Guest Bedroom Update

I am making progress on my guest bedroom. I decided to purchase a mattress online since the mattress we wanted was unable to be delivered. I hate asking friends with trucks for help, so I just went with buying one from Walmarts website. The mattress came rolled up in a bag... I had never purchased something like this online before. I didn't really know what to except. I had a feeling that when we opened the plastic up covering the mattress all hell was going to break lose. I was right. To prepare for that, we laid the mattress on top of the bed frame and moved out of the way as the mattress flew open... I wish I would of got better action shots of the mattress opening up. It was pretty funny. You can see Cody laughing in the picture above. If you ever buy a mattress like this, be careful! Get the heck out of the way! Overall the mattress was cheap and you get what you pay for. It is very firm and uncomfortable. I went and purchased a memory foam topper for $30 at Walmart to add some cushion. Now I am just working on all the finishing touches in the room. I have nice white bedding that I purchased. Now I just need to find some bright colored pillows to brighten it up!
LINKS
Mattress
Bedframe
Brackets for Frame
Memory Foam Topper

View my other guest bedroom posts: My Design Board | Painting the Furniture | Thrifty Decor Finds
I forgot that I never shared a photo of the dresser I found for the bedroom... It's a great mid-century piece. We paid $95 for it, which was more then I wanted to spend on a dresser for our guest room. We both love it though and sooner or later it will be used by us or a nursery if I ever decide to have a baby. I will post more pictures of it when I reveal the finished room!

Whole Food Recipe: Veggie & Tofu with Rice

Eating Tofu is still new to us. We haven't cooked much with it yet. I love my white bean salad that has Tofu crumbled on top of it. This Tofu dish has a very interesting taste. The sauce is made using sesame seed paste, so a little sauce goes a long way.
Veggie & Tofu with Brown Rice
Recipe by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnquin \\ Skinny Bitch in The Kitch

1 1/2 cups of brown rice
3 1/2 cups water, plus more for steaming the vegetables
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos, plus more for the table
(or 4 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce)
2 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets (about 2 cups)
1/4 head red cabbage (about 6 ounces), cut into 1/4 inch strips
1/4 bunch kale (about 4 ounces or four to six leaves), cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 broccoli crown, cut into bit size florets (about 2 1/2 cups)
7 to 8 ounces firm or extra firm tofu cut into 1/4 inch slices, then cut on a diagonal into triangles
(I just cut small cubes)
1/4 cup raw pine nuts

- In a 2-quart saucepan over high heat, combine the rice, 3 cups of the water, and the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice in tender, about 45 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let the rice stand, covered at least 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, 1/4 cup of the Bragg Liquid Aminos (or 8 teaspoons of tamari or soy sauce), and the remaining 1/2 cup of water; set aside. If the dressing is too thick, slowly stir in more water as needed.
- In a pot fitted with a steamer insert, bring 1 inch of water and the remaining 2 tablespoons of Bragg Liquid Aminos (or tamari/soy sauce) to a boil. Arrange the carrots and cauliflower in the insert and steam for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage, kale, broccoli and tofu and steam for 3 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the tofu is heated through.
- To serve, place the rice on plates or a platter and tops with vegetable mixture, tahini sauce, and pine nuts. Pass remaining sauce and additional Bragg Liquid Aminos at the table.

*Be careful not to pour to much sauce onto the dish. It has a very strong taste, you do not need a lot. 
Here is the type of Tofu we use....

Please visit my WHOLE FOOD PAGE to view all my recipes and read about how easy it is to eat Vegan!

What I Wore #1

Here I am leaving my comfort zone! I decided to try doing my first "What I Wore" post. I feel guilty even calling it that, since many other bloggers use the title already. I also have decided though with the bagillion (yes, I used a made up word!) blogs out there it's hard to not copycat each other in some way or other eventually. I also am doing this to help raise my own self-esteem and other blogger's have inspired me to do this post and hopefully more to come. I find myself changing so much and my blog is just along for the ride. I am just following my heart and being me.

First let me say that I hate taking pictures of myself. It's just weird to me. It will take some time for me to get over that. My outfit I picked for my first What I Wore post is just a simple everyday outfit. I wanted to take a new photo of myself for my blog profile picture, so my outfit matches my blog colors. I didn't have a super cool place to take my photos and Cody was at work, so I was on my own. I decided to just use our bedroom because I like the lighting in there... The first picture looks so serious, but really I was just trying to make sure my bra strap wasn't showing. :P
I really wasn't sure how to pose and I found myself just being silly and laughing at myself! Besides my outfit matching my blog, I picked this outfit because of the jeans.
I bought them in Ohio while thrifting for .69 cents!!!! OUTFIT BREAKDOWN:
Headband - Claires | Necklace - Vintage Butterfly/Thrifted | Shirt - Gabriel Brothers
Belt - Came w/shirt | Jeans - Candies/Thrifted | Shoes - Target (Years Ago!)

This outfit probably cost close to $30 for everything. That's only because I probably paid $15 for the shoes. I bought them years ago! The necklace is something I have had since I was a teenager. I will always love butterflies. It was fun going through all my pictures when I was done. I had some really funny ones but they were way to blurry to use! Better luck next time. My outfit wasn't very exciting but I did have fun! It was nice to have an excuse to do my makeup today. Even though I forgot to do my nails and put my lip gloss on! OOPS! It was my first time. I got some great pictures to use for my profile and blog!

I am linking up over at Blonde Episodes for Fashion Fridays!
Have a great weekend!

TODAYS COLOR: WHITE

Peaceful. Calming. Simple.
We all need some white in our decorating color scheme!
Go Wall Paper Home Design Decor Plan Trendir Decorations{dot}net Home Klondike My White Room  Use the labels below to view all my "Today's Color" posts or other "white" rooms!

Decor Love: OWLS

Owls are so cute! They make me smile! I enjoy looking at owl home decor and accessories.
Here are some of my favorite finds...

LINKS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

My Living Room {May 2012}

I wanted to share updated pictures of my living room! Last month I mentioned how I wanted to hang a world map over my couch. Once the idea was in my head there was no turning back! We found a world map for $6.00 at Barnes & Noble... I would of loved to had it custom framed, but paying to have that done was unrealistic for us right now. Instead we purchased foam chair rail from Lowes and just made a frame for it. The poster is just taped on the wall and then we used heavy duty poster hanging tape to hang the frame right over the map. The frame is foam and very light weight. We just glued the frame together with a glue gun. The total cost for the project was about $30. I am still hunting for throw pillows for our couch. I want some big white fuzzy ones. Homegoods just opened a new store in Fort Collins Colorado, so I see a trip in my future! Pretty sure I will find some great pillows there! Going along with the whole map theme, I decided to frame a large California map and hang it over my desk. Now I can daydream about California even MORE everyday... I already had the map from when I went to California last year, so in other words it was FREE artwork to me. I am pretty happy with the look of the living room. I think it's funny that my vintage couch ended up matching the world map! On the other side of the room is where my sitting corner where we usually eat dinner. That is where my vintage chairs are. I hung a map of downtown L.A. and Flagstaff, Arizona in the corner... I am in love with my butterfly pictures from IKEA. There are my globes I got antiquing last month! Overall I feel like the room is finished. I will add pillows to my couch if I ever find the right ones and I may hang a few more things over in my sitting corner. I feel like it's HOME now. We love our world map and look at it everyday!