Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Recipe, Duchess of Cambridge Ring, a cute outfit and some gardening

Hello Blogging World!

Several things happened this weekend; I bought a new fabulous ring, I planted some "tabletop" roses and I am trying out a new recipe tonight for dinner.

First things first, the ring! When I saw it I instantly loved it and with the price had to have it! Kohl's was having a super sale and I just couldn't resist and after the BF gave his blessing- there was no stopping this puppy from coming home with me, here she is:

Ignore my blue nails lol. I didn't know I'd be buying this ring when I got them done. Isn't she fabulous? Yes, it's a she because it reminds me of the Duchess' ring. You know, Kate Middleton! I have a lady crush on her. She's stunning. So I'm thrilled to have something so beautiful and similar. and mostly to pay less then $80 for it! Woot woot! This girl loves a sale! and then to have a coupon and Kohl's cash on top of it just puts the icing on the cake for me...


 Now for the gardening, the prized ring had to come off for this, lol.  I bought these: tabletop roses and thought that they would look nice in the planters that I have on the BF's balcony. There's not too much room to put big plants plus I'm cheap and I get bored easily. I like to switch around the things that I have in there. Now the planter won't be complete until the Vinca vines grow back in. And the sprouty little plant is some kind of Dianthus, I think they were pink but I can't really remember.
So what do you think?

 You can't tell from the picture but these next ones are purple:

I'll keep you posted on the ease of these roses and the longevity.  I'm a semi lazy gardener since I split up my time between my two homes. So needless to say, if they are too much work they won't last long... it's terrible but true.


 The new dish that I was trying out was a pin that I've had on my board for months and today was the day that it was selected. Balsamic Vinegar Chicken with fresh tomatoes. In no way, shape or form was I trying to claim ownership over this recipe but the pin is a dead end.
 http://pinterest.com/pin/40391727879924492/ 
You can also follow me on Pinterest ;)

So here it is:
Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 – 5 garlic cloves
 1 cup fresh basil
 1 tablespoon olive oil
 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
 1/4 cup water
 1 cup sliced mushrooms
 1 package of cherry or grape tomatoes
 1/2 red onion
 Combine all ingredients in an oven safe dish and place in a preheated oven (350 degrees) until chicken is cooked through. 

I can't give you the time in the oven because I shrunk down the recipe and butterflied the chicken breast because I'm impatient. This is before it went in the oven: 

And as a side I got some zucchini and yellow squash. This is before it went in the oven, I am putting them both in the oven at the same temperature. The veggies should take a little linger so I'll put that in first.

This is what it looked like after the oven:

And last but not least, the outfit. This was my outfit on Saturday and I must say I've definitively got my money out of these red jeans. I love them and they were also a Kohl's buy, thanks Lauren Conrad for generally being a douche but making great clothes. I picked this pose as the best way to show my jewelry and boots while at home by myself and setting the camera and running before it went off. I know I'll get made fun of for it later but I accept. lol! I love Spring- Ahh warm weather!

That is all!

Squirrels eating my Crocus!

Hello Blogging World!

I made the mistake of telling my BF how happy I was that my crocus were coming up; I woke up this morning and found that half of them were now chewed stumps!

Now, I love all of God's creatures but when something like this happens I think "DIIIEEEEE- YOU THIEVING BASTARDS! Kill them all!". So after my rage subsided, I started googling and found that it was most likely squirrels. Fat bastards. So I found this concoction, plant anti-squirrel concoction!, that hopefully will save the rest of my crocus... let's pray. I will keep you guys posted on if it does the trick! Apparently it will help with tulips and any springtime plants. Happy Gardening and Happy Easter!

Update: I would say that I am happy to report that the concoction worked  however, I would have spoke too soon because I took happy pictures of the success (after 4 days) and then the next day came home to the holes dug in my planters- I'm assuming they were eating the bulbs instead of the flowers... So I think if you sprayed more often and used Tabasco rather then just plan hot sauce you may be more successful and not have the gardening rage that I encountered lol.

