Monthly Archives: February 2013

02.28.13

I want to start off with a big thank you to all of our readers.
Seriously, the fact that so many of you read, like, and comment is sometimes the reason we keep posting.

It is difficult to come up with quality posts every single day while still working a full time job.  It means a lot to Christina and I that you gals and guys care enough to read what we have to say.  You should see the smile on Christina’s face each and every time she receives a new comment.  She lights up like a Christmas Tree.  We really never expected the blog to grow like this and to have so many people join us every single day.  We will continue to try to bring you the best writing we can.  That being said, we couldn’t do it without you…literally.

We often received comments like “please do more posts like this one” or ” I wish you would write about animal crackers.”  Ok, so we have never really had that comment but I feel like it’s coming.  We appreciate all the feedback we receive and use it to improve our blog every single day.

We have a new feature over here at Homemade Ocean.  We figured since it was so popular at that one place they call Facebook that we would try it over here.  You guessed it, it’s a “like” button.   Now if you like something you can literally “like” it.  It’s just that easy.

Side note: I asked Christina to make the graphic for this post…it’s very girly. show us some love  We do really take every suggestion you all throw at us and run with it.  We ask that if you like something, then ‘like it’.  If you have something to say, tell us about it.  If you find an awesome photo or graphic, ‘pin it’.  We will use all of your feedback to make sure we are doing more posts that everyone loves to read instead of wasting your time with goldendoodle shenanigans.

Written by Christina and Tim
02.27.13

Do you love those spinach salads with cheese crumbles and strawberries and those little heavenly nuts?

Good, glad I am not the only one fantasizing about nuts salads.
I promise this won’t get too raunchy but there are some jokes I can’t pass up.

This year I have tried to eat less processed and more natural.
Salads only made sense.

I went on the hunt for a heavenly nut recipe.

Good news:  There are lots of them.
Bad news: They are all too complicated.

Almost all of them called for eggs, which we never have because T is slightly allergic.  Then you had to do things like “roast the nuts” and “wash in brown sugar mixture” and time tables were looking just a little too long for my tastes.

So I did something crazy.  I “winged” it.

I am pretty impressed.  And yes, I could be missing out on the worlds greatest nuts by not including the egg and cinnamon and wasabi sauce or whatever.  But for two ingredients and five minutes…I’ll take it.  Especially when I am just going to toss them in dressing and attack them with strawberries on a fork.

You want in on this? make you some

Ok, so you probably have sugar….now go buy some nuts. I used pecans because my heart belongs to pecans forever and ever amen.

Now dig out your non-stick skillet and toss them in.  I sprinkle a pinch of salt in there, I bet cinnamon would be tasty too.  Put your stove on medium heat and casually stir.  After a couple of minutes the sugar will start turning into a syrup. stir them nuts You heard me right….stir like crazy.

You want to make sure all the nuts get a nice sugary coat on it, plus they can burn if they sit on the bottom too long.  That’s not the worst thing in the world, Tim and I both agree the burnt ones are the best. ohhhh yummy Once most of the sugar has melted get ready to plop them on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  I always set the lubed up cookie sheet and two forks out before I even get started so I don’t get all frazzled. munching Make sure you let them cool for a bit before you start munching.  Throw them in salads or ice cream or if your name is Tim then just eat them straight up as a snack.  Yummm.

Have you ever made candied nuts?  Am I missing out on the egg whites?  Ever added cayenne pepper?

Written by Christina and Tim
02.26.13

Is it March yet...

Posted by Christina // 20 Replies

I try really hard not to wish my life away…but what is the hold up on March?

March is one of my favorite months.  Tulips start blooming, birds start singing and there is this one little holiday.  My favorite holiday.  Yes I was totally the girl who would pinch everyone for not wearing green.  Sorry for annoying you back in the day friends, but I hope you learned your lesson.

Did you know my last name is Bailey, like the Irish Creme.  That was my tagline in college so people could remember me when they Facebook stalked later.
Oh St. Pattys, I am waiting patiently.

Until then, I will just make lots of pretty green things. Get lucky wreath I want to see green and gold in every corner of my home this time of year.

This was an inexpensive and fairly easy DIY. put a flower on it
The best part is the endless color combinations…I am thinking I need a yarn wreath in every color.  Ohhhh now I am seeing a whole wall of colorful wreaths.

If only I had the patience. the goods I went to Hobby Lobby the other day to catch a sale on yarn and fabric.  I also had a 40% off coupon so the whole project cost under $10.  Have you looked at wreaths online lately?  They are not cheap people.

I will give you advance warning, make sure you have a good movie queued up when you start.  Wrapping the yarn took me about an hour and a half, so thankfully I got all caught up on the Gypsy Sister drama.  Holler.

Can you guess what I used for the white fabric? can you believe it They are some tee shirts that T was about to throw out.  Score!

If you don’t already have a fabric flower tutorial pinned, make sure you check out Katie Bower’s of Bower Power Blog.  It is the best I have seen, and there is a video.  You’ll be a flower making professional in no time.

Are you overly excited to go green?
Will you be drinking green beer?
Any parades in your future?

Did you know Rolla, Missouri has one of the biggest Pats celebrations?

Written by Christina and Tim
02.25.13

Have you ever been really, really hungry?

