Dining Room :: Before & After

Yeah... our dining room started out as a pretty sad storage area for Ryan's ab-lounge (that he never used....ever.). Then we got a table...



But, it was still lacking, you know, chairs (and a lot of other stuff). So, when my parents came down this past weekend, they brought chairs (thank you Auntie Marilyn & Uncle Michael) and an awesome antique hutch (found in a Port Royal, SC antique store) with them! And here is what mom and I came up with:

Yay! We can eat in there now! :)

See our wedding "guestbook" canvas there on the right? The perfect spot for it! Wahoo!

Ooooo... look inside at all that dish storage! So ridiculously exciting!

Hmmm... that little twig ball looks oddly familiar... could it be because it was my bouquet in my wedding? Indeed it twas! ;)

I'm so happy with how it came out! Thanks for looking!

~ Mari

Roasted Summer Squash & Caramelized Onions

Summer is most definitely here - as are my parents' summer squash from the garden. My mom gets tired of sauteed squash, grilled squash, and just...well...squash in general. But, she roasted some and said it was a delicious new twist on squash! (One that she promptly added to her list of summer squash recipes)

Luckily, mom and dad brought some of their tasty summer squash here to our house in Kathleen this past weekend - so I could try roasting some!

Roasted Summer Squash

4-5 summer squash

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. allspice

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees F. Chop the squash into a-little-bit-bigger-than-bite-sized pieces.


Cut the garlic cloves in half, and then half again. Put the squash and garlic onto a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Toss with your hands so that the yumminess coats the squash. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and allspice.

Put the little buggers in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes is up, check them - they should be soft, but firm (you know what I mean...). If they are to your liking, turn the broiler on and leave them in the oven for another 5-6 minutes (until the squash is browned on the edges.

Just to add a sweet element, I tossed the squash with some onions that I caramelized. Mmmmmm! (P.S. if you're not sure how to caramelize onions, I could do a post on that... yes? no? suggestions?)

Enjoy!

~ Mari

Easiest Candied Walnuts...Ever

So, I have a bag of walnuts in the cupboard. They've been calling my name for a while now. Tonight I thought I would make a salad with blueberries, freshly grated parm, arugula, and walnuts. Then I thought that plain old walnuts were boring...why not make them sweet and crunchy!

Easy Candied Walnuts

1 handful of walnuts
1 dash salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

Heat small saute pan over medium-high heat. Put walnuts in the pan and toast until you can smell the nuts roasting (4-5 minutes). Watch that they don't burn - I've done it a million times! Add the butter and stir it around - coating all the nuts. Pour the maple syrup in the pan, stir, and add the salt and cinnamon. Evenly coat the nuts in the goop and remove from the flame. Let the nuts cool and crisp up and you will be left with some delicious, slightly sweet nuts that are perfect for a salad... or just to eat by themselves!

Enjoy!

~ Mari

Wedding Goodness (Beach Cookout Installment)

Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting wedding stuff! It was all a little overwhelming at first, but now that it's been a month, it is exciting to re-live everything!

This is the first installment of photos (taken by the amazing Sherri Aagenes). I apologize for the high-resolution-ness of them, but photos are so much more lovely when they are big. ;) Anywho, we did a beach cookout instead of a rehearsal dinner because... well... there was nothing to rehearse! We had no wedding party and we wrote the ceremony ourselves, so there was no need to have a big shin-dig to practice the ceremony.

Ryan's parents hosted a beach cookout at the Hunting Island State Park pavilion (next to a very old and very cool lighthouse) that started at 3:30 pm on Saturday, May 15, 2010. The weather was perfect, the food was amazing, and the company was great!

the beach at Hunting Island is littered with driftwood and fallen palm trees

the perfect setting for some pre-wedding photos

ryan and I - and our respective parental units

i got the idea for our "guestbook" canvas artwork on the offbeat bride tribe

each guest got a square to color as they so chose

the food was fantabulous - lowcountry boil & BBQ

mom & me

It was a fabulous day at the beach! :)

Yard Sale Finds

Yesterday was Yard Sale Day in our neighborhood. There must have been 6 or 7 yard sales going on in our neighborhood alone. So, of course, I took full advantage of all of the junk close at hand. See that super cool chair that just happens to match our decor in the photo above? It was only $25! We got another to match, so we now have an actual dining room where people could sit! YAHOO!



And that, my friends, is my pride and joy. That is a REAL Oriental rug... that was our neighbor's mother's rug from the Middle East. It was $20. Oh... I know. I stilll can't quite believe it myself. Plus, it fits perfectly right in front of our front door. AMAZING! I'm proud of myself because I normally just buy random junk that I don't have a place for but can't live without at yard sales.

Hopefully each weekend in our neighborhood won't be as fruitful or we'll be broke before August!

~ Mari

Girls State of Mind

I just came back from what always proves to be the best week of my year (although this year I seem to have had a few of those...): Volunteer Girls State. What is it, you might ask? It's very difficult to explain, but I'll try! Basically, it is a camp program where 540 upcoming high school senior girls from Tennessee come to learn about citizenship, government, and themselves. It is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. I was a delegate to VGS in 2003 and have returned to be a counselor ever since.


Those are the wonderful women of Taylor City (the Taylor Sailors, if you will)! We had a great week and made some wonderful friendships.


I also got to participate heavily with the chorus this year. It was great! I am going to miss everyone so much! I missed my hubby so much, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Now, I will wait passionately for VGS 2011!

~ Mari