Good Morning 😊 I’m waiting on the rain to pass so I can go out and plant my new camellia trees this afternoon. While it’s raining, I figured I’d hop on the blog to share the rest of my week. At this point, all of the days are starting to run into one another, and I can’t keep anything straight. Anyone else feels the same? On another random note, I bought a box of hair dye, and I’m going to attempt it. I’m nervous because the last time I purchased boxed hair die was back in 2013, and it completely fried my hair. I’m sure me bleaching it blonde before had a lot to do with it as well. Cross your fingers for me that it works! I need to get this brassy hair color out of here.
Remember when I said my days are starting to blend, and I can’t keep things straight? Well, I’m just going to roll with the blog post entirely out of order. It would take me way to long to try to figure out the order of which I did things.
Plus, most mornings looked the same. I woke up with my cup of coffee, took the dogs out back, and had an Ezekial gluten-free English muffin topped with vegan butter. Some mornings, I add blackberry jam on top! 
I’ve been playing around with a new gluten-free chicken nugget recipe for the blog, and I finally found one that tastes so good! I’m going to try it again with the air fryer and then again actually frying it in avocado oil on the cooktop. I’m hoping to have a recipe up on the blog by next week. Honestly, we could eat these chicken nuggets for days and never get sick of them. 
And after I get done photographing my meal, I usually pile a side of ketchup, bbq sauce, and mustard for dipping! 
I finally got around to doing a little pantry organization. I now need some smaller glass jars to put some other ingredients in, but I love how it’s turning out so far! I’ll make sure to do a complete reveal when it’s completed!
You can find these jars on Amazon and order the chalk labels.
It’s important for me to keep the pantry organized because you can see it with the glass door. I’m painting the door black sometime this week (I’ve said that for two weeks now 😂) I’ve slowed down on the projects since starting 90 Day Fiance. 🤭
I also got fortunate. I headed into Homegoods (crazy, SC is open right now) to pick up a few things we needed in the house, and I found four barstools in the same style, perfect height, and color that I had been searching for. I had no idea barstools were so expensive online, and these were only $120 apiece! The ones I wanted online were around $400+, So I got all of the chairs for the price of one of the ones online. 
I’m SO HAPPY about tackling is the closet. I have to be in the right mood to organize the closet. It’s not something I can do in a few hours. It’s a project that takes half of a day. I got rid of SO MANY clothes and will be starting a Poshmark soon.
I need to find baskets that are much better looking than the random colored ones on the wall, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I feel so much better now that it’s done! 
While I was doing the closet, our backyard fence was getting installed. This is probably the one thing I was most excited about this house! My dogs LOVE being outside, which was so hard in the townhome. We had to walk them three miles a day to get their energy out, but now they get to wrestle and run around like crazy dogs in their yard. I’m so happy! The cool thing is that our property at the end goes down a hill, so you can’t see the fence from inside the house.
And they LOVE it! 
Kyle and I had an appointment at the Sleepy Poet on Friday and then picked up Chipotle for dinner. It was just as good as I remembered. I always order their salad bowl with chicken, fajita vegetables, pinto beans, brown rice, mild salsa, guacamole, and their vinaigrette. 
Kyle and I picked up some mature camellia trees for the side of the house (we’ll be planting today!) and three white crepe myrtles for the house. I’m a big lover in trees and greenery, and I want to get them started right away. 
We always shop at a local nursery for our plants and trees. Wilson’s in Rock Hill is my hidden gem! They are AMAZING! 
I finished the hanging pots, and they are all up now! 😊 I need to deadhead them today.
I think baking in the new house is so much better. Our old kitchen was so dark, and now I feel like I’m practically outside while baking. I made the oatmeal cream pies for our PM as a thank you. This may have been the best batch I’ve ever made. I think pressing the cookies before they went into the oven helped as well as having an oven that cooks more evenly!
Matcha lattes have been keeping me going during the afternoons! I mix 1 tbsp of unsweetened ceremonial grade matcha with unsweetened almond milk and stevia! It tastes the same as the Starbucks Iced Matcha lattes but without all the extra sugar. I now have my mom and brother’s girlfriend hooked on them. 
I made a random zoodle dish the other night, and surprisingly, it turned out sooooo good. I sliced up the zoodles with my potato slicer (SO MUCH FASTER THAN A SPIRALIER) and way easier to cook because they are half the size. I cooked theme up with olive oil, then cooked the tomatoes in the leftover oil with garlic, onion, black pepper, sea salt, and basil.
I mixed the roasted brussels sprouts in with the tomatoes and zoodles! SO DARN GOOD! Next time, I’m going to add grilled cod and white beans to this dish. 
We also did stir fry with brown rice pasta last week. It was delicious, and I will have that recipe up on Friday! 😊
My dahlias in the front are growing tall and strong! I also have dahlias that I planted from tubers coming up on the side of the house. I will post a photo of those on Cottage Story today! I’m so excited to get my shoes on and head outside to start working!
