A Dreamy Reality

People who have spent a good few hours with me (outside of work mind you ;)) normally have a sense that I'm a bit of a dreamer. I have this world in my head that's full of castles, prairies, forests, doilies, flora & fauna, cottages and tree houses. Where people get together, have coffee or tea, swing on their tree swings, embroider or knit while donned in ruffled & lacy dresses. Groups of women get together to talk about how their family members are doing. Where kids say their prayers before bed and then nestle under a handmade quilt or afghan  that's been loved on so much it's edges are worn and have the sweetest of dreams.

Where women do the laundry, hang it out to dry & lovingly cook meals for their family with vegetables she's grown from her own garden. 

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This of course is a pipe dream - there aren't many who live in this kind of a world unless they are stuck in a century long ago and they would probably not be as comfortable as we are today with our washing machines, our air conditioners, our televisions, etc. But its a reality I play in my head nonetheless.

 It's also the kind of beauty I am attracted to and tend to decorate with in my home.

 It's eclectic but lovely at the same time :) I assure you ;). 

Today while on facebook I was reminded of this reality by the status of Flutterbydaisy, who was sharing a few recent listings... This number caught my eye: 

This would be one of the outfits I would rock while frolicking through my dream world. ^-^ 

The ruffles, the bows, the lace, the long hair... the hearts on the tights. I love it all! 

I enjoy the styling of FlutterbyDaisy's shop and decided I'd share them with you, to show you some of my world. :) 

I hope to share posts like this more often in the future. 

A fun way to paint my world and show it to you!

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What is your dream world like? 

Paint me a World...

My husband has been in high demand at work lately. Of course I selfishly want to spend time with him but when we've thought the weekend was ours work calls and either he leaves to go to the office or he goes into the study here at home and gets to it! Recently work called 5 times in one night, one of those calls was at 2:30 AM and I can tell you the guy on the other end was asking my husband to have reports for 7:30 AM's meeting. That was pretty crazy. I know it's not a forever thing and that it will pay in dividends in the near future, but I grew up with a different look at work. You went in, you put in your hours and then you came home able to leave what was at work at work. I think technology is to blame for those lines being blurred. I focus more on home than I do on work I'd say. Making sure the laundry is done so if  my husband has a meeting, the clothes he might need are available... the house to be somewhat presentable so if his boss or a client need to drop by we'd all be comfortable (no underwear hanging out in the bathroom now lol ;)) and groceries/meal planning bought and done so we have food to offer others and sustenance to get back to work or play. These things are important and I'm thankful that I can concern myself with them and that I don't have the kind of job where they call me at all hours of the day. I also count our blessings that he is doing so well that they call on him for the big projects... that being said, today he left for a trip that has him gone for a bit. :( What a bummer. But to spin the downer of being without my best friend for a few days to a positive... I made some art :). I made a treasury for the nonteam treasury challenge. A little bit of dreamy visual poetry to distract me. I'm a bit of a romantic it's true... and distance makes the heart grow fonder ;)... He'll be home before I know it.  :) Right?! ;)

Paint me a World...

Where I can be held in time with you...

Chipotle Chicken or Turkey Burgers

We were almost out of Mrs. Dash's Extra Spicy Blend and when I went to the grocery store to replenish our stash I spotted Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle next to the Spicy Blend! Heck yes I picked up one of each!

This recipe is super simple for those summer days when the grill is begging to be used or if you want the taste of summer in a cold day... this is sure to spice things up a bit! Pun, intended.

What you'll need:

 - 1 lb ground chicken (or turkey!)

- 2 Tspns Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle

- 1/2 Tspn Garlic Powder

What to do:
1) Mix ingredients well, shape into burgers.
2) Cook over medium high heat, turn burgers occasionally until they are done to your liking.
3) Top with Swiss (or Mozzarella!) Cheese and let it melt a bit before serving.

As a side I cut up some cucumbers and tomatoes, topped the veggies with Mrs. Dash's Original Blend to stay with the salt free theme. ^-^ It was a yummy meal and I appreciate that Mrs. Dash Blends bring the flavors but not the salt!

Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Home made Chicken Nuggets - the best thing since sliced bread. ;) 

Okay maybe not, but I can appreciate making your own of anything, then you can control the ingredients. And since you can never have enough recipes for chicken - why not chicken nuggets?

These were pretty tasty - you almost don't need to eat them with mayo! 

Which is saying something - because I love condiments!

Without further ado!

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Homemade Chicken Nuggets:

What you'll need:

- 5 eggs
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- Dash pepper

- 3 large chicken breasts

- 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
- 3 Tblspns grated Jarlsberg cheese

- Sesame Oil (or cooking oil with a high temp tolerance)

What to do: 

1) Whisk the Eggs, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder & dash of pepper in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

2) Cut up the 3 chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes, add to the egg whisked mix.

3) Add the Parmesan and Jarlsberg cheese to a Ziploc bag along with the chicken chunks and shake it up! (Think shake and bake ;))

4) Add the coated chicken to a medium/large pan and cook on medium high. Take care to turn the chicken and make sure all sides are cooked. 

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Crocheted Yoda Hat for a lil boys 1st Birthday Party!

A friend of mine requested I make a yoda hat for a boy she nannies - for his 1st birthday!

I got to tap into my cotton yarn stash to make this lil number :) A hank an a half later you have a yoda hat! :D

It was a treasure hunt finding a site that would give me an idea for children's hat measurements. I stumbled up on a blog called Alli Crafts and thought it had a really good layout and lots of helpful information - so of course I share the blog/link with you here. Though I didn't use her pattern the dimenstion for the diameter and the guide for the earflap stitches were helpful.

The ears.. well the ears were tricky for me. Which was kind of annoying because I was initally going off of Tangled Threads and Random Thoughts yoda hat post which you'll notice has a mere 3 lines to follow. Easy right? ;) One would think! I know I was busy chatting with my husabnd or sister and watching tv, but once I finally focused on the directions long enough to work up an ear and found it to be too short for the yoda look I wanted. I did a bunch of measuring, of photos of yoda's head, of my hat and realized something...Did you know that each of yoda's ears are about 75% as long as his head is wide? Pretty ridiculous. But he is a wise one - so the way I figure it - he learned to use his ears ;) listening more than he spoke. What do you think? :)

Armed with the knowledge of my own guage and then how long each ear would be I started with a chain of 26 and worked the ears like Tangles Threads and Random Thoughts instructed. Later folding the ears to my liking and attached them to the hat! :) Do you like it? I hope its a hit at the birthday party! :D

Low Carb Green Bean Casserole with Chicken

My husband likes green beans from the can. This is one of the first few things I noticed we had in common before we'd even started dating. So when I found this low carb casserole that called for green beans I had to give it a whirl. And yes, I found it on pinterest ;).

The original recipe is found here on Justapinch.

Here I'm sharing with you my variation :).

Green Bean Casserole with Chicken

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:

2 cans french cut green beans

1 can regular cut green beans No Salt & No Sugar (in an effort to cut down the sodium)

3 lbs ground chicken

1 cup chopped onion

1 - 26 oz jar of Bea's Brooklyn's Vodka Sauce 

2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

To taste:

-Garlic powder

-Pepper

-Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1) Pull out a 9 x 13 casserole dish and lightly sprinkle garlic powder on the bottom. Set aside. 

2) Open the cans of green beans, place them in a colander and towel dry if needed. Set aside.

3) In a large skillet add the chopped onion, stir until tender/translucent.

4) Add chicken to the skillet and cook until brown. Drain excess water.

5) Spoon about a third of the green beans into the casserole dish, then top with the chicken/onion mixture, then the vodka sauce and a third of the mozzarella cheese.  Continue layers until ingredients are exhausted. 

Sprinkle a layer of Parmesan cheese on top, then garlic powder and lastly pepper. 

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 until top layer is lightly brown. 

Enjoy!

PS - The mister said he thought it was pretty tasty. :) This is good. He's a very honest man ;). lol I myself appreciate the textures and flavors of this recipe. I've since found that this recipe reheats well too!

