DIY Diva: How to fix a loose seat!

I've been slacking off on fixing something in my house lately that literally takes two seconds...and everytime I get near the problem it makes me crazy. It actually makes me think of a set of Elvis lips...see, DIY Diva is crazy!

The problem...the loose seat.

If you've got a loose seat, too, just flip open the latch on the wobbly side...
find the right size screwdriver, and tighten up the screw...
then flip the latch back down, and VOILA, you no longer have a loose seat!
See, an easy fix - because let's face it...nobody likes sitting on Elvis' lips...except for Sarah Simmons.

DIY Diva: How to Paint an Accent Wall

UPDATD: Howdy to the Living with Lindsay readers!!! Thanks for stopping by!

JJ brought her first piece of art recently...it's a ceramic installation. What that means, I have no idea. Anywhoo, I showed my friend Barbie and she recommended that I hang it above my bed, but paint an accent color behind it so it "pops" more. I had been secretly thinking the same thing, but will let her win this one. This was a big project...a project for DIY DIVA!

Tips from DIY DIVA, purchase all your supplies and get them ready...large projects like this will take a couple of days and you'll need painters tape, a laser level, primer, paint, various screws and nails, and PATIENCE!

First, get you handy dandy laser level (mine cost me 15 bucks at the Depot) and tape off your stripes in about 18 inch segments. Don't go too long on the tape, otherwise it will be unruly to get straight lines and can be troublesome when it comes to pulling the tape off. **Idiot's note: move your headboard, 600-thread count sheets, etc, before you begin a painting project.

If you have textured walls, such as the JJ does, you'll need to go through by hand and get the tape into the grooves and crevices. This is a pain in the butt, but you'll be much happier later when you don't have leaks everywhere.

If you're painting a saturated color, like red, you'll want a primer with a tinge of color. Because I was using a deep red to match my pillows and drapes on the other wall, I got pink. Don't worry, I didn't paint my wall pink!

Once the primer is finished, pull the tape off. It's important to take the tape off while the paint is still wet...otherwise, the tape can pull off the dry paint and nobody wants that!

It's also important to not sleep next to a painty wall...you might have weird dreams due to the fumes. I slept in the living room on the aerobed. Hi Whoopi!

Now, it's time to put the tape back on and get start the real paint job! Go through the motions again and get the tape down into the dreaded lumps. Then, get your paint on! **Idiot's note: even though you've primed, don't expect your saturated color to go on perfectly the first time. I needed a couple of coats to get my red to the right color!

Make sure to paint the edges just as dark as the center...you don't want to have blotchy sections. Another trick in fighting the "blotch" is to paint in Ws, rather than straight up and down...nobody likes lines in their paint jobs!

In spite of the fact you used tape, don't freak if it didn't work out perfectly...like I did. Instead, whip out your base color and smooth over the edges.

Once the paint is dry, it's time to pull out the laser level again to hang the art piece!

Ta Da - the finished product!!!

Hello, beautiful! Welcome to your new home....and Dear God, please let there never be a major earthquake again...especially while I'm sleeping. I love my dresses, but don't think I'd enjoy being conked in the head by one!

Valentine's Day Feast/Pioneer Woman Recipe Review

So on Friday, I mentioned that because Single Girls Need To Eat, Too, I'd be cooking a feast for Barbie and I on Valentine's Day. It was really just an excuse to try out some Pioneer Woman recipes. And let me tell you, I am SO GLAD that I did!!! I mentioned my cooking experiment to some friends on Friday and I was told that risotto was "very ambitious", ergo, I was totally nervous. BUT, holy crap, did it turn out awesome!!!

I started with the risotto, because I knew it would take the most time. What I really appreciated about PW's recipes are the step by step instructions. It took along time to make, but I really enjoyed the process of cooking it!

Starting with onions, garlic, olive oil, and butter.

Barbie snapped this photo of me. I wasn't quite confident, yet, so I drank some liquid courage!
It's really important to add the 7 cups of chicken broth one at a time and wait for them to absorb before moving on.

Then it's time to add cream.

Then comes the fun...adding 2 cups of shredded cheese. I used a blend of parmigian, asiago, and some other italian cheeses. For those who know me, I'm not a huge cheese person (I like the fake processed stuff - sorry, sue me!), but this ROCKED!

Then I moved on to the flank steak. So, P-Dub gave a warning in her recipe about how smokey the house would get... I am a little slow and underestimated the smokiness. Next time I make a flank steak, I'll do it on the grill...OUTSIDE. Also, I cooked mine for longer than she recommended. I found that 3 minutes on each side still left a moo-ing animal on my plate. Sorry for the graphic nature, but ew, I'm no fan of steak tar tar!

