Ottoman Wishes Do Come True!

You may remember my most recent post in which I lamented over the search for the perfect cocktail ottoman to utilize as a coffee table in our family room...

Well, I'm excited to finally share that I found THE one. Here it is sitting pretty in the designer showroom where I discovered the answer to my ottoman prayers:

As you can see, it fulfills about 65% of my initial list of requirements for this specific piece of furniture - and 100% of my new list. The fabulous, carved wooden base is only topped by the perfect "built in" tray! Not to mention the quality - North Carolina-made, honey! Truly, angels began singing in the background... Or, perhaps it was my sister in the background yacking away about a blue headboard she needed so badly. Forget it! This shopping trip wasn't about a headboard - I'd found the ottoman!

I was ready to take the plunge then and there and order up one of these bad boys, in my choice of custom upholstery, of course, when the super friendly design consultant I'd been working with shared a secret - they'd be holding their annual clearance sale in about two weeks. Apparently everything is 10-70% off during this time, but you have to take the floor model. Which is a-ok by me, now that I'm well skilled in the area of {very} amateur re-upholstery, as evidenced here, here and here.

Always up for a good deal, I surprised myself with an extraordinary level of patience and faith as I waited out those two weeks, and keeping my fingers crossed that this gem hadn't been picked up by some other savvy home decorator. Luckily, when I called on the morning the sale began, I found that this piece was still available and that the floor model was 30% off!!! I paid for it over the phone and the Hubs helped pick it up and bring it home the next day. Here it is in our family room:

 

I think the muted(ish) zebra print upholstery is super cute, alas, it's not to be for our home. Although I do want something that will add a pop of color and fun! Enter the amazing array of ottoman fabric possibilities...

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(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

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(10)

(11)

As you can see they (almost) all have similar blue-orange/reddish characteristics. Like I said - I want something fun and maybe even young and modern :-) I think it will be a perfect offset to the otherwise traditional lines of the piece. Also, I'd love to bring in a fabric which will tie together our blue kitchen with the orange/reddish/rust colored accent walls facing our family room (you can see a peek of them behind the sofa in the pic above). 


So - the BIG question is - which should I go with?!? Pretend they're all the same price point and all as easy to get, even if that isn't entirely true... And give me your gut reaction.


Thanks for your help and have a wonderful week!!!

I Want A Tufted Cocktail Ottoman for Christ-mas...

Only the perfect tufted cocktail ottoman will do! 

(The above sung to the tune of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas")

It would feature...

- Beautifully turned wooden legs - preferably capped with antique bronze casters and in a wood tone, complementary to the rest of our decor

- Appropriately generous proportions - we need something pretty large to work in the space we have

- A lovely square or round shape - I'm not a big fan of rectangles or ovals in this application

- Fun and fabulous fabric and leather upholstery options - not sure which will work best for us yet, but I'm leaning toward a more modern fabric, which I think would pair nicely with the more traditional woodtone legs/feet

- An overall transitional style - not too traditional, not too contemporary

- An affordable price tag - everything I seem to fall in love with is $1,000+ - which just isn't in the budget for a coffee table for us... And, even if it was, $1,000+ would be a tough price to swallow for just one component of our living room decor.

- Something that's not going to cost an arm + leg to ship or take 6-8 months for delivery. Let's face it - I'd never be given the title of "World's Most Patient Person."

* A bonus for a piece that includes nail-head trim - in an antiqued brass finish.

So far, here's what I've found:

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source*

*I think the piece from Ballard Designs is my favorite - we can select custom upholstery, which is wonderful... BUT, I think I'd need TWO of these to fill the space I have in mind. And, although two would be wonderful, in regards to extra seating - ease of movement of the pieces, etc., I'm back over $1,000 for our cocktail table solution :-(

So, here's the big money question - does anyone out there have any recommendations for the perfect tufted cocktail ottoman for our home?!?

Recent happenings... Halloween, fun food & skeet shooting.

This past week/weekend was full of fall fun, including lots of great food, Halloween festivities and a derive up toward the North GA mountains for... What else?!? Skeet shooting, ha!

Our Marketing department at work holds a Halloween pumpkin carving contest each year. And our company's Facebook "fans" vote for their favorite. There's always stiff competition, but it's always a great time! Check out my LSU Jack 'O Lantern I created for this year's competition:

I'm proud of it :-) Although we didn't come in 1st place - a funny pumpkin sporting a mustache and eyebrows did! 


We also bring along snacks/drinks to share with the Marketing Team Members and this year I made a super yummy and very popular "Honey Nut Snack Mix." Delish! Even the left overs were called for by the end of our little Halloween event, ha!

Last Friday I had a great opportunity to support our local Salvation Army by attending their annual breakfast fundraiser. It was a great event and Jeff Foxworthy was the keynote speaker!

