Lately

Its hard to believe that its almost April, this year is already flying by! We had a great month, a busy month full of celebrations. 

First was a beautiful baby shower for my college friend Jill. The games were hilarious (including pin the egg on the sperm), the cake was delicious (of COURSE I would comment on the food) and she and baby Davis were definitely surrounded by lots of love. 

Is she not the cutest momma-to-be ever!?

Jill and Chad welcomed baby Davis Gray Neilson on March 1st. I am so so happy for the new family of three and can not wait to meet the little guy!

On March 3rd Chris and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We had such a wonderful day. We went to dinner at Print Works Bistro at the Proximity hotel where we had our wedding. 

 Then with the help of a wonderful friend (hey Meg!) I surprised Chris with a room there! I cant believe its already been a year since our wedding day, time flies when you're having fun (cliche I know, but SO true)! I'm a lucky girl to share my life with such a fantastic guy!

 

 Our friends were so amazing to help make our 1st anniversary one to remember!

We even returned home the next morning to an anniversary note from Parker (aka Allison)

subtle hint?

(I was then depressed for the whole following week remembering I was on my honeymoon last year at this time - if only someone would bring me drinks on demand at work)

This month we also welcomed a new furry friend to our group, meet Fenway!

   

Another dog for Parker to be a bad influence on. Maybe the puppy can teach him a thing or two. 

 I celebrated my 28th birthday. 

 

 The day started out great with bagels, flowers and balloons. I then had a low-key celebration of dinner and a movie. My how times have changed! I feel so spoiled and lucky to have such wonderful family, friends and co-workers. Looking forward to seeing what year 28 brings!

On a sadder note, this month we lost my childhood dog Lilly. She was the sweetest dog and will be deeply missed. In the words of my little brother "If I've learned anything from animated movies its that All Dogs Go To Heaven." Hope shes getting all the table food she could imagine up there!

A busy, but fun few months it has been!

White Bean Chicken Chili Recipe

Lately this cold winter spring weather has had me in the mood for some comfort food. However, comfort food usually comes with a hefty caloric/fat price. And being that both Chris and I usually dont get home during the week until after 6 we often aren't in the mood to whip up a gourmet meal. Enter White Bean Chicken Chili. This recipe is so easy, pretty healthy (until I add sour cream and cheese, but sometimes I just cant resist) and lets not forget, DELICIOUS!

What you'll need:

3 Chicken Breasts (can be frozen or thawed - doesn't matter), 2 cans white beans (I use great northern and cannellini), 1 can corn, 1 can diced tomatoes, 2 packs white chicken chili seasoning. (Sidenote: do not drain any of the canned veggies)

How you'll make it:

Now this is where it gets really tricky. You're going to dump all the ingredients, minus the chicken, into the crock pot, and stir to dissolve the seasoning. Then add your chicken breasts to the crock pot cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Shred the chicken before serving, and add any toppings you'd like - That's it!

This picture is from recipes.com because I was too hungry/lazy to snap a photo before eating

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it makes a ton, so there are plenty of leftovers!

Now that I've had my fill of cold weather comfort food, WHERE is spring?!

Hanging Out

For a town home our house has a lot of storage, but the one thing it lacks is the unappreciated coat closet. Because of this, Chris and I have taken to throwing our coats on the stairs, or over a chair, making for a really organized looking home (and a really wrinkled jacket). 

Another thing our house has a lot of is blank wall space, and another thing it I lack is money. So I put my thinking cap on/searched pinterest for hours on end, and came up with the idea to MAKE a coat rack for the naked wall behind our front door.

So we headed to the hardware store to pick up our supplies: a piece of wood (26x7.5), and some coat hooks. 

The wood was only $6, the coat hooks on the other hand were $5 each. I'm sure you could find some cheaper (maybe even cuter) options at Hobby Lobby, but it was Sunday and I'm impatient.

We then figured out where we wanted the hooks to go and marked and drilled pilot holes so that we wouldn't have to drill after it was painted.

The next step was to sand the rough edges and do a quick sand over the whole piece before painting. For the base color I chose to use some leftover paint that we used for our walls. I figured a: this is a cheaper option and b: it would tie the rooms together. Its gray, but I couldn't tell ya the name.

I used a small foam roller for the front and small paintbrush for the sides. I painted several thin coats until I thought it looked completely covered. I then let it dry completely before I started my taping.

I knew I wanted to do a chevron pattern, and I had looked for a stencil but had no luck. I figured how hard could it be to just use painters tape to create the lines? The answer: REALLY HARD, and REALLY time consuming!

A good 3 hours later the floor and dog were  covered in painters tape but I had nice, straight and even (for the most part) lines.

I then used my foam roller and rolled on a few thin coats of white acrylic craft paint. I would suggest using a higher quality paint and/or using a trim brush to paint between the lines, but that was what I had on hand and I think we've already discussed that I'm impatient/cheap.

After I finished my last coat I started peeling off the tape right away before it dried hoping to help create crisper lines.

My lines weren't perfect, but for the most part they looked pretty good. I then used a small sponge brush to touch up any smudges.

After the whole piece was dry we hung it on the wall and installed the hardware. We just used 2 screws with anchors to hang it, hopefully that will be enough. 

 Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out, and how it fills in the space. 

Now just to decorate the other 95% of my house.

(PS- Sorry for the grainy iphone pics, I'll try to get some better shots in the daylight)