Feeling Seasonally Conflicted

I am not ready for the summer to end. I don't think I had enough days to soak in the suns rays, the warmth of the days nor the cool water our little Rattlesnake Lake provides. I didn't get enough grilled dinners, and not nearly enough time on our deck on a hot nights drinking a chilled beverage with friends under the glow of our outdoor globe lights. Not enough nights falling asleep to the sound of the whirring fan. Not enough opportunities to wear my cool and comfy sundresses. But alas, whether I like it or not... the summer's end is near. This is where my aforementioned confliction comes into play. I am not ready for summer to end... but I am oh so looking forward to the many wonderful things fall brings. Halloween, fall leaves, cozy sweaters, stormy days and nights, comfort foods and baking marathons, Thanksgiving, and my birthday! All that being said... I have given in to the overpowering temptation to feed my desire to surround myself in all the Halloween glory!

It innocently began with this... Mathew Mead's Halloween Magazine. Sitting there in checkout lane at my local grocery store, it drew me in and captured my little Halloween loving heart.

Then, to my sheer delight... this arrived in my mailbox. The whole issue is Halloween related. All of it. I have never seen such a thing. Typically, and I know this from having subscribed to Country Living Magazine for years, they only have some of the issue focused on Halloween items... never all of it?! Heaven.

Then it all becomes a blur, as I am not eactly sure when this BHG Special Halloween issue entered my life... but I do know it was the rhinstone covered pumpkin on the cover that sealed the deal and won me over, and I never looked back.

Last weekend, this Martha Stewart Halloween Magazine almost made it into my basket. But hubby was with me... so I was strong. For both of us. But I confess to you dear readers, I don't know how much longer I can hold off. I feel myself weakening even while typing this.

So, there you have it. I am conflicted between two loves. It is a love triangle, if you will. Truth be told... I love all seasons, and this is just something I have to work through at the end of every season and the beginning of every new one. Well... except the transition from winter to spring. Usually... I am glad to see those little tulips pop their heads out and the cold to subside... but, well, that is another blog, isn't it?

Party-rific!

I have parties on the brain! Since throwing a babyshower for my friend last month, I am starting to think that party planning may be a fun thing to do much, much more often. Who knows, perhaps someday there will be somebody who wants to pay me to do it? Keep checking in for future parties...

In the meantime, I went to my most favorite place, the Library, to find some free inspiration. Here is what I left with (You can see a few pages of all of these at Amazon as well!):

1. Essentially Lilly, A Guide to Colorful Holidays by Lilly Pulitzer and Jay Mulvaney:
By designer Lilly Pulitzer, this book was mostly personal accounts a various holidays and celebrations in Lilly's life. While the bright colors and illustrations were fun, for the most part I will take away a couple new recipes.

2. Nell Hill's Entertaining in Style by Mary Carol Garrity:
This book was not nearly as food focused (and let's face it, I have a million cookbooks...so more recipes are not what I need!). This book included much more about the decor of the table and home for various themed (and seasonal) parties.

3. The Part Planner by David Tutera:
I think this book balanced the aspects of party throwing quite well, David included fun recipes to suit the party theme, as well as examples of fun party decor and for each party he also includes a list of tips to use. My favorite part of this book however, is seeing a cheesy photo of himself on every other page.
4. Shabby Chic: Sumptuous Settings & Other Lovely Things by Rachel Ashwell:

How I adore all things Rachel Ashwell...always have. This book provides some very budget friendly ideas for not just party decor, but home decor as well. I have a new appreciation for plain old "Nit" dye's because of this book.

5. Styling for Entertaining by Susie Coelho:
The main focus of this book is upon re-configuring your existing homes decor to create a more party-like atmosphere. I really like seeing the before and after photos. The only downfall is... my home is not nearly as "plain" as the before photos, so I don't know how well the ideas would work for me. There are some nice recipes in this book as well. Like David, Susie also enjoys super cheesy pictures of herself scattered throughout her book.

All in all, some pretty good books... especially for free! Thank you King County Library System. I think I will see what I can get on an inter-library loan, not just those found at my own local library.

Now, I need to stop reading about parties... and start planning some!

