Antique China Hutch in Annie Sloan Graphite and French Linen

When I found this piece...it looked tragic.  It was covered in brown paint with faux wood grain contact paper on the shelves.  I bought it because I liked the details and well...I was also looking for a nice piece to use Annie Sloan Graphite on.  It is such a rich color that I figured it could be used to make anything look elegant.

When I got it home...I was curious as to what kind of wood it was made out of so I decided to strip it.  You don't need to strip paint to use Annie Sloan paint mind you...I just wanted to see it in  it's original state.  So I did it...and was shocked to find that the beautiful wood underneath the horrible paint was none other than rare mahogany.

Wow.

I honestly sat there and stared at it for a long time and then I moved around a bit just so I could make SURE I was doing the right thing by painting it.  Then...I decided that hey...no matter what...I could always strip the paint off again if I wanted to right?  RIGHT.

So I took the hardware and door off.  Then I collapsed the shelves and got to painting.  Since it was such a dark piece anyway...I knew I'd have to do a light color inside of it.  The hardware was pretty nice but I wanted it to seriously pop so I used a bit of Antique Gold Rub-N-Buff to make the color really stand out.

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I put two coats of paint on it and then let it dry for a full day.  Next, I used General Finishes top coat for protection and now I'm sitting here debating whether I should wax it too.

This piece is so lovely to me that yeah...it might already be SOLD too.  :)

Spray Painted Vintage Temple-Stuart China Cabinet

MATERIALS USED:

Goo Gone Pro-Power

Porter Cable Palm Sander

Sandpaper

Rust-Oleum Comfort Grip Spray Paint Handle

Rust-Oleum 2x Red Primer (3 cans)

Rust-Oleum 2x Colonial Red Gloss Spray Paint (5 cans)

Rust-Oleum Hammered Black Metal Spray Paint (I've used one can for three projects so far on hardware.)

General Finishes Pitch Black Glaze

Minwax Polycrylic Spray

The before and after of this piece makes me super giddy.  I knew I wanted to go with a bold color from jump and I also knew that I wanted it to look smooth like a showroom piece at Ethan Allen so I decided to spray paint it!  

Steps to get a super smooth finish?

1.  Vacuum and wipe down with a bit of dish liquid in a bucket of water.  Don't wet it, mind you...but wipe it clean with a well-wrung towel.  Use Goo Gone to remove anything sticky, hard or icky. Then...let it dry completely. 

2.  Take it apart.  No...seriously...remove all screws, put hardware by type in Ziploc bags so you don't lose them and keep them together so you can get them ready to be painted too if you're using them.  Take the back off carefully using a hammer, pliers and a flat tool.  Either paint or add a piece of fabric using a spray adhesive as I did.  

3.  Use paint cans and spray paint tops to sit pieces on and sand.  Wipe down with damp cloth and then prime after it dries.  (I used a spray primer for red paint.)

4.  One coat of primer on all pieces if you're using the same kind of 2x primer I used.

5.  Let dry COMPLETELY.  I didn't paint until the next day.

6.  Spray paint using the spray paint handle so your finger doesn't get in the way or get tired from depressing that lil' thingy.  You should have a good rhythm and method since you spray painted the primer on.  Hold the can back far enough where you can do light sprays without paint runs.  Just spray evenly and lightly.  Follow the directions and apply your second coat when the can says to.  LOL!  

7.  Remove rust with a rust remover, clean, dry and spray paint hardware.  Let dry completely.

8.  If you're going to add a glaze, as I did, do it the next day after the paint has dried completely and you've corrected any mistakes or paint drips.  (Sand, wipe clean, repaint.) Glaze one section at a time so your glaze doesn't dry on you making it too dark in some areas.  If you love the super shiny, super bright pop of color...don't glaze.  For example...if I were to do a dresser or end table for a little girl's room in a pretty pink or raspberry I wouldn't glaze it.  The color would just be so happy to me as is.  LOL!

9.  Let dry completely and add a coat of polycrylic to any part where you'd sit stuff on like shelves and the top of the bottom piece.  This is just an added layer of protection.  I actually used the spray polyurethane for the first time on this piece and I adore the satin finish it gave.  

10.  Put it back together.  Add the hardware.  Sit back and admire your handiwork with a smug smile knowing that BAAAAAAAAAABY!  YOU DID THAT!

Luxe Therapy Scalp Soother

Luxe Hair Scalp Soother

A friend brought this to me from Essence Festival and I opened it while talking and then used it while still talking...

Then I stopped.

OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!

BEST FEELING EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE?  WHO KNEW ABOUT THIS AND DIDN'T TELL ME?  WHO?  WHAT?  WHEN?  WHERE?  WHY???????  I NEED MULTIPLES BECAUSE MY SCALP ITCHES SO BADLY I WANT TO SCRATCH IT SO HARD IT BLEEDS!

WHEW!  YES.PLEASE!

Anyway...you should consider it.  Seriously it's the best thing ever.

Game of Thrones Finale Recap - The Damn Ginas

This preacher/sparrow whatever he is needs to go.  He's doing the most.  He just carved Loras' head like that in front of people?  DAMN GINA! That's that bull. Margaery you should have known you couldn't trust him.

This jacket Cersei is rocking is killing the game.  I want two of them.  "I choose violence."  That is one of the best lines from the season.  I'm not a fan of Cersei but I want her to wreak havoc on that religious goon.  That dude gives me the heebie geebies.

So you send old boy to get Cersei WITHOUT AN ARMY?????????  She already told yall she chooses violence!  She ain't playing bruh!  Not with the mountain by her side and them dang children of the corn running around with knives and ish!

Now...yall know I love the kids but seriously...these kids have me side-eyeing all kids.  Stuff like this makes me turn my head and even then the sounds are just gross. They messed Pycelle up!  DAMN GINA!

Wait...where did that kid jab that dude?  

YALL BETTER LISTEN TO MARGAERY!!!!!!!

Dear HBO...your HBO Now app sucks.  Seriously.  Rewinding is a crazy chore.  

Oooooooooh!  That green fire stuff Tyrion used that time!  DAAAAAAAAAYUM GINA!  THEY GOT BLOWED THE HECK UP!

Bye Margaery.

CERSEI.IS.EVERY.SINGLE.THING.RIGHT.NOW.

But wait...why is she wasting the wine though?  That's not called for.  This faux-nun chick is a goner.  This outfit Cersei is rocking is so amazing and she is telling it all!

Oh mercy on Unella's soul.  "Shame.  Shame.  Shame." DAMN GINA!

The little king is next.  I  hope his mother is gentle with him.  

Well...and then there's that.  Yet another DAMN GINA!

Jamie wants to be a good guy soooooooooo badly but all his dirt can't get him over the hump.  I can't stand the Frey's ever since the Red Wedding.  That level of treachery is just...NO.  Jamie just put him on notice.

Cersei has lost all of her babies now huh?  

HEY SAM!  I love Sam.  I liked when he snatched his sword off that wall too.  That baby is super cute.  SUPER.CUTE.  Dude couldn't get his butt up an inch?

And here is my reason.  Jon Snow.  I love him so.  That red chick though?  No.  That time she took off that necklace I was like...DAAAAAAYYYYYUUUUUMMMMM GINA...I need one of those!

Uh oh.  Gigs up!  Now they know she burned Princess Shireen at the stake.  Alive.  Davos is gonna kill her azz one day fo' sho' behind that.

I like Jon and Sansa together again but I don't forget how Sansa used to be when she was a girl in King's Landing.  She wasn't 'bout that family life and was steadily trying to come up and screwed her family big time.  That said...I don't trust her.  Wait until Arya shows up.  Arya will know her for true.

White raven.  Winter is here.

These Dorne women?  The Sand Snakes?  NO.JOKE.  Matter of fact...most of what I love about Game of Thrones is how the women are warriors too.  They don't play.  I like that.  But I also like Lady What's-Her-Face smacking them around with Elder talk too.  LOL!

Ooooh!  Hey Varys.  Gotta wonder what the what when he shows up.

HEY DANY!  HEY BOO!  Dany my blonde boo.  I can't believe she doesn't burn in the desert sun as pale as her skin is.  Now look...ya boy better listen and do as Dany says.  She doesn't answer to you boo!  You ain't going and that's final!

Awwwwwww...I love how Tyrion is so good for her and now?  He's the Hand of the Queen!!!!!!!!!!!

But is Tyrion about to cry though?  Yall know he's my favorite right?  RIGHT.  He brings me ALL.THE.JOY.ALL.THE.TIME.  In the books he is the most perfect of snarky smartazzes.  LOVE.HIM!

Frey is about to die.  Right?  What the hell???????? They fed him his sons in a pie?  ARYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!  DAMN GINA!  ARYA FOR THE REVENGE WIN!!!!!  YOU KILLED MY BROTHER AND MY MOTHER AND I FED YOU YOUR SONS AND SLIT YOUR THROAT!!!!!!  YEAH BOY!  You killed her people after you gave them bread and salt and they thought they were protected guests and baaaaaby!  She baked a focaccia outta your sons!  DAMN GINA!  I will never be able to have focaccia again without thinking of Arya Stark! 

THE NORTH REMEMBERS!!!!!

Littlefinger BEEN wanting Sansa but how creepy is it that he was once in love with her mother?  I mean come on man...Sansa is about to come into her own WITHOUT.A.MAN who gave her to Ramsay.

Uncle Benjie...how you gonna leave Bran in the woods with just a young lady and a tree with blood eye slits?  

Jon is NOT Ned's bastard son.  He is Ned's nephew and wait...wait...HALF A TARGARYEN?????  SO...IS DANY HIS AUNT???????????????????????????  LAWD.TO.DAY!  WAIT!  LEMME CHECK THIS OUT FURTHER!  WHERE IS A FAMILY TREE?  THIS MEANS JON CAN TALK TO DRAGONS AND STUFF TOO HUH?????????  AND WAIT!  WAIT!  HE'S AN HEIR TO THE THRONE! DAMN GINA!

GASP.SWOON.FAINT.DAMN.GINA!!!!!!!!!

We finally have the proof of it all.  If only Katelyn had known that too. 

Sansa doesn't like this Jon being King of the North thing much.  Told ya.  She ain't 'bout that family life.  She wants to be the prize/leader/top dawg.  That lil girl...Lady Mormant?  She deserves the Iron Throne.  Tomorrow.  She too fierce for words.  LOL!  And she has a crush on Jon.  LOL!

Cersei is on the throne.  That's all she's ever wanted.  And she got it.  (Queue Hillary in a pants suit.)

I want a dragon.  Not three.  I don't want to be greedy.  Just one. Those ships and dragons look so menacing!  I guess they got over that whole crossing water horses can't drink thingy huh?

Wait...that's it?  No scary all-White people with zombies?  A tree didn't gobble up Bran?  Melisandre didn't burn down Westeros?  That's it?  No more until there is more?

Well shit.

Carry on.

1940s Double Glass Door Bookcase

This piece was seriously rusted and busted when I found it.  Poor thing was all creaky and hadn't been looked after in forever.  Folks are always looking for bookcases and having one with glass doors is pretty cool because you don't have to dust the inside as often as you're used to.  

So...I went to work.

We blew it off with the leaf blower and then wiped it down inside and out with a mild dish soap in a gallon of water making sure to wring the towel out super well so the wood wouldn't be "wet" if you know what I mean. Once it was wiped down I just looked at it for a few days trying to come up with a design for it that kept it as um...stoic as possible.  Just seemed this piece didn't want to be "happy."  LOL!  It's pretty serious about that life.  THUGS RISE UP!

The back of it was pretty busted so I removed it and added a piece of fabric to it using spray adhesive.  Then I took the doors off and soaked the hardware in some rust remover solution.  Next I sanded the whole thing down (did the doors by hand), stained the top, shelves and bottom with Minwax Dark Walnut stain using a brush on the top (it was pretty bad with water rings and whatnot) and a rag inside so I could get all the corners and whatnot pretty well.  

I painted it in Benjamin Moore's Chelsea Gray (love this color) because it coordinated really well with the Waverly fabric I used for the back and followed that with General Finishes Pitch Black glaze wiping it off quickly on the sides but letting it set in a bit longer along the details of the top front and doors.  Once I put it all back together, I finished the top, bottom and shelves with a polyurethane to protect the surfaces.  I kinda like the thought of the painted parts getting a bit more weathered looking.

I like it.  It makes me happy to look at.  And isn't that really all that matters?  That you're happy with what you're doing?  That you're content in the knowledge that you can set your mind to do something and then you can make it happen exactly as you saw it in your head?  And then...what you saw in your head is actually really pretty?  Yeah...I like it.  There is a bit of odd satisfaction in being able to find something unloved and busted and bringing it back to life in such a way it makes a statement.  Just says a lot about so much.  Yup.

Holla.

Upcycled Maple Child's Dresser

This dresser had seen more than a few seriously good years in a child's room if the condition of it was any indication.  LOL!  There were stickers, water glass marks, scuff marks, and anything you can think of that a kid would do to a fine piece of solid maple furniture.  I used Goo Gone to remove the stickers, stripped the top.  Sanded the entire piece, dry wiped drawers interior and exterior (not the fronts) with stain, primed and painted the body and spray painted the hardware.  Final touches included weathering it a bit with sandpaper and two coats of polyurethane as a sealer.

Now?  It's ready for a new child!  LOL!  And since it's such a solid piece, should the new child tear it up...you can always redo again and again and again.  THAT'S why real wood furniture is so expensive these days because you can always make it better.  :)

An Elder gave me a major compliment today.  He's pretty hardcore and thinks everyone is lazy.  Like...everyone.  Always has.  And guess what he hates?  Lazy people.  Today he said to me, "Now see you?  You've never been lazy.  You're always doing something.  So much stuff out there to do and folks just watch tv."

Awwwwwwwww...so much love.  ROFL! I almost teared up.  

E is headed to COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe he's graduated high school?  I wasn't ready.  *sigh*  So, of course, I harassed the absolute heck outta him.  LOL!  He's just so smart and handsome and we're oh, so proud of him!  This kid is gonna make us super, dooper prouder!!!!!!!

When a Frenchie Has a Temper Tantrum

Zulu's reaction after being told it was time to come inside...

Vintage Drexel Triune Coffee Table COMPLETED!

This piece just might be my favorite so far.  Seriously.  The lines and heft of it are just so perfect that it makes me smile. I know every inch of this table as I've stripped it and started over twice because I love it so.   I just had a vision for it you know and I knew I could make it look like exactly what I wanted it to look like.

The brass hardware is original and took 3 separate scrubbing cleanings to get all of the old grime off it with Brasso, 0000 steal wool and using cheesecloth as a polishing cloth.  The scratches on top have been mostly buffed out and the deeper gouges were filled in with stainable wood filler so the top is smooth to the touch.  I love this piece so much, I would want it to have a custom glass top cut to put on top of it for protection.

The finished piece has been stripped with Citri-strip, sanded by hand with a 120 grit sandpaper along the base because of the carved details and sanded using my new Porter Cable electric palm sander (The Robinator is awesome!) on the top.  Then it was stained twice with light sanding in between coats using 220 grit paper and Minwax Red Mahogany stain.  Finally, two protectant coats of Minwax Polyurethane in clear satin were applied (first coat with a good bristle brush, final coat with sponge brush) with a light 220 grit sanding after first coat dried for 24 hours.

I cannot express how completely I love this piece.  The closest online comparison of it that you can currently buy by Drexel is this cocktail table for $1,929 and it's in cherry, not rare mahogany as this one is. Drexel Cocktail Table  

They call them cocktail tables now and that cracks me up.  LOL!  I guess people are more fond of cocktails than coffee these days.  LOL!

This piece already has a home, unfortunately, as someone I love claimed it when they realized I wasn't going to keep it.  They have excellent taste and recognized the quality of it immediately too.  I have been doing a soft discouragement campaign using the techniques of saying nonchalantly, "You know you don't have to buy it. It might not match your stuff now cuz it came out so dark.  Don't feel obligated to follow through just cause you said you were going to." But that hasn't worked.  *sigh*  LOL!

I am having SO.MUCH.FUN doing these pieces I'm finding!  GO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOTTA KEEP BUSY! Isn't it gorgeous???????

Drexel Triune Coffee Table

So...I ran into this piece and recognized that it was solid, CARVED, real wood.  It was heavy and seriously...there are no screws.  LOL!  Like...it seems to have been put together by elves.  So I scooped it up.

Then, I got it home and did some research on it.  When I found out it was solid mahogany, I was like...WHOA.  See...mahogany is super rare now.  Something about them using it all up and not replenishing it properly.  That's why it is so expensive when you find it.  So then...I got scared.  REAL.SCARED.

I didn't want to screw it up.

So I read everything there was about refinishing real mahogany because there was no way in hell I was putting paint on real mahogany.

First...I stripped it with Citri-strip.  Then...I let it dry for almost a whole week.  Next, I sanded it and then...I tried to repair some of the deeper scratches.  Right now I've put one coat of stain on it and I'm letting it dry completely.    I'll pick back up tomorrow with another sanding to fix the scratches even more.

This one is a slow and steady job so it might take a while to complete it.  I'll let you know when it's done.  I'm just super happy about the find.  Real wood is expensive as all get out.  Real MAHOGANY?  YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Cavalier Cedar Chest

I have always wanted a HEAVY cedar chest and when I saw this one, I had to have it!  I am currently researching how to put it in tip top shape so it might be a minute before I get to it but man...how awesome is it!  So far...I know it is from 1938.  Seriously.  I.CANT.EVEN!!!!!!

Do you have a cedar chest? 

Vintage Mersman Round Coffee Table

Mersman 31-25

I was looking for something I could try the shabby chic look on and glaze.  Since I only paid $5 for this piece, I wasn't scared I'd screw it up. LOL! And hey...even if I did screw it up, I could always strip it and start over right?  Right!

One of the things I really enjoy is doing the research on a piece and finding out who made it and when. I always get excited when a piece has the manufacturer's name on it.  

This table is from the 1950's and has a nice bit of solid heft to it. In the 1950's, laminate furniture was popular and this piece had a laminate top.  Because of this, I sanded it and primed the entire table before painting. Then, I distressed the base with sandpaper and put on a coat of polyurethane.  Next I used General Finishes glaze in black on the top and the shelf to give them a distressed look too.  I haven't decided if I want to glaze it again or not but once I do, I will do another coat of polyurethane after a super light sanding.

Whatcha think?  This is my first attempt at distressing with sandpaper and glaze.

English Yellow Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Empire Chest

Annie Sloan English Yellow Chalk Paint - Two coats.

Annie Sloan Clear Wax - One coat.

Minwax Dark Walnut Stain - One coat on stripped and fully dry top.  

Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish - One coat on fully dry top.

Brasso - Rubbed brass brad finishes until they were shiny.  

The interior drawers are pretty perfect but I might paint them a shiny black.  Eventually.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  LOL!  I like it.  It makes me happy.  LIke...really happy.  Although, I'm sitting here looking at it now thinking that a stencil of white cherry blossom branches across the three long drawers starting about a third of the width in would be super cute.

Hmmmmmmmm...

Have you refinished a piece yet?  Or a new piece if you've done it before?

Do you like the yellow?  

Aloha Tampa

New fave at home cocktail. Aloha Tampa!

12 oz pineapple
12 oz ginger ale
4 oz light rum
Juice of two limes
4 teaspoons aguave nectar (I used organic sugar)

Mix. Pour over ice. Garnish with lime if ya wanna make it prettier.

Garam Masala Recipes: Mid-Eastern Chicken

I love Indian cuisine.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!  If you are in the DC Metro and want the best Indian food ever, go here:  Indian Gate

So yeah...Indian food out this way?  No.  So I have to learn how to make my own.  I couldn't find any Garam Masala here so I had to order it from Amazon.  Since it arrived...I've been trying to find all types of dishes to use it in.  GO ME!

The first recipe I tried was Butter Chicken.  It was an "easy" recipe version and well...it tasted better as leftovers.  I'll make adjustments accordingly the next time I try it.  Mainly...discarding the "juice" that is created when I cooked the chicken.  I didn't discard it as it was pretty fragrant and I figured it would add good flavor to the dish but it was just a bit too watery.

This recipe, however?  DELICIOUS ON THE SPOT!  (I added some heat to it by way of a bit of cayenne pepper and they forgot to add the scallions to the ingredient list but I added it once I turned off the skillet and just about died at the tender delicousness of it all!  GO ME TWICE!

Mid-Eastern Chicken

Maaaaaaaaan look...again...SO.GOOD!

How to Choose A GOOD Audiobook!

If you do a lot of driving or have a good commute on mass transit, one way make the time go faster is to listen to a good audiobook.  Since moving to the deep South, I do a LOT, LOT, LOT of driving.  Like...A LOT. So I've really gotten into listening to a good book and I now have a few tips on how to find a GOOD audiobook.

I first started out with a subscription to Audible because their audiobooks ain't cheap.  With the subscription, I get a credit for new books once a month and I get discounted rates on other books I might want to buy.  The subscription costs me $14.95 per month so I'm really picky about what I use the credit on.  If I find a book that costs less than $14.95, I pay for it and save my credit for something new and awesome that I'm not likely to find on Overdrive anytime soon.

I've told yall about Overdrive before so if you're still not using it...I'm still side-eying you because seriously?????  It's the best thing ever.

Overdrive is an app that links you up with your library so you can check out eBooks and audiobooks.  If you change your checkout time, you can check a book out for 21 days.  I listen to audiobooks when I'm doing something else with my hands like working in the yard, a DIY project, folding clothes, cleaning, driving, etc.  I hardly ever lose a book before I finish it.

So I've been doing this for a while now and I have a favorite narrator.  His name is Simon Vance and I like that he doesn't lend his voice to just any old book.  It's got to be GOOD...so I go over to Overdrive and type in his name to search for his books and then I use the search features to find books narrated by him which are available to check out now.  Then I peruse them and pick out something I'd like.  I love comedy, drama and suspense so right away I get to cross some of the titles off the list.  

Types of narrators I DON'T like?  I don't like narrators who do too much with the "voices" of people in the South sounding like Whitley Gilbert.  Some narrators are really good in that they might assign that "tone" to one character for emphasis but the bad ones read the entire narrative in that voice.  Nothing ruins an audiobook quicker for me.  ESPECIALLY if they are narrating a book with Black characters from the South.  They just do the most with that twang.  

Another narrator I really like is, Janina Edwards.  Her voice is sooooooooo lovely and she is a true performer and helps keep your attention.  I fell in love with her voice in Ade'.  I hope she gets to do more stuff that I'd like to read because her voice is amazing.

So...basically my system is, research for a good book or get recommendations from friends, search Overdrive to see if it is available or will be available soon.  If it's a new book, I go ahead and get it on Audible because I already know it won't be on Overdrive anytime soon.  I try to keep at least two credits in my account at all times for newly released books by authors I've been waiting on like George R. R. Martin (DROP IT ALREADY BRUH!!!!!!!).  His audiobook will be probably $40 when it first drops so that is definitely credit worthy!  

Do you do audiobooks?  If not...why not?  

Prince. 1958 - 2016

Sitting around with friends recently, the question came up regarding which celebrity death would make me cry.  Without hesitation, I answered...Prince.  I would cry like a baby if Prince died. 

Today... I cried like a baby.

April 21, 2016.  The day music died for me.

Portabella Topped Fettuccini

This is definitely a grown-up taste meal.  Kids might not like it.  I adapted it from a non-plant-based recipe which called for chicken broth and cheese and I really love the clean taste of it.  

2 portabella mushroom caps, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Red pepper flakes (whatever heat amount you desire...I used about a teaspoon but we like a bit of heat.

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup cooking white wine (you can use a dry white wine)

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

Fettuccini pasta

Cook pasta.  Saute garlic and red pepper flakes for 1 minute, add mushrooms.  Cook for 2 - 3 minutes (until mushroom shrinkage occurs...LOL).  Add white wine, juice of lemon and parsley.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Spoon on top of fettuccini.

QUICK.  DELICIOUS. NUTRITIOUS!  

Quinoa Tacos in the Crockpot!

I have a love/hate relationship with crockpots.  I understand them and why their use would be popular but I've never really cared for the way my meat comes out when I've cooked it in a crockpot so I generally don't use it.  But I have one.  

A friend told me to ask Mr. Google about a recipe and I did so.  With a few adjustments, I made it plant based my way.

These things were so delicious and such a filling meal.  We LOVED them!  I used as many organic ingredients as I could.  There were 24 corn tortillas in the package and we still had filling left over for more tacos once we ran out of tortilla shells.  I promise you that you will love these as much as you love tacos with meat.

