Catastrophic Monday

I saw sunshine for 3 days straight this weekend! Granted, it was far from WARM and sunny... but it was sunny, and at this point I'll take whatever little glimpse of spring Mama Nature decides to dish out.

1) Chris and I had a nice little dinner date Friday night that we ended with some ice skating... me, being the professional, never fell. Chris, trying to show off, fell once. The dinner - meh. The date - smiles.

2) I had vowed to not let Russell on the couch. He's such a cuddler though, that that resolution lasted nearly 6 hours. 2a) Yes he does go by Russell now. The artist formerly known as Oro. He is actually listening when you say his name now instead of ignoring you and continuing to run rampant through out the house. Although when he's feeling frisky he responds only to Russello d'Oro (and you MUST roll the R)

2b) Russell got a haircut last week. Apparently the lady felt that he was a poodle/SCHNAUZER mix because he has a straight schnauzer haircut. I'm not really a fan. (Side note: we are pretty sure he is, however, indeed a schnauzer mix. When I vacuum and he goes NUTS barking... you can very clearly hear the schnauzy influence of his bark)

3) I popped into Goodwill on Saturday while I was running some errands. This is what I saw.
You already know what I'm going to say next.
I walked out with a dresser. Not literally walked out... fitting a dresser into my car - now THAT's a funny thought.
It has taken up residence in my craft room (that was empty up until this weekend). $24.99... how could I say no?! Solid wood too - that sucker is heavy. Missing a few pieces of hardware, but I've got ideas.

3a) Added bonus: mom and I discovered, while unloading it, that one drawer was still full of clothes (slightly odd, slightly humorous). And then, stuck back behind another drawer, I found a really old picture of two little boys on a swing that is HILARIOUS. I think I will frame it.

4) The weathermen are calling for a "CATASTROPHIC ICE STORM" tomorrow. Won't that mean we will all die? Catastrophic... huh... nice knowing ya'll.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that perhaps we'll get a strong wind and all that snow will come a little further south... I'd much rather have 12" of snow than 4" of ice. I do like the hot pink coloring though. It's like a little glimmer of fun before the CATASTROPHIC event.



I'm linking up to Miscellany Monday with Carissa!

Google Me

Katie over at Loves of Life did a post yesterday talking about analytics and what brings people to her site, so I decided to pull mine up and see what ya'll are googling to get here...

SEARCH WORDS
"hellomisschelsea paint" (apparently you all like my paint choices... you can my swatch list for the cottage here)
"hellomisschelsea craigslist" (I have found some bargains!)
"chocovine kroger" (No explanation needed. Chocolate + wine. If you haven't tried it - go)
"handbag bingo" (Can't wait to play again next year!)
"mixers for rangtang" (love my job)
"butt to butt" (awkward - definitely from this post about the yellow chair though)
"Chopped my hair" (yes, yes I did)
"doubledare costume" (probably my favorite costume I've ever worn)
"lane chair marshalls" (snooping on my pretty recliner?)
"redvelvetelvis@gmail.com" (personal fav... no idea why it sent them to my blog though)
"absolut raspberri mixers" (I'm sensing a trend)
"adam and chelsea broke up" (I wasn't aware we were dating... I hope he's not heartbroken)
"baby scarf chelsea" (sounds like a toy)
"chelsea loves milk" (also awkward)
"chocovine mixers" (I don't need AA- honest! It's my job!)
"godzirra baseball" (hahah I love it)
"hello miss chelsea sectional" (aw ya'll love my couch too!)
"miss chelsea hair products" (I think I need a full post on this soon... I have a wide variety!)
"sherwin williams universal khaki"(aka my living room color)
"to buy a pair of santas footprints" (wait...wha?)


VISITOR MAP
Then I went over to see where you all are clickin over from and was really surprised!
Most of you are in the US, and I've got the usual Canadian and UK'ers... the rest of the top 10 shocked me though!
4. Germany
5. Brazil
6. Australia
7. Netherlands
8. Czech Republic (my heritage!)
9. India
10. New Zealand

I want to hear from all you worldly folks! I am intrigued!

Have you looked at your Analytics lately? It gave me a pretty good laugh!
Remember, Chelsea loves milk -

Dipstick (a few favorite recipes)

Shortly after getting all moved in my favorite Las Vegan was in town and I had the girls over for a little MJ Dancing and scrabble action.

