{Make This}: Buffalo Chicken Pizza.

It all started when I texted Jake about missing Harley's birthday...

Jake suggested buffalo chicken pizza and so like that, plans were made. I stopped by Fresh Market and got our favorite frozen pizza dough (it comes in a ball, not the canned stuff).

We enjoy making our own pizza and the buffalo chicken was particularly delicious. To make this,

You'll need...
- pizza dough (we used wheat frozen dough from Fresh Market)
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, boiled and shredded
- buffalo sauce (we used Target Brand "buffalo pizza sauce", which was basically plain buffalo sauce)
- mozzarella cheese
- blue cheese crumbles
- ranch dressing
*you could add celery pieces

You'll do...

1) Preheat the oven according to your pizza dough directions. Make your pizza dough.

2) Chop your shredded chicken to small bits

3) Spread your buffalo sauce on your pizza crust, then top with chicken, your cheeses, and thinly drizzle the ranch dressing

4) Cook your pizza according to directions and serve.

Enjoy!

{House}: Living Room, Rearranged.

This weekend I got a little wild and decided to change up our living room layout. Our living room has seen lots of configurations...

Here's right when we moved in:

We very quickly ripped out the carpet to expose the hardwood floors beneath:

In our kitchen renovation change-up, we sold the chairs and moved the couch that matched the loveseat into the living room.

Here's another view of that layout, which is how it existed for some time:

But like I said, I got the itch. I didn't love that the couch blocked the window and the whole room felt very corner heavy. So just for kicks, I changed things up. Don't know that it will stay but that's the beauty of furniture - you can always move it back.

The thing I'm not sure of is the back of the couch showing when you walk in the door...

With the couch backed to the entry way, does it block off the room too much? I like how it opens up the window and also extends the living room area out a little bit.

 So there you have it - what do you think?

{Make this}: Fake Out Low Key Stir Fry.

If you're anything like me, the idea of stir-fry immediately brings thoughts of chopping. and chopping. and chopping. But this stir-fry we've mastered making over the past year is easy and low key. It seriously doesn't take much time, ingredients, or effort. And the result is delicious.

You'll need:

1 cup uncooked white rice
boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
broccoli florets
carrots
fresh jalapeno
fresh cilantro
szechwan spice
olive oil

After much searching, this is the szechwan spice we use. It is from Kroger:

You'll do:

1) cook your rice according to preferred method
2) chop cilantro, carrots, jalapenos, and broccoli
3) combine vegetables, cubed chicken, olive oil, and spice in a bowl to coat
4) cook chicken and vegetables in a wok (or similar pot)
5) serve over rice

Easy, delicious, and mostly healthy!

In broccoli and rice,

{Exterior}: Azaleas in the Backyard.

I by no means have a green thumb. Our backyard is a great size but the soil is compacted from the dogs so grass isn't growing (we're on that... appointment with lawn service made) and we had this pesky bed by the garage that turned into a weed garden. One day after it rained quite a bit we took shovel to the bed and ripped out all of the weeds (some of which were small trees). We were left with this...

Then we headed out to Dabney Nursery to get some azaleas to fill in the bed. We got our last azaleas there and they have done well so we wanted to get them there again. Plus they have a huge selection at great prices and are very helpful! {not a commercial, just satisfied!}

After exploring their stock we chose the Conversation Piece azalea because of its height, bloom color, and the leaf pattern.

We loaded four into our cart and headed for the register.

Then my sweet guy used some of his free time to plant them in the ground - we ended up having to wait about a week because right after we bought these we had a cold snap with temps below freezing so our azaleas lived inside for a little bit.

We finally got them mulched this weekend. In the meantime they have bloomed somewhat. Unfortunately Harley thinks she is supposed to eat the blooms so we've been dealing with trying to keep her from killing them.

Now the side of the garage looks a bit better. If only we could get some grass...

In gardens and blooms,

{Browser Window Shopping}: Summer Avenue Antique Warehouse.

Here I am, back again with another {browser window shopping}. The other day I had a bit of time to kill before meeting up with my mom and so I stopped into my favorite antique store close to me, Summer Avenue Antique Warehouse. As usual, I found some good things - and this time I didn't even take anything home with me (besides some gifts for friends...). I'm sure Jake appreciates that!

Here's what I spied..

Some fun retro chairs that just needed a little cleaning and love:

A fabulous chair for an office or retro living room:

A mid-century modern chest of drawers {love those legs}:

A club chair and ottoman for a steal at $85 - some damage and wet areas but you'd reupholster it anyway...

An enamel top cabinet - I could see this painted some fun color on the bottom and used as a side table.

Loved this mid-century modern buffet/hutch:

A retro kitchen table with four chairs:

Some fun retro canisters:

Fun pyrex and mugs:

A great sofa table:

Hidden under there is a spunky bar cart:

And a fabulous polka-dotted casserole dish:

Browsing antiques is one of my favorite things to do in my spare time - hope you enjoyed!

In antiques and eye-candy,

{Life}: Lately.

Spring has been good to us around here. Despite a string of bad luck (stolen debit card number, dead car battery, a new AC compressor for same car, and finally Jake backing into a fire hydrant), the past month has been overwhelmingly positive. Great news at work, fun times with family and friends, and quality time with my guy - can't complain.

{the fire hydrant won that round} :

A few weeks ago I went shopping with a pal. I'm a frugalista by nature and out of necessity (I get it honestly from my mom...) and so I have to share this - Burlington Coat Factory has super cute necklaces. You've got to dig through some trash and it won't be the best quality but for someone who can't stomach paying a ton for a statement necklace you'll wear with only a few outfits, it is definitely worth it. Here are two of the four I got:

I also got to spend some time eating lunch with my cousin and her PRECIOUS baby girl, Layla. This girl is growing up (as children do, I suppose) and every time I see her I am reminded about the importance of making time for family.

I spent some time shopping with my mom at a new antique place...

There was LOTS of pet time this spring...

And a little video to see what I deal with on a daily basis - Beamer is hilarious.

Jake also worked a lot of night shifts this month - so one night Beamer and I took him dinner.

Then Jake and I celebrated being off a long shift with Central BBQ...

Spring hit our neighborhood suddenly, after a string of cold weather and then a lot of rain. We finally got blooms on our azaleas out front and oh do I love them!

We also finally met with our contractor to get a quote for the porch posts...

Jake has been studying a lot for his test next week. Tyson tried to help but he was no help...

More pet pics... dinner time at our house:

Tyson has been very cuddly lately. Who knew he could be nice?

Jake and I also finally tried out the hot fudge pie at Westy's in the Pinch district downtown. I officially have found the thing that I crave most in life. It was ridiculously delicious.

We've been cheering on the Grizz from our couch...

Taking walks around the neighborhood, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Even school has gotten into the spring times - our geese have hatched their goslings. Aren't they precious?

{Note: I'm such a city girl that I didn't know they were called goslings. Thanks to GG for that info}

We have this awful untended bed that is technically our neighbors (a rental) but it is jungle-esque. And yet these beautiful plants seem to persevere through the lack of attention, the weeds and drought. This week our irises have been blooming.

And with that, I leave you with a picture of Sebastian - this one is special because whenever I try to take pictures of him, he gets so excited to get attention that he comes towards you... meaning I never get good pictures unless he is sleeping.

In loving spring,