[ happy easter! ]

I HOPE the easter bunny leaves you some little surprises! Have a lovely Easter!

lisa

[via lisa yriarte]

[ colourful and quirky ]

I LOVE the vibe of this home ~ all the bright punches of colour and quirky little decor bits...

 

Isn't it great? How can anyone not smile in a space like that? What's your favourite part?

lisa

[nz house&garden]

[ sofa 911 ]

REMEMBER that sweet day when my lovely Laura Ashley sofa arrived after weeks of waiting?

How I loved her... so comfy and fabulously plump! Well, fast-forward a year and a half ...

What the heck? I've never had sofa cushions melt down to almost nothing. Even with weekly plumping and flipping of the cushions, this is what I get! 

Now if we were living anywhere but here, I would contact the manufacturer and voice my complaint. After all, this wasn't an inexpensive purchase. But being in Dubai, it's a known fact that anything you buy, well, you're pretty much on your own and it simply isn't worth the aggravation (we've already gone through a toaster, microwave and water cooler).

So what to do? I needed to figure something out since it was becoming uglier by the day and so uncomfortable. Finding supplies here is virtually impossible. Until, a lightbulb moment! A foam mattress from IKEA!

I decided I could cut it up to create new cushions and give this baby some support. When I opened up the top cushions, I was disappointed to discover that all they consisted of were three horizontal channels filled with this...

No wonder! Nothing more than the filling you would find in cheap toss cushions! And we all know what happens to them after a while ~ pancakes! I measured the cover and cut a rough piece out of the foam with an exacto knife...

then I checked it for fit...

I flattened out the old filling and wrapped it around the sponge to create some softness and round out the edges...

then put it all back into the old interior casing and sewed it up...

Much better! Maybe not as squishy, but definitely back to its original shape...

I opened up the seat cushions to see what was inside...

Hmm... similar thing. Where were all the feathers it was supposed to have? I counted a handfull. Argh. 

Since I had only used 2 "tubes" of old stuffing to wrap around the foam for the back cushions, I still had 4 leftover. I decided to try stuffing them into the channels on the seat cushions to overstuff them and hopefully retain that soft, cushiness we love about this sofa. It seemed to do the trick...

Much better! I got my cloud-like sofa back {well, except for the back cushions which are a bit firm}. But for the price of a cheap IKEA foam mattress, at least I was able to salvage this baby instead of tossing it to the curb! That's the last time I order a sofa from a catalogue without inspecting its construction first.

lisa

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

[ sleeping in ]

I'D love to be sleeping in this weekend in this bed!

How pretty is that colour combo? The turquoise bed with the mustard duvet and plum rug? So unexpected. I love the mix of patterns too. 

Hope you're sleeping in this weekend in a room equally as pretty. Have a good one!

lisa

[via cozmikhugs.tumblr.com]

[ happy spring! ]

I'VE ALWAYS loved spring. Just knowing that the very worst of winter is gone, days are getting longer and everywhere you look, things are a little bit prettier everyday. Mother nature has been playing a cruel joke on many areas this winter. I hope that wherever you are, you'll be enjoying wonderful buds and blooms soon. Happy spring everyone!

lisa

[via bella185.com]

[ table 9 ]

FIRST, thanks so much for all of your birthday wishes! You sure know how to make me smile! xo

My birthday turned out to be a great day ~ my guy spoiled me by taking me out for a lovely posh dinner at table 9...

Since 2011, table 9 has bagged numerous awards. Chefs Nick and Scott create a fun, fine dining atmosphere where you can create your own dining experience...

We chose to indulge in their multi-course tasting menu so we could try a little taste of many of their signature dishes {I took these pics discretely with my iPhone so I appologize for their quality}...

the menu...

{we could have opted for the wine pairing with each course but stuck with a glass instead}

an amuse bouche starter...

...and a fun way to end the night ~ a candy bar of homemade delights...

It was such a fun night ~ a lovely change from the typical steakhouse restaurant I usually go for. I loved the presentation of each little course. And since they change their menu regularly, next time will be an entirely different experience ~ yes, there will be a next time!

love our goodie bags of treats...

Definitely a very memorable birthday night out!

lisa

[ birthday girl ]

SO I'M the birthday girl today! And in celebration, here's a pretty, pink, girly post ~ because birthdays are all about being pretty, pink and girly...

Happy weekend everyone!

lisa

[via thetomkatstudio.com; fri.klein; happydayout.tumblr; 

via whatchathinkabouthat.tumblr; 5, 6 via northeastparkway.tumblr; 

7, 8 via la-la-la-bonne-vie.tumblr; via zsazsabellagio.blogspot; 

via inspireddesign.tumblr; via crushculdesac.tumblr]

[ monkey business ]

TODAY I'm sharing my recipe for monkey muffins...

Perfect when you're craving some ooey gooey sticky yumminess. These are so easy that this is barely a recipe since it's just about throwing a few things together. Warning: these are not low-cal!

lisa's ridiculously gooey monkey muffins

This recipe makes as many as you have Pillsbury biscuits {I used a package of 5, so I got 5 "muffins"}

what you need:

Pillsbury Grands biscuits

small can sweetened condensed milk {I had 1/2 can leftover}

butter

cinnamon

brown sugar {I used Splenda brown sugar blend since that's all I had}

how to:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Put 1/2 tsp butter into bottom of each muffin tin and sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top.

Cut each biscuit into 3 segments and roll each into a little ball.

Combine some brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Drop each little dough ball into mixture and roll around to coat. Place 3 balls into each muffin tin. Top each "muffin" with 1/2 tsp butter. Sprinkle a bit of extra cinnamon on top.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Remove from oven and pour a generous amount of condensed milk over the top of each muffin {since I used a small package of biscuits, I had about 1/2 a can leftover}.

Allow to sit for a bit to absorb the condensed milk {as you can see, I was VERY generous}.

Scoop out with a spoon and dig in! Yum yum! 

{store extras in the fridge and microwave for a few seconds before serving}.

lisa