Fabric

Since we moved into our house 4 years ago I have been looking for curtians. I have pictures in my head of what I want but never can find them at the store. Then I think I'll just make them. But I don't own a sewing machine and hand stitching curtians would be crazy. So first I need to get a sewing machine...or borrow Jamie's. Then I need to find the fabric for the curtians. I've been searching the internet for months and have finally found some sites I really like. Once the search starts I begin to think of all the other things I want cool fabric for like covering a chair, a summer table cloth, pillows.....I know it's getting out of control.

Warm Biscuit is actually a bedding company and they have amazing things. They also have a great fabric section.
I found this brown polka dot. I have not where to put it but who doesn'l love some polka dots in their life? I'm always looking for ways to add some fun color splashes to my house.
And this oil cloth would make the greatest outdoor table cloth for summer cookouts.

What a pretty pillow this would make.

Another great fabric site is FreeSpiritThey have a bunch of different designers so the collections are extremely different. I love the boldness of this fabric. I am loving all the bright colors right now. Maybe pillows for the living room. I think I would make curtians out of this last one. I like the idea of a print on curtians. Something unexpected. Just a little extra dash of color and contrast to add to a room.

I'm going to quite now because I could keep on posting fabrics forever. I'll save that for another post.

Shoes

I love shoes...maybe in a slightly unhealthy way. I have quite a few pairs and when I'm in the a store am always draw to the shoes first. I think I like them because not matter what they always fit. My feet never change shape. I recently got 2 pairs from Old Navy (a suprisingly good place for ballet flats and summer shoe? Did I mention I like some height on my shoes?! I sort of feel the bigger the better. I have 4 inch stiletto that is killer.

I have my shoes arranged by color and they are predominatly black or brown. So boring. So this summer I am on the hunt for color. Visit Like.com for some great options. They also make it easy to shop by price point. I found two pairs that I NEED. I don't own a single pair of green shoes...strange...so these might just fit the bill.

And I just got a little black dress that is screaming for these shoes. They are too cute for words.
Don't worry the site has shoes that aren't super stacked. I just can't resist the heels. If I were getting a flat I think this would be a perfect choice. I'm not sure I could pull off a yellow heel but a yellow flat might just be the perfect kick of color. Enjoy shoe shopping.

Dinner club

Tonight is our long awaited dinner club. We have been so busy the last few weeks that we haven't been able to have it. But soon Jeremy will be moving away and Will and Chris will be home from school and dinner club will change yet again. So we have 2 more weeks before Jeremy leaves and we're doing dinner club tonight.

The menu for tonight is Fettuccine with Sausage, Sage and Crispy Garlic, Roasted Broccoli with Asiago,Red Leaf salad with Orange,
Crusty Bread and Not-So-Angelic Angel Pie for dessert

Flowers

Today I got asked to do the flowers for a friends wedding! I am so excited. I've done it a few times before and can't wait to do it again. I love weddings and all things to do with weddings. Planning be the best part I think. I love the organization and creativity that goes into making a wedding special for that couple. It's a huge thing to be a part of. This wedding is going to be small so they only need the bride and grooms flowers. The bride likes pink so I was looking around for inspiration...here are some I found.

I'm leaning towards the first or the last. But I love them all.

Gift Wrap

I love wrapping presents. I think it is an art form really. Tying the perfect bow, picking the right ribbon to match the paper, just the right amount of tissue paper in a gift bag and seeing someone's joy when you give it to them.

I am always looking for cool wrapping paper. Whimsy is a site that has just that and more. Also, I always try to get holiday paper that will work when the holidays are over and I think some of theirs are perfect for that idea.


You can buy rolls individually or in collections. Their ribbon is also pretty great. They also carry tote bags, wall art, placemats, bookplates, invitations and more.

Bathing Suits

It is almost that time again...the dreaded bathing suit season. I'm not sure I know of anyone (besides teenagers...maybe...or models) who just loves walking around in a bathing suit. Maybe I'm wrong and just assuming this because I hate it so much. But here's my dilema...I love to swim. Guess I have to get over the one to get into the other. So I've begun the hunt for the perfect suit. I feel like now that I'm an adult and will not be getting any taller it's okay to splurge a little cause the suit will last for a few summers (at least). Here a few sites I've come up with so far.

