Swoon Worthy Find: Anne Burrell's Braised Short Ribs

Since finding this recipe, and when I say I, I mean since my husband found this recipe, we have had it three times.  This dish is absolutely amazing!!  I do apologize for those of you who are not meat lovers but this recipe was too good not to share. 

Each time Kelly makes this for us it gets better and better.  Two weekends ago Tye and Shanna came over to have our Christmas dinner.  We do this instead of exchanging gifts so that our gifts really end up being a great dinner and some much needed time spent together.  This year it happened a little later than we would have liked but better late than never!  We decided Food Network's, Anne Burrell's short ribs would be the menu, and again, we were not disappointed.

These ribs are just fall off the bone, melt in your mouth perfect.  They are slow cooked in the dutch oven for 3 hours so they can suck up all the lovely juices added in with them.  Kelly has said the prep time is a bit time consuming but the actual cooking is incredibly easy since they just sit in the oven most of the time.

This picture will have you running to the kitchen for this meal:

If you try this recipe out let us know what you think!  If you have any go to recipes or any recipes that have blown your socks off send them to us, we would love to try them out too!

See you swoon,

Reader Request: Rita's Dining Room {part 2}

Happy Friday!  It's especially happy for me because tomorrow is the day that I paint my mother-in-law Rita's dining room, and Jamie is going to do it too.  Painting is fun; painting with Jamie is super fun.  On Wednesday I posted about our plans for the space.  And as of today, we are half way there: all that is left is painting and accessorizing.  Yay! 

We got a lot done in two days!  It took Rita and I about 2 hours to steam off all the wallpaper and border.  It was so super simple, if pretty messy.  As soon as the wallpaper came down, I was itching to paint, so I tackled the trim.  Rita's trim was a light taupey gray, and we decided to paint over it with my favorite creamy white: Dover White by Sherwin Williams.  I assumed two coats would do it: wrong!  It took three coats of paint to cover that taupe.  The end result was worth it for sure.  

Here's the before and current shots of the dining room.  You can see we removed the valence, all the paper and painted the trim.

before

current: no valence!
sorry for the dark shot

before

current
note the test squares on the wall!

before

current

Looking good, isn't it?  I'll also share the mirror I found at Home Goods that cost just $25.  I wanted to add a beautiful chunky mirror to the space, and this one seemed just perfect.  I loved that the frame is wood because it will be so easy to paint over.  I'm pretty sure I'll do the same Dover White on the frame as on the trim.  Here it is now:

Stay tuned for more details on how this room is coming along!  I'll be sure to post a picture of the room painted and then eventually when we decorate.  Until then, happy weekend!  Do you have any weekend projects on the agenda? Please share!

See you swoon,

Jamie's House: A few changes in the bedroom

I have come to the realization that my bedroom decor/design may never really be done.  I always see so many things I like and  want to try them out.  After I almost finished my bedroom the first time with my IKEA decor shown here:

I then fell in love with this cozy little sanctuary from Houzz.com:

{modern bedroom design by other metros interior designer nate fowler}

So far I have only started making a few changes.  I am not planning on touching the furniture at this point but you can see I have updated the rug to this Shaggedy Shag area rug from Lowe's:

This is a full view:

I will be changing the wall color to more of a light tan/beige color like you see on the Houzz bedroom.  Kelly likes the color we have now which is a bit too yellow for me, thank god he is so laid back and let's me go crazy with paint!  I love how crisp yet warm and inviting the creams and beige colors are together. Our bedroom is much smaller than this one so I think these lighter tones will keep the room feeling light, open, and airy.

This is what I have so far.  The best part is that when I designed this room initially I did not spend a lot of money and the things I want to change now are pretty inexpensive upgrades so my wallet is very happy!  Doesn't our bed look so grown up with our new bedskirt?

Someone else seems to like the new conforter and rug too :)

I will be sure to keep you updated on the changes that go on as I decorate and re-decorate.  What do you think about the new look so far?  Are you changing and decor designs in your house?

