Nesting during pregnancy #3

Our basement playroom is finally finished, hooray! Well, at least the built of it. New walls were put up, insulation, carpet, doors, paint and the kids now finally have a chalk wall (my favorite feature of the room).  However, we're not ready for the reveal until  I get it organized which will hopefully mean throwing/donating half the toys. I really don't know how we managed to fill the entire basement full of stuff when we didn't have that extra space one year ago.

Anyway, I have been "nesting" a bit in other parts of the house. Very soon, we'll have to convert our office room into a nursery so I've been purging, organizing, shredding and scanning until we find a space for our office nook. Of course with decluttering, comes finding old treasures. One of the things I found was 2 yards of fabric that I purchased a while ago when I was in Pinterest mode and pinned a tutorial on DIY valances. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon so instead I decided to update our old pillows that I've been wanting to get rid of for quiet some time. Mainly because one was brown and the other lime green, what was I thinking?!?! Since I don't own a sew machine, I used this tutorial on how to create a no sew pillow cover. It was super easy to follow and only took me about 20 minutes to make two covers. After a week of trying out the pillow covers, our nanny offered to take them home and use her sewing machine for a "finished' look. 

No Sew version:

"Finished" look:

I love that fabric and it matches our accent chairs perfectly!

This isn't related to the nesting but I wanted to share a yummy and healthy sandwich recipe.  It is super easy and so tasty!

Grilled veggie sandwiches with creamy garlic spread (makes 4 sandwiches):

1/2 red onions, thick slices

1 red/yellow/orange bell pepper

1 package of pre-cut (or if you buy whole, just cut them thickly) portobello mushroom caps

olive oil, salt and pepper for seasoning

1 sliced avocado

3 tbsp mayo - for the spread ( i could seriously bathe in it so I made extra)

2 tsp minced garlic - for the spread

lemon juice - for the spread

sliced or shredded mozarella/provolone cheese

8 slices of thick sandwich bread, you can also use a baguette or focaccia buns

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degreees. Toss the onions, bell peppers and portabella mushrooms on a cookie sheet with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 10 minutes and take them out. While the veggies are in the oven, mix the mayo with minced garlic and a few drops of lemon juice, this will make the sauce no so bitter from the garlic. Remove the veggies and place them in a separate dish. On the same cookie sheet, arrange 4 pieces of bread and spread a little bit of the mayo mix. Then divide the veggies among the bread, top with avocado slices and cheese. You can use sliced provolone or mozzarella cheese. Shredded works too if that's all you have. Put this back in the oven and bake for 5-8 minutes or until cheese starts to melt.  Toast the other 4 pieces of bread and spread the remaining mayo sauce.  Take the sandwiches out of the oven and top with the remaining bread. Enjoy!

Updates, updates, updates!

I know it's been a while since I wrote anything in here, but believe me, I've been blogging in my head. One of the first things I want to share is the first renovation project that we tackled a couple of months after we moved in (it's been a year since we bought our home!). I didn't want to share the before and after pics before it was completely finished with all the details and decor but my husband and I are quickly finding out that there's always room for improvements.Let me tell you first why this was our first project.  After a week of showering, we discovered a few things that were very wrong: (1) my husband had to duck because the shower head was too low, (2) the tiles were falling off the walls, (3) you could only lather your hair with one hand because the other elbow wouldn't fit, (4) the soap dish tray fell off the wall taking down a couple of tiles which left a huge hole in the shower, which then ended our showers until the new one was rebuilt.
So here's the big before and after reveal:
Before:

 After:

my favorite feature of the new bathroom is the toiletries holder that you can't see until you walk in the shower because of the expansion.  And of course the new shower head.

The pink and white floors HAD to go and instead we laid marble. It's a bit cold but we love the look.  It's a little piece of luxury we get to have in our little bathroom.

We expanded the shower which took some space out of the adjoining closet in the smallest bedroom but it's worth the sacrifice. We used grey subway tile on the walls inside the shower and smaller tiles on the floor. We got a new toilet and kept the vanity and the mirror.  We may eventually change it out but for now it works for our tiny space. We opted for glass sliding doors instead of a shower curtain (yuck!) or a swinging door which I don't regret doing because the water doesn't drip on the floor and stays within the shower. We went with a light gray/blue color for the walls to complete the "spa" look we were going for. Some of the things we want to eventually add are: a towel rack above the toilet (like in hotels) and maybe a new vanity and mirror.

