Tilapia Stew... yum

I had this tilapia that I needed to use yesterday and wasn't sure what to do with it... Until I had the brainstorm of making a fish stew. I've never made a fish stew before even though I've made tons of soups (one fall AJ and I hosted a soup night at our house every Sunday night).


Not sure how to make a fish stew I did some googling and found a bunch of different recipes. I ruled out making one with clam juice because that grosses me out and I didn't want something creamy for health reasons (which is bizarre because I just finished off two of the most amazing salted chocolate covered caramels). So, I did what normally I'm too scared to do. I improvised. And it turned out fabulously. :)

Saute in 2 tbs of butter:
1 medium chopped onion
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots

Add:
4 c. chicken broth
3 medium to large cubed potatoes
Simmer for about 10 minutes

Add:
1 - 1.5 pounds of tilapia cut into bite sized pieces (I'm sure cod or haddock would work well)
1/2 c white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
Old Bay Seasoning to taste (or any other fish seasoning, I actually used a Williams-Sonoma salmon dry rub marinade)
Simmer for about 10 minutes

It was sooo easy and good!

A Gray Bird Lampshade

Here is a project I've been wanting to get to for... ohhh... forever. I loved these lamps, and I picked them up at Christmas Tree Shops, of all places! I think they were something like $10 each a few years ago. The blue went perfectly with my room then but now I wanted something that matched the gray in our master a little better. Here is the before shot:

An up close and personal shot... as you can see the shades were looking a little worse for the wear:

So, for a while I'd had my eye on this great Robert Allen gray bird fabric from JoAnn Fabrics. I wasn't sure if it was too off-white to be a pillow on the bed but I knew having it as a lampshade would work well since it wasn't touching a white bedspread.

After laying it flat I folded it in half (I measured how much I'd need to fit my two lampshades at JoAnn's) and then cut it right down the middle.

Because the shades are slightly wider at the bottom the fabric looked like this when I wrapped it (of course I forgot to take the photo before I cut the fabric so I just put it back where it was pre-cut):

Then I used some fabric glue (also from JoAnn's) and rolled the hem so I wouldn't see any unfinished edges and glued it to the underside of the lampshade.

It ended up looking something like this. As you can see it is a little tricky working around the wires (is that what they are called?) and doing the hem on the outside of the shade (see top right of photo):

I held each roll in place so the glue would dry with binder clips and that worked perfectly. The fabric glue is a quick dry!

Now for the finished product! I love the bird dish with the bird pattern on the lampshade.

I need your advice on this next shot... is it too much to make a pillow for the bed if it's just a strip of the same fabric down the middle (and then a solid border on the sides)? Mom, I need you to weigh in. :)

Can someone do me a favor and "pin" this? I'm off of my beloved Pinterest during Lent (and yes, every day I want to pin something so I remember it but instead I have piles of magazine photos ready to pin. :))

I owe you all a good update on Meredith, my sister-in-law, after her 10 hour heart surgery yesterday. Long story short, it went really well. I'm going to visit her today (hopefully!) and will update more after that. Have a wonderful day!

Daffodils, Babies and Hunger Games

We had a crazy weekend here...
Family was in town visiting Meredith (AJ's sister who is in Mass General awaiting a heart transplant) and we had a wonderful visit with them... Here is AJ holding five week old Patrick; he is still smaller than Drew was when he was born! And, no, seeing this photo does not make us want another, so don't ask. :) But doesn't AJ look adorable holding him?

April was in heaven with her two little grandsons! My mom bought Drew and Patrick matching little outfits. :)
I just love Alison's face in the mirror here (Alison is Patrick's mom and my sister-in-law).

Holding hands!

On Sunday I was still struggling with feeling awful. I was diagnosed with the norovirus (basically, it's the flu on steroids) on Friday and I hadn't kicked the exhaustion part yet but had to do the decorations for a fundraising event on Sunday afternoon. I spent $13.50 on daffodils from Market Basket and cut the most amazing curly branches from our lilac trees for tiny little green leaves. How's that for six inexpensive centerpieces and three giant wine carafes filled with leafy branches?

The car is loaded up and ready to drop it all off!

I used some drawers from a dresser AJ found on the side of the road to transport the vases, it worked beautifully... and I think it looks a lot more fabulous than cardboard boxes that would get soaked with water.

