Treasure Hunting in Miami

Where I grew up, trash, recycling, and yard waste pick up all happened on the same day. Not only that, we had separate cans for each. Regular trash was a black can, recycling was a blue can and yard waste was a green can. It was a simple thing, really. All you had to remember was, once a week, pull out all the cans to the sidewalk.

Then I moved to Miami…

Trash day is twice a week, and they are both different days than recycle day, which is once every two weeks. Doesn’t make much sense to me because we always fill our recycling way faster than we fill our trash. Not only that, but there is no yard waste can, instead people dig these pits and throw all their yard waste and random waste into them. Yes, the yard waste truck makes it’s round on a different day than the trash and recycle trucks.

So, now that you’re up to speed on the irrational Miami-Dade garbage cycle, I will let you know that it really doesn’t have much to do with how we made someone’s trash into our cute antique treasure. Except for the fact that the weird pit is where the Hubby found the “trash”.

On our walks with Luna we are often Antique-ing (sometimes I think I watch a little too much HGTV), unfortunately good finds are slim to none. However we did get lucky when Jordan found this awesome door in one of the trash pits. We decided to cut the door (super heavy door by-the-way) and use the window part to make a picture frame for Jordan’s parents and I’m still deciding what to do with the other part. Any ideas?!

Our awesome find!

What you’ll need:

Old door with windowpanes

Paint

Sandpaper (60-80 grit)

Mill File 

Painters Tape

Small Paintbrush

Mini Glue Dots

This was a fairly easy project and I think it turned out great! I would say the “hardest part” was taping the edges of the window prior to painting. I HATE taping edges, so thankfully the Hubby handled that part. Once the taping was done we painted a few coats of blue paint over the old white paint that was already on the door. Then we let it dry completely before we started distressing for that old antique look.

We put a few dings and scrapes in using the Mill file and sanded edges so the white paint underneath showed through. Have fun with this part; this is what’s going to make your project unique. But don’t go too crazy, sometimes less is more and if you do want more its always easier to add dings and sand than it is to take them away. Well, you really can’t take them away unless you repaint…. So, take your time. Ding, step back and look, sand a little, step back and look, you get the idea.

Once you’re done with that find some pictures you like! One of my favorite parts of this whole thing was going through old pictures with Jordan. Since we knew we were giving it to Jordan’s parents, we looked at old pictures of him and his brother growing up in Orient, NY. I loved hearing Jordan tell stories of the “good ol’ days” while he was living young, wild, and free. Let’s just say they weren’t lacking adventure.

I first thought of transferring the pictures to the glass using Omni-Gel Image transfer but I tested the method using a different picture and a glass jar and it didn’t turn out that great. And if I did that we wouldn’t be able to change the pictures. So, instead I used Mini Glue Dots, one in each corner of the picture and voila!

Now a few more practice projects before we send in our application for Flea Market Flip!

You want me to put Butter in my Coffee?!

Good Morning!

Boy, it has been a while! Over a year! Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping a list of things I want to Blog about, it’s just a matter of finding the time. I don’t know where it goes (lame excuse, I know)! This is going to be a quick post, I’m waiting for our repair man, Humberto, to come fix the dryer. The other night is was drying and then is sounded like there was a small person fighting to get out. Kind of scary, then it stopped spinning all together. Hopefully it’s a quick fix!

This morning I made Bulletproof Coffee for the first time. I’ve seen it on Pinterest and Instagram, all those Paleo links I follow…. Paleo, that’s a whole different blog. I love it, the concept, the health benefits, the variations of “plain” meals. The only sad thing is no bread. I LOVE BREAD, I digress.

 

Back to Bulletproof (This time, baby, I’ll be Bulletprooooof… Can’t help it, every time I say bulletproof the song starts playing in my head. Good thing I like that song, for now). There are quite a few sites that talk about the benefits of Bulletproof Coffee. It started “trending” when Dave Asprey came back from a trip in Tibet where he drank hot tea mixed with yak butter. He enjoyed the benefits (more energy, jump start on fat burning, no caffeine high crash) so much he developed his own version and called it Bulletproof Coffee. Here is the link to Dave’s site. Here is the link to Dave's site. He promotes his own coffee and oil but I did not use his product. I view it as Name Brand v. Generic Brand, I’m a Generic Brand kind of girl, unless you’re talking about shoes and purses. That’s my weakness. Don’t tell the Hubby ;)

Wait, who am I kidding, he already knows.