Sugar and Spice! A Babyshower

Sorry for my summer hiatus! I was so excited to be the hostess to my friend's recent baby shower and had to share! I had been seeing some lovely ideas for a "Sugar and Spice" theme on both Kara's Party Ideas as well as Kara's inspiration "ModernEve"... and used the ideas to create my own. I fashioned the invitations from scrapbook paper I found, and went with a bright pink and tangerine color combination. The invitations turned out adorable!


Decor: I had a lot of fun creating this "Sugar and Spice" banner that displayed over the buffet. Also displayed on the buffet is the afternoon's "menu", something I have noticed done by catering company's. Of course, mine was completely in theme! I used Photoshop and"Shabby Princess" papers from the "Blossom" Collection. Everything was perfectly coordinated (I couldn't allow anything less!) I found lots of cute fuchsia and orange ribbons (I am a ribbon junkie!) and of course, fresh flowers abound. I also had an assortment of Izze's Sparkling Juices... in coordinating shades of orange, pink and deep red!

Food and Favors: I was originally going to use shakers full of cinnamon sugar as the invitations for the shower... but that later transformed into party favors. I ordered them about 1 1/2 weeks in advance from fooddirect.com.... and I received an email the day before the Saturday shower, Friday, that they would arrive on Monday. Nice. I had to scramble... quickly finding some itty bitty personal sized shakers at a kitchen store nearby my house. Not quite what I had in mind, but it worked.

Games: We had a lot of fun with the games. Along with the invitation I also included a little insert on the same scrapbook paper announcing the mother-to-be's registry information as well as "Pampers for Prizes". For every pack of diapers brought, they were entered in a raffle for a gift certificate. She ended up with enough diapers to last her months! We also played this Baby Shower guessing game that I saw here. We had B-Barrettes/Bows, A-Applesauce, B-Bib, Y-Yellow Rubber Duck, S-Socks, H-Hat, O-Onesie, W-Washcloth, E-Electric Outlet Plugs, R-Rattle. Some of them were really stumped! I was afraid it would be too easy, however we did end up with two winners...we had to ask the secret tie-breaking question, "How many times did mommy-to-be have to get up last night for a bathroom visit?"



I loved the little trivia idea that "Modern Eve" did at her Sugar and Spice Party, so I made one of my own. It was pretty funny and I tried to make some of the answers a little bit silly for fun.

At my best friend's baby shower years ago I made up a madlib, this time I found one pre-made here. It ended up pretty darned funny, and I made sure to print it on pretty paper for the baby-book.

All in all, I think it was a success! My dear hubby helped me so much! Our entire SUV was filled to the brim with items I had to transport. I can't wait until the next excuse for a party!

PIE!

Over the last couple weeks I have been on a bit of a pie kick. The first pie I made was for our annual get away with friends, "Nate Fest". I was slow to choose a meal to make for the gang, and everyone volunteered before me. I decided to bring beverages and desserts, which is honestly the two things I love most in this world!

I found this delicious and easy recipe on the blog Huckleberry Prairie. It is a blueberry cherry pie... and one pie was NOT enough for our large queue. Note to self....make twice as much as next year!

Blueberry Cherry Pie
Crust ingredients needed:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
Mix together until ball of dough forms. Pat out into pan. Make additional crust for pie top.

I cheated and used ready-made pie crust! Shhhhh.....

Pie Filling:
1/2 cup sugar2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Mix sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon.Add cherry pie filling and blueberries. Mix.Pour into prepared crust.Roll out second crust on floured wax paper.Cut out star shapes with small star cookie cutter.

Egg white mixture:
1 egg white
1 tsp of water
2 tsp sugar
Mix egg white and water. Brush on stars and sprinkle with sugar.

Cover pie crust edges with foil and bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 35 minutes WITHOUT star crust top.

After 35 minutes, remove foil edges and add stars in any pattern you desire.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until stars and crust are golden brown.

The next Pie was made for a very pregnant co-worker who craves banana flavored foods... not bananas! For this reason, I had to make some slight modifications to the recipe. Link to the original recipe listed below. This time I wised up and made TWO! It received rave reviews, several declaring it the best banana cream pie they have every had. It came to me courtesy of Country Living Magazine (May 2009 issue).


