Vermont Antique Expo and Sale

I am so excited for the Vermont Antique Expo and Sale & The Spring Craft and Fine Art Show. The 2 events will be at the Champlain Valley Expo this Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6, and I snagged some tickets from Vermont Public Television!

As I have bragged about mentioned before, I am now the Web & Social Media Specialist at Vermont Public Television, so I recently had the pleasure of posting this GIVEAWAY on our Facebook page!

"We're giving away pairs of tickets to The Vermont Antique Expo and Sale & The Spring Craft and Fine Art Show coming to the Champlain Valley Expo this weekend!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below our Facebook note telling us why you want tickets to The Vermont Antique Expo and Sale & The Spring Craft and Fine Art Show!"

So this weekend, between coaching AAU basketball games at UVM and refinishing the 2 Craiglist nightstands I bought this weekend (pics to come), I plan on stopping by the expo to check out some of the super sweet goodies!

More good news coming out of my new job... I am going to be recording a few voice overs for some Vermont Public Television promo spots this afternoon to run during our upcoming pledge drive... which also happens to be taking plave on my 24th birthday (May 16, 2012).

So that's what's going on up here in Vermont! I hope everyone is having a happy Monday!

Follow Friday: Find Some New Faves

Occasionally on Fridays I like to do a little round up of some of the great bloggers out there. I hope that by doing this I get the chance to introduce you to a few new bloggers! Here are a few of my recent faves. Their headers link to their blog, and their additional following platforms are listed below :)

on Twitter
on Facebook
on Pinterest

on Twitter
on Facebook
on Pinterest

on Twitter
on Facebook

on Twitter
on Facebook
on Pinterest

My Go-To Dairy-Free Smoothies

Every once in a while I go on a crazy smoothie kick. Right now is not one of those times, but I just wanted to review my collection of tried and true favorites, just in case the eventual warm summer weather turns me back on to the icy fruity deliciousness in a glass :) Here is my mini collection:

Smooth Blue 1 cup blueberries 1/2 cup strawberries 1/2 cup almond milk The Kelley Moran 1 cup mangoes 1 cup strawberries 1/2 apple juice 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger 3-4 ice cubes

Red Rocket Extreme 1 cup mango 1/2 cup blueberries 1/2 cup raspberries 1/2 apple juice 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger 3-4 ice cubes

[The Kelley Moran]

And here are a few smoothies I want to try:

No Clever Name Yet (Jamie Oliver) 1 banana 2 mangoes 1/2 cup coconut milk zest and juice of 1 lime 3-4 ice cubes Spinach Fruit Smoothie (Cooking Gluten Free) 1/2 cup baby spinach, stems removed 1/2 cup coconut milk 2 cup frozen berries 1 tbsp honey 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Spring Green Smoothie (Nourishing Meals) 2 pears 2 apples 2 kiwis 1 large chunk of fresh ginger 2 lemons, juiced 1 cup spinach + kale + mint water

Do you know of any easy, dairy free smoothies recipes I should try? Have a good Thursday :)

House Obsession in Ferrisburgh, VT

This weekend Mike and I drove over 150 miles around Vermont, just for the heck of it. We stopped at every thrift store, garage sale and furniture hut that we passed looking for night stands for the master bedroom, and other miscellaneous items.

We had originally planned to go to the movies on Saturday afternoon, but as usual we bailed on our big date plans. Instead, we ended up doing something much more fun... We went house stalking! We both spend a lot of times on real estate sites, checking out the local housing market, drooling over the massive homes for sale in Fairfax and the vast acreage available in Charlotte.

We recently came across a sweet wooded bungalow located at 1052 Greenbush Road in Ferrisburgh, VT on Catamount Realty Group so we decided to go look at it like a couple of creeps.

Here are the detes...

Price: $259,900
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Size: 1,450 sqft
Lot: 213,880 sqft (4.9 acres)

That's the house. We totally creeped on it. We drove up the driveway and everything. Hehe. Happy Hump Day everyone! Follow me on Twitter @TheresaMcCabe for randomness throughout the day.

