Erin Condren Giveaway at Tori's Teacher Tips

Have I mentioned how badly I want an Erin Condren planner? Oh, they are just so pretty (and functional and organized and useful). I have been begging for one for since I discovered them and plan on purchasing one soon. Unless, of course, I am able to win one. Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips is offering a giveaway right now for a $50 Erin Condren gift card. SO EXCITING. Here's hoping...

Samoa Rice Krispie Treats {Recipe}

I haven't done a food post on this blog or my personal blog in such a long time, so I think it's about time for a  new recipe. Are you ready for this? Samoa Rice Krispies Treats are my new favorite thing -- much less embarrassing to eat than stuffing half of a Rice Krispie Treat and half of a Samoa cookie in my mouth at the same time. Plus, we are all out of Girl Scout cookies now, so this is really the better option all around.

Here we go...

Samoa Rice Krispie Treats

Ingedients: 

3 Tbs. butter, plus more for pan
1 (10 oz.) package marshmallows or 4 cups mini marshmallows (Jet Puffed)
5 cups Rice Krispies® cereal
1 (10 oz.) bag Nestle Dark Chocolate Morsels, melted (1/4 cup reserved for drizzling)
6-8 oz. caramels
3 Tbs. milk
2 cups shredded sweetened coconut


Directions:

1. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish by coating with softened butter.
2. Make the traditional Rice Krispies® treat recipe (recipe here) by melting the butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Add the marshmallows to the sauce pan and continuously stir until almost completely melted. Remove from heat and gently stir in Rice Krispies® cereal until completely coated. Press mixture into the prepared 9 x 13 pan and set aside to cool.
3. Place chocolate morsels in a microwave safe bowl. Melt chocolate in microwave by heating for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each interval. Pour the melted chocolate on the top of the treats, reserving approximately 1/4 cup of the chocolate for drizzling. Place the pan of chocolate covered treats in the fridge or freezer to cool and harden while you make the caramel topping.
4. Toast coconut in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally and watching carefully until coconut is a caramel brown color. Remove pan from heat. (This can also be done in the oven, if you prefer. See tutorial here.)
5. Melt the caramels and milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir often until caramels are completely melted. Remove pan from heat and stir in toasted coconut.
6. Once chocolate layer has hardened, add the caramel-coconut topping to the treats by dropping the mixture by the spoonful onto the chocolate layer and spreading out carefully. This is easiest to do when the chocolate has hardened.
7. Drizzle the reserved melted chocolate on top of the treats. Slice into squares and serve (with a tall glass of milk, of course).

Enjoy!!

Rustic Dining Table Make-Over

I have been dying to make-over our dining room table for so long now. In fact, my mom started the process by stripping the stain off of the table top about 10 years ago, but the project just never got finished. This table is probably 60 years old. My grandmother got it from a friend back in the early 1950's, so this table has been through a lot. It was in my mom's home when she was a child, was my family's dining table for much of my childhood, and now sits in my own dining room. Yet, it still never felt just right. First, we were going to paint the legs and stain the table top. Then, we were going to paint the whole thing - maybe red, maybe gray, maybe teal. Then, I saw this tutorial from Our Vintage Home Love on Pinterest and swooned for months over their dining room reveal before we actually got up the nerve to try it. But, our wonderful Pacific Northwest summer is coming to an end and I didn't know how much longer we would have before the rain, so we just dove in. I am SO HAPPY with the result. Take a look for yourself.

First, we removed the rounded, hinged sides to the table, creating a rectangle base. Then we primed with Kilz spray primer and finished it off with a few light coats of a creamy white spray paint. This seriously took no time at all - I was very surprised.


Next, we distressed the legs a bit. I really did want a rustic, worn look, and thanks to some 220 grit sand paper, that's what we got.

Finally, we got 3 - 2" x 8" x 12' boards from Lowes. I think we found them in the decking section, just like they did on Our Vintage Home Love. Our boards cost about $7 each. We took advantage of the "we cut for free" policy at Lowes and had them cut each of the boards down to 6' in length. We stained the boards with a dark walnut stain and then put them together with a cross beam (that's what you call it, right?) on each end.

All in all, this was a very easy project that only took us a few hours. I am 100% satisfied with the results and am a little bit sad that we waited this long. Thanks for the idea and tutorial, Our Vintage Home Love!!

Now all I can think about is making over some dining room chairs...

JoTotes Giveaway

Head on over to Two of a Kind to enter their giveaway for a JoTotes bag (*swoon*). ;)

photo courtesy JoTotes (link)

25 - 21 'Till 30

This has been a long week, but at the same time it completely flew by. Nothing went as planned, and thus, this post is a week all in one.

25. Paint My Nails An Obnoxious Color. I'm probably already too old for this, but I decided to use one of my obnoxious polishes just one last time before I turn 30. Not too exciting, but it still felt daring. :)

24. Break a Silly Rule. Some rules are silly. Mythbusters busted the cell phones on airplanes myth. So, shouldn't the cell phones in a hospital myth also be busted? I think so. And that's why I broke this silly rule.


23. Do Something A Little Selfish and Immature. Ellie has been sick this week. She started to feel better, but then slipped back to feeling awful. But, we had a date night planned tonight and had committed to our friends to be there. So, we did the selfish, immature, terrible parent thing and left Ellie with her grandma and went anyway. It was probably a bad idea, but I felt like no matter what choice I made, I would be letting someone down.

22. Go For A Week Without Soda. I have had a goal to give up soda for good for a very long time. But, I just LOVE my diet coke. Seriously. Love. And Dr. Pepper 10. So good. But, I gave it up for a week and I felt so good.


21. Start Mockingjay. Again. I loved the first two books of the Hunger Games series. I have tried and tried to read the third book, but I just can't get into it. I think the main reason (I fully accept the ridiculousness of this) is that someone I don't have much respect for said it was their favorite book. And yes, I am just immature enough to make that

25 'Till 30

25. Stay Up WAY Past Bedtime. Just a few short years ago, I could stay up all night and still go to class in the morning with plenty of energy. Sure, I would need to retire early that evening to make up for the lost sleep, but it was actually possible to make it through the next day relatively unscathed. Not so much anymore. This is probably too irresponsible for a nearly 30-year-old, but tonight I'm staying up way past bedtime. If only there was a way to ensure that tomorrow won't be as painful as I know it will be after little to no sleep. Oh well, I guess I'm getting old not as young as I used to be.

26 'Till 30

26. Completely Empty My Inbox Before I Leave Work On Friday. TGIF. Seriously. And what a wonderful Friday it was. Today, maybe for the first time ever, I left work with an empty inbox. [Technically, I received an e-mail just after I left, but I maintain that it was empty, even if just for a moment]. This accomplishment is only marred by the fact that I will have to work a little bit this weekend. :)