Home Tour: Before

On January 31, 2013 I closed on and moved into my second condo. This condo was/is the epitome of builder grade construction to its core. You'll see why in just a moment.

For context, this is a split level condo. The main floor has a large living/dining room, kitchen, and a half bath. The lower level has 2 bedrooms, a full bathroom and a laundry/utility room.

And now, let's take a photo tour of my home before I got my hands on it, shall we?

LIVING/DINING ROOM

KITCHEN

HALF BATHROOM

FIRST BEDROOM

SECOND BEDROOM

FULL BATHROOM

LAUNDRY/UTILITY ROOM

LOWER LEVEL HALLWAY

Pretty much a blank canvas! A beautiful sight to see! So many possibilities!

Given that I live in the city, I like to say that I purchased a deeded parking spot with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. Let's be honest, the only thing I cared about was the deeded parking spot. The deck was a complete bonus! As was the kitchen, living room, dining room, the windows, and the doors. I'm only half joking about this.

-Kristin

An Easy Treat: Yogurt Parfaits

My current food obsession is a nice, generously portioned yogurt parfait. The other day I had one for breakfast which I assembled at work with ingredients from home and for lunch I bought one from a cafe at work. My parfait at breakfast was a very simple, 3-ingredient parfait, but the one I had for lunch actually had finely sliced melon and pineapple in the mix. Quite unexpected but actually very refreshing.

The beauty of a yogurt parfait is that is can be made super fast by dumping everything into a bowl and eating on a regular day, or it can become a beautiful addition to a foodscape at a bridal or baby shower by artfully layering the ingredients in a drinking glass (double or highball), glass bowl, or traditional parfait glass.

Here are the yogurt parfaits I made for my sisters bridal shower last summer.

Ready to make your own yogurt parfaits? Just pick up some of your favorite yogurt, granola, and fruit(s). Gather some glasses or bowls and you're off!

My sister got me into the habit of washing my fruit, and if I were a responsible adult, all of my vegetables. Just add a spritz of this wash on the berries in a bowl, let them sit for about 20 seconds and then rinse and dry. Clean and fresh and ready to mingle with the other ingredients.

For the first layer, I added a generous layer of granola (I LOVE this granola--Stop and Shop brand).

The granola layer was followed up with a layer of yogurt and then blueberries (go ahead and mix your berries and/or melon if you're using a variety).

Next up is another layer of yogurt. For the top, I added a thin layer of granola followed by more blueberries.

As you can tell from the image above, the yogurt clearly ran down through the fruit layer, so to avoid this, I would be sure to add more fruit, especially around the perimeter of the glass.

And now for another view of the beautiful final product I made for my sisters bridal shower last year...

If you will be serving this at a party and want to make this super quick and easy treat in advance, I would suggest skipping the bottom layer of granola so it does not get mushy (I followed this rule for my sisters shower). Add the granola topping and berries/melon shortly before the party starts to ensure that the granola is nice and crunchy. Guests will love it.

Should this become part of your morning breakfast routine or an afternoon snack, you can do what I do and throw everything into a bowl, mix it all together and enjoy! No need to be fancy.

What's better? This is very filling!

Enjoy!

-Kristin

Level and Hung Up

In an effort to reduce the number of nail holes that are created during the process of hanging one relatively level picture, I learned of an easier, less destructive way to handle the task. The appropriate number of nail holes and a level picture? Allow me to sign you up!

Let's start with the supply list:

Painters tape (I use 3M blue tape)
Level
Nails
Hammer
Pen or pencil
Picture

First up is to have the back side of the picture facing you so that you can line a piece of tape with/on the picture hook(s). I went the full length of the picture.

I then used a pen to mark an "X" at the top point of the triangle where the nail would ultimately be positioned when the picture was hung. I did this for both hooks.

I then removed the tape from the back of the picture and placed it on the wall where I wanted it to be hung. Then came the level. I positioned the level against the wall perfectly parallel above the tape. Remove and readjust the tape as needed to get the tape level on the wall. This is the beauty of painters tape.

... annnnddddd, after a couple of readjustments, we are finally level.

Once the tape was level I hammered the nails into position just below the "X" marks I made on the tape where they would be positioned once the picture was hung.

Here she is all hung up ever so proudly.

Anyone else try this method? Another method? Or just simply hold out for some good luck with a side of spackle?

-Kristin