Eddie Bauer has a suit called the miracle suit that makes you look 10 pounds slimmer. Sounds good to me. I especially like the Secret Support Utopia Suit (what a name!) in chocolate.



Urban Outiftters had this cute suit
and yes I will look just like the model in it.
Athleta features slightly sportier looks which I like also. My favorite from that site was actually something other than black.
FigLeaves which is great for more than just suit, had this great suit in a bunch of different colors and patterns. Hopefully that will get you started. If I find more I'll be sure to share them.

Yummy

I have a new most favorite cookbook called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor.

So far it has lived up to it's name completely. I have tried about 10 recipes and all have been a huge success. I thought I would share 2 of the more simple recipes from it and let you judge for yourself.
1. White Trash Panini (when you stop giggling read on)
Slice Croissants in half
Spread Peanut butter on one side
Spread Marshmellow fluff on the other
Break up some chocolate and lay it on the peanut butter. Put the whole thing together like a sandwich. Press the sandwich in a panini grill until it is slightly flattened, crisp and the filling is warm and melted, 4-5 minutes
Eat immediately if not sooner.

Your thinking of running to the kitchen to try this aren't you?! I encourage it.

2. Grilled Chocolate Pound-Cake Sandwich a la Mode
You will need
1 loaf of pound cake,
1 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate,
3-4 TBSP unsalted butter,
1 Pint Vanilla Ice cream
Slice the Pund cake into 8 1-inch slices. Divide the chocolate into 4 equal portinas and mound over 4 of the pound cake slices. Top with the second slice of pound cake to form a sandwich.
Melt the unsalted butter in a 12-in nonstick saute pan or skillet over medium heat and cook until bubbly and starting to brown. Slip the four sandwiches inot the butter and cook until their bottoms are golden brown and the chocolate is starting to melt about 1-2 min. Flip and repeat, about 1 min. Transfer to cutting board, allow to cool slightly and slice diagonal. Serve with Ice cream.

These are just the easy, quick recipes and the others just get better. I've made both of these plus Heart of Darkness Brownies, Triple-Layer Chocolate Silk Martinis, One-Bowl Chocolate chunk cookies, All-Grown-Up S'mores, Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Hot "Glava" sauce, Devil's food cake with Chocolate Mousse Buttercream (more than once) and a few others. There are more than just chocolate recipes...I just can't seem to get past them since they are in the front of the book and look so delicious. Maybe next time I'll make the Banana Bread Pudding with Hot Fudge and Toasted Walnuts
Why not go the whole way with dessert?

InStyle

I have been getting InStyle magazine since my first Christmas as a married women. Each year someone in my family renews the subscription for me so it just keeps coming.
I really enjoy this magazine of all the fashion magazines. Maybe it's because they don't show clothes on stick thin models but lay them out so you can see everything. Or maybe because it is colorful and they always give a cool way to plan a party. Or maybe because they frequently test tons of make-up and tell me what's the best. In case you didn't know I love make-up. I love going to stores and look at it, putting it on and trying new things. I have my every day, my girls night out and my date night make-up. And I always think I need more. This month they featured an article called 141 Best Beauty Buys. So I'm going to share a few of them with you.
Lipstick
Best Peach- Stila Miranda $17
Best Red- MAC Russian Red $14
Best Berry- Clinique Black Honey $14
Best Nude- Stila Emily $17 (what a great name)
Foundation
Best Primer- Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer $36
Best overall- Yves Saint Laurent Perfect Touch Foundation $52
Best Inexpensive Foundation- L'Oreal True Match $11 (I use this stuff and it's great)
Best Inexpensive Power- Cover Girl Clean Pressed Powder $4
Best Inexpensive Concealer- Max Factor Erace $5
Cheek Color
Best Inexpensive Powder Blush- L'Oreal True Match $11
Best Overall- Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator $23
Lips
Inexpensive Lip Gloss- L'Oreal Colour Juice $8
Inexpensive Lipstick- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick $8
Best overall gloss- Go light on my Lips $19
Eyes
Best Inexpensive Eye Shadow- Loreal HIP $7
Best Inexpensive Mascara- Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof- $7
Cleanser and Moisturizers
For Normal Skin
Cleanser- Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash $6
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- Neutrogena Healty Defense Moisturizer SPF 45 $12
For Dry Skin
Cleanser- Clarins Cleansing Milk $29
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- La Roche-Posay Hydraphase UV SPF 30 $28
For Sensitive Skin
Cleanser- Shiseido Extra Gentla Cleansing Foam $28
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer SPF 15 $14
For Oily or Acne-prone Skin
Cleanser- Aveda Outer Peace Foaming Cleanser $24
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- Clinique Superdefense Triple Action Moisterizer for Oily Skin SPF 25 $40


