In the field

Since shacking up with my Grandma she's been super excited about the prospect of having someone to help her out with landscaping the yard.  These last few days I've been in gardening land, digging, planting, fertilizing, transplanting, and re-potting. I've never been one for yard work but I will say I've enjoyed getting my hands a bit dirty.

We now own a bright pink hydrangea bush. The nursery in town gave me a lesson in hydrangea coloring. We're hoping my magic potion will do the trick for some blue blossoms next year.

Another little fun project from this weekend was inspired from these planters from Stoneface Creations. I've always loved these garden heads and decided make my own kitschy version.

During my NYC visit last month, my pal Duane and I ventured to Otto's Shrunken Head, a tiki dive in the East Village. We indulged in a few potent brews with the intent leaving with a fun new tiki friend. Since all my tiki mugs are in storage back in Florida, this guy has just been taking up space on my desk. Inspired by my favorite planters I repotted one of my succulents and gave ol' Singapore Sling a head of "hair." This is a fun idea I'll keep in mind for more of my tiki mugs in the future!

Beer Bread

I'll let you in on a little secret, I LOVE BREAD! So much so that there was a time when I considered it to be a bit of a vice. I would often visit my local grocery store and leave with various kinds of freshly baked loaves. They would usually be gone within a day or so. Oh bread! Delightful, crispy, fluffy bread! Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

Over time Bread and I had to have the, "it's not you it's me" talk, putting a little distance between ourselves. We are still good friends and hangout every now and then. In fact we did some catching up recently...

Okay, that may have been leaning on the side if dramatic or crazy, but this girl does love her breads. Beer bread is one of my favorites and today I'll share with you how to make it!

Beer Bread is super fantastic for a number of reasons, it's insanely easy, (like if you are a horrible baker ie: me) you can put literally anything in it, and it's so yummy! Bake away!

What you'll need:

• 1 12oz bottle or can of beer
• 3 cups of self rising flour
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• Your fixins', my favorite is rosemary and garlic

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan. (line with foil, this makes it way easier to remove loaf, especially if you have zero patients for letting it cool)
Step 2: Whisk together all your dry ingredients (including your fixins') in a large mixing bowl.
Step 3: Combine beer and dry ingredients and mix well with wooden spoon. Batter will be very sticky.
Step 4: Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Have fun with this recipe! It's great made with different cheeses, honey, or sun dried tomatoes. Try whatever tickles your fancy. I also tend to be pretty adventurous with my beers, this means I run into my fair share of duds. Beer Bread is great for buyers remorse, take that Apricot Ale!
Enjoy!

Make yourself at home, cause I'm going out.

It's a known fact in my family that I have a love of dusty cluttered antique shops and coffee. Well, combine the two with inclement weather and you have the perfect day.

Sunday I was feeling a little bit of cabin fever, so even though the weather was pretty terrible I found it to be the perfect time to explore downtown Hendersonville. Now, downtown really isn't anything new to me as I've been coming and going since I can remember, but when it rains the tourists disappear! The town is quaint, the coffee divine, and I honestly think exploring during a rainstorm is the best way to enjoy the town. Most of my favorite places are in dire need of repair, the floors are usually scattered with buckets catching rain water and one can count on a soundtrack of drips and Benny Goodman.  I can't think of a better way to dig through junk!

By the end of my little outing I looked like a drowned rat, had met my caffeine quota for the day, and purchased 10 milk bottle caps. Yep. Milk bottle caps.

Zesty Kale Chips

Now, if you're anything like me then you probably live for amazingly yummy foods! Unfortunately, in my case most of those indulgences are not all too healthy. Lately I've been pretty daring in adding new recipes to my repertoire. Some have been duds while others have been fantastic! Today I want to share a healthy, easy, and surprisingly delicious snack, Zesty Kale Chips.

What you'll need:

• a heaping pile of kale (I had half a pound and used a quarter of it)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Seasoning of your choice. (I used Trader Joe's "Everyday Seasoning and ground cayenne pepper ie: zesty)

 

Step 1: Gather your ingredients. The kale should be washed and fully dried. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Step 2: Remove kale leaves from the central vein (you'll know which one) Tear the leaves into bite size pieces.

Step 3: Drizzle kale with olive oil and seasonings.Toss it all around to ensure an even coat.

Step 4: Arrange kale leaves in a single layer on a cookie sheet. (I found that the cookie sheets that have slits in them work best) Bake until crispy, about 10 minutes or so.

Enjoy!! 

Magic of Leisure

Living in the Carolinas certainly has its perks, a plethora of jobs for the willing and able is not one of them. Boo. My days are essentially spent with the adult duties of finding a paycheck and exploring the mountain in which I live.

Today got a little magical. Meadow frolicking happened. Daisy picking happened. Deep forest hiking trails happened. I also found a new pass time obsession... Mushroom hunting. Magic? Can you feel it? Huh? Huh?

Scouring the forest floor for those little colored buttons, then lining them all up in a line. Yep. Love it! Yes I may be channeling my 7 year old self.

Since I've moved I pretty much live life as if I'm in my own personal music video. That was today. A dear friend of mine told me her glimpses into my life seem "like magic." How cool is that?  

 

 

Now, just to be clear I don't by any means mean magic by ingesting my little mushroom friends. :)
Till next time.

.

How deep is that river?

Its been six months, wow. A lot has changed over this time. I'm sure to many of those who read this it is old news. I no longer live in the great state of Florida. I am in a sleepy town in North Carolina living with my Grandmother. My life is in a bit of a limbo stage and I'm not entirely sure where I'd like to be. Quarter life crisis? Maybe. New chapter? Oh yes! The reason for my move is due to my little world being shaken and stirred. Anthony is now just some guy that I used to know. His mistakes were painful and horrible and I lost some people whom I held dearly to my heart. Through it all, my bonds with my loved ones were strengthened ten fold and I fell more in love with those dear friends and MYSELF! Thus far its the greatest thing to ever happen to me.

Two months ago I sold all my things, left my job, loaded up the pups, and didn't look back. I like to think of myself as this mysterious gypsy thing. (Is that a bit too whimsical?) I've learned so much about myself. Including how scared I am of the world. Needless to say I've jumped in face first... and smashed it a few times. Someone told me I was brave. That felt good to hear.

Its been 3 weeks, I'm in Connecticut currently staying with my Aunt Patty and Uncle Frank. I've explored DC and put a dent in the NYC subway system...So much so I've been asked for directions. (Go me for hiding my enduring terror of it!) This week I head to Pennsylvania to visit a dear friend and her new little cub. (Had cousin time on the NC coast and ogled at muscley Marines.)

Since the move I've learned quite a few things, which I will now list for you.

1. I've come to realize I'm more southern then I've ever given myself credit for. Once one passes the Mason Dixon Line, hot boiled peanuts are an idea so foreign you'd never expect the detail in which one must describe them. I have a forcible twang in likes of which my Grammy would be proud.

2. Starbucks isn't really that great. Yeah. 4 years of free will make one forget that.

3. I'm a real sass. I like it. I think it scares people. Oh well.

4. I'm a Polson woman through and through. Always falling in love. Always falling out of love. People, food, nature. Its beautiful. Every part of it.

5. Being alone/independent is a spectacular thing. I only answer to myself and its the only opinion that counts.

6. Smile often. Sing loudly.

7. Spontaneity is a new concept to me. Weird.

Now enjoy some travel photos. You can always follow me on Instagram @SandyGal.

 

Oh hai!

So. I've been super MIA on this here blog for a good bit. Why? Well. A few weeks...months ago my computer exploded and since I am poor, I'm hoping Santa will see what's up and gift me a new one.

I've got big plans for the next coming months! I'm super excited, but all I can tell you is that it involves crafts and money! The goal is for one to make the other. I'll let you wrap your brain around that!

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!
-Sandy

A corner of our home.

Why hello there! Its been over a month since my last post... oops! Well, Anthony and I are all moved into our new place and are living the 9 to 5 life. Now our home isn't all put together like it should be and I blame that on plain ol' laziness, but either way our little apartment is pretty cozy.

I've started a few projects, some have crashed and burned (hand painted bedspread... bad idea) and some turned out great! Like my awesome knock off of this lamp from West Elm. I thought I was pretty clever/original for creating my own DIY for this project, but I was beat to the punch by other bloggers... numerous times at that! Check out this tutorial from CraftyNest for a way better version of how to do this project then I could offer! It was so simple and easy to do, and only set me back about $15 (I already had the light fixture.)

One of my big goals when we moved was to try and make our bedroom a bit more gender neutral. This has been pretty difficult for me considering I'm a big fan of flowers, fluffy, and all things girly. In my attempt to figure out what to do with our room I've become a big fan of sheer simplicity. Now its no gem from Design*Sponge but I feel calm and comfy in our room and that is all I could really ask for. At night the shadows the lamp creates on the wall are so magical! We will see where this goes, but for now I'm very happy with our few paintings and DIY lamp!

Movin' and shakin'!

Moving splosion!!

Busy busy busy, hence the lack of updates. So this is the big week, moving week, after an emotionally draining few weeks its here. Our house looks like a tornado hit and slowly but surely it's all making its way into boxes. Even though this is all a pain, I'm so excited to make our new apartment into a home.
Since we started packing, it has become clear that we have a ton of junk! Which has resulted in the discovery of some strange items. Including an album by none other than Atlantis Lemuria! What's that?... You don't know Atlantis Lemuria? Well. Let me tell you... we didn't either. According to a google search it can be described as acid folk, bar rock from another dimension. ANOTHER DIMENSION! Yeah. Unfortunately the record player has already been packed away, so Atlantis Lemuria will have to wait. With baited breath no less.

Mermaid in blue jeans. Yes! Atlantis himself. Double yes!

In other news this girl got new eyeglasses!

Duke, had a birthday!

L to R: Duke, Hendrix, and Baby Olive... Arthur was far too cool for a birthday hat.

Next stop Tampa!

Be back soon!

-Sandy