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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Party

Today, I am tired. We were up late last night, celebrating Morgan's birthday with some friends. Paula's red velvet cake turned out to be scrumptious. She never lets me down.


Red Velvet... Morgan's fave


Liam tasting a lime. His face in this picture cracks me up.


Dear weekend,

Will you please hurry up and get here?

Love,

Lauren {& Morgan}


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Birthday Breakfast


We celebrated Morgan's birthday this morning with a cozy breakfast at home.


Morgan's breakfast of choice - homemade biscuits and honey :)

Presents!!!

Happy {birth} day!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Chair - After

We are finally finished with our chair!!! I am so pleased with the way it turned out.


First, the chair needed to be sanded. This proved to be tricky because the wood was thickly coated with polyurethane. Morgan rubbed it down in chemical stripper and sanded it all over again. Finally, the wood was prepped and ready to stain. We chose a darker wood stain to match the rest of our furniture. It took like 3 coats of stain to get the chair as dark as we wanted. And, since the weather decided not to cooperate, it took a few days for the stain to dry.


The new cushions are made of a white linen (Goodbye, eighties fabric!). The cushions took a while too, because I didn't really measure the inserts. (Note: Measuring is important.) But even the cushions eventually turned out nicely. We are so proud of this silly box chair. It was a team effort.



Tomorrow is Morgan's birthday!!! We have a special day planned, including a big breakfast in and margaritas with friends tomorrow night. I am going to attempt to make this cake. Wish me luck!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Engagement

Morgan's brother and his girlfriend got engaged today!!! The story is really cute. Apparently, their first kiss happened back in high school in their friend's driveway. Taylor went back to that house and asked if he could propose there in the very same spot. He spread rose petals on the ground. Morgan's dad hung out in the background, stealthily snapping photos. And... she said "yes"!


My engagement ring belonged to Morgan's grandmother. I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at it.


Congratulations Taylor and Pammy! We love you so much!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Green Biscuits

In case you ever need to know how to make green biscuits, here is the recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick of butter (cold)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
green food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Cut stick of butter into pieces and work pieces into the dry ingredients with your hands
3. Add food coloring to the heavy cream. How much food coloring is up to you and depends on how green you want your biscuits to be.
4. Pour heavy cream into dry mixture and kneed dough until it is no longer sticky. Form into a ball.
5. Use a flat surface like a cutting board and roll dough out with rolling pin. Fold the dough in half and use a round cookie cutter or a cup to cut biscuits out of the dough. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.
6. Place biscuits on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 450.
7. Enjoy :)

* Leave out food coloring for plain biscuits.

Hope you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day! We are still recovering from the massive feast we ate last night. My friend Anna made corned beef cooked in Guinness, green mashed potatoes, Irish soda bread, kale salad, and marvelous gooey butter bars. I am keeping the Tums close today.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Martha Thinks of Everything

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have to confess, St. Patrick's Day is one of those holidays I don't really celebrate. I don't look good in green. I don't think I have much of an Irish heritage. And I don't like corned beef or soda bread. But all I have to say is, thank goodness for Martha Stewart. She thinks of everything. Including this Irish coffee recipe. Yum.


Tonight we are having dinner at a friend's house. She is from Savannah, Georgia, where St. Patrick's Day is a Big Deal. I think I am bringing this Irish coffee. And green biscuits. :)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Home Sweet House

I finally have some pictures of the house we want to buy! I took these when we were there for the inspection on Monday morning.


The wardrobe in the master bedroom. I wonder if it leads to Narnia.


The house was built in 1910, so all the doorknobs look like this.


The closed-in front porch, also my favorite room in the house. It's so sunny and open. You can also see the giant red elm in the front yard. The tree guy (who was there trimming branches while we were looking at the house) said it's the largest red elm he's ever seen in Colorado!


I adore the hardware on the bathroom cabinets.

We love this house! It has so much history and character. I think we would be very blessed to call it home. :)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Spring Break

We just got back from Copper where we had some good ski action. I am so sore. I don't think I will be able to move tomorrow. And Morgan and I have matching sunburns on our faces, which will soon turn into goggle tans. We are just that cool.


The view of the sunrise from our cabin window.

I hope you are having a wonderful Spring Break. We are, minus the sunburns. I tried to take a picture of our sunburns, but the red didn't really show up in the photograph. Just use your imaginations :)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Saint Patrick's Day Parade

Today we went to the Saint Patrick's Day parade in downtown Fort Collins...



Bag pipes :)



As you can see, people get really into it...

Morgan and Liam (our friend John's son). 

Such a fun day! I love living in a town that celebrates silly things like St. Patrick's day. Monday, we are off to Copper for a few days. Then, we come back and tackle some projects around the house. In case you are curious about our chair, I am in the process of reupholstering it. Will I be sad to say goodbye to the 1980's Navaho-inspired fabric? No. No, I will not.

Happy Spring Break!!!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Few Things

Hi everyone :) I am cozied up on the couch, thinking I will turn in early tonight. But first a few things...

1. Have you heard this song? I love it.

2. We are going to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday. I am pretty excited about it. To say the least.

3. Spring Break is coming up next week. We are headed to Copper for more fun on the slopes. Since we can't go to the beach :)

4. The hunt for the perfect Easter dress starts now!





Sweet dreams, all :)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rocky Mountain Oysters

Snowing again this morning...


{Image by Shanna Murray via Mary Ruffle}


Last night was the Young Life Capernaum Hoedown at Sundance Road House. There was line-dancing. And Rocky Mountain oysters. For those of you who don't know, Rocky Mountain oysters are deep-fried bull testicles. That people eat. Morgan got me to eat one before telling me what it was. It tasted like chicken... Very chewy chicken.

Tonight, we are having dinner with some friends. Another Southern Dinner. I can't wait.

P.S. I am excited to say that we are thinking about buying a house!!! We finally found one that we love. I will post photos soon. Right now, we are still praying that God would provide money for the deposit and that all would go well with the inspection!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Hunting for a House

Hi friends :) I just shared a cozy morning with my friend Beka. We sat on the couch and ate granola and caught each other up on life.

I have a day off today. Morgan and I are going to look at a house. We have been trying to find a house for awhile now. In Fort Collins, mortgage payments are much cheaper than rent (for the same size place). But we have not been able to find "the one". We've looked at a lot of houses. They all need a lot of love. But we have yet to fall head over heels. I would like a house that makes me feel like this:



{print by Ashley G}

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Weather Games

Is it really Thursday??

What a crazy week. I am pooped.

Today, my friend Beka is coming for a visit. Morgan and I are taking her to Coopersmith's for dinner. Tomorrow, we may go to New Belgium and taste some beer. Or play outside if the weather's nice.



Speaking of the weather, it is totally playing games with my heart. I keep thinking spring is just around the corner. And then it snows again. {I wish I still had that sweet pink jacket}

p.s. We are hoping to work on our chair this weekend :)