Krista, Author at While He Was Napping

September 30, 2010 by Krista

Thoughtful Thursday: Lover’s Playlist

Ok, I adore music. Growing up, I constantly had music playing in the background in my room. ALWAYS. My parents’ power bills dropped drastically when I moved out. Now that I have a crazy little monkey with two volume settings, “loud” and “louder”, I don’t play background music as much. It’s just a little too much noise. Alas, I still love popping a CD in the player when we’re in the car or the ear phone buds in my ears when I need a little vacation. And music can set the mood! I love that. If I’m upset, I turn on my ‘angry music’ and it helps me work through it. Ok, I’m sure you’re thinking “we get it, get to the point”. So here it is. A list of some of my favorite, romantic songs. Perfect for setting the mood for Date Night!

1. Rascal Flatts – Fast Cars and Freedom
2. Amy Grant – Baby, Baby
3. Savage Garden – Truly, Madly, Deeply
4. Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
5. Boyz II Men – I’ll Make Love To You (if you weren’t in the mood before, you will be…)
6. John Mayer – Your Body is a Wonderland
7. Elvis Presley – Burning Love
8. Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
9. John Cougar Mellancamp – Hurts so Good
10. June & Johnny Cash – Time’s A Wastin’
11. Goo Goo Dolls – Before It’s Too Late
12. Joe Cocker – You Are So Beautiful
13. Rod Stewart – Have I Told You Lately
14. Beach Boys – Wouldn’t It Be Nice
15. Mariah Carey – Touch My Body
16. Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
17. Diana Ross – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
18. Sonny & Cher – I Got You Babe
19. Black Eyed Peas – Rock That Body (dance to this… I bet it’ll end happily…)
20. Paul McCartney – Maybe I’m Amazed
21. Four Tops – I Can’t Help Myself
22. B-52’s – Love Shack
23. Plain White T’s – Hey There, Delilah
24. Journey – Any Way You Want It
25. Counting Crows – Accidentally in Love
26. Deanna Carter – We Danced Anyway
27. Lady Antebellum – Our Kind Of Love
28. Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love
29. Flo Rida – Right Round (Save this for the bedroom… Not what I want my 1 year old repeating… Or my 8 year old sister…)
30. No Doubt – Underneath It All
31. Michael Buble – It Had To Be You
32. Garth Brooks – To Make You Feel My Love
33. Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
34. New Radicals – Mother, We Can’t Get Enough
35. Lady Gaga – Love Games (refer to #29… ditto comment)
36. Emerson Drive – You’re Like Coming Home
37. Kylie Minogue – Can’t Get You Outta My Head
38. LeAnne Rhimes – How Do I Live Without You
39. Faith Hill – This Kiss
40. Lifehouse – First Time
41. Chicago – Can’t Fight This Feeling
42. Frank Sinatra – L.O.V.E.
43. Natasha Bedingfield & Sean Kingston – Love Like This
44. Lonestar – My Front Porch Looking In
45. Aerosmith – I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing
46. Queen – Somebody To Love
47. Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie
48. Shania Twain – You’re Still The One
49. Taylor Swift – Love Story
50. Venga Beach – Sex on the Beach (Bedroom Appropriate)

Grab your iPod and go load up a playlist… Happy Lovin’!

So,what songs are on your romantic playlist?

September 28, 2010 by Krista

Tasty Tuesday: Beef Stir Fry

Stir-fry is one of our favorites. It’s great because you can change it up just enough that it’s like a whole new meal every time! One of my favorite recipes:

STIR FRY BEEF & SNOW PEAS

3-4 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon corn starch

1/2 tablespoon of oil (we use EVOO, but have used vegetable in a pinch)

1 tablespoon minced ginger root (or 1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger powder)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (or 2 teaspoons of garlic powder)

1 lb beef round steak, cut into strips (we’ve used other cuts of meat too, and it still tastes delish)

10 oz snow peas (I buy the bag from Costco and use half to two-thirds of it)

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce and brown sugar. Then mix in the corn startch. Set it aside. Heat oil in a wok or skillet on medium high heat. Fry the ginger and garlic for about 30 seconds. If you are using powders, wait to add them until you add your sauce. Add the steak and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until evenly browned. Add the peas and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add the sauce mixture (and your powders, if applicable), bring to a boil and stir constantly. Turn heat to low and simmer until the sauce is thick and smooth. Serve. Enjoy! Caution: It WILL be hot… but oh, so yummy!

Use any meat you’d like and you can also add any veggies you would like: mushrooms, carrots, peppers, zucchini, water chestnuts. Sometimes we cheat and buy the frozen bags at the store… It turns this quick meal into a SUPER quick meal. Mmmmm. My fave: quick and easy!

September 27, 2010 by Krista

Couple’s Subway Art Giveaway!

