Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Studded Heels

I saw these the other day while at the mall and kind of fell in love:


They're kind of awesome in real life.  They're also kind of really heavy. 

I love the studded shoe trend that's going on right now, but I also don't think my pregnant ass needs to be hoofing it in 4 1/2 inch heels that weigh about 5 pounds each.  And since I'm not sure if my feet are going to get bigger (which I've heard a lot of women's do), I don't really want to plunk down $200 for these bad boys.

These are certainly tamer, but more expensive:


These are probably the best bet of all at the moment:


Plus they're on sale! 

What do you think of the studded shoe trend? 


Monday, August 29, 2011

This week's manicure

I've become somewhat obsessed with my nails lately.  I think it has something to do with the fact that it's one thing that I have some control over with my body at the moment.  I've entirely stopped biting my nails (yay me!) and they're growing like crazy what with the prenatals I'm taking and the hormones I've got going on these days.

Anyway, I've been having fun with having pretty nails lately and here's the latest:



Sephora by OPI's I'm Wired with Only Gold for Me on top

Friday, August 26, 2011

Weekend!

Not much planned for this weekend, just waiting to see what happens with this lady:


I'd like to keep working on the rocking chair for the kiddo's room, and hopefully I can get out this afternoon to check out some fabric.  I'll keep you posted!

Hope everyone stays safe!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Weekend Meal

Chris and I had the weekend to ourselves and what did we do?  Cook, of course!  We'd obviously done some weeknight cooking here and there over the past month with all the house guests, but there's something different about weekend cookng when you have time and energy and can get creative in the kitchen.  We ended up having lamb chops with roasted red peppers and mint, risotto, and a salad:





Quite a lovely meal!

Also, in other news, we picked out a crib and I got to work on the rocker/glider (there were a TON of little nails!) and it looks like I won't have to refinish/paint it!  I have a little sanding and restaining to do, but it shouldn't be too bad (famous last words, right?).

Breaking News Alert:  Grizabella's still cute.


Friday, August 19, 2011

Whoa!

Sunday marks the halfway mark in my pregnancy.  CRAZY.  I have no idea where the time has gone!  The weekend agenda will include much baby-related stuff (crib shopping, a prenatal yoga class, some online registry-making, and glider repair) as well as a few non-baby-related things (replanting the flowers in the planters next to the front door, which I've managed to kill).

Last month my boss gave me the rocker/glider that her husband was rocked in when he was a baby.  Overall it's in great shape:

I love that it isn't a true rocker either, which means that Griz's tail won't get rocked on if she wanders around behind it.

There are a few issues that need to be addressed though that make it less than baby-proof:

 Not sure why there are little nails sticking out of it.

There are also screws sticking up from out of the bottom that need to be addressed.

So, I need to clean it up, make it baby safe, and patch up the holes left by those little nails.  I also want to scope out some fabric for the cushions and recover those some day.  At this point, I'm leaning toward keeping the wood the current finish rather than painting it, but we'll see the state of things after I'm done cleaning and patching it this weekend. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Ahhh...vacation!

Just got back from spending a few days on Lake Norman with my family.  Nothing like a few days with nothing that you have to do to help recharge one's batteries.  On the agenda-less agenda: manicures and pedicures, some shopping, some good meals out, kayaking, swimming, bb gun shooting, magazine-reading, and storm-watching.  It was rigorous.

Target practice and safety lessons for my nephew

Pregnant chick with a gun--watch out!

This storm was crazy.  It sat on top of us like this for about 10 minutes without raining before the bottom dropped out and it POURED.  It looked like something out of the Harry Potter movies.



Seriously, where are the dementors?

The fam.  Chris wasn't able to go with me, unfortunately, but we're hoping to get away for a few days in the near future.


Friday, August 12, 2011

TGIF!

Happy weekend folks! 

Life is getting a bit back to normal now and our house now only contains 4 people instead of last week's 10 and at some point next week we'll be down to 3.  All told, this whole kidney transplant process has been remarkably smooth.  The whole family really pulled together and pitched in to help cook dinners, take care of the house, and transport patients back and forth.  All in all, I feel like I did very little in this whole process! 

Anyway, I'm hoping at some point to make it to the farmers' market this weekend to pick up more peaches.  The peaches this summer have been INCREDIBLE and I want to take advantage of them as best I can before the season ends. 

Not my photo.  From pinterest.

Maybe I'll make this drink recipe?


