new office chair

Back in July, we were on the lookout for an office chair. We had come to Knoxville with my childhood desk {redo here} but no chair to accompany it. I checked the local thrift stores one day and fell immediately in love with a chair. It had like an industrial science-lab vibe. Small problem. The dude at the thrift store was sitting in it... behind the counter. I still asked, "Is that chair for sale?" His reply was kind enough, "Sorry, honey. My wife would kill me." Oh, well. No biggie. It was only love.

So, I waited until Saturday and tried a different thrift store. I found a rounded wooden chair for three dollars and made that our "new"office chair. I liked it. Really.

Today, after our three mile walk to the post office, we wandered into the first thrift store I had mentioned. When we walked in the lady said, "Everything's half price." As we looked around, it made me think... "Everything?" I wondered if they were going out of business. I didn't bother asking, but I did make my way to the counter and repeat a question from six months ago.

"Is that chair for sale?"

"I don't see why not. How's three dollars?"

If she had said anything under $20 I would have taken it, but for $3 I ran all the way home to get my purse.

Ok, enough talk. Here she is.

I thinks she's gorgeous. There's more. When we flipped her over we found three things... 

1. The date "NOV 7 63" in a black stamp on the bottom. That's before my father was born. Awesome.

2. A sticker that made me very happy. This chair is legitly a science lab chair.

3. A sticker with instructions on how to raise and lower it. This one was the best. It means not only does my three dollar chair look amazing, come from UT, and qualify as vintage, she fits under my desk! Seriously exciting.

This is one of those things that I am like jumping up and down inside about. It's like I wanna call my mom and be like, "Check out our new chair! It's AMAZING! Three dollars! UT!"

But I won't. I'll just post this and non-chalantly hope that someone loves it as much as I do.

fashion show

I've mentioned it here before, but I'm a nanny. It's what I've always done. Sure, a little secretary work years ago and a summer at Chickfila could be put on a resume too, but I have given my time to raising children.

Raising children is broad. What I mean is... I've watched children take their first steps, understood their gibberish when no one else did, played hours of play dough, and hosted many a fashion show. Today's model: Lauren.

When Lauren went up to change for the fashion show, I waited at the bottom of the stairs with her little sister Caroline. Lauren yelled down, "Close your eyes!" So I picked up Caroline and stood there, eyes closed, waiting.

Caroline {who doesn't talk much yet} said, "ribbit, ribbit. rabbit." At least, that's what I thought she said. It was all a mystery until I opened my eyes.

 Lauren is looking stunning in a frog bathing suit, corduroy pants, striped rainbow socks, and white rabbit "antennas".


I love the way that children think. This outfit matched in Lauren's eyes. She explained it to me. "The pants are green like my bathing suit, the socks are striped like my bathing suit, and this frog doesn't have ears, so I thought she could use some."

Priceless logic, and you can't argue.

Not to be left out, here's Caroline. Trying always to be like Lauren.

What are you wearing today? Anything as fabulous as your favorite bathing suit with non-slip socks?

african violet

I have a love/hate relationship with plants. I love the idea of having them, taking care of them, and looking at them. Like the morning glories, basil buds, and the lettuce.  But they hate me. They hate me so much that they've died. We have no outdoor space. Just a covered "front porch" in the back of a building that gets zero light and tons of strange sideways Tennessee rain. We do have the roof of the bar-b-que out our kitchen window, but it isn't ours to use, and there our constantly men up there working on stuff. Basically, not the place to start a garden. Have I told you that we live on top of a restaurant? We do.

Growing up, my Grammie and Bumpa {yes, weird name for Grandpa} owned a movie store in Vermont and someone lived on top of it. I romanticized the idea. I always thought it would be the most awesome place to live. Who knew that our first home would be on top of a bar-b-que? Most people wouldn't be able to say that it's a dream come true, but I honestly can. 

Wait, we were talking about my love murder of plants. Back in October we got an African Violet plant. 

I didn't tell you about it because I was afraid it would die. I didn't want you to get attached. {just kidding. i know i'm the only one who gets attached to things that don't have personalities} When we got it, it was entirely leafy. The thick velvet leaves were what attracted me to it. It gives our kitchen window sill a little texture. But now it is past that entirely leafy stage. This week, it decided to flower. 

You should have seen the flower in its innocent search for the sun. Pressing against the window, hoping maybe to drink in the relentless showers we've been having. 

In ten years I hope to have a giganormous garden in a fenced in back yard. At that point, I'll look back on this insignificant flower post and remember this apartment. I imagine I'll miss it. There's something beautiful about first times. So here is our first plant that flowered, in our first apartment. I'm pretending that takes this post from silly to beautiful. 

insight to Amanda's soul

Which could also be called "Christmas present recap".

This is a non-exclusive compiling of the fabulous things gifted to me this Christmas. Some things {ornaments, clothes, etc.} are stored away already, but these are a few of my favorite things {feel free to now hum that song to yourself while you read}. 

Let's start at the very beginning {I'm on a Sound of Music roll tonight}. Awhile back I posted about needing more scarves. In fact, I specified. Long, silky, vintage scarves. 

*insert cloud parting angelic choir sound*

Yeah, I got some. I have fabulous sisters-in-law. However, probably my favorite present this year, is a different scarf. It isn't silky or vintage, but hand made. My mother took the time to {re}learn how to crochet, look up how to make scarves, and make me a mustard colored one. Best gift hands down.

