Birthday Winter Beach Party!

So I had my 38th b-day on march 14th and my girles threw me very thoughtful winter beach party ! Girls you are the best love you! You made my day. Now as you can see by the looks on our faces we are all very serious about our photo taking abilities LOl... I can only imagine what our husbands are saying at this point! Knowing my hubby he is probably just shaking his head, oh well we had a great time.
Look they even went as far as dying the water blue to look like the ocean! They know me all to well... everything was just so happy, I feel so lucky to have such awesome girls in my life.

They even did a little collage of some of our fun times together they really thought of everything. They really made me feel special.


And yes that is what it looks like in the background a dark chocolate fondue with fruit ! So sweet ....
and of course you can't have a beach party without little umbrellas and cute little drink stirrers...

What a great birthday and I just want to thank everyone who was a part of it and for going out of your way, I can't thank you all enough. It's so nice having people in your life who really know and support you for who you are ! Thank you friends and family you "ROCK"
S~

Happy Friday!

Well happy friday everyone.... hope you had a great week! my fresh friday recipe is

Feta and Pea Salad


Super easy and so yummy
Blanch 2 cups shelled peas about 2-3 min

drain peas rinse in cold water.
Whisk together 2 Tbs olive oil, 1 tbs honey
2 tbs dijon mustard
1 tbs red wine vinegar

add peas,3 radishes thinly sliced
throw in some diced fennel if you like
and sprinkle with feta
yumo-o!!!


Oh and just a little happy photo of the day. I am getting really inspired to get out and start taking some photos, I think I will start posting a photo of the day or maybe a photo on fridays with my fresh friday recipe. I am saving for a new camera I can't wait to get it. Just have to finish a few projects and pay of my braces!!! I really love photography it get's you outdoors and in touch with all of natures natural elements. So I leave you with this happy little pot of poppies.
Hope you have an inspiring weekend....
S~

" In order to succeed we must believe we are capable of success"

Boutique Chic

So the weather turned out better than what was originally called for and it pepped me up so I decided to do a little mini bedroom make over. I like to call it Boutique Chic! Just by changing a few little accessories you can achieve a completely different look. I always forget to do a before and after when I do a little project oh well...I get to involved that I forget to take the before pictures! Now almost every other room in my houses has a beach theme so I thought I would do something different and I love it. This bench used to have a tan striped fabric on it and all I did is re cover it so easy and looks brand new. I love being able to use something I already have and just re do it, plus it saves you $$$ so that is a bonus. I even found a wine that had this damask pattern on it, plus the wine is great too, bonus! I love this pattern I think it has a boutique chic feel to it and it is super HAPPY !!!

Now I can't take credit for making the pillows kudos to my sister. She is going to teach me how to make pillows so I won't have to keep having her make them for me. Now all the room needs is a cute little boutique chandelier and a couple of white fuzzy rugs. I will have to do some looking!!! I think that will make it perfectly charming .

I am so happy the weather is starting to shape up now I am ready to start doing some outdoor projects. It is so amazing what a little sunshine will do for your spirit!

"Happiness... it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort."
Vincent Van Gogh

Fresh Friday

Welcome Friday!!! so I thought I would share of few pics from a recent sister day I had. That's me enjoying a little vino at one of my favorite places The Stray Dog . This place is so fun in the summer, they have a really awesome rooftop deck that overlooks lake michigan. So my sister and I did some shopping at the outlet mall and then headed over to the Stray Dog for some pizza and wine.
And then over to another one of my favorite places Brewster's ... for some more vino!!! What more could a girl ask for in a day shopping, pizza and vino with your best friend!!! We had great sister time, I cherish every minute we get to spend together. Sisters "rock" You can always depend on your sister, she is the one person who knows exactly what I am always thinking, even sometimes before I do!!! There is a special connection sisters have, and there is no other bond like it. I can't say enough how much my sister means to me we have been through good times and bad, cried together, laughed together, talked about our hopes and dreams together and most importantly we spend a lot of time together. I think having a sister that is also your best friend is kind of a rare thing, some siblings don't even get along or talk to each other, so for that I am most grateful.
So now on to my fresh friday post. I am super excited to share this one it totally ROCKED MY WORLD
So here you have it PEA AND FETA SPREAD

