How cute is....

Allison?!

We normally don't get to see the pictures that will be going into our frames, so when arre told me she had the photo, I was excited! My photo (above) does not do this picture justice! The picture is gorgeous and the frame matches it so well. I wanted to take a picture before we delivered it, but I can't wait to see it in the space Allison has in mind. I hope she loves it as much as I do!!

post by kristen

perfectly imperfect!

so here it is...

i did it! But, not without a few mess ups. One thing I must say is, WTF was I thinking?! No way I'm doing this for MJ's friends for her birthday. this is some serious work. Cupcakes will do just fine for 4 year olds. Secondly, what was I thinking when i posted a recipe on the icing? Apparently, having a 3rd child eliminates your ability to think/do things clearly. The consistency of the icing was one of my mistakes from Tuesday's petit four disaster and still did not get it perfect this time around, so please ignore that. If you are going to attempt these, just stick with white icing on white cake. Much prettier. Mary James was not a big fan of all the white, so we did some pink sprinkles.

One thing I did try (not sure whether I am recommending it or just putting it out there) was to flip the cake upside down (so what was to be the top of the petit fours, was smoother). The cake immediately fell apart but I was able to salvage maybe half of it?! I mixed a ton of icing and iced only 7 petit fours. Granted, they were oddly huge petit fours, but still...only 7. At least I can say I tried and semi-succeeded.

The lucky seven - Oh, and in case you were wondering, my mom let me borrow her cooling racks.

They are definitely doable. Just DO them when you have time, own a cooling rack (which i am pretty sure I'm the only one on earth that does not), and are not arre (she would have flipped her lid over the amount of icing wasted, among other things that this recipe entailed). And I never posted the entire recipe or directions because Darby has them so clearly stated and you want yours to look like hers.

sneak peek

Arre and I have been busy working on frames for our show and a few custom orders too! Here is a sneak peak for Beth - she sent us a message with a request for frame for prints for her nursery and here's a quick glance at what we have going on.


We love doing nurseries! Usually, we get requests for pink or blue frames, but i love when customers want just reclaimed wood in their nurseries. Beth doesn't know what she is having (how fun! and impossibly crazy to me) and I think these frames will be precious in her nursery.
I can't wait to see the finished room! (Beth - you will have to send pictures)
post by kristen

project princess tea party continues

So when I asked Mary James a few weeks ago what she would like to do for her 4th birthday party... this was what she rattled off over the course of the next couple of days...

spend the night party
bouncy castle
swim party
princess
lots of hearts and ribbons party (?!)
ballerina
and that's all I can remember....

It reminds me of when I was with child (mills) and she wanted to name her Rainbow Princess Darling Cupcake and when she told people this (which she did a lot) they would say, "that's a long name, what will you call her for short" and MJ would look at them like they had lost their mind and say "ballerina" because what else would you call a newborn baby girl? When I told her it was going to be Mills - she laughed like i was being silly and said "that's a boy's name". Once she understood that it really was going to be her name, she said how about "chocolate cupcake icing mills" .. as if that was a compromise from the first suggestion. So, for the first few weeks she called her cupcake Mills...and now it's just Mills (thank goodness).

It's almost like rainbows go off in her head instead of lightbulbs when she has all these "great" ideas. Anyway, back to my point... A friend helped me narrow it down and I decided on a princess tea party. And our decorations are involving ribbons and hearts and I think that's the best I can do to incorporate her ideas.


It will have to be a surprise as to what we are going to actually do with these decorations, mostly because i have no idea yet.

I'm sure something will pop into MJ's head soon though. And, I know that this party is still weeks away... but I like to plan and we need something to do INSIDE in this 100+ degree heat we have been having. So, we decided to practice making the petit fours. I'm really not even sure why I'm going to show you this picture it is such a pitiful attempt, but maybe it can be the "before" picture of my beautifully perfect "after" picture.

There were a couple of things working against me on this... for one - MJ wanted chocolate. I think it's a whole lot harder to make the chocolate ones pretty. Shanna had the good idea to make the icing hot pink to "help" with the prettiness (not her words, mine). And it really did look better than if the icing had been white (i think). Jim said they were really really good, so at least I got the taste down. Another thing was time constraint. I was NOT taking my time - Mills was due to be up any minute and I really should have been starting supper at this point, so I was hurrying. Which, obviously, is not something you can do with these things. And I stopped to fix a glass of wine halfway through because really.... you kind of need a drink once you see the finished product. The recipe and directions come from Darby..(who if reads this - is thinking - don't put my name on that! but go look at hers..they are perfect). one point she made (that i chose to ignore) was how they need to be square or at least levelled.

I also did not have a real cooling rack so I just made do. Another thing I was surprised by was you need TONS of icing...Darby did warn that about 1/2 drips off, but you need a lot to begin with.

