Heaven in a Bag

Summer just means a constant craving for S'mores. This is nothing short of a miracle because I am simply not much of a marshmallow fan. My idea of the perfect S'more is a huge chunk of Hershey's chocolate delicately placed in between two graham crackers. Sans marshmallow. Who needs that white, gooey goodness, anyway?

Innocently walking through the "summer" section at Walcrap a few weeks ago led me to a sweet discovery. Marshmallow Stackers? What are these little wonders? After a few seconds of deep consideration, I realized that this could be the perfect solution to my marshmallow hatred. It was a marshmallow that could be heated up, even in the microwave, and could melt the beloved chocolate on the beloved graham crackers squares. But these were smaller/flatter than a normal marshmallow and wouldn't overpower the other two much-better flavors. 

So in my shopping cart they went. And we tried them that evening for dessert. Since we are fireless at our home, we popped them into the microwave for 13 seconds, per the instructions on the back of the bag. Then we squished them into the S'more and enjoyed.

And they were yummy! Not too much marshmallow, but just enough gooey to bind everything together. It was simply delicious.

I know most people in the country are gearing up for the fall season. But my high today in Phoenix is 110 degrees. I think we're entitled to a few more months of summer treats before the S'mores need to disappear until next year.

Give these Stackers a try if you usually avoid marshmallows...like me.

Let There Be Shelves

I got home very late last night from an awesome week at work. And then I woke up at 5:30 AM to let two strange men into my house. Shelving time had finally arrived! I am tickled that I was home to see it all come together. What started as (beautifully-painted with two coats, ah-thank-you) blank walls this morning became my perfect pantry just two hours later! 

I am elated.

What's left to do: Hubby and I need to sand some of the edges of the shelves to prep them for paint. I bought a gallon of white semi-gloss for the shelves, but I am thinking I should have it tinted to match the walls instead. That is a LOT of taping if we go with white. Shelving Guy also recommended that we caulk all the creases, which will be an additional adhesive to help the nails hold everything together. I think after caulking every single line in that pantry, the last thing we will want to do it tape it all off for paint! 

Although, white would look great against the tan walls and grey shelf liners...

Maybe I will just go to work next week and let Hubby have all the taping fun! Am I a great wife or what?!

Shelving Guy and Son of Shelving Guy did an amazing job. Everything on this pantry has certainly been worth the wait. By Micah Math calculations, we have multiplied our pantry space by seven. Conveniently my lucky number?!

If you ever need a Shelving Guy, who also happens to be a Trim Guy, I can happily recommend this dynamic duo.

To IKEA today to get some shelf liners. It feels amazing to have the shelves up and ready to go! I am in love with the space and how neat everything looks in its final state. Is it weird that the laundry room might be my new favorite in the house?

Awkward!

And The Beat Goes On

No, the pantry isn't finished yet. And yes, we are still working on it. 

Why do you ask?

Just like with any project that drags on for a few weeks, I am very anxious for this one to be over!

The good news is that Shelving Guy is coming tomorrow to install everything!

The bad news is that I painted the walls today and realized that a second coat is necessary. I painted over the new drywall and behind the old cabinet that we tore out. Its new home is in the alleyway to the side of the house and will be Hubby's new outdoor work bench. He wanted to keep it on the patio, but I don't want another thing to clean! How does it get so dusty out there, anyway? 

It's not like we live in the desert or anything.

As for the second coat of paint, I may or may not accidentally be waiting until Hubby gets home from work in an hour so he can help me. It took an hour to paint just the little bit this morning! In my defense, it takes six hours before I can do a second coat on top of the first...and guess what time he happens to get home?

I have had an absolute blast putting things into nice, clean, airtight canisters to get ready to put the pantry back together. All things are well in the world when my Type-A tendencies can be put to such good use. This pantry is going to look so stinkin' nice in addition to offering a ton of storage! Eek! I can't wait until it's done!

The second coat of wall paint is going on tonight. Shelving tomorrow. Painting the shelves white will probably happen on Thursday. Poor Hubby will do that part alone, if I'm gone for work (which is supposed to be happening). Then maybe putting everything back together on Friday after I make an IKEA run for some shelf liners. I don't dare buy much at IKEA, which is Swedish for "crap," but I do love me some of their shelf liners!

Are you tired of pantry posts? I know I am. I just want this puppy done!

What projects have you undertaken this week? It's been tough to do much else here, since we've had record heat for the past six days. It will be nice when Fall arrives, and we get away from these triple-digit temperatures!

Which will happen just two short months from now...