See you swoon,

Reader Request: Rita's Dining Room {part 1}

Happy March!  Have I mentioned how excited for Spring I am?  I think I have maybe once or twice or one million times.  I'm so happy that at last we are in the month that Spring finally arrives.  Until the weather really thaws, I'm going to focus on helping my in-laws redo their dining room. Talk about a cure for the Winter blues!

My in-laws live in a beautiful, gracious home about five minutes from where we live.  It is colonial style and perfectly suited for entertaining, especially the large dining room.  Rita (my mother-in-law) asked if Jamie and I could help her update the space a little, since it remains pretty much as it did when they bought the house years and years ago.  It took me about one nano-second to jump at the chance!

Here are the pictures of the space "before":

As you can see, the room is very traditional, and because the rest of the house is traditional in decor and design, it should stay that way.  The furniture will remain as is: it's a lovely dark wood.  However, we have some major plans for this space, and I'm planning to make the total come in around $100 (not including the cost of paint).

Here's what is on tap for the space:

• take down all wallpaper (including the border) with a wallpaper steamer borrowed from my parents;
• paint all the trim my favorite Dover White from Sherwin Williams. Right now, the trim is a grayish taupe color;
• repaint the room Misty by Sherwin Williams, which is a lovely soft gray (I may try Lowe's Valspar and have it matched to Misty, though the jury is still out on that one);
• add a little glamour to the chandelier by adding white chandelier shades;
• remove the valence above the bay window to let in more light and clean up the lines of that area a bit and create a custom window treatment (likely DIY drape shades using fabric of our choice, my favorite no sew seam tape, grosgrain ribbon and some tension rods);
• change up the artwork and bring in a large mirror for one wall, and hang a bunch of Rita's collectible, heirloom blue and white plates on the wall;
• add lots of blue and white to the room in accessories; and
• bring in two buffet lamps on one of the buffets.

And that'll do it!  It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't.  Rita and I will spend one day tearing down the wallpaper and maybe starting the trim; then we'll take another day for trim; and the following week, I'll come back and handle the wall painting solo.  Stay tuned on Friday for what we've accomplished thus far!

See you swoon,

Jamie's House: A Hallway Transformation

SAYONARA butternut squash hallway!  This was no easy task let me tell you.  I had stopped halfway up the stairs due to a lack of reach (this is usually not a problem for my monkey arms) so for over a month now I have been looking at my freshly painted dining room that ran into this:

 And this:

To be honest, I have no idea how that white line of trim even got there in the first place, possibly the roller.  Anyway, I knew I could not put a chair on the stairs unless I was asking for a hospital trip and I knew having Kelly hold me up while I painted was a terrible idea so I let it sit for a while, at least until last weekend.  I could not take one more day of the neon squash so off to Lowe's I went. 

You would think at this point I would no longer be shocked at some of the painting nightmares that I have run into since our move but this one takes the cake, oh yes it is on the ceiling too.

Thank goodness it was daylight because we lost power due to some crazy wind storms going on but after a few hours the hallway was complete, minus a brush up coat on the woodwork that I will get to eventually.  This is what we have now, everyone with me, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

That sock on the step is from Speedo, he has an insane sock fetish so we find single socks all over the house.  The dryer monster does not even stand a chance against the cat.

You may be wondering how I ended up reaching the top of the stairs.  Shanna, if you are reading this part you may want to scroll down (she does not do well with heights).  I stood on the straight part of the banister that you see above and ever so gently leaned across with my hand on the far wall for balance.  The lower portions were done after summoning my inner gymnast skills, I probably should have had my husband take a picture but it involved one foot on the banister, one foot on the wall and leaning down as far as I could go.  I do not recommend this to anyone and looking back I could have broken my neck but look how pretty it all turned out!

And for some pretty new outlet covers:

So there you have it, all done!  Of course this opens a whole new can of worms.  I have to fix the attic door that hangs open ever so slightly and the next thing to go is the light fixture in the hallway.  Did you do any painting over the weekend?  What colors are you using and what projects are you working on?  Please share, I need color ideas for my two guest rooms!

See you swoon,