Skinny Girl Margarita

Happy Memorial Day! I thought I'd share a fun drink to celebrate with this summer, but without the guilt of most mixed drinks. It's light and refreshing, but very low calorie. Perfect for a hot day like today! I got the recipe from a friend at work.

Here's what you'll need:
Diet Sierra Mist
Tequila (one shot or two)
A splash of Lime Juice
Half a packet of Crystal Lite Lemonade or Limeade Mix

Cheers!

My Latest Toy

I had a very sudden urge to go buy an Ipod Shuffle last week. So over my lunch break on Wednesday I ran to Target and came home with this beauty:


I justified the purchase because it becomes very uncomfortable to wear a thick armband for my 6-12 mile runs. It's hot, get's sweaty, creates moisture inside the case, rubs my arm, etc. With the Dam to Dam race coming up next weekend, I figured its my reward for all the training.

I ran for an hour yesterday with the new Shuffle, and I just kept thinking, I should have bought one of these a long time ago! It's so much less constricting than my armband for my bigger Ipod is. It just clips right on to your shirt, you can't even feel that it's there. I even ran the route faster than usual (not sure that the Shuffle had anything to do with that, but I'm telling myself it did).

Extreme Home Makeover: Craigslist Edition

We'd like to present our first big "house" project. We refinished a coffee table and end table we bought off Craigslist. We bought the set for $75 from an older man selling his deceased brother's furniture....ahhhh Craigslist, you just never know what you're going to get.

Here's what they looked like the day we got them.



They were in fair condition to begin with, but definitely had a few scratches and noticeable wear.


They are solid wood. Not a piece of wood vaneer, plywood, or particle board. We found that solid wood tables retail for more than $500, so we figured we'd save some moolah (to put towards other new furniture we're going to need such as couches and dining set).

We researched online how to refinish wood, and everything I read said it's a lot of work. And in retrospect I would have to agree.


Here's the play-by-play. The whole process took us about 2 weeks.

1. Remove old stain by applying wood stripper and removing with rags and putty knives (definitely the most cumbersome step)


2. Apply mineral spirits to help dilute any stripper left in the wood


3. Sand tables and wipe off dust

4. Apply desired stain and wipe with rag to blend light and dark areas


5. Reapply second coat of stain

6. Apply polyurethane (to seal stain)

7. Lightly sand

8. Reapply second coat of polyurethane

And here's the finished product:



You might notice that the wood is "distressed" which was nice because it sort of makes all of our imperfections just seam like part of the look.


I hope to do more furniture refinishing in the future!

A Little Tease

Big project underway at the House of Crouse. Here's a little sneak peak:


Stay tuned for more details!

Excuses, Excuses

The first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning was all the excuses why I shouldn't work out (tomorrow's my birthday, I have so much to get done today). But then I remembered the pizza and cake and ice cream from last night......soooo I thought it would be a good idea. Plus, the trainer that teaches one of my exercise classes emailed everyone "homework" for this weekend consisting of a circuit workout, which is my favorite. So I bit the bullet and went to the gym. Here's what I did:

20 curtsy lunges
20 push-ups
20 squats
20 jumping jacks
20 tricep dips
20 ladder planks (same as picture below, but bring one knee up at a time to elbow)
0.5 mile run at a "push it" pace (not a sprint, but faster than your base pace)

Repeat 3-4 times, resting for 1-2 minutes between each repetition.

curtsy lunge

plank

Out with the old, In with the old.

Yesterday I had my first experience with an antique mall, and well, I'm hooked! First of all, let me just say that it was not at all what I expected. Of course there was lots of junk that you have to sift through (I suppose one man's trash is another man's treasure), but there are some really amazing and unique pieces.

I was looking for furniture for the new house. We will be getting new couches and a dining room set, but I wanted to get some quality pieces that bring a little more character into a home, but that don't break the bank. Turns out, antique stores are the way to go!

One area in need of replacement was our "office."


Very "blah", right? Well, I hit the jackpot at the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall, a place I have driven by probably hundreds of times since I moved to Des Moines three years ago.


Much more sophisticated, right? The black desk struck my eye first, especially with a price tag of just $75. It is solid wood, and looks as though it was just refinished. The drawers provide lots of great storage. Then I looked around for a solid wood chair to go with the desk. I found the chair above for $15, but I do plan to repaint it down the road (color suggestions welcome). The side cabinet was the most expensive piece at $113.50, but it was perfect for what we needed to house our computer tower and printer, so we couldn't pass it up. You can't tell from the picture, but it is also solid wood that has been repainted with a dark turquoise paint. Jury is still out on whether or not we will repaint it or not.


We spent the rest of the evening wiping everything down and came out with 3 towels that looked like this. There's just no telling where or how long these items have sat.

So for $215.71 (including tax) plus a little elbow grease we completely updated our office look by upgrading to better quality and more eye-appealing pieces. I think I'm now an antique store addict so stay tuned for more exciting finds!

A Recipe Keeper

I found this recipe for "Greek Pita Pockets with Tzatziki Sauce" in this month's issue of my Women's Day magazine. I tried it, and decided it's a keeper and will go in my "permanent" recipe book.

Combine:
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped black olives (or a few more if you're a black olive fanatic like me)


Whisk together:
1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup shredded cucumber
1/4 teaspoon dill
pinch each salt and black pepper


Fill a whole-grain pita with bean mixture and top with yogurt sauce.


I brought this for lunch and several so-workers commented that it looks delicious and healthy. And it is! Very quick and easy to make. And if you refrigerate the bean mixture and yogurt sauce in separate containers, it makes great left-overs.