Brenda, baker extraordinaire!

It was always such a treat to go over to eat at Randy and Brenda's house.  They are both such excellent hosts.  A delicious meal with nothing but the freshest ingredients, a divine cocktail, a sweet treat, and the best company was guaranteed.  It was always fun to watch Randy and Brenda do their thing in the kitchen...they are both excellent cooks and are absolutely in their element while they whip up delightful concoctions.

the lovely and talented couple (you may remember, Randy has made many of our furniture pieces)
 

Sidenote:  This picture got me thinking of the infamous NYE Randy & Brenda hosted.  What a riot.  When Hallie and I reviewed the pictures the next morning, we discovered we had 1024 pictures to capture the later part of the evening.  This was my Nikon D40's first big night out, and we all used it, and figured that the best strategy was to take rapid fire pictures the whole night.  I have just been laughing out loud reviewing the antics of the evening.  This is definitely one of those 'you had to be there' types of nights, but ladies...ahhhh, that was so memorable.  As I think about it more, maybe the secret to Randy and Brenda's entertaining really is the pole in their kitchen...

I digress.  So, back to Brenda the baker...

I have been thinking about Brenda's baked goodies lately - I made her 'to die for' carrot cake for McGov's birthday cake just this past weekend...and Sommer made them for Brady's bash.  You can never go wrong with this coveted recipe.  I am going to try to twist Brenda's arm to be a guest blogger and share some new cooking/baking adventures with us!

I had the privilege of having my 30th birthday cake baked by Brenda....her heavenly chocolate raspberry treat.  My mouth is watering as I write this.  And how cute is it with the fresh berries and those adorable candles?


Brenda also makes Pavlova, a dessert she grew up with in New Zealand.  She has a way of making everything that she touches gorgeous.




This year I am asking for a flourless chocolate cake with ganache (okay, maybe I have been asking for this for a couple of years).  Decadent?  Um, yes.  Illegal?  Maybe.  Against my Lenten resolutions?  Definitely. (but, don't I get an exception for my birthday?)

I specifically have asked Sean to make it....I think it would be cute to see him baking.  Plus, he is such a good cook, I have confidence that he could knock this one out of the park.  I told him I thought it would be a sweet tradition if he and Paddy could bake me a cake each year.  I will keep you posted on this one...Brenda, maybe you could give him some pointers?

Can I get excited?

Is spring really beginning?  I always jump the gun...on the first nice day, I just want to believe that all the cold weather is gone.  Spring is just such a wonderful awakening, isn't it?  I just wanted to ditch all the other things I needed to do today to instead go walking, go to a farmer's market, drink wine on our porch with Sean, plant herbs, have coffee outside, etc.  And let me tell you, it wasn't even that warm.  Even if we still have a few cold days, I can tell we have turned the corner...spring is on its way. 

Today made me want to ride bikes...I'll take one of these, please.
~taken in Charleston, May 2009.

Lampshade light fixture - DIY

After we broke one of the lamps in our bedroom, I wanted to figure out a way to use the lampshade as a light fixture for the small spot between our 'cruise ship' bathroom and our teeny closet. Our place is definitely not up to code from an electrical standpoint, so we have needed to rig up lots of lights around our place.  

We had our fair share of those Ikea Hemma cords, so I had rigged up an off-center attempt...do you see how the lightbulb is not in the middle of the shade? This drove me crazy!


I wrapped the cord around the lampshade supports, but couldn't successfully keep the lightbulb in the middle of the lampshade...argh!


Now I am seeing these fixtures popping up in lots of catalogs!  Fun. So, thanks to my brother's awesome tutorial, he helped me take my off-centered attempt at a cool new fixture to the real deal.  Our disclaimer...neither of us are electricians, so do this at your own risk ;).

I talked to Ryan because I thought if I could figure out how to splice the wire to allow it to feed through the small opening on a lampshade, I could start keeping an eye out for cool lampshades to serve as light fixtures around our next house. Ryan had a Hemma cord laying around as well, so he put together the following tutorial.

