Cannoli Spider Ball - A Halloween Favorite!

So this was one of the crowd favorites from last year's Halloween Party. I mean really, who doesn't love cannoli dip? This is a super easy dessert that anyone can make, very few ingredients, and tastes delish. That's my kind of dessert.

Ingredients:

- 1 8oz. brick of cream cheese, room temp.

- 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp.

- 3/4 cup powdered sugar

- 2 tbs brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp vanilla

- A handful of mini chocolate chips

- 1/2 bag of Oreos, crushed - plus two whole cookies for the eyes

- 2 hershey kisses

- 1 box of cannoli chips (or) sweet pita chips

- 8 black pipe cleaners

Directions:

- Cream together the cream cheese and butter

- Add in both sugars and vanilla, mix until well blended

- Fold in the mini chocolate chips

- Place cream cheese mixture in the freezer for an hour

- Once frozen, shape into a 1/2 sphere onto a plate

- Top ball with the crushed Oreos

- Open the two Oreos making sure that the white cream part is still attached to one side

- Use this side of both Oreos as eyes - just push the cookies slightly into the ball, they should stick on their own, or you could save a bit of the cream cheese mixture and use that as glue to stick them on

- Cut the pointed tops off of two Hershey Kisses with a knife (be careful, this is the only tough part - I cut my finger pretty bad last year which wasn't fun) and push them into the whites of the Oreo eyes

- Bend the pipe cleaners 3/4 of the way up, cut them if need be to fit on the plate you are using

- Add the 8 pipe cleaners to the cheese ball, 4 on each side 

- Then just surround the ball with your chips and you are done!

Easy right?!

Here's what is looked like before I added the chips, just so you can see the size. 

Happy Halloween Everyone!

JP

Year Two in Review

Two years in the house! I'd say this is a landmark for H and I. We have never lived in the same place for more than a year, maybe year and a half TOPS! And that is dating all the way back to Freshman year of College. Each of us has moved at least once a year since then, if not twice a year. I can honestly say it feels so good to finally set down some roots.

This time last year I made a list of all the things H and I completed in the house so I thought it would be a good idea to continue the tradition. It's great to look back on everything we have accomplished and check some things off our Whole House List. I update that list at the very beginning of the year and post about the things I would like to accomplish next. Now, some of the things on this list I didn't get a chance to post about here on the Blog, but that is only because the photos are being held captive on my Nikon and with the computer working on a day by day basis, it has been a challenge. One day, they will get here, I promise.

This year we have ...

1 - Finished painting the Kitchen
2 - Painted the Family Room
3 - Put up crown molding in the Family Room to hide the speaker wires, check that out here
4 - Updated the Breakfast Nook with new chairs and rug, see it here - we also got a new light fixture not shown in this post
5 - Installed an electric fence for Pepper - money well spent if I do say so myself
6 - Installed shelving/decor to the Butler's Pantry area, check it out here

7 - Purchased a large sectional for the Family Room, posted here but later had lots of added drama
8 - Painted and decorated the front room, see it here
9 - Selected a paint color for the foyer and powder room, check those out here
10 - And had the painter in to paint these spaces
11 - Painted the guest bathroom and added a new shower curtain/towels
12 - Decorated the powder room - photos coming soon
13 - Hired a professional to design and install a huge patio for our backyard - I have before and after pictures just waiting to share
14 - Purchased and installed frames for a gallery wall in the upstairs hallway, see it here - though the frames aren't totally filled yet
15 - Started to decorate the entry way with new rugs/tables/a bench - photos coming soon
16 - Added seating to our front patio, check it out here
17 - Installed curtains and hardware for the bay window in the breakfast nook - though I still need to hem them

Then just this past weekend we...

18 - Planted some mature boxwoods up front to hide the lattice of our porch as well as two arborvitae to add some landscaping to the patio - post coming soon
19 - Purchased a new light fixture for the dining room, it's still in the box but it will be up by the end of the week

It is amazing to see what we have done in just this last year. That, combined with the first year in our home shows that this house is starting to come together. I can definitely say that it is feeling a lot like our home now and not just some house we live in. It's a great feeling! Now I just need to find the time to update my Home Tour Page to reflect all those great changes!

Sorry again that I haven't been able to post about all the changes we have done this year. A lot has happened in our lives that have kept us busy and the technology meltdowns we've had haven't helped. Hopefully I can get some of those photos off the camera one project at a time and post as I go. I have so much to share, I just hope that the computer holds out long enough to get the job done.

Until next time,
JP

A Spook-tacular Halloween!

It's hard to believe that Halloween is only a week and a half away! Where did the time go? For those of you on Pinterest, I am sure that your feed is blowing up with different Halloween-themed treats and different decor ideas. Well, I realized the other day that I never posted pictures from our Halloween party last year so I figured I would post about it now before Halloween so hopefully it will inspire those of you trying to throw your own Spook-tacular Bash and give you a few more ideas that might not be on Pinterest. Or at least not yet : )

Last year H and I threw a big party for our friends and co-workers to celebrate and yes, everyone came in costume! H was Dexter and I was one of his victims wrapped in plastic. We also wrapped the entire garage in plastic to act as a kill room - very Dexter like - and this space doubled as a beer pong area for the party. For those who have never seen Dexter, sorry you are seriously missing out. I think it might be on Netflix so I would recommend checking it out. But, for those who have seen the show,.. great costume idea right?!

Anyway, here is what we made and what a few people brought to the party:

1 - Monster Fingers - I am a HUGE fan of chocolate covered pretzels; there is just something about that salty/sweet combo that gets me every time! Thank's Kim for bringing those!

2 - A Mouse Infested Cheese Plate - brie, cranberry goat cheese, garlic herb, cheddar, and H's favorite pepper jack, all complete with some pepperoni, olives, and dried fruit - yum!

3 - Mummy Cake Pops - A huge crowd pleaser! Though I cannot take credit for these, a co-worker and friend of mine makes pops for every occasion and these were perfect.