Photo from Real Simple


Ingredients

3 cups ginger ale
1/2 cup peach nectar
2 ripe peaches, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Directions

1.  In a pitcher, combine the ginger ale, nectar, peaches, and ginger.
2.  Serve over ice.


Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Teal Room

My good friend Shey is moving into a new house soon and wanted some input regarding a bedroom that's painted a dark aqua color.  She wants see if they can live with it awhile before just jumping in and re-painting it.  Even though the color is bold, I suggested that it's totally workable if you add in other shades of blue or green, like sea glass.  In other words, don't fight it; just go with it.

I took the color inspiration from this gorgeous photo by Christian Chaise and the Urban Outfitters bedding makes it really easy (you could also use the photo as inspiration for a bathroom using this shower curtain).  Pulling in some of the colors from the photo such as red, yellow, and sand would give the room some more interest. 


Similar photo, 20x200
Chevron frame, Furbish Studio
Nightstand, Urban Outfitters
Silver pouf, Furbish Studio
Glass lamp, West Elm
Lotus votive, Furbish Studio
Jute rug, Pottery Barn
Paint colors by Martha Stewart:  Gypsy Moth, Powder Puff, Beryl, Sea Glass, Hummingbird Blue, Araucana Teal 


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Hi!

Another little hiatus there...sorry 'bout that!  I haven't been super inspired lately blog-wise, plus we've been a little busy, so posting is still a bit erratic.  Since things have been a little nutty around here lately, I figured that a little weekend trip up to Washington DC for a friend's baby shower was a much needed little break. 

While in DC I was slightly obsessed with a friend's vase (I'm weird) that was perfect for hydrangeas.  It was a Kate Spade bowl vase that she got for her wedding and was similar to this:


Now I must find one.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I love this idea

I saw these photos the other day and now I'm kind of obsessed with the ceiling:


(Images originally from domino, back in the day)

I'd love to stencil a star pattern in metallic paint on the ceiling in the nursery, but I'm afraid this may be one of those projects that doesn't happen (at least for awhile).  It seems like an easy enough project, but first I'd have to scrape the popcorn off the ceiling (easy enough--I've done it before in the old house), then hope and pray that the ceiling is flat enough just to prime and paint and then stencil.  None of those steps are difficult by any means, but I'm not really sure that I have any business being up high on a ladder a few weeks from now.  I love pretty things for sure, but I think common sense might have to win out on this one.  Damn.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Nursery Ideas

I swear this won't become a baby-centric blog; it's just that for now, that's going to be the next room we work on since it definitely has an impending deadline. 

For the nursery, I'm going for a gender-neutral, cute-but-not-cutesy, non-themed room.  I haven't chosen the fabrics yet, but when I do, I'll throw together a board of some sort to show you the look I have in mind.  We'll be using the room that I've already painted navy blue and cream (I think navy is a beautiful but not often-thought-of gender neutral color) with the big crysanthemum rug.

As far as artwork goes, I'm hoping to get a bunch of these Baby Animal Prints by Sharon Montrose to hang up in a grid like so:


Here are the nine I'd like to get:










They're available here at Sharon Montrose's website and at 20x200.com (which has a ton of really cool stuff in general).

Monday, August 1, 2011

Roasted Banana Cupcakes

Both brothers-in-law were released from the hospital on Friday and to welcome them back home, my two helpers (nieces Elise and Cecilia) and I thought we'd make cupcakes.  With his kidney issues and dialysis, my brother-in-law B wasn't allowed to have bananas (due to their high levels of potassium), and now that that's been resolved, we decided to make Martha Stewart's Roasted Banana Cupcakes.  These turned out SO good and the whole family loved them.  They're sweet, but not too sweet and the honey-cinnamon frosting was really an integral part of the whole thing.



Sorry the frosting's kinda messed up in this picture: they went so fast that before I knew it we only had one left and I put Saran Wrap over it to stick it in the fridge and it got smooshed.  They looked cute when I originally served them.

Roasted Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients
3 ripe bananas, plus 1 to 2 more for garnish
2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Honey-Cinnamon Frosting (below)

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Place 3 whole unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, sift together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Remove banans from the oven and let cool before peeling.  Reduce oven temperature to 350.
  2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add roasted bananas and beat to combine.  Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.  Beat in vanilla.
  3. In another mixing bowl, with the electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold one-third of the whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in two batches.
  4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Transfer to wire racks to cool.
  5. To finish, fill a pastry bag with a star tip with frosting.  Pipe seven scallops around the perimeter of each cupcake, and pipe a large starburst in the center of each.  Just before serving, thinly slice remaining bananas and place 2 pieces on top of each cupcake.
Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients
2 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat all ingredients until smooth.  Use immediately or refrigerate up to 5 dats in an airtight container.



Delicious!
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