What you need:
--Ikea Hemma Cord
--Lampshade
--light bulb
--Knife (I used a Gerber)
--Wire Cutters (not necessary, but made things a bit easier)
--Electrical tape

Step 1 - Cut cord. I decided to do it near the plug cause it is probably less visible there.

Step 2 - Slice the main sheath back to expose the white and black wires.


Step 3 - Now strip the insulation off the actual wires. You likely cut a few pieces of the wire as well (as you can see that I did), but as long as you don’t cut a bunch of them, it will be fine.


Step 4 - Twist the wires.

Step 5 - Twist the two whites together and twist the two blacks together.

Step 6 - Tape each wire separately so the copper can't touch.

Step 7 - Clip a little bit of the outer sheathing off as the cord will now be a little shorter.
Step 8 - Tape back together tightly.  You could probably get some of those shrink wrap tubes in white and use those instead of tape if you want it to be a bit cleaner.

Here is my pic...I don't have white electrical tape...
And here is my brother's pic - you can tell he is much better at this than I am :)

So, it doesn't look all that much different, but to me, it does.  I am SO happy that the bulb is now properly set inside the shade!  Thanks so much to Ryan for the perfect tutorial.  I hope to be able to use this idea again!

Brady's Square Root Bash

So, I am super excited today to have my dear friend, Sommer, as a guest blogger.  Recently, Sommer started a blog called A New Leaf.    You should definitely check out her blog for all things fashionable, crafty, organized and well designed.  I get SO happy every time she has a new post, and it makes me REALLY miss being neighbors.  (I have decided I may have to start up a Blogs Anonymous at some point, by the way.  I am obsessed.)

Sommer has been working on a fun and creative party for her son's first birthday.  Brady was a rare and special square root baby, being born on 3/3/09, so she decided to go with the square root theme...incorporating squares and roots into the party details.  Brilliant!  She indulged me and let me make some little party details for her to compliment her genius theme. 

As soon as Sommer told me about this party, I told her she was going to have to share every little detail.  Let me tell you, when I got her pictures, I couldn't stop drooling.  She crafted the most special party to celebrate Brady's big day.  I am thrilled that she agreed to share everything with us.

First, Sommer created a beautiful invitation for the party (she also did the beauties for the baby shower the girls had for us on Cape Cod!), setting the tone for a fun party to come!  

So, let's hear more about this great party...

M:  So, I know you had some wonderful food ideas for Brady's bash.  What did you end up having as the final menu? 

S:  So the final menu ended up being...Texas Caviar, Prosciutto cups with pear, goat cheese and thyme, Poblano and Cheddar mini burgers on Nonnie's Homemade Potato rolls, Shoestring fries with parsley and kosher salt, Sweet Potato Gratins, Fresh fruit, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Brenda's famous carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing, sweet tea, unsweet tea, bottled water, and an assortment of ROOT beer!


M:  You know how horrible I am about menu planning (almost as bad as my color-selecting skills).  After the party, was there anything that you would have changed or done differently with food?

S:  Okay so first I have to say that you are in fact one of the best party planners/throwers I know..and that includes the food you serve!  I think I stole at least two or three recipes from each party you threw in Columbus.  I was so wishing I had the Columbus gang around to help me cook and plan...but I digress.  Couple things I would have done differently were (1) would have made the carrot cake cupcakes the evening before instead of the morning of so I would have had a little more time for details and wouldn't have been as stressed.  (2) Also should have done a trial run on the sweet potato gratins a week or two before the party.. live and learn.

Oh yeah, I also had planned on having fruit on skewers and after stabbing myself in the hand with a skewer and running behind, I just threw it all into a bowl!  Of course I then realized after the party had started that I had set out no silverware because my menu had been planned around not needing it.. but that was back when the fruit was on a skewer... oops! (3) not food related, but I wanted to make some big paper flowers for decor and just ran out of time.

M:  Were any of these new recipes that you would absolutely make again?  Any that you would like to share?

S:  The Sweet Potato Gratins were a new recipe.  They were good but I think I needed to layer more sweet potatoes into the muffin tins...but they have heavy cream and Gruyere cheese..so how bad can you mess that up, right? And a HUGE thanks to my mom-in-law for thinly slicing an enormous amount of sweet potatoes! The Prosciutto cups were new to me..a recipe suggested by you when I was stumped for another appetizer.  I have to say I loved them...they were probably my favorite food at the party (besides the cupcakes, of course!)

Sweet Potato Gratins:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 ounces grated Gruyere
6 ounces heavy cream

1.Grease 6 cup muffin tin.
2.Put the potatoes in the cups in alternating layers with the salt, pepper, and most of the cheese.  Add 2 tbsp of the cream to each cup.  Cover the tin loosely with foil.
3. Bake in a 400F oven for 20 to 25 minutes.  Uncover and top with the remaining cheese.
4. Bake for 15 minutes more.

M:  Also, poblano cheddar burgers...YUMMMMMMM.  Could I get that recipe? 

S:  Yeah I wish I had it too... once again...HEB.  They will only make them as big burgers so we ordered them and then Tim cut them in half and manipulated them to make mini burgers.  They are to die for.  They cut chunks of poblano peppers and cheddar cheese and mix it in with ground chuck..but I am pretty sure they add some spices too and not sure what those are..I may have to try and bribe the meat market guys at HEB one day and I will let you know if I am successful...they are delicious!

M:  Look at those gorgeous chocolate covered strawberries!  Okay, so you have to share the secret - I have tried to drizzle white chocolate before and it was a total disaster.  How did you make these so perfect?  AND...I love the stems too!

S: I just dipped them in chocolate bark...and once they dried I used a tube of white decorative gel ...my new favorite find!!! Love it and it is so easy to work with.  I found it at the grocery store, but you can also get it at Michaels...comes in a few colors.  I actually got the strawberries at our local grocery store, HEB.  They don't always have them with the stems, but I lucked out this time!


M:  Do tell about every last little detail.  I know you made this so special for Brady and I want to envision every tiny special thing that you did.

S:  We chalked a Birthday message to B on the chalkboard in the dining room.  Got some fresh flowers and balloons... I was bummed about the balloons.  I waited until the morning of and when I went to get them, they were out of black, brown and white..huh????  Anyway, got some clear ones that were pretty enough.


Some little numbered spice jars from Anthropologie that I was crazy about went on sale for 1.95 so I got 3 3 0 9 and filled them with mini hydrangeas and put them on the table.  I had to exercise great restraint by not treating myself to one of every number!


Then I had the adorable food tags, flags and straws that you made for the party... so cute and creative.. I especially LOVED the little flags on the cupcakes!  You were then sweet enough to send me the file so I could cut and paste and make a few more things to match all the adorable stuff you had made..


Sommer found this cute 'S' sticker to place on the pitcher to differentiate between the sweet and unsweet tea.

I think my favorite thing to do was print out a black and white picture of Brady from each month of his life and put them in wine glasses along the window sill in the dining room.  I was able to make month tags with the stuff you sent me and then stuck them into the wine glasses filled with black beans and pinto beans.  It was fun reliving each of those moments over the last year (some more fun than others!)




For party favors, I found camo baskets at the dollar store..and made some tags for the front.  Inside were a few things "square" and "root" related including, a rubix cube (found them at the dollar bin at Michaels!), a homemade square butterscotch bar, a sack of root beer barrel candy, and a "plant me" potato with instructions on how to plant him and hopefully grow a potato.
I spy pretty chocolate/white bakers twine!  Sommer ordered it from the same place I did - I love the brown color - I don't remember seeing that one!  So cute!



M:  Of course, we need to hear about the cake.  Did you have a cake just for Brady and another for all the rest of the guests?  What kind of cake(s)?  How did Brady do with it?  

S:  Well it had to be Brenda's famous carrot cake cupcakes.. a household favorite!  Brady just got his individual cupcake and it was quite a sight.  At first he was a bit timid, but after a couple of bites he was ecstatic.  Everyone was standing around watching him and he would take a bite and then look at everyone and squeal loudly.  He did this between almost every bite..it was so funny to watch!  I kind of teared up a bit watching him because I just couldn't believe we were already at this milestone.  That memory will be one of those that is crystal clear in my mind and heart for as long as I live.

