I work downtown Dallas and love it when I get the chance to stroll Main street on my lunch break. This past Christmas I became obsessed with the Neiman Marcus window displays. The storefront windows of the flagship store were adorned with strings of glistening mirrors that sparkled in the daylight and looked even more magical at night.

Inspired by the glitzy glam of the NM display, I decided to try and recreate it in my own apartment. My first attempt proved futile as the fishing line I used was too thin and it broke quickly. My grandma quickly took charge of the project and ended up completing it for me! I hung the finished baubles from my curtain rod and they looked fabulous as they sparkled, making a perfect backdrop for my Christmas tree.

When the holiday season came to a close, I was still too obsessed with my glittery window decorations to take them down. With Valentines day only a few weeks away I decided to jazz the windows up by hanging some heart ornaments that were included with a pack of IKEA ornaments that I bought for Christmas. (See Amy at *Stem’s* post today about Freecycling Christmas ornaments)

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I rarely cook and when I do I scarcely venture outside of my four favorite no-fail recipes. When I emailed my friend a link to the Best Chicken Recipes on RealSimple.com and told him to choose one I knew I would be up against a challenge as I had only attempted one recipe on the list before and it didn’t turn out all that well. Luckily, the potpie recipe turned out to be as simple as it purported, and it was incredibly delicious. I recommend this recipe to anyone; see it after the jump!

When trying a recipe for the first time you learn a lot. Here are my lessons learned:

• It is hard impossible to find small round aluminum foil pans. In a survey of Wal-mart, Target and Albertsons, none of these major retailers carry potpie-suitable foil pans. Your best bet is to buy some inexpensive ramekins. I bought mine at World Market for $2.99 a piece. Note: The ramekins I purchased did not say “oven safe.” I took a chance and they held up well and we had no problems.
• Pie crusts are round. When you cut them into quarters you end up with pie shaped pieces of dough. You can easily make them round by balling up the dough then flattening and shaping with a rolling pin. This helps them to fit in the round bowls better which makes for prettier pot pies.
• There are several types of frozen mixed vegetables. When I was at the store I could only find “California Mixed Veggies” in the freezer, so that is what I bought. The carrots were great but it was a little unusual having broccoli (which wasn’t that bad) and cauliflower (yuck!) in a potpie. From now on I’ll hold out for a more traditional potpie mix (carrots, peas, celery and onions). In fact, the recipe was so good, I might even splurge and buy fresh veggies! Note: On Monday, after I had already bought my ingredients, I received my February Real Simple which gives a “healthier” pot pie recipe that includes measurements for fresh veggies. I’ll try and post it when I get a chance or just pick up a copy of RS on the newsstand.
• You have to cook the chicken. I am not a great chef so when I try a new dish I follow the recipe to a tee. Unfortunately this recipe did not actually instruct me to cook the chicken. It merely says to use ”cooked chicken” in the ingredient list. I had the entire potpie mixture ready to go before I realized this. (Actually, I didn’t realize it; my mom just happened to stroll in and ask if we were making vegetarian pot pies!)  Thankfully I had the chicken thawed and just had to throw a couple breasts in boiling water.
• Other tidbits: Here are some other recipe tweaks that we made on the spot. I’ve included my suggestions on the original recipe below in blue. (1) One can of Cream of Chicken soup makes for a very dry mixture. We added another half a can to make a more traditional potpie mixture. (2) Go ahead and add another 1/4 cup of milk to balance out the extra soup. (3) Two boiled chicken breasts turned out well. For more chicken, add a third.

Despite the seemingly long list of lessons learned the pot pies turned out fabulously! They were delicious and we ate every last bite! I can now add a fifth recipe to my repertoire of never-fail crowd pleasers. We refrigerated the two not eaten last night and I will soon go home to heat one up for lunch! Don’t you just love leftovers?!

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Friday before last was like Christmas all over again! When I got home from work I was greeted at my door by six huge Crate & Barrel boxes full of the prizes I won from the Inspire Me! Holiday Entertaining contest. At first I tried to keep things neat and tidy, putting the bubble wrap and paper back into the boxes as I unwrapped all my new entertaining goodies. But I just got too excited!

Seriously, I think I have all the “entertaining essentials” I could ever need! (Or at least that could fit into my tiny kitchen!) Among my favorites are the Serving Set, Dizzy Cocktail Glasses and Appetizer Plates. My mom is also happy about the two-tier serving stand, since I can now give her back her three-tier stand that I borrowed for a few months. I can’t wait to throw a party with all my new party items!

Also among the loot were two C&B gift cards totaling $1,250. I could hardly wait to go shopping! Saturday afternoon I ventured out, gift card in tote, to the Crate & Barrel at Knox-Henderson to meet my mom for some “simul-shopping.” Simul-shopping, as she likes to call it, is when we both go to the same store – her in Austin, me in Dallas - so we can scope out deals together. My first purchase was a big one. I bought this fabulous Avalon Extension Dining Table.

While I love my current table, it was thrift store purchase and every time I want to add the leaf I have to turn the table upside down and unscrew all the hinges to make them fit. There was nothing quick or easy about it and often times I’d reassemble it wrong. I opted out on the chairs since I don’t really like matchy-matchy things. I’ll keep looking for chairs, but in the meantime I love the poppy-back antique chairs my mom helped me paint black. I picked up  my table yesterday and set it up! It is so cute and fits perfectly in my dining room. It will make serving six so much easier and more fun! I promise to post pics when I get them off my camera!