His speech was funny {obviously} but also heartwarming and sentimental - all in all, a wonderful start to my Friday!

On Saturday the Hubs had a hankerin' for mimosas, yes, the Hubs sure did. So, he ran out for some fresh OJ and came back with bags {and bags!} of groceries for lunch - which he planned on making. All on his own.

But, first things first, here... The mimosas were served {oh, and, as you may see, college football was turned on}:

Next, the Hubs got to work on his "secret" Saturday lunch for us both. I'll admit - I was worried initially. And maybe even a little aggravated each time he had to ask me where something was {he should know!} or how to do something. However, in the end our meal was amazing and I didn't have to do much at all :-)


The Hub's blue cheese and Parmesan nachos:

His main course - grilled NY strip steaks, corn on the cob {with special "secret" seasonings he added inside the husks; brilliant!} and asparagus:

I was {and still am} SO impressed with his new found culinary skills :-)


We went to a Halloween soiree Saturday night at one of our neighbor's houses, where we dressed up as newlyweds the soon-to-be-divorced Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.


We slept in late on Sunday and then enjoyed a beautiful drive through part of North Georgia, on our way to go skeet shooting - one of the Hub's favorite activities! It was my first time, but I think I at least looked the part...

The Hubs took it a step further and wore some kind of hunting/skeet shooting vest. Not my favorite:

Finally on to Monday - Halloween! One of my favorite holidays of the year :-) We've developed a tradition in our household where each Halloween we bring up the patio furniture from the back yard to our driveway and set up a bon fire in our old charcoal grill and let the kiddies roast marshmallows for s'mores. It's fun for kids young and old!

This Halloween, I also tried my hand at "carving" our pumpkins this year with the Hub's drill. Check out our masterpieces:

I think they turned out pretty cute and were super simple = an "A plus" in my book :-)



This year, after most of the trick or treaters went to bed, a few of our neighbors congregated at our place for cocktails and an impromptu get together. So fun! And, one couple brought over their sweet pup Lucy to play with our dog, Max - can you tell them apart:

That's Lucy on the left, Max on the right :-) And they're just too cute together!


A fantastic fall weekend - here's to many more!!!

My AWARD winning BBQ Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers! And is that Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries?!?

For those of you still sticking around to enjoy my random ramblings - thank you :-) They may be few and far between, but I love knowing I've got a little slice of space just for me out here on the www! And... if you've been reading Fleur De Licious for a while, you may remember my very first cook off victory.

Well, I'm pleased to share that since that time, I've taken home 1st place in my company's last FOUR cook off competitions :-) The first, a crock pot cook off, the second, a bake off, the third, a tail gate cook off and this last one - basically a free for all - as long as your recipe fit into one of the four categories: appetizers/salads, sides, entrees and soup/chili.

The latest recipe to be entered into my exclusive award winning repertoire is for my:

BBQ Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

20 med-lg jalapeno peppers, sliced in half lengthwise with the seeds and membrane scraped out
1 lb. fresh smoked pulled pork (or chicken/beef), mixed with your favorite BBQ sauce
1/4 lb of bacon, cooked and chopped into bits
1/2 cup Velveeta cheese, diced
1/2 cup fresh shredded monterey jack cheese
Extra BBQ sauce for drizzling
Fresh cilantro, for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Fill each hallowed jalapeno half with about a teaspoon, up to a tablespoon, of BBQ pulled pork (depending on the size of your pepper). Nestle a bit of the diced Velveeta cheese into the meat (use as much or as little as you like!). Sprinkle each of the poppers with your fresh crumbled bacon bits. Top with the shredded monterey jack cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until everything gets nice and melty. Turn up the heat on your oven to 400 degrees and continue baking for 5-10 minutes, or until the BBQ sauce begins to caramelize and the cheese gets nice and bubbly.

Remove pans from the oven and allow the poppers to cool for about five minutes. Set the poppers out on your favorite serving dish/tray and drizzle with additional BBQ sauce. Finish by sprinkling with fresh cilantro and enjoy!

Okay - I think I took a chance serving jalapenos to a group of people who's heat levels I was unsure of... But it worked out! And, luckily, all of the entrants were anonymous (as always), so even though there may have been some people who didn't want me to win for the 4th time in a row (ha!) couldn't have a lot of say over it :-) 

The poppers are sweet, spicy, hearty, cheesy and overall, simply satisfying! I originally created the recipe to serve at my neighborhood Bunco soiree, and it was the first item to go on my buffet! I knew the judges here at work would love it... I was up against some very stiff competition in my category (salad/appetizers) and feel lucky. 

And in case you're wondering, I received a nice Target gift card for my winning efforts, which was spent within 24 hours on Halloween costume bits and pieces for me and the Hubs. We went as Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphires... 

