Dinner is served!

Steve made one amazing dinner tonight. It was a recommendation I got from a friend at work...and tonight was the first night we tried it. We both loved it and want to pass it on to everyone else to try. It's a simple 4 ingredients, 1 pan recipe. And here it is...

First you brown Italian sausages (we got a package of 5) in a frying pan over medium heat. Don't break the sausage casings until they are almost completely cooked (about 15 minuets). Then cut the sausage into smaller pieces in the pan allowing the sausage to release all of its juices into the pan.

When the sausage is finished cooking all the way through, remove it from the pan and set aside. Next, cook 4 cups of green grapes (in the same pan) in the sausage drippings over medium-high heat until the grapes start to break up. (The grapes will get soft and also release juice into the pan)

Next, remove the pan from the heat and add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to the grapes and sausage drippings. Lastly, serve the sausage and grapes (including drippings) over mashed potatoes. We used instant potatoes to help keep this meal quick...but I imagine that real mashed potatoes would be even better.

And that's it! Simple, easy, and amazing!!!

Man vs. Machine

So after a super long week of over time and stressful deadlines, I rewarded myself with a weekend of hard cleaning! (Yeah that's kind of a joke....kind of not). We have a bonus room (aka the wood room) that is right off our family room. I have some grand plans for this room but for the time being it's more or less our "dog room". It houses the dog's crates, toys, food, and also doubles as a dog run when it too hot outside to play fetch. In fact I play fetch with them in this room for 20 minutes every morning.

When we first moved in the house my mom spent hours hand scrubbing the wood floor until it looked (and felt) brand new. And while we vacuum the room constantly and spot clean any major spills...it had gone the last 2 years without another hand scrubbing. Wow, that was hard to admit! I swear we're not gross people...we're just very busy and barley get the time to vacuum let along clear out an entire room to scrub it. But that brings us to last Sunday....

After dog sitting Henry (a not quite house broken puppy) the whole house was feeling a bit dirty. So I finally bit the bullet and did a deep cleaning, including hitting the bonus room floor. I borrowed a tile cleaning from a friend in hopes this could be a quick and easy task (or at least not a back breaking task). Turns out the floor was so bad that the machine just wasn't cutting it. Literally...it wasn't cutting through the dried on dirt and grime. So I got out the bucket, warm water, distilled white vinegar, and scrubbing rag....and did it just like mom taught me.

                                               Before                                                 After

And "the line in the sand"

I scrubbed and scrubbed every inch of that floor on my hands and knees. It wasn't easy and I went through several buckets of water and vinegar before I finished....Or at least I thought I was finished. Unfortunately, once I stepped back to admire my hard work I realized that I could still see rag streaks (a sign of me not cleaning out my water enough). Then it dawned on me...the machine! The hard work was done so it was a breeze to use the tile cleaner to do a final wash. The beauty of the tile cleaner is that it uses clean water and scrubbers to wash the floor and then suction to pull up all the dirty water and dry the floor to a streakless shine. Which leads me to believe that if I actually keep up on cleaning the floor weekly with the tile cleaner it might not ever get bad enough to have to hand scrub it again (a girl can dream right)

                          The settings                      Clean water/cleaner              The dirty used water 

So I guess...it's more Man plus Machine....than Man vs. Machine. I might have a sore back, arms, and knees but I love, love, love my floor. I had forgotten that the floor was reflective, smooth, and soft...and warm golden yellow in color not "rustic gray" (that last part is actually at bit depressing). And I have decided that our dogs will either have to stop playing and become super fat...or that I need to go buy a tile cleaning and some serious knee pads! 

Ta-da! The finished product!

                    

Good News, Bad News

Which do you want first...the good news or the bad news?

Good news: Our best friend Corey has been working as a pilot instructor training Vietnamese students out in Mesa. While he liked having a job, flying, and making money...he really didn't like training, especially students with language barriers. So last week he missed our California trip to go one some job interviews, and last night he broke the news...He got a job as a commercial pilot! (19 passenger prop planes)

And that lead us to the bad news: He leaves next Saturday for Wyoming where he will be training for 4-8 weeks. And half way through training he will find out where his actual job will be. Oh yeah and the closet he will end up is Prescott or Denver!

So there you have it. I'm pumped Corey got a job doing what he wants...but I'm crush he will be leaving (especially so soon!)

Pilot Corey

The pitter patter of little feet...

We're puppy sitting a little yorkie mix named Henry this (long) weekend. He is supper cute...but Steve and I have decided that while we are still interested in having kids, we are no longer interested in getting another puppy! 

Making Plans

This room was featured in the current Real Simple magazine...and I fell in love. Color wise our entire house uses a similar pallet; gray-blue, slate, charcoal, and stone. But there is something about the way the colors are arranged in this room...I just can't get over it! Now I'm trying to decide if I have a place in our house were I can mimic this look. Right now I'm considering the guest bedroom, the master water closet, the down stairs power room, or possibly the bonus room. All I know is - I want this room!

Get the look:

Wall Paint: Crystal Blue; Ceiling Paint: Amherst Gray; Trim Paint: Horizon Gray

All by Benjamin Moore Paint

A New Beginning

Today I turned 28 years old...and it's time for a new beginning...

This was my original blog. I started it thinking I would have all of this time and energy to write post after post about design trends I love. I quickly found that blogging really isn't as quick and easy as most think. Then it dawned on me...if I had a goal and some strict rules...with lots of practice I could become a real blogger. And that's when My 27th Year was invented. I knew if I forced myself to blog every day for a year, then blogging would become second nature and I could do it with ease.

Turns out it still isn't as easy as expected, but in the end I did get pretty good at saving a little time each day to do it (Steve might disagree with that statement!). Anyway, now I'm back. I have returned to reclaim this blog as an everything blog. I'm not going to promise a post a day this time but I will try my best to publish a couple post a week. And what will I be posting you ask??? Little bits of everything (hence the title Summer Excerpts). It will be about my family, my job, what I wish I was doing, things that inspire me, and anything in between. So here's to starting a new year and a new blog. See ya soon!!!

The Tiny House Trend

There is a new trend in the design world...the tiny house. Some people use the concept of a tiny house as a way to capture some extra space on their lot away from their home. Some people, like Tumbleweed Houses get a little crazy with the tiny house and build it on a trailer frame so that is becomes a road worthy home away from home. And some people are even more extreme and make these ity bity spaces their primary home!

My obsession with the tiny house started when a coworker sent me an article about a Sandra Foster who turned a miniature "haunted house" sitting on the back of her property into a beautiful Victorian cottage. She made the house into a personal studio/retreat...my ultimate dream!!! And now that is all I think about; how to build a tiny house in my (tiny) backyard. Something tells me that my HOA (home owner's association) would never approve putting a pretty tall, tiny house in my yard so for now I just dream about it and all of the possibilities, styles, and designs I could incorporate into my very own tiny house.