Feeling Like Home

Happy Tuesday!  I hope many of you enjoyed a long weekend thanks for Martin Luther King Jr Day.  Some of my favorite MLK quotes are on my quote board.  Now, even 50 years after his death, his messages are still so important.  While the beginning of the week is usually reserved for a weekend update, this weekend, we were in L.A. for another runDisney weekend, and I can't wait to recap all of that later.  It's been a while since I shared a home decor update, so here's what we've had going on:

We finally took the cardboard place-holders off the wall and replaced them with these awesome 360 degree photos of Charleston by MLB Perspective Photography.  I just love Jason's work and definitely want one of his collage pieces next!  We chose one taken at each time of day: sunrise on Folly Pier, morning on Rainbow Row, evening on the Battery, and sunset at the Ravenel Bridge.

One of my dreams for the first floor of our double porch was a swing.  We found this perfect white one with this matching rocker, but I just wasn't a fan of the metal chain.  Mike did an amazing job transforming it into a rope swing with a bunch of supplies from Lowe's, and I can't wait to do a full DIY of this project soon!  Here and here are our outdoors pillows, in case you're interested!  Target has the best options and colors!

One of our favorite rooms in the house right now is our dining room.  While we joke that this is the one paint color we made a mistake with, we have really grown to love the beachy feel.  We had the whole house painted the weekend after we chose with colors we had only seen on small paint chips, so we're bound to make one mistake out of 10 colors, right?  In the dining room, we have Mike's family's dining room set from almost 100 years ago.  It was in his house growing up and has traveled from aunt to uncle to cousin.  We were really excited to have it given to us when we lived in Connecticut, but it was in pretty rough shape.  The table always had a tablecloth on it with all the rings and scratches, and the white upholstery of the chairs saw its fair share of spaghetti sauce and red wine stains since his mom last reupholstered them 25 years ago.   We refinished the tabletop and deep-cleaned the chairs before Thanksgiving.  Now, we just need to work on the intricate table legs and sideboard!

Take a look under the first "before" photo of the table - that apoxy floor was one of our very first projects.  It makes clean up so much easier for things like car work and the table staining; plus, it looks better!

Okay, so not really a "project," but I love updating our sheets every season.  While I love these minty green ones, the cranberry is so perfect for Christmas!

And lastly, while working on this post and asking Mike what we've done with our house, he reminded me that all of the 45 regular lightbulbs (lamps, ceiling fixtures, fan bases) in our house are now LED!  If you're looking for awesome deals on lightbulbs, head to IKEA.  Nope, this isn't sponsored in any way, but the bulbs are $1.99 for a two-pack and look really nice - just wanted to share a great deal with y'all!

Five Posts I Never Wrote

Anyone else have a whole bunch of "drafts" sitting in their Blogger or Wordpress account that they look at occasionally, but never finish?  Both of my hands are raised for sure.  The worst part for me, is that for many of them, I even have the photos - I just never got around to writing the posts for one reason or another.  I still use 2010 iPhoto on my Mac Book and create folders for all of my photos.  My most pulled from is "future blog" where I drop everything I think I'll use for blog posts.  I also have CHS Restaurants, House Updates, Food Photos, etc.  Right after the new year, I decided to clean out these folders, and I found photos from years ago.  It was pretty funny, actually.  Here's what I never got around to:

Charleston restaurants: While there are tons of amazing, popular restaurants in the city, there are also those spaces constantly rotating.  We love trying new places, and unfortunately, a couple like Leaf and Lee Lee's Hot Kitchen shut down before I got the chance to hit publish.  Sadly, even a couple of places I have written about, Parlor Deluxe and DeSano have closed recently, too.

Girl Crack: When Mike and I took our bridal party to Maine for a bonding trip before our wedding (summer of 2014 - haha), we learned one of Mike's groomsmen's secret talent: he can bake!  He brought up this delicious dessert that we deemed "girl crack."  Imagine rice krispie treats but made with golden grahams and way more delicious.  So good.  We went at that mountain of crack all weekend (in addition to the tons of other food on our "snack table").  I've been meaning to put up the recipe, but I know that if I make it to take more photos, I will eat the whole thing!