Banana Pudding Pie

The original recipe can be found here.

Here were my modifications:

Crust:
2 c Vanilla wafers, crushed
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
1 Large box Instant Banana Pudding, prepared according to box directions
1 cup fresh whipped cream
5 Tbsp of Caramel Sauce/ice cream topping, plus extra for garnish
2-3 Bananas, sliced

Gently fold whip cream into prepared and cooled banana pudding, set aside. Layer sliced bananas over cooled crust. Drizzle the caramel over the bananas and top with pudding mixture. Chill for 2 hours, or overnight. Decorate with remaining banana slices and caramel (and maybe some chopped pecans!).

The 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July! We have had a great one so far! We have the rare treat of high temperatures and clear skies for this glorious 3 day weekend. I am trying to relax and enjoy as much of it as I can. We had friends over last night, and excuse to make some onion straws to top burgers...they have been demanded for all future gatherings to follow! I found some perfectly red, white and blue ribbons for some roses in my little antique milk jars. I wanted to mix some little flags in with the roses, but ran out of time to hunt some down! Next year, maybe.



I also was able to finally use my newly hung homemade chalkboard! It is looking a little bare on our kitchen wall, but no fear... I have some ideas for friends to keep him company. Just a matter of time...



I had seen similar chalkboards in boutiques for $200+ dollars (it is a large one!) and decided to just make one myself. It has been a slow project, but with hubby's help we finally got it done! We picked out a frame (16x24) and a piece of sheet metal from the hardware store. I primed it, and painted it with chalkboard paint... we plugged it into the frame, and backed it with some foamcore board to keep it steady. Then viola! I love it. It makes me happy! I will be sure to take pics once the wall is more "done".

Independence Day Party

I have been aching to make this mouthwatering Strawberry Coconut Cake I saw on the Daisy Cottage blog. I tried to convince hubby we should have a birthday party, just so I could make it... but he wasn't interested! So... we had an impomptu "3rd of July" BBQ with a few friends who were quite happy to help me enjoy it!

Look at those babies! Freshly picked and washed... almost worth crying tears of joy over.

This is what happiness is... for me at least. Let it also be known, this three layer cake was so tall, I wasn't able to put the lid of my cake stand on!

Oh divinity.

Project: Dining Chairs

I recently decided that what I really needed was some new adorable dining chairs. I knew I could find some chairs easily and cheaply someplace. I wanted some that could be painted white, and have the seat cushions re-covered with my favorite Heather Bailey fabrics. Within a few weeks of deciding this... on a drive home, I found some. Right in my own neighborhood! As we drove by I saw them with a box sitting atop shouting at me "FREE". It was a nice evening, so after dinner I buckled the 2 year old into his stroller, and away we walked... time to check out the chairs. As I got to the chairs, I realized the box atop declaring "FREE" actually contained lots of mason jars. Hmmmm. Is it the chairs or the mason jars that are free? Well, I could see somebody sitting in the living room and decided, instead of just assuming and taking items from my neighbors, I would just inquire. I knocked at the door and could almost immediately see the mistake I made. A man's voice gruffly yelled from inside "Get back, get back" while a little dog barking could be heard. Oh. He opened the door, and no sooner did I begin to ask him then a little dog snuck between his legs and ran past me into the yard. "Oh goddammit" he yelled. Oops. Several minutes of chaos ensued, causing his wife to emerge and assist. Finally the dog was corralled and calm again.
"So sorry... just wondering about the chairs" I asked.

"Honey, do you want the chairs?" the woman asked me, slightly exasperated.

"Yes, Please" I reply.

"Go ahead and take the chairs".

"OK"

I get back home and hubby asks, "So, how were they". Great... then I tell him the story.

"I don't think I can go back for them, I am SO embarrassed"

"You had BETTER go get them!"

So I did... and I am glad I did because I think they turned out pretty nice. I sanded them down, primed them, painted them white and every so slightly "shabbied" them with some sanding paper, then covered them with some new fabric. I can't convince hubby that we should paint the dining table white to match (opposites attract... I love painted wood, he loves natural wood) so, instead I invested in a white tablecloth (Shabby Chic line from Target).

Before:

In Progress: