Tuesday, May 31, 2011

7 months old


The Little Miss is 7 months old! She has made a lot of leaps and bounds this past month. She sits up completely unassisted, as in she can play on her own without an array of soft pillows surrounding her to break her fall. I can not however leave her on the bed! BOOM she flips on to her belly and begins her determined attempted to lift her heavy body onto her knees and in the process she scoots backwards which will inevitable cause her to scoot off the bed.... sigh what a determined little scooter.


She is soooo heavy now, weighing in at almost 22lbs, there are many days when even my brand new "guns" ie arm muscles want a break and I wish they designed a baby chair that moves up and down the stairs like they do for older people who need assistance in that department.  But I laugh at the image of her plunked in a chair moving up the stairs further and further away from me as I wave goodbye (and then of course follow her up the stairs. I'm not a monster!). I mean in this fantasy of make-believe how would she get out of the chair once she is up or down the stairs?  And you say, but that's where the trained monkey comes in. I wish... well Cameron and I do joke and dream about our dog Millie growing opposable thumbs and also gaining the ability and know-how to slide a chair to the kitchen counter or where-have-you to be of more assistance! I mean Honestly!!! pull your weight Millie!


~Busted!  Now that she can scoot around I find her licking and trying to eat household objects like this ottoman. At least it wasn't a cold flagpole! ~


Some Tricks and Tips from this month:

* I cut her nails in the Morning shortly after she wakes up. Since she is much more aware she grows very fussy and impatient during this chore. She used to just sit there like she was at the salon, but now she acts as if she has nerve endings in her nails, and it's torture. Thus early in the morning she is more chill and happy go lucky. I can usually get all toes and 1.5 hands done, not too bad!

* A toy for diaper changes: since we do cloth diapers and are currently still diapering with a prefold AND a cover, diaper changes take longer than with a disposable so the distraction of a toy helps keep her still and in one place and not rolling away from the diaper... for now at least!

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She loves eating the food her Dad makes for her.  Spinach and carrot combo is a favorite and she loves helping us eat a banana. Yes she has grown and changed a lot this month and we think by July she will be crawling, but we shall see!



Her Little Monkey Feet Busy At Work

Pinning on Pinterest oh so "Pinteresting"


I'm pretty much addicted to Pinterest.  
And I wanted to share with you some of my recent "Pins"!

Above: Cupcakes













I suggest you join pinterest!!  It's a  great way to gather images and bookmarks into one place. Perfect if you are redoing a kitchen, planning a special event, musing over fashion, or gathering recipes. You can find me on Pinterest HERE.  Looking forward to meeting up and seeing what you pin.

kickin' it at the shore


We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend at the shore... here are some highlights.

The Little Miss and I playing in the sand.


Thoroughly covered with sand, sitting next to Dad.


impromptu beach toy


Playing with her cousins



Sophie and Aunt Hannah made a fort...


If you knew the password, you were granted access. 


Looks like Millie (our Boston) knew the password. Here she is inside of the fort. Which looks like Studio 54 with the nightlight lady bug. lol. Pretty much my new favorite photo!

I hope you all had a great Holiday Weekend!

Monday, May 30, 2011

The Evolution of a Rainbow Cake


We all spent the Holiday Weekend at the shore, where we celebrated my Niece and Nephew's birthdays. My sister-in-law and I decided to make a rainbow cake for these two knuckleheads. This being our first rainbow cake, I thought I would document our crazy experiment.  FIRST: We used a white cake mix instead of a yellow cake to allow the colors to really pop. Then we separately mixed the batter with food coloring to make our rainbow colors in their individual bowls.


We only had 2- 9 inch regular cake pans, 2- 8 inch cake pans and 2- 8 inch pie pans. Hence why this assemblage looks pretty funky!!  Like a bunch of crazy pancakes.  After layering the pieces with icing we trimmed the edges before icing the entire cake to make up for the different pan dimensions. I trimmed the layers using a sharp knife while channeling TLC's "The Cake Boss".


Tah-Dah! The finished cake complete with swedish fish, sprinkles and candles. (icing recipe below)


And the birthday kiddos blowing out their candles.


BAM! the interior of the cake, pretty awesome for our first time! 
(look closely, there is a bottom layer of purple)


And the Birthday girl eating her special rainbow cake.

What we learned: Each layer was a little funky and they varied in thickness here and there, this would be remedied by using all the same size pans for each layer. For next time I think we would also double the recipe using two white boxes instead of one. An easy fix.  But it was tasty and really fun and most importantly a big hit!  If you want to make yours from scratch- check out Martha Stewart's recipe.  

And here is my Grandmother's SUPER easy Icing Recipe:
(we doubled it to make enough for the layers, so what you see below)
3 Cup 10x (confectioner's) sugar
2Tbl sour cream
1/4 C. Butter- soft
1 Tbl Vanilla
juice of 1/4 lemon

Cream together the butter and sour cream. Add sugar and then cream together well. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Whip till of spreading consistency.

*Since this is such an easy icing recipe you have to make it right before you plan on icing the cake- it will get too hard to ice if you let is sit around while you make the cake. We iced the cake and then put the whole thing in the fridge until after dinner.*

Friday, May 27, 2011

I did it!, A fun way to document your weekly achievements!



What did you get done this week? I managed to get a little freelance work finished all while taking care of our very active 7 month old... there are a few "to-dos" still left undone, but at the end of the week and at the start of a great memorial day weekend, it's fun to think back on all that did get done from the smallest accomplishments to the biggest!  That's why I love this free "I did it!" list from Threebysea. What a fun way to give yourself a pat on the back when at times it feels like you got nothing done! Just click on the link, print out the list and start filling out your own achievements.

