In Which Procrastination = An Organized Pantry

I'm still waiting on my fabric to be shipped.  It's been ten days.  The waiting is driving me crazy.  And while I have promises from customer service, a tracking confirmation that my order has been overnighted, and all signs show my fabric will be here tomorrow, today I needed to feel productive.

There it is folks.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  It's really not that bad.  It's really completely organized and functional.  Beans in bags work.  Pasta in bags work.  All my chicken, beef, and veggie stock is all nice and lined up.  My flour is all up top.  Some candy that I will not under any circumstance own up to is within easy reach.

But do you see those two canisters with labels?  Since my paint color picking hands are tied until my new fabric arrives on my doorstep tomorrow, I decided I needed labels.  On everything.  Immediately.

This is also known as "crazy, pregnant lady nesting".  It's the nit-picky part where suddenly very minute details must get ironed out perfectly.  I know it's overkill, and yet I just can't resist.

I picked these labels up at Hobby Lobby.  They were only $4 and are repositionable.  Which means I don't have to worry if they're a little crooked and I'm free to use them somewhere else in the house at a later date.

Since my chalk marker is extra large, I just used regular old chalk.  It worked beautifully.

When I ran out of canisters I moved on to mason jars.  I actually prefer clear glass containers because I can easily see when I'm running out of something.  It's like an automatic reminder to get more at the grocery store.

Twenty minutes later I had this...

...and this.

Why yes we do have 12 quarts of Michigan maple syrup in our pantry.  Doesn't everyone?

And a close up for all of you who love being all organized...

Don't y'all worry.  Those Valentine's Day candy hearts are still in there...strategically placed further out of reach.  Behind my 3 different types of sugar.  ;)

Good times.

Fast Fried Chicken {For Your Sunday Dinner}

Happy Sunday!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day and are getting some much needed rest and relaxation.

As requested by my sweet friend Janna, here is the recipe for the fried chicken I made for dinner last Sunday.

Y'all should know I never do this the same way twice, and it's super quick because I slice my chicken into tender sized pieces.  Smaller pieces = faster cooking time.  Fried chicken is super easy, as long as you don't set the kitchen on fire (again, I am so, so sorry mom!).  Just keep your fire extinguisher close and remember...don't use water to put out a grease fire! ;)

My Fast Fried Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced 1" thick
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt (I use Kosher)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk (or faux buttermilk - 1Tbsp lemon juice+1 cup milk...or just use regular milk)
1 Tbsp chili poweder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
olive oil or canola oil for frying (make sure it's an oil that can withstand high heat...no EVOO here!)

Directions:

{Note: I use pie plates for dredging my chicken slices, but you can use a regular plate or a shallow bowl...whatever you have will work.}

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.  In one pie plate mix 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt.  In a second pie plate add egg and next 4 ingredients and mix very well.  When skillet is smoking hot, carefully add 1/4-1/2" oil.  While the oil is heating, dredge one third to one half of your chicken slices in the egg/milk mixture.  Let them soak for about a minute, then dredge them in the flour mixture.

Your oil should be nice and hot now.  Carefully add your chicken to the skillet, making sure you don't crowd the skillet.  After about 4 minutes, flip your chicken slices and cook for another 4 minutes or so.  Your chicken should be a nice golden brown and not be pink at all on the inside.  Remove cooked chicken and place on a paper towel covered plate to drain.  Repeat dredging and frying the remaining chicken slices.

For the dinner rolls I used this One Hour Dinner Rolls recipe I found through The Nester (y'all remind me I need to make those folding chairs one of these days).  They really do only take an hour and are delicious!!

Also on our table were green beans (with a good dab of butter), carrot and potato mash from The Petite Appetite Cookbook, and for dessert we rocked some Strawberry Ice Cream from Blue Bell.  For my friends not living in Texas, I'm so sorry.  But you can always have it shipped to you!

Vintage in the Home {Have You Met Hazel Atlas?}

I've been thinking a lot lately about what vintage goods inspire me and how they serve a purpose in my home.

I have a serious obsession with all manner of vintage treasures.  But, when I first starting thrifting and estate sale-ing in my college days, I quickly realized that I needed to carefully consider what I brought into my home because I had a finite space in which to live (which was a mere 450 sqft back then).  I needed to choose vintage goods which were both beautiful and functional.

