Amen

Right????

Oh yeeeah!

How cute is this?? It reminds me of my grandparents:)

AMAZING White Bean Chili

I am sitting here at 11:49 PM eating. Yes eating. I've told you about my obsession with food, so I think its time I blog about it a little more. 

My dinner was SO delicious that I had to have another bowl. Yes, I am, in a way tooting my own horn. But really I am tooting Paula Deans horn. hehe. 

I have to give you the recipe and then the little changes I made. It is soo good that papa asked for leftovers.(they are in a jar in the fridge pops:) In case you don't know he is my chef of a father. So that is a compliment:)

Here it is straight from the food network. Ill put my variations in parentheses after each part I changed.(cause I love me some parentheses. And because I can.)

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried navy beans ( I used 2 cans of white beans and 1 can white kidney beans.)
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles (fresh or canned) (i used 2-4 oz. cans)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper(I used 1)
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

Rinse beans well, cover with cool water, and soak for 2 hours. Drain. Put the beans in large pot with the chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. (You get to skip this 2 hours if you use the canned beans like I did. Which made step one for me just mixing the broth and beans over med. heat while I prepared the rest).

In a saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans. Add the chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Serve with cornbread, if desired.

(I sliced corn tortillas, put them on a baking sheet, sprayed with evoo and baked at 350 for 15 minutes. Yummy, crunchy dippers!!!)

**note: This was about a 'medium' (salsa speaking) in spiciness. So if you wanted less, just omit the crushed red pepper and maybe add less black and white pepper too)

Oh, my it is delish!!! We love chili around here, so thought we'd try it with a new twist. You are going to want to try this!

Not this time

SO, I guess its time to tell you all(all 20 of you now! oh, yeah I gained a follower!!) that the Farmers Market gave me a big fat N-to-the-O. Nope, Nada, Uh-uh, no thank you, see ya later. Sad day. In a way I am relieved, but also a little let down. I was really excited about having my creations seen weekly, but I'm looking into other venues now. The gist of the turn down was my pieces are "repurposed not created". Hmmmmmmmmm. 

As I get more and more into what I am doing I am learning and loving it more and more. I am creating so many new things each week. Maybe when I decide to apply somewhere again I will be more set in exactly what I'm putting forth. There are so many things I am doing right now, its hard to fit me into a category. I am redoing, refinishing, revamping, shabby chic-ing, and repurposing furniture, making signs, making decor, interior decorating........and I am loving it all:)                                                      

ME!

Here are some things about me you may not know.
(you may also not want to know.)

(and some of them I should probably not be admitting to)

I have a grammar-spelling disease.(ok, you know that one of you're at my blog, I was just making sure you were awake.)

I love the smell of the air after it rains and after the lawn is mowed.

I love my poofy, cozy, comfy, warm bed.

I think about food 90% of the day

I love the smell of my little girls breath:)

I own (and love) horse tights (thanks Sarah!:)

I think sometimes I am a little A.D.D.

I like to listen to a little Talyor Swift every now and then. ya, i said it!

I am a garage sale addict. (Just one more, just one more)

I have a secret passion to go to culinary school and be a chef

I hope to someday visit New York...and Ireland....and the North Pole?!?!

I own way too many frames

I love Chelsea Handler and Andy Cohen. They make me laugh...out loud...too much.

I make a lot of pillows. Like one a week.(really, my husband asked me last week if we would ever have enough. And I simply told him the truth..."no" there are just too many new ideas popping into my head at all times....too many pillows waiting to be made.)

I have trouble getting the clean laundry into our drawers and closets.

I have a love/hate relationship with redoing chairs. I love the outcome, but HATE painting all those rungs!

I love the real housewives...all of them. New Jersey and Orange County are my faves:)

I look at the dumps lumber pile at least once a week for 'treasures'

I cannot eat chicken at most places. I have a weird food-chewy-texture-phobia(thats the technical term)

I stay up until 11 or midnight most nights crafting or redoing SOMETHING. Its a disease I swear.

I love the hunger games.

I cannot stand top sheets and therefor don't use them...anywhere in my home:)

When I was in junior high my favorite show was the Rosie Odonell show
(now shes unrecognizable to me:(

When I'm alone, I turn the radio full blast and sing at the top of my lungs(Adele at the moment)

I've been to Honduras 3 times and hope to return someday

When I go into your home I am most likely thinking about how I would decorate it or redo a piece of furniture

I love garlic....on everything.

