Dollarz

We currently rent. I started this blog to document our journey from renting to home ownership... well, it was also to serve as a distraction/creative outlet/fun project. The city that we live in is a very expensive place to purchase a house. In fact, it is the 2nd most expensive city in the country so we have our work cut out for us. We are starting with nothing and hope in about a year to end up in our very own house. The first step that we took was to talk to a mortgage broker. After telling him what we wanted to do, he went through our finances with a fine tooth comb and helped us come up with some goals. Here are the options we were given:

1. Pay down 15k worth of our debt. We could then get a 0 down mortgage - most likely at the banks posted rate of about 5.2%
2. Pay down 15k worth or our debt and save 20k towards a downpayment. We would still be paying insurance on the mortgage but with a downpayment of that size, we could probably get an interest rate of about 3%.

The different between 5.2% and 3% could save us hundreds of dollars on our mortgage payments each month which would be a great way to ease us into home ownership. There are so many extra expenses that it would be nice to get used to those and stay within a comfortable range in our budget. So, as fun as it would be to get into a house sooner like option 1 offers, we are being responsibly and delaying the gratification just a little bit longer by going with the second option.

Next step was to develop a budget. We need to pay down 15k and save 30k...sounds easy enough! So I sat down and wrote out a very detailed budget... every single penny that comes into us is now accounted for. That means that entertainment and coffee budgets, limited shopping and no impulse purchases! The budget officially kicks in APRIL 1st 2012... we gave ourself a little bit of a break for the rest of March because we had perviously booked a vacation to Bermuda and that will eat up any extra cash this month.

So, after we kick-off the budget in April, I will be tracking everything in our budget sheet that I created and I will be updating this blog with our progress each month. The budget it 10 months long right now and if all goes according to plan, we will begin house hunting in December. I am REALLY excited to document that process when it gets started... but, one step at a time!
Let's enjoy the journey!

Hooked on Necklaces

Here is where I keep my longer necklaces... recognize the wood? It is the same wood I used as part of my ladder book case and coat rack. I just added some small hooks and voila! Super easy!

 -happymacbeth

Big Bad Baking Recap

If you can believe it, I have been baking for a lot longer than I have been blogging. So, I wanted to bring you up to speed on some things that I have previously baked and taken photos of. Lucky for you, I have always had a weird fascination with photographing things that I have made. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things I didn’t photograph but I hope to make up for that in future posts with new recipes.

Sorry about the quality, these are all cell phone shots!

Baseball cookies – sugar cookies with royal icing -

   

Lemon cupcakes – with lemon curd, vanilla bean buttercream

Vanilla mini cupcakes vanilla and buttercream icing.

Focaccia

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 c. olive oil, plus more for brushing

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 - 4 1/2 c. flour, sifted

Directions:

-In large bowl, combine 3/4 c. warm water, yeast and sugar.

-Let sit for 10 minutes until very frothy (if mixture does not bubble and froth, toss out and start again - your water was too cold or too hot).

-Add remaining water, olive oil, salt and 1 c. flour.

-Stir to combine very well, about 2 minutes.

-Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring to combine.

-Scrape off spoon and with hands, knead remaining flour and pieces into dough.

-Once dough is fully combine, turn onto prepared surface and knead until soft, still a bit sticky and smooth, about 5-7 minutes.

-Clean out bowl, dry and lightly cover with olive oil.

-Place ball of dough into bowl, brush top with a bit of olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, a kitchen towel and let rise in a draft-free area for 1 hour.

-After an hour, line 2 thick baking sheets with parchment and brush each with a tsp of olive oil.

-Turn dough out onto counter and cut in 4 equal pieces with a bench scraper.

-Turn edges of dough pieces underneath themselves to form a nice round ball and stretch a bit to form 8-inch disks.

-Place 2 disks onto each baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap and kitchen towel.

-Let rise for 1 hour.

-Meanwhile, prep toppings you would like to use.

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-Meanwhile, using fingertips, make small indentations in top of dough rounds.

