sandwich delight

it's amazing what a cupboard will hide! while moving we found a sandwich grill we had gotten as a gift for our wedding. and a couple weeks ago when my parents were up helping us unpack my mom suggested that we use it to make lunch. i just wanna say... if you have never used one, you're totally missing out! it's probably one of the greatest things ever.
we have this one by Cuisinart; it's really reasonably priced. there are several out on the market, however, if you have a different  preference or price range. this one grills 2 at one time, so that is an awesome feature. it not only grills your sandwich into delicious yumminess, but it also seals off the crust and cuts it on the diagonal. it transforms a blah lunch/dinner into something amazing. i think we've had more sandwiches in the last 2 weeks than i had in the previous year. there are so many options, and we are having a great time coming up with new spins on a classic.  my current fave is kind of our take on a Monte Cristo. kind of.

ingredients [for two!]:

-4 slices of bread

-deli sliced turkey, ham or both

-cream cheese

-2 small slices sharp cheddar cheese

-spreadable butter

-raspberry preserve 

steps:

lightly butter 1 side of each slice of bread. lightly spread cream cheese on 2 slices, on the non-buttered side. place on grill butter side down. add meat[s] and cheese. grill sandwich. add preserves to your preference and enjoy!

sandwiches have never been more delicious or easy! do you have any sandwich favorites? 

sacramento + pictures

on friday we took a day trip to sacramento because mr. phipps had a meeting. i decided to bring along the new camera he got me so i could test it out. i always love old sacramento, so i headed there when we parted ways.
i must say having a new toy to play with is quite fun & i had a blast. i'm still not sure of all the bells and whistles it has, but i was able to get down the basics.
while there i walked along the river, visited the shops and did something new. i went to the schoolhouse museum. it's just adorable & the gal working was great to chat with. i would definitely volunteer there if we lived in the area. has anyone ever been? have you read through all the various school teacher rules over the years?
 my favorite is from 1915, #4: You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.
how silly, i could totally NOT be a teacher then. i love ice cream way too much for that.
anyway, i thought i'd share a few photos from my lot. keep in mind most of the time i was just testing out settings :)

early birthday + sneak peek

so even though my birthday isn't for another 3 months, my absolutely amazing/wonderful/truly great husband gave me an early gift today. AND- i couldn't be more excited!

however i may or may not have switched over to the dark side...

i've always been partial to Nikon, but we got a great deal and all the reviews/articles i've read out there make comparable models seem pretty equal. anyway, i started playing with it tonight, and i am already in love. so, so stoked. tomorrow we are heading to Sacramento. while mr. phipps is in a business meeting i will be making friends with my lovely birthday gift. YAY! 

also, as a side note, we are making tons of progress on the house. our bedroom is nearly finished; the bathroom is coming a long nicely. everything is slowly but surely finding a home and ideas are actually materializing. we have been greatly blessed the last few days with mega deals all over the place. furthermore, we are officially a grown up, married couple as we just purchased a new table that seats eight. it works perfectly in our dinning room & i can't wait to get it all together in there so we can have a fabulous family dinner! or maybe a housewarming party. or BOTH! 

here's new progress on the room: 

hopefully, now that i have a new camera my posts will include more photos. which was part of my original plan, but until now just hasn't always worked out. 

moving, unpacking, organizing

things have been so crazy for the last week. we finally got into our new house, and although it's been stressful, we are finally making progress. it's actually looking like a home. we don't have internet until wednesday, so blogs will be minimal. either way i'm getting stoked on being at our place, and all i want to do is get it all together. i'm loving our space! the house has so much character, and i cant wait for it to all take shape. last night we did some decorating in the bedroom; i'm really liking how it's coming along.
also, there are a lot of little projects we've talked about and are working on. our refrigerator looked totally beat up and had been painted, which was mismatched, so i gave it a face lift. my dad installed our washer/dryer and a mini chandelier in the kitchen. he's been SO amazing through the move. well, he always is, but especially so. i have some big ideas for the living room and i'm hoping to get some sketches going so i don't lose motivation or ideas. i'll be sharing more when i can.
here's a peek at some of the happenings:

                         
                      

over the years

i was looking through photos and decided to post some photos of myself & mr. phipps.
they date back to april 2006, and they end in march 2010. there is one when we first dated. one when we dated for the second time. some from our various adventures. one from an engagement dinner my parents so wonderfully had for us. some official engagement photos. a couple from the wedding. and a honeymoon one. anyway, enjoy!

no flour peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

i found this Emeril recipe in a magazine at work, and i decided to try it out since i already everything for it at home.

ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir well until smooth. drop onto cookie sheet using about 1 tbsp per cookie. press down with fork to form crosshatched pattern. bake about 10mins. makes 2 dozen.

it was really easy and mr. phipps said it had become one of his favorite cookies of all time. super delicious.

interior style

my wonderful momma gave me the book Thrifty Chic: Interior Style on a Shoestring by Liz Bauwens & Alexandra Campbell for Christmas. i found it searching around amazon one day & had been wanting it. and now... i cannot put it down. i've read thru the whole thing almost twice and i'm sure i've flipped thru the images at least a dozen times. the photographs [taken by Simon Brown] are absolutely beautiful & i find them so inspiring. the title & cover photo make it seem kind of "shabby chic" but it's SO much more than that. they dive into all sorts of stylings from vintage to modern & country to formal. it's all so classy and feels so effortless.
as i've mentioned in a previous blog our lease is almost up & we'll be moving into a house by & hopefully before the end of january. hopefully today we will hear back on the place we've been waiting for. it's wonderful, old, charming & just perfect. hopefully today...
anyway, i can't wait to style it & i've been in such a mood to hunt for things around our apartment that fit my vision for it. it's going to be a bit of a challenge [that is if we get the house we are hoping for haha] due to the floor plan, but i'm ready. and did i mention i can't wait?
if you need some inspiration for the new year or you just like interior styling photographs check it out. you won't be bummed.