We discovered a week ago that we have TERMITES. A swarm of termites was spotted in our flowerbed and they then proceeded to start to EAT our fence. NOT GOOD. So today the house was treated for termites – no damage to the house yet. They’ve been too busy eating our silly fence.
FUN!
By now, every football fan in the United States knows that the Super Bowl is coming up and it’s coming up quickly. However, throwing the perfect party isn’t always easy. Finding the perfect recipe or cocktail, for the occasion, can be a little tough. Over my years of always being volunteered to host for the Super Bowl, I’ve come up with some tips that might help out for your next party…
1. Break Out the Sport Paraphernalia
For many, the Super Bowl is a very special occasion. Lots of fans are die-hard and love to wear their jerseys, hats or even lucky underwear to the game. In my family, we are no different. We love to whip out our favorite team’s customized beer pitcher we bought from this site whenever we entertain for a sporting event.
2. Try a New Appetizer Recipe
A Super bowl party without delicious food isn’t a Super Bowl party at all. Try something different to add a little bit of spice to your party. Each year, I make a bacon wrapped meatball recipe from here. This dish is a great way to get the party talking!
3. Try a New Cocktail Recipe
Cocktails are a great way to liven the party up and getting people excited. While beer is generally the drink of choice for any sports event, cocktails also have their place. They are excellent choices for those that are willing to try new things and they usually taste a little bit better than beer. I like to switch things up and use this recipe for Winter Sangria. It’s a very tasty drink and men tend to love it as well!
4. Activities During the Half Time Show
For a lot of people, the Half Time Show is really just bathroom break time. For those that aren’t into the musical acts performing, a few rounds of your own Karaoke is a great way to liven up the party even more and have a little bit of fun!
5. Commercial Games
While some people watch the Super Bowl for the game, others watch it for the commercials. Having a “Favorite Commercial Contest” includes everyone. Everyone votes for his or her favorite commercial – pick out of a hat and the winner gets a prize!
All in all, having the greatest Super Bowl party is no easy feat. Sometimes breaking out of the same ole’ entertaining mold can be difficult. Hopefully these tips can spark up a new idea this year for the big game!
And – don’t forget – keep your guests safe! Superbowl parties often involve finger foods, people sharing dishes like salsa and dips and food sitting at room temperature for long period of time. FoodSafety.gov highlights four simple steps to food safety: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill. These basic actions include cleaning the food well, keeping potential contaminates separated, cooking meats thoroughly and chilling uneaten portions. You don’t want your guests to miss the end of the game because they’re sick, right? Break out the crockpot or warming trays for foods that need to be kept hot and serve cold foods over ice.
post courtesy of the lovely Quinn over at healthylivingbyquinn.blogspot.
People have been asking for a home tour of our new home, and we’re finally getting unpacked and able to share bits and pieces with you! I’m going to share in pieces, since otherwise we’d have a wayyyy too long post. First I shared the basement and now we’re on the main floor!
When you walk in our house, you come into the great room – we loved how open the family room, dining room and kitchen are. Its so bright and airy, we love the windows and skylights. And my kitchen… MY KITCHEN!! I fell in love instantly. There’s a bar for the kids to have breakfast, tons of storage, and its great for cooking. We spend a lot of time in here after school, as everyone has snacks and does homework and reading.
And this is my office! (MY OWN OFFICE!) Its right off the kitchen and living room, so I can keep tabs on the kids when I’m working, but it has two doors so I can shut work away when my day is done. When I needed a new computer, my husband suggested a desktop so that I’d be even more inclined to leave work at work. And since I work from home now, so I spend a lot of time here in this little room.
We have a little bathroom…
And this is our living room. We love the fireplace and the built-ins. Elizabeth really wanted a window seat in our new house and we have two in our living room. The kids love to read books here (when the dog isn’t cozied up there first!)
And in the hallway, we finally have a gallery wall! We’ve been wanting one for awhile. We followed Nicole’s tutorial on All Things Chic on how to make a gallery wall.
People have been asking for a home tour of our new home, and we’re finally getting unpacked and able to share bits and pieces with you! I’m going to share in pieces, since otherwise we’d have a wayyyy too long post. Let’s start with the kids’ favorite room: the basement!
My kids have been fascinated with basements for years. Probably because we never had one. Whenever we went to a house with a finished basement, the kids would only want to play there! So we were thrilled that our new place had one. The basement has 4 rooms – 3 small unfinished/utility type rooms and one finished room. The previous owners left the projector system for us, so we now have one kick-butt movie room!
I found these vintage travel posters from movie locations online. Aren’t they SO SUPER COOL?? (I’m extremely proud of these)
The kids have their own little play area, complete with train table (that is currently a Lego Friends World) and this AMAZING organization system by IKEA.
And – Elizabeth’s favorite part – the cupboard under the stairs! Just like Harry Potter’s. 🙂 We made ours a reading nook!
And the hallway back to the laundry room (complete with a pile of dirty laundry) has a bulletin board that we’re already filling up with works of art!
So there’s the first peek! Enjoy!