So, I have another giveaway! I’m trying to get you all excited for my October Spooktacular… there will be several giveaways then too. So, be on the look out… cuz’ who doesn’t like free stuff?

Let me introduce you to the project first. I love the subway art movement out there right now. Each piece is the same idea, but no two pieces are the same. So, no matter what, your piece is one-of-a-kind. I love personalized things. They mean so much more when they aren’t in everyone else’s homes too. So, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking… each one is worth a thousand words, right?

The Details:
Winner will receive an 8″x10″ framed, personalized subway art tribute to their sweetheart. Don’t have a sweetheart? Give it as a gift, perhaps? Or choose a different theme, still in the subway art format. Frame color, whether the frame is distressed or not, whether your frame is backless or not, and vinyl words are all customizable. I put our last name and wedding date on ours… you can do whatever you want. Vinyl will be a matte black.

Now, if you want one of these little lovelies for yourself, here’s what you gotta do:
1) Become a follower of While He Was Napping. Leave a comment saying you did. If you already are, thank you, and just leave a comment saying you already are!

For extra entries, complete the following and then leave a SEPARATE comment for each.
1) Visit my Etsy shop and “heart” your favorite item. (1 entry)
2) “Heart” my Etsy shop. (1 entry)
3) Buy something from my Etsy shop (5 entries)
4) Become a fan on Facebook. (1 entry)
5) Post my button (code on sidebar) on your blog… not picky, I don’t care where. Include a link to it in your comment though. (2 entries).

Giveaway ends this Thursday, Sept 30 @ 11:59pm PST! Open to US residents only. Hurry and get your entries in! And check back on Friday for the winner, as well as the beginning of October Spooktacular: Crafty Tricks and Neat Treats! There just might be another giveaway…….!

GOOD LUCK!!
See my side bar for some of the parties I’m linking to.

September 27, 2010 by Krista

Craftsy ‘Cause I Can: Couple Subway Art

I’m so in love. With the subway art movement! No worries though, I’m still smitten with My Mr Right, too. I love subway art. It’s all the same idea, but each project is different and unique! The sizes, the colors, the topics, the words, the shapes, the word placement… Ahhh. It’s gorgeous. Well, I had to try my hand at this… so… Here it is:

Sorry for all the carpet… and the weird angles…

the glare was so bad, and I didn’t bother to fix it. Eek!

I distressed the edges after I spray

painted my frame matte black.

I used a matte black vinyl and stuck it right to the glass.

Took the backing out of the frame. Glued the glass in with tacky glue.

And TA-DA!

I really like it.

Get your own personalized Couple’s Subway Art… Available in my Etsy shop.

Check out my side bar or Link Party page for the link parties I participate in.

September 24, 2010 by Krista

Fanciful Friday: Homemade, Kid-proof Fridge Magnets

So, my little Monkey LOVES to play with the stuff on the fridge. My mom keeps every paper that enters the house on the fridge. Not the best combination! And not literally every single paper, but there is a lot on that small magnetic box. We cleaned off the fridge within reaching height of The Monkey and let him play with some of the magnets. He loved it. The magnets weren’t special ones, but he terrorized and wrecked them. I decided he needed a little more durable, kid-friendly magnets to play with.

First, I found clip art on the internet of things he likes. You know, boy things… trucks, cars, tractors, dump trucks, bulldozers. That sort of stuff. Actually, I learned a very valuable lesson: When searching images on the internet, search “bulldozer”, NOT “back hoe”! Not the images I was wanting to display on the family refrigerator. Anyway, I copy and pasted them into Word, sized them big enough that he couldn’t swallow them… ’cause he so would if he could, then printed them out on regular white printer paper. Then, I put contact paper on the images and cut them out.

Next, I took a flexible cutting board (found mine at Wal-Mart. Three for like $2 or something.) I took some rough grit sandpaper and roughed up the cutting board. Ok, I admit that I skipped this step on my first go-round… but, the papers kept falling off. Once I roughed it up, the glue stuck better. I just used the cheap Wal-Mart brand boards. I’ve seen them in kind of an almost a clear, see-through sort of color, but the ones I used are just white.

Next, I used Tacky Glue to glue the cut out images to the cutting board. Clean up any excess that squeezes out under the edges. You could probably also use hot glue if you get the edges down quick enough. I laid heavy books on mine until they were good and dry. This is important because they tend to curl if they aren’t dried flat… Also learned from the first try on this project. (Haha, live and learn, right?)

Then, I cut the pieces apart. I left some of the cutting board around the border so they would be a little more durable and ~~water~~ spit proof. I put a line of hot glue on the edges of the papers to help hold them down, but Monkey pulled those off within like two days, so… that step is up to you. Ironically enough, he didn’t eat the hot glue. But, I’ll count my blessings on that one. (Yes, there is a water mark on the image, but I couldn’t find good clip art that didn’t have it… besides, my little Monkey won’t care.)

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