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Posted by Sarah on February 8th, 2010
I had a vision of the perfect Valentine’s Day over the weekend that would work for a romantic dinner for two, a plentiful meal for a large family, or even as a buffet-style dinner for a Valentine’s Day party. Seeing as I’m a Minnesotan, I have had just about as much as I can take this winter, and the snow doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, in fact it just keeps on falling every day. All the snow had me dreaming of a summertime picnic filled with bright, happy colors, and warm rays shooting down from the sky. Unfortunately, unless I’m willing to have a picnic full of frostbite, this vision will not be able to become a reality for at least a few months, but I decided to create a Valentine’s Day tableau that involves bringing the outdoors in.
I started it all out with this quilt (which is over 50% off right now), but I imagine many people have a quilt or blanket of some type they could use to drape over the table. I suppose you could even do it in the floor like a real picnic, but I’m imagining all of this on a table. In the center of table, there would be a pretty flower arrangement in a birch vase to bring more of the outdoors in. On either side of the flowers would be a globe glass vase with candy hearts inside. In the center of the table as well, or in front of each guest’s plate would be a 4×6 white frame with black and white heart photos (I used this one, this one, and this one) or black and white photos of your kids or you and your significant other. The real showstopper would be a beautiful cake with lots of fruit to make it really feel like a picnic on a glass cake plate.
The placemats used would be simple white ones as well as white Corelle plates. I incorporated some blue with vintage teal salad plates and more pink with sweet heart cocktail plates to be used for the cake. I kept the silverware simple while making the drinkware fun and colorful (also practical if kids will be using these, but you could easily switch these out for wine glasses). Everything is complete with a simple white pitcher full of a fruity drink or some ice cold milk.
To me, this would be the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner setting. I would probably have to keep my back turned to the window to really believe for one day that it is warm enough for a picnic, but I have a pretty vivid imagination.
What about you? What would your perfect Valentine’s Day dinner look like?
Note: I moved the comments link to the bottom of the post because it is easier to find there. Look for it below the “share/save” button.
Posted by Sarah on February 5th, 2010 Earlier this week, I posted about my thrifty finds I purchased while doing some shopping at consignment stores. My favorite stop was at an amazing consignment store selling furniture, purses, clothing, and home accessories called Kismet Consignment* located in Rochester, MN. If you live in the area, you must check out this store if you haven’t yet. My mom scored two large framed beveled mirrors for About $70 for the pair – what a deal!
The reason I’m sharing this is because I found an incredible piece of furniture there that I’m now obsessed with. It was a tall dresser with two smaller drawers on top separated by a slab of marble with a small mirror in the middle. My mom and I believe it had been a man’s dresser where he would keep his watch and would wash his hands and face in the morning in a washbowl. I have no need for this kind of furniture (or any furniture for that matter) right now, but, you know me – I sure am dreaming about it!
If you have been following my blog for a while, you probably know that I like vintage/antique pieces mixed in with more modern ones. I love traditional pieces with the occasional straight leg or sleek line running along a part of it. I have a passion for the blending of old with new. I am now picturing my dream bedroom with an antique dresser like the one I had to walk away from. I am not sure, if I ever buy a dresser like one of these, if I will paint it or let it be, but I know I like a more rustic, used look that isn’t perfect, so any paint treatment would stay true to that.
The dresser I fell in love with looked most similar to this of all the pictures I could find, although it was much less ornate, had a deeper color stain, and the drawers sat a little higher (man, I wish I had taken a picture).
 Bargain John
Although I fell in love with one like that, I would be very happy with any of the following:
 Royal Oak Cottage
 Aurora Hobbies
 Ebay
 Kinder Kountry
 Forever Pink
 Ebay
And there are plenty of vintage-inspired pieces that could come join me at home any day as well:
 Great Priced Furniture
 All Children’s Furniture
 La Fuente Imports
 Bedroom Furniture N More
Do you have a dresser in your bedroom? If so, what style is it and what would be your dream dresser to add to your imaginary dream bedroom?
*I am in no way affiliated with Kismet Consignment (or any of the stores mentioned in this post for that matter), I am just a new loyal fan of their’s and thought I would share the source of my inspiration for this post in case any of you live nearby.
Posted by Sarah on February 4th, 2010 I don’t know about you, but I love color. I love pops of blues and greens, maybe sprinkle in some pink. I envy a room with crisp whites and bundles of colorful joy in little nooks and crannies – just enough to make you swoon. However, I also am obsessed with the lack of color and all colors combined (i.e. black and white). What is it with these colors, or I suppose I should call them shades, that makes people go crazy?
I mean, take black and white photography for example. If The Pioneer Woman says something is great, you better listen, and she says black and white photos are like fries, once you have one, you need to have them all. Look at some of the finalists from her black and white photography contest.
 thedixiechick on Flickr
Explain to me why a rose is beautiful for its gorgeous color, but can be just as gorgeous (maybe even more so in some way) when it has no color at all. I don’t understand, but sure enough, I’m swooning just as much as you are looking at this picture.
I guess I can let art slide, because art is supposed to be mysterious and captivating in ways unlike any other, so perhaps it makes sense that black and white are beautiful in art. But, then I look at rooms like these and am blown away once again, even though there is not a drop of color to be seen, besides maybe a flower or two.
 Channel 4
 Better Homes and Gardens
Homes & Gardens
 Better Homes and Gardens
House to Home
 Country Living
And I will hardly mention the animals that are too darn adorable for their own good…
 The Cat Gallery
 Wikimedia
 My Crazy Fat Piggy Site
So, maybe I’ve gone too far. The truth is, I love pigs and needed a chance to throw in a cute picture of one (I do love cows and cats, too, don’t get me wrong).
Anyway, I’m sitting here drooling over all these pictures trying to figure out why it is human nature, at least it seems to be in some way, to be drawn to a monochromatic color scheme at times. I can’t say that I would ever design a completely black and white room, but I do love them. I think part of why I wouldn’t is solely because I will have kids one day and that means toys which means lots of color. If only for that reason there will always be color in my home.
I want your opinion – do you think people like it because it’s timeless? And if it is timeless, what had made it that way? Is it because it is clean and easy? Because it let’s your eyes relax after looking at colors all the time? Who know – your guess is as good as any, and I’d like to hear them on this Think About It Thursday!
Posted by Sarah on February 3rd, 2010 I am ecstatic to announce the first giveaway at Dream in Domestic. It is something that will have you jumping up and down when it arrives in one of your mail boxes, or your front door.
 The great people at AllModern.com are providing one lucky reader with one pillow priced at $50 or less to one of my lucky readers! First, let’s look at some other items they sell:
 Beautiful Bedding
 Great Furniture
 Amazing Serving Pieces
They sell so many great items that would appeal to many people with different styles, not just modern. But, I’m sure you would like to see some of the items you could win, right?
There are tons of pillows that would appeal to adults:
       