Can't you tell?!?

Ha! I hope you all enjoy a very happy - and safe - Halloween :-)

*** Update - apparently we selected the BEST costume this year, since it wouldn't have been an option next year... Just this AM, Kim filed for divorce from Kris.***

Hydrangeas, Helicopters & Bleu Cheese

How's that for a post title, huh?!? Well, it pretty much sums up me and the Hub's weekend... 

Friday was very low-key. In fact, the most momentous part of our evening was our move from the front porch to the back porch to catch the sunset and enjoy our books by the evening's last rays of light.

Saturday was almost as relaxing - we slept in late, grabbed lunch out, picked up some pine straw for the yard and ran to the market to pick up something for dinner. When we got back home, the Hubs worked to trim back all of the bushes in our front yard while I took care of the annual hydrangea trim. 

While visiting my parents the other weekend, they reminded us that we needed to cut back the row of hydrangea bushes we planted last year, to help them grow back even bigger and stronger next year. Unfortunately, this met cutting off all of the lovely end-of-summer hydrangea flowers. Of course, I gathered them all up and created SIX beautiful new arrangements, which are spread out all over our house.

 After all of that yard work, we caught some college football and I started dinner. Which, was fantastic, if I do say so myself :-) Our local supermarket had a great sale on Porterhouse steaks - and the Hubs cannot pass up a good steak - so, that's what we had. Along with the most delish wedge salad, complete with homemade blue cheese dressing. Here's my recipe for the perfect adornment to a nice, cool crisp salad {our was an iceberg wedge topped with fresh cherry tomatoes, crumbled bacon and cucumbers):

Blue Cheese Dressing

5 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonaise
2 tbsp. buttermilk
1 tbsp. tarragon vinnegar
Pinch garlic powder
Lemon juice (from 1/2 med. size lemon)
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tobassco 
Fresh cracked pepper & kosher salt


Mash the blue cheese up a bit in the bottom of a small mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, stir together until well-incorporated and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Max, our pup, also enjoyed our Porterhouse steak meal. Mostly because he was able to enjoy a huge bone.

Until it got the best of him...

That bone defeated poor, little Max, ha!

After dinner, we were in the mood for a movie - unfortunately there wasn't a great selection on the movie channels. We ended up catching "A Life Less Ordinary" on the Sundance channel. Overall, an odd flick with spectacular cinematography and a great soundtrack.

Our wonderful weekend ended on Sunday with lemon-scented blueberry pancakes (I put the blueberries in the pancakes, as opposed to making the blueberry syrup in this recipe), a few chores, a birthday dinner out with friends and the Hub's favorite new toy - a flying gyro helicopter.

Here's to the start of fall, football season and many more weekends, just like the last! Hope you all had lovely weekends as well :-)
 

Crab-stuffed BBQ Shrimp

Mmm... The other evening I made what the Hubs claimed "the best meal you've (me) made in a year." Although I'm not sure what that says about all of the other meals I've proudly created and served, I'm taking it as a compliment. The Hubs usually doesn't go overboard when complimenting food - that's more my department. Hey, at least you know the way to my heart: a great meal!

And, since it was such a success, I thought I'd share the recipe with you - enjoy!

Crab-stuffed BBQ Shrimp*

 

Ingredients - 

1 tbsp. fat (I use leftover bacon grease - a trick my parents taught me)
3 tbsp. of chopped onion
2 tbsp. of chopped celery
2 tbsp. of chopped bell pepper
1/4 of a fresh jalapeno - seeds removed and minced 
1 tbsp. (about 1 clove) minced garlic
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 cup milk 
3 tbsp. bread crumbs 
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 

Salt & Pepper (to taste) 

1 cup fresh, cooked crab meat (I prefer claw meet as I think it's more flavorful and sweeter than lump)

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

2 tbsp. fresh chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

1 lb. fresh shrimp, butterflied & de-veined, tail-on

Saute the onion, celery and peppers in fat over med-low heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Add the flour and whisk until the mixture forms a thick paste. Whisk in the milk until it is incorporated into the thick mixture. Add the breadcrumbs, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Gently fold in the fresh crab meat. Add the Italian parsley and lemon juice and remove from heat. Allow to cool a bit before stuffing shrimp.

Now it's time to stuff the shrimp! The butterflying of the shrimp should have cut the shrimp almost entirely in half (so you have a place to stuff your crab mixture). take a shrimp - open the butterfly and stuff a generous mound of the crab mixture into the opening. Then, "top" with another opened, butterflied shrimp. Place each of the stuffed shrimp onto a broiling pan and broil on high about 5 minutes per side, basting the the BBQ sauce (recipe below) as they cook.

