Please continue to read my ramblings, over at “Everything but the Kitchn Sink”

Thank you,

Elizabeth

Two weeks from today – I will be visiting The Boy in Denver

Three weeks from today – I will be packing up my moving truck

Four weeks from today – I will have attended graduate school orientation, and be preparing for the first day of classes!

~~~~

My, how time has flown by! Hard to believe that this time next week, I will have lived at the farm for 2 years and will be leaving my first “real job”, moving on to my next chapter in life – graduate school at The University of North Carolina.

The dogs and I are relaxing and enjoying our remaining weeks here. With all the heat (and mosquitoes), we’ve mostly been staying inside, doing fun things such as baking with zucchini (a future post in itself), watching every episode of House Hunters and The Next Food Network Star, and attempting to start packing.

This weekend’s agenda looks something like this:

• Lifetime movie “Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story”
• Procuring moving boxes
• Garage sales / antique stores (still looking for a dresser and desk!)
• Updating my etsy shop – I found some great Federal glassware pieces today still in the original box! Hope to get them on the shop soon :)
• Cooking delicious things from my garden – including this recipe tonight
• Forcing myself to read more (with the awareness that time for leisure reading will soon drop drastically)

Sorry for the 2 week hiatus. Things have been busy here, mainly concerning Harley’s health (complications from heartworm treatment –> 8 days at vet’s intensive care unit, $1000 in bills, and 7 daily medications).

But, Harley is feeling better these days, and ready to be back on the blog! He also wants me to show the final result from my side table makeover. Remember this $8 guy from the Salvation Army?

Well, it looks much better now (as does Harley).

But first…

Today, my sister took the GRE, since she’s copying me and planning on going to graduate school too (haha). Harley and Sheff sent her a good luck message this morning:

Aren’t they sweet? Thanks for their good wishes, Jenna ended up doing fantastically on the GRE!

OK, back to the table…

So… we I sanded it, removed the weird side handles, and painted it white.

Then, I was all set to decoupage the top surface with a fun fabric. But… it was hard to decide on a color theme, not knowing what the apartment will look like (what stuff my roommate might bring, what season of pyrex I will be displaying, etc… haha!).

And so… my ingenious mother had the idea to fit a piece of glass instead, allowing me to switch out decorative fabric or paper as the season changes. Thankfully, my local glass shop is very affordable, and cut me a piece of glass, and polished the edges for under $5!

Ready for the finished product?

This is my favorite “look” thus far.  Bright colors of vintage kitchenware, on a white background.

But we also have the green / nature look:

And this blue/pink/green paisley look:

But really, it only costs $1 in scrapbook paper to change the look, so I could come up with endless possibilities!

So….
Table: $8
Paint supplies: $5
Glass: $5
Paper choices: $3
Total project cost: $21

Brilliant, right? Since my list blog post, I’ve also purchased this wonderful mid-century modern coffee table, which I’m planning on using at the foot of my bed in the new apartment. I would show a picture of it, but it’s currently covered in junk that is going to be donated to a thrift store shortly.

Photos to come, as I clean things out and start packing (ugh).

I do not have the pleasure of a long weekend, since I used up my vacation days for last month’s Florida trip. But it’s working out just fine, seeing as though I’m all on my lonesome for the weekend anyway. Wouldn’t want an extra day of solo faux-celebrating, would we? Plus, I’m bringing in my ice cream maker to work tomorrow for a nice treat for the employees. Because I’m nice like that :)

Yesterday I headed to the local farmers market bright and early. I could be like other bloggers and show you mouth watering photographs of colorful, fresh produce. All the heirloom tomatoes, corn, squash, flowers, honey and jams, etc. But seriously, I’m growing most of that here, so I was really just excited about the bread.

There were a few bakery stands at the market, each with equally long lines. I jumped in one line, at the sight of their cinnamon rolls. These babies were huge – easily the size of bricks! They had varieties of sweet and savory baked goods. Sadly (for me), there were no prices on anything, so it was just a guess as to what you would end up paying. I chose not to buy any bread (although the cheddar bread and pecan ciabatta looked delicious!) and stuck with a cinnamon roll. $2 didn’t seem too bad… especially when I spent all morning eating it in my car as I drove from errand to errand.

And no, no pictures of this magnificent, calorically dense wonder. Maybe next weekend.

Other Saturday delights included:

• Attempting to paint my thrift store table, only to find out that the can of semi-gloss white paint was empty. A trip to Lowe’s has been added to today’s to-do list
• Watering the garden, and cursing the evil squash bugs who are slowly killing my curcurbit plants. (impressed by that word, right?)
