Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup is a delicious and refreshing soup in the dead of winter.  The subtle lemon flavor is perfect to lift away the winter blues and still keep you warm when the temperatures are less than friendly.  Even though it is a soup, I think this flavor profile would be wonderful anytime of year.   

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Glass Painting

Right before Thanksgiving one of my super crafty friends invited me over to paint glasses.  She was preparing custom glasses for each of her Thanksgiving guests.  I've received a few hand painted glasses as gifts over the years but had never attempted to try it on my own.  Before helping her with her guests glasses I wanted to "test my skills" first.  All you need is a glass, acrylic paint and a little imagination.  Here is what I came up with, a perfect gift for my sister who adores Audrey Hepburn!

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Pasta e Fagioli

Talk about a hearty pasta meal, this Pasta e Fagioli dish is perfect for a cold winters evening.  The best part is you can make it ahead, share some with friends and still have tons of leftovers to freeze, I know because I did all three!

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Zumba

A few weeks ago I spotted a Living Social for Heart In Sol Zumba classes.  After going to their website and doing a little "investigating" before purchasing it I learned your first class is FREE!  I asked my friend Amanda if she'd like to go and try it out.  Despite being sore for a few day we had a BLAST.  This is a fun high energy upbeat dance workout that makes you want to spend an hour getting fit.  We purchased our Living Social's  plan on continuing Zumba classes!

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Korean Beef Bowl

During the first few years of my life my family lived in Seoul Korea, while my father was stationed there.  So any thing having to do with the country always excites us.  Bulgogi is a traditional Korean dish that our family absolutely loves, in fact I blogged about it here.  Today's dish is a take on Bulgogi that is super easy to whip up and tastes just like our favorite meal.  You can find the recipe over on Damn Delicious blog.

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Loft Room Inspiration

We are devoting 2014 to making our house a home.  Lately my favorite place to hang out has been our loft area.  The wood floors on our main floor make it too cold for me to enjoy my time downstairs this winter, so one Sunday evening I convinced my amazing husband to help me move our new sleeper sofa out of our upper level spare bedroom and a TV out of our lower level spare bedroom.  When we initially moved in I thought this area would be wasted space, I mean who would want to hang out in a random open space right?!?  But since we got the furniture situated, the loft has been my retreat.  The more time I spend in this room the more convinced I become that this can be a great additional living area.  Take a peek at my dream loft, a perfect balance between masculine and feminine.

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Spicy Sausage Pasta

My husband is a fan of all things pasta.  In an effort to switch up our normal dinner menu, I couldn't resist trying this Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe from Kevin & Amanda.  Hop on over to their blog to drool over their photos that do the meal absolute justice!

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Military Vow Renewal

We attended a lot of weddings in 2013, and each was beautiful and unique to each couple.  Our final wedding of the year was on Dec 28th and was a Vow Renewal of a colleague turned close friend.  Pearlice is one of the kindest, caring, most generous spirited women I know.  She is the owner of P3 Weddings and Events based out of Fayetteville, NC.  She and her team planned the most meaningful and simply elegant wedding for a deserving couple that took place upon the groom's return from one of his many tours.  The day was full of details unique to the couple that reflected their military life and travels.  Besides being totally in love with the color scheme (Purple!) we truly enjoyed every single thing from the buffet that showcased travels to Germany, Italy and their home in the South, to the gorgeous China to the best music selection.  We were truly blessed to share in Pearlice and Charles' special day!

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Pollo Asado

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready to take on 2014!

Today's recipe, is one I have yet to try, but when I saw this episode of Pioneer Woman I couldn't take my eyes of the TV.  Pollo Asado is marinated in a citrus base and grilled, I think this would be a refreshing flavorful dinner even in the winter season.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Photo from Food Network