Candy Crush Encouragement

Has Candy Crush got you down? Are you stuck on a level that never seems to end?

Take heart fellow candy crushers!

Because life is to short to sweat the small stuff...

I thought it would be funny to make up this eecard - maybe its not funny now that I've called it funny though. I dunno ;) 

Keep crushing it my felllow candy crushers! :D

Love, Dawn

Coffee with Abe..

I'm having coffee with Abe this morning. Abraham Lincoln that is.

 He's got his shades on looking pretty cool so I call him Abe for short... 

because that's casual, you know ;).

Seriously cool Abe... 

Great way to start a day I tell you! Coffee with Abe since the mister was called into work today :( and since I couldn't have coffee with him I was glad to use his cup while he's gone ^-^
.. then I'll be wrapping up this trivet to ship out to Iowa..

There's a set of two smaller trivets with this same color scheme available in the shop if you're interested.

Later we plan to hang out with some friends for a bbq and since I've been enjoying taking pictures of just about everything these days hopefully I'll come back with some fun things to share with you! :)

Who are you having coffee with these days? 

Distillery, Winery & Brewery all in one day!

For our friends 40th birthday his wonderful wife put together a line up of places for us to visit in the area, complete with a bus that transported us from place to place.

The first stop was Catoctin Creek Distillery in Purcellville, VA.

When we walked into their main lobby I spotted these tiny barrels along side some of their own bottled  whiskey...

We made our way into the distillery room, feasting our eyes on numerous wooden barrels, a few others looked like they might be stainless steel barrels? My husband was quite taken with the distiller itself as was I. It looks very steampunkish... 

Here are a few more shots of the barrels and the room...

After she had so kindly given us our tour and tasting I asked the lady for a picture... that'd be me to the left. 

We were the last group they brought through for a tour of location.. they'll soon be moving to Main Street in Old Town Purcellville, VA.

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Back on the bus! 

Our next stop was Dry Mill Winery...

At the tasting.

Their decor was rustic and calming :). 

Rocking Chair on the patio... great place to relax..

                                 I saw these bottles sitting at our groups table and snapped a pic. 

              We actually drank a total of 6 bottles among our group before heading to the brewery. 

                                                                          They were yummy!

*****

MacDowell Brew Kitchen was next on our list... 

I'm assuming they serve Mud Hound Beer because they had this sign up!

There were so many things to see at this place! Including a beach area with a carved alligator! 

SEE...

On the outskirts of this bar I found a cute looking "Fish Fry" sign.

AND a Charlie Brown Lemonade Stand! Heck yes I had to share this! :)

Last but not least.. was their awesome use of  Barrel as a sink in the bathroom! 

I love this idea... and hopefully someday I'll have one of my own? 

 Or not, that's okay, because at least I have a picture of one... this is so cool!

I hope you enjoyed following along with a bit of the tour. I think I enjoyed the last stop the best because there was so much to see, I didn't take a picture of everything I thought was neat. At some point I became aware that I was really looking like a tourist. Haha. 

Until next time, stay thirsty my friends ;). 

♥ Dawn

And the line up...

The next yarn colors as I continue working on the harlequin pattern blanket aka the fall blanket are... 

I'm not going to list the names of each of the colors, I'll just let the photo speak for itself... As I was grabbing the colors and lining them up I got excited about the blanket all over again and want to share this with you! 

So here we are :) For you lovers of all things yarn I hope this helps you get your fix today. ;) 

I'm here for you - lol

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Are you working on a project this weekend? Would love to hear about it - how is it progressing? 

Craft on my crafty friends! ~Dawn

Vampire Bunnies Climb too!

See O.O ^-^ 

Have I told you lately I love my customers? Cause I do... :)

Thank you Micheal for sharing this photo with me to share with the rest of the world ;).
I always enjoy seeing the adventures my creations get to go on one they leave my hands :)
This photo rocks!

Want a Vampire Bunny of your own? Find him here. 

Or if you're crafty - the pattern for him can be found here for instant download.