New at IKEA

I just received the IKEA October 2007 News online catalog

Found some stuff I really love...

I think I've seen some of that fabric before, but I do love this page layout -- and yes, I'm feeling "inspired." If you couldn't already tell, dark blue and gold is my favorite color combo! I want all of that fabric. I'm a bit fabric obsessed as it is.

We're about to redecorate my daughter's room -- pink flowers and butterflies are too juvenile for her (almost) grown up taste (she's almost 12). I think this bed is perfect for kids and the price is reasonable too. Or I could see it working great in a tiny guest bedroom that has no space for a dresser. The storage unit would be great for a crafts room too. I'm getting so many ideas...

MORRUM SERIES
Bed $249
Bedside table $39.99

Get more "youth" ideas here

These glossy lamps are super sexy.

KULLA series
Table, pendant and floor lamps
$49.99 to $89.99

To view the IKEA October 2007 News online catalog go here

Lou likes TV

Alex and I were watching TV and I turned around and saw this:



Lou is sitting like a person...and he seems to like it.

I-Heart-Comfort Food

For those days when you aren't counting calories...



I unabashedly admit that my chicken pot pie is freakin' awesome! By no means would I call myself a chef, but it's my husbands favorite food and I learned to make it especially for him. I managed to come up with this recipe through trial and error. I usually cook with the freshest ingredients possible, but the addition of a few pre-made food items really saves time, and otherwise would prevent me from being able to make this dish. I learned that using deli meat does not taste very good. It's too salty and the texture is wrong. Also, I tried cream of celery and cream of chicken canned soups and they were either too salty or too rich. I think the addition of cheese adds just the right amount richness without being too much. I never cook with frozen veggies, so that was never an option, and I don't use peas in this recipe because I don't like them. However, add fresh peas if you like them and/or sauteed mushrooms would also be really good. I'd say this dish takes about 1 hr to 1 hr 15 minutes to prepare and cook and serves about 6.

Food ingredients:
1-lb chicken breast, cut into inch sized chunks
1-family size can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1-package of ready to cook pie crust (I like Pillsbury)
2-stalks of celery, chopped about half an inch thick
2-carrots, peeled, and chopped at 1/4 inch thick
1-half of a small onion
3/4 cup of shredded monterrey jack cheese
season as you prefer
butter or margarine for sauteing veggies and chicken (it makes the dish taste much better, but if you prefer oil, I recommend extra virgin olive oil)
Other: pie dish and large cooking pan

Preheat oven to 425 or 450. The food is cooked, you're just cooking the crust by the time this goes in the oven. I've played with the temp depending on how much time I have on my hands.

Chop up the vegetables and saute in a dollop of butter (do the carrots first so you can get them sauteing before the other veggies).



Once all veggies are cooked remove from the pan to a separate bowl. Then, using another dollop of butter, saute the chicken until cooked thoroughly. I don't cook the veggies and chicken together because the flavor tends to taste watered-down. Once the chicken is cooked, turn off the heat, add the cooked veggies back to the pan and add the can of soup. Mix all ingredients well, then add your cheese and mix well. Put your pre-made pie crust in the pie dish, fill with the mixture.



Add the top of the crust (don't forget to add slits for venting). Put in the oven for about 45 minutes, depending on the temperature and cook until the top of the crust is golden brown. This also tastes really good as leftovers because the flavors have a chance to become friends and sometimes I serve with mashed potatoes (the ultimate comfort food!!). Also, you can prepare this dish the night before and store in the fridge. Don't forget to make it with love...it really makes a difference.

Enjoy! :)

Listening to…

Weirdly, this time of the year is the only time I can listen to The Cranberries. As dumbs as this sounds, maybe it’s subliminal because cranberries are now in season, or maybe because I started listening to this album during this time of year, 11^th grade. Abstractly, this album feels very Fall, I guess…whatever that means. It’s hard to translate.

I-Heart-My First Post!

I must start off by apologizing for this first post being kind of long. I personally don’t like to read long blogs because I like the pictures, but I feel I need to give the reader more a little background info.

Okay, its finally done. My first ever blog post. I started working on this blog about a week ago, starting with the images and playing around in blogger to learn more. I put off writing my first post because I’m a procrastinator. Just right now I said to myself “Deanna, stop goofing around on the internet and write your first post!!! What is you problem??” So what makes me think I can actually put something out there that people would want to read? Nothing really, except the following: A) Personally, I’ll read anything! B) My friends and family have been suggesting that I do this. If it sucks, I told you so! C) There’s a constant stream of babble that goes thru my head. If I can just transfer that babble to this blog I should never run out of anything to write. :)

So, this blog is all about things I love because I think it’s nicer to talk about positive things that put a smile on your face. But I’m no goody two shoes! (I wonder to myself how long I can keep up the whole “i-heart-blank” premise)

I have lived in Austin all of my life (30 years). I can’t explain to you the love I have for this wonderful city. It’s like a child of mine. It’s that kind of love. Truthfully, my current zip code is not in Austin, but I’m here everyday and live close enough, so it’s like I never left. There’s so much about Austin that I can’t wait to share and to hear from you about what you love.

A little more about me: I’m a mom and wife, I love art, movies, music, design, decorating and cats. I don’t have any cats, so I’ll be talking about Lou, my dog. I have a feeling Lou wants to be the next “internet pet star” (when I read that back to myself I keep replacing pet with porn -- “internet porn star” -- silly me, Lou is not that kind of dog!) Also, at some point I might do a little shameless self-promotion (to be continued).

For fun, and because we all like the pictures, I'll throw in some photos of me and my daughter at Zilker Park (Austin, Texas ofcourse).

My photo (below) was taken at age 15, and its taken in the Oriental section of The Botanical Gardens.

My daughter's photo is in the same place, almost 10 years later (age 4).

So, enough talking…let’s get this started!