Archive for March 2012

It is in these quiet times, these rare moments, that mean the most to me.

Since Spring has decided to come early to Michigan, I can't help but feel the effects. The time of renewal has started. It is this season when my energy peaks back up in the mornings, where my race training comes alive, and when I start seeking out new projects and endeavors. About a week ago I (and 25 others) started a detox with Margaux Drake, a certified raw food chef, master naturalist/gardener, iron athlete & ultra marathoner!

There are many reasons why someone would do a detox. For me, it was about eliminating all processed foods (I'm kinda addicted to french fries), caffeine, and alcohol... and to start anew. For four weeks, I'm not touching any of those. As I gear towards running the Riverbank and a half marathon this year, I wanted my training to kick off with a clean, energized me! So far... the lack of coffee and tea has been extremely difficult. I never realized how addicted I was to both. For about 5 days I had terrible headaches, exhausted beyond belief, and really irritable. Once Tuesday rolled around I was a completely different person. Happy, energized, and raring to go! 

Margaux has been demoing loads of amazing foods to eat. Whereas, I already eat mostly how she suggests all "detoxees" should eat, I do not incorporate that many raw food dishes into my meals. From Rawk Your World Taco "Meat" to Down & Dirty Flak Crak, Margaux has an abundant knowledge on super yummy raw meals.

So I've been slowly incorporating more raw items in my diet. To be honest, I'm not a salad person at all. I kind of hate them... but I was in a crunch for lunch today so I whipped up this raw tiro greens salad in an attempt to actually like salads more. It totally worked.

Kale

Romaine

Spinach

Red Cabbage

Sprouts

Carrots

Almonds

Garlic

Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Sunflower Seeds

Basil

Garlic Cloves

Olive Oil 

First make spinach pesto. 

In a food processor put a couple handfuls of spinach, drizzle oil, four cloves, about a 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, basil, and 1/4 of nutritional yeast. Mix together and adjust ingredients based on your preference. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Please note: nutritional yeast is technically not raw (or non-processed) so this is optional. Like I said, slowly working on this. :)

Put a couple spoonfuls of pesto on a plate. Top with kale, romaine, sliced carrots, red cabbage, sprouts, almonds and whatever else you like! Mandarin oranges go really well on this too! Toss to mix up the pesto and the greens. 

You could use any other three greens, but kale, romaine, and spinach was the only ones I had on hand. 

Do you have a favorite salad you like to make? I'm hoping I can start making them more often. Such a easy and great way to get my raw greens in! 

Remember the couch in the first photo? 

Back in September we happened upon this beautiful vintage sofa that Zach and I instantly fell in love with.

Since my mom is awesome, she insisted on getting this beaut reupholstered for us. Trusty Pinterest then became my go-to source of inspiration for fabric ideas. Stunning velvet and suede sofas kept catching my eye... so after some searching I found the perfect color. I think Emily Henderson would be proud. 

My friend, CJ Vandaff, from True North Interior Design, recommended several great reupholsters. We ended up going with David from Heirloom Upholstery and I couldn't have been more impressed. The blue faux suede looks amazing against our wood floors, gray walls, and off-white shag rug. 

Just a peak of our den thus far! Pretty sparse, but it's what we got to work with. Our first piece that we actually put in this room was the light fixture that I made; the birdcage light. When you turn it on it makes some pretty crazy shadows in the room. The ugly wing back chairs in here will indeed be reupholstered sometime soon...by me. It might be hard, but I'm going to give it a try. Not sure if they will end up staying in the den since this past weekend I found almost an exact replica of our couch in chair form! It too will need reupholstering, but for $25, it will be so worth it! 

Hope you enjoyed another furniture post. I couldn't resist, I love showing the couch off. 

House projects are back under way! This spring I've got more than my fare share of ideas and lists to keep Zach and I busy for some time. This cute little vintage chair was purchased at a salvage yard for $5.00...after bargaining it down from $30.00. With some left over fabric from my mom, a good sanding, stain, and polyurethane finish, this chair makes an excellent addition to our growing furniture collection! 

Before

After

These after photos were taken without natural light, so the chair appears a ton more orange than it does in person. It does have a hint of reddish orange to it, which I wanted to add to complement the blue geometric fabric. I loved how the character of the chair - all of the wood grain and uneven coloring - truly came out during the refinishing process. It fits right in with our other pieces... not new, but refinished and ready to have a second chance. 

Stay tune for more of my upcoming projects!