I hope you’re all having a great weekend.  I don’t have anything specific to share today, so I’m just going to share a few random bits.

I’ve loved old trophies for years and have been fortunate enough to find some in my grandparent’s attic and a few small ones at yard sales, antiques shops and flea markets.  The big ones, though, have always eluded me.  Well, affordable ones, anyway.  My friends at Wuslu hooked me up with some wonderful reproductions.  I wanted two large trophies to plant my mini cypress bushes in and these were perfect.

I’m not normally into faux-tiques, but these are pretty darn convincing and certainly more affordable.

 We were going to finally get our Christmas tree today, but decided we weren’t really in the mood, so I spent much of the day cleaning and hanging with the boys and my husband worked on the office built-ins.  It is so exciting to see these things take shape and to know they’ll be finished in a couple of weeks.  I’ve been waiting for these for five years.

I should be able to prime and paint the cabinets next week.

And the last random thing I’ll share today is this salad that sounds totally gross, but it’s yummy-as-all-get-out.  It’s made of cooked barley (about four servings, cooled), the seeds from two pomegranates, 1/2 lb of walnuts and 1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips.  Mix it together and pop it in the fridge.  You can eat it plain, which is my preference, or with maple syrup on it.  Some friends gave us a container full last Christmas and I thought I would end up pitching it.  I decided to be polite and take a bite and I ended up eating the entire thing.  By myself.  So, I decided to make it this year and it’s just as strange and tasty as I remember it.  If you’re the adventurous sort, just give it a try!

And just a tip – the best way to get pomegranate seeds out is to slice the pomegranate in half and then whack the back side of it with a spoon.  The seeds will just fly out.

There you go…a daily dose of randomness.  Aren’t you glad you stopped by today?