If you are wanting to make these (because i know my pictures of them just make you so excited about diving in) here's the recipe I used for icing. (2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla- and this only halfway covered 12 cakes). We're going to try some white cake today and see if it looks any better. Wish us luck and please send any party ideas our way!!

accidental garden

a few days ago i was walking up my driveway when i spotted this



'what a nasty weed' i thought as i wondered what neglected plant of mine it was wreaking havoc on.




as i approached the plant i realized it was what used to be my beloved meyer lemon tree. even before i stopped paying it any attention it had ceased bearing fruit



which is why i almost did a cartwheel with surprise and delight when i spotted a single baby lemon! or four! there were actually five but i was so eager to love them i accidentally knocked one off ;(



after i raced inside to tell Matt (who, though i know could not have cared less, at least humored me by acting excited enough to race outside to see for himself) i decided to peruse around the rest of the yard and see what else i might have missed



low and behold, a tiny shrub by the backdoor which had been rumored to be a blueberry plant decided to this year prove that it in fact IS!



aren't they perfect!? are they poisonous? i've been too afraid to eat any.



perfect for two of my Summer favorites


Martha's Lemonade with Blueberries

AND


Lemon-Scented Blueberry Cupcakes


post by arre

Scotts

Last Thursday work took me on (what should be a monthly) buying trip (for the store) to Scott's Atltanta show. Like a total idiot, I forgot my camera (but that wasn't the worst part of the day) but I did photograph what purchases we came back with. Sadly, the greatest treasures were not among them. Next time I will try really hard to photograph what is there to share a greater breadth of makes Scott's Scott's.



this wonderfully decrepit clock face is literally almost as tall as me. can't wait to see where it makes its next home!




these great old jars did not photograph well. they have wonderfully wavy glass and a good aqua color. oh well.


i never tire of antique wine jugs. especially not when they tower over all the rest.





this will become a lamp





again with the wine jugs






had to get a close up to show how perfect the paint is flaking off of this



this lovely (and very tall) iron lamp might be my favorite purchase from this month. had it been one of a pair i might would had to have them for my own.

post by arre

happy happy weekend

Good morning! and when I say morning, I mean morning - it was a 5:30 a.m. start for us around here! But I'm not complaining..Mills slept throught the night (i need background cheering inserted here). this is big, really big. Soo... onto the post...

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there (I think precisely 0% of our readers are male so I guess I'm just throwing it out there for the hell of it!)

On Mother's Day this year - some of the kids at MJ and Molly's school were asked why they love their Mom. It was printed in the monthly newsletter and both of my children were asked this time around. I could've picked their responses out even if they didn't have their names next to them. Here are their answers...

Mary James: Because she gives me hugs (coming from my most affectionate child)
Molly: I love her (not really answering the question but just saying whatever she damn well pleases)

I thought it was cute, so I asked the girls this question (but about their dad) for Father's Day and here were their answers. (I made Mary James stop after a few minutes after noticing this wasn't ending anytime soon)
Jim with Mary James - The girls are identical as newborns so the only way I can tell the difference between their baby pictures with Jim is by the length of his hair in each and which hat/visor he is wearing!

MJ:
-He takes me to putt-putt and he gives me a lot of tickets and puts them on the counter for me
-He chases us
-He feeds Mills

-he babysits us sometimes
-he reads books to me
-he takes me to get a new movie
-he takes me to Edith (a house he's working on) to check on the pool
-helps me make a five (shows her how many fingers make 5 i'm guessing)
-he lets me jump to him in the pool at the beach
-he drops me off at Kay Kay's (his mom) to spend the night
-he tucks me in sometimes
Jim with Molly - hair really short

Molly: (you may have to read between the lines here..i'm quoting)
-hang me.... upside down.... bed
-at the beach
-daddy's at work

-daddy have red gum

jim with Mills...really long

Not only does jim get to bask in his father's day light on Sunday..it will also be our 6th anniversary! So even though he barely knows how to check his e-mail and will probably never see this.. Happy Anniversary to you Jim and thank you for 6 happy (and busy) years!

us - 6 years ago.

We have a busy weekend with weddings and baby showers so I don't think we'll get around to celebrating this anniversary just yet... but I do have my heart set on going to Liam's eventually (too bad jim doesn't read this to plan a surprise dinner for me :))! I hope everyone has a happy happy weekend!

not so newborn anymore ....

can you believe it?!! I can't. I really can not. What happened to that newborn baby of mine that was all curled up in a ball, waking up every 2 hours, crying like a teradactyl? (that's what a friend of mine says newborns always sound like) She's smiling and i finally have a smiley baby. My babies could be called all kinds of good things (sweet, squishy, cuddly,etc.), but I have always wanted a smiley baby and now i have one. All you do is say one word to her and those big eyes light up and her mouth opens so wide she looks like she is laughing hysterically but doing so silently for the moment. I can't wait until she starts the from-the-gut laugh babies get. I have to stop this post or I will start getting crazy ideas in my head about wanting more babies.

post by kristen

the best cookies e.v.e.r.

and I mean that. They really are the best cookies ever (well, to me at least). I have had some requests for the recipe and I never really get around to typing it out so here it is for the world to see.....