M:  Sommer found this wonderful newer version of the good old Polaroid.  It is a Fuji Instax Mini 7S.  She was going to use this to capture special moments at the party.  How did that go?  Would you recommend the camera?  

S:  hahaha... I absolutely LOVE the camera..it takes adorable credit card sized photos!  Now having said that..I totally forgot to use it!!  Not a good sales pitch huh?  No one told me that pregnancy brain doesn't end once the baby gets here..or even after he turns a year old.  Camera has been a lot of fun and have been finding cute little uses for it...would definitely recommend it for kicks!

M:  Sommer had the great idea to have a 'root beer bar' with a fun selection of root beers to go with the theme.  How did that turn out?  

S:  We did fill up the hungarian baby bath with an assortment of rootbeers... was a nice touch.. although, probably should have tested them all out before serving.  There was a Hawaiian one that was just plain gross.  But there was also one I am now a huge fan of... Henry Weinhard's Root Beer..delicious!


Sommer and I both bought these hungarian baby baths at Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta - I miss that place!

M:  Most importantly, how did Brady like his big day?  Did he get into it?  I hope he put a good dent in his cake!!

S:  He had so much fun.  He loved the cake and enjoyed all the attention.  He was good about opening his gifts and the neighbor kids helped him out. He had lots of fun playing with them.. they entertained him for much of the party! One quick, cute story- the day after the party, my mom-in-law sat down on the couch to eat a cupcake and B from across the living room let out a squeal and crawled as fast as he could to her..so it looks like Brenda's cupcakes have yet another fan!

Delicate Beauties...

I have been visiting my parents all week, and my birthday has come a little bit early!  They got me a pair of these earrings from K.Amato. 


Lots of years ago, my friend, Gretchen, who knows everyone and has such a knack for bringing people together, told me about her friend, Kristen, who was making jewelry.  I ended up buying some of her K.Amato pieces and really enjoyed them.  Being that I am the absolute worst accessorizer, I hadn't followed up to see how Kristen was doing.  Recently, Gretchen reminded me about her, and I learned that she has become a huge success.  I was in desperate need of some new gold earrings since I lost one from my favorite (and only) gold pair.  I love how Kristen gives her pieces Chicago names...very catchy.  Now I am going to have to make a wish list of all the pieces I want - I am drolling over so many of her pieces.  I wish her all the best and lots of continued success!

Matching Chairs...

I have a major crush on these chairs for Paddy.  I want to get a simple table and two of these babies!



He doesn't need them for a while, but they are so cute, and I want to make sure that I get them for him, so I keep thinking about splurging and getting them. *thinking about* are the key words here...

Aren't these adorable in Jordan Ferney's toy area for her son?


I also like the adult version of this chair, which I am contemplating, or more like dreaming about, to go with the red desk...

Imperial Trellis rock stars

 If I can find it in me, I want to do what these amazing ladies have done.  They MADE THEIR OWN trellis fabric. 

I am thinking that it would be really fun to do an accent wall, like Hello Gorgeous did, in our next house.

Isn't this to die for?



Or, maybe I can attempt to paint some fabric for curtains or for reupholstering the black and white chairs, like 6th Street Design School did.  She made the fabric and then used it to create some beautiful pelmets, following Jenny's instructions.  I found this paint through another blog that I could use to do it...



How industrious and PATIENT are these ladies!?  My hat's off to both of them!!

Thrifting...

I feel so obsessed with thrifting lately.  Bad idea since we do not need to be bringing additional things into our home right now...on the contrary, I should be donating and throwing things away.

I had the itch to thrift though, so I found a thrift store, Urban Renewals, and a Goodwill.  I must have really, really wanted to go b/c I journeyed out on two nasty, cold, rainy, stay-in-your-pjs-all-day kind of days with Paddy to check these places out.  I had a hankering for milk glass, and $12 later, I left Goodwill with the following treasures...

milkglass, hobnail, alabaster, OH MY!
look at the delicate floral etching on the bottom of the footed bowl...

Going BOLD feels good.

So, the desk...the red desk.  Red Delicious to be exact.  It's finally done.  Here are the steps I took to breath some new life into this old beauty.  For upcoming projects, I am going to try to make more of an effort to document the whole process with pics...