Before & After: Fancy File Cabinet

I finally got the chance to revamp a file cabinet! This project was so quick and easy, I want to do this to every file cabinet I see from now on!

I found the brown 2-drawer file cabinet in the Craigslist free listings and picked it up on Sunday night. I stopped at Home Depot and grabbed a can of spray paint and some vinyl adhesive shelf liner.

Rust-Oleum Spray Paint in Summer Squash: $3.98
Con-Tact Creative Covering Waterdance Shelf Liner: $3.48

File Cabinet: Free

Project Cost Total: $7.46

Awesome! The directions for this little project are pretty self explanatory... But I'll explain nonetheless. I took out the drawers and spray painted the exterior shell. While that dried I stuck the adhesive paper on the front of the shelves and cut out the spots for the handles. I let it dry overnight and then brought it into work with me the next day to add a pop of color to my office arrangement!

If you like this project, don't forget to pin it! --->  
Inspiration for this project via House of Sarager

I've added this project to a few link ups to some crafty linky parties out in the blogosphere.. so find me here:

          

Check a few of my popular DIY projects:

Freebie Revamp: White Dresser	File Cabinet Revamp: Snazzy Sister State Storage	Cool Blue Paint Chip Art	Refreshed White Night Stands

Sunny Sweet Lemon Bars

Good morning and happy Monday. This weekend was cruddy and rainy and cold here in Vermont. I really wish it had been nice enough to get my garden started before my first AAU tournament next weekend, but no such luck.

Mike and I took the chance to cross a few indoor projects off our long to-do list at 32 Discovery. By Sunday afternoon I was craving some sunshine, which I whipped up in the form of delicious tangy and sweet lemon bars. These are amazing. Enjoy.

Lemon Bars (adapted from Kristin Ann)

Ingredients

Crust:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour

Filling:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
8 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest from 1 lemon
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9-inch pan with baking spray, then line the pan with aluminum foil (this will make it easier to remove the lemon bars in one piece so you can cut them properly on a cutting board). Spray the aluminum foil with baking spray as well.

Crust: Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add flour. Press the dough into the prepared pan,  then bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden, not brown

Filling: Beat eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and zest completely; gradually add in flour and baking powder. Pour over pre-baked crust, bake at 350 for about 20 minutes; the edges should be golden not brown. Let the bars sit for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut once cool. Enjoy!

Going Green for Earth Day

Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22, 2012. There are so many great things going on this weekend, so get out there and get involved! The Internet is all abuzz with how people across the country & world can help our environment remains healthy for this and future generations.

Meanwhile I will continue to choose refurbishing over buying brand new. I hate stuff, and I hate that more and more STUFF is made everyday! I wish we would stop mass producing so much sh!t, and make do with what we have.

This weekend I hope it's nice enough to get my garden going in the backyard, and fix up this awesome dresser I found for free!

I hope everyone enjoys this spring weekend! Follow me on Instagram @Tcbasket22 for photo updates of my life.

Trading Words for Phrases

Mike used to say "Jeezum Crow" a lot. Urban Dictionary explains this phrase is "a polite way to take the Lord's name in vein popular in rural Vermont." So it's really just a "benign alternative to the pejorative "Jesus Christ," as this random web site states.

Well this phrase annoys me for some reason. I don't know why, but I begged Mike to stop using it, or at least not everyday.

(Could he have been responsible for creating this actual Facebook group called I use the expression "Jeezum Crow!" on a daily basis? Maybe.)

[via 10 engines]

Now Mike has started saying "Yut" instead of "Yup" when he responds to me. Of the several definitions of "yut" listed on Urban Dictionary, this one seems to apply the best to the context he uses it: "YUT = Yelling Useless Things. Marine corps term derived in order to make fun of officers and the stupid things they say. Also used when agreeing to something when you have no idea what was said."

So I have asked him to please take the word "Yut" out of his vocabulary and as a consolation he can use the phrase "Jeezum Crow" as often as he likes. Are there any phrases that totally irk you????

I am busy Tweeting and Facebooking and LinkedIning and Google+ing for Vermont Public Television now. I am enjoying my new gig, in fact, I just made a Vermont Public Television Pinterest! So check us out :)

Inside the Exterior: 9 Colonel Page Road

Yesterday Mike and I drove around Vermont after work looking for houses for sale. It was fun!