I was the lucky recipient of ALL the daffodils after the event:

Okay, and last but CERTAINLY not least.... who else saw the Hunger Games this weekend? I read the book in a complete whirlwind over Christmas break and was weary of loving the movie since, well, I rarely love the movies after entering into a book love affair. I loved it and it was WAY less gory than anticipated.

Your thoughts?

A Living Room Redesigned

I'm working with my friend, and former co-worker, Nancy, on her living room. She is hosting a wedding at her house in August and wanted to do a little "sprucing"... I told her I'd come up with some ideas for her space so after having fun doing some virtual shopping I came up with a few mood boards for her fantastic Essex house on a gorgeous salt marsh.

Nancy already has a black coffee table and wanted to incorporate some reds into the space. She would like to have two apartment sized sofas and two chairs. Here is the space currently:

And now some ideas...

A West Elm loveseat; a chair from Overstock; Pottery Barn Daphne Rug and pillows from Target.

Or you could do a slightly more classic style sofa with the same rug:

The Pottery Barn Brant Persian rug goes nicely with the Home Decorators Markham sofa in this next design, I think two off white chairs could look great with this as well but I was struggling to find the right ones:

This next design is more casual, with a tan coral rug from Pottery Barn, Bliss Living Gemini Pillow, Tovano Dark Brown Leather chair from Overstock and the Pottery Barn Comfort Loveseat.

This next design is fun and bright, although I'm not sure it's exactly what Nancy is looking for... but because she hasn't fully nailed down what she was looking for I figured I'd throw this together. It's a red coral pillow from Sears that I love, the Overstock Red Bonded Leather tub chair, the Pottery Barn Comfort Loveseat and the PB Chunky Jute rug.

What are your thoughts? Any faves?

Flipping a House

Lindsay, a blog reader, recently emailed me and asked for some tips on flipping a house. Since the majority of you are house lovers I figured possibly, maybe, this is something that could interest you. And because just reading text on a blog is incredibly boring to me I've interspersed the advice with some photos of our first flip. Let's just say it was a DOOZY when we bought it (I have all the before shots from a certain angle immediately before the after shots from that same angle).

How do I know what house to buy?
Well, not this one... you might think! :)


kitchen angle #1 before


kitchen angle #1 after


kitchen angle #2 before


kitchen angle #2 after


kitchen angle #3 before


blurry kitchen angle #3 after

• Always buy a house that has the assessedvalue significantly higher than the purchase price. You can find this info on any listing page.
• You can change the house, not the location (look at the neighborhood, the busyness of the street, school system, etc). What will potential buyers turn you down for after you make the place look like a million bucks inside?
• Look for a house with things that seems feasible to work on. Hiring out is expensive so know how much things cost; try to find this out during the inspection phase if at all possible.
• Ask your real estate agent what things have sold for on the street you want to buy on.
  You should be buying one of the worst houses on the street for one of the lowest prices so that you can sell it for the price one of the best houses recently sold for. Make sense?

How do you finance an investment property?


sorry for the blurry photo... living room before we touched anything.


living room after painting and refinishing the hardwood floors

• If it is an investment property you will need to put 25% down.
• We have found that with both properties we have rehabbed that it cost us around $35k. Ask the bank for the cost of the property + $35k for renovation costs (less if bathrooms, kitchen and electrical / plumbing don't need to be redone; more if you need to replace a driveway or roof).
• It is easier to work with smaller banks, you can develop a good relationship with them which could be helpful if you want to work on a second property at some point.
• Figure out how long you think it'll take you to renovate... Make sure you factor carrying the mortgage into your budget.

 

Any renovating advice?


bathroom before


bathroom after a complete gut job

• Find a plumber and electrician you can trust. Ask people you trust for advice.
• We have averaged $15k for plumbing and electrical work in each of our two renovations. Things always end up being more expensive than you expect so try to plan on it being around those numbers...
• We have done two IKEA kitchens. They are great because you can pick them up that day but not so hot because you'll need to put the cabinets together, that, my friends, is time consuming.
• A good substitute for IKEA cabinets would be stock cabinets at Home Depot or Lowes. You get them that day and don't have to put them together.
• Counters for a flip: Google "wholesale granite" in your area.... It is way cheaper than going through Home Depot. We found waiting for Home Depot to template and install counters takes forever. Our wholesale place was FAR quicker.
• Another thing I just found that could be great for a rental, Google: "Lettered Cottage Faux Marble". It is a laminate that looks identical to marble.
• Replacement windows can take up to eight weeks to come in when ordered at Home Depot. Measure and order early.

