Yummy camping goodness!

So yes, I fully realize that this picture looks like chewed up mush, but it's not, I swear, and I felt so bad about not posting pictures that I went ahead and posted it anyways, but, I digress.

Last year at this time we went camping in Amish country and I posted one of my favorite camping recipes, campfire pies, this year we are again camping in Amish country, so I am sharing my new favorite thing with you, dump cake, or heaven in your mouth!

Two cans of fruit pie filling, we used apple, a white cake mix from a box, a can of mountain dew, and approximately 2 tablespoons of butter all cooked in a Dutch oven over hot coals. It's incredible!!!!

Chili!!

I apologize for two posts in a row without a picture, in my defense I did take a picture for this one but the lighting was horrible and it didn't make my super yummy chili look very appetizing at all.

Anyway, I am addicted to elephantitas alegras, I read kate's hilarious posts every day, and she has got me craving chili. I'm not typically a chili person, but I couldn't get it out of my head so I did a quick google search and found a recipe for a creamy white chicken chili, which has officially become my favorite dinner recipe EVER! Here it is:

1lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1/2inch cubes
1 med. Onion - chopped
1 1/2tsp. Garlic powder
1tblsp canola oil
2 15oz cans great northern beans
1 14oz can chicken broth
2 4oz cans chopped green chilis (I could only find a 7oz can, but I only used 2/3 of it)
1tsp salt (I used 1/2)
1tsp ground cumin (I used 3/4)
1tsp dried oregano
1/2tsp pepper
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
8oz sour cream
1/2cup heavy whipping cream

In a large saucepan sauté the chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink.

Add beans, broth, chilis, and seasonings, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in cream and sour cream. Serves 7

I don't know about where you are, but it's definitely going to be chili weather in Ohio this weekend! Enjoy!

Super cuteness!

I was so excited to show you the gifts that I just ordered for the girls in my bridal party, until I realized that would totally ruin the suprise for them, so that picture will have to wait, but I can definitely tell you that I got them from a very talented (and ingenious!) etsy seller and I am so excited that I bought one for myself too! The hardest part is going to be not giving them to the girls before the rehearsal dinner, which is not for another 8 months. I am so the kind of person who gets more excited about giving gifts than about getting them!

Good intentions

I had every intention of finishing my overwhelming project that has become tagging and cataloging all of my beautiful glass, but when I walked into my studio tonight I was so not feeling it. So instead I went back in the house and filled in my planner for this week, it didn't take long to fill up a whole week, but that's the story of my life. Now I'm off to finish some laundry (so very exciting) and start getting ready for our camping trip this weekend. We're making our second trip of the summer to Amish country, I love Amish country, it's the perfect place to get in the mood for fall!

Two Words: Wireless Internet!

I swear my life is a million times easier (not to mention a whole lot quicker) now that we finally have wireless at Aaron's (and therefore in my studio)! Needless to say my ipod has been glued to my hand ever since, and I am back to reading blogs religiously (o how I have missed you)!

Some of my favorite bloggers have inspired me to get back to my own, and I really want to turn this little blog of mine around. It is so much easier to write everyday when I share stories and info from all aspects of my life, as opposed to the segment that is my craft - mania. But the title still fits perfectly, because I am, of course, obsessively organized in every possible way.

For example, wedding planning has consumed my free time, so I wanted to share with you what I did this weekend (thank God for three day weekends), so that you can get a picture of how ridiculously organized my brain is.

This all started when I decided that my wedding centerpieces were going to be a collection of randomly assorted vintage glass vases (thank you design_sponge). I had already begun collecting pieces that grabbed me, so I was excited to indulge myself, and I went a little crazy at goodwill, savers, and garage sales. I now have over a hundred and fifty glass pieces in my possession. I was lucky enough to find a florist who is very excited about my vision, and I can't wait to see what she does with it (and now I'm going to plug the very talented Mary Ann at the Flower Basket in Bowling Green Ohio). But she can't give me a quote until she has a clear picture of the number and sizes of the pieces I want to use (entirely understandable). Therefore, the floor of my studio now looks like this:

But it's worth it because I finally feel like I have an understanding of what I have, whew. Plus each piece has a label on the bottom that gives the piece's item number, and the number of the table grouping that particular piece belongs to, and I have corresponding spreadsheets. Is it sad that I'm excited about my spreadsheets?

Plus, after I created a grouping, I took a picture of it, so that I can print the pictures and take them with me when we set up the hall. Here is one, it doesn't look like much now, but imagine it with flowers and candles (in 8 months I can show you pictures of the really thing!!!!!)

It was a little sad how tired this made me, but i definitely felt like I accomplished something!

Excuses Excuses

Yes, again, I have been away for a long time, but this time I have a number of very legitimate excuses (as opposed to before, when I was just being lazy).

Excuse #1: I got engaged!!! Yes after 6 years Aaron finally asked, and it was so cute too. We were finishing up some little things in my studio before I moved all of my junk in, and he was helping me stick a beautiful decal pattern on one of the walls. This should've been clue number one because he never would've offered to help me do that otherwise. anyway, here's a picture of the wall we were working on:

When we were done we stepped back to admire our work and he pulled the ring out of a drawer!

So, needless to say I have been frantically trying to secure wedding vendors, and get myself organized, luckily I had already picked out one of my wedding plan books (available on my etsy shop)and I can wait to share a few posts on specific pages in my personal book!

Excuse #2: I have been moving all of my fun crafty stuff from my parent's house, to my new studio at my fiance's. But, my gorgeous studio is now completely done and I have been spending all of my extra time in there. Of course I never imagined that it would turn into wedding planning central quite so quickly, but I am so enjoying it! Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Excuse#3: I was on vacation. Aaron and I made another trip to Ohio's Amish Country, luckily we found a much better campground this year. So after a long weekend of s'mores, fabric shopping, antiquing, and a little sprint car racing action, I didn't have a ton of time for blogging, but I do have pictures to share:

Excuse #4: Some of our very close friends just got married, and though I started a quilt for them in January, somehow I was still finishing it up just this week. But I was able to finish it in time for the wedding, and as much as I love it, I was so glad to give it to them because I have spent so much time looking at it that I would be happy if I never saw it again! And in keeping with tradition starting with the last wedding quilt that I made, I of course forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

So yes, I realize that I have a lot of excuses, but I also have a lot more to share, so I will keep you updated on wedding details (I am already planning for a post on the special invitations that I have created for the members of our bridal party!), and I will definitely continue to focus on wonderful etsy vendors, whose beautiful work makes me fight the urge to whip out my credit card!

I have new pictures!

That's right I have new pictures of my studio, which will soon be fully functional. The construction is done, now it's my turn to take over. Luckily I have a day off on Monday (I love compressed summer work weeks!!!!) so I will be moving in this weekend. Of course, when that is finished I will have some more pictures for you.

Up to this point one of my favorite activities has been collecting wonderful finds to fill up this space. The most important factor in my purchases has been the purpose of the item, and I have really focused on collecting items that are going to help me keep the space organized. Here are some of the storage solutions that I am currently drooling over (all are available on etsy!).

A gorgeous trinket box from KypresjackDesigns. Completely my style, a little pricy, but absolutely beautiful.

This is actually a drawer from a vintage sewing machine, which would be completely perfect for a crafting studio. Available from RiverBendRanchStudio

I think these little felt bins are my favorite, and I am so going to make a set of these myself, although, if I can't find the time I just may buy them from sewingmomma