My sister-in-law Chris manages a thrift store and found me this gorgeous vintage platter. This thing will be put to good use at parties, but it's so pretty it had to have a shelf. 

I don't think I've ever mentioned that I collect salt & pepper shakers. I do. Not like the "cute" ones shaped like squirrels {though I did that for awhile}. I collect only fabulous ones. Preferably from other countries. My Grandmother gave me this strawberry set for Christmas. It's sitting pretty in our China Cabinet.

Check out our bathmat {ignore the stained tub. i promise it's clean}. Can anyone guess what we named him? 

I don't know if you can call it a collection when we only have a handful, but I adore hardback, antique books. Even more if they come in a book sleeve. That red and blue beauty is new to the neighborhood.

My future sister-in-law Jewel gave me this jewelry hanger. Yes, I'm a sucker for birds. And jewelry.

My brother Chris bought us these adorable salad tongs. We've needed them for seven months now. Aww, so round and happy looking {i'm sorry if the mismatch jumble bothers you. it's working for us}

This picture showcases our last two featured Christmas presents. If you were here in person I'd make you guess. Cup and bowl? Nope. That's our every day set that we registered for at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Tablecloth? A hand me down from my late Great-Grandmother{love}. Those yellow submarine "ice cubes"? Yes. From Bekah. I love reuseable ice cubes. 

What's the second thing? A hillshire farm "yard o' beef". We ran out of chicken so we've been improvising. Delicious improv if I do say so myself. 

{If you haven't read our diy open shelving post you should. Five of my favorite Christmas presents are there.}

So, as a review: I like home decor, food, antiques, jewelry, scarves, and whales. Yep, I'm predictably Amanda.

diy open shelving

Awhile back I posted this post about our future plans for a shelving unit in that awkward "window" space between our kitchen and our living room. It's finally a reality!

We went back and forth... symmetrical? Asymmetrical? Should we think of future people living there or just make it to fit our own wants? In the end we went with asymmetrical selfish shelves. Just for us, in a good way.

We got one ten foot board of red oak from Lowes, and I liked the color enough to not stain it. We literally made the shelf cubbies to fit what I wanted to feature. Five Christmas presents.

We taped it out on the floor in the kitchen, using tape and a tape measure to see exactly what it would look like in the space. Love. {sorry, no picture. I really thought I took one... but alas.}

Then Matthew went to work.

After he cut all the boards we lined up up to make sure they were right...

Looking good so far! Moving on to attaching them and then installation. Matthew used wood glue and wood screws, and we had two feet of the board left when we were finished. Yesterday Matthew installed it and today he finished sanding off the wood putty. I love it! I also love having such a helpful husband.

These birds are hand-stiched by my sister-in-law Sharon. Matthew and I had a "love-birds" themed wedding, so this is personal. One of my favorite Christmas presents. 

There it is in relation to our diy heart art, making our living room look pretty snazzy. So there you have it. I know most of you don't have this "unfunctional" window to deal with, but it's part of our apartment, and I like it even better now.

cranberry pumpkin bread

Sounds kinda like a fall dish, huh? Well, we never got around to it. {it =cooking those pumpkins we got before Halloween} Until now. Let me just go ahead and tell you, cranberry and pumpkin taste perfectly wonderful in January too. I'm a pretty share-y {made up word} person. That's why I started this blog; so that I could share things with you. 


Here's our experience with it, and the recipe for you. You can thank us after you've baked it.


First we mixed up the ingredients.

Next, we poured it into our little bread pan {its first legitimate use, aw}.

Then we baked it. I thought it looked so cute in the oven that I took a quick picture.

And then, Wah-Lah! A loaf of bread. The tastiest in the world, I might add. 

I would show you a picture of an attractive slice of it, but we literally devoured it over some Dutch Blitz with the help of this guy...

My brother Chris is back at college this semester! Whoop Whoop!

I hope you make it for yourself... and I hope you adoringly take pictures of it in the oven... and I hope you devour it with some of your favorite people.

Here it is.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 T pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
1 cup cranberries, chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and spice; set aside. In a small mixer bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin; mix well. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredientsl stir just until moistened. Stir in cranberries. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8 in. by 4 in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

writing a letter

Not an email, not a text message, but a hand-written {sealed in envelope and topped with a stamp} letter. I haven't written one since I sent out the thank you cards for our wedding and honestly, those weren't even "letters". I'm so tired of our non-personal, quick, and easy ways of "communicating". I want my children to know more about communication than you can learn in a chat room where a sentence is allowed to look like this...

"ya. i kno rite?"

Ick. So, we the Knoxville Nowaks have made a little deal with ourselves. We're going to hand write a letter to someone back home, once a week. It'll give me a chance to work on my handwriting some and keep in touch with people who I haven't talked to in awhile. Maybe they'll write back. Maybe our mailbox will overflow with friendly handwritten letters. Here's hoping!

Plus as a bonus, the post office is only a mile and a half away, so we can get in our 3 mile walk as we mail our letters. Matthew wrote his first one already {to his Granddad} and I think I will write my first one to my sister Bekah, since I sort of think of her as one of my kids ;)

If you want a letter, message me your address on facebook! I adore starting good habits.