That's enough for today. Hopefully that gives you a start next time you hit the drug store. I'll post some more of the suggestions later.

Knitting

I love knitting. I have made scarves for a bunch of people and a blanket for my girl. But I've been out of the habit for a while. Mostly because it's getting warm but also because I've been so uninspired by the yarn at the local craft stores. Well welcome to inspiration day. I found Knittydirtygirl and am so excited. She is local and makes the coolest yarns. Once you order them it takes about 1-2 weeks to make but come on how cool is that. You can even order custom yarn. Yes, Please.


This last one is my favorite. I think I NEED a scarf made out of this. Or a blanket.


They also have a club called Yarnie 6 where you recieve a different yarn ever other month for a year. What a great gift idea for our knitty friends.

BBQ

I love hosting outdoor parties. I love having our yard filled with people. But I always feel bad about the amount of stuff thrown away...plastic cups, silverware, paper plates. It isn't a good idea to use my real dishes outside so what to do? Well I stumbled across a site that has outdoor dishes, silverware and cups that are biodegradable. Greenpartygoods has everything a party thrower could want. Not only does it have table top items (including napkins, tableclothes, utensils, cups and plates) but it has party favors, wooden toys, goodie bags made from felt and tote bags. Check it out.

Sorry no photos my computer is acting up.

Spring

Spring is the time of year to hit up your favorite websites and buy their winter stuff on clearance. Just don't look at the new spring stuff or you might fall in love. Today I looked through the clearance of some new sites. The one I'm sharing today is called Modify. They sell a mix of vintage and new items and everything is "green". I really like this shirt on clearance and I forgot to take my own advice and fell for this dress from the spring line I'll do some more clearance browsing and share those sites this week. Also, dinner club has been postponed for a bit cause of scheduling conflicts so once we figure it out I'll start posting menus and pictures again.

Mail

We've lived in our house for over 4 years. That is a good enough amount of time for the previous owners to get their mail sorted out...right?! We still get so much mail for them it is slightly ridiculous. Along with bills, letters from friends and junk mail we get their catalogs. Quite a few of them. I don't have the same taste as the previous owners but there in one catalog that I love looking through. They, of course, have a website. The catalog is called Red Envelope and it is all gift ideas. It is very well organized and has all sorts of neat things. THis time through the catalog I liked the grocery bags. I'm not great at being green. (as Kermit once said "it's not easy being green") but I could definelty try harder especially if it's this stylish. And how nice not to have a million plastic bags under my sink. Maybe I'll give it a try.

Vacation

It's so beautiful outside today. I am getting into summer mode...which means VACATION. We're going to the beach in July but I wanted to share some ideas for cool weekend get aways for you and your honey. This fall James took me to Sweetwater Farm located in Brandywine. I'm not always a B&B kind of girl, ever since the creepy one with dolls that stared at me all night, but this was the perfect romantic get-away. This was our room and it's even better in real life than in the photo.

The property was breathtaking and felt like it was in the middle of nowhere even though it was only about 5 or 10 min from lots of food and shopping. Try it I think you'll like it.
The next place I plan on running away to is Celie's Waterfront Inn. It's in Baltimore (Or Ball-tomorrow as the kid I used to nanny said). There is way to much fun stuff to do in Baltimore and a lot of it requires outdoor walking so why not go now that the weather is getting nicer?! I think this room looks fabulous and they have sweets that have little kitchens and sleep 4 so if you have kiddo's you could make a weekend of it, splurge on the room and save on dinner. MMMMMMMM...vacation.

