Wine Wednesday: Red Diamond Merlot

Happy Wine Wednesday!  This Wednesday's wine of choice is this Red Diamond Merlot, made in Washington State.  

Like all great wines, there's a story behind this one.  

I (a tad apprehensively,  I'll admit) asked my other half to pick up a bottle of red wine to have with dinner one night.  I usually lean towards various red blends that tend to be on the softer side, although my horizons are broadening thank goodness.  What does my husband pick up?  Not a red blend, but a merlot!  Now, I had only tried a merlot one other time and it was so bitter and very dry.  I looked at Marty (husband's name) as he proudly set down the bottle of Red Diamond Merlot.  In all fairness, it was red.  I asked for a red wine, right?  I told him that it wasn't really what I was hoping he'd get, and I could see the look of defeat settling across his face.  Quickly trying to recover his mood I said, "Well, I've only tried a merlot once and didn't like it-- but this one could be good!!"  

And, happy ending to the story, it was good.  

It's nothing like the merlot I had tried previously.  It's on the softer side, not harsh, and even a little airy.  The flavor is strong but fruit undertones really make this wine enjoyable.  (I'm by no means a wine connoisseur, I just know what I like.)

And there you have it, my wine choice for this wine Wednesday.

Happy wine Wednesday to all!  Half way through the work week :-)

Cheers,

Kayla

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Little Black Dress + Trench

I adore the LBD + trench look.  Throw in some heels and you've got an absolute classic.  I'm happy to say I can even pull off the look for less.  Much less!  For me, it's all about waiting for the right deal or sale.  Which means patience.  Lots of patience.  But it usually pays off in the end... literally.

The dress:  Forever 21 ($15) The coat: Forever 21 ($7.50)  The shoes: Target ($8)

The dress wasn't even on sale- the full price was $15.00.  I was thrilled to find a lace-sleeved dress, let alone one so inexpensive! And the coat?  It's not my dream coat, but the color and material was just what I wanted.  It's very light, so it's not super warm by itself.  I found it on sale at forever21.com for $15.00 and they were having a sale where you take an extra 50% off all sale items.  That made it a whopping $7.50!  Needless to say, I jumped on it.  And then the heels were on sale as well.  Score!

The coat comes with a belt as well.  Love it!

Isn't this the truth?

Here you can see the dress a little bit better.  Another thing about it- for $15, it is really comfortable!  I was expecting stiff icky fabric, but it's not like that at all.  {Clutch from Coach}

Why not take pictures in a pear orchard?  :-)

Where is your favorite LBD or trench from?

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DIY: Vintage Frame to Makeup Tray

I'm really excited about this post.  

I had seen the idea awhile ago of using an old frame for a makeup tray, and I knew it was something I wanted to do.  Only problem?  I couldn't find a vintage-y looking frame that I liked anywhere.  So basically it was an idea I kept in the back of my mind- looking here and there for just what I wanted.  

And then I found it.

Here it is.  I found it at my local Goodwill store for only $1.99!  It was exactly what I was looking for-- gold and vintage-y.  

I couldn't wait to get it home and see how it looked with my makeup.  It is perfect!

And now my makeup is always neatly organized.  Plus I can see it all which makes my primping much more efficient. 

Good luck to any others in search for the perfect frame for a makeup tray!  {I would try second hand stores, yard sales, or antique shops.}

xoxo,
Kayla

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Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Yay!  I'm excited to say I've just started an account on Bloglovin- and I can't wait to start finding all of my favorite blogs on it.  I'm hoping it will help me find some great new ones as well!

 xoxo,
 Kayla

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Reasons to Love September

Okay, I know it's only September 6th, but I'm already loving this month!  Here are some reasons to love September:

 

1. End of summer events

We've recently been trying to soak up the remainder of summer- and I love any reason to have a gathering.  BBQs, dinner on the deck, and game nights around the fire-- perfect ways to say "au revoir" to summer!
 

2.  Apples

How awesome is this picture via http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/12/weekender-sf-part-ii/? 

September falls during apple harvest- and I live in the apple capital of the world.  {Which works out pretty well, because I love apples!}  September just seems like a great month to bake an apple pie, or make an apple sangria.  Here's a recipe I've tried out for apple oatmeal cookies with brown butter frosting.  They are delicious! 

3. Football season

Even if you're not the biggest football fan, football games still give us another reason to gather and have a good time.  I decided this year that I was going to actually follow the games and be a football fan, and I'm really enjoying it so far!  I'm really hoping to head back to my alma mater to catch a Coug game this year.  Plus- there's tailgating.  Need I say more?

4. Fall fashion

 

 

I created this set on Polyvore. I love fall fashion- scarves, boots, sweaters... September is great because it gets colder, but you can still dress up without having to bundle up. Plus, I live in a land where it snows, so in September I can still get away with heels :-)

5. National Miniature Golf Day (September 21st)

 

Do we even need a reason to play mini golf? Well, if you do, here it is. September 21st is National Mini Golf Day. So find a mini golf course near you and have fun!  

6. Hot beverages
 

Now that it is September, it feels okay ordering a hot latte instead of an iced one.  Maybe it's because Starbucks waits until September to roll out their famous pumpkin spiced lattes.  Regardless, I love a nice hot coffee.  Don't get me wrong, I love iced as well, but it doesn't feel "right" ordering a hot beverage during summer- so September gives me the okay to go hot.  

 

7. Dark manis



How pretty is this fall palette? I made sure to do the brightest of brights on my nails this summer, but now I'm ready for these fabulous darker shades for fall!

 

8. National Coffee Day (September 29th)

I love coffee. And I have it every day. But, I'm thinking National Coffee Day might just be a good excuse for me to make a Starbucks run later in the day :-)

So-- there you have it. Eight reasons to love September. Make the most of a wonderful month!

Wishing you the best of September moments.

Happy Friday!

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DIY Glitter Cake Topper

I like crafty things.  Especially for events.  Being able to say, "Yeah, I made that" is pretty great.  

Take a cake topper for instance.  Yeah, the typical numbers are fun, but they can be a bit cheesy.  I wasn't about to use anything cheesy for my mom's surprise 50th.  {I planned and executed the whole thing with the help of my aunt and sister-in-law, so I can't wait to share all of the details!  That will come later though, when I have lots of free time!}

So, I decided to make my own cake topper!  I knew what I had in mind.  

{wooden numbers + glue + glitter}

Now, this wasn't my first experience with cake-topper-making.  I had made just one before.  For my wedding cake.  Yes, that's right.  I made my wedding cake topper with no prior cake-topper-making experience.  And I really like how it turned out.  

I'm not sure how well you can see them, but they are wooden birds, or "love birds" as I call them.  I found these wooden birds at Michael's for about $0.30 each.  I picked up four of them, two being extra in case I messed up.  Then, I found really pretty blue and pink craft paint from Martha Stewart's craft line.  After that, I just needed wooden skewers, a pretty stencil, and white paint.

I cut two of the wooden skewers in half to shorten them and painted the birds white.  After the white dried, I placed the stencils over the birds and painted the boy bird blue and the girl bird pink.  Once the colored paint had dried, I used my hot glue gun to glue the birds to the skewers.  And ta-da!  My wedding cake toppers were complete!  This picture might show the colors better:

Yes, breaking out the pink champagne!  

I really didn't like any of the wedding cake toppers I found online, plus they were so expensive.  I didn't want to spend money on something I wasn't even crazy about to begin with.  This project cost me between $5-$10.  Plus I love the handmade touch.  

Okay, now for the topper I made for my mom's surprise 50th birthday party.  I knew I wanted to follow the same concept as my wedding cake topper, but I couldn't find a five or zero at my local craft store.  I ended up turning to Amazon to order them, and when I received the numbers, they were a little bigger than I planned.  I used them anyway, and still like how the topper turned out.

{I know the cake looks odd, but I made it my self.  My first ever attempt at a layered cake.  And while it looks like it has "character" it at least tasted delicious!}  

:-)

I purchased craft glue (so it would dry clear) and a pack of glitter from the Dollar Tree.  Then, it got messy.  After gluing and then shaking the glitter onto the toppers, I found that glitter was going to fall off of these toppers when we put them in the cake.  So, I ran to the bottle of decoupage sealer I knew I had lying around somewhere and coated my glitter.  After it dried, I was so relieved to see that the glitter wasn't going anywhere.

Then, I used my hot glue gun to glue the numbers to halved wooden skewers, and my cake topper was complete!

And while I'm here, talking about the crafty cake topper, I may as well share that I made the cake stand as well.  I couldn't afford any of the cake stands I found and loved, so it just made sense to try and make it myself.  I had seen on Pinterest that you can glue a dollar store plate to a candle stick, so I thought I would give that a try.  It worked!

