Christmas time

Khaner and I are especially excited for the holidays this year, as our families will be celebrating with us in our new home!

After Thanksgiving we picked out a Christmas tree and garland and I worked away on the ornaments and our mantle.

Fireplace and mantle:

Our first tree! (Missing angel and skirt, to be purchased)

Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday!

Charlotte Purchases

As much as I am a die-hard Raleigh fan, Charlotte has got such a great selection of furniture shops. Mom and I spent a few days over Thanksgiving checking out antique, consignment and restore shops throughout the area.

Mom and Dad treated us to a few pieces - love them all!!!

Rocker for den:

Turkish rug for dining room - an early Christmas present from Mom and Dad:

Club chairs with matching ottoman: steal of the century, and another Christmas gift from Mom and Dad!

Khaner sweetly installed my chandelier (Mom kept saying, "Caroline this is the last gift from us," yet she kept buying :)

We are both so glad there were no fires, electrocutions, shocks or damage done during this installation. I am very lucky to be marrying someone so handy :)

Mom got herself some new french settes for the house from an old favorite shop of ours in downtown Mooresville- I am hoping if she tires of them one can be gifted to me later :)

I highly recommend if you are looking for furniture, to check out ReStore for Habitat for Humanity on Wendover Road in Charlotte, as well as the one in Davidson. Downtown Mooresville has some fantastic antique shops as well.

Birthday Flowers

Khaner has for years gone to Whole Foods for all my flower arrangements - their florist has quite an eye and makes some beautiful creations. I have to say, these are by far my favorite!

They certainly spruce up my cubicle :)

What I'm Coveting

Unfortunately, all my grand plans for the house need to be executed gradually. A former coworker of mine got me hooked to Ballard Design's website - their entire site is 15% and 20% off depending on your spend.

Take a look at some of the pieces I am coveting (Khaner, if you are reading, any of these will do just fine :)

Beverage Cart

Bergere Chair and Ottoman

Outdoor patio set

Louis Wood bed for guest room

Wing Chair

One of my favorite furniture stores in Raleigh, Studio 123, houses some beautiful pieces. I love wandering around through there, and on occasion, dragging Khaner along too.

The owners Martha and Molly blend traditional core pieces with modern accessories. Molly's daughter Charlotte is really helpful and is usually there on weekends.

Their line is typically out of my price range but I get great ideas for replicas.

Take this wing chair I saw in their window

I didn't need to see the price tag to know my household's CFO would prefer a slightly less expensive version. It's not exactly like Studio 123's, but for $134.00, I think it will serve as a nice piece for now :)

Chicken Cacciatore

Sometimes I find myself making the same set of ten meals over and over again, and usually ask my mother for ideas when I'm feeling dinner deja vu.

1 chicken, cut up

1.5 cups flour

1 cup of tomato sauce

1 medium. onion, chopped

1/2 cup red wine

1/2 cup red peppers

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

 

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large sautee pan

Saute onion, garlic and peppers till softened.

Season with salt and pepper

Remove veggies out of pan, and set aside.

Add sliced mushrooms to pan

Add 1 tbsp butter, if desired.

Salt and pepper mushrooms

Once mushrooms are softened, remove from pan and set aside.

Place 1 1/2 cups of flour in a gallon-sized zip lock plastic bag

Place one piece of chicken at a time in bag (shake till flour covers entire chicken piece)

Sautee each piece of chicken - browning it on all sides.

Be sure not to crowd the pan too much

Move sauteed chicken into a roasting pan or pyrex dish

Return vegetables back to pan.

Add wine and tomato sauce and mix well

Pour the sauces and vegetables all over the chicken 

 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Add parsley over top

Pair with brown basmati rice

Guest Room Addition

My two guestrooms are pretty ordinary right now - like the rest of the house, all my "plans" take time.

Wandering around one of my favorite shops, the Cheshire Cat, I found an adorable pillow to spruce up one of the guest room beds.

It's a bit larger than I would have normally purchased, but thought it was a great deal at $20.00! Now that it's on the bed, I wished they'd had two available rather than one.