This was so stinking easy and so so yummy
all you do is bring a pot of water to boil and add 2 cups of peas and blanch for about 3 min then toss in the blender and add 1 cup of feta, pinch of roasted garlic, 1 tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in case you are wondering :-) 2 tbs mint leaves and some salt and pepper to taste, pulse everything until slightly chunky, serve on your favorite toasted bread. This recipe called for ricotta but I am not a fan so I switched it up and used feta , I love feta and it worked great! This was so incredibly easy and so so yummy! I think it is my new favorite spring bruschetta. I had this with a really yummy shrimp mango salad with lemon grass chille vinaigrette. I will be posting that next fresh friday recipe. I hope you give this one a try , if you love peas you will love this spread! Hope you have a fun and creative weekend, I think I will make a new spring beachy inspired wreath!
S~

"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself" Zen Proverb

Getting Crafty

So you have to forgive me I missed my fresh friday post yesterday... busy week. Anyway I know we are all tired of soups and winter comfort food but I made this awesome Coconut curry sweet potato soup and let me say it ROCKED!!! We had a similar soup in Saugatuck at his awesome place called the Wild Dog Bar and Grill so I thought to myself how can I duplicate this soup. So here is my take on the coconut curry sweet potato soup.

Coconut Curry Sweet Potato Soup

I used 1 large sweet potato
1/2 cup of coconut milk
2-3 cups vegetable broth the sweet potato is thick so you may have to tweak the broth to get the consistency you like your soup to be
curry powder to taste
1/2 tbs roasted garlic
1/2 tbs or so of ginger in the jar

Cook sweet potato in the microwave, usually a large sweet potato takes about 10 min or so to cook
after the potato is cooked scoop out all the sweet goodness into a blender add all the above ingredients and blend until desired thickness

That is it! So I think this will be the last soup recipe I post until next fall. I just had to get one more in because it was soooo yummy.
Enjoy~
I am already thinking about some fresh spring yummies!
Hope you have a Happy weekend. The birds are telling me spring is here now we just need to talk mother nature into it :-)
S~





So seeing that spring has been rapidly approaching and winter has been so brutal I have been inspired to get crafty. So here is my latest little project.... I bought a canvas painted it aqua blue then found some letters on the computer. I then printed the letters out and traced them on the canvas. Next I found these cute little sparkly sequins at my local fabric store and used clear glue to adhere them to the canvas. That's it ! so simple and I think it turned out super cute. Now the blue jars above I found at an antique shop at one of my favorite beach towns Saugatuck Michigan. They are old mason jars and they are a really pretty blue, I never knew mason jars came in blue. So while in Saugatuck for the weekend we went down to the beach to take some photos and I collected a bunch of beach rocks and drift wood. I simply placed them in the mason jars and voila a super cute and inexpensive way to display your beach finds.

~Fresh Friday~

Well here we are another Fresh Friday and I think spring is finally deciding to come around. Let me tell you it has been a brutal winter, but if you ask me they are all brutal!!! I just can't fall in love with winter. As much as I try to get along with winter, winter always get's the best of me. So now that we are moving into spring my taste buds start to ask for lighter fare.Isn't it funny how suddenly one day you decide you are done with soups and heavy comfort food ??? So I have been trying to eat fish at least twice a week not only because it is so good for you but I really love a nice delicate mild fish. So for my fresh friday recipe I have chosen Mahi tacos yumo-o !!!

Mahi fish tacos with adobo seasoning

now you can buy adobo seasoning but I hve found it hard to find so I got on the internet and found a few variations for this seasoning.If you are not familiar with this seasoning it is a Mexican inspired seasoning.


For the seasoning you will need:

1/4 cup paprika
3tbs black pepper
2tbs onion powder
2tbs mexican oregano I used reg oregano (what I had on hand)
2tbs cumin
1tbs chili powder or chipotle powder
1tbs garlic powder.

Now mind you this makes a large batch so just store it in a empty spice jar you have on hand.

For the Tacos :
I used mahi fillets
rub seasoning all over mahi with a little olive oil

meanwhile make a red cabbage slaw :
Shred 1/2 cup red cabbage dice 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup of diced cucumber
dice a little red onion
a 1/4 teaspoon of fresh garlic
a little fresh cilantro and a touch of white wine vinegar
Mix all ingredients
then grill or bake mahi according to package
I used organic whole grain spelt tortillas but use your favorite tortillas I always warm my tortillas first.
dollop a little red cabbage slaw a little shredded organic jack cheese and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Enjoy with some organic blue corn chips and salsa oh and don't forget the vino !!!

So I leave you with this happy little spring picture taken at one of our local county parks last spring.It was such a beautiful day for a spring hike in the woods that day. It was so refreshing, there is nothing better than that first warm spring day. You can just BREATHE a sigh of happiness!
Hope you have a fabulous weekend the sun is supposed to shine all weekend wooo hoooo !!!