I ended up purchasing the plate and candlestick from the Dollar Tree, and my sis-in-law and I used super heavy duty glue to adhere the plate to the candlestick.  After letting it set, we were thrilled to see that it didn't budge.  (I mean, it was a $2.00 project, so if it had failed, we would have been okay with it.)  And then, when I left it at her house and she had to bring it to me later that week, it ended up getting tossed around in the back of her car and still didn't break.  At that point, we figured we were okay to use it for our cake stand :-)

Here's a closer picture of it:

I can't wait to share the rest of the surprise party!  

Happy Thursday all!  One more day til the weekend!

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What's for dinner? {Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole}

Today is my first food blog.  Eep!  I actually enjoy cooking and baking, but I am by no means a chef or baker.  And I am a big-time "recipe follower."  But, it isn't always realistic to follow a recipe.  "That looks really good, but I'm missing two of the ingredients!"  What's a girl to do?  Improvise!  

I mainly go in my own direction in the kitchen when we are almost at the end of our grocery-rope.  Meaning, we are due for another trip to the grocery store.  I meal plan, we grocery shop, and I usually have about two weeks of "planned meals" with recipes included.  When the planned meals run out, I'm on my own for throwing stuff together.  My hubby loves the thrown together meals because they usually end up being some sort of casserole.

He even told me as we sat down to a dinner of a randomly assembled chicken and noodle casserole, "This is so good.  You could make a recipe book called 'Crap I Threw Together'".  He makes me laugh :-)

So, anyway, today I am sharing a super easy meal that I'm sure there are hundreds of variations for.  I'm going to try and add lots of disclaimers because casseroles are so versatile {which is actually one of my favorite things about them.}  This is a dish I pick up the ingredients for when I see they are on sale so I can have them on hand.  Turning the enchiladas into a casserole is a great time saver-- rolling enchiladas can be so tedious!  So, take the ingredients you have and tweak it to make it how you want it!

First things first.  Here's what you'll need:

• 5 chicken tenders (We buy the big bag from Costco, which I love because they are small, cook fast, and the bag lasts us for awhile. Had they been chicken breasts, I probably would've used 2 good sized breasts.)
• 12 small corn tortillas (I used white ones- they were on sale.)
• Veggies of your choice (I used half of a bell pepper and about a 1/2 cup of chopped onion, but even if you have no fresh veggies on hand, the casserole will still turn out yummy.)
• Green enchilada sauce (I buy a big can of this whenever it's on sale.  You only need about half of the big can, or one small can, so I ended up freezing what I had left over.)  
• A small can of diced green chiles
• 8 oz cream cheese
• About a cup of cheddar cheese (I had pepper jack too, so I did half and half)
• Foil for covering the casserole in the oven

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.  Chop any veggies you're using while your chicken is defrosting.

Now cook the chicken in a large skillet until there is no more pink.  I sprinkled my tenders with a little bit of salt and pepper.  

These Costco chicken tenders cook so fast!  And they are much more practical when cooking for just two people.  

Now layer 6 of the tortillas on the bottom of the greased casserole dish.  They should fit nicely with barely any bottom of the dish showing.  I'm not sure how the bigger tortillas would work in this case- I'm sure they could be made to fit. These white corn ones I purchased at Safeway were very inexpensive and came with a lot of tortillas.  

Next, shred the cooked chicken and place it back in the pan.  (I shred using two forks and pulling the chicken apart.  It's my least favorite part of the enchilada-making process.)  Then, put the shredded chicken back into skillet.  Like this:

 Then, add your veggies, chiles, and cream cheese.  Like this:

Mix these ingredients on medium heat until combined, like this:

Now you're ready to spread the mixture onto your tortillas in the prepared baking dish.  Make sure to spread it evenly, all the way to the sides.

Next, layer the remaining 6 tortillas on top of the chicken mixture.

Top with the enchilada sauce.

Once the sauce is poured, cover the casserole with foil and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until heated through.  

Then, top with cheese.  {yum}  Place back in the oven for another five minutes until the cheese is melted.  (No foil needed for this part)

Then, remove from the oven and serve it up!  

 If you're feeling fiesta-y, have a margarita with this dinner, like we did.  Enjoy!  

Don't be afraid to make it up as you go!  I don't measure anything when I make this, I just use what I have and run with it :-)

I'd love to hear any other variations of enchilada casseroles!

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