In order to get the groovy flank steak stripes, you need to turn the steak on the angle twice per side.

See?!?!

The finished product! Barbie brought over italian prosecco and made peach bellini's. I drank several. Yum!!!!

After dinner came the BIG DOG! Yep, that's right, the baked fudge. This dessert will heretofore be known as the "make a man declare his undying love for you" cake. I'm not messing around here, you should make this RIGHT NOW.

Begin by using your Kitchenaid breast cancer pink hand-mixer...it's all about pigging out for a cause.

Next, add in your ingredients while your friend takes a picture of you over your shoulder to make it look like you worked really hard or are on a cooking show. Also, it helps to use a Julia Childs accent...seriously, this will make the food taste better...okay, not seriously.

Then, because you are a badass, make your own whipped cream using heavy whipping cream (shocker), sugar, and vanilla. So easy!

I went ahead and mixed all the ingredients in a large measuring bowl because I knew I would have to eventually pour the ingredients into small ramekins...it was ingenious. Also, oddly enough, the full ramekins need to be placed into a baking dish with water...helps with the consistency, I guess.

Then, when the baked fudge is all cooked, you pour your whipped cream all over it until the mixture is oozing with goodness and calories! Sorry about the calories part...there's no helping it, though. You'll work them off later because the boys will be chasing after you for more.

So, all in all, this Valentine's Day dinner was FREAKING DELICIOUS! I really enjoyed making it all and Barbie enjoyed eating it! : ) I highly recommend Pioneer Woman's recipes and find that they are super easy to follow, but let me tell you, they aint healthy, but BOY OH BOY are they divine!!!

Dance Team Reunion

On Saturday, my wonderful high school dance teacher came to town for a dance competition with her team, so we arranged a little reunion lunch! My parents let us all get together at their house and the gang showed up! We had a great time reminiscing and then a few of us ran over to EDHS to see some of the competition! It was so wonderful and I'm so thankful for the impact Mrs. Smith had on my life and for the friendships I developed through dance!

The gang with Mrs. Smith. LeAnn, Sabrina, Mrs. Smith, me, Christina, Erin, and Marcie

Officers and Mrs. Smith...almost 15 years later. Yikes!
PS - the girls she brought out, her current officers, were born in 1991, the year I JOINED the dance team. Oy vey!!!

L'Amore

Just wanted to share another e.e. cummings poem in honor of the little flying baby with the bow and arrow. It's really sexy and delicious!

i like my body when it is with your

i like my body when it is with your
body. It is so quite a new thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body. i like what it does,
i like its hows. i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss, i like kissing this and that of you,

Blogger's perogative: the rest was too dirty to post. : )

Single Girls Need to Eat, Too!

Tomorrow is the dreaded Valentine's Day...and yet, another holiday I'll be spending alone. Wait, I won't be alone, I'll be with Barbie, one of my fav gal pals who is also single! Are we going to be sad and pathetic??? Heck, no! We're going to see Confessions of a Shopaholic and then we're going back to my house for a feast!

Some of you know that I've become a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman, and tomorrow night I'm planning on using three of her recipes to dominate the kitchen; I'm making her risotto, flank steak, and baked fudge. DELIGHTFUL! However, I'm getting slightly nervous about making such a huge feast from scratch... So, I'll do what every smart single gal does when she's sorting out her ingredients...start with the most important ingredient there is...

I'll begin by filling this to the brim with some lovely chardonnay! : )

Thanks, Jennifer for getting me this adorable glass for Christmas, I'm REALLY looking forward to using it tomorrow night. I think it will be the perfect first step in my quest for making a delicious meal. Ha!

Updated: I started the recipe a day early. Translation: I filled up this glass with lovely chardonnay to get prepared.

Updated Deux: Jennifer bought us all these glasses with our personalities in mind...mine is called Wild Child. Hmmmm...

Updated PS: Lisa, THIS is my shot. I took one tonight just for you. : )

Swiss Cheese Wall

I bought some floating shelves a while ago, and after installing them one day, came home later to find everything on the floor...including the shelves. Last week, I took a trip down to the Depot and bought some fancy dancy drywall anchors and thought they'd pop into the wall in a flash. HOWEVER, I had a heck of a time trying to get those little buggers perfectly spaced...in fact, my wall now looks like a slice of swiss cheese - therefore, I can never move.

Three of the four holes on ONE side of the shelf.

The finished product. After TWO HOURS!