Ina

We are not having dinner club this week so I'm going to share one of my favorite websites for recipes. If you have not tried Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa yet, you are missing out. I have two

of her cookbooks and hope to get the other three. Every recipe I have ever made from one of her cookbooks has turned out great. The recipes are easy but taste like they were really complicated.
For Easter I made this ham (her's looks better than mine did) and it tasted good I thought.

Also, one of my friends made the roast turkey and it was the best I ever had.
I've made the hummus, tuna niscoise, and many others. If you are thinking of getting a new cookbook try Ina.

Stamps

I like the way stamps look and think you could make some really cool projects with them. The problems is getting enough and not paying 41 cents for each. Arpin Philately to the rescue. They sell bulk stamps or stamp packets. You can get 100 (all different) train stamps for $4.50.

If you were doing a train theme in a nursery you could cover inexpensive picture frames with train stamps or a wooden light base.
Or you can get 200 (all different) Denmark stamps for $20.

I am going to order some and try out some ideas. The list of stamps is huge and there are so many things you can do with them. They add a bit of color and are definelty interesting to look at. Also if you child is doing a school project on a country wouldn't it be neat to get some stamps from that country to add to the presentation.

Gardening

We spent a few hours on Saturday and Sunday gardening. When you've completely neglected your garden for over a year the amount of work can be overwhelming. Thankfully our good friends chipped in and had a landscaper come and start the clearing, mulching and planting for us. We would never have gotten it all done if not for them.

Even with all the help there is still way too much to do. I bought myself some gardening gloves and that is really what this post is about. I bought them from the dollar bin at Target. Let's just say I got what I paid for. They are ready for the trash after just two days of use. Oh well. Next time I'll slurge on something like this



or something like this



I think I'm leaning towards the second one because they come up so high and because they look so great. Nothing like looking good while rolling in the mud.

Crayons

When I was a nanny the boys had the greatest machine. It was a crayone recycler. You put the broken peices of crayon in trays over a hot little light bulb. When it was all melted you dumped the wax into molds. I probably enjoyed making them much more than the boys did but they enjoyed coloring with them. I always made many colored crayons and so when they colored they got a rainbow from just one crayon. I still have a few of them. I decided to find a way to make them without the machine and stumbled upon this how to.

You need:
Broken crayons
Old muffin tin or candy mold. The silicon trays work great also.
A Knife

1. Cut all the broken crayons into little bits
2. Heat the oven to 150.
3. Fill the tin with an inch think layer of broken crayons.
4. Bake till wax is melted (15-20 min)
5. Allow them to cool completely and then pop them out and color.


I almost forgot to mention if you don't have an old muffin tin that you are just going to use for crayons and art projects you can line your regular muffin tin with tin foil.

Dinner club

Every Thursday night for a while now we have had dinner club with John, Chris, Will (James' younger brothers) and Jeremy. Recently it has changed a bit cause some of them (I won't mention names) got all grownup and went to college. We miss them but dinner club continues and we've added others. This week Carol will join us (and maybe her dog Jake...Hudson needs dinner club too). Every Thursday I will post the menu for that evening and some pictures if I remember to take them. I love dinner club because I get to try out new recipes and see some of my favorite people.

Here's the menu for tonight....
Sugar snap pea and Radish Salad

Potato and Garlic Pierogi

Pork chops with onion Compote

Chocolate Trifle


I try to get creative and make something we haven't had before. The trifle is sort of a lazy move by me since I've made it a million times. But it's so good I started thinking about it and had to have it. All the other recipes this time are courtesy of Martha Stewart.

I stumbled across Wishing Fish about a year ago. I have since enjoyed looking at their kookie but fun gift ideas. I bought super cute leggins for Alivia before we went into the hospital and they were a life saver. They were great under skirts and on days when we didn't feel like wearing more than a onesie. No taking pants on and off to change diapers and no messing around with tights.

I also bought her these sweet little socks. She always looked great in them.


The next thing I think I'll get is this brownie pan. I love brownies and the corners for me are always the best part...little chewy, little crunch. What could be better. Now there will be no fighting over the corner. Everyone gets a corner (and a huge brownie to boot!)