Plenty that would look great in a kid’s room:
       
And if those don’t appeal to you, maybe these fun, quirky ones will:
       
To browse all of the pillows, head to the pillow section of AllModern.com.
Here’s a recap with some more details:
Who is Eligible: Any person who enters who resides in the US or Canada
The Prize: One pillow from AllModern.com priced at $50 or less
How to Enter: You can enter in the following ways (you can do any or all of these options):
- Head to the pillow section and come back telling me which pillow you will choose if you win.
- Tweet about the giveaway linking back to this post. Once you do that, come back and post another comment linking to the tweet.
- Blog about the giveaway linking back to this post. Once you do that, come back and post another comment linking to the post.
Make sure you post a new comment for every way you enter, otherwise they will only be counted once. Whichever way(s) you enter, make sure you provide an email address I can contact you at if you win.
Length of Giveaway: This giveaway will be open until Tuesday, February 9th. The randomly chosen winner will be posted on Wednesday, February 10th.
All pictures are from AllModern.com.
Posted by Sarah on February 2nd, 2010 I wanted to start my semester off with a bang, so I chose a very simple and affordable (but incredibly delicious) recipe found at Recipe Zaar.
 I revamped the recipe slightly, which you’ll see how below.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb uncooked bow tie pasta (I used Ziti)
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (I only used 3/4 a pound)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used garlic powder I had on hand)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon and made my own broth)
- 1 cup salsa
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
This recipe was very simple and affordable for me to make because I had almost everything on hand already.
Let’s see just how easy it was.
 I started the dish by boiling a big pot of water. Before I poured the pasta in, I took a cup of the boiling water and poured it into a mug and mixed in a tablespoon of the chicken boullion to save for later. Then I poured the whole box of pasta in so it could cook while I got the rest of the ingredients ready.
  Then I cut the chicken into bite size pieces.
Then cut the cream cheese into cubes for later.
  I then buttered the pan and added the chicken. I let it cook for about 4-5 minutes, making sure to stir it occasionally so both sides cooked evenly.
 After the 4-5 minutes, I added garlic and stirred it around. I then let the chicken cook all the way through before continuing.
A little bit later the pasta was ready, so I drained it and set it aside.
 Then I stirred in the flour.
  And added the milk and chicken broth I had set aside earlier, making sure to stir it constantly so it thickens.
  Once the flour was mixed in, I added the salsa and cream cheese. Then I stirred and stirred until it went from this (with chunks of cream cheese mixed with the chunks of chicken):
 To this (only chunks of chicken):
  Then when the sauce started to bubble, I added the pasta.
 And mixed everything together really well. Now, you can either serve immediately once everything is mixed and hot, or you can pour it into a casserole dish to save for later (or to bring to a potluck – which I would highly recommend) like I did because I will be eating this all week.
  If you are saving it, try not to devour every last fork full of this delicious dish before it gets to the fridge. It may be hard, but you will be happier if you let it last all week, savoring it a little bit every day until it’s gone. Then make it again – it’s that good!
What are you cooking this week?
Sidenote: Make sure you stop in tomorrow because my first giveaway will be posted, and trust me, you’ll love it! I can’t wait to share it with all of you!
This post is a part of Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace, and Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff.
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Welcome 
Hello, welcome to my cozy abode in the blogosphere. My name is Sarah, and I am the dreamer behind Dream In Domestic. This blog is a collection
of everything I love: food, decor, saving money, God, and the simple things in life. I am a twenty year old college student who is drawn to all things domestic. I hope you stick around and find something you like. Thanks for stopping by! |
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