Since our house is on the market is just about as clean as it has ever been – like ever – I thought I would share pictures before it becomes normal again. (Do we really have to take those bags and bags of stuffed animals out of storage? I think some things may get “lost” if-you-know-what-I-mean.)
Anyway – here’s our house!
Come on in!
When you walk in our front door, you’re right in our living room. I love our living room! Thanks to IKEA slipcovered furniture, these couches are in surprisingly good shape. People always ask me where we got our curtains. They’re from Target. I’m sure you’re shocked!
And our fireplace… I really REALLY hope our new house has a fireplace. We love family fire night – we have a big fire, pop popcorn and sit around playing games and reading.
This is our dining room – notice the lack of homework papers on the table. Thankyouverymuch.
And our kitchen! I remember when we moved in – my old kitchen had literally 2 square feet of counter space. No exaggeration. This felt like I was cooking in a mansion!! I still love our kitchen – the peninsula is perfect for the kids to pull up chairs to bake cookies or make pancakes on Saturday morning.
And this is our family room. Normally home to approximately 3 million Legos! We fixed it up about 18 months ago, with the new couch that replaced the college futon and new pillows and curtains.
We also have a full bath and a mudroom off the family room…
I am SO spoiled having a mudroom right off the family room. I did NOT miss hauling laundry to a basement when we moved in here!
Heading upstairs…
Gracie’s room!!
Colin’s room – I LOVE his rug. $20 on Target clearance!
Ellie’s room
Kid’s bath
Our bedroom. Do NOT underestimate how much it bothers me that the trunk is not centered at the end of the bed. This picture makes me twitch.
Master bath. Towels uneven. *twitch*
And…..
the backyard!
You may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much lately. Or like, at all. I KNOW! Sorry. We’ve been working like CRAZY for the last three weeks trying to get it in tip-top shape, doing all of the things that we live with all the time and never bother to do. Like power washing the deck and dusting baseboards and scrubbing my kid’s handprints off the walls. (MUST they always touch the walls?) Or like cleaning the bugs out of the light fixture in the bathroom. I always think about doing that when I’m brushing my teeth or something, but I never seem to get around to actually doing it. Yesterday we finished spiffing things up and TA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here breathing into a paper bag. And collapsing in a puddle of exhaustion and sore muscles.
My old living room looked like this:
Excuse the old picture from when our house was on the market 3 years ago. I naturally forgot to take a picture before I started cause that’s how I roll. It was nice, but a bit dark. The tan walls had a bit of a green tinge that drove me crazy and the red curtains didn’t lighten things up any.
So I grabbed a bucket of paint and went to town. This is Natural Almond by Behr. Then, I headed to Target and picked up new orange drapes on sale for $14 each. Added two throw pillows and voila!
Its so much brighter, isn’t it? I just love it! Blue and orange is my new favorite decorating combo!
It was all Gracie wanted. A real tea party with her friends and everyone’s American Girl dolls!
Everyone wore their party dresses and brought their American Girl dolls. We made matching bracelets for the girls and their dolls…
Then we did some flower arranging
And then we ate. And ate. And YUMMM!
It was a super day!
And for favors… a candy bar!!! YUM!
For the brunch, I tried two new recipes for breakfast casseroles – and they were a home run. (This is so me by the way. Trying a completely new recipe for a party.)
Bacon and Potato Bake
adapted from our best bites
4 cups country-style hash browns (cubes, not shredded), completely thawed
1 12-oz. package bacon
1½ c. pepper jack cheese
1 ½ c. cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped (about 6 stalks)
4 eggs
1 c. milk (whole)
½ tsp. kosher salt
about 10 turns freshly ground black pepper
Begin by cooking the bacon. Place the potatoes in a 9×13 baking dish. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle over the potatoes. When the bacon is done, drain it on paper towels and reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Cook the onions in the drippings until tender and fragrant (about 2-3 minutes) then sprinkle the onions over the cheese mixture. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle on the top of the mixture. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper and, while whisking constantly, pour the egg mixture evenly over the potato mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 7-8 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and bring casserole to room temperture. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly but not brown. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
Sausage and Cheese Egg Bake
(adapted from Jo-Lynne’s recipe)
1½ cups (6 oz) shredded cheddar
1½ cups (6 oz) shredded mozzarella
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
6 green onions, sliced
1 medium sweet red pepper, diced
2 tbsp butter
1½ cups cooked loose sausage (I used a tube of Jimmy Dean sausage. You could also use cubed ham.)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
8 eggs
1¾ cups whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
In a large skillet, cook the sausage and drain. Saute the mushrooms, onions, and red pepper in butter (and a bit of sausage grease wouldn’t hurt) and stir in the sausage back in. Spoon this mixture over the cheese. Combine the cheeses and sprinkle into a greased 13×9-inch backing pan. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over the sausage and cheese mixture. Cover it and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350. 30 minutes before baking, bring the casserole onto the counter to come to room temperature. Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes. A knife inserted in the center will come out clean when it’s done. Let it stand 5 minutes before serving.
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