Mother's Day Pieces

Don't forget Mother's day is May 9th! Here are some lovelies that my mom loves to wear.

Urban Farmer

I've been toiling with the idea of joining up with a local coop farm. And when I found one that I liked, I was too late and now I'm on the waiting list for next year. Screw that! I'll just grow my own vegetables. So, for the previous week my children's adopted East Coast grandpa, who use to be a Vermont farmer, came to my house and helped me dig up part of our backyard and till the ground so I can have my own vegetable garden. We made it 20 ft by 6 ft so it's a good size but still manageable. I planted the first of my crops last week. There's nothing yet, but I went out there this morning and already see sprouts.

Also, I went in with some other people and bought a grass-feed cow. I get the meat in a couple of weeks and it should last us a long time and save us money. Price out organic beef at the grocery store next time--it's expensive! Next...backyard chickens. No joke...but that's another post.

NYC Restaurant Recommendations

In the last month I ate at two really good, highly recommended NYC restaurants. There are so many restaurants down in the City that it's easy to fall for the not-so-good one. But thanks to my Urbanspoon app, it's been my restaurant resource for finding the good ones. When I came down with my friend Kim, we waited an hour to eat at Cafeteria in Chelsea area. And that was at 10:00 at night. But it was so worth the wait. I'm still thinking about their garlic fries and macaroni cheese. And last week I met up with my old girlfriends from Utah, Debbie and Judi, who were in town visiting. We also had a late-night dinner at Blue Ribbon in Soho. I have marked it as "the best sushi in NYC". Every bite was to savor. And what was a double bonus is that we saw two celebrity sightings at the restaurant. I guess we weren't the only ones who agree it's the best in the town.

Pretty Calligraphy

If I could go back and redo my wedding I would go back and make sure all my invitations were addressed with pretty calligraphy like the ones by Primele.

Baby Twins

My brother Aaron and his wife Carolyn had baby twins girls a couple of weeks ago! I'm so excited for them and want to smooch their little faces. Aren't they precious? They had no idea whether they'd be identical or fraternal, but as you can tell they are definitely fraternal. The baby girls join the family with two old sisters!

Paper Dahlia

I'm bookmarking this favor idea made with tissue paper and ribbon. Very darling. Looks a little time consuming, but the presentation is definitely worth it.

Product Reviews: Trader Joe's

Do you shop at Trader Joe's? Well, if you do you know that the little grocery store carries a variety of gourmet products that you won't find at your local supermarket. So, what is your favorite Trader Joe's food or non food? I like their flowers. That's usually where I pick up a bunch of flower stems. Here is my Trader Joe's list of food items that I recommend:

Red Pepper Spread--perfect on wraps, sandwiches, crackers or as a veggie dip. I have even used the spread to liven up a dinner dish.

Almond Butter--I've priced it out and know that Trader Joe carries the cheapest almond butter. If you go to your local supermarket, almond butter is usually 4 times as much as Trader Joe's and it's usually roasted, not raw. Almond butter has alot of health benefits so we use it as an alternative to peanut butter.

Caramel bites--yummy and small little cookies. You've got to hunt for it in the store, but they are usually located above the frozen aisle.

Ice Cream cookie sandwiches--tastes like it's made with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Perfect for an after dinner dessert.

What's your favorite Trader Joe's product?

Yoga Photoshoot

My dearest girlfriend Lauren, who is a professional yoga instructor and trained by some of the most well-known yoga teachers in the world, modeled my Francesca bracelet in her recent photoshoot. So, I had to share. Because isn't she gorgeous??!! I've known this girl since I was four--she means the world to me and I'm so proud of what she's done in her life.

{All images by EMV Photography}

Labels

Who said food storage has to be ugly? Well obviously you aren't going to store it in your front room or dining room, but you can always try to make it a little pretty. And I think the best way of doing it is with pretty labels. I guess the first question I have is do you store food? Yes, I know you probably have a kitchen full of everyday food. But do you have backup food for a raining day or when a disaster happens? And in case you didn't know...a raining day will come. The best place to store food is a basement, where it is dark and cool. But if you don't have a basement, under a bed or closet or behind furniture will work. I can attest to many times we have used our food storage. When my husband got laid off from his job from the financial disaster, our food storage became very handy! Who would of known. Here are a couple of other posts I've done on food storage.

And here are some websites with pretty labels:

Paper Source

Creature Comforts

Envelopper Inc.

Waste Not Paper

PS--I got the white buckets from Walton Feed and some of the food. But I also buy from Costco like my sugar, white flour, rice.

PSS--I've got a lot of random projects going on this week so blogging going to be light...again.

PSSS--Yes, my husband did thankfully find another job.

New in Shop: Chunky Bracelets

Chunky, bright bracelets have been added to the shop. They are perfect for a pop of color. Summertime is the time for short sleeves and tank tops so that's the best time to wear bracelets.

PS--It's spring break here so I'm taking the week off from blogging. See you back here on Monday.

PSS--Thank you to the person who pointed out to me that I used the word CHUCKY instead of CHUNKY. That's what happens when I put a post up quickly and don't spell check my words. My apologies!

Launch Party

Last week my girlfriend Kim and I went to the launch party for Martha Stewart's new sewing book. We had a blast! The party was at Martha Stewart's headquarters on the floor where all the crafts are developed. It was neat seeing the workspace and their inspirational boards.

While we were there we made these adorable pin cushions.

Kim getting instruction from Kirsten, who works on The Martha Show.



We got to see some of the sewing ideas that are in the book. These darling mice are made out of old sport jackets.

And were then displayed cleverly on a bookshelf. Can you see the mice?
More sewing ideas.

Kim and I waiting to get our monogrammed towels.

How to dye fabric.

White On White

I'm convinced. White is my new favorite color, especially white on white. So pretty. So clean and crisp. I think this house does a beautiful job showing off white.

Easter Pictures

I am convinced that taking a picture of a 16-month-old is near impossible. And getting the 16-month-old to sit still for a group shot? You might as well throw that idea out the door. But our yearly Easter pictures are a must, so mama will do whatever she's got to do to get a picture of her babies even if she's got to get down on all fours and act like a dog...or a bear or a gorilla. Umm....Yeah.

There are a lot of pictures. Sorry.

Two-Week Meal Plan

Did you eat a lot of chocolate on Easter? Or like me, still eating chocolate? Okay, so I kind of got distracted from healthy eating or, as some like to say, dieting. I'm back at it and just got back from the grocery store and ready to follow Simply Healthful's two-week meal plan so I can shed those stubborn 5 lbs. If you click over to the post there is a grocery list and meal plan for two weeks to make it easy. Nothing is processed on the meal plan and lots of fresh, fresh food. The recipes are found in the "recipe" section of the blog. Now I'm going to go make me a Mango Coconut Delight.

Office in a Closet

After looking at all these offices, I decided that it wouldn't be so bad to have an office in a closet, especially if it's organized and functional. Just don't forget to wallpaper or paint so it makes it more a "room" than a closet.

{from top down: country living, real simple, decorpad,country living, decorology, lovely design}