Today you will find me guest posting over at View Along the Way.
I’m filling in for Kelly why she tries to keep a toddler and a newborn alive. Yikes.
I am sharing the evolution of our master bedroom!
Head on over to View Along the Way. Stop back and tell me how awful those floating things above our bed were. Yikes.
I was responsible for treat day last week. I think all of my co-workers reminded me that it was my treat day. Everyone loves treat day. Everyone also knows that I’m absent minded. (Like when I almost left these delicious cupcakes in the fridge on treat day. Luckily, I ran back for a Diet Coke. Phew.)
I headed on over to my cupcake board and picked out a recipe for Andes Mint Cupcakes.
Good choice. Good choice.
You can find the recipe over at Your Cup of Cake. I only wish I the skills to dream this stuff up.
I do want to share with you two of my favorite cupcake making weapons.
Weapon #1: Cupcake Batter Dispenser
This thing is awesome. I am the world’s messiest baker. Filling the cupcake liners is a breeze with this guy. I used it for all of the them except for the top right. See the difference?
Yes, it does look like Ike left a surprise in each liner but it shakes out. Trust me.
Weapon #2: Pampered Chef's Easy Accent Decorator
This little guy is super easy to use. I’ve tried frosting bags before and they are always such a mess. I just fill the tube with frosting using a spoon and squirt away.
The kit comes with multiple tips for many decorating options and a lid.
What are your favorite baking weapons? Tried any delicious cupcake recipes lately?
Most of our house attention has turned outdoors the past two weeks. The weather has been fantastic so it was time to do some planting. Nate and I both enjoy yard work.
We planted three hydrangea bushes and two Little Henry bushes along our garage.
We’re pretty scientific when it comes to landscape planning. We measure the length of the area that needs covered. We head to Lowe’s and find plants that fit the sun requirements on the area (shade in this case). We like a little variety so we chose two different kinds of plants. We then check out how large the plants will be at maturity and buy enough to cover the length needed. This landscaping stuff is tough.
I’m pumped about the hydrangeas. They were in my wedding bouquet. I’m usually not sentimental about that girl junk but the wedding bouquet and hydrangeas still get me.
The backyard is greening up nicely.
I planted some impatiens in the back. These things have gone crazy back here the past two years. The back patio, however, could use still use some love.
The trees are filling in. I love our secluded backyard.
Nate freshened up the mulch around the house and in the island.
I planted some petunias up front and some geraniums on the front steps.
I love the view from our front door. Iowa summers for the win.
Ike also loves the view from the front of the house but he wasn’t happy about being left inside during picture time.
Now it’s time for some sun and a little rain now and then!
Have you been busy outside? Do you have a green thumb or a black thumb?
The stool hunt continues. Sad face.
Remember this poll from last week.
If you couldn’t gather, I was the one that loved the stools. Nate hated them.
Even though Nate was the clear winner, he oh-so-willingly went with me to World Market while we were in Des Moines this past week-end. Just to say “hi” to the stools.
I’m glad I looked at them in person. My monitor led me astray. I thought the metal was more aged looking and the seats were darker. I still love the overall shape. I just wanted them to be something that they aren’t.
Sad face.
We totally failed to seize the picture opportunity of Nate standing by the stool with a huge annoying grin on his face and a thumbs up. But I’m sure you all can picture that.
So, the stool debacle continues. I am still on the hunt. Nate is still annoyed.
I also have to publicly admit that Nate has better taste in kitchen stools. That hurts. At least my laundry from vacation two weeks is put away. We all have our strengths.
How do you and your spouse/significant other/roomie solve decorating debates? What décor debacles have you recently debated?
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I never used to like fancy food. Then Nate’s parents started taking us to fancy restaurants. And now I like fancy food. Darn those in-laws.
One of my favorite fancy foods is parmesan crusted steak. Nate and I whipped this up at home for his mom on Mother’s Day. And it was pretty much amazing. And easy. So easy that I could play sous chef successfully. It’s that easy.
For four steaks, you will need:
Mix all of the ingredients together until blended.
Grill up some steaks to perfection. (NY Strip would be the best but whatever kind of steak you have on hand will work just fine. We used ribeyes.)
Make a patty out of the parmesan/butter mixture and place on top of the grilled steak.
Turn your oven’s broiler on high and broil until golden brown. Remove from the oven and eat up!
We served ours with rabbit food and cheesy hash browns cooked in a cast iron skillet. Holy cheese overload.
Can you beat a fancy dinner that is super easy to make? That’s right. You can’t.
How do you like your steak? Any delicious preparations that we should try?
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Nate and I actually completed a few house projects this week-end. What the what? Weird. I know.
Nate had been casually looking for lighting for under our kitchen cabinets. We gave no thought to under cabinet lighting when we were building. Things can get a little dark at night while cooking/baking. House building fail.
Luckily there are many options for wireless lighting. We choose this…
We purchased two sets. They were $35 per set at Sam’s. (I detest shopping at Sam’s but Nate likes it. Sam’s always ends in me needing anger management courses.) They were a one time buy so we bit the bullet and purchased them.
The lighting is wireless and has a remote switch. You can hook multiple sets up to one switch. We wanted a switch because we are lazy. We will be more likely to use the lights if it’s one easy switch versus turning on multiple lights.
The installation was easy. Each set came with 2 light bars, some adhesive strips (like the 3M strip), screws, and a remote switch. We chose to use the adhesive strips over the screws. We may regret this decision when we need to change the batteries. (We thought of this about 3/4 through the installation.)
We inserted the batteries and applied the adhesive strips to the ends. Nate found the middle of the underside of the cabinets and stuck the bar firmly in place.
