New Shower Curtain

So I have decided to try and make the house just a little nicer, homier (not really sure of the word I am looking for). This could be adding curtains, artwork, pillows, or some type of character to a room,  a little bit at a time. I have been told that our house is very inviting and warm, but sometimes it just doesn't feel that way to me. And honestly I get very tired of looking at the same old stuff, so sometimes change is good.

Before we moved into our house we owned a condo and while living there we bought a very nice Nautica Denim Shower curtain. Yes it is actually a very nice lightweight denim fabric. When you are a poor college student spending the type of money we actually spent on this shower curtain was a lot, but we really liked it and it went with the casual feel of the condo. Fast forward a couple of years and now we have a house. I took that shower curtain because:

1. The buyers of the condo were jerks and I wasn't going to leave it for them.
2. The shower curtain was expensive.
3. I wanted a shower curtain to hide the hideous avocado green tub we inherited in the house.

Here is the denim shower curtain. I was so excited to get the new one up, I forgot to take a before and after picture. So here it is on the floor, with Abner checking it out, and me probably telling Abner he better not pee on it. :)

Here is the new shower curtain. I had originally thought I was going to do a white shower curtain since the bathroom can be a little on the dark side. The room is long and skinny, there is a decent size window, but the room could still feel dark.

There is no flash or anything, but just replacing the dark blue curtain with a lighter one has made that bathroom much brighter already.  I love the design as it is something, but not over done. And I love that there is a hint of a coral color in the flowers for just a pop of color.  It is amazing what making a simple change, like changing out a shower curtain, can do for a space. The change made me happy and that is exactly what I am looking for.  I have more ideas for stuff I would like to do in that room so stay tuned for eventual updates.  And eventually we will redo the ugly tile and tub but that is a lot of $$$$$ , time, and not to forget marriage stress.

Pinterest Challenge #10

I am going to say this is a Pinterest Challenge because I learned about the book while looking at a particular Pinner on Pinterest.

Becky|Clean Mama is amazing and I love her book! It is a book that has natural cleaning recipes, using vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, etc. I love the idea of cleaning my house but not using all the nasty chemicals  to do so as they do make my asthma unhappy.

Her book- The Organically Clean Home

This book is amazing! It is divided up into different sections like Kitchen, Bathroom, Garage, Laundry, etc. I have been trying a couple of recipes out of the book since I got it and have been very happy with the way it seems to work, but even more importantly my lungs are happier while I am cleaning since I am not using the harsh chemicals.

So one day I decided to wash down the bathroom cabinet in the Master Bathroom. The pictures don't really do any justice to the actual result, but you get the general idea.

Before

After cleaning and polishing

The results aren't well seen in the pictures above the the color is richer and the wood just looks happier.  

If you are looking for a way to clean your house without all the chemicals, you need to check out her book.

Pinterest Challenge #9

Okay,  this whole blogging thing....I kind of suck at it. I am not good of updating things on a regular basis. But for those of you who do read this collection of very random things, thank you for putting up with me.

So I saw this pin on Pinterest about removing the black marks on your dinner plates. I thought I love that idea as my plates are covered in those. But then I had this little voice saying to me, "those marks are on there for good, good lucky trying to remove them, hahahahaha".  Well needless to say, I tried this little tip and I can say that the voice that was laughing at me is now silent. There was success!


Here is a bowl that I tried this on:

Before-see all the little black scratch marks

After

I say that is a success! I used Bar Keepers Friends like mentioned in the pin. I have used this product before on pots and have always been happy with the results, but this is the first time I have tried it on something different.

I also did a plate and another bowl, but didn't take pictures. The results were just as impressive on those as well. So now I am slowly going through my entire stack of plates and bowls a few at a time and scrubbing them down. I use the Weiman Cook Top Scrubbing Pad and really like them.

So if your plates and bowls have those annoying little black scratch marks, give Bar Keepers Friend a try! Our Bed Bath & Beyond had the powder canisters for $1.99 each.

Rambling on Motivation and Making Changes

I so badly need to lose weight. I know lots of women say that. We are usually our harshest critic. But I really do, I have become much rounder than I had realized and that isn't good.  The problem....motivation to do something about it.

