Single Serving Sparkling Mint Lemonade

I'm not sure what triggered this evening's brief moment of inspiration . . . but tonight I made me, myself and I, a refreshing sparkling mint lemonade. I was actually in the process of prepping some stuff for lemon ice cream (tomorrow's project!) and I ended up with an extra half of lemon that had already been zested. So I juiced the lemon, added some sugar, and then poured my lemony mixture over sparking mineral water. And it just seemed appropriate to add mint from the herb garden I planted today (pictures of that to come too!) 

In case this is something you want to try, the 1/2 lemon made just under half a cup of juice, stir in sugar to taste, and then I used probably 8-10 ounces of sparking mineral water from Trader Joe's. It wasn't super sweet like lemonade, but was just right in my opinion.

*The gray and white striped straw was bought here on Amazon. They come in packs of 144 for less than $7. Waaaaaay cheaper than anything you'll find on Etsy or any specialty party store . . . believe me, I've looked.

DIY Refinished Hall Tree

Wow . . . my blog has made it to 90 followers . . . thanks everyone! I hope you've enjoyed my random projects and recipes and such. I've been looking forward to posting this project, so here it is! This is our less than $35 do-it-yourself redo of an old ugly hall tree. We found the piece and purchased it for $20, and were even more pleased to discover all the Martha Stewart paint on sale for half price at Home Depot awhile back. So, since we bought her paint and love her trademark teal . . . we decided to paint it teal. 

After a simple sanding, we took the paint gun to it. It was so fast and easy. The whole thing took less than an afternoon. We even kept the original worn out iron hooks just the way they were. You may notice in the "before" picture that the hall tree seems to have traces of some old triangle piece near the top. There were several screw holes there, but no piece . . . and since the wood seemed a little sketchy to patch up . . . we took an old frame, painted it the same color and filled it with one of our home made chalkboards. Now the holes are covered up and we actually have a functional piece. And as our style and preferences change . . . we'll just keep changing the color. Next I'm thinking some shade of royal blue.

Before

 After

Gray Tufted Couch Set

Meet our new couch set, the "Tory" couch from Macy's. It can be set up in so many fun ways! And because Macy's delivery company was lame . . . . we saved a good chunk of change because it was delivered eight weeks lake. Now we'll just have to figure out what to put on the walls.

Today's Latte Art

It's starting to look like a leaf!

Nutella Meringues

To kick of my little spring break last week, I decided to take on a delicious new dessert recipe. So I ventured into the realm of meringue and made Nutella Meringues. I came across these on Pinterest (you can follow me at pinterest.com/JoceyPearsey). This is actually the first Pinterest project I've done. Yay! They were so easy and yummy I just had to share. I'd post the recipe, but I figured I'd direct you back to the source. Check out the recipe posted on the blog Cream Puffs in Venice.

My presentation wasn't awesome. Next time I'll try piping them through an icing bag. But they were nice and light and were especially tasty with a cup of English Rose tea from the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.