Sunday, October 21, 2012

Delicious “Pasta e Fagioli” Soup Recipe

I don’t know about you, but the cooler temps make me want to cook warm comforting foods…like soups, stews, etc.  And, I realized that I haven’t shared a recipe with y’all in a long time.
Not being a big soup person, I have only a couple of soup recipes that I truly love:  my Chicken Tortilla Soup and this Pasta e Fagioli Soup recipe.

Have you ever had this soup at The Olive Garden?  It is delicious.  At least 5 years ago, I stumbled upon a copycat recipe and decided to give it a try.  Not only is it super easy, but it may even be better than the original!!  Nearly everyone who tries it, asks for the recipe…so here it is:

Sunday, October 14, 2012

CTMH Giveaway

Who doesn’t like FREE products?  Especially from a great company like Close to My Heart!
ctmh logoAs I've mentioned before, my mother is a Close to My Heart independent consultant.  If you haven't had a chance to check-out their terrific products...do it now!  (See the button on my sidebar!)

This week only, my mother is having a “Mystery Hostess” online gathering!  
All you have to do is place your CTMH order via her website…making sure that you join the “Mystery Hostess” party..anytime before noon on Friday, October 19th!  (Sorry...only open to the continental U.S. only)  

Go to:  http://lahudson.ctmh.com/

Fall Decor

“The days may not be so bright and balmy—yet the quiet and melancholy that linger around them is fraught with glory. Over everything connected with autumn there lingers some golden spell—some unseen influence that penetrates the soul with its mysterious power.” ~Northern AdvocateMy Fall Ladder closeupThe smell of cinnamon and nutmeg, pumpkin desserts, and turkey in the oven…that little bit of crisp in the air and cooler mornings…the beautiful colors everywhere! I love Fall, don’t you?  Here in South Texas, we really don’t get to experience the beauty of the foliage changes like some of you do, but it is still a lovely time of year and I love to decorate with the colors of the season.

Last weekend, with my son’s help, we got our Fall decorations up!  And, I took a bunch of pics to share with you all…

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

New Office Decor

I have an office!  It’s not big or fancy and I share it with a part-time coworker, but I have an office.  It has been a loooooong time since I had a “desk job” with an office, but a new space to decorate…I am all over that!!

Wanting a “happy” place to work all-day, I decided to decorate my half of the space using fun, bright colors and photos of some of my former patients.My Bulletin Board FabricAfter purchasing an inexpensive 24” x 36” framed cork board, I covered it in this pretty fabric from Hobby Lobby.  The fabric has a dark grey background with hot pink, turquoise, and lime green accents…this set the color scheme for my space.

Michael’s had these awesome frames in the unfinished wood section.  Aren’t they great?  I spray painted each one in a different color to match the fabric on my bulletin board.  I just love them!
My brightly colored frames
Green scroll frame from Michael's







Spraypainted wooden scroll frames
Then, I printed out my three photos in black & white.  The photos are 8X10 with 11X 14 white mats.
My new office photosI know you can’t tell from the picture, but these footprints are from the first micropreemie I ever cared for and are only a little taller than the height of a U.S. Quarter!Preemie footprintsI also picked up a turquoise collage frame for my desk (on clearance at Hobby Lobby) and some colorful thumbtacks for the bulletin board.My new office decorI took it all to work and decorated last week.  Now, my office looks so cute.  And, I just love the framed photos of some of my special patients.  Fun, right?
DSCN7111







Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Simple Wall Murals

As a nurse, I have enjoyed a 3-day fulltime workweek for the last 6+ years.  Although the days were long, it gave me lots of free time during the week to get things done.  Now that I am working 5 days a week (Monday-Friday), I am missing that “alone time” in the day.  You know that bit of time when no one else is home and you can create and craft without looking at the clock or answering the 100th: “Mom?”.  Does anyone else out there know what I’m talking about?  (I know you do…I’ve seen your blog posts too!)

Needless to say, I haven’t been very crafty lately. Getting used to my new work schedule and my son’s school and sports commitments have definitely taken a toll on my crafting time.  I'm getting there though and will post soon on a few things I’ve got in the works.

In the meantime, I thought I would show you some “old” projects of mine that I never posted until now……my wall murals. I have some simple murals in my home.  I painted them both shortly after moving in last year and I still love them.

The first is a “Family Tree” mural in my hallway:My Family Tree MuralI drew the tree on the wall in pencil (freehand) and then filled it in with brown paint.  All of the photos are framed in matching (or close to it) black frames.  And, there is plenty of room to add more!  I have seen similar ideas online and many variations…I just like the simplicity of mine.

The second mural is my FAVORITE…..my laundry room mural!  It took me awhile to figure out exactly how to get the idea out of my head and onto the wall.  I played with drawings and searched for laundry photos online.  I finally decided to just draw it and go for it!