This weekend I told Tim that I was withering away because it was 3 p.m. and I hadn’t eaten.  I was hangry….beyond hangry.

Thankfully I have never known true hunger.  My mom worked in a grocery store growing up so we were always “the house with the full pantry”.  I never had to worry if I wouldn’t have dinner, and most nights I actually complained about what we were eating.  What a brat.

Cut to college, a much poorer-and skinnier-version of myself.  You could find me scavenging for home cooked meals.

“Oh you live in town?”
“Does your mom make meatloaf?”
“Does she love meeting your friends?”

Although I was far from starving, I finally understood what hungry meant.

So it is not easy for me to relate to those starving kids in Africa, instead my heart just breaks.  What hurts even more is that there are millions of kids just like them here in America.  Going to bed hungry every night.

This week, I want to help. monday matter the facts on food I can’t believe some of those numbers.

Especially since I always overeat because I don’t want to be wasteful.  I know I am not the only one, I mean we are the fattest country in the world right?

When I was growing up, I was so affected by the starving kids commercials that I wanted to set up a “send to hungry bin” next to our recycle bin where you put all of your uneaten food to send to those kiddos.  My dad wasn’t down, something about it rotting.  But how great would that be, if we could just send the rest of our fries to someone hungry.

I decided that today I am going to take the money I have saved by not eating out for lunch every day and give it to our local food pantry.  I love when donations stay local, you never know who you are helping.  It could be your neighbor…and one day it could be you. what to do If we are being honest,  it pains me to see homeless people in my hometown…but I almost never give them money.  I have a much easier time giving them a little bag of Doritos, and it’s an incredible feeling when you see the gratitude in their eyes.  I always try to have snacks in my car, just in case.

Do you all have any ideas to help the hungry?
I’m listening.

Written by Christina and Tim
02.22.13

Funny little story about the word two.  Or too, or to.
Or tew.

When T and I started dating we used to bond over our friends incorrect usage of the word to.  We ended up making up our own word that applies to all forms of the word to.  We now use “tew” for everything and my phone even auto-corrects the normal versions of to, too, and two to tew.  Way too many tew’s.  So if you ever get a text or email from me, please don’t think I am totally out of my mind.  My phone just gets me, and all my inside jokes.

Now onto the fun stuff….like my newest obsession. clearly I am in love I don’t need to explain why I am head over eels-pun intended-in love with these beautiful dishes? No, I didn’t think so.  The pottery over at Cephalopod Ink is bright & fun and of course showcase all the lovelies in the sea.

Speaking of lovely sealife….check out these little cuties. designsponge Design Sponge took a little collection of clam shells and made them adorable reminders of seaside days by turning them into candles.  Putting this on my to-do list for sure, I got a sweet little Maine clam shell that needs some jazzing up. housebeautiful Okay, this week is very fishy….but I mean what do you really expect.

The nautical kids room featured in House Beautiful is beyond cute.  The colors they used not your typical nautical style, but I think it is fresh and perfect for chitlins bright personalities.  But white carpet?  Who are we kidding here?

I wish my bunk beds would have been that cool when I was growing up. goinghometoroost You already know we love our animals, but now Bonnie from Going Home to Roost showed me how to kick the love into overdrive with a bunch of custom pet portraits.  I see stuffed puppies in our couches future.

Did you all do anything fun this week?
Tell me about it.

Written by Christina and Tim
02.21.13

We have lived like tourists in our hometown lately.

Visiting places like the Botanical Gardens, History Museum, and the Zoo.

This weekend we had a special celebration. happy birthday My not-so-baby-sister grew up recently.

I took it as my duty to take her out on the town.

One of the do-not-miss spots was St. Louis’ pride and joy. our pride and joy I think St. Louis is known for two things….
a rapper with a band-aid addiction and a King. the king What’s better than beer?  Free beer. a tour The tour is free and lasts about an hour.  It is chock full’o history and oh yea…BEER.

At the end of the tour you get two glasses of the freshest beer you’ll ever taste.
I assume that’s what my sister was there for.
I was there for the pretty buildings. the clock spacer one the little trolley There were about a million different buildings to see and they all served a different purpose, the first building was the large aging room where the beer gets all of its delicious flavor.  Want to hear the craziest part?  Those tanks were stacked six high.  To drink just one of those tanks you would have to drink a beer an hour everyday for over 130 years.  Then you would have quite a beer belly. i could drink that We also got to see where they jump in giant vats and mash all the hops up ala Lucille Ball.  Ok so maybe that doesn’t actually happen….but mashing does. like moonshine Big surprise, this building was huge as well.
If I had to guess I’d say twenty stories. a freaking huge building Then there were of course, more pretty buildings. spacer two One of the last stops was the factory.  It was…take a guess….huge.

This is where the magic happens, they bottle and can and keg all that tasty goodness.  I so wanted to sing the Laverne & Shirley theme song, if only I had a big glove.  Maybe a neck scarf and a cardigan. makin brewskies On the way out I decided I need a green door somewhere in my life.
I can’t imagine why… i want green doors Our trip would not have been complete with out a family photo.
Then this happened. a family of funny faces I wish I could thank that man personally.

Have you had any hometown fun lately?

Written by Christina and Tim