I’ve been taking progress photos of all the projects I’ve been working on and will have a lot of posts to write when it’s too hot even to go outside! 😂
I hope you have a fantastic Wednesday! xo
- Have you ever had success planting with bulbs?
- What was the last thing you organized?
Hi Tara! What matcha and stevia do you use? TIA! 🙂
I use Green Foods matcha 😊 and i started using a liquid stevia!
Your new house is absolutely stunning. And I am so excited for the dogs about the new fence! I absolutely love seeing the house updates on Instagram. I can’t wait to see what little house projects you will take on in the future to make your house even more YOU!
Concerning your chicken nugget recipe: LEON is a healthy fast-food restaurant in England and they recently posted a video on how they make their gluten-free chicken nuggets. Maybe it’ll inspire you for your recipe! Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdIV33rJFvE ! I hope you have a great week.
Thank you so much, Nadine
AND OMG! I will definitely give those gluten-free nuggets a try. They look so so so good!!!
Your backyard is coming along great, Taralynn! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Thanks so much, Charmaine!
The pups look soooo happy!!!!! The last thing we organized was the basement… not nearly as fun as the pantry!
Thanks, Kristin!
No matter what you organize, it always feels great when it’s done!!
Ahh, congratulations on your new home! I have been so busy with grading and finishing up the semester, but I need to catch up. It’s really beautiful, especially all that awesome natural lighting, and the flowers are so gorgeous and colorful.
That’s so funny that you posted gluten-free chicken nuggets because I am actually making some tonight! I will have to check back for your recipe. I am actually using something you posted months back that I took a screenshot of and am just now trying – a cheese sauce made with non-dairy milk, gluten-free flour, and nutritional yeast? I’m pairing it with broccoli and chickpea pasta. I just started a 30-day elimination diet and am going soy, wheat, grain, sugar, gluten, and dairy-free. It sounds like such a a challenge but with fun recipes like this, I can do it.
Just wanted to drop by to say hello and congrats. Can’t wait to see more!
Thank you so much, Breeanna!
Ohhhhh I bet that cheese sauce will be so good with those chicken nuggets!!!
Keep up the good work with your work!! xo
Thanks for stopping by!!
Those nuggets look so good. And great bar stools by the way. I bet the dogs are loving the new back yard. Matcha is so good, I’ve been adding it to my chia seed puddings so tasty. The last thing I organised was my closet, I moved all my winter clothes to the front, plus I donated 3 bags of clothes to my local op shop, it was so nice to have a clean out. I love planting bulbs, in random places in my garden so they come up everywhere. Hope you have a great rest of your week.
Thank you so much! 😃
Great idea about adding chia seeds! I’m going to do that.
Have an amazing week.
Hi Taralynn!
You are such an inspiration. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone moving so quickly and smoothly. I’m sure it took months of planning and prep, but you are a rockstar! The only bulbs I’ve ever tied are fool-proof daffodils, but I’m hoping to do more gardening around my property after some outdoor house projects this summer.
Thanks for the matcha recipe! Can’t wait to start using it as my afternoon pick-me-up once it warms up here in MA. The last thing I organized was my spare room to set it up as an office to work from home, I’ll be organizing my closet in the coming week, too, and my motivation is the audiobook I’m excited to start listening to, so hopefully it will go smoothly.
Thanks for sharing your new home and especially your gardening adventures!!
Hi, Maureen!
We had nine months to prepare! 🤭 but I appreciate your kindness.
Daffodils are so pretty in spring!
Hope you enjoy the matcha!!
xo xo
I love your dinner ware! Where did you get it? I’ve been on the hunt for some more subdued pieces for my kitchen vs. the shiny blue set that I have now but can’t seem to find what I’m looking for!
Hi, Kelli! It’s actually from Hobby Lobby!! 😊
For your labels you can also try the chalkboard markers i love them because they are so easy to write with and I just use a magic erase marker for when I want to change them.
That’s what I’ve heard! I’ll look out for those!
Beautiful photos! I’ve been wanting to try a ton of your recipes, and I am excited to finally have time to. Definitely starting with the oatmeal cream pies!
I organized our closet a few weeks ago, and it was the best feeling!
Thank you so much!!!!
Starting with the oatmeal cream pies is a great idea 😉
I’ve tried to plant peony bulbs for the past two years and have yet to have any success whatsoever. It’s such a bummer, because peonies are my favorite. The last thing I organized was my kitchen cabinets. We don’t have a pantry so all of our food and kitchen supplies are in the cabinets. I love your pantry! It’s the pantry of my dreams! Really, you’re entire house is just stunning! you have made some great style choices and all the windows, swoon!
I heard peonies really start to pop on year three!! don’t give up! I’m planting bulbs in the fall!
Cute pantry!
Thank you!!
Where are your bar stools from?
Home Goods!