Chicken & Veggie Pasta

We like good, southern cooking. Unfortunately, most of that good cooking requires a lot of time and preparation. On occasion and with the right motivation I pull a few of those kind of meals out. However, for day-to-day life I love a good meal that doesn't require a whole lot of work! (This is mostly to do with the fact that I'm still working full time and trying to squeeze in a good nap everyday before starting dinner. :)

This meal is not only lovely looking but it's also quick to put together! :) 

Chicken and Veggie Pasta

Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes

You'll Need:

3-4 Thawed Boneless Chicken Breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)

Velveeta Cheese

Frozen Peas

Frozen Corn

Frozen Carrots

1 Box of Rotini Noodles

Here's How to Make it: 

First, put a pot of water on to boil your noodles. Meanwhile, cook the chicken in a skillet with some olive oil. Then, boil your noodles. As your noodles are boiling cook your frozen veggies (steam, stove-top, microwave- your prerogative) After your noodles have cooked to your preferred tenderness strain them and pour them into a large box along with the Velveeta. Stir until the cheese has melted in well. Add the chicken and veggies. Ta-da! You're all done! It's not only colorfully beautiful but also very tasty! Enjoy! 

DIY Anthropologie Ruffled Curtains

After living in the cottage for a little over six months I finally got around to putting together curtains for the bedroom. We had been using a plain drop-cloth curtain but I wanted to soften it up to match our Shabby Chic Bedding. I saw a cute idea from Anthropologie but I couldn't justify the expense.  It wasn't a difficult looking project so I decided to figure it out on my own. If you want to make your own fancy, ruffled curtains (and save a few $) here's how:

Our curtains are 72 inches long so I needed a little more than double that amount in the length of my fabric cut- about five yards. Depending on how wide your window is you will need to get more than one cut of that length. Our window is a standard, single-window so I only needed one cut.

Once I got home I folded the fabric in half lengthwise and cut it into strips about 6-8 inches wide.
(This was just to save time cutting.)

 Then, I folded a strip in half lengthwise and sewed a simple, straight line down the open side.

Next, turn the sewn strip right side out and sew the ends.

After that, you will want to lay out your strips to determine how many you want on each panel and then straight pin them down for sewing. Keep in mind you will need to leave excess to make the ruffle.

 To sew the ruffle, I left the machine foot up and hand fed the curtain through. Simultaneously, I bunched the fabric to make the ruffle as the machine sewed it.

This is definitely a time consuming project between cutting fabric, sewing the strips, reversing them, and then ruffling them through the machine. However, it ends up looking really great!

12:30pm Fall in the Country

3:15pm Sky Top Apple Pie

Macie Jane

After 20 weeks of eager anticipation we finally found out we are having a sweet baby GIRL! 

The cottage is about to get a little more girlie and that North Carolina blue room is about to turn a lovely shade of ballerina pink. 

I can't wait! 

 We wanted to do something fun to share the gender of the baby with our family living close by. The idea of a cake reveal was suggested and we thought it would be perfect! After our appointment on Monday, I made a cake but used food coloring to turn the inside of the cake pink and then frosted the outside with vanilla. When everyone arrived Joshua cut the cake to reveal the pink and share with everyone that we are expecting a little girl! The reactions were priceless! My sweet husband and his father are the only two men in our immediate family. Little Macie will be an addition to the already bubbling-over brood of women in their lives! Needless to say, they will be a perfect daddy and granddaddy to Macie because they know all about girls! All of us women are already dreaming up sparkles and tutus, monograms and cupcake celebrations! We are all so very excited to meet this precious baby girl and thank the Lord for His goodness to give her to us!

We love you, little Macie Jane! 

Outdoor Living

The weather is slowly changing from the hot South Carolina Summer to a crisp, cool Fall. Of all the seasons, Fall is definitely my favorite. I've always loved the colors and smells of Fall. It seems so many good things come with the Fall. I love pumpkins and mums, warm coffee on a cool morning and gray october days. (My birthday also happens to come in October- so that doesn't hurt either.) One of our favorite parts about Fall is the return of comfortable weather! After the hot, hot Summer it finally feels great to walk outside and not melt!

During the Summer Joshua and I talked about our outdoor space and began dreaming up what we could do to utilize it best. We both love to sit on the porch, sip coffee, and visit. Our only problem with the cottage is that we don't have furniture for outside! Joshua, as usual, came up with a brilliant plan. He had a great idea to cover the deck so that we can enjoy being outside even on a rainy day- which actually happens to be our most favorite!

On Sunday afternoon Joshua suggested we go to Lowes to get a few things he would need for my birthday present. Of course, I was excited but a little intrigued as well! He told me that for my birthday he was thinking of working on our deck space. I was thrilled! I happened upon a website connected to Pinterest with a great idea for DIY deck furniture along with corresponding building plans. I showed it to him and sweetly, he agreed that we could do it. So, off to Lowes we went and around $50 later we were headed home with all the lumber supplies we needed to build sectional seating for our deck. Our plan is to put two seats together for a 'couch' and then one seat independent.

 Admittedly, following Pinterest directions does have its pitfalls but all in all they came out great! I doesn't hurt that there are few things my man can't do. When the building plans didn't make sense he improvised and came up with perfect solutions. The chairs look great! I am so excited to put them to good use!

We have lots of supplies for making s'mores so if you're in the country and want to stop by you are so welcome to come and enjoy a perfect Fall treat out on the deck with us!

(that includes those of you related to us who live just down the road)