As a reminder, here is the 'before' picture:

1.  Removed the hardware and cleaned it using salt and vinegar - a suggestion that I learned about from Jenny's blog, Little Green Notebook.  Here is a before shot...this brass needed some serious TLC.

Before...

After...

2.  Sanded the desk down by hand.  I just used very fine paper b/c that was all I had.
3.  Used wood glue to fix a few spots on the top of the desk where the veneer was pulling up.
4.  Primed the desk - LESSON LEARNED:  Use tinted primer next time when painting something a bold color.

I made sure to get a pic of it primed so that I could remember what it looks like while it is white for the inevitable day when I decide going bold no longer feels good :).  (hopefully this is many years down the road!)


5.  Then I painted.  A lot.  It took 4.5 coats to make sure the primer was really covered and the red was truly Red Delicious.  Next time, tinted primer.

6.  We moved the desk into our bedroom before the girls' weekend.  Being a person of immediate gratification, I wanted it to look presentable when they got here.  I thought it was dry...or maybe I just made myself *think* that it was dry, so I put some stuff on top of the desk while it was clearly NOT dry.  Whoops.  You would think I would know better...since I don't though, I had to go back and do another coat of paint on the top.

7.  I wasn't sure of the best way to apply the Wipe On Poly.  I was worried that if I sanded the desk before applying, I might lose the glossy look.  But, I ended up sanding it with very fine (220) sandpaper.  I sanded too hard and got down to the white primer...boo.  So I had to repaint a few areas.  I then applied two coats of Wipe On Poly, and I did not sand in between coats.

8.  I made 12 color copies of a pretty Paper Source Japanese paper as I thought it would make good drawer liners.  I always want to have pretty drawer liners as I know they would make me so happy, but I am always too lazy/cheap to do it.  I really love the pop of light blue and pink, red and white flowering branches whenever opening a drawer!  Mental note:  Do this more often.


The finished product...
 

 


In an effort to not be as rushed this time, I made sure that nothing was on the desk before I left for Chicago, so it can dry for a full week!

Now, I just need a chair....

Kitchen Island - Ikea hack

* 2/28/10 - Update:
Ryan found the following towel rack that I like SO much better than the one that I bought.  I may have to stop at a Container Store and get one:


In our old house, I wanted a small cart for the kitchen.  I found one at Ikea that I wanted, and it took a LONG time to get it, but once I did, I was so excited to have a little extra storage and counter space for a great price!
 
Thanks for assembling for me, dad!

I sanded down the cart minus the top, and then I stained it a dark brown.  It was the first time I had stained anything (what a pain!), and the Ikea wood didn't want to absorb much of the stain.  Nevertheless, if you look at it from a distance, it isn't too horrible.

Glory sitting with the cart right after I finished it...
 
 Even though our kitchen was teeny in GA, I loved it. 
 

Since I have finished it, I have thought it would be nice to have a towel rack on one of the ends.  I looked and looked and couldn't find what I was wanting.  I was at Target a couple days ago, and I picked up this 'over the door' towel rack, thinking I might be able to make this work on the cart. 

 

I unscrewed this side piece and just slipped the hook over it.  I think I will buy another hook next time I go to Target so that there can be a hook on either side of the middle screw to balance it out.  Wow, look at how bad of a stain job that is!


It's nice to have a place to hang a towel now!
 

Home Goods = Good Lamps

So, Sean broke one of our bedside lamps shortly after we moved here, and I was so distraught.  I am embarrassed to admit how upset I got about it because I know it is just an object...not even a sentimental one at that.  However, I just like to take good care of our things, and I felt like it was a careless mistake.  Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I was vacuuming.  We have horrible outlets in this house, and the one I was using is above, yes, above, my dresser on this random piece of wood sticking out of the wall.  So, to make a long story short, I hear a crash and the vacuum cord had knocked over one of the lamps from my favorite pair and destroyed it.  UGH.  I had given Sean such a hard time, and now I did it...and if I was going to break one, why couldn't it have been the other one like the one Sean broke???  Now, we had one of each set....booo.  Oh yeah, and a big sorry to Sean for giving him such a hard time when I went and did the same thing. :)

Enter Home Goods.  I checked Target - where I had bought the two, now mismatched, sets from - but I honestly feel like their lamps, at least the ones online, are expensive!  I decided to hit up Home Goods one day when Sean watched Paddy and I had some 'me' time.  Jackpot.  I got two new sets of lamps - thinking that I would return one of the sets - but now, both sets have found new homes here with us!

