Hey Little Birdie!

Do you remember that episode of friends when Joey thinks he knows French? Then Phoebe tries to teach him, and everything comes out like jumbled mumble-jumble. This is often how I feel when dicephering my two year old’s vocabulary of late. Now this fact really has no relevance to this post, but I wanted to preface everything with this, just in case I fall into an incoherent string of syllables followed by one recognizable noun… because such is my surroundings lately.

So, I have been kind of in love with several images… ideas… and items recently. Here are a few, in no particular order:

I want to DIY a pair of these like they did at The Yellow Cape Cod.

I want to purchase this for my master bedroom from FOUND.

I want to bake something yummy while wearing this from Anthropologie.

If you are looking for a theme, I would say black & white is speaking to me. But I think more than that, it’s the high contrast that black & white combination produces that I am so drawn to. I am thinking more balanced opposition should exist in my world, whether that be my home or wardrobe.

What about you? What are you finding yourself drawn to lately?

Oh, and… blah mer gumpt prfun silbety dun elephant… welcome to my world.

Spring cleaning is calling my name. I am hallucinating about having my storage spaces looking all posh and ravishing come April. I have long dreamed of having a gorgeous boutique style closet. I even tried to create the look and failed epically. I would take a picture so we could all laugh at my attempt but I am vain I don’t think I could live with you guys knowing how ugly my closet is.

So here is a round up of some ladies who have done an amazing job creating glamorous and organized spaces out of their closets.

First up is my original inspiration coming from fellow Arizonan Suzy Pierce of Bella Design. She created a Moulin Rough inspired closet. I can’t get over this space! I have been drooling over this closet for years. This is what my closet dreams about being when it grows up. Visit her Flickr Stream or like her on FB to see more of her vibrant and whimsical work.

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Can you believe this jewelery box?!? Can I even call this a box? It is like jewelery palace.

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Next up is Megan of Honey We’re Home . I just don’t even know where to start gushing about this space. The chandelier? Yeah, that seems like a good spot. Isn’t it gorgeous? Those Tory Burch bags are a great touch and a perfect vignette for a closet. Go visit her post about the space for more amazing pictures and how she carefully planned this stunning closet.

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Next up is this fabulous closet from Moth Design. I adore the idea of framing shopping bags. I have a friend that has a gallery of framed bags over her fireplace. Shoot I would frame a Tiffany Bag too.  But, alas, I don’t have one and my Target bags just aren’t nearly as chic.

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Last, but certainly not least, we have this closet from Kate of Centsational Girl. If you haven’t been to her blog, well that is just inexcusable, go now. I’ll wait. It is wonderful source of inspiration and DIY tutorials. If you are thinking about painting something in your home from walls to cabinets she’s got you covered. Her recent closet make over is grand.  I love the calm color scheme and the metallic stenciling detail.

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So, I’m not eating anything remotely close to chocolate right now. Count me in the crazies like Nicky who are giving up a bunch of yumminess right around Valentine’s Day. And although a steaming cup of hot cocoa isn’t in my near future, it is safe to say that last week when it was so cold here in Phoenix, I had my share of it, while lounging in my front chair reading and taking in the gray skies and trees blowing in the wind outside my front window. Now to you readers who are currently snowed-in, please don’t laugh at us poor Phoenicians who say last week’s 40 degree temperatures were cold, because seriously we don’t know what to do when we can’t wear flip flops.

Anyway, in 19 days, not that I’m counting (…I’m totally counting), I hope to again partake in some goodness that is… Hot Chocolate on a Stick! Isn’t that one of the greatest things you have ever heard of? I am forever indebted to amazing Liz from Say YES! to Hoboken for singing the praises of Ticket Kitchen; a pair of moms in the San Francisco bay area who come from such different places, but now have ended up creating a singularly wonderful concoction. Check out all they have to offer.

I think the word “yummy” is what you are looking for…

Forget those tasteless (although cute) sugary Valentine’s Heart candies. I am in love with these customizable cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. How perfect would these be to bake and make for your sweetie?

Make them with your favorite shortbread or sugar cookie recipe. Here’s mine. Then stick them in a little cellophane bag and tie with baker’s twine!

