Valentine Home Decor

I adore Valentine's Day. I know I get appreciated by my husband all through the year, but I love that he takes the time to put it all in one great big romantic package for this one day!  We will usually have dinner (out or at home, whatever we decide) and I will get a small gift or flowers. It's always fun to see what he comes up with!

In the meanwhile, I like to decorate the front porch and my fireplace mantle for the holiday. I put out cute pillows on our porch chairs, change the wreath and usually apply some cute stickers to the windows on my front door.  My mantle will get a complete makeover. I always use what I have but arrange it in a new and different way.  I am excited to see how my new candleholders look with my Valentine things!

Valentine's Day is one that I like to…

The Best of Us #ourgoodlifebooklist

I was given this book in exchange for my honest review.
Fourth in a series, The Best of Us by Robyn Carr is a delightful contemporary romance novel set in beautiful Colorado.  Although I haven't read the others, I have put all of them on my list to read.


From Amazon:  Dr. Leigh Culver loves practicing medicine in Timberlake, Colorado. It is a much-needed change of pace from her stressful life in Chicago. The only drawback is she misses her aunt Helen, the woman who raised her. But it’s time that Leigh has her independence, and she hopes the beauty of the Colorado wilderness will entice her aunt to visit often.Helen Culver is an independent woman who lovingly raised her sister’s orphaned child. Now, with Leigh grown, it’s time for her to live life for herself. The retired teacher has b…

Cheese Charcuterie and Pickled Onion

To celebrate National Cheese Day, I want to share my tips for styling a meat and cheese tray, or what is also called a charcuterie tray.  We love to put together our favorite meats and cheeses, along with delicious accouterments and then snack on it throughout the day. It's always a crowd pleaser for our guests as well.



There really is an art to making these trays. The key is varying the textures and colors on the tray, and having a variety of meat and cheese. While there are some traditional accessories such as tiny pickles, one of our favorites is pickled onions. The slight tart to the sweet onion is so good with the meats and cheeses. Recipe to follow.
Styling a cheese tray


Pick your serving tray. We love this large piece of natural wood we found at an art fair.  The size fits our ta…

Hot Tea Toddy

Sometimes you need a warm drink to cut through all the stuff lodged in your throat, particularly during allergy season. I often have allergies through the winter, and this tea is perfect from cutting through all that mess.


The base of this tea toddy is chamomile. Chamomile is known for its healing properties and it is a perfect base for this health renewing tea.  I purchase my chamomile tea from Nemscok Farms because I love purchasing through family-owned businesses!  You should, too! The lemon, cinnamon, cloves, and honey all contribute healing aspects to the drink.

To make this tea is simple.


Stud one lemon with whole cloves.  Cut the lemon in slices so that the cloves are in the lemon slices.  Boil 2 cups of water, add lemon with cloves, a cinnamon stick, 2 T of chamomile tea (I put mi…

Strawberry, Banana and Cashews Overnight Oats

I am loving this new version of Strawberry Overnight Oats I have been eating.  It provides plenty of energy for a workout and for a day of snow shoveling.  At last count we had 14 inches of snow and it is still coming down! What a great time to have a Fantastical Food Fight!  Thank you, Sarah!  You always make this event so much fun!


Overnight Oats are a fabulous way to have a delicious and healthy breakfast and save time as well.  We make ours in a shaker and grab and go.  Sometimes we give it a quick blend to make it more like a smoothie, like this Apple Chai Smoothie that is so yummy.

I looked into the history of overnight oats, and basically it is a type of musli called Bircher Musli made by a Swiss physician named Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Brenner.  He made it for the patients of his …

Repurposed OUI Jars #pinterestchallenge

Welcome to the January Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, hosted by My Pinterventures. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop (and you too) to not just pin, but to make it happen! This month, I chose to create dipped jars as made by Emily at Our House Now a Home.  My take on it was to use repurposed Oui yogurt jars.


Emily's blog is one that I read regularly and when I ran across this craft, I wanted to give it a try. I have a good-sized collection of OUI yogurt jars and I have a set of them on my mantle. I thought this would be a great way to jazz those cuties up.


I decided to use a pot of sand colored paint so I could use them for many different decor situations. For example, I love the sand with my usual beachy decor, but they will also l…