For BBQ sauce - 

1 tbsp. butter

3 tbsp. chopped onion

1 tbsp. minced garlic

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp. brown sugar

1 cup catsup

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Dash of hot sauce

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Saute the onion in the butter until soft and translucent. Add the garlic cook for another 30 seconds. Add the apple cider vinegar and the next five ingredients and simmer over a low heat for at least 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use to baste crab-stuffed shrimp.

I served the crab stuffed shrimp with a Cesar salad and called it a meal - delish :-) Enjoy! 

*Now, I do have to share that I simply added my touches to a recipe (of the same name) from the original River Roads Recipes cookbook, published and distributed by the Junior League of Baton Rouge. Many thanks to my sweet Grandmama for giving me my very own copy of RRR :-)

A Costa Rican Adventure

So, maybe our vacation wasn't really that big an adventure, but, the twist was that we didn't plan on going to Costa Rica until the day before we left - seriously. Our 2011 vacation has been the topic of many conversations and even a few disagreements. See, I wanted to go overseas. Like, way overseas - Budapest, Prague, maybe Copenhagen... Somewhere really fantastic where we could experience another culture and see some sights. The Hubs wanted to go to an all-inclusive resort. He basically wanted to experience our honeymoon all over again - in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I wasn't feeling it.

However, ultimately - believe it or not - I let the Hub's win. For once. He earned it and to be totally honest, I was looking forward to relaxing a bit too. We booked a trip to an amazing (looking) all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana. The closer the trip came the more I was ready for some beach + book + frozen cocktail time!

Then came the bad news...

Yes, tropical storm Emily derailed our plans, just a bit. Oh, and see where it says "2 PM Wed." on the map above?!? That's when the storm would be right over Punta Cana. And that was the day of our arrival. 

Luckily, when I booked our vacation through Delta Vacations, I'd been inclined to purchase trip insurance. So, when we started to receive all of those concerned phone calls from friends and family, I called Delta to see what all of our options were. Well, the day before we were supposed to leave, I cancelled our trip to the Dominican and began researching other available vacation options. My guidelines were pretty simple - the weather forecast had to look good and it needed to be super relaxing, i.e. pool/beach (I'd become very attached to that plan of the Hub's). 

Well, due to tropical storm Emily basically the entire Caribbean was out - as well as the Gulf cost of Mexico. Next, I looked at the Pacific coast of Mexico... Well, low and behold, another little tropical depression looked like it was forming in that location at that time. Then, up pops Costa Rica as a great option. Surprise! So, Costa Rica it was. I found a top-rated all-inclusive resort , worked with the Delta agent to book our flights and it was on. 

Not only was it on, but it was amazing! Our last minute change of plans were a total blessing in disguise and we fell in love with Costa Rica! Here's a little recap of our recent vacation...

Flying into Costa Rica

The Hub's first beer of the trip on our balcony enjoying the fabulous view

Yay, we made it!

View out to Papagayo Bay from the main side of the resort

 

A long tailed raccoon - we'd been hoping to see a monkey

A spectacular sunset on our first night

The AM view from our room

So.... relaxed.

We read. A lot.

I think I read six books in seven days :-)

Finally, a picture of us

 

Mmm... one of my favorite cocktails - a mango mojito.

 

Another phenomenal sunset 

The resort had fun little trams to take us all around - it was super convenient!

Ready to go out to another great meal (I'm getting a lot of mileage out of that anniversary dress, ha!)

Wish all of our sunsets were like these...

Each day, when we returned to our room, we had cute towel art displayed on the bed - this elephant was my favorite :-)

A beautiful view from my lounge chair on the "adults only" side of the resort.

Ahhh... Couldn't get enough of them!

Costa Rica boasts some of the world's most beautiful beaches - many of them black sand, due to the volcanic geography. The water was beautiful and crystal clear...

View of our resort from our private boat tour.

It was so much fun!

Beautiful!

Gorgeous vistas...

The Hubs & I by the famous "Monkey Head Island"

We saw a sea turtle near here, but didn't get a picture :-/

Very cool cave

Enjoying a Costa Rican Imperial beer on the ride

Seriously, this water was amazing!

The next day, we explored all of the resort's hiking trails... I'm sweating my booty off :-)

The Hubs wasn't as sweaty.

We finally made it to the top of the mountain!

The views paid off for the mountain climb!

One day we kayaked all the way out there...

These little guys were all over the place, but very friendly.

We certainly took advantage of the all-inclusive cocktails :-)

Yum!

Maybe my favorite spot in the resort... laying out on the pool deck on the "adults only side."

We truly had an amazing time and I think we're already ready to go back :-) Things really do happen for a reason and I certainly feel very fortunate to have been able to experience Costa Rica... Even if it was spur of the moment. 

 I hope you all have been able to enjoy some lovely summer vacations as well!!!