Dresser Makeover

Remember when I posted about how I was going to start keeping up with the blog? Haha we all knew that would never happen!

 

Anyway, I've had this ugly dresser in my room since I was a baby and I finally decided it was time to make it awesome. I wish I could do projects like this all the time but my time, money, and creativity is highly limiting. I was having a hard time deciding what to do with this dresser, when I found a piece of scrapbook paper that inspired me. I thought it was going to look completely different, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Its probably my favorite thing I've ever made!

 

I would've liked to get some better pictures of it, but my room is extremely small and dark, not the best for awesome pictures. I'm just happy that I remembered to get a "before" picture.

 

-Ana Kristina

led by mercy...

I love this song by Casting Crowns, and these words have been weighing heavily on my heart over the past few weeks. As Easter weekend approaches, let those of us who would call ourselves Christians work to be known more for being led by mercy, and less for our pointing fingers. 

 

-alison



 

a plea to food bloggers...

So you have a food blog. That's awesome. Really, it is. I admire your creativity, your adventurous spirit, and your commitment to finding ways to make things like quinoa and kale taste halfway decent. On all those points, props to you food bloggers.

 

But, you know, maybe you're feeling a little pressured. Maybe it's Thursday night at 11:45pm, and you have only blogged one other time this week, and you really need to come up with some fantastic post for people do read during their workday on Friday, because let's face it, everybody wastes time during their work day on Fridays.

 

So, you quick whip something up, because their is NO WAY you are going to miss another day of posting. It's now midnight and you toss your Buffalo Chicken Blue Cheese Cajun Quinoa Lavender Kale Eggplant Truffle Bake in the oven, and you are psyched. This recipe is new. It's innovative. It's edgy. It's going to be great.

 

Except that it's not.

 

Maybe the spice balance wasn't quite right, maybe it just didn't have very much flavor, or maybe you realized that buffalo chicken and lavender just don't compliment each other that well. But now you're in a panic, and you know it's wrong, but...

 

...you post it anyway.

 

"It's ok," you tell yourself, "maybe nobody will even read this post. Maybe nobody will ever try it."

 

But then, you wake up on Friday morning and your comment feed is filled with things like "Awesome! SO trying this tonight," and "looks yummy- can't wait to give it a go!," and "DYING. I AM TOTALLY GOING HOME TO MAKE THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!!."

 

And before you know it, your sub-par recipe is all over Pinterest, and some poor sap like myself notices it, thinks to her self "yummo," and pins it for a rainy day. Then the rainy day comes and she dredges up that old pin, goes to the grocery store, and spends $75 on ingredients to make your Buffalo Chicken Blue Cheese Cajun Quinoa Lavender Kale Eggplant Truffle Bake.

 

She gets home, she makes it, and she discovers your dirty little secret: this recipe is terrible. Not just underwhelming, or bland, but really, truly awful. And now, although she only knows you by your blog name 'Super Nummy Biteykins' she hates you. She hates you for wasting her time, and her money, and that casserole dish she ruined trying to make your pile of dung recipe, and YOU food blogger should be ashamed.

So you made a recipe that tastes a little like cardboard. We get it. It happens to the best of us. But please, do us a favor and keep that craptastic thing to yourself. Resist the urge to hit "publish," and save the world from your terrible food creation. We promise, we'll love you for it.

-alison

spring has sprung?

Oh, hey there Spring. Welcome to you, and this 20 degree weather you've brought us today. You're a little bit colder than I remember, but I'm hoping you'll come around soon. My hammock is patiently waiting to be hung, and my plants are desperate to start blooming, so please, be a chum and decide to show your true colors sooner rather than later, ok? I promise, if you do, we'll be friends forever.

 

-alison

Strawberries for breakfast; Ian's cute hand written menus; Thrifting finds

Ian's (longest line ever); Willy Street in Madison; Cream cheese strawberry Nutella toast

My super awesome painting outfit; Mac & Cheese and Steak & Fries pizza; Giving our thrift store finds a face lift

 

Winter around here just will not quit. This morning, we woke up to snow, and over the weekend, the weather was just as cold as it could possibly be. That meant lots of inside time for us, but it turned out to be a good thing. Saturday we did some thrifting, grabbed lunch at our favorite pizza place, and started to furniture re-do projects (which I am so excited to share the results of). Yesterday, we took a good friend out for an awesome birthday lunch, complete with one of our group slamming down a burger called "The Gravedigger." It was epic and horrifying, and amazing all at the same time, let me tell you.

 

I am still longing for some warmer weather, but if the cold temps mean that I get this much stuff done every weekend, I won't complain about a few more:)

 

-alison

 

p.s. Blogger seems to think "thrifting" isn't a word. What gives?



Bloglovin'

 

 

If you are living on this earth anywhere but under a rock, I'm sure you've heard by now that Google Reader will be done away with in July. I know. It's the worst.

 

Ok.

 

Now that you've cried all your tears, it's time to pick yourself up, and move on to bigger and better things, namely following our blog on Bloglovin':

 

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3500324/ruffles-amp-ramblings

 

I switched over a few days ago, and I promise, it's not as painful as it seems:)

 

-alison



winter's last stand

 

Lest you think that spring has already sprung, here's a little reminder of what's still happening in Wisconsin right now. The temps are gradually rising, but it is still most definitely winter around here.

How is it where you live? Is winter still hanging around in full force, or is it already a distant memory?

 

Although I love winter, and am definitely more of a cold weather person, I am ready for spring, and I'm a little bit jealous of those who are already enjoying it.

 

-alison

 



diy mini terreriums

It's been a long time since my mom, sister, and I teamed up for a craft day, but last Saturday we got together to make mini-terrariums.

We started out the day with red velvet waffles (which were a bust- don't you hate it when Pinterest recipes backfire on you?), and then headed to the garden center to pick up supplies.

 

They took less than a half an hour to put together, and they turned out great. If you are looking for a simple craft that will also bring a little bit of Spring into your home, I would highly recommend making these!

Supplies:

Glass container (we got ours here)

Potting soil

Moss

Succulents

Any little extras you want (our garden center has a whole section of "fairy garden" stuff, which is where we found the mushrooms and tiny chairs)

 

Directions:

Place the potting soil in a large container and wet it down (just like you would if you were planting outside). Put a thick layer of soil at the bottom of your container. Place your plants, and cover with more soil. Cover soil with moss, and then place your little mushrooms, pebbles, fairies, etc.

 

How easy is that?

 

The upkeep on these is fairly simple as well. Since we used only succulents in our terrariums they just need a nice window, and an occasional watering to keep them going strong!

 

-alison

cookie dough cheesecake cake (or, the most magical thing i have ever made)

 

If you have an entire weekend at your disposal, and no commitment to maintaining the size of your waistline, I would highly recommend making this cheesecake from Sprinklebakes. I'll admit, it's quite the undertaking, but really, although there are tons of steps, there's really nothing overly complicated going on here. And, considering that the result is a layer of cookie dough, followed by a layer of cheesecake, followed by a layer of chocolate cake, I would say the effort is well worth it.  Well worth it, folks.

 

I made this last weekend over the course of two days (because I have both no life, and no restraint), and even given the time suck that putting this thing together is, I would make it again in a heartbeat. One word of caution though- unless you want to send yourself and all the members of your immediate family to an early grave, I would recommend making it only when you have a crowd to share it with. Since it is so rich, you have to cut very small pieces, and it ends up being enough cake to serve roughly 20 people. I would suggest making it either for a party, or doing what I did, and lugging it into the office for your co-workers to inhale (and trust me- they will, and you'll be the office hero for the day. or month. or year).

 

-alison



a post i never thought i'd write

Topping out the list of things I never thought I'd do: shaving my mom's head. Even typing it weirds me out. When she told me she wanted me to be the one to do it, I tried to play it cool, but inside, I was in full freak out mode. I don't even know why. It's not like it was my own hair, although in some ways, I think it would have been easier if it was.

 

We decided to do it on a Saturday. We had been shopping earlier in the day, and after my mom found a rockin' wig, she decided to just go for it. It was probably the right decision, considering that, that morning, I had created a slightly embarrassing situation for us in Loft, when at the register, I had started absentmindedly pulling strands of hair off my mom's scarf, and then looked down to find a fairly sizable pile of it on the floor (after realizing it, we did what any decent people would do- pretended we had nothing to do with it, and hightailed it out of there).

 

When I arrived at my parents house that evening, razor in hand, I was still sort of freaking out a little bit. I kept saying "but what if I mess it up?" It was at this point that my mother politely informed me that I was being kind of an idiot. I mean, it's not like we're cutting bangs here. You can't really mess it up.

 

Once I finally started, I realized it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be, which I think was due in large part to my mom being so chill about the whole thing. A rock star, that one. Still though, throughout the whole thing I sort of felt like I was grafitti-ing a building or something, like I was defacing something beautiful.

 

But then, all of a sudden, it was finished. The deed was done, the last big hurdle of the "unknown" was cleared, and the result was sort of stunning, because, you guys, my mom looked AWESOME. No alien looking heads up in here, just a woman rocking a bald head better than most rock a full head of hair.

 

 

I know that being bald is certainly not what she or anyone else would prefer, but she pulls it of with enough dignity and grace to bring the house down. And really, I would have expected nothing less. Although she has never pretended it has been easy, she's faced this whole cancer journey like the coolest of cats, holding it together better than the rest of us, and teaching us that even things like cancer, and all it entails (including surgery, nasty chemo treatments, and shaving your head) are not worth losing your joy over.

 

-alison