New Home in New York State

Hello, Fellow Bloggers!  Long time no see.  I've had a heck of a 6 months since I last posted.  I returned to Real Estate full time, started the kids into Private school, and then most importantly, surprisingly, relocated with family to New York State!  Whew!  My husband took on a job that he could not pass up... so here we are now.  It is quite a change from the extremely hot, dry (drought) climate as in Texas.  Here in New York, we've had tons of rain, much colder weather, and are now expecting up to 7 inches of snow this weekend.... while all my family and friends are enjoying nicer, milder temps in Texas!  :) 


So far, we love it here!  We will learn to adjust to extreme cold, just as we learned to adjust to extreme heat, I guess.  Hehe.  Much love to all!

Mirrored Furniture

I never really liked it... until now!  There's a delicate, elegant, yet very bold statement mirrored furniture makes.  What do you think?

Mirrored Dresser from Z Gallerie

Mirrored Credenza from Nieman Marcus

Mirrored Table from Home Living Style

Mirrored vanity from Colour Me Happy

Tornado Victims

My thoughts and prayers especially go out to the tornado victims who are suffering loss of homes, family, friends, lives.

Financial help to the victims can be given to the Red Cross, on line or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Lots of love to all!
XOXOXO

A New Website to Follow

New Website I'm loving!  hookedonhouses.net!  You should check them out!

Easter!

I am in for a very VERY busy weekend, as I'm sure we all are!  So, I thought I'd drop in to wish a Happy and Blessed Easter to all my friends and family!  

My Pretty Little Bee Keeper

I am a proud parent.  It's official.  My daughter, Natalie, is a bee keeper. She won a scholarship for youth bee keeping, here in the Austin area.  This weekend, she finally received her bees.  I've got to admit, I am a little squeamish around bees. In support of Natalie's hobby and endeavor, I am working on overcoming any anxieties I might have regarding bees.  As a child, I was definitely a "Bee Magnet".  They were always stinging me.

This weekend, my husband welded together the stand for her Hive Body.  We paved a little path for her to walk on, since it's sitting way back in our property.  It's a cute little set up for Natalie.  Good thing we finished this little project on Saturday, because she dumped bees in later the same day... with my Sister's help, who is a veteran bee keeper and her sponsor.

Below, are the 2011 Youth Bee Keeper's Scholarship Recipients.  Natalie is the one in blue.

Have a great week!

Branches

They're natural beauty attracts me!

Lavender and Lillies

Little Green Cottage

Real Simple (not in love with the colors, but I could definitely see this with softer colors)

Not sure where I found this pic, but I like it!

Chateau De Moissac.  So gorgeous!

I randomly saved a couple of these pictures as inspiration, before I started blogging.  Not sure where I got them, but the decorators are very talented and seem to have lots of fun with decorating!  I love these!

Chuy's Mexican Grill

Oh my gosh, today was a food adventure for us!  We've been frequenting Chuy's for years.  They're famous for their Eclectic... way out there...decor.  I love it!  Elvis is everywhere,  Flying fish (I think they're fish), tattooed-looking walls, old Records, hub caps!  It's fun and colorful!  The phrase, so commonly used from Austinites... "Keep Austin Weird"... fits Chuy's description to a tee.  I've always been devoted to their crazy, huge burritos.  I prefer chicken with Verde (green) sauce.  Today, I tried a new dish.  The Southwestern Enchilada!  It was totally not what I expected.  It was so much more!  It was even topped with a Sunny Side up egg!  I thought to myself... "OK.... Not sure about this"!  My daughter ordered the same.  Our eyes were wide, staring at our enchilada plate for at least 5 minutes before we decided to tackle it!  Trust me when I say, this was no ordinary enchilada plate!  It was made with blue corn tortillas, pulled shredded chicken, cheese, tomatillo sauce... and a sunny side up egg!  We laughed, and immediately thought of "Man Versus Food" from the Travel Channel! Anyway, we tried it, liked it, and had plenty of leftovers to bring home!  Two Thumbs up for the Southwestern Enchilada plate at Chuy's!

At this time, I only have an Iphone Camera.  These pictures do not do the place justice... You've GOT to see it in person to catch the true vibe!  All I can say is... When in Austin... go to Chuy's!

Happy Monday!

Some "pick me up" pictures on this Stormy Monday!

Picture from Topic Den

Picture from Tradewinds Home Decor

This staircase was interesting... by Thom Felicia

I'm in love with the colors!  By Tradewinds Home Decor

Nautical Nook by Elegance Redefined

My daughter, Natalie, and I have been busy in the kitchen.  I posted the Orange Rosemary Glazed Chicken recipe last week.  It looked so good, I couldn't wait to try it!

The pictures below were of the first step with the chicken.  (The recipe called for chicken breast, but I happened to have thighs in the freezer, so that's what I used.)  I rubbed the chicken with seasonings, mostly consisting of Rosemary and Orange Zest... with other spices.  Then, brown in a skillet.  This is how the chicken looked after browning... still not thoroughly cooked.

Below is the glaze, consisting with mostly Orange Marmalade, Orange Juice, Red Wine Vinegar, Chicken Stock... and more spices.  This was boiled and then simmered.

While I was working on the glaze, the chicken was baking.  Towards the last part of baking time, I basted the chicken with the glaze, then continued baking until chicken was completely cooked.

The End Result, which I must say... was absolutely divine!

My Natalie worked on the Dessert.  Chocolate dipped bananas, covered with chopped walnuts, drizzled with more chocolate, and topped with stawberries.  Definitely a delectable dessert that wasn't a belt buster!

Natalie made this wonderful strawberry lemonade, made with the real stuff!  She's my health conscience sweetheart that is making sure we have enough of the good things in our bodies.  We just love her so much for taking care of us!

That was our dinner.  Another satisfying success for my family!

(The complete recipe is on my last post.)