I hope you can add- Had a relaxing Weekend- to your list!!!

When Big Companies RIP OFF Independent Designers, I'm talking to you Urban Outfitters!


This Story has been going around this week about how Stevie, a Designer who sells her jewelry on Etsy, was RIPPED off by Urban Outfitters!!!  Her Jewelry line is what allowed her to quit her day job and work from home pursuing her passion of creating. Her lovely I Heart Pieces are handmade and retail for around $50. The Urban Outfitters' knock off retails for $18!!!  It's just so sad and frankly infuriating. I will say though that The Urban Outfitters Brand- that also includes Free People and Anthropologie produces a very temporal and cheap line of goods. Refusing to shop there in protest will not be a challenge for me as I have no money but mostly I've been VERY un impressed for a few years with what they have been making.  And it seems they are bored too if all they do is steal designs from Independent Designers.

Support Truche and Shop her Designs HERE!


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Look Book: In search of the perfect SUN HAT


The other week I did a lookbook blog post about the Perfect White Tunic. And in keeping with summer and one's wardrobe essentials, I thought looking for the perfect staple- The Sun Hat- would be a fun challenge. My Criteria: the hat must be large for great sun coverage and well made to last for summers upon summers! I found that this means the hat will retail starting at $50 and average out around $100... Here is what I found so far!

Above: J Crew's Summer Straw Hat, I actually tried this one on at their store and it's very cute. plenty of coverage and great quality that will make it sure to last for many summers!


BHLDN has a lovely and broad hat. I might remove the white flower to make it more casual for daily beach wear.


White House Black Market offers a HUGE sun hat that is fancy enough for the races as well!

I love how this one from Hat Attack folds up nicely for traveling!


H&M offers a striped sun hat for $12.95... but I have to ask myself, how well would this inexpensive hat last summer after summer? cute though!!


A Linen sun hat from Pod.


Noon day collections sun hat makes me want to jet to Tuscany!

Handmade Shout Out: Royal Mint etsy shop


 This week's Handmade Shout Out goes to Royal Mint, a darling etsy shop from Montreal, Canada who makes magical felt animals, sculptures, and tea sets! I love how much character her animals have. They would be a welcomed treat on a desk or side table.  

 Above: Bunny Felt Fantasy Tea Set would make a special and whimsical gift for anyone's first tea party!


Frosty Mint Fox, love the color combination


Mini Spring Bunny, cute! what bunny doesn't need a scarf?


Monkey Soft Sculpture, Something my Mom would love!


Spirit Bear, love the color and the detailing on the back of the neck

I hope this has inspired you to head over and explore Royal Mint.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Play Date





The Little Miss and Baby V. had a play date today.  Unfortunately Cordelia took her morning nap late and was asleep for most of the time they were visiting. She is officially teething again (awesome!) so her schedule is a little funky and she is more fussy today... anyway so by the time she woke up, Mason was done... cute none the less. Hopefully we can sync them up at a future play date!

ps: boy on the left, girl on the right ; )

Green Living: A Plastic Free Life



This week's Green Living Blog is a shout out to this new blog and website I found called MyPlasticFreeLife, written by Beth Terry who in 2007 decided to live plastic Free!!  my hero!  She documents her eco-quest through her blog and explains on her website how YOU too can live a Plastic Free Life.

So inspiring and something I strive to do myself, but still have a long way to go. As I've mentioned on here before packaging is my biggest pet peeve and so this blog really hits home. I love her recent entry about gardening plastic free!  I hope you check out her site and strive to reduce your own use of plastic in your life!.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores? don't mind if I do!


hellz to the YES!  
What a genius idea to combine s'mores and cookies ie: s'mookies!!

Just another great pin I found through Pinterest! 
Check out the recipe on Gaby's Blog.

And follow my "board" Tasty treats I want to eat as I continue to gather other yummy goodies to the mix!

Monday Inspiration


Word. 

You can buy this print HERE.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Weekend Project: I want to make this...


It's been a while since I lasted posted a "Weekend Project", sorry about that, but I have been gathering and pinning some DIY projects to one of my boards on Pinterest I Want To Make This. And so this week's post is a bit of a shout out to this board! There are a variety of projects on my board. Some are very fast and easy, while others might take you more than a Saturday morning to complete.  Fell free to check it out and let me know which project you would try?

Rain Rain go the bleeep away


ugh. 

It's been raining in my area pretty hard and too consistent since SUNDAY! I know if I lived in Seattle this would be old hat and not a big deal... but I don't live in Seattle. Normally I love the rain! I don't mind getting caught in it, unless I have special shoes on. I loved playing in the rain when I was little. We would stomp around in rain boots, singing "I'm Singing in the Raaaaain!" We would thoroughly invest in manipulating puddles or damming the overflow in our ravine... I love listening to it fall outside my window. When I was little my bedroom window overlooked a portion of roof that made an especially satisfying ping when raining. I felt special to have the best rain room in the house! Now older I still love that sound and will forever remember listening to the rain gently fall the morning our daughter was born this past October. We were all tucked in our big bed, after our lovely home birth, my husband and baby were fast asleep while I laid there staring at my new family, soaking them in as the rain fell.

BUT now, living back in the Philly area, and being thoroughly invested in my vegetable garden, I will have no more of this rain! I'm convinced the rain has brought these little purple bugs, psyllids aka plant lice, to munch on my tomatoes- bastards I'll get you TODAY. Yes, rain is usually a welcomed break, but not this week.   - Yours, Andy Rooney ; )

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