Not much has changed in my approach during the last decade (shhhh...I didn't just say decade).  My living space has increased over time, but it's still a finite space and I've tried to be mindful about only bringing in furniture and accessories that will actually be used.  The exception to my rule is decorative objects...art hanging on the walls, colorful vases to cheer up a table or bookcase, etc.  If its originally intended use was to be a decorative object, I'm okay with it functioning solely as that.

I know lots of people who love the idea of vintage, but have a hard time envisioning how to integrate it into their homes, offices, and daily lives.  So I thought it might be fun to do a weekly feature spotlighting some of my favorite vintage items and how we use them in our home.  Hopefully, this will offer inspiration to all of you who are vintage novices, as well as the seasoned collectors.  Once a month I will expand this to feature an item from the shop, sing its praises, and offer suggestions for how it could be used in your home or office.

So without further ado...I would like to introduce you to my hands down favorite vintage label...

...please allow me to introduce you to the fabulous Hazel Atlas.

Before West Elm, Home Goods, and many others copied complimented them with reproductions, Hazel Atlas made the El Dorado Gold juice glasses in the early to mid 1960's.

Why have the repro if you can have the real thing?  Or both, even?

I have these in the juice size glasses, and I do also have a set of clear reproduction glass tumblers which I picked up at Home Goods ages ago, before I knew a thing about Hazel Atlas.  However, I've discovered that many of the glasses made today are super thin and prone to shattering.  I really don't know, but I'm guessing this is due to the lower quality of mass-production these days.  All I know is my Hazel Atlas glasses are about 50 years old (Hazel-Atlas went out of business in 1964), are super sturdy, and were made in the USA.

As far as functioning in my much-used kitchen, I love them for juice in the morning or for the inevitable onslaught of prenatal vitamins I down each and every day.  They also would be fun cocktail glasses....and come May I might just have to have a mojito in one!  It probably goes without saying, but I don't let the Kiddo use them.  And, though we have a water softener, our water is still fairly hard so I find hand washing helps them to stay their prettiest.  That said, they totally can go in the dishwasher on the top rack...especially on a china-safe cycle.  They might be vintage (antique really), but they are workhorses these little glasses!

Above all they look cheery in my cabinets and on my table, and they make me smile.  Nothing not to love here.  :)

All The Small Things...

Slowly but surely things have been shaping up around here.  I firmly believe that it's the small things that make a space feel complete.  And, often times the small things are quick and easy to change.  Since I'm waiting on an order of fabric before finalizing furniture and chandelier paint colors, now is the perfect time to tackle some of these projects.

The Kiddo's bathroom has long needed hooks.  I think it's a good idea to encourage independence...which is fortunate because I have a very independent-minded young gentleman on my hands!  Hooks in the bath mean the Kiddo can get his own towel off the wall to dry with and hang it back up again.  Bonus: this means I will be bending over a little less in my 3rd trimester.  Just a little less...but I'll take it!

I still love these framed antique book pages as much as I did the first time we hung them.  But the frames were lacking a little something.

Nothing a little gold couldn't fix.

This was a painless change since I knew the frames could easily be re-sprayed black if the gold turned out to be a little too much.  But I'm loving gold tones right now, so I was fairly confident I would be happy with them...and I am.

My gold crush started over the summer when I found this on a thrifting spree in Pagosa Springs, CO.

The shade it came with was hideous, so I replaced it with one of the many I have on hand from the many lamps which have died a slow and painful death thanks to the combined efforts of a 2 year old and a very grown man.  I initially had intentions of painting the base a fun color (or white at the very least), but once I got it home I just couldn't.  I've never been a fan of brass, but this one just reeled me in.

And over time, I've really grown to love the warmth of gold tones against the cooler tones of our house.

Which eventually led this classically shaped mirror...

...to get a facelift as well.

I love how it instantly brightened the space.  Seriously love.

And the juxtaposition of the 1980's vintage brass lamp with the mirror is fun, too.

(Yes, there is a bowl and a spoon on my bookshelves.  And remotes.  Y'all just pretend y'all don't see those and I'll pretend I didn't put my independent-minded gentleman down for a nap 7 times this afternoon.)

All in all I'm super happy with these quick little updates.  They make me smile in the middle of a (still) very chaotic house.

Still on my list for the bathroom is to come up with some filler for the space between the hooks and the framed book-pages.

The hooks are as low as possible so little hands can easily access them.  I'm thinking of hunting down numbers in all different fonts and colors to hang...or maybe stenciling numbers....or stenciling numbers in all different fonts and colors.

Or I might go in a whole different direction.  We shall see!