I love the little mermaid(the movie...don't worry I don't have Ariel sheets:)

I sometimes talk mushy baby talk to my hubby..hehe

I love Idaho

I've been to the Hoover Dam 3 times...on 8 months. That damn dam.

I LOVE CHEVRON and 'sad face' my hubby hates it. I would swim in chevron if I could..like this:

I love Symphony chocolate almond toffee bars.

I dream about being on the Nate Berkus show (literally dream, its a little creep)

Yep, I just showed you that:)

Now arent you glad you know all that?!?!?!?!

Must have coral!

I cant get coral off my mind! I am designing my sisters nursery aqua, white and coral.
 I am painting her a coral dresser this week and am now obsessed with it.
 I am also doing a secret project that I just got some coral accent fabric and ribbon.
Now I want to wear it!
 Gimme coral!!!!

 Here, now you can love it too:

I cant stop!!!!!

Ahhhh, now go! Go, get some coral and rock it!

Missing my Chuchie

I was looking through some pictures on my laptop today, and it made me really miss my chuchie. AKA Alina:) I found this little photo montage of one of her visits to Vegas. Macie asked us to all make a silly face...so here goes:

Who's the winner??

If we are going for awfulness, I win:)

Miss you Chuch!!!

I've been busy !!#21, 22, 23, 24 and 25!!!

I've been on a furniture craze lately now that I've been selling stuff. Here is a quick recap of my month and my rise to 30!! I'm almost there!!

Here's two of my new favorite chairs:
The green one Before:

The white before:

 And both after:

I made my own chalk paint for these for the first time and LLLOOVE the difference of the paint. Its perfect or distressing. I also used a wax sealer for the first time on these and it made the distressed parts look so much deeper and added a sort of sheen to those areas.
Here's a close up:

I have one more of the green one to finish and 3 more of the white/chevron one(one has arms). I am totally tempted to keep the white ones. I am about to redo our kitchen set and I want to do 6 mismatched chairs for it.

Next I redid this stool. It was dark brown before. I got a little ahead of myself and painted it and got out my sander before I could take a before picture. The other great thing about the chalk paint is that you barely have to sand before hand! It sticks so well to everything. That is music to my ears!!

Then I did this great nightstand/end table.

Here it is before:

And after:

And here's the bench i finished awhile ago:

I think this piece is great for right by the door, with a basket of shoes on that shelf below.

These pieces are all for sale. I've been taking them to my booths and sales. You can email me for info:

Bench: $60

Stool: $15

Chevron Chair: $30

Green chair: $30

Night Stand/End table: $45

Vintage Farmhouse Sale Saturday!!!

So, I was crossing my fingers for the Farmers Market to reply a BIG-FAT-YES before Lost in the 50's weekend got here, but I guess I will continue to cross them:) Its such a busy weekend downtown, maybe too busy for me:)

I am, though, SOOOO excited to be doing a different event this Saturday. I was going to go shop there and my friends said "Hello, why don't you sell there???" And Amy was kind enough to let me in at the last minute. So today and tomorrow you can guess what I will be doing! I have sooo much to do. Mom, can you come play with my babies please????? She is having a Vintage Farmhouse Sale!!! She makes the most awesome stuff, so I either have to put my blinders on and not let myself look, or be prepared to buy as much as I sell:)

Come take a look peeps. If I can get a couple pieces done I will have some bigger stuff out there. She lives right down my road, so I can actually haul some bigger pieces over there. Everything will be antique, farmhouse, shabby chic. You will not want to miss this!! She is going to do it once a month, so make sure you make it! She is also going to have homemade scones and doughnuts there! I can taste the scones now.....

I cant post without a picture, so here's my newest sign that will be at the sale Saturday:

Trunk Transformation (#20)

I finished the trunk that I mentioned HERE this weekend and I am in looove.

I took all the hardware off and was going to polish it up to show the original metal. Each layer of paint had been painted right over all of it. My hubby had the great idea of leaving the hardware as it was and just putting a clear cover over it. Then it not only looked rustic, but we could remember all the colors it had painted in the past. I'm so glad he thought of that because it looks awesome. I also added a surprise pop of yellow to the inside. Here it is again before:

And here it is after:

Inside yellow that matches THIS yellow piece(also in the living room behind the couch:

The original hardware:

I am thinking of adding casters to it to make it a little taller and able to roll around. #20 down. 10 to go!

Partying at:
 Primitive and Proper
Primp
Somewhat Simple
Miss Mustard Seed
Redoux
The 36th Avenue

Gate Sign

I made another sign this weekend the night before my booth. I didn't take very good pictures during the process, but here she is all done at my booth:) Isn't she pretty?  Its out of an old gate/cupboard(?) door.