Seeing as how my mom is the queen of party hosting and finger foods, I spent a good hour perusing the grocery store collecting goodies for the perfect assortment of dips for our ladies night

I decided to go with my Fruit Dip, Pizza Dip and Mediterranean Dip.

After stocking up on cream cheese at the I headed home to start preparing. These are three of my go-to dips... easy and quick to prepare and are a tad different, so if you take them to a get together you probably won't end up having 3 of the same thing! I figured I would share my recipes, with the big games coming up who doesn't want something new to serve?!

Fruit Dip (my mom's recipe)

1 brick cream cheese, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in the mixer and then serve. It's great with bananas, apples, strawberries, grapes, whatever! It's so amazingly delicious.... don't be surprised if your guests whip out a spoon and just start eating it straight (not that I've ever done that or anything...) Tip: Place your cut up apple slices in a large Ziploc baggie and pour in a can of Sprite... obviously drain before serving. The citrus will help prevent your apples from browning

Mediterranean Dip

1 brick cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp milk

1 container of hummus

1/2 cucumber

2 roma tomatoes

~3/4 container feta cheese

black olives (optional)

bag of pita chips (we like Stacy's Pita Chips)

Combine the cream cheese & milk (I recommend using a mixer... otherwise it's hard to get it mixed completely and will be chunky). Spread along the bottom of serving dish (you can use a pie plate, an oval serving dish, an 8x8pan, a dinner plate - doesn't matter!). The next layer is the hummus - spread this evenly above the cream cheese layer. Now add diced up cucumber and tomatoes. Lastly, sprinkle feta across the top.

This is addictive, and I'd like to think it's relatively healthy hah! You can substitute flavored hummus (roasted red pepper, etc), but I prefer the regular.

Both of these recipes can be prepared ahead of time, covered in foil and left in the fridge until later.  I don't have the pizza dip recipe in front of me, so that'll have to wait until another day!

Finding my footing

I was born into a close knit family.

Both sets of grandparents were within 20 minutes of our house. I have 6 sets of aunts & uncles within roughly a 30 minute drive of my house (3/4 of those are closer to 15 minutes!). Atleast 10 cousins that are within the same city limits. And I see them often. A good chunk of us all tailgate together before Colts games... we get together for dinners and birthdays... major holidays are spent sprawled across couches at one of our houses.

I have parents who are still married, I have a brother and a wonderful sister-in-law and the most amazing niece I could have ever asked for. The people who show up with a tupperware container of dinner and snow shovel just because they knew I could use a hand.

There's more four-legged furbabies within my immediate family than I can count on one hand. That's a lot of tail-wagging and face-licking guaranteed to brighten any spirits!

I've been graced with a bundle of friends who are just a phone call away... friends who helped me make my house a home with their bare hands. Friends who walk in the back door just like it's their own place.

I have email addresses and screen names of wonderful ladies I've met through blogging that pop up with words of encouragement, congratulations, and questions of how I've been.

I have 'second moms' and 'second dads'... family friends that have been around for ages, that treat me just like their own kid.

And I have someone to stand by my side that will, and has, done anything and everything in his power to make sure I'm happy and comfortable.

So what if get confused and I stumble sometimes. We all do. I'm fortunate enough that I have plenty of hands to reach out and steady me when I start to teeter.

I'm doing a lot of new things right now, and I'm still getting my footwork right. Just imagine Bambi in the 'learning to walk' scene.

So what if I breakdown in tears when I drop a coffee pot and shatter it, or feel lost because I have to wonder around the grocery for an extra 30 minutes because I don't exactly know where the hummus and ziploc baggies are.

I'm not perfect, and my life isn't either. But it's perfect for me. And I'm getting there. I might do things backwards, in the wrong order or just the difficult way. But that's how it works. And I can sit back smiling knowing all the people that I get to share these big steps and these little stumbles with.

And I am SERIOUSLY a lucky gal!

Today I love

I scored 8 big antique wooden frames (Some plain, some ornate) off CraigsList for a whopping $25 last night. That's like $3 a frame! Cheaper than Goodwill and WAY cheaper than ones I've been scoping out at the antique malls

A little step closer to completing my stairway to heaven!

[source]

Sigh... I get so giddy over a good deal and a hands on project!

Living Room Progress

The living room is probably the room that has gotten the most "attention". We (ah hem, my mom) finally hemmed the curtains this past week, and I'm now scrutenizing the bare walls everytime I'm in there. I've got a few ideas up my sleeve using some things we already have lying around!

Let me refresh your brains by showing you the MLS listing photos from before the house was mine...

