Ruler of the Elves

Crunchy leaves and cooler weather are right around the corner. This year Pinky and I decided that it would be fun to try to complete some new (and old) activities between September 1st and Thanksgiving. It took us awhile to assemble a list of things that seemed to be neat for fall, as well as fit into our busy schedules. Of course, we will be documenting all of our activities right here, so stay tuned to see how much we get accomplished!

1. Jump in a pile of leaves
2. Eat pumpkin pie
3. Carve pumpkins
4. Make a gravestone rubbing
5. Go trick or treating
6. Drink apple cider
7. Do leaf project
8. Visit a corn maze
9. Attend a football game
10. Walk to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte
11. Create some spooky art
12. Take a hike in the woods
13. Go apple picking
14. Make shrunken heads
15. Complete at least 1 room makeover

We’ve been taking a break, but we will be back soon!

Pinky had her immunizations today and took it like a champ! She definitely does not get that from me. I’m a shot wuss. Just ask my Dad. Four shots, one fingerprick and 3 band-aids later she was ready for more and wished we could go back. Really. I think it was the ice cream that tempted her, but I’m sure the gobs of stickers didn’t hurt.

Tonight we had pizza on the grill. Yes, you heard that right. Pizza, cooked on the grill, with lettuce and avocado on it. But before you start to think we’ve lost our minds, hear me out.

A couple of years ago I visited California Pizza Kitchen for the first time. While some people have known for ages about the deliciousness that is served there, I have apparently been living a sheltered life in a cave eating slugs and drinking rain water. Just kidding. How did I not know about this place sooner? Anyway, I like to try out different menu items when we go and pretty much everything I’ve ever had has been absolutely scrumptious, but nothing really compares to their California Club Pizza. Oh… It is so amazing.

Fresh off the grill before the extra toppings…

The other day, I was planning out our menu for the week and decided that I wanted to try to make our own version of CPK’s mouth watering pizza. So I grabbed the key ingredients from the grocery and got to work. I knew that I wanted that wood-fire brick oven gas grill taste, so we opted to cook it in a different manner. And it turned out to be better than CPK’s, in my opinion. Give it a try for yourself. If you’re not licking your chops before that first savory bite hits your tongue, then you may need to get your head checked. *wink*

Here is the recipe. Feel free to tweak it to your liking.

I did.

That means that we used mostly fat free/light options and Chris ended up eating all of the tomatoes.

California Club Pizza

Ingredients:

Premade Pizza Crust, such as Boboli
2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
3 Slices of Bacon
1/3 C. Mozarella Cheese
1 Tomato, Sliced
4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 ½ C. Lettuce, Chopped
½ Avocado, Sliced

Preheat Grill. Cook bacon (mmm, bacon) and chicken, then dice. Spread 2 tbsp. of mayonnaise evenly on the pizza crust, then layer with chicken, bacon, cheese and tomato. Grill until crust is crisp and cheese is melted and bubbly. In a bowl, toss the remaining 2 tbsp. of mayo with the lettuce. Try to resist dumping the whole bottle of mayo in the bowl. Layer lettuce and avocado on top of the hot pizza and serve.

You may have noticed the scrolling box over there in the sidebar. ———————————>
It is a wish list of sorts; things I like and someday hope to own. There have been quite a few of the items which I’ve already purchased, such as this and this and 12 of these in antiqued bronze, but I just keep finding pretty little things that I want.

One item that has been on the list for quite some time is the Haley Table Lamp from Crate & Barrel. I love everything about it… except the hefty price tag. I can think of a lot of other things to spend $229 on, can’t you?

So in the meantime, while I wish and wait for the day when I can swallow the thought of spending that much money on a lamp (which will inevitably be knocked over and broken by flying Barbie accessories,) I decided to try and find a more wallet friendly option.

I found this mauve 1970’s ginger jar lamp at the local thrift store and tried to look past that pink patina to envision something which could work in my own living room. After walking around for several minutes and coming back to it 3 times, I decided to take the plunge and snag it, with the hopes that a little love and spray paint could turn it into less of an eyesore.

What? Not what you expected? Luckily, the price tag on this little light of mine was pretty appealing.

Once I got it home, I searched through our assortment of spray paints and decided on a metallic shade.

After a light sanding and a coat of primer, the once dated lamp was ready to be painted and fitted with a more modern shade.

I think that the final product is about 95% better than the previous putrid pink version, although I’m not sure I’m sold on the metallic finish. And even though it’s not as pretty (or cool) as the expensive Haley Lamp, maybe after it hangs out for awhile it will grow on me. Otherwise, it will be back to the garage for new coat of color.