Kimball Kitchen: Easypeasy Donuts

These donuts are soooo simple! I was browsing around on pinterest and saw these donuts made from buttermilk biscuits. I had a tube of biscuits in my fridge and thought I would give 'em a whirl. All you have to do is cut the center out, fry, coat with sugar, and enjoy.

Seat Cushions

When buying chairs for our kitchen table it was hard to face the reality that we would not be buying the coveted Tolix Marais Armchair that we have been obsessing over. Instead, we went with a look-a-like. The quality and color is not quite the same but they have a similar look and for a fraction of the cost it was too good to pass up. The downfall to having metal chairs are: one, they are cold and two, they are hard. We knew we wanted seat cushions for them and we knew we wanted leather. With the help of my mom, I tried my hand at making them. My talented mom made up the pattern as we went along and came up with these. I love how they turned out and best of all no more cold buns. Thanks mom for your help!

A penny for your thoughts...

... or for your tulips. Some of you may already know this but, I learned a new trick. If you add a penny to your tulip water they stand straight up.  I added a spoon full of sugar for nutrients and two pennies to the water of my tulips and it worked! They are as perky as could be. I've also heard a little bit of bleach will help your flowers last longer too.  What tricks do you have up your sleeve to make those Valentine flowers last longer?

Me and My Valentine

Ryan and I had a very nice, low key Valentines. After work we went to dinner in Boulder at this little family owned restaurant called Il Pastio. We went there last year too, it is becoming quite the little tradition. It is nice to go to a SMALL QUIET place for Valentines. I hate celebrating with the masses.  The whole restaurant only has no more than 10 tables, and it is run by a husband, wife and their son. The pasta and sauces are all hand made, I have yet to find better Italian food, Period. 

I gave Ryan this adorable print I ordered from Etsy, with our initials and wedding anniversary printed on it. You can custom pic your colors for the birds and the trees and I painted the matting yellow. I thought it was so cute, it will make the perfect art addition to our bedroom. Happy Valentines to you and yours!

Ryan turns 30!

Ryan turned 30 last month! I can't believe we are entering that stage of our lives, but for being only thirty I would say he has a lot to be proud of.  I tried to surprise Ryan with tickets and a trip to Vegas for his birthday. He has been talking about going to Elton John for the longest time and I wanted to make his wish come true. It was supposed to be a surprise, but one glance at the bank statement blew that. 

Surprise or no surprise it was a blast! The weekend was perfect. We stayed at the Wynn and ate at delicious restaurants all weekend long. The night of the concert we ate at this Spanish restaurant inside the Cosmopolitan, Jaleo.  It was awesome! The food was spot on with flavors that had us reminiscing of Spain. The concert was incredible. Elton sounded amazing, every time I looked over at Ryan he was just grinning from ear to ear. Happy Birthday Ryan!

Santa Fe

For new years we joined my parents in Santa Fe. They we were coming back from a road trip to Vegas and we were wanting to get away for the weekend, so Santa Fe made perfect sense. Neither Ryan or I had been to Santa Fe, but there was one thing that has been drawing us down there for a few years and that is Bobcat Bite. The hamburger joint we have anticipated for a few years made the Kimball approved list.

Other than the good burger, Santa Fe has streets and streets of boutique shops, galleries, and adobe structures.  The smell there was so nice, I'm not sure exactly what type of wood it is, but there are a lot of wood burning fires filling the air with this wonderful sent of cedar/ Pinion?? I love the smell of pine and wood burning. We bought a couple of wood bundles to bring home with us to burn in our fire pit, I can't wait to burn them.

Mom and Dad and their long trailer. It was so funny listening to Dad tell stories of their RVing experiences so far. They were caught up in one too many conversation with people that have nothing better to do then talk your ear off, and everyone in the parks are willing to lend an extra hand. Dad said when they first pulled into one spot they had a handful of people jump on over to help them back it in, yelling from different direction, "keep it coming," "a little left," "a little right."  Mom and Dad are pretty excited for their adventures to come in the Cameo and mom already started a Cameo journal to document it all.

Lifelong Friends

An advantage to having a best friend's parents move 15 min from your house is that you get to see them more often!! Lindsay and Matt came up for the holidays, so we spent the day at their cabin, played around in the snow, and played games late into the night.  I am thankful for lifelong friends and being able to stay in touch when we live so far apart. xoxo