-Brush with olive oil, top with toppings of choice, sprinkle with kosher salt and let rise undisturbed while oven preheats.

-Place baking sheets into preheated oven and bake until loaves are baked through, about 20 minutes, rotating loaves half way through cooking time.

-Remove from oven, let cool, and serve warm or cooled.

Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies

makes 2 dozen

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks)unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup (4.5 oz) good-quality bittersweet (dark) chocolate morsels or chopped chocolate pieces

1 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line cookie sheets with a piece of parchment, or leave un-greased.

Into a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a stand mixer or with a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed (or by hand) beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy and uniform in color. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well-combined. Reduce speed to a low stir and add dry mixture, stirring until just combined. Pour in chocolate and walnuts and stir to combine.

Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough with at least 2 inches of space between. Bake on center rack until puffed, but still slightly shiny in the middle, about 10-15 minutes.

With a spatula, transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Serve with a big glass of cold milk.

Raspberry lemon tarts

-happymacbeth

Weekend Blooms

Here are some seriously BRIGHT photos of the lovely tulips I got this weekend. They were well within the budget at $3.99.

Blooms Update

Here is what my weekend blooms from last week are looking like a week later

They are looking very lovely on our dining room table. They smell incredible and certainly are making me wish for an early spring!

I will be picking up some new flowers this weekend and trying out some different photography and photo staging and editing things with them, so stay tuned!

-happymacbeth

Sushi

Its the weekend and it is date night! Have a lovely weekend everyone!

-happymacbeth

Wedding Bouquet

Stuck with what to do with your bouquet after the big day? Mine was so beautiful and I really wanted to keep it...here is what I did

MY DEAR, do pardon the dust!

I basically only kept the flowers that dry out and keep well, split them up and put them in three vases from Ikea. It has been over three years since we got married so the colour has faded in some of the flowers but I think it looks nice. To give you an idea, here is what they looked like on the big day.

Anyone do anything fun with their bouquets?

-happymacbeth

Wall Flutters

Have I mentioned that I love them?

These two photos also serve as a before and after of my new found photo editing skills! Husband sat down to show me some tricks in lightroom... looking forward to playing around with different photography and editing stuff this weekend!

-happymacbeth

Ladder Upcycle

I have a secret that I must confess. Well, I don’t want to… but in order to make the rest of this post make sense, I  have to. 

I am a garbage picker. Yup, that’s right. If there is something interesting out on the curbs I frequent on garbage night then I will probably, at a minimum, take a closer look. If it is awesome, or has potential to be repurposed into something awesome, then I bring it home. According to my husband, this is probably the thing I do that makes him love me the most… did that sarcasm translate? Annnnnyway, moving right along. 

Last summer, while aimlessly wandering the streets of my neighborhood enjoying the humid summer night, I came across a very old ladder that was being thrown away. It was very weathered and had to be at least 30 years old, and probably not used much in the last 10 – or at least I hope not because it didn’t look very stable. Right away I saw the upcycle potential in this baby. So, I asked (read: begged) the husband to grab it and home we went. 

It sat for a long time. And then a little while longer.  Many months later, once I was good and ready, I started to work on it. My first goal was to remove the back portion of the ladder… but that proved quite difficult. The rivets in it were from a time when things were made to last and I had quite a bit of trouble getting them out in order to detach the back. Eventually, I had to saw into it.

I don’t have photos of this process, just know that it was messy but surprisingly fulfilling. After some light sanding and a quick angling of the legs, I had this

I love the raw, unfinished wood paired with the rest of our apartment.  But wait… there is more! I had a the back part of the ladder left over and lots of scraps of wood so I was able to whip this baby up for our entry way 

All I did was sand the wood down and add the hooks. Normally our coats, bags, keys are scarfs end up all over the place – on the dining room table, living room chairs or just on the floor… this prevents that madness! It is incredibly sturdy – without any issues I can hang my unnaturally heavy purse, work and lunch bag, hubby’s work bag and still have room for scarves.

Thanks to the tiny hooks I added, keys are never lost in this house. 

-happymacbeth