I wasn't sure that I wanted more black lamps; however, I thought I could spray these a different color if I wanted to, and I could put matching or different color ribbon over the black piping on the shades...

 On another note...I am in desperate need of finding a stylish yet functional alarm clock.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I have a crush on this clock, but to be honest, I love having a digital alarm clock!


Since I can't afford a Nelson lamp, I figured that these would do!  I haven't been a huge fan of my dark teal wall, but in this natural light, I am liking it!
P.S.  I am making a concerted effort to try to take most pictures with only natural light, and I am noticing a huge difference.  It makes me really motivated to want to learn more about taking better photos!

French Chair Re-do

I spent a couple of hours the other night (when I should have been sleeping!) going through old pictures.  I found so many from our old house, so I will probably be reminiscing with some posts about old projects :)

Sommer and I first went to Scott's back in early 2007.  While we were there, I found a pair of old French chairs...

Before...
 

I was hosting Sommer's 30th birthday that year, and I really needed extra seating, so I got to work on them right away.  I sanded them down, then I painted them with a flat antique white paint, and then I rubbed some Ralph Lauren stain over the paint to give it a distressed/antiqued look.  If I had to do it over, I would have painted them gloss white!  Then, I found a nice chocolate brown fabric, and I had them re-upholstered.  I think I sort of rushed the sweet lady that was working on them (my immediate gratification issue) which I now know I shouldn't have done since I think the chair seats could have used some more batting/padding and I can notice some of her staples when I look closely.  But, I was pretty happy with how they turned out.  Since then, the joints have gotten loose on one of the chairs, and I now have to figure out how to deal with that issue because to properly fix it, the upholstery would have to be ripped off :(.   UGH.

After...


A lost art...

When was the last time that you received a handwritten letter? We were so lucky to get one in the mail yesterday from our friend, Dorthea. It made our day. Sean and I were talking last night about how lovely it is to receive a letter that someone sat down and took the time to write. It just feels special. It made us both want to sit down and just write letters.  Hmmmm...maybe this should go on my never-ending list of resolutions.

Thanks for the beautiful note, Dorthea! Paddy loves the outfits :)

Sweet Savannah

It is amazing how many times Sean and I say, "we miss Columbus" or "we miss Georgia" or "we miss the south".  Right now, I am thinking about Savannah.  Sean and I took a 4 day trip there in April of 2006, and I loved it so much, I still feel like it was just yesterday.  I can't wait to get back there!

 

 

I adore the layout of the city and the stunning architecture...I can't believe I don't have a gazillion pictures of the houses and parks.  Hmmm...guess I will need to go back :)  (*this was also pre-digital SLR, and I sucked at taking pics with my point and shoot)

We splurged and stayed at the Mansion on Forsyth for a couple of the nights.  It was worth it.  It is an 1888 Victorian mansion turned funeral home that was rehabbed into a modern boutique hotel.  Hotels can be so incredibly inspiring, don't you think?

 
  
  

  

  

  

 

We also spent two days in the cooking school affiliated with the Mansion on Forsyth, 700 Kitchen.  We had planned to go for one day, but we had such a great time during our first session with Chef Darin, we decided mid-class that we MUST go back for another day!  We still constantly make the recipes that we learned from our Searing/ Sautéing and Low Country classes...black eyed pea salad, creamy grits, and pork tenderloin medallions with dijon mustard sauce are just a few of our favorites.  I would HIGHLY recommend going.

There are amazing shops.  I tried to sneak some pics...these are from The Paris Market...

This is when I became obsessed with apothecary jars...

