Party List

I just added on the left-side of my blog a Party List for adult dinners, children birthdays and baby showers (located right below the store links).  These are parties that I have thrown or have attended in the past.  Check it out!

Bread & Butter

The last few days I've been in Las Vegas, sans children, and had the opportunity to try out the new cafe Bread & Butter with my girl Ashley.  The former head pastry chef of Bouchon just recently opened up the gourmet restaurant.  Seriously, the food is divine and serves some of the best homemade food.  We ordered the ham & cheese pretzel sandwich because we heard how yummy it was and oh boy!  It was quite a naughty little sandwich that had me practically licking the crumbs off the plate.  So good.  The strawberry kale salad was scrumptious!  And they were kind enough to load up a box of mouth-watering pastries--pumpkin pie, banana nutella pie, apple tart, chocolate cupcakes, cranberry muffin, cinnamon roll, pretzel buns. 

Hand-drawn Maps

You might have noticed her map illustration in Elle Decor or Purlsoho and now Lena Corwin has released a book call Maps, a collection of hand-drawn maps she's done.  Her maps are whimsy, and she captures the spirit of the city.  I need to pick up a copy and would love to frame my favorite map.

 

Century 21 Upper West Side

For those who live local or planning to visit NYC, the store Century 21 (the TJmax to high-end designer wear apparel) just opened their second Manhattan store on the upper west side near Lincoln center.  If you have ever shop their downtown location near ground zero, their store is a madhouse every time I've gone and I always leave on the verge.  But I hear their upper west side location is easier to navigate within the store and they actually have real dressing rooms!

Spa Party: The Party

I'm finally sharing with you Stella's 7th birthday party that we celebrated last month.  Honestly I was trying hard not to throw a birthday party for her this year.  Being gone all the month of August, then jumping right into school and her birthday being only two weeks away--I just didn't have the time or energy. I offered instead a day in the City at the American Girl Doll store, but she tearfully told me she really, really, REALLY wanted a birthday party.  Yup, I think I've turned my children into birthday party monsters. 

We decided to do a spa theme with a small group of girls--pedicures, manicures, facials.  Sounds easy and I had most of the supplies on hand.  After we decided on the theme, a few days later One Charming Party posted their Spa-aah Party ideas and printables so it was perfect!  And it saved me a ton of time, not having to do much of anything except printing and gathering supplies.  The girls loved it! 

I hired two high school girls to come over and do the manicures and pedicures.  And my girlfriend had one of those pedicure at-home spa baths and let me borrow it.  The party guests rotated between pedicures, manicures and do-it-yourself facials.  I turned on pandora's top hits radio station, and those who had to wait were singing and dancing.  They were all so cute and energetic! 

Spa Water

Homemade Salt Scrub for party favors

Homemade Lavendar Bath Salts for party favors

The cupcakes

Strawberry Smoothies

Dessert and Party favors table

Spa Table




When the girls first arrived they received a white hooded robe
and a pair of spa flip flops. 
These items were apart of their party favors

 

Birthday Girl

Party Resources
spa printables: One Charming Party
paper accordian decorations: pearl river mart in soho
gingham tablecloth: sewn by me, fabric from Fabric.com
mini glass jars for salt scrub: michaels
clear tubs for bath salt: In the Clear
white polka dot blue serving trays: Ikea
Cupcakes and cake: Nibble
Spa fondants for cupcakes and cake: Eat Something Cute
Small mirrors: HomeGoods
Nail polish: esse and o.p.i
small clear bowls and smoothie cups: Ikea
white hooded children's robe: cotton age
flip flops: old navy (i hot glued little white flowers onto them that I got from michaels)

Spa Party: Invitations

I'm excited to finally share with you details of Stella's spa birthday party.  I love sending out physical invitations because the children get so excited for the party, and it set the stage of the party.  And these invitations were the perfect excitement buster, especially for a group of 7 year olds.

I so wish I could take credit for designing these darling paper sleeping masks.  But because of lack of time and Stella's birthday right around the corner, I found instead these printable masks on One Charming Party and customized it to our party date.  It saved me a ton of time!