4 - Homemade Pizza Jack O'Lantern and Eye Ball - Yea, these were creepy looking, but oh so delicious. Get the dough recipe here!

5 - Mini Mummy Dogs - can't go wrong with pigs-in-a-blanket, or as we call it in my family - Piggin's.

6 - Buffalo Chicken Throw Up - Ugh, now this was seriously gross looking, but wow, was it tasty! My girlfriend from college makes this dip and after getting the recipe from her and botching it on New Years I tried it again and I think it turned out pretty good!

7 - Deviled Egg Eyeballs and Spiders - Another co-worker of mine brought these. They were all gone by the end of the night!

8 - Cannoli Dip Spider Ball - Now this was a crowd pleaser! I will post the recipe for this amazing dip at some point this week though I don't have any other pictures. It is soooo unhealthy, but oh so good! And even better as a creepy spider!

There you have it, everything you need to make one awesome Halloween party spread. There were a handful of other things that people brought and a few things I made, but over all, these were my favs. Hopefully these ideas have given you an idea of how to create a memorable Halloween Bash!

Happy Haunting!

JP

Too Many Tomatoes...

So being a part of the CSA this year is awesome, but we are getting SO many tomatoes we just don't know what to do with all of them. This last week H decided to make a homemade tomato sauce to use up some of the ripe ones before they went bad. It turned out amazing! You might have noticed this photo on my Instagram this week:

It really tasted like you were biting into a fresh tomato with a hint of garlic and Italian seasoning. It was perfect. Now, being an Italian woman myself, you would think that I would have a family recipe that is tried and true passed down from my grandmother. Well, I don't. I don't think I have ever even tried to make homemade sauce, ok maybe once but it was just 'ok' and was a ton of work! Needless to say when H said he was going to make dinner AND it included homemade tomato sauce I was skeptical to say the least - I thought we would be ordering pizza for dinner instead.

Well, he totally proved me wrong! My hat goes off to you, my wonderful husband, who has now proven that I don't have to be the only one making dinner from now on ; ) Just kidding, he is a big help in the kitchen and has apparently learned a thing or two from yours truly. My only complaint was that he didn't follow a recipe/write anything down so I have no idea how he made it. All I know is it involved a lot of tomatoes, a pound of ground beef/turkey, and a bunch of garlic. So I apologize that I cannot type up this recipe for you guys. But, next time I will keep better track of what he is doing in the kitchen, he might just surprise me again!

We ate dinner that night and after cleaning up, realized that there was a huge pot of sauce left over. We decided to freeze it for a rainy day. So H got out our jars and started filling them. He was so proud of his masterpiece that he didn't want to waste a drop so he filled these jars up to the brim. Now, I mentioned to him to NOT do that because the liquid needed room to expand when it freezes (I would say it's the scientist in me that thinks of these things, but he is a scientist too so he really should have known better). Did he listen? Nope. 

A few days later I opened the freezer to find this:

Yup, three jars of sauce whose tops burst in the freezer leaving sauce all over the top shelf. Awesome. At least it doesn't look like the jars cracked, they just dribbled from the top so hopefully it is still salvageable. Just when I was about to relinquish dinner duties to my husband he goes and does this. I guess all is now right with the world, I am still Queen of the Kitchen and he is still my Handyman Extraordinaire : )

Regardless of how the tomato sauce turns out we still had TONS of tomatoes (Roma, Heirloom, Grape, Cherry, Beefsteak) that needed to be used. So I tried my hand at canning today. I totally cheated and used a pre-made salsa packet from Ball. It is still boiling so fingers crossed it turns out ok.

I also made this delicious Heirloom tomato bloody mary mix. Yea, it's a good one! I'll have to post that recipe later on though since this post is getting a bit long as it is. I plan to freeze one of the jars to take with us when we go camping next weekend. The weather looks great as of now, but even if it rains, at least we will have some delish cocktails!

Notice the headspace in the jar,... yea, that's the one for freezing ; )

CSA 2014

So I realized today that I never mentioned our CSA share this year (you can find last year's posts here and here). I don't know how it slipped my mind considering I go every week and have been going since May! Anyway, this year there have been some ups and downs with the farm we belong to. Some produce has been great. Like the strawberries in the Spring, they were amazing. We easily picked 10 quarts of berries over the course of only a few weeks. So much so that I made berry muffins (protein ones that really didn't turn out all that great) and a strawberry pie that was delicious! I haven't posted about that though because the photos are on my camera - cue sad face.

Some produce has taken a while to come around like the tomatoes. This is our first week of getting more than a pound or two of tomatoes. I think this summer has been cooler than normal (trust me I'm not complaining) which is making the produce peek later in the season. I could be totally off base here but that's the only thing I can think of that would have pushed the "big" produce weeks back a month. I mean it is September, right? So why did we get almost 10 lbs of tomatoes this week and virtually none in August?

So here is what our share looked like this week (sorry for the subpar iphone photo):

- 1 large watermelon

- 3 bell peppers

- 1 head garlic

- 4 hot peppers

- 1 large yellow squash

- 2 zucchini

- 1 eggplant

- 1 bunch of celery

- 2 quarts of stewing/Roma tomatoes

- 1 quart of raspberries

- 1 pint green beans

- 1/2 pint yellow cherry tomatoes

- 1/2 pint tomatillos

- 1 1/2 pints red grape tomatoes

- 1 head of lettuce

- 3 lbs heirloom tomatoes

- 5 lbs (yup 5!) beef steak tomatoes

Plus 60 stems of wild flowers and 6 sunflowers. Needless to say, it was a great week to be a CSA member! Now I just have to figure out what to do with all those tomatoes. Any suggestions?

JP

Home Improvement Budgeting

So, I was reading this post over at Teal & Lime that talked about budgeting and spending money on home improvements. It summed up exactly how I feel every time I spend a little bit of money on our home. For example, I have had my eye on this bench from Target, yes, Target. Not Ethan Allen or Raymour - Target. At full price it's not expensive but it's still more than I feel comfortable spending. In the grand scheme of things, the price isn't so bad (especially since I never buy anything at full price, waiting for a sale is always the way to go!) With all that being said, I have been looking at this bench for months. It has gone on sale, gone off sale, been back ordered, back in stock, and there was even a point where I thought it was going to be discontinued. I never pulled the trigger. Why? Because spending any kind of money for a piece of furniture that we don't need is really hard to justify.

H and I are BIG budget people. We have pretty much every dollar of what we earn designated for a specific category like the mortgage, cable, food, car payment, etc. We know where our money goes every month which is why I know we are ahead of the game. It took us a while to get there but we finally have a budget and we are sticking to it. We also have a "home improvement" budget that we try to keep to. That includes random trips to Lowes and we never walk out of there spending less than $100. I don't know how they do it, but they seriously suck the money right out of my wallet! I'm getting off track here. What I am trying to express is that Teal & Lime really made me realize that it's OK to spend a little money on our home.

If you want to read the full post check it out here. I highly recommend reading it, and the other posts on this blog too! But one thing I want to highlight from this post was that we spend so much money yearly on random things like haircuts, gym memberships, car payments, you name it. We invest in ourselves so why don't we invest in our house? Now, I'm not talking frivolous spending, I'm talking significant purchases that will make a difference in our home and our everyday life.

This is how I justify spending a little bit of money on the place I call home. Try to ask yourself these few questions next time you are shopping for your home:

• Is it going to make an otherwise unusable space usable?
• Is it something I have had my eye on for a while now and is finally on sale to a point that I can justify spending that amount of money on that particular item?
• Is it the one piece that will tie everything together? (we all know how difficult that is to find)
• Does it fit into my budget?

That last one is the kicker! Like I said, H and I have a set budget for what we feel we are comfortable spending in a given month on our home, but that doesn't mean we don't ever make a bigger purchase. We just try to plan ahead for it. So maybe I won't buy anything for a few months and then I will have enough to purchase that piece of furniture that I have had my eye on but was too pricey to begin with. I still ask myself those other questions to see if it is truly worth my hard earned money but it helps to know that we can afford it and aren't breaking the bank just to get our house in order. 

It is still tough for me to pull the trigger on certain things (like that Target bench), but budgeting really does help. Now, I could do a whole series on budgeting because it really is a beast on it's own but that is another story for another day. Decorating your home on a budget can be a daunting task. It's so overwhelming with the "but it's so expensive" or "I want to do it right, so I am going to just wait" or "why start at all if we can't afford to finish it". People, it doesn't have to be that way! If you budget home improvements into your monthly expenses and use that money for your home, then before you know it, your house will start to take form. And you will be happier for it, trust me! 

Happy Friday!

JP

It's My Blogiversary!

It's been one year! One whole year of blogging! I can't believe how fast the time flies. This year was a great year for us. We got so much done in the house and managed to keep our sanity (and some money in our pockets). Looking back, I now remember why I started this blog - to have an outlet for everyday life. I also wanted to write about our home progress in hopes it would be a way to hold myself accountable for continuing to do stuff around the house. It is so easy to put things off and then before you know it, BAM, a year has gone by and nothing has gotten done. The opposite is also true though, that if you move too fast you could make bad decisions or wind up spending more than you needed to. For us, I think we have found a happy medium (that leans towards the quicker-paced side) and it works for us. Everyone is different.

Moving into a new construction home has also allowed us to start with a blank canvas, but this, like everything else, has its ups and downs. We have done some smaller projects and some bigger ones this year, always inching closer to the final product. Seriously though, who am I kidding? It will never be "finished". Having a home is like having a never ending to-do list. Slowly, but surely, it will get there. One project at a time. H and I are just enjoying the ride. Annnd cookin' up some good eats in the mean time : )

So here is a list of my top five posts from this first year of blogging. Enjoy!

1. Life Under Construction - This is where is all started. Building our house from the bottom up was a great experience. It was so exciting to see the progress each week as we inched closer to home ownership. 
2. First Year in Review - I have a sweet spot for this post, mainly because of my love for lists. Though I have only been blogging for a year, H and I have been in the house for almost two now so we were doing projects before The JP Project even got started. It was so great to see everything we accomplished in the first year of owning our home and was a great way to see just how far we have come.
3. Our Crowning Achievement - In this post H and I (mainly H) tackled a huge project in our home, the living room. H had to have surround sound and I had to have character. The solution - crown molding : ) This was our first attempt and we really learned a lot through the process so next time it will hopefully run a little smoother.
4. The Final CrossFit Friday - I chose this post because I am so very proud of H and I for accomplishing this goal. We had been wanting to try CrossFit for a while and in this post I talked about how we made it through the into-classes and graduated onto the real deal. I seriously need to write an update one of these days because we are still at it and working harder than ever!
5. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies - I couldn't have a Top Five without my all time favorite cookies! These are seriously the best. Stop reading my blog and just go make them. Like now ; )

Well, there you have it. Five of my favorite posts from this first year of blogging. It was really hard to narrow it down but I think these are a few good stand-out posts. If you enjoyed reading them I hope you continue to follow me here at The JP Project. This next year is already shaping up to be one of the best yet!

Thanks everyone for reading and supporting my blog!
JP

Gallery Wall Part One

Well, the gallery wall is up. Only took two full days (yes, full 7-8 hr days) and a lot of breaks to save our sanity. But, it's up! And beautiful I might add : )

This is only part one because while it took us so long to hang the darn things we still have to fill them! Another project for another day.

We started by laying out the frames on the floor and arranging them in various ways until we found one we both agreed on. Here were a few of our options:

We liked the second one better except there was one small issue, the light switch. I wanted to frame out the switch so it looked as if it was part of the gallery wall but H talked me out of it. He said that since the frames are so thick, we would constantly have to stick our hand through the frame to turn off the light, and since it's a switch we use all the time, this wasn't going to work. So we moved some stuff around and traced the frames onto paper before coming up with this.

H and I were both really happy with it except that I wanted to switch out that aweful light switch. When the builders put in all the light switches they over tightened them creating this concave effect on the plastic. Eventually I would like to replace all the switches in the house but at over $5 a piece, that's going to take some time. So I'm happy to change just this one for now.

Up until this point we were doing great. It took us most of the day to get this far but I always think the planning stages of a project take longer than the project itself so I was really hopeful the next day would go smoothly. 

It didn't.

We were using various sized IKEA Ribba frames and boy are they impossible to hang! The frame itself is over an inch think and the hook for the nail head to hang them on the wall is INSIDE the frame. Plus, the hook is impossibly small, requiring a super small nail head. Needless to say, you can't use regular size nails. Some of the larger sizes came with picture wire which was much easier to work with, but even that poses a challenge when you are trying to hang everything in a straight line. What a nightmare. 

Off to Lowes we went in search of 2" nails with a small head and a light switch. We found the light switch no problem, the nails, that was another story. We wound up getting three different boxes of nails and these self-leveling picture hooks just in case. (We have learned from past projects to buy everything you think you might need and just return what you don't later. Otherwise you wind up making three trips to the hardware store before finishing what you started - it's the worst!) 

Ok so without going into too much detail, the nails didn't work, at least not easily. So we went with the self-leveling picture hooks. I totally forgot to take a photo of those so I'll add that in Part Two. These worked great with our handy little hanging gadget we were using to get the frames exactly where we wanted them. Check this out:

Sorry that photo is a little blurry but we used a paint stirrer and a small screw to hold up the frame where we wanted it, pressed the stirrer into the wall and the screw left a hole in the exact location of where to put the nail - this is genius people. Do not, I repeat do not ever attempt a gallery wall without one! I wish I could take credit for this great idea but I found it on a bunch of different blogs when I was researching the easiest way to hang these frames. We used this for the picture wire frames too. It took all the guess work out of where to put the nail resulting an fewer "oops" holes in the wall that we would have had to patch later.

Anyway after measuring and leveling and measuring some more the wall is finally taking shape. 

Here are some tips for those of you who are considering taking on a gallery wall of your own:

- Use a laser level. If you don't have one, go out and buy one (or borrow one from a neighbor like we did - thanks guys!)

- Plan ahead. Don't complain, just do it. Trust me it will save you a headache and lots of patchwork later on.

- Double check all your measurements, a few of ours were off so we used a smaller level and a ruler to get them just right.

- Make yourself that handy little picture hanger thingy. Get a paint stirrer and a small screw, put the screw into the paint stirrer near the bottom so it just pokes out the back. That's it, it's free and easy to use. You will thank me later!

Check back for Part Two when we get some photos in these frames of ours!

JP

Empty Wall Syndrome

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about our house and all the bare walls and why we haven't put up any pictures. We have tons of photos from the wedding and with family and friends from various points in our lives. Even a few good ones of Pepper when she stands still for more than a second. So why haven't we put any up on the walls? 

Well, I think I have the answer. I have been waiting and waiting to figure out exactly what each space in our home will end up looking like in it's final stage. So instead of putting holes in the wall in fear that we might make a mistake and want to redo it down the line, we sit and stare at blank walls. That's no way to live I tell ya!

Sure we have a few walls with some artwork like in our front room and a nice mirror in our dining room, but those spaces are going to stay that way for a long time so it wasn't nearly as scary to put those holes in the wall. I mean really though, how hard is it to spackle a nail hole and repaint? So I have been trying to tell myself that it's time to just go out, buy some frames and get some stuff on these blank walls of ours. Commence project gallery wall.

On Friday I went with one of my girlfriends to IKEA to get some frames for the soon to be gallery wall on our upstairs landing and a few extra frames for the one large wall we have in our living room. I warned her that I was literally going to buy every frame in the store and she didn't believe me. That was until we had three carts full between the two of us filled with frames and other goodies. 

Oh how I love IKEA. Well, more like love-hate. I love how cheap some of the stuff is and how it's a one-stop-shop kind of place, but I hate how far away it is and how there is a serious lack of efficiency when it comes to their warehouse among other things. That's neither here nor there, because Friday was the first step in the right direction to get some serious decor going in this house of ours.

So I was really excited when I got home to show off all the great stuff I got to my husband, he wasn't as thrilled as I was (of course) but that's just because he knew that meant lots of frame hanging in his future : ) As we were unloading the car he was shocked to see just how many frames I purchased. I don't plan to use every last frame but I wanted to have a few extra of each size to play around with while I map out exactly how this gallery wall will take shape. I swore I would take back anything we didn't use, fair enough right? Well, it looks like I will be taking back more than I bargained for.

Every single white frame that I purchased was broken. Womp womp.

I swear I checked every one before I left the store and I didn't see any major damage. But underneath all those little paper corners, they were busted up. And I mean, busted up. Nothing a little white paint could fix. Cue my sad face. I was so disappointed! Here I had finally started to make some progress getting a few frames on the wall and sure enough, it wasn't going to happen. And like I said earlier, IKEA isn't all that close by so I couldn't just run back out and exchange them that night. I am now going to have to make another trip out there some time in the coming weeks. 

I guess the one good thing is that the white frames were meant for the living room, not the gallery wall. So before I run back to IKEA, I am going to have to get moving on this gallery wall, open every black frame and make sure they aren't damaged as well.

I have heard horror stories about hanging gallery walls so I know it's not going to be an easy task. The next few weeks are going to be trying to say the least, but I am really hoping it's not too bad. The IKEA trip wasn't a huge bust though, I did get one of those UNG DRILL frames to hang in our entry way. 

I have been meaning to post photos of the newly painted foyer/entry way, but the color on the walls is so hard to see in photos (especially iPhone photos) so once we get a few things in that area I will post pictures to show you how it's coming along. That UNG frame will be used to showcase a wooden "P" in the foyer for our family name {like this}. As far as I can see that one isn't broken, but I guess I will know soon enough.

Trials and tribulations of decorating on a budget : /

A Yard Sale Find and Some Disappointing News about our Mac...

So first, let's talk about how our MacBook is dying a slow and painful death. Ugh, this is so frustrating. One minute I think the computer is fixed, ready to go and the next... blue screen of death. While H and I were able to frantically save every last photo and important document to our external drive, there still is not enough space on this computer to run properly. I don't know what is going on, but every few minutes it gives me this message to shut down and reboot which is beyond annoying when you are trying to edit photos. This has been going on for the last few weeks which is why I haven't posted much lately. But I officially give up. I am just going to use my iPhone to take pictures for my posts until this computer situation figures itself out. 

With that in mind here are some iPhone photos of a little DIY project that made a huge difference for our front porch:

This time of year is great for yard sales! I'm telling you, go to yard sales. You can find some great pieces for really low prices. Yea, they may need a little work, but a low price tag makes it worth it. And you get to try out your haggling skills. Me, I'm not the best at negotiating price, but the one piece of advice I can give you is ALWAYS offer a lower price than what they are trying to sell it for. You would be surprised how many people just want to get rid of stuff and will take anything they can get!

A few local neighborhoods in our area have annual yard sales and this was the first year we were able to go. That's where we found two of these babies...

Super cheap at $50 for the pair, combined with another couple bucks in spray paint, and an entire day of cleaning them up and applying coat after coat, they now look like this...

Way better, right? I used three coats of a soft black outdoor spray paint followed by two coats of a clear sealant. Wicker is tough because though it looks like outdoor friendly furniture, they aren't waterproof at all. Wicker is prone to mold and mildew if it gets wet and doesn't dry completely. So I had to be careful to clean them up really well and apply the appropriate paint. We are also keeping them on our covered porch to shield them as much as possible from the rain. Hopefully that does the trick and we can enjoy these for years to come.

I also purchased two cushions from Pier One during their outdoor sale last week. Originally, I wanted white, but H vetoed that real fast. White gets so dirty and since they are going to be outside he convinced me to go with a darker cushion. Now all we need are a few bright pillows and a side table to tie everything together.



Here is the inspiration for what I want our porch to look like. I know, I know, I'm not there yet. But I am one step closer. I already have my eye on a side table that is currently in our "catch all" room not being used. I just need to waterproof it before bringing it outside. Once I have a free day, that will be the next project on my list : )

Well, hopefully the computer situation gets worked out, but until then, expect some mediocre photos of the updates we've been doing around the house. At least I'll be able to post more often.
{Think positive}

JP

Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti

This was my first attempt at making biscotti and I think they turned out great! After searching the Internet for an easy to follow recipe that didn't involve a ton of ingredients I came across this one from Joy of Baking. These homemade biscotti really are delicious and even though the recipe made about 20 cookies, they were gone in a matter of days!

One thing I love about biscotti is how well they go with my morning coffee. Nothing is better than sitting on the front porch on a cool morning, in my oversized Penn State sweatshirt with a warm cup of coffee and homemade chocolate biscotti. Seriously, it's the best. It's even better when Pepper is fast asleep at my feet, but that rarely happens. She is usually tearing something up in the yard or chasing bees. What a trouble maker she is!

I have to admit that these biscotti are very simple, not plain, just simple. They have a light almond flavor but, that paired with the chocolate makes for a delicious biscotti. That being said, I think next time I am going to try something different. Maybe add chopped almonds, or dried fruit. Maybe even some chocolate chunks, something to add some texture and added flavor.

Ingredients: 

- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate, finely chopped or as chips
- Parchment paper

Directions:
(I know this seems like a lot of steps, but I promise it is super easy!)

- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Wisk the eggs and the two extracts together in a small bowl
- In a separate bowl, wisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- optional: you could stir in a few chopped, toasted almonds into the flour mixture at this point or dried fruit to give the biscotti more texture
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a dough forms
- Lightly flour your surface
- Divid the dough in half and shape/roll into two 7" logs  that are about 3-4" wide
-  Transfer the logs onto the parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes (or until the logs are firm to the touch)
- Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes
- Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2" slices on an angle like so:

- Place the slices on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, turn slices over and bake for another 10-15 minutes
Note: you want the slices to be firm to the touch so they are nice and crispy
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack
- Once slices are cooled, melt the chocolate using a double boiler or microwave
- Dip bottom (or side or tip, or the whole thing!) into the chocolate and place on the parchment paper
- Once all slices have been dipped, place the sheet in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes

Biscotti can last several weeks if placed in an airtight container with parchment or wax paper between each layer of cookies. Though like I said, they didn't last long in my house!

Also, if you want, you could slice the loafs into 1/4" slices to make double the amount of biscotti! Just saying : )

That's all for now. Hopefully I will have some house updates in the coming weeks so make sure to check back for those!

JP

Updated Front Room

So remember way back when in February when I mentioned not having enough memory on the computer to edit photos? Yea, well I think we have finally remedied that situation and I can finally post about our FREE front room update!

Before...

After...

 Here are a few more...

By using left over paint from the dining room we were able to barely get this room painted. I mean, we were down to the last drop of paint! I think it provides some balance with the dining room having such a dark color too. The foyer is painted a lighter color (though not in this picture) which compliments it nicely. We used all the furniture that was in the family room and moved it here in anticipation of the new sectional, which still isn't resolved yet! Another story for another day.

This couch, the pillows, and the artwork were all from our apartment in the city, hence the "City Scape" artwork. I found these bad boys on the streets of New York. The artist uses subway maps and paints over them with interesting buildings and landmarks from around NYC. They were super cheap and perfect to bring some color into our oh so drab apartment. I repurposed them in this room just to add something to the walls. While this isn't my ideal artwork, it spices up the room a bit so it works for now.

If you look closely, you can see that one of the frames has glass, and one doesn't. This is thanks to moving them one too many times. I was so bummed when I saw the broken glass upstairs where we kept them. It was disappointing to say the least. But, whatever, they got hung anyway. I plan to go to Michael's where I got the frames and just buy another one, but I couldn't very well hang just one, so for now, this is how they will stay. The desk area is another work in progress...

This is a better view of the desk, but we know that it won't stay like this forever. We have visions of built-ins along the back wall with a free standing executive desk in the middle of the room. Visions and dreams aside, this little guy is better than nothing! It is nice to have a dedicated space to pay bills or to just use the computer or make a phone call in peace without having to compete with the TV. It also houses our Penn State Degrees. That is until we decide to splurge on nice frames to display them properly. 

Over all, I think this space is a huge improvement from what is was! We still have a long way to go before calling this room finished, but those are mostly big projects (i.e. big $) that are going to take time. For now, it is a more inviting, usable space that we will enjoy for the next year or two until we get around to getting those built-ins completed.

More updates to come...

JP

The Liebster Award

I am really excited to say that The JP Project has been nominated for the Liebster Award! I have to start by thanking the blogger who nominated me over at Style Bits & Bobs of M.E. Check out her blog, there are a ton of inspiring posts that will keep you reading for hours!

When I saw that I was nominated, I was really surprised! I honestly had never heard of the Liebster Award, so I did some Google searching and came up with this: It isn't an actual award, more of a nod to the nominated blog. Someone felt you deserved recognition and wanted others to check out your blog. Then it's your turn to nominate 5-10 more bloggers that have less than 1000 followers. It is a great opportunity for those of us who are new to the online blogging craze to get our name out there and to check out a few new blogs in the process. Thanks Style Bits & Bobs of M.E. for the nomination!

I just started blogging this past year, I have one follower (thanks Melissa) and really, I didn't think anyone knew my blog even existed. I simply write for me. To keep an online journal of sorts about the things going on in my life, and of course to keep track of all the changes we are doing to the house. It is an awesome feeling to know that there are people reading and enjoying my blog, so to those of you out there, thank you!

Here are the questions Style Bits & Bobs of M.E. asked me...

1. If you won a free trip to go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

     If I won a free trip, I would likely take an around the world cruise to see as many countries as possible. There are so many places I want to travel to that I don't think I could narrow it down to just one. I would chose a multi-country trip because I love immersing myself in the culture of a new, foreign place.  

2. Why did you start blogging?

     I started blogging because I wanted a way to hold myself accountable for the updates my husband and I wanted to make in the house. I figured that if I wrote about them, then I would be able to see where we started and how far we have come. I hope to use this as inspiration for myself to keep going, and check things off my list, one project at a time.

3. What is your favorite post on your blog?

     Yikes, this is a tough one! My favorite post would have to be when I created the list of accomplishments for year one of living in the house. It was truly amazing to see everything that we did in the first year. I hope to create a list like this each year to track all the things we have done to make this house a home.

4. What is your favorite television show?

     Hands down, right now my favorite show on TV is Game of Thrones. Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that knights, dragons, and sword fights aren't really my thing. But, this show is great! There are so many good characters with twisted story lines that it always keeps me on my toes and coming back for more! 

5. What would you tell your younger self?

     Wear sunscreen. Don't complain, just do it!


11 Random Facts About Me...

1. I am an only child.
2. I have seen every episode of Sex and the City at least three times.
3. I decided to be a chemistry major in college because I couldn't think of anything more difficult to do that I might enjoy a career in.
4. I am deathly allergic to cats. Have been hospitalized once, and probably should have been on at least two other occasions. 
5. I love to entertain and make any excuse to host a party.
6. My favorite dessert is anything chocolate and peanut butter.
7. Close second is a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, mmm.
8. I absolutely love to cook and bake - though not everything turns out the way it's supposed to.
9. My guilty pleasure is to watch the Bachelor, don't judge!
10. I am a diehard Phillies fan, yup.
11. I really don't like celery. I have tried it a hundred times, every which way, and I still don't like it!

My 5 Nominees are...

1. A Pearl & Her Pilot
2. Kate Porigow - Certified Holistic Health Coach
3. Hey Little Momma
4. Pinch of Yum
5. Our Thrifted Nest

These are some great blogs, go check 'em out!

Questions for the Nominated Bloggers...

1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
2. If you could have one super power, what would it be?
3. Who is your favorite musician or band?
4. If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
5. What would you order as your last meal?

Now, here are the Rules for the Liebster Award...

• Thank the blogger who nominated you.
• Display the Liebster Award on your blog.
• Answer the questions given to you.
• Answer 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 5-11 other bloggers that have less than 1000 subscribers.
• Create a list of questions for your nominees to answer.
• Inform your nominees and comment on their blog to let them know you nominated them.
• List these rules on your post and link this page in your comment to them so they can learn more about the Liebster Award.

Thank you again Style Bits & Bobs of M.E. for the nomination!

Life Gets in the Way

We have been so busy lately, between work, the dog, family weekends, visiting friends, and the new addition of CrossFit, I haven't had a second to even think about blogging!

There have been a lot of updates in the house lately. We finally had the foyer and powder room painted and they really look great! I am hoping this weekend I can sit down and edit some photos to share a few of our updates this coming week. 

I guess with everything we have going on and the weather finally starting to get warmer, we have been spending more time outside and away from technology. I can't tell you the last time I turned the TV on. Well, except for Game of Thrones : ) 

So with any luck I will have multiple posts soon about the updates we have done to the house. We have even been talking to landscapers for possibly putting in a patio this year. Big changes happening around here, now I just have to find the time to post about them : )

JP

Shrimp and Orzo - Mediterranean Style

This may be one of the heartiest, yet lightest pasta dishes ever.

There are so many colorful veges that make this so filling, yet the lemon and herb flavor combo lightens up the whole dish, making this a great Summer (or Spring) dinner.

I have to say thank you to our neighbors for introducing us to this great recipe. They had us over for dinner one night and made this dish, though they omitted the feta and olives. H and I both really loved it! Me, I'm not a huge seafood fan but the shrimp in this meal really soaks up the flavor. We liked it so much we asked for the recipe and decided to try it out. 

So months later I finally looked up the recipe, courtesy of Rachel Ray. I changed a few things, mainly the amount of spice, as I didn't have fresh herbs on hand and I used one pound of shrimp instead of two since it was just H and I eating dinner.

Here's the recipe with my tweaks, but if you want to make a full batch of the shrimp just double the marinade or you can check out the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

- 4 cloves garlic, 2 chopped and two crushed

- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 tbs. to saute the vegetables

- 2 lemons, 1 very thinly sliced

- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

- 2 tsp. dried oregano

- 1 lb. jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

- 1/2 lb. orzo

- 1/2 large red onion, chopped

- 1 green bell pepper, chopped

- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

- 1 palm full of dried parsley (about 1 and 1/2 tbs)

- 1/2 lb feta, cubed or crumbled 

- Salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt, with the olives and feta it doesn't need much at all)

Directions:

- Bring a pot of water to a boil for the orzo

- Combine the 2 crushed cloves of garlic with the 1/4 cup oil, sliced lemon, red pepper flakes, oregano, and the shrimp; marinade for about 10 min

-  Drop the orzo in the water at the same time you start the veges

- For the veges, heat a medium saute pan over med/high heat and add 2 tbs. of oil 

- Add the onion and bell pepper to the pan and lightly season with salt and pepper, cook for 5 min stirring occasionally

- Heat a large saute pan over high heat, then add the shrimp (they should only take 6-8 min), stir frequently

- While the shrimp in cooking, add the chopped garlic to the veges, toss for a minute, then add the olives and tomatoes, toss together until the shrimp and orzo are finished

- Drain the orzo, add it to the shrimp pan along with the veges

- Add the parsley and feta, season with salt and pepper

- Finish it off with the juice of the remaining lemon and a little extra olive oil

Note: This recipe calls for three pots/pans going at one time. Yup, three. Timing is crucial here. This is an easy recipe as long as you keep an eye on the clock and don't overcook your shrimp. 

Even though I am not a huge seafood fan, I really love this recipe. You could even sub out chicken instead. Rachel Ray's recipe allows for either to be used and I am sure using chicken would be just as good. Oh, and leaving out the feta and olives really makes for a flavorful dish too, so if those strong flavors aren't your thing, leave 'em out. This one is still a winner!

Spring has Sprung

With the 60 degree weather today I am happy to say that it is officially starting to feel more like Spring! Finally.

The last month or so has been brutal. Snowing one day, raining the next, with no end in sight. But, I am hopeful that all the cold weather is behind us. With that being said, a new season calls for a new chalkboard in our Butler's Pantry.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the chalkboard art I did for Fall/Thanksgiving this past year. Well, it has pretty much stayed like that since October. I planned to change it up for the holidays or at least over the winter, but life got in the way. So now that is Spring, it's about time I get my butt in gear and change that chalkboard. 

Here is what it looked like over the Fall Season...

And here it is now...

Not bad. I was going to fill in some of the words with color but I was running out of time. Maybe next season : )

For those of you who want to know how I come up with these cute designs, the answer is, I don't! I find them online or on Pinterest, then use photoshop to add grid lines as guides to help me line up the words accurately. I also draw faint grid lines on the chalkboard to match. This is how I get everything to be proportionate in size and ensure that I don't run out of room while drawing. 

Maybe next time I change it up I'll take some photos of the process and make a quick tutorial. Check back in the Summer for that one!

Happy Spring!

JP

The Final CrossFit Friday

Week Four

It's official, we tested out of the intro classes : ) but before we got there, we had a really tough week.

Monday was one of the toughest days of CrossFit to date. The warm up wasn't tough, but man did it burn my legs! We did the Samson stretch from one end of the gym to the other (which is pretty much a really wide walking lunge), then duck squats going across and back, then another hoping squat thing (I am blanking on the name right now) across and back. Needless to say, lots of squats/hops = legs like jello. And that was just the warm up! 

We did a ton of strength on Monday too. Bench press, goblet squats (squats holding a kettle bell for added weight), and reviewed all of the lift moves we have learned. Then, after all of that, we did Fran. 

I have heard the term "Fran's a b*tch" on multiple occasions, but I had no idea what it was. Here's the breakdown: 21-15-9 of thrusters and then pull ups. So basically this means three rounds, first round 21 thrusters and 21 pull ups, then second round 15 of each, last round 9 of each. I have never hurt so bad in my life (until Wednesday that is, more on that in a minute). 

Thrusters are basically squatting with a bar, then when you stand up you push the bar overhead. These aren't so bad in theory. I didn't have weight on the bar but I was still feeling the burn. The last round of these were really tough. Then, the pull ups were no fun since they aren't something that I have mastered yet. I can't even do one unassisted, so I used a double green band. This was super easy at first, but getting to the last few in the set I still struggled. When will they get easier?

I finished in 9:24 while H (who did unassisted pull ups) finished just after. I was proud of myself for finishing but I know it would have been way worse had there been weight on the bar and if I had to do strict pull ups. 

Wednesday was the big day - the last intro class to determine if we were ready to join everyone else and get into the real deal. The test wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We started with a quick warm up of mobility stretches, nothing too taxing. Then we went right into the lifts. H and I had to show we knew each of them by name. There were only a handful to remember so it wasn't bad. And he cut us a break with the snatch since it is one of the tougher lifts. 

Then came the workout. It's a wonderful workout by the name of "Fight Gone Bad". As you can imagine, it was a serious fight that went south fast. This is why Wednesday was tougher than Monday. This WOD consists of 3 rounds (though we did two) of as many reps as possible in one minute, changing exercises each minute. So we started with wall balls, as many as we could do in a minute, then went to sumo dead lifts, same deal, then box jumps (I did the 20" box this time around), then push press, then we hopped on the row machine. I can't even describe how hard this was, and it was only two rounds!

It really doesn't sound that bad on paper, but after doing as many reps as possible in a minute and having to move to something else, I was seriously dragging! It's not like you are doing 5 reps of each thing, it's more like 20 or 25, then immediately swtching to something else. It was nuts. Fight gone bad is the perfect title for this WOD. My final score was about 160 and H's was somewhere near 180/190. 

After two rounds we were spent. Rolling on the floor, taking a solid five minutes just to catch our breath. Are we seriously ready for classes? I don't know but apparently we are starting April 1st. 

This is the last post in my CrossFit Friday series. I really just wanted to write about our experience as beginners and only working out twice a week has allowed me to really get into the nitty gritty of it all. We are hoping to work out 4-5 times a week now so it would be impossible to write everything down. But, I am hoping to post once in a while to share our progress as the weeks go by. 

If any readers are thinking about joining CrossFit, I hope you found this series helpful and inspiring. You CAN do CrossFit, even if you haven't worked out in over a year (like me) or haven't work out ever! There are so many ways to scale back to help you achieve your goals. It's all what you make of it. Just give it a try and remember my motto - Everyone Starts Somewhere : )

Happy Friday!

JP

Lemon Meringue Pie - Deconstructed?

H's birthday was last week and his all time favorite pie is lemon meringue. I'm not a huge fan but since he loves it, I figured I would make it for him this year. I've heard that lemon meringue wasn't the easiest thing to make but I've made lemon curd before for different things like lemon blueberry bars (which are delicious by the way) so I figured it couldn't be too bad. Hardest part would be to temper the eggs and I've done that a bunch of times with different recipes so I figured it would be a somewhat simple pie to make, right? Wrong.

I followed Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network website. He is usually my go to for straight forward, traditional recipes as he usually breaks down the science behind each dish. Yup, science nerd alert. This is helpful, for me at least, so I can see what it's supposed to taste like before adding anything to the recipe or changing it up. Then I know how everything will react together. Anyway, I thought that since lemon meringue isn't something you can really spice up by adding different flavors, a more traditional recipe would be best. Alton, you let me down on this one pal.

I followed the recipe, measured everything out, didn't stray too far from what he suggested and when all was said and done the pie looked awesome! I left it to cool for about 2 hrs and then popped it in the frig for another hour or so but when I took it out, the pie still hadn't set up. The meringue was nice and browned, still holding its shape, but the lemon filling was straight up liquid. I couldn't believe that the filling never set! It didn't make any sense, I followed everything to a tee, I measured, and I even let it cool for longer than it called for. I don't know what happened. All I know is H had lemon soup for his birthday instead of pie : (

At least the flavors were spot on. It was tangy, but sweet at the same time, and the meringue held up nicely. I just hope next time I attempt this (which probably won't be until H's birthday next year) that it comes out like pie and not soup. I didn't bother taking nice pictures of the pie, but I did take a few iphone photos to show you what I am talking about. I was so disappointed!

Does anyone have a tried and true lemon meringue pie recipe and have a few tips they can throw my way? Or have any idea what could have gone wrong?

CrossFit Friday

Week Three

We only have one week left of the intro classes and then it's on to the real deal for H and I. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. But that's next week, one week at a time.

Tuesday we learned a few new lifts, the hang clean and the snatch. Apparently these are two of the harder lifts so we weren't expected to get them the first time around. These, like all the rest, require coordination. H struggled with the snatch but that is mainly because of his previous shoulder surgury. The way you have to twist your shoulder to have it sit in its pocket is awkward and near impossible for someone who has had dislocated shoulder. Dave mentioned a few things that will really help to work the tissue, improve mobility within that shoulder, and build strength. We will see how it goes, H and I both need practice with all the lifts before we try to test out of these intro classes.

We also did a 14 minute EMOM (every minute on the minute) of 5 stones then 7 burpees and 3 push-ups. I had no idea what stones were. Just the name intimidated me. We watched Dave as he squatted over this large cement ball or "stone" and then lifted it up from between his legs without breaking a sweat. The idea is to squat over/behind the stone, wrap your hands under it and then use only your legs (not your lower back) to just stand up, lifting the stone with you. I couldn't get the hang of this. I don't know why, but my first instinct was to go on my toes and lift my butt up into a flat back. Not good. So instead of hurting myself while I was learning, Dave had me use a weighted medicine ball, a lot lighter and easier to manage. H of course was a pro at this. 

I'm beginning to realize that while I have the coordination, I really lack the strength to do some of the moves. H is the total opposite. He lacks coordination but has the strength to muscle through anything they throw at him. As I have said before, I know that the strength I lack (core, leg, upper body, pretty much everything) will come in time. It's just frustrating when I know I can do a move, I understand how it's supposed to be, but my body just physically can't do it. So I scale back, switch to knee push-ups or use a smaller "stone". I am just looking forward to the day when I am strong enough to do everything even if it's only a few reps at a time.

Wednesday was actually a lot of fun. We learned how to climb a rope! Yup, this girl climbed the rope. Not to the top, but two to three strides which is better than I thought I would do. I think I can make it the whole way up, I am just nervous for when I get to the top in case I'm not able to get back down. Maybe next week I will just go for it. We also did a bunch of back squats and rowed 500m. Then, before our main workout, we learned how to Roman Deadleft. These were really fun, mainly because I'm flexible enough to get really low with the weight. It was tough, but fun. Is this what CrossFit is supposed to feel like?

Our workout was a 7-7-7. 7 rounds of 7 push presses and 7 toe to bars (knee to elbows). H and I both finished at about the same time, though he was pushing way more weight than me. This week I had a tough time with the knee to elbows. My hands just couldn't hold onto the bar! I got to round 4 or 5 and almost slipped right off the bar. Grip strength - another thing to work on. Are we noticing a pattern yet? I have a lot to work on.

So next week is out final week before we start with everyone else. The is assuming we pass our final test.

Catch you next week!
JP