Makeup finds:  A couple years ago, I bought these great spring 2015 e.l.f. products at Target.  I still use (what's left), but alas, more photos I took and never posted. Apparently, the line must be popular because you can still buy a similar eye kit here and lots of shadow colors here.

Home updates: Before we left our house in Connecticut, we had plans for a lot of remodeling.  We even signed a contract for new windows literally days before I was offered my job in Charleston.  Same with the apartment: before we decided to build our home, we had ideas to make our apartment feel more like home with little updates.  I took some before pictures...then we moved.

Shrimp scampi: This recipe will probably still get posted, but I thought it was a funny story.  Working with Sutter Home, I totally misread the instructions.  I had applied for campaigns for both a DIY and a recipe, and I thought I was accepted for the recipe campaign.  I made my scampi, photographed it... then looked at my email again... I was supposed to do the DIY.  At least now I have another post I can put together pretty easily!

Keeping Resolutions on Game Day

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #ReadyForKickoff #CollectiveBias

The first test of my New Year's resolutions is always football playoffs and the big game.  We love bringing everyone together to watch all the excitement on tv, and with parties always come the best food and drink.  Because we are all still on the healthy-eating bandwagon, I have come up with some better-for-you alternatives for big game parties that I, as a hostess, don't feel guilty serving to my guests.  Add all of it to the perfect football-themed table, and we are ready to party!

The first step was to set the tablescape.  This tablecloth wass so much fun (and easy!) to make, using x's and o's as players to draw football plays all over the brown butcher block paper.  You can find rolls of this paper in the craft section of your local Walmart.  Above the table, I hung my favorite astroturf-inspired yard line banner that I made myself!

After the table was completed, next was adding the serving platters, plates, jars (each with a cute green or black-striped straw), and yellow "penalty flag" napkins to it.  This is a great step to do the night before so that you're less stressed on game day and have plenty of time to lay everything out the way you want it.

Now, all this table needed was the food and drink before the games begin!  I did all of my shopping at Walmart, picking up all the fresh items and pantry staples needed for my recipes, especially RITZ Crackers and Coke Zero.

The main dish for my football party was a delicious Skinny Spinach and Artichoke Dip.  This dip is better for you than traditional spinach and artichoke dips.  With only 64 calories and 9.5 grams of protein per half cup, you won't feel guilty enjoying it throughout the big game, and it's the perfect compliment for the original RITZ Cracker!

Ingredients (makes 7 servings):
1/2 cup less fat cream cheese
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (grated)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
9 ounce package of frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1 cup marinated artichoke heart quarters (drained and roughly chopped)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (grated)
RITZ Crackers for dipping

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using a hand mixer, combine cream cheese, yogurt. parmesan cheeses, and garlic.
3. Fold in spinach and artichokes.
4. Transfer dip mixture into a pie plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with mozzarella.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges are bubbly.
6. Turn up the broiler to 450 degrees, and broil for 2-3 minutes, until the top browns.
7. Serve with RITZ Crackers.

The final step before the party was to get the Coke Zero chilling.  This was another piece of the party that definitely won't break our resolutions either.  Delicious Coca-Cola taste but with zero calories - what a perfect drink to cheers to the new year.  To add a little extra healthy fun, I paired the Coke Zero with a variety of chopped fruit to make the drinks feel even more decadent.

Now the party was ready to go!  We just love time with family and friends, delicious food and drinks, and, of course, the game!

Because we want our guests to have a variety of healthier options to snack on, the food table also included easy bruschetta (diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper) and caprese crackers (fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomato).  Both were the perfect healthy toppings for RITZ Crackers!

How are you going to watch the big game this year?  As you can tell, refreshing drinks and finger foods are definitely my favorite way!

Looking for extra game day party inspiration?  Check out even more ideas for snacks and sips at #ReadyforKickoff!