Carol's Chocolate Chip Cookies (carol is a family friend and the rest is self explanatory)
2 C all purpose flour
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t vanilla
1/2 C butter, melted
1/2 C Wesson oil
2 eggs
2 C oatmeal
1 large package chocolate chips

I made this particular batch for a friend who just had a baby boy (Jett) who I can NOT wait to meet this afternoon!! I'll give you a few tips.... (first i must say, i am no baker/cook or anything of the sort...so these tips are for those of you that are on my (low) level of cooking)


First, gather all your children to help because this is an easy one for kids. Today, Mills wasn't napping (so i strapped her on to be hands free) and Mary James was awake too.

Second, gather all your ingredients (eggs are missing from this picture)
Next, mix all the dry ingredients together, then liquid...

Then, combine the two. Use an ice cream scoop (preferably with a handle thingy that lets you slide the cookie dough off). I pack the cookie dough in pretty good before putting it on the pan. A smaller ice cream scoop is better (makes normal size cookies), but all I have is this large one and it works too (just takes cookies longer to cook).

Please ignore the old pan.. i know, i desperately need new ones.

Here they are! Mine really were so big, I ended up pressing them a little flatter with a spatula, halfway through cooking.

While cookies were cooking (at 350 for these, it took 17 minutes, but when i used to make them with my mom, they only took 10 minutes...i'm guessing it's the size of the scoop that makes the difference) Mills finally got sleepy, so I put her down for a nap and took the opportunity to get started on MJ's birthday invitations.

While, I don't claim to be a great cook, neither do I claime to be crafty. I do think these are a cute idea...but still, they need help so any suggestions are welcome!


So what do you think it needs... glitter, hearts (mary james says so), pink trim? Please tell me what you think!

About the time i finished... cookies were done, mills & molly woke up and all hell broke loose. But it was fun to get some things done for a change! Here are the finished cookies.... YUM


post by kristen

the hangover - the movie

i know, i know - you've already heard, it's hilarious - but i just sat here a laughed for about 20 minutes at the trailors (more than one). and i've already seen the movie.



on certain Thursday nights a group of local girls play bunco. this week is one of those Thursdays so our husbands (because yes, i am pretty sure we are all married) are going to the movies while the laides roll the dice. i am pretty sure i am going with the guys.

post by arre

wanna peek at M.A. Belle's {glorious!} abode

here is it! (make sure and follow her link to see the whole article as well)

gah, i so *heart* michele. isn't she adorable?!

i mean, how could her apartment not be incredible?! look at her drapery hardware. and (i hope this is not insulting if i am wrong...) is that THE west elm desk and my favorite ikea bookshelves and that anthropologie bowl i keep forgetting to buy AND the cutest two's company snakskin tray i spy?? i think she might have all of the contents of my dream office somewhere in that apartment if i look long enough! this makes me want rubie green bedding even more now and the cb2 cutie i've been threatening (my wallet) to purchase for yeeeeaaaarrrrssss now more. than. ever.

thanks for the peek Michele!

post by arre

{another} new domino?

i know Erin cast her vote a couple of weeks ago and I am by no means disagreeing - she certainly has a better eye than i. i'm just throwing yet another option out there. this one is quite literally a case of judging a book ... er, magazine, by its cover (i mean look at them (the covers) if i didn't know better i'd guess they hired some of domino's old stylists. actually, i don't know better. maybe they have.) - and its blog. i'm not officially diving in to this one until i've done a bit more research but it's definitely worth an investigation.

post by arre

tooooo cute, and sweet.

unless you really want to want to be pregnant - and a twin (which as far as i know is even more impossible in pretty much all cases) - do not go here.

xx

post by arre

inchmark::baby shower

perusing the internet, or more specifically, blogs you know to be written by the most wildly creative and otherwise insanely hip people you've ever heard of, for inspiration is ordinarliy a good idea.
doing so with limited time, and even more limited budget (and skills for that matter) and not having creative license to overtake the entire project is just plain depressing.

here's what i found when looking for ideas for decor (and only decor) for my sweet friend v (whose birthday happens to be today! happy birthday, v!)'s baby shower this weekend:

oh yeh - and in case that entire shower wasn't adorable enough, look what she did for the next one:

*sigh*

post by arre