My oh-so inspirational friend, Chris, at Celebrations At Home has picked Design by Kendall for the Blog LUV award! Thank you for thinking of me! I’ve had so much fun tracing the award back and finding all new fun and inspirational blogs! Now it’s my turn to blog it forward. For my contribution, and to keep the awards going, I’ve added a new award graphic! Now, here are the rules and ten blogs that I LUV!

Honorees please follow these instructions and share the LUV!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (You can highlight the photo and text of this post and copy/paste wherever you need to…start your highlight from the bottom up to get the photo)
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

I am going to try to share the LUV with some great blogs that haven’t been recognized yet! Drum roll please…My ten awards go to:

1. I Hate Green Beans << My current fav!
2. Create my Event
3. Cupcakes take the Cake
4. Snippet & Ink
5. Michelle Rago Ltd. Blog
6. McCain Blogette
7. Chris Harrison ”The Bachelor” Recap Blog
8. Beebop Cola
9. Totally Tabletops
10. Setting the Mood

In need of a last minute hostess gift? Look no further than the $1 rack at Target! Target supplies cute and festive dish towels and pot holders for most every holiday. They range from $1.00 to $2.50 which definitely fits my budget! The valentines dish cloths pictured above made a perfect gift for the hostesses of last nights Bachelor watching party. Simply remove the tag and tie the towels together with coordinating ribbon for a homemade touch!

Today I want to share some of my favorite magazines. I’ve also listed a few that I’m thinking of trying out. Leave your own reviews of the magazines listed here and let me know if there are any other must-subscribe mags out there that I’ve missed!

• Real Simple– I have subscribed to Real Simple since I was 18. While it addresses many issues I’m not yet  facing – kids, in-laws, aging, etc. –  it is cross generational enough to keep my interest. I love the simplicity of their ideas and inspiration! Only one complaint: I have been rather unimpressed with the few recipes I’ve tried from this mag. They may be quick and easy but they aren’t always that tasty!
• Martha Stewart Living – I started getting living when Martha’s new mag, Blueprint, was cancelled. I skip through the gardening parts but there are always great entertaining and decorating ideas. I rarely cook any of the recipes but the few I have tried have turned out really well.
• Budget Travel – This is truly a multi-generational magazine. It is a great resource for travel planning, and it provides a great escape from everyday life! The different features give great ideas on non-traditional vacations and smart money-saving travel tips.

Here are a few more mags I have been thinking of trying but am not sure if I would enjoy. Does anyone subscribe to these? Please leave a comment and give me your feedback!

• Domino – I don’t know much about this one other than it is a decorating magazine focused on younger readers.
• Every day with Rachael – From what I gather this mag is focused on recipes. Is that true? Or is there more to it? Keep in mind, I’m not a great cook and don’t tend to try things with more than 5 ingredients.
• The Nest – It looks so cute but I am worried it is too centered on newlyweds. (I’m very single!) I’ve never actually bought a copy so I don’t really know.

UPDATE: I emailed the editors of the three “to try” magazines listed above. I promptly recieved a reply from the Editorial Assistant at The Knot. She provided this description of “The Nest”:

The Nest Magazine is a controlled-circulation lifestyle publication for newlyweds and is not sold on newsstands. So who gets it in their mailbox? Members of our sister site, TheKnot.com, who have just gotten hitched. The good news is,  you can get all the great content from our magazine on TheNest.com, plus so much more. We have everything from home-buying and money advice to easy dinner recipes and décor tips, plus tons of relationship articles. You’ll also form online friendships on our addictively fun message boards. Become a member (it’s free!) of TheNest.com.

I honestly think I’ve been more social in the past week than in the entire year of 2008. Not that I wasn’t social before, but I’ve been as busy as a bee with parties to host, football games to watch and work to finish! In the past week and a half I have hosted three parties including a tailgate at the Cotton Bowl , a Bachelor viewing party and a sorority alumni club wine tasting/drinking party (pics to come). I also attended a NYE party and a bonfire. Seriously, I’m partied out!

For today’s post I am taking a much-needed break from Photo shop and posting my New Year Resolutions. Also enjoy the pic above of me and some girlfriends from New Years Eve. Here they are:

• Two new passport stamps (at least one to a country I’ve never been before)
• Send more handwritten notes (keep up to date with birthday cards)
• Find creative name for and redesign my blog
• Go to the gym more often
• Take more bubble baths
• Take a class to learn a new or improve an old skill  (ballroom dancing, photography, yoga or something)

Last Friday I had the opportunity to watch my Alma mater, Ole Miss, put a whopping on the 11-1 Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Rebs pulled out a victory 47-34 in Dallas surprising everyone!

The game was a blast, but the real fun began before the game with a few great hours of tailgating. Below are a few pictures of my family’s tailgate. We did our best to bring the Grove to Dallas with a nice little spread of food and cocktails. Our tailgate even made a cameo in a Dallas Morning News video (skip to 1:22) and on the Commissioner of Tailgating blog. Sorry for the messy photos; the food was picked over before we could take any pics!

The table cloth was inspired by the Big Game party theme on Hostess with the Mostess.

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Last weekend I was invited to a camp out at my friend Morgan’s house. My mother taught me to never to go a party empty handed so in the campfire spirit I prepared a basket of Smores bags to bring along. They were a huge hit! Here’s the details on how to recreate them.

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See this post from Hostess with the Mostess:

Let’s Eat Cake, an amazing fundraiser hosted by the equally amazing Melissa Margarita-DiStefano, is coming up quick: Tuesday, February 17th at the Plaza Paramount Hotel! Let’s Eat Cake is a cake decorating competition with all proceeds going to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Learn more about the fundraiser right here.

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