Ike supervised from his favorite position in the living room…
15 minutes later, we had under cabinet lighting.
Lighting controlled by a fancy remote switch that is hidden away but still easy to access.
Pretty during the day…
And in the evening…
Any thoughts on under cabinet lighting? Any fellow Sam’s Club haters? Any other lazy people that need remotes for everything?
Be sure to check out our other projects on the DIY projects page!
I mentioned on Monday that Nate and I stayed at the Riu Guanacaste in Costa Rica.
The reviews on Trip Advisor for this resort are very….interesting. It must be one of those love or hate it kind of places. Also, the things some people complain about make me laugh.
Nate and I enjoyed our stay at the Riu. It’s not a five star resort….but we also did not pay a five star price.
Our room was nice. A little smaller than most American hotel rooms but definitely big enough. It was clean. The fridge was fully stocked with various beverages. The air conditioning worked. No complaints from us.
They are building a new hotel next door. I had read reviews about how awful the construction noise is and you should request to be moved right away. We always travel with a small fan for noise. Nate slept until 9:30-10:00am most mornings (as I bonded with my Kindle). The noise wasn’t really a problem for us. It was more the construction workers who spent the majority of their day scanning the balconies for tourists. We could have asked to move but actually enjoyed the ocean view…and we were only in our room to sleep so it wasn’t a problem.
The grounds at the hotel are beautiful. All of the spaces were very clean and well cared for.
There were reviews about people complaining about the lack of air conditioning in common spaces. It’s called open air people. And it’s fabulous. No cardigans on this vacation!
On Monday, we mentioned that the beach totally received our approval.
The pool at the Riu is also beautiful. And giant. And we didn’t take photos of it. Oops. We are more beach people than pool people. (We can enjoy pools in Iowa. Beaches are a little harder to come by.) We did enjoy the pool at the Riu and would end our day with a swim in the pool because it was usually shaded in the later afternoon. Our poor pale skin loved the break. There were a lot of complaints about not being able to find beach chairs and pool chairs. We had no problems the entire week we were there.
So far I’ve given this place a glowing review. We both had one complaint about the place….the food. Bleh. It was buffet three times per day. We both enjoyed the breakfast buffet (it’s really hard to screw up bacon and eggs). The lunch and evening buffets weren’t so hot. I ate a lot of fresh fruit and ice cream. The following photo sums up my food experience at the Riu. Ice cream and Coca Cola Light. I should Photoshop in a plate of pineapple and watermelon.
Eh, ice cream and Diet Coke aren’t all bad, right?
Would we stay at the Riu again? Yes and no. Yes, if I had a money tree. I would totally go back for a nice and relaxing getaway. It was perfect for enjoying the beach and the pool. No, because we would like to explore other parts of Costa Rica. The Riu’s location is farther away from some of Costa Rica’s more popular destinations.
Have you stayed at a Riu? Are you one of those annoying reviewers on TripAdvisor that complains because the combo hair/body soap in the shower isn’t very good? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to dislike you. Are you a beach or a pool person?
Warning. This post contains photos of monkeys. Super cute ones at that. Consider yourself warned.
Nate and I weren’t super adventurous travelers in Costa Rica. Weak, I know. We were more into getting a little R&R on this vacation. We did go on a half day “Jungle River Cruise.” It was a totally good use of our time.
The excursion included an hour bus ride. The tour guide filled us in on some local Costa Rican info. Home prices, flooding, festivals. The good stuff.
We stopped and had a photo op at this tree. Some type of fig tree. I’m bad at paying attention…unless there were monkeys involved. (The tour guide obviously needs to improve his photo taking skills…or crocodiles got our feet. I’ll let you decide.)
Across from the giant tree was a sugar cane field. This is what most of the hour long bus ride looked like. I didn’t complain!
We then boarded a covered boat on the Tempisque river.
A good blogger would have a picture of the boat. A good blogger wouldn’t rely on her husband to take photos. A good blogger’s husband, however, should keep her blog posts in mind. So just envision a small covered boat, mkay? We were told to keep all body parts in the boat. The river was supposedly full of crocodiles. I was picturing them circling the boat. That never happened but I wasn’t really into proving points that day so I kept all body parts well within safe limits.
The blogger’s husband did get some great animal shots though so we’ll forgive him for the lack of boat photo, mkay? I don’t remember the names of any of the following other than bird or iguana or crocodile. I really only paid attention to the monkey talk.
I’m still not sure this crocodile was real. I think it was a prop. Again, I wasn’t into proving points that day so I let it be and played along. (Crocodiles open their mouths like this to let heat escape. I did listen…a little.)
And now what you have all been waiting for…..monkeys!!
We saw two types of monkeys while in Costa Rica. The first type was the Howler monkey. They are big ol’ lazy monkeys that hang out in one spot and protect their territory. They have the coolest howl.
The second type of monkey we saw were the White-faced Capuchin monkeys. The tour guide whistled as we floated down the river and before long, monkeys were on our boat. Hanging out. Wanting banana.
Nate is smarter than I am. He was a little startled at a wild animal crawling all over him. He thought at one point the monkey’s tail was trying to choke him. An assassin monkey.
We were instructed to only give them tiny amounts of banana. The monkeys obviously know the tour boats and know there is food involved. The people of Costa Rica, obviously, don’t want the monkeys to become reliant on tourists for their food. Once the banana was gone, the monkeys were gone.
After seeing this picture, I should have maybe been a little more cautious but I’m totally living on the wild side lately.
They stack on top of one another to appear bigger to predators. Look at my knowledge. I’ll be writing for National Geographic in no time.
Who wants to see another picture of me and a cute monkey? I thought so.
Any other monkey fans out there? Totally worth the risk of rabies vaccinations, right? Right?
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