The Pursuit of JJ

I previously mentioned here that I am in love with The Pioneer Woman's blog (link in My Friends list on the right). I have read and reread her love story, "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" roughly 37000 times this week - okay, maybe slight exaggeration. Well, I realized the thing I loved so more about the love story is she is so flawed, and I think I resemble that in so many ways. The other thing I love is how her husband pursued her so much and was so romantic...I realized hey, that's what I want, too! So, on Thursday, I decided that I was done chasing after stupid boys and that I deserved to be pursued too...and guess what happened? I got a few emails on Friday from one of the stupid boys from last year, and a couple more emails on Saturday from another stupid boy. Go figure! Anyway, I decided not to date out of the recycling bin this year due to boredom and I just know God's got my Cowboy out there somewhere and will be patient and positive while I wait to bump into him one day!

Camera Upgrade

Am I thrilled or what?! I had been pondering a camera upgrade from my snazzy Rebel that Santa brought me to the 50D. No, I don't need the fanciest schmanciest just yet, but I did want to think about being money wise...if I really love this new hobby, would I want to upgrade in a couple of years? Probably. Then I'd have to shell out a lot of money on my own...so I went on back to Costco and thanks to their 90-day return policy, I was able to trade up for just a few hundred bucks out of my wallet! I think it's a much smarter decision on my part in the long run. Regardless, I'm SO THANKFUL to my awesome parents for reading my mind and knowing that I wanted a DSLR this year for Christmas. They are so generous and clearly know how to read my mind! Love you guys!!!

Rich Woman Review

I had this idea to start a book club some time ago (November-ish, maybe?!) because I'd heard of the book Rich Woman by Kim Kiyosaki (wife of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad author) and thought it would be great to discuss with a group of women. Well, my invited group of ELEVEN ended up being a group of THREE, because some of the gals who read it, realized that finances were boring. Hmmmm...slightly concerning, but that's a discussion for another time.

One of the women was a no show last night, so it ended up being just Lori and I (which really, was okay seeing as how my dinner was silly and my house wasn't really clean). Because Lori is a good friend, and is married to a good friend, we were really able to have an open and interesting conversation about money, wealth, and how women especially have a hard time making decisions about what we really want.

Kim Kiyosaki writes this book like a conversation amongst friends. At first, I really liked that part about the book, but then it got a little hokey...I think Lori agreed somewhat. It does really simplify money issues, though. She also talks about how most women avoid ever making financial decisions because someday they'll have a husband who will do it for them and how damaging that can be in terms of financial literacy as many women face living alone at somepoint in their lives, or some sort of catastrophe which requires their inside knowledge of their own finances.

Ultimately, the point of the book is not to sit on money, but to make YOUR money work for YOU. Whether you invest money in stocks, or in rental property, or in some other format, an asset is not an asset unless it is bringing some sort of return each month. It's shocking to think of it this way. Now Kiyosaki doesn't recommend going out and buying an apartment complex right away, but rather starting small! So, Lori and I decided to look at tax lien certificates in order to bring in a small return. It's all about learning and we're going to continue to research and apply some of the principles we learned in this book!

New "Friends"

Please take a moment to pop over to the right hand side of your screen and visit two new blogs that I'm currently loving.

The first, Bryson's Blog, if by Carlee's three-year old son. He decided he wanted a camera so he could take pictures then write about them on the computer. He's pretty much a genius. I think you'll find his work captivating and quite deep.

The second is Pioneer Woman. If you haven't heard of her, please go there now and fall in love with her the way I have. She's the real mccoy! She's a city girl who married a rancher and she writes about life in the middle of nowhere, raising children, cooking, photography, and my favorite is her ongoing love story called Black Heels to Tractor Wheels...I hope she writes a book someday!

I'm a voracious reader...always have been. Sometimes I read four books in a week, and lately I haven't really read that much. Then I realized I HAVE read that much, but just on blogs. Block stalking for me is the new speed-reading. : )

Kitty Litter Cake

Updated to welcome over friends from Kelly's Korner! This cake was delicious, but more so HILARIOUS and fun!!! Enjoy the read and PLEASE let me know if you try it someday, too!!!

Just like many of you, dear blog readers, I cannot stand email forwards. However, every once in a while, I'll pause and read one, and sometimes, just sometimes, I'll even save one. Last November, my hilarious sister sent me a recipe with a fantastic photo for a kitty litter cake. Naturally, as a cat lover , I have known the joy of cleaning a litter box...even with the most discreet kitty, the process is foul. So, when I saw this cake, I KNEW I had to save it and make it for the right occassion. Well, yesterday was the right occassion!

Amy and Tomas (friends from church) invited me over to their house for a football fiesta via evite. On the evite, attendees were asked to bring a food item to share. As Amy and Tomas happen to have THREE cats, I knew this would be the perfect chance to make the cake.