We also went to one of my favorite spas that I have been to...the Savannah Day Spa.  I am SUPER picky when it comes to spas...SUPER picky.  I loved the ambiance here, (in a beautifully restored historic home) and I dream about going back.

And the food, of course, the wonderful food.  A friend of ours, Donna, is like our personal concierge anytime we go to a new city, domestic or abroad, we could count on her for amazing dining suggestions.  Elizabeth on 37th is one of the best restaurants that we have ever been to.  The food is delectable, service - incredible, AND it is in a beautiful old house which I am a total sucker for.  I wish I had a better pic.  I will never forget the huge rosemary bushes out front.  That began my obsession with and purchasing of rosemary bushes.  What a heavenly scent when you brush against them.  mmmmm.....

I feel like we fit so much into four days...I have such fond memories of everything we saw, experienced, ate and did here.  Oh Savannah, I can't wait to bond with you again (and get better pics!).

Personalized Baby Gifts

I have been wanting to keep a list of some of my favorite personalized baby gifts that I have bought/seen/we have received for Paddy.  We were so fortunate to get so many special gifts and these are just a few...

1.  License Plate Onesie (part of the reason this is so cute is that was sent to us by a dear guy friend of ours (thanks, crazy Uncle Micah!) - I am dying to know if a girl told him to get this or if he really found it himself!)


2.  My Own Name book - I have given this as a gift to so many people, and was thrilled when we got one for Paddy - thanks, Aunt Sarah! :)


3.  Birth Art - I had been contemplating creating a birth announcement similar to the following birth art...needless to say, I was pretty much jumping up and down when the one that the Ser's sent us for Paddy arrived!  Sommer can read my mind!


4.  Personalized Block - This is such an adorable keepsake with all the important birth stats!  We love ours...thanks to the Thomas & Rykard families!

5.  Custom sports team onesies - I found these on eBay, and it was even cuter in person when we received Paddy's!


6.  Personalized stroller blanket - I love the quality of this blanket that we received...it is so thick and soft, it has been perfect to keep him warm when going outside...thanks, Lara's!

To fix or not to fix...

So, my dear friend Rhonda called me one day during work saying that she was at Salvation Army and there were some chairs that she thought I would want.  I raced over and immediately agreed.  The chairs were very clean and had what appeared to be relatively new fabric on them.  I was going to paint them glossy white and have them reupholstered in a fun fabric.  I didn't have time to get this project done before we left GA, which I am now kicking myself for.  The cost up here in Boston is going to be a lot more than it would have been down there! 

Recently, one of the legs broke off one of the chairs...and, it was clear that this had been broken before as there were stray screws/glue marks from a shoddy fix.  ARGH.  Oh well, what did I expect? 
I sent a question into Apartment Therapy Boston to see if anyone could basically recommend the 'perfect' resources - a quality and inexpensive upholsterer and woodworker.

So, they question now is...to fix or not to fix?    I think the chairs could be nice if I fixed them up; however, I have to make a commitment to fabric in order to do that, and I always seem to get cold feet!  I really want a fun, modern looking geometric print.  I would love to do a bold color (I still lust after the kelly green Imperial Trellis fabric), but I have started chickening out on that and thinking I should get a more neutral color so that it can go along with more rooms...especially since we have a lot of moves coming up.

I have recently found someone on craigslist who can fix the chair leg for a reasonable price, and now I still need to decide on a fabric, paint the chairs, and find an upholsterer.  Lots to do.


I think I would really like to stick with a geometric pattern, and it would be great if I could Scotchguard the material and be able to wash the covers for the cushions.

I have been keeping an eye out for fabrics that I like, but I haven't seemed to find the perfect fabric at the perfect price yet :)

Here are some fabrics that I like...you can click on the pics to link to the sites where I found them.













 

  

  

 

A new endeavor...

I was very lucky to get in on a Department of Defense program for military spouses that funds education in portable careers.  I just received my materials to begin the Sheffield School's Complete Course in Interior Design.  It is a distance learning program, so I can do it at my own pace which seems ideal with an infant and many moves in our future.  I am giddy over the thought of challenging myself to learn more about something that I am passionate about.  I have to do several projects for the program so I hope to post some of them here.

Here goes nothing!