Now that I have started my new job, I get up and go in as early as my old one, but I am always out by 5, and we can be home eating dinner together by 5:30! The best. So here is a nice little house that we knew was a bit out of our price range at first glance, but I jotted down the address to check out the listing and take a peek inside. Here are the detes:

Address: 9 Colonel Page Road, Essex VT 05452
Price: $780,000
Bedrooms: 3
Full Bathrooms: 2
Lot Size: 60.270 acres
Finished: 3844 sqft
Year Built: 1992

[via zillow]

We are going to keep looking :) But we'll never stop setting our sights high! And in the meantime, we'll keep fixing up 32 Discovery Road and making the best of it.  

Happy Birthday Katie

Happy Birthday to my sister Katie! Instead of buying you a present I am putting this Happy Birthday post on my blog. I'm the worst ever.

Look at these funny cards I found on Etsy.com...

[via able and game etsy]

Here is a picture of me and Katie and ALL my siblings. 

Seriously, Happy Birthday Katie. You're the best oldest sister to all of us, ever.

Before and After: New Mailbox

Mike and I put in the new mailbox this weekend. Proof in the pictures:

Good work Mike :)

32 Discovery Road

Last weekend when Mike and I visited New York, his family was anxious to hear about our home renovation progress. I promised that I would start posting more images of the house, both inside and out.

So this is for you Laura, Auntie Jeanie and Aunt Nancy! I created this awesome panorama picture of 32 Discovery using Dermandar.com, so click on the picture below to check it out! Once you click through to where it's hosted, you can click and drag to move around and get the full view. I'll definitely be using this application a lot more to show off our indoor projects!

Well it's 85 degrees outside, so I'm heading outside to watch Mike chainsaw some trees, and hopefully designate some branches as garden fence posts! Happy Monday!

My Design Style

I just took this Better Homes and Gardens quiz to find out what I already know...

What's your style?

Cool Summer Knapsacks

Today is my last day at Wyatt Investment Research. I started as the marketing coordinator here when I moved here to Vermont from Boston last year.

Now I am excited to start as the new Web & Social Media Specialist at Vermont Public Television on Monday. So meet me for Happy Hour at Ri Ra's on Church Street in Burlington if you're around!!

Meanwhile, the weather is warming up, it's gorgeous outside! It makes me want to pack a picnic and head to the park. Here are some fun summer time bags I'd love to throw a couple books in (or a Kindle) and venture into the woods, find a nice spot to sit and read.

1. Vera Bradley: Backpack in Summer Cottage

2. Etsy: Durable Vintage Tan/Brown Leather Backpack

3. Forever 21: Chevron Stripe Drawstring

4. Olsenboye Ditsy Floral Backpack

5. ROXY Drifter Backpack 

6. Dakine Sophia Backpack

7. ROXY Drifter Casual Backpack

I hope everyone has a happy and LUCKY Friday the 13th!

Leftover Easter Candy: Rice Krispie Peep Treats

This year I had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy a love & chocolate filled Easter with Mike in New York. We drove down on Friday night for the whirl wind weekend, and returned to Vermont on Sunday night in my car, which we had packed with lots of edible goodies from our family.

Easter Candy Overload!

So this week we have been eating our way through the pile of treats, but it looks like we haven't even made a dent! (it didn't help that I couldn't resist the 50% Easter candy sale at CVS) So I decided to whip up a batch of my (not yet) famous Rice Krispie Peep Treats! These sugarloaded pink fluffy clouds of cocoa-coated rice krispie yum yums are unbelievable. I don't particularly enjoy the taste of Peeps alone, but these sweets are great in a candy bar.



Here's how it went down:

And there you have it! Deliciousness... and remember, these sweet n' crispy treats are made out of cereal, so it's perfectly acceptable to eat these for breakfast.

Here's the recipe:

---

Ingredients

6 Cups rice crispy cereal
24 Peeps
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Cup M&Ms

Directions

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add Peeps and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.  Add rice crispy cereal. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cover with M&Ms. DEVOUR.