IKEA!

This week was a little crazy- classes are over, so my schedule was thrown out the window and now I've got a lot of loose ends to tie up, three exams next week and moving into my new apartment for the summer.

But my friend, Melanie, and I decided to skip town Tuesday afternoon and head to Charlotte! For REI and Ikea, of course! With a little Anthropologie and Sur la Table stirred in! I can't wait to share what I bought with y'all, but its all packed up in the car for moving this weekend!

But I am officially in love with Ikea. I foresee another visit this summer after my wallet recovers from this trip! (Just kidding... I spent a lot more in my head than for real, but I really can't wait to go back!)

I was *this* close to buying a canopy, but I decided against it. For this trip!

They have a new children's book about the vegetable patch! Broccoli and Carrot are the heroes!

Sigh... what a wonderful afternoon to get me through finals! Have a wonderful weekend- I'll be moving and helping a couple of friends move too!

Finished Tee!

I finally got around to finishing up this idea I had for a shirt that had gotten a small oil stain somehow. I really like how it turned out!

I used a leftover doily from Valentine's Day and used a metallic peacock-like color of this fabric paint  that I ADORE because you iron the back and then you can wash whatever you have painted on!

Here's a close up. What do you think?

Oh, and here are some pictures of spring! Yay!

PS: I linked up to

Shirt I Embellished

I had been waiting to fix up this plain black shirt that I got at Wal-Mart and used Teresa Collin's post as inspiration. The little button on the right side of the picture is actually a butterfly that I got from a local fabric store for 25 cents. It inspired the color scheme of green and blue and a little white. Sorry the picture is not the best- I used my phone camera because I almost forgot to get a picture before I went to bed yesterday!


Oh, and yesterday when I was flipping through the Wall Street Journal, I noticed this article:

Food That Looks So Messy, It's Irresistible. It had some awesome pictures and I think it's pretty interesting how they compare food photography from 20 years ago to today. They also have a slideshow online that has a couple of more examples. Just thought my food bloggers would get a kick out of that article :) Its a quick read so jump on over if you can! 

Sushi Class

One of my life goals is/was to learn how to prepare sushi. So my boyfriend and I went to Charleston Cooks! and took a sushi making class. Man, was it worth the $60! Not only did we learn how to make 4 rolls and a seaweed salad, we each got to eat and take home the full rolls we made! It was a great experience. The chefs, Emily and Season, were wonderful instructors who took us through each step and showed us everything we needed to know.  The class was only 10 people so it was perfect for learning a new skill. Their classes sell out fast, so I highly recommend checking often and making it part of your trip if you come to Charleston to visit.

The demonstration kitchen

Jonathan rolling a California Roll (inside out roll)

My rolled and cut sushi (the California Roll was SOO much harder to cut than the rest!)

Sushi from left to right: Tempura Flaked Shrimp Roll, California Roll, Smoked Salmon "Philly" Roll, and Spicy Tuna Hand Roll

The chefs split us into stations and Jonathan and I worked on the shrimp! We deveined and butterflied the shrimp before battering it and dipping it in tempura flakes. Then, we fried it! So delicious!

Jonathan's is on the right, with some of the shrimp roll's sauce to dip with. 

After the class, I just HAD to buy the tool we deveined and peeled the shrimp with- its called a Zipper and is an easy little tool that made deveining them much easier and more pleasant. I just thought it was a necessary evil, but I will definitely be using it when I cook my local, Charleston shrimp this summer! And I picked up a ravioli press and a mini Le Crueset dutch oven magnet. Because it was so cute!

The Zipper is only $6 and such a steal! They ship them all over the country because its kind of a new tool and such a worthy investment if you enjoy shellfish. I'm just excited I found out about it!

Overall, it was such a great food experience :) Now, off to make strawberry jam with my plethora of strawberries!

Crafty Day

Today was pretty busy already, and I am still working on a few crafts!

This morning, my dad stopped by on his way to Atlanta and we went to Cafe Strudel for breakfast. Oh my, it was everything I had hoped for and more. The food was delicious! We split a full stack of cinnamon pancakes with 2 scrambled eggs and bacon (which means I only had 1 pancake!) and I got some of the hash browns. Wasn't quite hungry enough to try their World Famous Hangover Hash browns, but that will be the next visit! Everything was delicious!

Are you hungry yet? The coffee was also delicious, and awesome that it was self-serve!

After eating my full and feeling full for most of the afternoon, I started on some craft projects (to be posted soon!)

Then, I went by Hobby Lobby to get some baking stuff for a hall event. All of the stickers were half off and I went a little crazy... but most of it was for prizes for my hall gathering (I'm a Resident Mentor... the same as a RA at other colleges) but I have some new scrapbooking supplies!

I will be posting my crafts soon with the tutorials I used. Stay tuned!

Lemon Extravaganza

So, I already shared the picture of my lemons. I bought 10 and hand squeezed all of them last night (with this little wonderful tool from Wal-Mart- a hand squeezer that's super easy to use for $6-yes!)


All in all, I made lavender-lemon shortbread cookies, microwave lemon curd, and a little bit of homemade lemonade. Here are the recipes!


Lavender Lemon Shortbread 
(I didn't make it up, but a friend of my mom's gave it to me)

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon edible dried lavender (McCormick sells it in their "gourmet" spice collection and its relatively inexpensive) and feel free to add more
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon extract. Add flour and salt; mix until smooth.  Mix in dried lavender. If dough feels sticky, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour. Dough should be soft but not sticky (It takes some hand mixing to incorporate the flour)

Chill 1-2 hours until firm.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thichness. Cut out shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  If the dough starts sticking to the rolling pin, put it back in the refrigerator to cool it again.

Bake 10-15 minutes until cookies are lightly browned around the edges.

The shortbread spreads out around the edges as it cooks- I didn't remember that from the first time I made these in January because I used a round biscuit cutter then and the spreading just made it a true circle. So I recommend circles for these cookies! And they need to be thick in order to hold up. But still delicious!


Microwave Lemon Curd
I saw this recipe on TasteSpotting from http://www.2stews.com/2010/02/lemon-sunshine.html and it is DELICIOUS! She called it Lemon Sunshine for a reason! And, the best part is its super simple!

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• zest of 3 lemons, finely grated
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Makes about 3 cups.

More pictures to come after I serve these at our church's women's brunch this morning!