 

And what it looks like now, minus the old lady furniture, wallpaper, and plethora of faux blooms...

 (Don't mind the extra curtain rods taking residence on the wall over there)

Miss Livy's matching chair!

I can't wait until spring so I can get this cabinet sanded down and painted

 This chair has proven to be SO comfortable!

 And I found this antique soda crate at the antique mall last weekend... I fell in love with it and knew I had to bring it home with me! I love how the green lettering matches the curtains!

So... any suggestions for over-the-fireplace art/decor pieces?? I'm stumped! I believe there will be a mirror(s) of some sort going over the couch, so I need to come up with something other than a mirror for the fireplace!

Today I love

Guys gone wild

Guest bedroom in the making

Saturday morning I was up and rearing to go shortly after 7am (I fail terribly at sleeping in anymore!)

For some reason I was in a cleaning/organizing mood, so I decided to tackle the guest bedroom.

What was once this (photos from the MLS listing before I bought the house)Has gotten freshly refinished floors, new paint and an overall attitude change. The guest bedroom has now become this...


The iron bed was my grandpas when he was a child, it's the bed that I used all growing up. I need to get curtains of some sort, and a mirror to go above the vanity (and a chair for that too ha!)

I'm thinking that gold light fixture needs a good dose of spray paint, and a big cushy rug wouldn't hurt anything? Hmm...

I think it's on the right track though! Much better than the bright pink in my opinion!

Meet Oro!

He's a quirky little fellow. I picked him up Saturday afternoon and had a first panic attack when he lept out of my shopping cart and I had to chase him through the store!

Silly little guy. He loves to run, yet when I let him out in my (fenced in) back yard, he refuses to go out there unless you go with him... but by golly if you open the front door he's off like a bullet (we learned this the hard way!)

He loves a good ear scratch and any kind of attention, and he LOVES to play fetch!

See that blue Bebo dog in the background? He's already gotten to the stuffing inside of it... He loves to run in laps around the house shaking it around violently. I think he'll be more of a rubber/kong toy type of dog, not a stuffed animal lover!

He also doesn't seem to know his name. Have you ever adopted a dog? Are you allowed to 'change' their name? Not that there's anything wrong with his name being "Oro" but I am beginning to wonder if it's too close to "no" and he's getting confused... thoughts??

I personally think he looks more like a Frederick, or a Glenn or a Russell?

Mixer & Mingle Friday : Sweet Tart Shot

I haven't shared any drink recipes lately, my poor Mixer & Mingle Fridays section is lacking!!
No worries - I've got the perfect little weekend mix to share today!

My cousin and his wife made this for their New Years Eve party and it was SO GOOD! A little dangerous though, considering it tastes like candy, ha!

Sweet Tart Shots
You need 4 things:
-An unopened 2 liter of orange soda (any brand, go for the cheap stuff!)
-A packet of Grape KoolAid mix
-A packet of Black Cherry KoolAid mix
-vodka (~2 cups, we choose Stoli)

Instructions:
1) Pour the orange soda out to roughly the top of the label.
2) Add the two packets of KoolAid to the orange soda
3) Add 2 cups of vodka to the KoolAid/soda mixture
4) Mix! (Be careful if you shake it since it is a carbonated beverage...)
5) Enjoy. Seriously easy, and seriously good!

The best part, it comes in it's own container! ;) Or if you want to be SLIGHTLY classier, you can put it in a cute drink dispenser or a carafe.

(The photo is the one my cousin sent me before we went to tailgate for a Colts game! I told yah, it's an easily transportable concoction!)

adoption

With a new old "nold" house, and a big ol' fenced in yard and lots of lovin to go around, it only makes sense to look into adoption! Adoption of a pup that is!

I knew for a while that once I got moved into my house I wanted to look into getting a dog of my own. Originally I wanted a brand new puppy. And then I saw the Sarah McLachlan-depressing-ADOPT ME-commercials on tv every hour and knew that I had to save those poor helpless dogs. So off to adoptapet.com I went!

My criteria:
-A small(er) dog, big dogs are great but just not for me. I don't like having a giant lump o' coal laying on my lap or jumping up on me.

-A non-shedding or minimal shedding dog. I am allergic to cats, and sometimes I wonder if that trickles into some dog dander too?

-Non-yippy. I think chihuahuas are adorable, and yorkies sometimes but they are just too loudmouthed for me!