I recommend getting some quality coffee, fresh and organic. Today I used Panther Coffee, a local coffee roaster. So delicious. I brewed a cup in our Keurig machine. Any way you brew your coffee is fine.

You’ll also need grass-fed butter, not grain-fed. You’re probably like “what’s the difference?!” Grass-fed butter means the cows were allowed to graze on fresh grass, absorbing more nutrients, making the milk they produce much healthier and contain more vitamins than grain-fed cows. I used Kerrygold Grass-Fed Butter.

 

The last ingredient you will need MTC Oil or Coconut Oil. I used MTC Oil, bought on Amazon. If you do shop on Amazon don’t forget to shop http://smile.amazon.com to support a charity of your choosing!

 

There are a few recipes out there, some adding up to 2 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of MTC Oil. I just started with one of each. I also added a packet of Truvia to make it a little sweeter. I’m a sweet coffee drinker so if you usually drink yours black I would try it without a sweetener first. The butter and oil make the finished product so creamy and delicious!

Now, to make the coffee all creamy and delicious, you MUST blend. Stirring will just leave the coffee oily and gross. Blending is the secret. I used my Magic Bullet, other people have used food processers, blenders, handheld immersion blenders… so whatever you have, just be sure to blend! If you use a magic bullet blend for a second or two and then release the pressure created from the steam. I did that 4-5 times.

The quick and dirty on how to make Bulletproof Coffee:

Ingredients

            1 Tablespoon Kerrygold Grass-Fed Butter

            1 Tablespoon MTC Oil

            1 Cup of Coffee

Brew your cup of coffee. Add the Butter, MTC Oil, and Coffee (and sweetener if that’s your thing) into a blender. Blend for a few seconds. A foam will settle to the top. Pour into your favorite coffee cup and enjoy! Easy-peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Have you tried Bulletproof Coffee? What do you think?

Curry Chicken Salad – Today’s alternative for my go-to Comfort Food

So, I’ve come to realize that my comfort food is Pizza. Thin Crust Pepperoni Pineapple to be exact. Frustrating day at work…. “I’ll order a pizza. I’ve earned it.” Stressed out about wedding planning… “I’ll order a pizza, I’ll finish _______ (fill in the blank for some wedding related thing) tomorrow.” Well, now that I have a little over 3 weeks before the wedding, I really NEED to ditch this pizza comfort food dependency I have. It should have happened sooner but if you were tracking my half marathon training, you know I have a serious procrastination problem.

I went to Publix this afternoon and decided I’d make some chicken salad for dinner. Healthier than pizza right? A step in the right direction.

Curry Chicken Salad Ingredients

• Rotisserie chicken (I’m still a little squeamish when it comes to raw chicken. I think I’ve touched raw chicken about 5 times, in my life.)
• Golden Delicious Apple (1/2 Cup - chopped)
• Grapes (1/2 Cup – halved)
• Celery (2 stalks)
• Curry Powder (1 tablespoon – I really like curry, I know it's a strong flavor so some may prefer less curry powder)
• Plain Greek Yogurt (6oz)
• Walnuts (handful)
• Salt/pepper (to taste)

Mix Greek Yogurt and Curry Powder together. Then add chicken, apples, grapes, and celery and mix well.  Add walnuts some salt and pepper and voila! Pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

Wedding Planning Sneak Peak

Wow, I don’t know what happened… but the time has FLOWN by! Its only about a month before the wedding! A little bit nervous, a lot a bit excited!!! I may have underestimated the difficulty of planning a wedding in New York while living in Florida.  

We decided to do a lot of DIY things for the wedding, which I am loving! Jordan is working on a special project that I know all the guests will LOVE and I have tasked my bridesmaids with a few (don’t know what I would do without them) pinterest/etsy inspired ideas.

Here is a little sneak peak to one of my wedding DIY projects. Salt Scrub Favors!

Once I actually dedicated a day to making all the salt scrubs, and got a system down, it went pretty smoothly. Here is what I used:

• 8oz Mason Jars (I used Kerr and not Ball because Kerr had a smooth spot on the jar for me to stick on a label)
• Motrin Sea Salt
• Sunflower Oil
• Scented Essential Oil
• Martha Stewart Printable Labels (they were on sale at Michaels)
•  Decorative ribbon

I researched pinterest for some good instructions but they all varied a little, so I decided to do my own thing. I didn’t measure anything out, I just used marks on the jars to judge how much I salt/oil I was using.

