Mexican Mastalski Night ~ 2008

Once in awhile, I get a hankerin' to have a Mexican Mastalski Night. This year, we did it in honor of my sister's birthday, her last year in her 20's! We were happy to have her and Brad here for the weekend along with my cousin's Nick & Alana and my goddaughter, Darian. I think the pictures speak louder than words, so I will just leave you with them!

Summer Lovin' : Dreamy Beach Houses

I'm in a beachy mood and I have been spending the afternoon drooling over these beauties!!

2 Months - Yikes!

Summer Vacation 2008


I can't believe its been almost two months since I updated! Not much has been happening though. Summer has flown by and I can't believe that when I get back from my upcoming vacaction next week, its already going to be August! Where does the time go?

Speaking of vacation, the hubs and I leave on Friday for here first:

Our Room

Then, we are off to here:

The Cape Cod National Seashore
and staying here:

The Whalewalk Inn, Eastham, MA

From Cape Cod, we are then traveling north to Vermont and staying here:

Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee VT

From Vermont, we will make the brutal 7 hour drive south and wind up "Down the Shore" and spend a few days in Wildwood Crest and Cape May, NJ.

And finally,
ending up here.

The Virginia Hotel, Cape May, NJ

Whew! It will be alot of time in the car (and gas money!)

But it should be a great time visiting friends and family.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to the Best Mom Ever!

Is it tradition that the richer you are, the bigger the hat is?

I hope everyone has a fun Derby Day tomorrow!

Smokehouse Pizza

After watching an episode of Sandra Lee yesterday, I thought I would try her method of pizza baking - on a gas grill. I bought the tin throw-a-way pans from the grocery store and poked dime size holes in the bottom all over the place.
Ingredients:
1 package Pillsbury Roll out Pizza Dough
1 Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 Pink Lady Apple
1/4 Sweet Onion
BBQ Sauce - I use Sweet Baby Ray's
Sharp Cheddar Cheese - White and Yellow

I pulled all the meat from the rotisserie chicken and mixed in bbq sauce to moisten it. I sauteed in a little olive oil, the onions, sliced very thin, and the apples, which I diced into small squares.

I spread the dough out on the tin pan, making sure not to push down the dough, you don't want it to poke through the holes. I had to trim some excess dough off from around the sizes. Spread it as thin as you can get it on the pan.

Place on pre heated gas grill from approximately 7 minutes, or until crispy on bottom and very light brown on top.

Take off grill and spread thin layer of BBQ sauce on , as you would tomato sauce. Sprad Chicken, Onions and Apples. Put generous amount of white cheddar cheese on top and fill in with a sprinkling of yellow cheese for color. Dust with a little salt and garlic powder.

Put back on grill, on top rack if you have one, for about 5 minutes or until cheese is done.

A Major Award!

Sorry, I couldn't resist myself. For all of you that know me, you know my addiction to "A Christmas Story" every year. This past Saturday, Joey won a "Major Award" at the annual Mummers Banquet which was held for the Murray Comic Club that he is a part of every New Years Day. Here he is receiving his award proudly. He thinks it should be hung in our front entryway. I have a feeling that I will win this one.

Table Setting

I thought this table setting that my sister did for Easter Sunday came out lovely!

New Design Challenge: Living Room

Here is the Living Room, at the beginning of our project. I painstakingly took down the chair rail myself (thanks to a razor and a butter knife!) and primed the walls. After deciding on the color that I wanted to use (Benjamin Moore Aura: Ylang, Ylang) I needed to come up with a design plan. I have been drooling over this magazine photo at the bottom of the post and I think it is what I am deciding to go for. Let me know your thoughts.

Recipe: Pineapple Stuffing

Pineapple Stuffing:
Perfectly paired with your Easter Ham

Ingredients:

1 can (20 oz. crushed pineapple)

1 stick soft butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

6 slices of bread, cubed

In a large bowl combine... Mix well and turn into about an 8" casserole (mine is square) Bake at 350* for about one hour or until golden brown and you can see it pulling away from the sides of the pan. You can test with a knife to be sure it is not runny in the middle.

Serve hot or cold. Makes enough to serve about 6 - 8 people

Finished product:

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope everyone has a happy and fabulous

Easter Sunday!

A few kitchen shots - before and after (thank god!)

One view of the kitchen eating area Kitchen: Before, gotta love those linoleum floors

Kitchen: After

Marathon Weekend

Literally! We had Allison & Brad, Nick, Alana & Darian come visit this weekend. They arrived at about 11 a.m. on Saturday and were gone by 8 a.m. Sunday. Not even 24 hours! But it was worth it, as we had fun and laughs as we usually do. Here are a few pics from this weekend.

Some Entryway Design Inspirations....

I love the curved huge front door of this home and the dark wood floors.

The double front doors, again with the dark wood; and the huge chandelier makes this front entryway so inviting.

Front Entryway: Before, During and After

Here is the front entry way before,

take note of the hideous wallpaper and 1970's railing.

Thank god the wallpaper is gone and hopefully it won't be too much longer that I will have to live with that iron railing.

Here is the project during construction. The linoleum flooring is ripped up and the wallpaper, or shall I say three layers of wallpaper is gone (Thanks to my mom & one long weekend project)

And finally, the after shot of entering the front doorway. The hardwood floors are a walnut and were purchased through
Avalon Floor and Tile in Philadelphia.

Our New Home - Turnersville, NJ

Well it looks like we are finally starting to get settled in. My Kitchen is completely done, my husband's home theater is almost done, just missing seats. Now we need to start working on our living room and sprucing up the outside. With the weather beginning to get more mild, we can really start getting outside and getting things done.

This picture was taken a few days after we moved in, in August, 2007.