Any tips you have for renovating a flip?

Centsational Girl Guest Post

I am guest posting over at the amazing blog Centsational Girl today. You know when you discover someone with loads of style and design sensibilities and you can't get enough of them? That's Kate, Centsational Girl's author. I would live in her soothing house in a nanosecond. If you haven't been to her blog you must move it and groove it. Want a little taste of how fabulous her style is? Luscious, right?



A BIG WELCOME to Centsational Girl readers who are visiting Migonis Home! I'm thrilled to have you here! Probably the best way to get to know us is to take a little virtual tour of our home via the Home Tour tab... and then spend some time diddling around on the blog. :)

Thanks, Kate, for such a fun opportunity!

Designing a Blog Header

I'm sitting here with AJ eating chocolate chips and watching The Money Pit... with an incredibly young Tom Hanks and Shelly Long. AJ doesn't love watching this movie because it seems a little too close for comfort as we work on our own money pit (new windows! new kitchen! new insulation!). :)

I've had a lot of questions from blog readers about how to make collages or how to make their own blog header. It's simple process in Google's free program, Picasa. Here is the start to making your blog more personal and less Blogspot template!

Find one of your favorite background photos. In my case I took a picture of the siding on our house since the gray worked with the grays in our kitchen or bathroom.

Then take a few of your favorite photos that work with the coloring of your background, in my case I did two of our most recent kitchen and bedroom photos and a photo I took of Drew on a beach close to our house.

If you are in Picasa, after you have selected all the photos (at once) that you want hit the "collage" button on the bottom of the screen. Choose "Picture Pile" and the "white borders" option. Make sure you include your background photo when highlighting your photos. Once you are in the stage of designing your college highlight the photo you would like to use as a backdrop. Click "use image" for background.

Now, for the most important thing, if you are making a blog header set the Page Format to .75 x .25 (test it out if this works for you, but if you are using Blogspot it seems to work well).

After you chose those options then click "create collage" on the left hand menu bar. At this point you can add text. Notice that option in the middle of the last row? It's really easy to maneuver and change your font.

I've read that to make a piece of graphic design really work that you shouldn't use more than two fonts... three at max. For my blog header I only used one font, but two different variations (CAPS and italics)

 

There you have it! A simple tutorial on making a blog header in Picasa.

......

Before we take off I should tell you that the same idea can be applied to make a photo to commemorate your child at a specific age, like this one I did of Drew. Just add text to any photo like I showed you on the photo above.

So, tell me, what are you going to do for your blog header?

Backyard Renovations

In between some feverish master bedroom work AJ found time to brainstorm our new patio. When we moved into the house the backyard was just grass. And a giant Rubbermaid container left behind by the previous owners.

After we had been in the house for a little bit AJ started working his gardening magic. He created a mini stonewall and planted dozens of flowers everywhere. This photo was taken last June when everything was in full bloom. He even bought a few of the stones under the patio set whenever we had some extra money from his summer painting jobs. But we never finished the patio with those stones.

Enter in this weekend of gorgeous 70 degree days when AJ decided to make use of the dead space to the left of our back stairs. He created a bed to surround a 20 x 20 area with bricks that our neighbor was getting rid of and transplanted everything that was gorgeously flowering in the previous picture. The stones are going to be moved out to the front to create a stone walkway and we are either going to keep this how it is or lay bricks over the top... We haven't decided yet.

I'll make sure to post photos when everything starts blooming like it was last June.

AJ did about 95% of the work on the patio but I wanted to surprise him while he was at school yesterday and pick up a load of the pea gravel in the truck so he could finish his patio once he got home. Well, actually, I had grand plans of finishing it for him but of course, when you have a 14 month old things never happen how you envision. Drew and I only got to the part of ordering, picking up and unloading the gravel and then digging up some of the grass before AJ got home. For the boy who loves rocks taking the time to unload them all was a hit! :)

Counting down the minutes till the grass turns green and the plants start blooming!

And counting down the minutes till my body stops feeling like a truck ran over it from unloading tons of rocks yesterday...