First, add salt. Duh. I made about 150 so I decided to only fill the jars about half way. If you’re just making a few for gifts (or yourself!), I suggest adding more salt.

I added the essential oils in before I added the sunflower oil. Some were more potent than other so I experimented with how many drops of each scent was needed in order to notice the smell. It really depends on what type/scent of essential oil you are using. In this particular line up, I'm using an Orange scented oil. After the essential oil, add some sunflower oil and mix with a fork. I kept pouring until it just covered the top of the salt. Now this part is all personal preference. If you want a dryer scrub, add less oil… visa versa. Here is what most of mine ended up looking like. It did take a few tries to get the consistency I wanted.

Then cover, add sticker, add ribbon and voila! Perfect gift.

It is pretty simple, hopefully you'll try this recipe out soon! I promise my next post doesn’t take as long to put up as this one did :) 

Now, back to the wedding planning!

Remembering SA William Flores

The universe often has a funny way of working; the way a certain smells or a song can remind you of a specific instance, how a friend can call at a random time, but it was the time you needed them to call most. How sometimes you don’t know where your life is headed or what your calling is, but you look back and realize you were on the perfect path the whole time. How sometimes someone’s life can be so short lived, but they’re actions impact thousands of others once they’ve gone.

During the Summer of 2008 I was a Swab at the United States Coast Guard Academy (the Academy’s version of Boot Camp).  During Swab Summer, at the end of the day, everyone gets time to reflect and write in their journal. Sometimes the Cadre (the Cadets in charge) read a motivational story. One of the stories stuck with me, one of courage, heroism, and self sacrifice. As a Swab I didn’t remember many of the details; names, place, etc. I do remember there was a young boy, fresh out of boot camp that sacrificed his life to save his shipmates. I remember sitting against the bulkhead (Coast Guard word for “wall”) half listening to the story half writing in my journal thinking, “I hope one day I will be someone’s hero, change someone’s life”. Then I went to bed, woke up, and probably got yelled at for something, and stashed the story of the young boy far back in my mind somewhere.

5 years later I’m finishing up my tour on the USCGC MORGENTHAU and getting ready to report to USCGC WILLIAM FLORES, the third Fast Response Cutter. All the FRCs being added to the Coast Guard Fleet are named after Coast Guard Enlisted Heroes. As I get ready to report in, I look up SA William Flores interested to learn why we have honored him. I being reading a very familiar story, one I feel like I have read before, and then it all comes back to me. That night writing in my journal, listening to my Cadre read the very story of SA Flores, the cutter I am now assigned to. 

It is interesting how a story 5 years ago came back into my life in a completely unplanned way. I am honored to be serving on a Cutter recognizing SA Flores. 

Flores was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal. The Coast Guard Medal is the highest non-combat bravery award of the United States Coast Guard.

Seaman Apprentice FLORES is cited for heroism on the evening of 28 January 1980 while serving onboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter BLACKTHORN. Immediately after the collision between SS CAPRICORN and USCGC BLACKTHORN near the entrance to Tampa Bay, Florida, BLACKTHORN rolled to port and capsized before the ship's personnel could prepare for an orderly abandon ship. Exhibiting composure beyond his shipboard experience, Seaman Apprentice FLORES joined another BLACKTHORN crewmember in making their way to the starboard lifejacket locker and commenced throwing lifejackets over the side to fellow crewmembers in the water. Later, as the BLACKTHORN began to submerge and his companion abandoned ship, Seaman Apprentice FLORES remained behind to strap the lifejacket locker door open with his own belt thereby contributing to the survival of struggling shipmates who retrieved lifejackets as they floated to the surface. Even after most of the crewmembers abandoned ship, Seaman Apprentice FLORES, with complete disregard for his own safety, remained on the inverted hull to assist trapped shipmates and provide aid and comfort to injured and disoriented shipmates. His exceptional fortitude, remarkable initiative and courage throughout this tragic incident were instrumental in saving many lives and resulted in the sacrifice of his own life. Seaman Apprentice FLORES' courage, selflessness and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.