Margaritaville

I love Mexican cuisine.

Whenever we go out to a Mexican restaurant

I always order a frozen Margarita.

There are so many different flavors to choose from

but I most often order the Strawberry flavor.
Margaritas are a quick and easy cocktail to mix.

I mixed this Frozen Strawberry Margarita

in about 5 minutes.

They are a perfect thirst quenching Summer cocktail.

Don't drink alcohol?

No Problemo.

Mix a non-alcoholic version.

Frozen Strawberry Margarita

6 ounces Tequila

2 ounces Triple Sec

8 ounces frozen sliced Strawberries, fresh or frozen

4 ounces frozen Limeade concentrate

Ice

Add all ingredients into a blender. Fill blender with ice and pulse until crushed and slushy.
Using a slice of lime, rim each of the glasses, then dip into salt or sugar.

Pour into margarita glasses and serve with a slice of lime and strawberry.

Non-Alcoholic Strawberry Margarita

1 pound sliced Strawberries, fresh or frozen

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup orange juice

2 Tablespoons sugar

Ice

Add all ingredients into a blender. Fill blender with ice and pulse until crushed and slushy.
Using a slice of lime, rim each of the glasses, then dip into salt or sugar.

Pour into margarita glasses and serve with a slice of lime and strawberry.

Enjoy the rest of your Summer.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Safety First

Ever since our Grandson learned to walk

there was no stopping him.

He is very mobile and moves quickly.

I just remembered that I never did a post

about our staircase dilemma and grandchildren.

We have an open staircase that leads down

to our lower level.

We needed to get a baby

gate so our little guy wasn't tempted to try

and walk down the stairs. Trying to find a

baby gate to fit our open staircase was

next to impossible. Our problem was our

handrail and newel post. We couldn't attach

the gate to the wall because the handrail

was in the way, and we couldn't attach

the other end of the gate onto the round newel post.

For some reason when the house was built, the

builder didn't extent the banister to the same

length as the wall. Notice how the newel post

sits back further than the wall?

We knew we definitely didn't want to cut the

handrail or alter the newel post to fit a gate.

So I did some brainstorming and came up with an idea

that I hoped would work, fingers crossed.

We attached a 2 x 4 piece of board to the round

newel post using heavy duty zip ties.

We ordered a plain wooden baby gate.

I stained it the same color as our staircase and

then Hubby got to work on my brainstorming idea.

By adding the 2 x 4 we were able to attach the gate

by drilling into the piece of wood without damaging the newel post.

The other side of the gate got a little notch cut out

and then pieced back together.

Now we can swing it over our handrail.

It was the perfect solution to our dilemma.

This gate is solidly built and sturdy.

Our Grandson can attest to that.

When the gate is not in use, it swings up against the banister and blends in.

We also needed a gate on our deck.

So Hubby created one in about 2 hours.

Now our home is a safe haven for our grandchildren.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Chocoholic

Who doesn't love a good dose of chocolate?

Our couch and chairs in our living room are 17 years old.

They're still in great shape but so very outdated.

Before starting my blog I had no clue what my style was
much less how to style a home.

Over the years, and with the help of Pinterest
and my Pottery Barn catalogs,
 I've learned what styles I'm drawn to and how I can
mix different styles together to look comforting,
inviting and uniquely us.

Little by little, piece by piece, and room by room,
I will slowly be transforming our home.

Our living room will be transforming from our current

floral explosion to a more soothing and inviting color palette.
Some of our furniture will remain the same
while other pieces will be replaced or
get a new look.

I'm a firm believer in the psychological effects of color
and how it evokes our emotions.
One color I have always been drawn to, and am adding
into my design, is brown.
I'm sure you're wondering,
who in their right mind would choose the color brown?

Did you know that the color brown brings to mind
feelings of warmth, comfort and security and is a serious,
down-to-earth color signifying stability, structure and support?
It encourages a strong sense of belonging, with family and friends,
being the utmost importance, but brown can also be sophisticated
when added in the right amounts without looking drab and boring.

Exactly the mood I am going for.

We've already ordered a new couch and chairs
and they should be delivered in about 4 weeks.
That gives me time to paint a few pieces that
are currently in our living room.
The first piece to get a new coat of paint was this cabinet.
I've had this little cabinet for 17 years.
It originally was a sage green color.

and then I painted it this gray color.

Now it is this rich Chocolate brown color.

It received new knobs too to dress it up a little.



When I told Hubby that I was going to paint the
cabinet a brown color he gave me that look.
You know, that look that says,
"Are you kidding me"?

After seeing the cabinet in its' new color,
Hubby keeps complimenting me on a job well done
and how I chose the perfect brown color.
See, It just goes to show, don't underestimate the power of color.😊

Want to add a little bit of healthy chocolate into your lifestyle?
 Paint something chocolate brown.😉

I'm off to paint another piece of furniture.

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

This is Us

Room by room I am slowly transforming

the style and look of our home.

We have a family room in our lower level

that has had me stumped for some time now.

I wanted to display a few family photos on a wall but couldn't

for the life of me decide how I wanted to display them.

I wanted the photos to stand out, yet blend in

with the t.v. and stand.

Here is the wall I wanted to display them on.

One day out of the blue I had an epiphany.

I was going to hang shelves above the t.v!

Using painters tape, I taped off the area where I wanted my shelves to hang.

Then Hubby and I headed off to Home Depot to pick up the supplies

I needed to build the shelves.

My epiphany on display.

From our computer,

I printed off a few family photos onto photo paper in black and white.

To create inexpensive custom mats I placed the photos

on white poster board and plopped them in the frames.

No one would even know that these weren't custom matted photos.

I created the sign saying and printed it off on our computer.

The shelves were created using 1" x 4", 1" x 3" and 1" x 2" construction lumber.

I had Hubby cut the lumber into the length of each shelf.

Before assembling the shelves I stain all pieces of lumber using

Minwax stain called Provencial.

Hubby assembled the shelves using his nail gun.

Using screws we attached the shelves to the wall through the back board.

I wasn't concerned about the screws showing because I knew

that the pictures would cover the screws.

Here is a side view.

To create balance, the longest shelf is the same width

as the t.v, 40 inches.

The 2 side shelves measure 20 inches.

If you are interested in these shelves and don't want to build them,

you can purchase similar shelves from Pottery Barn.

2 foot shelf = $69.00.

4 foot shelf = $129.00

source: Pottery Barn

Or you can be like us and build them for under $13.00 for all 3!

You decide.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica