Someone hasn’t been feeling well the past couple of days, so we have been laying low and taking it easy. Right after I snapped this picture though, she hopped out of bed and asked to go outside to play with the pups. It reminded me of this poem by Shel Silverstein.

1. Jump in a pile of leaves
2. Eat pumpkin pie
3. Carve pumpkins
4. Make a gravestone rubbing
5. Go trick or treating
6. Drink apple cider
7. Do leaf project
8. Visit a corn maze
9. Attend a football game
10. Walk to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte
11. Create some spooky art
12. Take a hike in the woods
13. Go apple picking
14. Make shrunken heads
15. Complete at least 1 room makeover

A couple of years ago I visited California Pizza Kitchen for the first time. While some people have known for ages about the deliciousness that is served there, I have apparently been living a sheltered life in a cave eating slugs and drinking rain water. Just kidding. How did I not know about this place sooner? Anyway, I like to try out different menu items when we go and pretty much everything I’ve ever had has been absolutely scrumptious, but nothing really compares to their California Club Pizza. Oh… It is so amazing.

Fresh off the grill before the extra toppings…

The other day, I was planning out our menu for the week and decided that I wanted to try to make our own version of CPK’s mouth watering pizza. So I grabbed the key ingredients from the grocery and got to work. I knew that I wanted that wood-fire brick oven gas grill taste, so we opted to cook it in a different manner. And it turned out to be better than CPK’s, in my opinion. Give it a try for yourself. If you’re not licking your chops before that first savory bite hits your tongue, then you may need to get your head checked. *wink*

Here is the recipe. Feel free to tweak it to your liking.

I did.

That means that we used mostly fat free/light options and Chris ended up eating all of the tomatoes.

California Club Pizza

Ingredients:

Premade Pizza Crust, such as Boboli
2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
3 Slices of Bacon
1/3 C. Mozarella Cheese
1 Tomato, Sliced
4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 ½ C. Lettuce, Chopped
½ Avocado, Sliced

Preheat Grill. Cook bacon (mmm, bacon) and chicken, then dice. Spread 2 tbsp. of mayonnaise evenly on the pizza crust, then layer with chicken, bacon, cheese and tomato. Grill until crust is crisp and cheese is melted and bubbly. In a bowl, toss the remaining 2 tbsp. of mayo with the lettuce. Try to resist dumping the whole bottle of mayo in the bowl. Layer lettuce and avocado on top of the hot pizza and serve.

One item that has been on the list for quite some time is the Haley Table Lamp from Crate & Barrel. I love everything about it… except the hefty price tag. I can think of a lot of other things to spend $229 on, can’t you?

So in the meantime, while I wish and wait for the day when I can swallow the thought of spending that much money on a lamp (which will inevitably be knocked over and broken by flying Barbie accessories,) I decided to try and find a more wallet friendly option.

I found this mauve 1970’s ginger jar lamp at the local thrift store and tried to look past that pink patina to envision something which could work in my own living room. After walking around for several minutes and coming back to it 3 times, I decided to take the plunge and snag it, with the hopes that a little love and spray paint could turn it into less of an eyesore.

What? Not what you expected? Luckily, the price tag on this little light of mine was pretty appealing.

Once I got it home, I searched through our assortment of spray paints and decided on a metallic shade.

After a light sanding and a coat of primer, the once dated lamp was ready to be painted and fitted with a more modern shade.

I think that the final product is about 95% better than the previous putrid pink version, although I’m not sure I’m sold on the metallic finish. And even though it’s not as pretty (or cool) as the expensive Haley Lamp, maybe after it hangs out for awhile it will grow on me. Otherwise, it will be back to the garage for new coat of color.

Pinky certainly has acquired some pretty great musical talent, although I’m sure my opinion is biased. It’s so fun to watch her strum the guitar or play some chords on the piano because she has a way of making it sound so pretty, even thought her musical knowledge base is practically nil.

This past weekend, we did a lot of work around our house. Hedges were trimmed, grass was mowed, oil was changed, rooms were cleaned, etc. After mowing the grass, I noticed that the edges of the driveway were still a bit shaggy and I really wanted it straightened up. Unfortunately, we do not own any sort of edger. So I got a hair brain idea. You can call it crazy, pathetic, or cheap. Or all three. I call it a solution. What is this crazy, pathetic, cheap solution that I speak of? I decided that using SCISSORS to trim it up would be a good idea.

And oddly enough, it was. You should have seen me out there chopping those little blades of green. Go ahead and laugh. It was quite entertaining, I’m sure. I just lined the lower blade of the scissors up with the edge of the driveway and snipped away. Pretty easy stuff. After about 15 minutes of cutting, everything was straight and we had a perfectly manicured yard. Of course, having a true edger would have probably cut down the job time and my amount of humiliation considerably. It does look better though, right?

Twins

Awhile ago, I snagged these two antique-ish chairs off Craigslist for super cheap. I loved the intricate details of the wood and could picture these two in my living room flanking our entertainment stand.

However, they both need a little bit of help. (They sort of eerily remind me of those twins from “The Shining” in this pic.) The seats are falling apart and the stain has been worn off in some areas. So, what will happen? Well, of course they will be getting a grand transformation. Yes, I have big plans for them. However, it will be a few weeks before they will be finished, thanks to the sluggish shipping on the fabric I ordered for the seats. Stay tuned to see the outcome!

Because it has been so ridiculously warm here, I wanted a recipe that I could put together without turning on the stove and raising the house temp to broil. I was delighted to find a recipe in my trusty cookbook for Apple Berry Salsa. Since I love salsas of all kinds, this one seemed like a great choice and with such a sweet fruit mix, I knew we had to try it. On a scale of 1 to 10, we rate it an 11. It is so delicious, refreshing and healthy that it would be a crime not to share it.

Apple Berry Salsa

Prep: 15 min
Servings: 16

2 medium granny smith apples
1 pint of strawberries, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
2 kiwi, peeled and diced
1 small orange
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons apricot jelly

Peel, core and slice apples. Coarsely chop apple slices. Dice strawberries and kiwi. Zest to measure 1 teaspoon orange zest. Juice orange to measure 2 tablespoons juice. Add orange zest, juice, brown sugar, and jelly to fruit mixture; mix gently. Chill before serving. Serve with baked cinnamon chips and enjoy!