All the other work that's been done to the house is the stuff you won't really notice or is essential to living, boring! We had to remove 5 trees that could've easily fallen on our house since we had two big storms in the past year, electrical wiring in the whole house, recessed lighting in the living room and basement, new water heater, a shed in the back yard which required us getting a building license (painful process!), new carpet over hardwood floors in our bedrooms, new light fixtures in the dining room and kitchen and attic insulation for the cold winters ahead.  The next bit project we're currently working on is finishing the basement.  The first half is going to be the kid's playroom which needs most work. It's coming along nicely but we had to start from scratch, baseboard, insulation, drywall, trimming, new doors..basically the works.  Right now we just have to paint it and install new carpet so I can't wait to start decorating.

Renovations are taking a little longer than I expected and the process is grueling when you only have time to do things on the weekends but it'll be worth it in the end, at least that's what I keep telling myself. Oh and btw, I guess it's also been hard to put any time into remodeling and redecorating due to a little thing called, a 3rd pregnancy! Oops! Yes, we're expecting yet again..and yes...my last post was about Chloe's 100th day celebration. It's going to be a bumpy but joyful ride!

happy 100th day, chloe!

This past weekend we had the family over to celebrate Chloe's 100th day (baek-il), Easter and our new home.  Although our home is still a big project, we were happy to welcome the family to meet our baby girl who, in my opinion, is perfect the way God made her!

I wanted to do something special for Chloe's day (although I didn't do it for Ethan, shh...).  Here are some pics of the celebration:

Busy bee

I haven't posted in a while but I've definitely been keeping myself busy. I just realized that I have a little over a week until I go back to work and I haven't tackled half of the projects I wanted to do.  Just to give an update on the meal planning, I did stick to it last week but only took a picture of the Ma Po tofu.  Meatloaf night really wasn't that exciting.  I've never made Ma Po tofu and it turned out pretty good.  I made a mild version for my son and then added all the hot pepper later.  It was really spicy!

Earlier last week I tackled the linen closet. Its really embarassing and was a disaster. It's really deep so I was always looking all the way in the back and was too lazy to put it back neatly again.

My solution? Why baskets, of course. I also kept all the stuff that I don't use often behind the baskets and the first row of towels and linens. I brought in a stackable shelf to keep all the small loose things. Here's the linen closet two hours later...

The baskets are lined but I had to throw them in a wash and I am making tags for the baskets.  I also ordered a label maker and will be labeling everything as soon as I get it. Dork!

I didn't get to do much else because on Monday the contractors came in to work on our bedroom bathroom. It's taking a little while to complete but I'm so excited to have a more spacious shower! They completely gutted the bathroom and installed new plumbing, insulation and cut into our office closet to create more space. I'll show the before and after pics after it's complete.

I didn't get to do much over the weekend because Dave had to work and I was at home with the kids. Ethan and I made my favorite healthy snack, ants (red ants cuz all I had was dried cranberries) on apple.

Meal Planning

So I'm going to try this meal planning craze that I' ve attempted in the past but failed. Mainly because I got lazy or had a craving for something else. But now I really have to get my act together because the amount of food that I waste is ridiculous. I think to plan to cook everyday is a little presumptuous, especially once I go back to working full time, so I will try to have at least one day of take out or eating out.

Monday - chicken crescent roll casserole
Tuesday - meatloaf with mashed potatoes, green beans and apple sauce
Wednesday - ma po tofu
Thursday - birthday dinner (i ain't cooking!)
Friday - girl's night out birthday dinner (hooray, i get to cheat twice this week!)
Saturday - leftovers night
Sunday - frozen pizza night

Lazy Hump Day - tissue wreath project

So today I did absolutely nothing.  Well, I did absolutely nothing with my husband. He is currently studying for his doctorate in physical therapy and is in school full time. That's right, I'm his sugar mama. Well today he had the day off and we just hung out with the baby, napped and watched Ellen together.  This almost never happens so we both indulged in this rare occassion.  I highly recommend it to other parents no matter how many "projects" you may have.  The projects will always be there.

Anyway, I thougth I'd post this valentine's craft that I made yesterday, which inspired me to start up blogging again.  This is called a tissue paper wreath and I made it based on this image from Pinterest. Since I had limited supplies on hand, I improvised a bit.  I used a cardboard circle that I had left over from a Martha Stewart kit and glued 1 inch pink and red tissue squares with a glue stick.  I used the dull end of a pen to adhere the tissue paper to the wreath by placing it in the middle of the tissue square. I used two pieces of tissue paper to complete the entire wreath (that's all I had, anyway).  Then I used some red ribbon to hang it up on an entrance mirror. Ta da! Festive!





