New York, New York!

I'm headed to NYC for the weekend! Have a great weekend!

Birthday Flowers

My birthday was last Thursday and I received two BEAUTIFUL flower arrangements. Fresh flowers are definitely one of my favorite indulgences; I always have to have one bouquet of fresh flowers somewhere in my house.

My best friend Alyssa sent me this beautiful hydrangea arrangement all the way from California!

My parents gave me this adorable arrangement:
My birthday was wonderful - very low key, since I had to work almost all weekend. My parents were able to visit on Saturday night, so we went to a nice dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant. My cute hubby gave me an amazing gift - he had our deck pressure washed and is almost finished staining it! I can't wait to share pictures with you. Have a great day!

Cutest baby ever.

I can't stop looking at this adorable picture! My nephew is the cutest little guy!

Baked Lemon Pasta

Last night I cooked Pioneer Woman's Baked Lemon Pasta and it was delicious! I wanted to share this fresh, tasty dish with you, especially since it was so easy to cook. It was a perfect spring dish!

Baked Lemon Pasta

• 1 pound thin spaghetti
• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 whole lemon, juiced and zested
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• Plenty of grated Parmesan Cheese
• Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Extra lemon juice

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Cook pasta until al dente.

In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over low heat. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into pan. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and mix together, then pour into an oven safe dish.

Baked, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.

When you remove from over, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

*Image and recipe from the Pioneer Woman

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring! Spring is my absolute favorite season and I could not be more ready for the warm weather. We have been busy planting new flowers and plants around our yard, which has made the arrival of Spring even more exciting - I love coming home to see what has bloomed each day!

We spent Easter morning and lunch with my family, then we drove back home and cooked an Easter dinner for Michael's family. It was great! Here are a few pictures:

Michael cooking the Easter lamb on the grill!

Our little dinner set-up :)
One of our flower beds:

This was a surprise...the previous owners of the house had planted some pretty tulip buds:

Finally, we recently got a new plantation shutter for our powder room. I love it!

Unfortunately, I now want plantation shutters everywhere in the house.

Do you like? Have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Reality TV ADDICT!

Hi, my name is Missy and I am a Reality TV ADDICT! Seriously though...lately I have been noticing I seem to watch entirely too much reality TV. I have no problem admitting that I love it. Here are my favorites:

Dancing with the Stars...SO cheesy, but SO fabulous:

The Rachel Zoe Project. I die.

The Real Housewives of New York. The ridiculous drama is addicting.

LOVE the Bachelor. My all time favorite seasons have to be Jesse Palmer, Travis Stork, and Jillian Harris!

But my FAVORITE of all is Survivor. I have secretly always wanted to be on this show. I probably would be the first one voted off though!

Anyone else not afraid to admit that they have a Reality TV obsession!?

Updated House Pictures!

We have had quite a bit of work going on in our house lately. It's finally time to update with some new pictures! We still have quite a bit of work to do, but we are enjoying the process and the results.

Most of the work we have done so far has been in the kitchen. We painted, put in new granite countertops, put in a new subway tile backsplash (thanks Chris!), put down new hardwood floors, bought all new stainless steel appliances, and added new hardware to the cabinets. Here are some pictures:

Another view:

I found this lovely piece of furniture for our teeny sunroom at this great store in town - and for super cheap! I love having a place to store all of my kitchen linens. The view when you walk in:
There are also some before pictures way back in my blog somewhere...probably in December? We still have several things to do before we are finished. We need to rip out the ugly, old vent and replace it with an above-the-range microwave. I also found some subtle window treatments I love for the big windows over the sink. Lastly, I'm contemplating putting beadboard on the sides of the lower cabinets that are exposed. Please tell me what you think and if you have any suggestions!