1 can kernel corn

2 cans black beans

1 can Rotel tomatoes 

1 can red enchilada sauce

1 pack of taco seasoning

1 cup quinoa

1 cup vegetable broth

Avocado (we used 1 avocado per 8 tacos or so)

Cilantro

Salsa

Tortilla shells

Add all ingredients to crockpot, stir, cook on high for 3 hours.

Serve on tortilla shells and top with diced avocado, cilantro, and salsa.  SO.GOOD!  These are definitely making the rotation around here.

(Oh yeah...we've tried a lot of plant-based recipes but I'm only sharing the ones we thought were amazing.)

People Need to Quit

My week started out with back-to-back weird interactions with people.  

On Sunday, I had to go to Walmart.  Yeah...I know...already crazy.  Walmart.  And on a Sunday.  Crazy talk.

The homeless guy who is always by the car wash in front of the Walmart was standing there with his sign.  I rolled my window down and asked him did he need anything out of Walmart.  He said some food would be nice.  

Cool.

I got him some food from the deli and a couple of pre-made salads because everything in the deli was fried and I'm old school and believe meals should come with veggies of some sort which are NOT fried.

When I walked out of Walmart, he was standing across the row from my truck and told me that the police had made him move.  

Cool.

I handed him the bag with his food and told him that I'd thrown in some salads too.  He thanked me and said something about not having veggies in a while.  Then?

He hopped in the truck he had been standing next to and drove off while I stood there and watched him drive off.

Now, I know homeless people and people with immediate needs sometimes have vehicles but I was just so startled because I have honestly never seen someone who'd been standing on the road with a sign asking for help, drive off into the sunset after someone had given them something.

It was odd.

On Monday, I had to have a plumber come out to do some work.  The gentleman was extremely nice.  Good people.  He invited us to his church and kept trying to get me to change my mind about coming.  We kept talking and got on politics.  He mentioned the new laws in South Carolina and Mississippi about "religious freedom" and transgender bathroom use.  He shared that there was a gay couple in his church that everyone loved who were just great people and he hoped they didn't feel some kinda way thinking that everyone in their church supported the law.  Then he said the law in SC was something he supported, however, because...

Him:  I don't want some grown man in the bathroom with my 9-year-old daughter.

Me:  How would she know?  Is she looking under the stall divider?  Remember, women don't use urinals, we have doors that we can lock.  Also, the woman is NOT a man, she has been reassigned as a woman and, if your daughter HAD looked up under her skirt under the stall she would see the same software.  

Him:  I just don't want it to happen.  I mean,  they could do something to girls in the bathroom.

Me:  Or they could be so terrified that they are going to have to deal with some crazy mess just because they were in public and had to use the bathroom that they used the bathroom so fast you didn't even notice them.  Did you ever read the book "Middlesex?"  What about the people who were born with a little bit of this and a little bit of that and their parents, with guidance from their doctor, took action to assign a gender and, unbeknownst to them, assigned the wrong gender just trying to make their baby "normal?"  Do you think that poor child deserves to be persecuted for the rest of their life?  I mean...ya think that's how God wants you to handle it?

Him:  Well, I don't know about all that.  I just know how I feel.

SIP:  *sigh*

Such a simplistic view of a very real problem in the lives of some is cringe worthy.  To me.  As many defects as people end up having...yeah...okay.

Dude left so fast he forgot his utility knife.  I put it under the sink in the bathroom because I'm not in the mood to see him again.  

I’m a Transgender Man in North Carolina. Here’s What the Bathroom Law Means For Me.

I'm actually still feeling some kinda way.  I never remember anything about using the bathroom in public because my focus is on getting in and out of there with minimal time with major hand washing. Do people hang out in public bathrooms and that's how it comes to be that this is such a major issue?  Are transgender people in South Carolina holding sit-ins in the bathrooms naked from waist down?  

I should have asked him could I still come to his church if I was transgender huh?

The MIGHT.BE homeless guy did end up making me laugh cuz really...had you seen me in the parking lot watching him drive off...it was Seth MacFarland movie funny.  I was just standing there like, *BLINK,BLINK,BLINK*

Eh...I guess.

Have you had any interesting run-ins with strangers recently?