This proejct took a whopping 15 minutes to complete. So easy and your kids can help too but I was too anxious to wait on my 3 1/2 year old and just did it myself. I do have other projects in mind that involve his grubby little hands.

Rebirth of "Eternally Learning"

So after a long hiatus from blogging, I decided to start again to document our upcoming projects. So what have we been up to, you might ask? Well, to start off, we sold our townhouse and bought a single home all in 3 months. Praise God! We had both settlements on the same day and three days after, we were sleeping in our new home.  With that said, we have a lot of projects ahead of us and I've been a busy gal, checking out other blogs and obsessing over ideas on Pinterest. I'll start posting some of our before pictures at the house so you all can see the slow transformations.  Our first projects were boring and non-asthetic.  My husband was obsessed with recessed lighting so now we have them in our living room and basement and just about every light in the house has a dimmer and is controlled from multiple locations.

Oh....and I had a baby! I guess you would say that was our biggest project of all during my blog hiatus so we are happy to report that we had a healthy baby girl.  Her nursery is not yet what I envisioned it to be so be on the lookout for a before and after post.

So during my maternity leave, I hope to tackle as many projects around the house.  I hope to also do some crafting and diying since I have some time in between being a full time cow and a pooper scooper for my little girl.

Stay tuned for more....

Getting pregnant is now cute!

One of the challenges I faced when I got pregnant was trying to get my clothes to fit as long as I could (yes, I did the rubber band trick) and finding cute pregnancy clothes. It was either Peapod (expensive!) or Motherhood, a cheaper version but fairly standard.  And although Target and Old Navy had some options as well, some of the styles were a little more basic for my liking. Now, I'm seeing more and more retailers like Ann Taylor Loft and now Forever 21 tapping into this 1 billion dollar industry and coming up with maternity wear that's cute, hip and affordable. So go on, get pregnant, and still look cute! Although...there's nothing cute about vomiting, swollen feet and mood swings.  Unfortunately, there's no way to cover that up~

Ready...Set...Eat

I've been getting lazy and frankly too tired to update my blog with pictures of what I've been cooking but trust me, I have been cooking. Since my husband is now a full-time student, we had to cut back on our eating-out and using food out of our pantry..GASP! I usually leave my pantry food for blizzard days. It is satisfying to know what one is capable of making with a can of chickpeas and some spices. Here's a collection of meals that I made and since I only have a minute to scarf down my food before Ethan pulls me away to play, I took them with my iPhone so they're not great quality. Enjoy!

Pulled pork tacos

Braised chicken with gnocchi and mushroom sauce

Fish chickpea curry over rice and naan

Chicken Donburi

Mandu Guk

Full belly

Hi Ann Taylor Loft..when did you become so cute?!

As I was browsing my favorite blogger's pages, I noticed a lot of people posting super cute outfits and all of them were linked to Ann Taylor Loft. Now, I'm not a regular shopper but they've revamped their entire line. The clothes are perfect for that stage where you don't want to look like a tween and you're not ready to go into Talbots, just yet. I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of them...

Kidorable Wear

I hate rain, so anything that makes a rainy day seem a little better, I will buy! And eventhough today is a gorgeous and sunny day, I justified my purchase of this adorable rain coat with the fact that I can never find anything cute for my 19 month old son to wear. This is a painful but true statement. I don't know how many more years of torture I can handle of walking into a store and seeing rows of cute dresses and pink and green outfits and then you find the lonely boy section which consists of the same plaid shirts and khakis. This blog would be a lot more interesting if it was filled with pictures of a cute Asn girl dressed in a pink and green dress, with a white cardigan, white tights, and pink Hello Kitty shoes. Yes, I have thoughts about this!

Korean cooking: quick and yummy

My typical working day is comprised of me getting up, get Ethan ready for his day, go to work, come home, and start cooking dinner for my husband and I while I'm feeding Ethan. And the rest of my week is the sentence before times 4. Then weekends fly by as we try to fit in "family time" and leisurely activities such as grocery shopping, cleaning, and walking Blair (our dog) for more than 5 minutes at a time. This is where Korean food comes to the rescue. It is by far the simplest way to eat. Just about every dish requires these main ingredients: garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, and sugar. But in my case, I usually go to Korean Korner and pick up some pre-seasoned galbi and panchan and voila, dinner in 15 minutes.