• Oh, and I harvested by first 2 tomatoes of the season! 2 big, half-pounders from my Better Boy plant. I read in an old Better Homes and Gardens magazine yesterday, that the average tomato plant can only produce 8-10 pounds of tomatoes per season. What? Come and see my wonder plants that grew 15-20 pounds of tomatoes each last year! My secrets – coffee grounds, daily watering, no chemicals, and lots of love :) (and maybe the occasional squirt of dog urine…)

And today is Sunday… SUNDAY (you have to say it in Al Roker’s voice) and I am currently watching the Wimbledon Men’s Finals. Very sad, of course, that Federer is not in the match (isn’t this the first time that’s ever happened!?). Harley, who is currently 13 days into his Heartworm treatment, has thrown up twice, strong yellow stomach acid stains on the carpet (of course), which gives me a fun project for the morning.

So, after the carpets are clean, the winner of Wimbledon declared, the Sunday paper procured and read, I will head to Lowe’s for paint, Kroger for cream, and return for some household projects this afternoon.

Happy 4th of July for tomorrow!

While other people spend the longest day of the year outside celebrating, soaking up the sun and enjoying the company of loved ones, I was at the dentist.

4 shots of novocain for 2 measly fillings, and 5 hours of numbness that left be unable to speak. If you know me, you know this is NOT my norm!

I also think it’s cruel for the dental hygienist to try to strike up a conversation, when clearly I cannot talk.

“You’re moving? Where”

“Nawf Cawoyina”

“Great! What part?”

“Chapuh Hiw”

“For school?”

“Yea”

“What are you studying?”

“New-twi-sun”

“Well that’s great to hear. How much longer for the degree?”

At this point, I gave up, pretended I couldn’t hear her and headed to the reception. Luckily, the receptionist was a dear and just said “You’re good to go Elizabeth, we’ll file the insurance”.

At least SOMEONE understands not to mess with me. It’s just wrong to do that to us numb patients…

So, I came back, greeted Sheff (Harley is at the vet for 72 hours for his heartworm treatment) and checked out the garden.

HOLY SQUASH!

I hadn’t seen the garden in several days due to my Denver trip. The recent rain turned my veggies into overdrive!

There were 3 or 4 yellow squash ready for the picking, a monstrous zucchini (30 ounces!!), and at least 40 tomatoes on the plants (still green). BUT.. the most exciting thing for me was the baby butternuts. They’re everywhere! I feel like I heard somewhere that you should pull off some of the developing squash, so the plant can concentrate into just making a few extra-awesome butternuts, rather than numerous mediocre butternuts… anyone concur? Not sure I want to abort these guys though… I might give them all a chance.

And so… what to do with the zucchini with a BMI of 50? Make zucchini bread, of course!

Everything tastes better in Pyrex!

And even better with a Pyrex pot holder!

Apparently we’re having some crazy storm right now. The sky is black, the wind is crazy, and Sheff is in the bath tub. Better go find my flash light and be prepared!

Denver seems to be a great city. Especially for those interested in good health (me!) – there were walking/biking trails everywhere, plenty of parks and outdoor activities (most cars had bike/ski/boat racks), and a majority of citizens with BMI below 25 (or maybe 28… haha, still better than here in the south!).

We had a great, but quick, 43 hours together. Activities included:

• Estate sale-ing and thrifting (you didn’t think I could visit a new city and not look for Pyrex, did you??)
• Exploring Denver’s Highlands Street Festival
• Scouting out the best Thai food in Denver (and being slightly alarmed when we walked into an empty restaurant at 6:30… luckily other people eventually dined there too!)
• Driving into the mountains to see Central City and Black Hawk
• Introducing The Boy to “The Glee Project” and “Extreme Couponing”, with which he now loves (seriously!)
• Experiencing Duffeyrolls, which are basically a cinnamon roll and croissant hybrid. Delicious way to start the day!

Sadly, the only picture on my camera to remember the weekend is of the monstrous rice krispy treats sold at the festival:

The dogs and I have had a pretty good weekend here at the farm. Yesterday was primarily consumed having my car detailed. I spent almost 4 hours sitting inside the shop, watching Cartoon network with a 9 year old (who also made me an origami swan while I tried to beat my boss at Hanging with Friends). As much fun as I had waiting, the true fun was seeing the inside of my car!

I’ve had Matrix now for 6 years, driven over 90,000 miles, and have never seen it so clean and shiny inside! Truly amazing. NO more snow globe of dog hair, that’s for sure. Highly recommend Karworkz in Knoxville, if you’re in need of  detailing.

I also hit up some thrift stores and an estate sale, to pick up more vintage linens (some are listed in my shop!) and random odds and ends for the new apartment.

The $8 table had a little work done today. A trip to Home Depot today left me with sandpaper and wood filler, and the hardware has been removed and holes filled. Next up – sanding and painting!

Baked some muffins today from this delicious cookbook:

Only I used cow’s milk, so there went the vegan baking. Whoops!

In other random news – the tick situation is getting out of control here. I had to remove one from Sheff’s eyelid this morning! Ack! And so, Frontline has been applied to both my furballs tonight, which should hopefully help the situation.