How do you become motivated to go workout everyday? I know I feel better after working out, even though I am usually sitting right afterwards due to trying to go on my lunch break. But I haven't been that successful in going during my lunch. I hate going after work, because I have things I need to be doing at home.

I could work out at home, with one of the numerous videos I have bought over the years, but am not good at being consistent with that either.

I know I need to make a change, and I do good for a little bit, but never maintain it and am never consistent.

What do I do? Any thoughts on being/becoming motivated, or maintaining that motivation?

Pinterest Challenge #8

Okay, so I have fallen off the wagon at bit. I think about doing a challenge, but there is just no motivation to do something.  Just in a slump right now.

I did make a recipe last week that I found on Pinterest. I thought it was rather yummy.

Spinach and Sausage Pasta- The inspiration

My attempt:

Supplies for Dinner

Served with lots of Parmesan Cheese (yummy) and cantaloupe and honey dew

I added some yellow, red and orange bell pepper and some grape tomatoes for color and flavor.  I used tortellini noodles instead of penne pasta. I got it on clearance at Safeway, and I liked the flavor the cheese in the tortellini gave the dish.  I think it would be neat to try with different pasta (there are lots of  different tortellini options) and sausages would be good.

Naw Ruz Celebreation and Pinterest Challenge #7

So this activity was actually before I decided to to my Pinterest Challenge, but I am including it because I got the ideas from Pinterest. Every March the Bahai's of Moscow hold a Naw Ruz  [nouˈɾuːz] celebration.  This marks the last day of the 19 DayFast which started March 2nd and the beginning of the Baha'i New Year.  Naw Ruz always falls on the First day of Spring, though there have been times in Moscow it has been snowing, this year it was actually decent weather wise.

This year I decided to tackle the table decorations. I am actually very happy with the way they turned out.

First the Pinterest Inspiration pictures:

Such a cute piece

Baha'i Nine-pointed star

Now for my result- I combined the idea of the above two. The flower piece is a Mason jar filled with green tissue paper, pipe cleaners and paper flowers from the American Girls Collection Paper Pad. Creating the Nine-Pointed stars was interesting, and not something I recommend doing after your normal bedtime. It is amazing how complicated rolling paper can be when you are tired. The jars have little ladybugs, butterflies and bumblebees on them as well. Overall I like the way they turned out. I used one of the American Girl Felt Flower Bouquet Kit to make something to hang on the door people walked through. I think it turned out really neat and it was nice to have something on the door. However, the stickers that come with the kit aren't really strong enough to do anything so I would recommend hot gluing everything together. I did the flowers with hot glue, but used the stickers to stick it to the base. I need to go back and hot glue everything together as well as make the other one I purchased. I don't have a picture of the felt bouquet all done. If I remember to take one I will try and remember to post it.

My Version

Transportation of  Center Pieces-not the easiest thing.

Door Hanger-not put together

The Venue-Schierman's Event Center

I also created a banner that says "Happy Naw Ruz". The banner hung behind the food tables. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was very nice to have a little something on the walls. I got the Letters and Shapes from Shanty-2-chic.com. I printed them on brightly colored card stock the tied them together with some ribbon. I want to see about getting the banner laminated for future use.

Banner

Here is the cake, well cupcake cake to be exact that was the centerpiece of our dessert table. It was yummy, but I felt guilty being the first person to take a cupcake and breakup the beautiful artwork Safeway did. However that guilt went away when I tasted it.....it was delicious.

Naw Ruz Cupcake Cake

We also had Safeway do a little cake just because.

The Sweet Adeline's provided some beautiful music.

Sweet Adeline's

Peter and Jolie Haug graced us with singing some Red Grammer songs, of which singing along is required.

Check out one of my favorite Red Grammer songs "I Think You're Wonderful"

Pinterest Challenge #6

I made Cinnamon and Sugar Bananas and Strawberries to have with some left-over Jambalaya. I didn't let the Coconut oil heat up enough so they aren't really 'fried' but I thought the flavor was really good. The cinnamon and sugar formed a nice syrup over the bananas and strawberries. I will make again but be a little more patient with the cooking process or method. I of course forgot to take a picture of my attempt, so all you get is the picture from the Pinterest Inspiration. Sorry about that. Overall they were yummy and I recommend trying.

Pinterest Inspiration 

Cinnamon and Sugar Bananas