The happy fourth day:

 What I found the very next day, the 5th day o'doom:

(these are two different tubs, I only pictured the cutest one in my happy pictures but you get the point)

He even left he's squirrelly droppings of the peace offering...jerk
 

So does it work? yes and no... Moral: I hate squirrels when they are A. eating my flowers/bulbs B.hanging on our bird feeder and C. chewing apart our Christmas lights because they think they are giant nuts. Other than that, they are adorable hamsters. 

another project- Magnetic Makeup Board

So, this happens often but rarely do I actually follow through- I saw a pin and thought 'yea, I could do that'. And after almost slicing my hand open on the sheet metal, while trying to cut it and holding it straight, the BF stepped in and finished the cutting.

So my recommendations-

- buy a frame from Home Goods, Marshall's or TJ MAXX, as long as you can cut or take the back off then you're good. Otherwise you'll spend a fortune on a frame this size

- this is a 2 person job; one to hold the metal straight and the other to cut and you'll need good sheers

- make sure you have something magnetic to clean up the shards, or don't be an ass like me and decide to do it on your BF's living room carpet on a rainy day

-use sturdy, "man gloves" to protect your hands- that shyt is sharp!

- make it personal! There's no reason it can't match your decor!

 - it was really easy to glue magnets to the back of my M/U but I'd recommend not using hot glue because the makeup will come off eventually. But that's possibly a good thing because you will run out of product and reuse the magnets- so your call there!

 

so I love this and I'm obsessed and I think it's a great project for anyone with the time and a friend!

ahh! I started a blog!

Ahh! My first blog! I couldn't be more excited!

 I guess I should start by saying my name is Katie, I am 26 and live outside of Philly. My very talented photographer friend took these pics of me on a whim:

                                                  
But I usually look like this because I am a huge nerd:

I love doing crafty things, decor, party planning , antiquing and going to tea houses on lady dates! Hence why the name of my blog is 70 at heart... because as you can see, I am.I get made fun of for that often and I embrace it. I know when my friends say " that's very you..." it really means, 'I hate it but I know you love it, Grammy'. So! Now that I've told you the basics, I'll show you some of my decor! and craft projects!
I live at my boyfriend's apartment on the weekends and he is clearly okay with me decorating like I live there. This hutch is the best thing my BF's mom could have ever given me! It get's a lot of use for each holiday! Here is my easter /st.patty's day deco:

So that you can see what everything is, I'll zoom in a bit.
 I love this slate egg:

 I'm aware that some people may not know me but I like to laugh, so this rabbit riding a giant duck was right up my alley haha!

 My Lenox bunny- he has a top hat, come on now!

 I have a small obsession with lanterns... and by small I mean- HUGE! I would decorate with them everywhere if I could! and apothecary jars!!! omg don't get me started!
But look at the jester bunny! eee!

 And this is Peter Rabbit, he's a music box on the bottom. I love him too.

So I saw a pin about redoing a filing cabinet and in all honestly I realized that was exactly what John, my BF, needed for all the paperwork that he keeps insanely organized. But I hated the look of the standard ones. So I kept at eye out at sal val (Salvation Army) and picked one up that was in nice shape for $15! So here is the before, I am aware that's it's not the best pic but you get the point:

Pretty basic right?

Here is the after:
The last pic is more the true color, the flash on the camera made it look like a true red but it's more of a maroon. 

  Here is what I used-
for the stencil color:

 For the main part of the cabinet:

 These sponges for the stencil:

 and this was the stencil itself, I would highly recommend this type. I held up nicely ( I'm not the most gentle person with my crafting supplies).

 

My biggest tip for stenciling is to clean the stencil completely between each application. I was lazy for one of the 4 stencils that ran down the front and it made a big difference in the crispness of the image.