Ethnic Dinner Club

A couple months back I started an Ethnic Dinner Club. I had been in one back in OH before I moved to Indy. Its a very fun night of getting together with friends and trying new restaurants and new types for foods. Our only rule is we don't do "chain" restaurants. So far we've done Thai, Indian and Belgium. This month we tried Moroccan.

This is the Saffron Cafe. The owner Annie was so helpful explaining the dishes and making recommendations. I chose the Tagine which came out in a beautifully painted clay pot. The dish had chicken, pears, apricots and prunes. It was soooooo yummy!

Next month we will be at a German Restaurant - after all it will be Oktoberfest!

Home Decor Websites

Were you a big fan of Design Star as much as I was? I loved watching the makeovers each week. Time and time again I'd see them shopping in a cool little store and want to shop there! So I spent one whole afternoon researching where the Design Stars shopped.

Here is a list of what I found and a few others I like.

http://www.theaccentfurniture.com/

http://www.furniturefirst.com/roomplanner/planningwiz.php?zipcode=11235 

(This is a room planner with lots of furniture to play with.)

http://www.westelm.com/?cm_type=gnav

http://www.cb2.com/

http://www.chiasso.com/

http://www.lampsplus.com/

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/index.jsp

http://www.pearlriver.com/v2/index.html

http://www.pier1.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

http://marketplace.hgtv.com/As_Seen_on?from=vs

Be careful though! You may be surfing for hours like me!

Bedroom Inspiration from Polyvore

I love, love, love Polyvore. (www.polyvore.com) I could play all day on it. If you're not familiar with it let me explain. Its a sight where you import clips (you need to download the clip tool) of items you've collected from other websites and then create a composition space. It lets you virtually create your room before you buy any items. Here's my bedroom that I'm working on. I already have the comforter.

moroccan bedroom inspiration by accidentaldecorator on Polyvore.com

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/thing.outbound?.embedder=1414939&.mid=embed-imagelist&id=22307634
$100 - bedbathandbeyond.com

Casablanca Lantern -Black 10"

Z Gallerie
$7.95 - zgallerie.com

Pier 1 Imports - Metal & Rattan Wall Décor
$60 - pier1.com

New York Scene is an Ode to the Greatest City in the World
Z...
$10 - zgallerie.com

The Land Of Nod
Kids Mythic Paint and Toxic Free Mythic Paint
$6.99 - landofnod.com

DesignerLinensOutlet.com - Amy Butler Constanta Comforter and Sham Set...
designerlinensoutlet.com

It All Started with a Bedroom Closet

Here is the project that started it all. Our closet was just a mess with a lot of wasted space. One can only straighten the stack of clothes so much before it gets to you! The piles were getting higher and higher and now matter how straight they'd always fall over.

So we decided it was time for a closet makeover. A trip to IKEA and a gallon of paint and this is how it turned out. Painted the walls light purple and the shelves are black. It turned out really nice.

Now I'm in the process of making over the rest of the bedroom. Just got the walls painted purple and now I'm getting the rest of the room put together.

My Favorite 4-Letter Word

You're right if you guessed IKEA. But I have a word even better (I know - gasp!) SALE - at IKEA.

My main purpose for the trip was to buy a closet system for my closet. We had to take 2 cars because the panels are 8 feet and they barely fit in my car with no one else in the car. But when we pulled in and saw "SALE" on the front I got all tingley. Of course we ended up with everything including the kitchen sink. Well not a sink but an oven that hubby needed for the basement. By some small miracle we got everything to fit.

And that's only 1 car. Didn't take a picture of the other car that was packed! The closet turned out great and I'll show you pics in the next post. The closet is just the beginning of the whole bedroom makeover which I'm excited to share!

Bored with my kitchen

When we built the house I chose white cabinets which I liked. But as time goes on I'm bored with them. So I'm needing to do something with my kitchen. I've changed the wall color once already which helped for a little while but I need some change again.

Gold Walls

(Ignore the tacky vinyl tablecloth. Have no idea where that came from?!)

Green Walls

I like the green but I'm bored with it. Here's what I'm thinking. Add white beadboard on the island. Maybe also on the backspalsh. Here are some inspiration pictures I found on HGTV website. What do you think?

Beadboard on the Island and on the Backsplash

Again Beadboard on both.

This one has white brick for backsplash. Should I go back to all white and just add more black in accessories, hardware, lighting?

Decisions....decicions.

"Perfect Brownie"

Have you seen the ad on TV for the Perfect Brownie? Bake your brownies in the special pan and you'll have "Perfect Brownies". 

I have a confession. I'm in infomercial junkie. I'm the one that always stops and watches as I'm clicking through the channels. Always hangs on till there's more then tell me its only $19.95. That's right put it on TV and I'll buy it. Unfortunately most of the stuff I buy doesn't work...except the "Perfect Brownie" pan.

I did not buy mine off TV but found mine at Target for 19.99. I have seen them at The Christmas Tree Shop for $8.99. They truly are the perfect brownie! Crispy on the edges and soft, moist on the inside.