Click to see more of the Spa Party

Shop Update: New Pretties

I added some new ghoulish jewelry pieces to my shop.  Just in time for Halloween!  Okay...well maybe they aren't THAT scary, but they do have a little more of an edge compared to some of my other pieces.  I'm lovin' the silver pyrite stones that I used in the Irene necklace and Pippa earrings.


Irene necklace

    



Betty earrings

 
 

Pippa earrings



Skull necklace

Fall Finds

Fall is here and it gets me excited for warmer clothes.  I've got a list of favorites that I'm wishing to purchase, but the hubby has put me on a spending diet...until January!  It's all good and actually I encourage you to do the same.  It's healthy!  If not, make one of these purchases and let me know how it goes.

1. Faux fur vest
2. Supercalifraglipstick
3. Tulip Sweater
4. Minnetonka boots
5. Marc Jacobs bag
6. Rosie Lee
7. Atwood earrings
8. Cowlneck sweater
9. Embellished top

10 months

I haven't posted any recent updates on my little baby.  Because we were traveling I missed her 9-month mark and now she is 10 months.  Boo-hoo!  That means she is ALMOST one, and my baby will soon be a toddler.  Because of lack of space, the hubby has been making me get rid of some of my baby gear...bouncy chair, baby swing, baby jumper.  I thought it would be easy to give away, but when I had a moment of a tearful breakdown I realized how attached I'd become to these items and how they are SO MUCH more than an object to keep a baby occupied.  Giving them away has definitely made it final that the baby-making chapter in my life has ended and my babies are not-so-much babies anymore.  Sigh.

My Chloe is in a really fun stage now.  She is talking using two-syllable words like "mama", "dada", "baba", "uh-oh".  She crawls really fast.  Opening cupboards and pulling everything out is one of your favorite things to do.  And if books are on the book shelf, she makes it a priority to pull them all off--no questions asked.  She turns her noses up on baby food--she wants only the goods.  And she has just enough hair for me to put in a hair elastic.  Adorable!

Chloe is wearing Gap ruffled tank oneies and scalloped cardigan and Missoni for Target sweater leggings 

Apple Season + Free Download

The apples are ready to harvest!  Fall is one of my favorite time of year, and it all begins with apple season.  The last two weekends we've been busy picking apples at the orchard and then processing them. 

Homemade apple sauce is SO much better than store bought.  You can find my applesauce recipe here.

And in addition to the applesauce, I made four apple pies to freeze and cook at a later date.  I did this last year and it was so nice to have a supply of homemade apple pies to give away or use at Thanksgiving or as a dessert when guests come over. 

So here is the apple pie recipe that I use and that can be frozen.  It's really easy to make and easy to double or triple the recipe. 

1 pie crust recipe
6 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Line pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate.  Toss together apple and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Combine brown sugar and next 4 ingredients; sprinkle over apple mixture, and toss to coat.  Spoon into prepared pie crust.  Place remaining pie crust over filling.  Fold edges under, and crimp; cut slits in top for steam to escape.  Bak at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes. 

And if you'd like to freeze the pies, you can see my previous post on where I get the white boxes and how to store.  And I am now including the pie label as a FREE download so you can make your homemade apple pie cute and personal.

Healthy Oil

My last healthy advice I'd like to share that I incorporate in my daily regimen is taking good fats.  Fat is your friend...as long as it's the good kind of fat.  Essential fatty acids help with building healthy cells and crucial in hormone production.  It helps increase your energy and stamina.  Improves brain function.  Produces beautiful hair, skin and nails.  I like to use Udo's Oil, which you can get at any health food store.  Udo's has a combination of omega 3 and 6 and many other oils.  I like to drizzle it on my salads or put it in my morning shakes.  Or I just drink 2 tbsps a day to make sure I get my daily intake. 

Coconut oil is one of those really good oils that you can use in your foods.  But I also love to use it topically.  After taking a shower, I rub coconut oil on my body.  Let it soak in before putting on clothes.  It makes my skin feel so soft and it helps get rid of those dry spots on the back of my arms.  Better than any expensive spa lotion.    

Favorite Thing: Yellow Flower

Since we have had guests staying with us, I picked up some fall flowers for the house.  And this lovely, funky flower with long thin petals is what I brought home.  I can't remember the name of it.  Anyone know?