I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

We are so excited about our trip!

I can't believe it's finally here...we booked it a year ago, so it's been a long time coming.

VIA

Here's the details...

We will leave Nashville Saturday with a layover in Philly;

and arrive Venice Sunday morning.

We will have 11 nights on the ship.

2 days at sea.

We will be visiting Athens, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Bodrum,Turkey; Santorini, Greece;

Ephesus, Turkey; Mykonos, Greece; and Split, Croatia.

Then we'll come back to Venice and have another night there before headed back to the States.

VIA

It should be fun, if I don't pull a muscle from lugging around my luggage. :)

See you in two weeks.

xoxo- Bethany

Pretty Piped Pillow

Hey y'all!

Today I'm back with a new sewing skill.

Piping!

I made a piped pillow to match my skirted bedside table.

It turned out great!

 So great, in fact, I might have to pipe all my sewing projects from here on out!

Here it is with a peek of the skirted side table.

I think it ties it all together and gives it a more custom look.

This definately won't be my last piped pillow!

This weekend, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew came in town to visit

and celebrate my other sister-in-law, Jenny's birthday.

We had a wonderful time getting to visit and 

I am looking forward to the next time we get together.

This coming weekend, we're headed to the Meditterranian!

I'll be back later this week with details. :)

xoxo- Bethany

Copycat Panera Wild Rice and Chicken Soup

Hello Everyone!

Today I am following through on 2 of my 4 simple goals

by blogging about a new recipe I tried this week.

 I found this recipe on Pinterest,

but  it originated from Carrie's Experimental Kitchen.

This is an awesome soup. 

I have had it at Panera Bread several times,

and this recipe is an exact match.

So creamy and yummy!

Also, I tried this bread because the grocery didn't have any fresh baked french bread.

And it was really good!

Pillsbury Simply Rustic French Bread.

It's a really dense bread with a crunchy crust.

A perfect bread as a side with a soup.

All in all, it was a great meal!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
3 c. Water
1 pkg. Near East Long Grain & Wild Rice with Flavor Packet
2 Stalks Celery, thinly sliced
1/4 c. Red  Onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c. Carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp. Dried Majoram
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
3/4 c. Heavy Cream
1/4 c. 2% Milk
Kosher Salt, to taste
1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper
  2 c. Cooked Chicken

Preparation: 

In a large saucepan, drizzle olive oil on the bottom and add your carrots, celery, onion, marjoram and seasoned flavor packet and saute for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir; then add the flour. Add the chicken broth and water, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. While this is simmering, heat the heavy cream and milk in a small saucepan until hot. Add to the soup mixture along with the cooked chicken and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 8 cups. 

Enjoy!

xoxo-Bethany 

Four Simple Goals before 2013

Today, I am playing along with Elsie from A Beautiful Mess.

She challenged her readers to create 4 Simple Goals before 2013.

So without further ado...here are my goals!

1. Try a new recipe once a week.  This one is simple enough. Between my magazine subscriptions and Pinterest it should be easy! I'm always one the hunt for easy delicious recipes to add to my cooking arsenal.

2. Aim for 3 quality blog posts a week. Blogging is a great creative outlet for me and I've really be enjoying it! Honestly, it's been hard to keep up momentum to post regularly and brainstorm ideas constantly...but its a good hard. :) I just want to make a conscious effort to up with my blog even though I'm starting back work this month and traveling. Plus, the Holidays will be here before we know it, and we all know how busy it can get that time of year!

3. Practice slow decorating. I shamelessly swiped this one from Elsie. But it's something I need to be aware of and practice. Sometimes, I get overwhelmed with how the house looks vs. how I want it to look. But decorating is a process, and I'd rather wait and add perfect pieces as we come across them, rather then buy stuff just to fill the house and be done with it.

4. Practice sewing. Sewing is one of those things if I don't use it, I lose it. Even though I am not currently taking sewing classes, I am going to do my best to keep creating small projects and practicing the sewing techniques I've learned to get better. Practice makes perfect, and my sewing is far from perfect!

That's it! I'll be posting updates on how I'm doing on my goals throughout 2012, so check back often!

Have you set any goals lately?

xoxo - Bethany

Mess to Success :: Refashioned Tunic to Skirt

So awhile back I went to Forever 21 and bought some transitional items for fall 

and a couple of items for our upcoming Mediterranean vacation.

 I have a love/hate relationship with Forever 21, and have for some time.

I love them because their clothes are cheap.

And I hate them because their clothes are cheap.

Case in point:

  I bought this cute tunic for the cruise. 

I paid 13.50. Which is great...

Except the back was ripped. I'm not sure if this happened before I bought it and I just didn't notice, or if I bought it and brought it home and this happened when I tried it on.

Either way, it's ruined.

I couldn't return it because I threw away the receipt long before I noticed the rip.

(Forever 21 won't accept returns or exchanges without a receipt. 

At all. No store credit. Nothing, unless you have a receipt.)  

So I decided to make it into a skirt using this 

tutorial I found on Pinterest.

And here's how it turned out after some sewing and sweating and cussing from yours truly. 

 

It's my first garment. :)

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination,

but it turned out!

I'm off to sew some more!

Thanks for reading!! :)

xoxo- Bethany

Fall is here!

Even though it's still hot outside,

I've declared it Fall.

I made my first wreath ever,

and honestly it was sooo easy I don't know why I waited so long.

I think it turned out cute!

I also did a little fall tablescape on the dining room table.

I love fall...pumpkin spice lattes, crisp mornings, changing leaves...

I can't wait!

Are you ready for fall?

xoxo- Bethany