe just a tad and now it is really worth sharing! So may I present to you, Curry Soup, adapted from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook.

First of all, the ingredient list has the potential to intimidate, but don't let it! Every ingredient can be found at your local grocery store or at least be substituted for something similar. This is an easy, total comfort food. And my favorite thing about it...{wait for it}...the leftovers are out-of-this-world delicious!

And yes, I did take picture of the cookbook-because it was so tasty I just couldn't wait for pictures! And this is one recipe that actually came out looking pretty much exactly like it is pictured here, which can be hard to do:


Curry Soup
adapted from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook

1/2 lb. flat rice noodles
1 Tbsp. coconut butter or best quality olive oil
2 small sweet onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cashews, finely chopped
6 cups chicken stock
3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/2 tsp. sambal oelek or other chili paste
1 Tbsp. Javanese curry powder or regular curry powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp laos-also known as galangal
sea salt to taste
Juice from 1 lemon
2 cloved garlic, minced

1. Set noodles in a bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside while you prepare soup.
2. Place coconut butter in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat. Saute onion, cashews and garlic. Add a little stock if the pan gets too hot. Stir frequently and cook until the onions become soft.
3. Remove from heat and transfer to a Dutch oven or stock pot. Add remaining chicken stock. Add cooked chicken, sambal oelek, curry powder, laos or galangal and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat. Add sea salt to taste.
4. Pour off noddles. Rinse under cold water and drain, Add to soup and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Ladle into bowls and drizzle each bowl with a squirt of fresh lemon juice.

Serve with warm Naan-my favorite is the Garlic Tandoori Naan from Whole Foods! Enjoy!

The First Casualty

Casualty of moving, that is. I was very sad this weekend when I realized I must have either misplaced or lost my loaf pans during our move in November. And since all the boxes have been unpacked for ages and it seemed very unlikely that I could have misplaced them, my conclusion was that they must have been left at the apartment-you know, in that awful drawer under the stove where you store bakeware?

I was terribly disappointed as I had set my mind on baking our favorite banana bread this weekend. And then it occurred to me to try The Perfect Brownie pan I just received for Christmas! After all, it does claim to be useful for more than just brownies {remember this post?}.

And my oh my, it certainly did the trick! My banana bread came out perfectly portioned and didn't stick at all! It also turned out super moist since the cook time was reduced by almost a third. I was so excited about the results that I almost completely forgot about losing my trusty loaf pans.

So excited in fact, I even I took some pictures to show you how awesome the Perfect Brownie pan really is:

Here they are, my perfectly portioned little banana bread bites:)

Once they are cooled you just pop the included stand underneath the pan and the bottom lifts from the pan like so. Now they are perfect for serving!

Ooo, ahh:

And then, lo and behold, as I opened my cupboard to get a container to store my bread, I discovered this:

That's right, my loaf pans! Ha, I laughed for a good minute after seeing this. Especially since I open this particular cupboard every single day and could not remember they were being stored there! I guess sometimes it's hard to see something that's staring you right in the face. At least I got to use my brownie pan and am now hooked on trying it with other baked goods!

Tackling The List...One Weekend at a Time

Hello weekend! How very nice to see you...

You know, for being the first week back from the holidays, it was surprisingly pleasant. Well, besides the whole not being able to go to sleep at a decent hour all week and feeling crazy tired, it really wasn't too bad! And now that the weekend has arrived, my hubby and I have a list of house to-dos.

As his birthday is next Saturday and I am throwing him a poker party, we've yet again a weekend full of projects to tackle! {Fun!}

Here's what I hope to cross off of our list:

• Clean and organize the garage, where the boys will be playing poker.
• Install the two pendant lights in our kitchen. Both of which we've had for a few weeks but needed a specific piece before we could install them.
• Go to Ikea for large frames to house two prints I received for Christmas that will hang in our breakfast nook.
• Organize the spare room that is currently holding all of the things we have yet to find a place for in our new abode.
• Make a place for our fire pit so people can hang outside and keep warm.
• Steam and hem our living room window coverings.
  

It might not sound too lofty, but I can assure you that garage is a beast and it's driving my husband crazy! Wish us luck and enjoy this cozy, winterish weekend!

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All In The Label

Gah-I'm in love! What a perfectly charming way to include a return address on hand-written thank you's and such! I spotted this over on Young House Love and am now wishing I had one for myself. After all, it would be worth the investment seeing as our address is now permanent:)

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Planners Never Sleep

My oh my, this has been a busy week. But not to worry, I'm still sane-especially considering what I have on my mind lately. You know I'm a planner, right? And planners never sleep...well, figuratively, that is! So naturally, I've already got a head start on planning our anniversary trip/summer vacation of 2011!

Can we just take a second to indulge in the beauty of this lovely city...

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I've already got my sights set on the delightful food at Delancey, Top Pots doughnuts, visiting the original Starbucks, a romantic few days in the San Juan Islands, visiting my dear friend Lael in her hometown of Bellingham and so much more!! Cannot wait!

Small Things

Much thanks to my husband for expanding my ever-revolving list of magazine subscriptions! To my great delight, he gave me a new one for Real Simple and House Beautiful this Christmas! And wouldn't you know, upon opening up my first issue of RS, I was inspired by this simple little question:

What is one small thing that makes you happy?

The answers readers sent were so sweet and it got me thinking about the small things that make me feel happy. Of course these are so many, but here's what instantly came to mind...

1. Waking up on a rainy Saturday morning and having abolutely nothing to do!

2. That feeling right after I've gone grocery shopping and my fridge and pantry are fully stocked and perfectly organized.

3. Having fresh flowers in my house!

How about you? I would love to know what small things make you happy!

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Regularly Scheduled Programming

All the Christmas decor is packed up, my meal planner boasts clean, healthy fare and, let's be real, the traffic is crazy! I guess that means life is back to normal, 5-day work weeks and all. But it's not all that bad as there's plenty to look forward to this month, like regular blogs!

So grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and perk up, because it's a fresh new year!

And speaking of new year, anyone have any good resolutions or goals for 2011?

A big one of mine is to relax more-sounds crazy right? I want to enjoy more of the little things; long relaxing baths, out-of-the-blue 'I love you's' and spontaneous walks with our dogs. This year I will strive to appreciate the goodness in every day.

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Happy Twenty Eleven!

Happy New Year!! While I am gleefully looking forward to what this new year has in store, it is with a huge smile that I recall this past year. In so many ways we are abundantly grateful for the many good things the year brought us.

In 2010 we:

Bought our first house, which has been a desire of ours for a long time! It certainly took patience, but was worth every moment!

Bought a new car! A big one for us as we desperately needed a more reliable and family-friendly car.

Got a new puppy! Max has been a wonderful, even if a little chaotic, addition to our family! We just love the little guy!

I became a certified yoga instructor!

I completed my first half marathon!

Welcomed a new brother!

We witnessed our sweet friends get married!

The Giants won the World Series!!!!!

We took some really fun trips!

And overall prepared ourselves for a great 2011!! Can't wait to see what's in store! Wishing you heaps and heaps of blessings for the new year!