Ideally, I wanted a poodle or a bischon (or some mix of both). That's what my spencerpup is and I love his temperament and think he's just the greatest (doesn't every dog owner think that of their own though, ha?!)

I stumbled upon a curlyhaired apricot fella named Oro (which I've since learned means "gold" in spanish)


I've been emailing back & forth with the shelter he is at and am going to meet this guy on Saturday. He sounds great on paper, so I hope we meld well!

Monkeyin around

This little wild child is rapidly rounding the corner to her first birthday! (sniffle... I can't believe how quick she's growing up!)

Her momma and poppa have decided to go with a monkey theme and I'm the lucky auntie who gets to design her invitations.

I may be impartial, but I think they turned out adorable. And Livy agrees with me.
She's VERY excited about it. Very. In case you can't tell.

*I wanna thank all most of you for your kind thoughts and words of wisdom last night... you ladies are all so sweet! It's nice to know that almost everyone goes through this same period of adjustment and soul-searching!

Opening up

I've been avoiding this post, or this blog in general actually. It's been a rough week.

Moving out of my childhood home and into a place of my own brought a lot of anxiety and confusion. I was scared and overwhelmed.

I didn't feel comfortable. I felt sad and lost and mostly lonely. Chris was there, just like we had planned. But it just didn't help. I was upset and aggravated by anything that he did.

I was flooded with all these emotions and continually found myself in tears. I didn't know if I was even ready to live on my own, let alone live with a boyfriend.

Chris left for work last Monday morning with our predetermined plan to go stay at his dads on the other side of town to give me some time to calm down and hopefully get a little settled and a little more comfortable in the house. My house.

As the days passed I was beginning to feel a little better about being on my own, and a little more hesitant about my relationship about Chris. I hadn't been happy lately. I didn't know if it was just stress from dang near renovating an entire house in just under 3 months and spending nearly everyday together. All I knew was that I hadn't gotten butterflies lately. I didn't get excited to see him. I felt like I had a grudge against him.

He continued to stay at his dad's all last week, and then went down to Louisville to see his mom and sister this past weekend. I'm not sure if it helped clear my mind or just helped me avoid the situation in general. Out of sight, out of mind.

My decision really shouldn't have been that difficult to make. Either we a) break-up and give it some time
b) we stay together & he moves out or
c) we stay together and he stays in the house
But I just felt so confused all week. My mind changed every 10minutes. I just wanted to feel happy. I didn't want to feel lost and out of my element anymore.

Sunday came. Chris was supposed to come over so we could talk. I called him that morning and said that if I was that confused, we should probably just break up. After 2 years together I should know what I want, right?

Then I panicked thinking about everything we shared and all the memories we had made. When he showed up I just broke down into a big blubbering mess.

I just wanted to feel like I knew what I wanted. Chris ended up calling my mom to come over to calm me down. All three of us had a long talk and she made a point that we both sort of missed.

That we simply hadn't been having fun together. It'd been 3 months of work work work and I don't even think we went on a single date in that time span. Sure we grabbed bdubs at 8pm covered in paint and sawdust.

So we decided to try to work things out. Chris is moving out for now, we need to make sure our relationship is stable before we go and throw "living together" into the mix.

We're going to try harder to go on dates and laugh and enjoy each other. I don't know how it'll all turn out, but for now I'm giving it my best shot and keeping my chin up.

Honestly, I feel silly and hokey that I got so upset about moving out and about living with someone. But thats just me I guess.

It might not make sense to anyone else, but it makes sense to us. And that's really all that matters.

Details

I've been moved into my house since last weekend, and am finally beginning to feel some sort of organized chaos as I get used to everything.

While I'm in the process of making a house my home I've found it's the little details that make me feel most 'at home'.

Like the 3 glass vases next to my fireplace that I got on super clearance from Joann Fabrics



Or the antique kids chair that my mom made a cushion for using leftover drapery fabric, just for my niece!



There's a stack of games on the bookshelf for when friends come by



And magnetic letters on my fridge that everyone loves to play with



I have a bright & cheery china cabinet full of Fiesta dishes and other serving pieces I've collected along the way



And a beat up card catalog in my entry way perfect for hiding mittens and other goodies by the front door



An old metal cabinet found it's way into my kitchen and became the perfect perch for my beloved mixer and baking accessories



My mom brought over a box of vintage bottles that she found in their garage, they now adorn the windowsill above my kitchen sink



And the shelves built onto the side of the upper cabinets that flank that window have become the ideal resting spot for spice jars



It may not be perfect yet, but it's getting there!