Personalized Wedding Picture...

I've been trying to find different things to decorate our newly remodeled bedroom.  I had recently pinned something about how to make your master bedroom your own...it included things like not doing chores (laundry folding, etc) in this room, adding romantic lighting and personalizing it with couple things.  I liked the idea of bringing the lyrics to our wedding song into our room.  The words and meaning were the reason we had chosen it.  When I Fall in Love by Nat King Cole.  Classic.  Timeless.  Never ending.  Here is what I came up with using photo editing software.  I love it.  Now to just find something to frame it and somewhere to hang it.

* Want one of your own?  This is available (personalized of course) on my Etsy Shop.  Stop by and use coupon code: N2CBlog10 for 10% off your total purchase.

FoodPlanner App...

When my husband told me he was getting us both a Nexus 7 tablet (because you know two of those cost the same as one iPad)...I had no idea what I would do with it.  I still haven't put it to great use I'm sure but I do enjoy it a lot.  Our girls also have had hours of fun and educational apps put to use on it (more on that later). They are whizzes at puzzles and I think it has helped to grow their vocabulary...granted we try to limit their use of them still.

One thing I did decide to do with my tablet was to use it for organizing my grocery shopping and menu planning...

Maybe Warnings Should Be Heeded...

How many times have you looked at the age limits or warnings on random little toys or activities and after evaluating it yourself thought...eh they're old enough what harm can it do, looks safe enough.  Well I've done the same or maybe I stand alone on this.  In my case it was a 3 yr + recommendation with a 0-3 yrs and a frowning face next to it.

Tasty Tuesday: Baked Tomato Mozzarella Salad

Baked Tomato and Mozzarella salad

6	Roma tomatoes; thinly sliced
3 tbsp	Olive oil
	Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
8 oz	Fresh mozarella ball; cubed
2 tbsp	Fresh basil; chopped
1 clove	Roasted garlic ; mashed into paste
1/8 c	Balsamic vinegar (original calls for 1/4 c; I only use a few splashes...this is the trick between good and great)
1/2 c	Sliced olives (my spin on it...not original recipe)

Boutique: Results Are In

Well the boutiques are over and I'm still stocked up on hooded towels.  So as you can guess the results were not too great.  The first boutique felt like it was honestly a waste of time but at least it was free and only 3 hours long.  And I did run into some old friends from my old job.  It was a backyard boutique with the majority of vendors being the multi-level marketing type vendors (that's Utah for you...I think my husband says we're #1 for this in the nation).  My friend and I were two of possibly four that were hand crafted items.  My feeling is that this scared off a lot of shoppers with a more craft oriented target.  Who wants to go to a boutique crowded with pushy and sales strong people.  I would just skip it if it had been me getting the invite or seeing the advertisement.

I sold four towels.  All to other vendors.  Not one went to a customer coming through.  The traffic was so slow and low that I honestly think it was under 20 people who came through...probably less.  So it wasn't much of a win situation but....

Our booth set up for the official boutique

Grilled Chicken Marinade...

*aka Hello Summer!

I don't know about you but for me summer equals grilling.  I love a tasty burger, flavorful chicken or a juicy steak on the barbie.  I grew up with a full grill but came into a marriage with a husband who's family is not big on grilling.  We had a small camping type grill but I dreamed of bigger.  Well a couple weeks ago we got this beauty at Home Depot on a reported "Black Friday" deal for summer.  Nothing super fancy but better than I was hoping for.

We christened it with hot dogs and chicken.  Not my ideal but I was too excited to use it to wait for our next trip to the grocery store.  We used a friends' chicken marinade recipe with some "ooops..crap" mistakes.  I'm including their version and ours below for your grilling fancy.  Both are delicious.

First Boutique...

...followed quickly by second!  Oh my!  I have been making hooded towels for friends and sold a few on my Etsy shop but then I listed them on a Facebook page for boutique type and small business stuff in my area and was invited to participate in a boutique in my area.  It was commission free and free to enter...of course I was in.  I asked to invite a close friend who has done boutiques before...namely because we have discussed doing a boutique together.  During the decision process my friend suggested doing a professional style boutique which runs a few days after this one (cost to enter and commission based)...I was game for that too.  Why not?  Always room to learn and try things.

So we are both signed up and have been working towards both of these events.  We constructed a backdrop for the professional one, which we'll share and split cost.  We've discussed plans on set up.  Mostly I don't feel prepared on that end.  This friend has done boutiques before and has some of her own things she plans on using to set up the professional table.  I feel like I don't know how to contribute there, even though I offer.  We talked about sharing a table at the Facebook boutique and also about doing our own.  Today it was decided to do two.  So less than two weeks to go and I need to prepare a set up for myself.  It's not professional level so I'm not going to fret too much if it's homemade looking.  At any rate I'm realizing maybe I've bit off more than I want to chew at this point but the little extra money would be nice as well (I've got a few pre-orders already).  Will have to touch base again once I've survived or failed at this new venture.

*below is a trial run of my boutique tags...what do you think?