option….

A new breakfast creation!!

Although today’s weather was chilly + dreary, all I could think about was eating this new concoction for breakfast.  I sipped vanilla black tea alongside, which made for a lovely combination.

We had leftover cooked [in water] red quinoa from Tuesday night.  I knew I wanted to make a parfait type breakfast, and I knew that quinoa would be a part of it. 

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I started to layer things up…

  • ~1/2c pre-cooked red quinoa
  • 3/4 sliced banana
  • 1/3c Helios drinkable yogurt
  • 3T raw amaranth, popped into ~1c popped amaranth 
  • 5 large organic frozen strawberries, defrosted
  • ~1/4c Helios yogurt
  • the rest of the banana

But I needed more layers, and they were not going to fit!!

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So.  What to do?  Empty it into a bowl and pour on more toppings.

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The photo factor definitely plummeted.

However, the taste was not compromised.

More quinoa + yogurt were added [~1c total of each], and a glob of peanut butter.  This was a gigantic breakfast bowl and much better than expected.  SO much to chew on!

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Note to self [and you!]:  Cooked quinoa makes a delicious part of breakfast!! 

The plain flavor of this yogurt was perfect.  It wasn’t too tart and had great consistency.

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Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some kitchen organization progress photos.  I did make some progress today, but not photo-worthy.

Here are some before photos of everything kind of just slopped into the cabinets.

I plan to buy a pan organizing rack, so they’re not all leaning on each other, which makes them hard to grab.

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The current setup for this cabinet is not working. 

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This cabinet was shelf-less until today! My uncle had to hack the cabinet down 3” to fit.  Good thing it was the hidden corner cabinet!!  You can’t tell at all.  Today I had to hack down the shelves so they would fit.  They’re in, but still empty…I have issues making organizational decisions!!

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This may look somewhat organized from a far, but if you take a closer look, it’s chaos.

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I can’t wait until that 3rd bedroom [to the right] is actually a bedroom!

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The closet shelves have been painted.  Exciting, no?

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One actual exciting thing, is that I ordered a comforter set!!!  After a ton of contemplation [I get sick of things easily], I went with one of the underdogs!  The votes were really fun to see, but it was your comments that helped me out the most.  Thank you all so much for the help!  This was so much fun. :)

Final votes: 608 votes

Option 1 – 47%

Option 2 – 23%

Option 3 – 10%

Option 4 – 6%

Option 5 – 14%

My reasons for not choosing the following options:

Option 1 – While I love the colors, the pattern was a little busy for my liking.  At first, this was the winner for me.  However, I realized I wanted something a little more contemporary.  Also, the bedroom is quite small, and I thought this busy pattern might be a bit overwhelming.  Something a little simpler, with more white, would make the room larger.  This was also the only set that was photographed completely “done-up,” with all of the pillow sand accessories, which makes it flashier + more appealing at first glance.

Option 2 – I’ve been on the brown + blue kick for awhile now.  While I love this pattern, I think I might tire of these colors.  I’m already using blue/gray in the kitchen, and didn’t want to overdo the blue.  I wanted something to contrast with the kitchen and be a little bit edgier.

Option 3 – While I love the idea of a BRIGHT green wall, I am not digging the giant black flowers at all.  I love the gray pattern, but not the black.

Option 4 – Brown + coral is another color scheme that I love.  Actually, my whole wedding was brown + coral.  It’s warm and comforting, but I want something with a little more pop!  The pattern was still a tad on the traditional side for me.

Wedding table photo :)

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Winner:

Option 5 – Yup, this is it!!  After hours of contemplating, reading your comments, and discussing with a few design friends, this was the winner!  I seriously have issues when it comes to getting sick of color schemes.  It even happens with my winter coats.  It’s something I really have to think through.  This comforter is not overwhelming and there are a lot of options for paint.  I’m not planning a solid accent wall, but maybe stripes.  Horizontal stripes.  I’m obsessed with looking at horizontal striped room photos.  It’s a clean look that I love and adds a bit more contemporary edge to any room.  I pulled the trigger and ordered it tonight.  The only bummer was that it’s online only, so I had to pay $12 in shipping.

Horizontal stripes anyone??  I would only paint the wall behind the bed with the stripes, and I’m still deciding [obviously] if I’m going to do stripes at all!

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LOVE this look for a bathroom!

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Sleep time!