Doing the flap...

With mother nature finally coming to her senses and giving us sunshine all of this week, I decided to think about spring and everything that it means to me - cleaning, allergies, Easter, pollen, skirts without tights, Claritin, pastel colors, and did I already mention allergies? One of the trends I want to try is the girly flaps that I've been seeing on a lot of celebrity looks and magazines. Here are a few of my favorite:

Taiwanese beef noodle soup

This is a late post but better late than never, they say. During the snowmageddon 2010, I noticed that everyone somehow turned into culinary experts and were displaying their creations on Facebook. Among the most popular dishes was the Taiwanese beef noodle soup. I often indulge in this hearty soup at Joe's Noodle house. However, since I had no way of getting there and was completely snowed in, I decided to take on the challenge. Out of all the recipes out there, this one seemed to be the one that I could make out (mainly because I had most of the ingredients on hand with a few substitutes).

4 hours later....

exploring prints

So lately I've been noticing a lot of prints for dresses and tops on one of my favorite blogger's pages. I am currently adoring Yumi Kim's collection. But since I can't afford even the items on sale due to our upcoming life changing event*, I am forced to find the "Looks for Less" options. It is somewhat rewarding finding a steal but those prints are totally calling my name! So I found one of these options below that I'm completely torn on...Some look cute on the model and then questionable on their own, what about the quality, how short is it?! all these questions and more...help!

1. This first option is from Forever 21. I like the print eventhough it's defined as "Cheetah" (I'm not a huge fan of animal print. I don't like the matching belt but that can be easily switched.

2. This second option is from American Eagle. It is a pretty standard flower pattern but I'm digging the pleating and the pockets!

3. I just love this unconventional shirt dress and the fact that it's not plaid! I live in my plaid shirt, but lately I've been seeing it everywhere!

FLIP FLOPPIN'

Old Navy is having their flip flop sale..but they're not telling you about it, so stalk up on them now! You know they're only good for one season but for $1.99 (or 2 for $5) who cares?! Plus, they're not as deadly as JCrew flip flops. I haven't met anyone who hasn't fallen flat on their face (butt, cheek, arm, or nose - ouch!) while wearing Jcrew flip flops. Sorry Jcrew, love you but you need to change your flip flop manufacturer. Happy floppin'!

Meal Planning: Week of January 25-29

Monday: Linguine tossed with peas, prosciutto, mushrooms and onions (source: me)

Ingredients to buy: none

Recipe: linguine, peas, thick slices of prosciutto cut in ½ inch pieces, cut mushrooms, chopped onions, olive oil, and unsalted butter.

Cook linguine separately, toss in frozen peas at the end and boil for 5 minutes, drain pasta and peas and run under hot water – drain again. In same pan, sauté onions, prosciutto, and mushrooms in olive oil and 1 tbsp of unsalted butter until lightly browned. Toss in the linguine and peas and mix well. Serve immediately.

Tuesday: Dinner at Dave Parent’s house – pizza

Wednesday: Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Sauce (source: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/turkey-burgers-cranberry-pomegranate-sauce/)

Ingredients to buy: red wine, parsley, rosemary, English muffins

Recipe:

For the Sauce:

1 bag fresh cranberries

1/2 cup red wine or port

1 cup pomegranate juice

1 cup sugar

For the Burgers:

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

2 tablespoons each parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1 rounded tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 slices extra sharp white cheddar cheese

4 large sandwich-size English muffins, toasted

Butter, for toasted muffins

8 pieces Bibb or leaf lettuce

Combine cranberries, wine, juice and sugar in a pot, bring to a boil and cook cranberries until they pop. Reduce to thicken sauce, about 15 minutes or so. Allow sauce to cool.

Combine turkey with herbs, shallot, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Form 4 large patties and cook 5-6 minutes on each side in EVOO in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cover burgers with cheese and tent the pan with foil to melt cheese during the last minute of cook time.

Serve on buttered, toasted sandwich size English muffins. Set burgers on a couple of slices of lettuce and set tops in place with lots of cranberry sauce.

Thursday: Gordon Ramsay's Sticky Baked Chicken Drumsticks (source: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/gordon-ramsays-sticky-baked-chicken-drumsticks/)

Ingredients to buy: none

Recipe:

Olive oil, to drizzle

10 chicken drumsticks – I will be using a whole cut up chicken instead

Sea salt and black pepper

For the glaze:

6 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons fish sauce

4 teaspoons light soy sauce

Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

4 teaspoons sesame oil

Yields: 5 servings

Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a large baking dish. Season the drumsticks with salt and pepper and arrange in the dish in a single layer. Drizzle over a little olive oil and bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes.