I'm no baker, but opening a box of mix, adding a few eggs and water, mixing and throwing into the oven is a snap...takes about 30 minutes. Well, I HAD to get this right...so, the fabulous end product shown below took me TWO HOURS to get it just right! But let me tell you, it was worth every second when I saw the responses of the party people! Someone literally climbed over the couch to get a better look! : )

CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
1 box of yellow butter cake mix
1 package white sandwich cookies
1 jar of whipped vanilla frosting
1 box of food coloring
1 container of decorating frosting

SERVING "DISHES AND UTENSILS"
1 NEW cat-litter box
1 NEW pooper scooper

1) Prepare and bake cake mixes, according to directions, in any size pan. Crumble cookies in small batches in blender or food processor. Add a few drops of green food coloring to 1 cup of cookie crumbs. Mix with a fork or shake in a jar. In a seperate bowl, mix whipped frosting with a combination of food coloring to appear a light brown. Set aside.
2) When cakes are at room temperature, cut into small pieces and put them into a large bowl. Toss with the now brownish frosting. Place mixture in litter box. Cover contents with cookie crumbs.
3) Mix food coloring and decorating frosting to a darker brown and place in a sandwich bag. Cut off the end of the bag and "decorate" till your heart's content. Sprinkle remaining white cookie crumbs over the mixture, then scatter green crumbs lightly over top.

Wipeout

I love the show Wipeout. Period. It makes me laugh more than anything. Period. I was watching TV last night and they mentioned a Wipeout special during half-time of the Super Bowl, so I checked out the website...and they're currently casting...so I applied. I just got a call and I'm going in for an on-camera interview next week. HOLY CRAP, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?!

Lovely New York

This weekend, Mom, Missie, and I travelled to NYC for Missie's birthday and MLK weekend. We had a WONDERFUL time...with the exception of me getting violent food poisoning the first night we arrived. Therefore, I have fewer pictures than everyone else because I spent the first day puking my guts out.

We arrived on Thursday night, and as we landed we heard about the Miracle on the Hudson...unbelievable! Praise God that all those people survived! We cabbed to the hotel, got checked in, then headed over to Bobby Van's Steakhouse for a DELICIOUS meal! We also had one of my favorite bottles of wine, Ferrari Carrano Chardonnay. If you have the chance to order it sometime, go for it!

Fast forward to two days later when I'm alive and ready to leave the hotel. We went to Rockafeller Plaza, watched the skaters and had breakfast. Then we went down to Battery Park to see the plane, the Statue of Liberty, and a couple of other sites. Look at the ice in the water...it's amazing those people didn't freeze to death.

Missie made a good Lady Liberty, no? We worked on this photo several times and her final complaint was that I didn't tell her to straighten her arm. Too funny.

We walked around Rockafeller Plaza again. Here's Missie in front of the Today Show window. She's such a cutie!

Oh yeah, it was 12 degrees. Not exactly a warm California winter day, huh?!

That night, we got ready to go to the theater. I'd initially made reservations for the pre-fixe dinner at The Rainbow Room, which I'd been to once before...it was incredible and a NY landmark. However, I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago saying it had closed down. Thankfully, my friend Suzanne gave me some other great restaurant recommendations. We went to Sardi's in the theater district.

Then it was off to Wicked! My friend Alli is LITERALLY the star of the show! Girls, you've GOT to get out there to see her perform. Alli, I hope I don't embarrass you when I say I was TRULY proud of you. The moment she came down in her bubble and belted out an incredible song, I was like "that's my friend, that's my friend"...then I started to get engrossed in the show. I saw it two years ago with my family in LA, but we all enjoyed it so much more this time because we were able to focus on the performance, rather than understanding the story! Afterwards, Alli arranged for her dresser to come and get us to take us back stage. We were able to see her cute dressing room, which she's in the process of decorating, then she took us onto the stage and down underneath to see the rigging, etc. I'm sure she thinks it's boring, but to us "office" types, it's just unreal!

On Sunday morning, we met Alli for lunch again and had a nice visit. Alli, I really enjoyed spending time with you and I can't wait to see you again!

Sunday was the day when we did more touristy stuff, including a stop by the Rockettes and Magnolia Bakery. I was trying to explain to my mom that Magnolia started the whole cupcake craze when it was mentioned on Sex and the City. These were really good...but not as good as Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica (just my opinion!).

We had a snack at The Plaza on Sunday, too. What an incredible place that is!!!

Then we ran across the street to the park for a carriage ride!

After a nap, we went back up to Central Park for dinner at Tavern on the Green. We sat in the glass room and watched snow flakes come down and had a nice meal. It was a really picturesque place to be!

Just before we turned in, we took some last photos of Times Square at night. It was so beautiful and I was so glad to go, even though I was so sick. Thankfully, on this vacation, I didn't gain any weight!!! : )