ewww – do I see a tick?? 

For those following the 52 lists, 52 weeks project, here is my list for Week 2.  The prompt was: what have you learned from another country/state/culture.

Lastly, I think my first vegetable will be harvested from the garden tomorrow. It is a zucchini, the first of many, I am sure. Bring on the zucchini muffins, cookies, casseroles, pizzas, crab cakes, etc. Unfortunately, I am 6 days later than last year for my first vegetable. And how do I know this? Because I am Sheldon-Cooper-OCD and keep detailed harvest logs/spreadsheets. Don’t you??

:D

One of my latest pins is this re-done side table – painted white and decoupaged with colorful fabric. And of course, I decided that I could tackle this project. Too bad my handyman mom is back in Texas (and she took her sander too!)

 my inspiration

I had seen a similar vintage side table at my local Habitat Re-Store for $4, which would have been perfect, but it’s since been sold.

Today, I found this guy at my local Salvation Army store, for $8:

my “before”

I think it should work well. It’s a sturdy table, in pretty good shape, with clean lines. Not sure why it has handles on the sides though??

I will likely remove those guys.

Of course now I have to pick what type/color/pattern fabric to use for the top of the table. Which means I need to figure out where the table will go (side table for couch in living room, most likely) and what the color scheme will be (no idea, since roommate is supplying the couch).

Any thoughts? If you browse my boards on Pinterest, you can see that I have an obsession with red and aqua together… so maybe something along those lines.

Stay tuned for more updates on project table!

When I lived in Australia (4th – 9th grade) I went by Lizzie. Then I had a fifth-life crisis when we moved back to the US, and I converted to Elizabeth.

Anyway… Liz used to be a nickname. And it alliterates with Lists, which I am obsessed with.

On any given day, these are my ongoing lists:

• My Korean planner has a weekly and daily to do list
• My phone has a To-Do app
• At work, I keep to-do lists at my desk, on the back of my scrabble calendar
• My ongoing grocery list (both on the fridge and my iPhone groceryIQ app)
• A weekend to-do list (which is obviously different than the weekly to-do list, because I do different things on the weekend!)
• Packing/travel list, if I am anticipating travel in the next month or so (which I am…)

So…. when I heard that there was a group forming called “52 lists in 52 weeks”, I had to join in the fun!

Jenni, from In Color Order (one of my favorite blogs) mentioned the group on her blog. You can see the flickr group here, and the founder’s blog here.

From my understanding, each week’s list will have a theme. This first week’s was “Today I will…”. A nice and easy start to the challenge!

So I broke out one of my new mini notebooks, my scrapbooking supplies, and got to work. Here we have it:

Hopefully I can keep up for the next 51 weeks! :D

I am a lone farmer again. The parents + sister + beagle + lab are back in Texas, leaving me with my garden and barkers.

Our Florida trip was lots of fun. We visited sites such as:

  had so much fun at Epcot!

Tarpon Springs had great Greek food, dolphins, and shoulder-burning sun:( 

My cousin’s segregated HS graduation (kidding! the smart kids wear white gowns, the regulars are in green.)

Back at the farm….

I have eight weeks of work left, followed by a trip to Denver to see The Boy, followed by a move to NC, followed by the beginning of graduate school. Exciting!

My plants are all doing fabulously, despite my being gone for a week and mother nature slacking on her watering responsibilities. I have baby tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash on the plants already, as well as cantaloupe and butternut vines that are starting their growth spurts (those vines seriously grow a foot a day later in the summer!)

Without my mom here (I was spoiled for the past 4 months!), I am now responsible for:

• grass mowing (my least enjoyed chore)
• Sheff’s middle-of-the-night wake ups (why does he need to go out 2-3 times each night??!)
• planning all meals (kinda enjoyable though!)
• mouse duty (yes, they are back in the bathroom vanity, chewing up my make up sponges… eww!)

Oh… and you didn’t think I could write a Pyrex-less post, did you?

Look what I picked up in Florida!

My first complete refrigerator set! It may appear bizarre to meet a fellow (yet stranger) Pyrex collector in the parking lot of Starbucks for a purchase, but that’s me. I had heard that Florida was the mecca of vintage Pyrex, as all the elderly snowbirds (who have a lot of Pyrex) eventually die and leave their Pyrex behind. I hope that’s not too morbid sounding, but it’s true! So.. I started searching the Tampa and Orlando craigslist weeks before my trip for possible sales :)

This particular seller was very friendly, another collector who has decided to focus on just pinks (more of a treasure hunt for those!) and even held this set for me as I traveled all the way from TN! She packed it all up carefully for me too – thanks!

So… my new apartment in Chapel Hill is going to be full of Pyrex, and particularly this Butterfly Gold pattern. This makes 19 pieces that I own in this pattern, including mugs, juice glasses, casserole dishes and various mixing bowls. Success!

Let’s just hope my new roommate doesn’t mind…..