The chairs are here!

Two posts in one day? You lucky ducks…

This weekend has been full of interesting things. As you read a few days ago, I found some sweet chairs on Craigslist and recruited my friend Claire to come with me to pick them up on Saturday…you know, so I wasn’t the next Craigslist victim.

We had a lovely day and the chairs are beautiful (definitely in need of some TLC). I swung by her house around 11:30 and we made it to the chairs shortly after noon. We crammed them in the back of my 2001 go-cart hatchback and bungee’d the trunk shut so that nothing would fly out. Then, being the foodies we are, we went for lunch and a drink at On the Border. We both had soft taco’s although Claire was healthier than me (as usual) and opted for mahi mahi instead of pulled beef brisket topped with fried onion strips…oh well! You can read more about the food on her healthy living blog Dine-and-Dash.

Back to the chairs… Here they are in our formal living room. I think this is where they’ll live 99% of the time.

Now, as I mentioned, these need a revamp 1) because they do not match, 2) because they are pretty beaten up and 3) because these fabrics are awful. Gag. I’m thinking we’ll either paint (white) or stain (very dark) the legs and wood trim around the backs. Just so you know, I’m totally torn. For once the Mr. actually wants me to paint something and I feel like they should be stained. I’ve seen cute versions both ways…

We’ll also be reupholstering them ourselves. For the fabric, I’m pretty sure I want to keep these solid and I’m also pretty sure that they need to be velvet; it just seems like the right choice for the chairs! Maybe a light beigey blue color? Using (poorly, might I add) handy dandy photoshop I’ve come up with the picture below which is (as of today) the direction I’m thinking.

Needless to say, your suggestions, opinions and personal experiences/recommendations are more than welcome! I’ve found tons of images online, and photoshopped a few other options that further confuse me!

I think we’re definitely favoring the stained legs….

Today the Mr. took care of the yard, mowing (and simultaneously picking up pine cones, leaves and sweet gum balls), doing a little landscape removal and then planting a garden. Busy guy!

In case you were wondering, these bushes were super close to the house and in the way of the walkway from the garage to the back porch…we basically hate them, so now they are gone!

(this photoshoot was cat approved)

And, to wrap things up here, a mirror update. I tried to hang these suckers today…but as you can see from the picture below, the hooks are really close to the top which means even when the wire is pulled tight you’ll still be able to see it (and the nail it’s hanging from) on the wall. Not ideal. At all. FYI – this was also a cat approved project, especially the wire.

Any thoughts on the chairs are appreciated. Also, suggestions for a better way to hang these mirrors!

Hope you’ve all had fantastic weekends. 🙂

SB

Yardwork and Bacon Caprese Burgers!

It was another relatively overcast day in Charlotte today and the weatherman was calling for rain in the early afternoon. John jumped out of bed today and got right outside so that he could mow the lawn and get started on some other outdoor work before the rain moved in.

What might the ‘other outdoor work’ be, you ask? More chainsawing branches off trees, of course! These needed to come down as they were encroaching on our driveway space – they were also dropping a bunch of sweet gum balls onto the driveway and blocking the landscaping below from getting any sun.

When we got these limbs down I noticed these cute little baby leaves… Don’t they have great color!

After we were finished dragging all the limbs down to the road and arranged it in nice piles for the garbage crews we lounged around the house for a while and got cleaned up. We checked out a creepy little carpet remnant store and then went to Lowes Home Improvement to pick up a few things for the yard. It was at this point, about 5pm, that John was very upset he woke up early this morning to mow because it still hadn’t rained.

Ok. Now to the important stuff. Dinner. The highlight of my day!

I saw this recipe for Baby Bacon Caprese Burgers over on Food’o Del Mundo today while randomly browsing around online (looking for ideas for dinner.) I had to make a trip to the grocery store anyway so the hubby and I decided we’d try this. And can I just say, we are SO glad we did. We made a few adjustments to make these more 2-person-dinner appropriate and they were phenomenal. I only had a chance to snap one quick picture before we gobbled them up (you should click over to their website via the links above for a real picture!) I think we’re going to have them again tomorrow for dinner, so maybe I’ll get a better picture for you!

Bacon Caprese Burgers (Recipe source Food’o Del Mundo)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 strips bacon, roughly chopped

1/2 lb. ground beef

2 slices fresh mozzarella

fresh basil leaves

1 tomato, sliced

Mayo or Dijon mustard

2 hamburger buns

salt and pepper

Directions:

Cook the bacon in a fry pan until crisp, this is important because if the bacon isn’t crisp it will just get soggy in the burger. Drain the bacon bits on paper towels and allow to cool. Mix the ground beef and cooked bacon in a bowl until the bacon is completely incorporated into the meat.

Make 2 patties out of the beef/bacon mixture and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Grill the burgers until they’re cooked to your preference. A few minutes on each side is what we like. When they’re almost done put a slice of mozzarella on each and let them sit on the grill for about 30 more seconds (just enough to let the cheese get warm.) Place a burger on each bun and layer with basil leaves and tomatoes. Spread a small dollop of mayo on the inside part of each top bun and enjoy!

You should also know that I learned a nifty trick for storing basil today. Because who wants to spend $2.50 on basil, use 6 leaves and have the rest go bad? Not me. If you trim the ends of the basil’s stems, place them into the cup of water and place the cup in a spot that doesn’t get direct sunlight. This should prolong the life of the herb at least a few days – I’ll let you know if it fails miserably!

Now for some Stephanie/John time and a cocktail (or three). Happy Saturday!