I got an order this week for a custom sign and will be starting it this weekend. Its for my adorable friends daughters room....and you are all going to want one. I know I am.

Amy from the Vintage Farmhouse bought this for her daughter for her wedding! Can wait to see it gracing their home.

Hoarder?!

I love living in the boonies. Look at this awesome stuff I have collected for business or home. The best part is that aside from a few trades-ies with my dad (hes a hard bargainer!) all of this was FREE. Found, discovered, given.....I loooooveee. This is only a sample of the treasures I've gathered. (Should I be admitting these things out loud, or am I sounding like a hoarder??

Oh the makeovers I can see:)

No junk in this trunk

Just some quick pics of my booth from last Saturday. Again, I apologize for the quality of the photos. Someday I will have a nicer camera:) These are shots from my phone. It was a huge success and so much fun. I cannot wait to do another one soon.  I am in the process of working on a set of three chairs with some adorable chevron seats, a few cute little end tables and a burlap bench the same size as the one shown below. 

A bench, side table and some chalkboards at my booth

Here's a little of the more "crafty" part of my booth for this particular show

and one last shot of the whole thing...

I'm still crossing my fingers for the Farmers Market to accept me(my fingers are getting sore). I will be doing mainly my furniture, chalk and jewelry boards and signs there. 

Today I got to spend a few minutes outside before my girls started fighting like cats and dogs. I decided to start on a project that I am pumped about. My dad is pretty sure that my great great uncle carved this trunk and he gave it to me last month.

 It is so beautiful with so much character. So far i have uncovered a pink later of paint, a blue layer and a green layer. I sanded it down today and almost want to leave it that way because you can see each color it was painted. I imagine who painted each color for what kind of decor and in which room. I love pieces with some history and past life. My plan is to paint it white and distress it. There is so much detail on it I think white would be beautiful. We have a new sectional couch that takes up quite a bit of room and is in a U shape, so I think this trunk would be the perfect coffee table. Our couch is also dark, so the white will match some pillows to lighten things up. It doubles as storage which is perfect since we are always cuddling up with blankets out in the living room. 

The girls seem to be getting along again, so I'm taking them outside to get some sun......and work on that trunk:)

Tomorrow

Tomorrow , Tomorrow, is only a day away!!!!

10-5

Bonner Mall

Be there or be square:)

(Click above for the Deets)

I pushed 'SEND'....and the CUTEST thing you will ever see

I did it! I sent off my Farmers Market application and pictures 2 minutes ago!! Everyone keeps telling me how strict they are, how fast they fill up and how choosy they are......so I'm a little nervous. But here's hoping!!! Cross your fingers, toes, and hair for me this week!!

I also forgot to mention yesterday that I added some advertising to my page. I am keeping it to a minimum and will edit as it comes so you will not be bombarded with crazy adds. Just part of trying to grow my blog and business. 2 days and I've already made .27. Ya, watch out peeps:) 

Oh Ya!!:)

And on a random side note, if this doesn't make you want to have another baby, I don't know what does.

 It may be the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

Ever.

via

And one more random thought....because I'm random.
 And I can.
My dad gave me an awesome huge old burlap sack. I have always wanted to make decorative pillows and cover some seat chairs with them but have struggled with the texture. They are so itchy!!!! Who wants their butt or their arm on an itchy mc-itchiness?!?!
BUT, I know they are oh so cute and very popular.
I think Ill give it a go.
Who's buying?
I need a show of hands (ok comments), whats your opinion on the itchy-yet-cuteness debate?????

Someones got a new look....

Um, yeah. That's a new look you see on this page. And a new name. I have been using the business name 'Beam Design' for awhile now, but hadn't changed my page. It will still be the same blog content, just a little prettier. I will be adding a little more of the business side to it too. My AWESOME friend Trish over @ www.crazymomadrama.com helped me with it. No, wait, she DID it all. Thank you so much momma!!!


This Saturday I will be at the "Mothers Day Extravaganza, Relay for Life" Arts and Craft show at the Bonner Mall, here in Sandpoint, Idaho. Its going to be a long day so make sure you make it from 10-5. Be sure to stop by and check out all the goodies! There will over 25 vendors and a HUGE raffle benefiting the local 'Realy for Life'. Each booth is donating one or more items for the raffle prize. I hope I can enter!

Here are a few sneak peaks if what I will be selling........

 See you there!!!