busy season projects: done

During busy season this year, I came up with a few projects to keep me occupied while T crunched away at all hours of the night.  The projects were as follows....

1. New duvet cover and pillows -- see below
2. Cafe curtains -- check!
3. Change all doorknobs in the house -- see below

All are now complete!  Here is how the duvet cover turned out.  Someone named T. Dudley REALLY likes it. Seriously.

I sewed the top together, and then my good friend Amy, whom I met at BSF, helped me put it all together with button holes and the whole deal.

The doorknob project was including changing the hinges, but that's a two person job.  New doorknobs make things feel so fresh and clean (well maybe if you'd experienced the old ones).  They all look like this:

Even the guest bath looks so much cleaner (with our beautiful yellow tile).

The sliding closet doors were a little more tricky because they don't make the exact size of the old ones...

[nice, eh?]

But my dad's dremel tool came in handy, and I proved to T that these new handles wouldn't be rigged (right, buddy?).

[sorry for all iPhone photos.. one day I'll try to use a real camera again]

3rd busy season down.  Now time to veg out with the man and pup and enjoy each other!

lemon orzo soup

A couple weeks ago, Audrey invited me to attend a soup swap her sister was hosting.  I didn't want to make a taco soup or chili or anything that someone else might make.  One time, Leslie made this Lemon Orzo soup that was delicious, so I went with that idea.

Got the recipe from my good friend Jesse, and she had a couple different recipes for it.  One from Rachael Ray, and one that she had figured out that tasted like Cafe Eclectic's Lemon Greek Soup [mmm].

I kind of meshed together the two different recipes--I wanted to use orzo, and she used rice, I wanted to use the whole egg instead of just yolks... etc.  So here is what I ended up doing (of course tripled for soup swap).... and it was a delicious!

Lemon Orzo Soup
2 (32 oz) containers of chicken broth
1 cup orzo pasta
Juice of 1 lemon
1 large egg

1. Boil broth.
2. [In the meantime] beat eggs together with lemon juice in a bowl.
3. Add orzo to boiling broth and cook to directions on box (8-9 minutes).
4. Temper the egg-- pour 1-2 c of hot broth into bowl and whisk in the egg.
5. Pour back into pot and stir.
6. Add some fresh ground pepper.

one busy season project done

I find it's good to have projects to occupy my time after 5pm while T is still crunching away for a few more hours.  I mean of course I could sit in front of the TV waiting for him to come home, but trust me, that gets old after the first week.  So, I've come up with a few projects [as previously mentioned], and last night I finished the first!

Cute little cafe curtains for the window over my kitchen sink!

And here is a peak at one of my other busy season projects....

[sorry for all iPhone photos...]

it's girly, of course

Everyone thinks of Valentine's Day when they think of February, right? Valentine's day = pink, red, hearts, love, etc.  I'm not usually a pink or frilly person, but I secretly love when February comes around because I'm forced to be a tad more girly.

Last year I hung these cute strings of hearts in our kitchen window, and they are back up!  Bring a little extra love to ol' fiesta.

February also equals halfway through with busy season, which means I need to get going on my projects if I want them completed by the middle of March....

February desktop comin' at ya!

February 2011 desktop: 1024 x 768

February 2011 desktop: 1600 x 1200

February 2011 desktop: 1680 x 1050

Raise your hand if you've already found the cutest card for your valentine? [hand raised]