Springing into action.

This past Thursday was a beautiful day.  When I got home from work Blake and I decided to sit out on our back porch and share a bottle of wine.  Max was over, and as much as he loves being inside, he settled in at my feet and took in the fresh air.  He will be 13 this next month, so I cherish every moment we get to spend together knowing that they are somewhat numbered at this point.  Old boys body just doesn't want to cooperate with his spirit sometimes. 

This time last year Blake and I didn't own our home yet.  We closed on it at the end of April and went right into remodeling the inside.  Right after the hail storm and the air conditioner going out.  It's like the universe itself was screaming "Welcome to home ownership, you only thought you were going to spend that money you saved on furniture!" 

I am so excited to get to spend spring in our home this year.  Because we had so much work to do on the inside of the house when we bought it the outside has gone virtually un-touched.  There are a few things we have done because I could not stand to look at them, such as ripping out the scrolled iron posts on the front porch, the 9 foot tall bushes that lined the front of the house and the back porch, and painting the mailbox and front door.  Besides that though, it's been far down on the priority list.  I'm so ready to spend some time outside and make our house really feel like the home we've been dreaming of.  This is a shot of the back yard from last Thursday while we were enjoying the nice weather.

As you can see we have no fence along the rear of our yard.  The owner of the house behind us decided to tear it down last spring.  He told Blake he was going to put a new one up by the summer time.  It's almost summer again and there is still no fence.  I think it's time for a "Come to Jesus" meeting with the neighbor.  You break it, you buy it pal.  We are going to plant our veggie garden in the area in front of the green bushes on the left side of the picture.  I can't wait to dig in the dirt and have fresh organic veggies. 

This next weekend Blake and I plan on digging up any remaining roots from the bushes we cut down and rake and bag all of our leftover winter leaves.  I would also like to steak out the garden space and possibly build the raised bed if there is time.  Tilling and seeding the grass is also somewhere down the list.  Hopefully Blake will take on that job.  My goal is to spend a lot of time on our back porch relaxing and enjoying the fruits of our labors.  What are your spring goals?  Do you enjoy having useable outdoor living space, or are you more of a couch and air conditioner person?  Any tips for starting a garden?  I would love any feedback you may have!

Ciao!

Xo-Wife of Wright

Chair...not to be outdone by SHOES

I went to the TJ Maxx close to my work today over lunch to look at their furniture and some dress clothes for Blake.  We have been looking for a leather club chair with a bit of a modern feel for our family room and for some reason the $500.00 and up versions I'm finding in magazines and online aren't doing it for me.   I thought I would take a long shot and see if I might find something there.  Also, Blake needs some new dress clothes and TJ's is pretty good about having Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis dress shirts and ties for a good price.  I figured it was worth a look. 

I told myself I was going to walk straight to the back and then to the men's clothing avoiding women's handbags and shoes at all costs.  At first I halfway managed that.  I did spot a lovely Michael Kors bag on the way in.  I stopped and felt the soft leather and admired it's beauty.  I then admired the price tag and found it not quite as admirable anymore and made my way back towards the furniture completely skipping the shoes.  Yay me!

Lo and behold, look what I found in the furniture...

It's almost exactly what we've been looking at!  What's even better is that this chair that was once $399.99 was on sale at TJ's for $199.99.  But wait, there's more!  The chair has now been red stickered (find these at TJ's, they're a goldmine) down to $149.99.  Yippee!  Although we don't have the new couch and rug that are going to go with this little guy yet, we're snagging him up in the morning.  I put him on hold so that Blake can come back with me to check it out for himself and then load it up in the car.  Score!

After I had Mr. Chair taken to the back so that no one else could snag him I went to the men's clothing.  I found some nice ties and dress shirts and inventoried what I would show Blake when we came back for the chair in the a.m.  As I started to make my way back to the front door I spotted a rack of shoes.  They were at the front, totally seperate from the shoe section and wouldn't you know if one didn't catch my eye.  Look away if you're a size 5 and 1/2 because this is the one and only pair, trust me, I looked.

These pretty pretty Prada's.  Here's the kicker.

That's right, $349.99 on sale.  Sure, they were $700.00 to start out, but for some reason I must have left my spare $350.00 bones at home.  Plus, like I said, they're a 5 and 1/2.  My big toe isn't fitting in these.  So sad.  But these made me wonder, what is lying back in the shoe section waiting for a new home?

There were these fallen soldiers from Michael Kors.

Another Michael Kors victim.

These killer Jessica Simpson numbers are a P.O.W.  I wanted to break them out the most.

And these... Okay, I'm kidding on these.  They are another Jessica Simpson shoe, but the only thing they are falling to is a yet to be named fashion victim.  Sorry Jessica, you're right on a lot of the time, but these are just unfortunate.  It's like a boot, a sandal, a high heel, and a wedge all had a "special" baby. 

Anyways...I was a good girl and left empty handed, but for those of you on the hunt for some new shoes they have a lot to choose from right now.  All of the shoes I showed, minus the Prada, are well under $100.00, and a deal compared to their listed price.  Go shop for me, if you happen to be a size 9 that's even better, I'll take them on a test run for you.  I would hate for anyone to get a blister...

Xo-Wife of Wright

Visions of a summer garden are dancing in my head...

Over the past couple of weeks I decided that I really want to get a garden started this spring.  What I didn't know until I started reading the Farmer's Almanac today was that I should already have some plants seeding indoors, and getting ready to get some planted outdoors.  Whoops!  So I printed a handy dandy chart off of the website and even though Blake doesn't know it yet, we're going to be diggin' in the dirt this weekend!  To start, I ordered this on Amazon:

The Old Farmers Almanac has a wealth of knowledge on topics such as the weather, astrology, and of course gardening.  It will tell you what time the sun will come up and set for the entire year, and where you can find a spiritual guide.  It's quirky like that. 

As far as what I would like to have in my garden this year that list is long and still growing.  I'm sure I'm getting completely ahead of myself and should only start out with a few things so that I don't set myself up for failure, but so far that's not what I have in mind.  In my mind I'm thinking about organic beans, peppers, broccoli, carrots, garlic, lettuce, peas, potatoes, spinach, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, dill, parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme.  Too much?  A lot of these things should already be planted inside on my windowsill sprouting so that they can be transferred into the ground in a few weeks.  I did not know this.  So I'm going to sprout what I can, get the ground tilled and dug up this weekend, and plant what I can in a few weeks.  Hopefully I'll end up with these:

And these...

Don't forget these...

And bunches and bunches of this...

For any information you might need, or questions that you need answered reference the hysterical and helpful Farmer's Almanac website here.  You'll be amazed the information you can find.  

Wish me luck and pray for Blake's patience to stay in tact...

Xo-Wife of Wright 

No country for old men.

What that should really say is "No booze for old men."  Blake and I went with a large group of friends to Eichen's in Okarche, OK on Saturday evening for their world famous fried chicken and okra.  After we had been there for awhile I needed to use the ladies.  I asked Tyler if she needed to go as well, she did and thank goodness!  We walked and chatted through the crowds at the restaurant and finally came to the bathroom.  We pushed through the door and found this...

Yup, old cowboy in the women's restroom.  I would say that he just didn't know he was in the women's restroom, but as soon as we opened the door and saw him and we gasped he started saying "Sorry, sorry...Sorry, sorry..." over and over again.  We didn't initially take this picture, we ran out.  As we laughed in the hallway I said "You have to go take a picture of him."  I didn't have my purse, so in turn I did not have my phone on me.  So we both went back in, captured this, and ran back out.  (Sidenote:  That was a heck of a  long pee considering he was peeing the first time we entered and the second.)  As we waited in the hall for him to emerge Tyler kept her camera on alert.  She wanted to get his picture from the front as well.  As you can imagine Mr. Drunk Cowboy did not want his picture taken from the front.  Here is what was captured instead...

You can tell we were "in hot pursuit" by the blurred shot.  After this we went back to the ladies and accomplished was was first intended.  While we were washing our hands we were talking about what had just happened.  At that moment a girl came out of the stall that the drunk cowboy was in and said "You just let me pee where a guy did?"  I think she was really mad, but we couldn't help but still laugh.  Poor girl, I probably would have been grossed out too, but the funnyness of it couldn't get me to feel her pain. 

W.O.W. lesson:  Don't go to the restroom at Eichen's without your camera and toilet seat liners, you never know what you're going to find!

Xo-Wife of Wright

You say potato...I say Gnocchi

Happy March everyone!  I only have time for a quick post today, so I'm going to give you a brief look and synopsis of a dinner I made last week.  Anyone who is interested in making it just shoot me a message and I'll get it to you.  Here it is:

Smoked Mozzarella Gnocchi Bake

Here she is right out of the oven.  Gnocchi are Italian potato dumplings.  You can make them fresh with potatoes, or buy multiple varieties of them at the grocery store.  They cook very quickly (3-5 minutes) making them great for weeknight meals.  While my water was coming to a boil for the gnocchi I put a small sauce pan on the stove with a small can of tomato sauce, garlic, basil, and s&p.  While it was heating through I pre-heated the oven to 375 and dropped the gnocchi in the salted boiling water.  When the tomato sauce is warmed through add in a splash of heavy cream.  When the gnocchi are done (they float to the top and make it totally obvious) drain them and add them to the sauce.  At this point I add a cup of shredded smoked mozzarella cheese and 4 strips of crumbled bacon.  When the cheese is melted through pour the entire mixture into a sprayed baking dish.  Top with another 1/2 cup of smoked mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs, and some grated parmesan.  Pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.  I served it with a little fresh flat leaf Italian parsley for garnish and a salad.  We were NOT disappointed! 

Comment on this post if you would like the recipe with the specific amounts, etc. although I think you could pretty much do it from the paragraph above. 

Mangia!

Xo-Wife of Wright

Who Who rocks the house?

I'm on a Modcloth kick today.  I'm looking for some fun home accessories, nick nacs if you will, for Blake and I's home.  We are thinking about putting some floor to ceiling bookcases in our bedroom along one wall and I'm virtually filling them up already.  Here are a few things that caught my eye for the shelves along with a few others just for fun.

I saw this little guy first thing.  He's a piggy bank, or maybe I should call him an owl-y bank...Either way, I thought he would look great perched up on one of the shelves next to, or on top of some books.  At least that's what I thought until I found this a few pages later.

An owl-y light!  I know that my taste definitely is not for everyone, but if you don't like it for yourself how cute of a night light would this be in a child's room?

Speaking of books for the shelves...

I lost it when I saw this coffee table book.  I was laughing and sad at the same time.  Poor brontosaurus.  Anyone still remember all the dinosaur names we learned in grade school?  I loved learning about them.  Mister mister up in the picture was one of my favorites along with the stegosaurus.  Never cared for T-Rex or taradactyls.  Give me the veggie eaters anyday.  Oh Land Before Time...

Then of course I came across some kitchen goodies.

Chip clips-How tweet!  (Was the pun too much??)

Mod tea cups and saucers. 

Love this glass water bottle.

Sandwich or sides lunch carrier.  No more plastic baggies filling up our landfills!

And of course I had to pick out a set of...Can you guess??

S&P shakers!  These would go beautifully with the rest of my collection!

If you see anything you like visit Modcloth's website here and click on their "Apartment" tab to find these goodies and more. 

Have a beautiful weekend!

Ciao!

Xo-Wife of Wright

I have a crush...

On Ree Drummond.  A.K.A. The Pioneer Woman.  She's funny, she's smart, she cooks food I love, and she's quirky.  I love quirky.  A lot.  She just seems like I could be related to her somehow.  I come from a long line of quirky women, especially on my mother's side.  She is from Oklahoma and lives out on a ranch with her husband and four kids in the northeastern part of the state.  I wish I could visit there, meet her, borrow some funky jewelry, and pet her dog Charlie.  Do I sound crazy yet??  Oh I do?  Well, don't tell anyone, especially not Ree, I want her to like me. 

One of my Valentine's Day gifts from Blake.  You can purchase it here.  

A couple of days ago Ree posted a recipe for Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Cassarole.  She said to make it that night, that you wouldn't be sorry if you did.  I needed to go to the grocery store over lunch anyways so I printed off the recipe and took it with me.  I'm so glad I did.  Blake is even happier I did.  So yummy. 

You can find the recipe here.  Ignore her lovely pictures that she took with a much better camera than mine during daylight hours.  Okay, don't ignore them.  Like I said, they're lovely.  They make you want to dive through the screen fork first and steal a bite.  Just give me a break okay, I'm trying! 

Anyways...this dish is wonderful and will feed a ton of people.  Blake and I have eaten off of it for three days and even sent some home with my mom.  Thanks Ree for such a great recipe!

Xo-Wife of Wright