Prepare the glaze in the meantime. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until evenly combined.

Take the chicken out of the oven and pour over the glaze, to coat each drumstick. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, turning several times, until the chicken is tender and nicely glazed.

Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving. For a balanced meal, serve with steamed rice and purple sprouting broccoli or green beans.

Friday: Potato Kielbasa Bake (source: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/potato-kielbasa-bake/)

Ingredients to buy: 1 lb diced hash brown potatoes, sauerkraut

Preparation

2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

1 pound kielbasa (Polish sausage), cut on an angle into 1-inch pieces

1 pound frozen, diced hash brown potatoes, defrosted

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups homemade chicken stock

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

2 cups refrigerated sauerkraut

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 cup of broccoli florets chopped (my ingredient)

Yields: 6 to 8 servings

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO. Cook kielbasa until brown and crispy, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the hash brown potatoes into the same pan with the sausage drippings and cook until brown and crispy, about 4-5 minutes.

While the hash browns are crisping, place a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat with one turn of the pan of EVOO. Add the onions, garlic, salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until tender, 5-6 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the ingredients in the pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the chicken stock, milk and mustard. Bring the gravy up to a bubble, then reduce the heat and add the sauerkraut. Cook until the gravy has thickened and the sauerkraut is heated through, 3-4 minutes.

Stir the reserved kielbasa into the gravy and sauerkraut, and transfer the mixture to a 9x13” casserole dish. Top with the hash brown potatoes and a sprinkling of shredded cheese. Dot the top of the casserole with the butter then transfer to oven and cook until the cheese has melted.

My version of Thai Basil Beef

Despite the 3rd day of rain and 41 degree weather, we had a very productive day. This morning I had a Starfield advertising meeting (if you haven't done so, purchase your ticket today!) and then had a cupcake decorating party with Mosaic. Went to my in-laws afterwards to pick Ethan up and had an early dinner. Went back to our house and made Thai Basil Beef. I've been wanting to make it for the past 3 days and had everything ready so I was determined to make it. Luckily, we were still able to eat a little bit and Ethan loved it! It has some red chili peppers but he didn't seem to mind. It's the Korean blood in him :)

My boss swore by this recipe that she found in Everyday Food and it seemed easy enough to make. I actually had all the ingredients except for Jasmine rice. I have a 50lb bag of Korean rice in my house, do you really think I would buy Jasmine rice just for this recipe? It turned out the same, probably even better because Jasmine rice has this smell to it that I can't imagine mixed in with coconut milk.

My version:











I will definitely make this one again. Thanks Jessie!

my version of a busy weekend

Friday night

• 6:00- come home
• 6:30-feed Ethan dinner
• 7:00-play with Ethan and start making dinner for Dave
• 7:45 - bathe Ethan
• 8:00 - read bedtime story and give milk
• 8:15 - 8:45 - put Ethan to bed (it took extra long tonight)
• 8:45 - make ramen for myself
• 9:00 - start cutting up veggies for kalbi jhim
• 9:30 - clean house
• 11:00 - feed Dave
• 11:30 - get ready for bed
• 12:00 - goodnight

Saturday

• 6:45 - wake up
• 8:00 - feed Ethan breakfast
• 9:00 - grocery shopping
• 11:00 - start cooking lunch and dinner
• 12:30 - feed Ethan
• 1:30 - crockpot!
• 2:30 - hair appointment (short nap in the salon)
• 4:30 - setting up for dinner
• 6:20 - dinner with in-laws and Dave's grandma and aunt
• 8:00 - clean up and bathe Ethan
• 8:30 - Ethan to bed
• 8:30 - clean up
• 10:00 - good night (crash)

Sunday

• 7:00 - wake up
• 8:20 - feed Ethan breakfast
• 9:20 - nap with Ethan
• 10:30 - get ready for church
• 11:30 - church
• 2:00 - lunch
• 3:00 - put Ethan to bed
• 3:30 - catch up on some E!
• 4:30 - feed Ethan snack
• 5:00 - watch daddy play football
• 6:30 - make dinner
  
• 7:20 - family dinner
• 8:00 - wash and put Ethan to bed
• 8:20 - load dishwasher
• 8:30 - blog!
  

hello Monday!