Although I have to confess, this post is like torture for me. I am doing a Daniel Fast with my church for the next three weeks. Which means no sweets, dairy, meat, processed foods. Instead fruits, veggies, whole grains and nuts will become my best friends for the next 21 days. I’ll be using this time to pray and focus more on God instead of food. Which for me will be unbelievably tough. (I might have made a Nutella Chocolate Cobbler last night as a farewell of sorts…) But I am also sure it will teach me, change me and develop a discipline that I never knew I had before. And my will would be tested even more if I made some of these pretty cookies for friends this Valentine’s Day without sneaking a taste! Dare me?!

So there is something you need to know about me.

My mailbox looks like this…

I know. I know. It’s not pretty. Do you think that if I put my sad generic mailbox under my pillow tonight, that the mailbox fairy would exchange it for this one…

I don’t want to live in a fantasy land… at least not all the time. But… what if fairy like that actually existed? I bet I could forge through a restless night of sleep if such a promise of upgrading existed.

What would you put under your pillow for a chance to improve it with a model more modern and more pleasing to the eye?

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I am feeling a bit sentimental towards my particular valentine. Actually… it might be because he urged me to lengthen my stay at girls’ weekend this past Sunday.

…Or maybe it’s the fact that yesterday he cobble-squatted in the bathroom while I was freakishly cleaning in order to give me the attention I was so badly craving. You see, if I am knee-deep in an unnatural whirl of cleanliness, something is not completely right. If you ever come over to my house, you most likely will not be setting foot in my bathroom. It’s where dirt goes to live a long healthy life.

…Or it could be that I just finished the ample supply of chocolate available in the house.

Whatever the cause, I saw this, and it made me think of my very own cheese. Don’t you think it would be perfect in my house? I know you haven’t seen the house, but it would. Trust me. I wonder if I could star this post on my cheese’s reader. Or would it be wierd if I bought it for him for the Heart Holiday so in turn I could decorate my breakfast nook with it?

Oh, and make sure you check out the other wall art at Patina. All of their quotation plaques are amazing. Well, except for the one that says “All you need is love… and a cat”. I mean, that’s real craziness right there.

p.s. The full plaque reads, “You are the cheese to my macaroni. You are the horizon to my sky. You are the bacon to my eggs. You are the laces to my sneakers. You are the jelly to my peanut butter. You are the smile to my face…You are the icing on my cupcake.” Cute, right?

I am not a morning person. Never have been. I think I always wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Just ask my husband. Ha ha! I like to wake up slow, have it quiet, and most importantly rouse myself to life with some coffee. Of course with a toddler, this is not usually possible. And while her adorable little self helps me overcome my grouchy ways, it still doesn’t change my true morning routine preference.

This past weekend, I had to try extra hard to be sunshiney sweet on a overnight getaway with my girlfriends. What kind of friend would I be if I growled at my buds first thing in the morning? So I faked it- it wasn’t easy. And once we trekked to the coffee shop and I got some caffeine in my veins, only then was I properly awake.

For awhile, my husband (a fellow coffee aficionado and former barista) would indulge in store bought espresso drinks almost every morning. After trying to trim our budget, we noted how much we were spending and changed our habits to brewing our own at home. My husband (being the manly man he is) takes his coffee black but I prefer something slightly sweet. At first, I used those premade flavored creamers. I always felt like they had an off taste and noticed that they are not really cream at all and full of oils and fake flavors. Yuck! My new favorite way of making my cup is by mixing in natural turbinado cane sugar and a splash of half and half. It really is so smooth and delicious! Give it a try!

So now that you know what a grumpy grump I am in the morning, you can see how much meaning this print would have in my life.

My personal synonym for “I love you.” (Side note- the shop where this print is featured, Keep Calm Gallery, is a joy to browse through!) It’s a must have for my kitchen.

One of my favorite things in this little life of mine is dessert.  It has always been that way. I kid you not, almost every childhood memory I have is somehow centered around the making and/or eating of something sweet.  My sister called me out on it, while I was telling some story and I laughed it off and thought No way is that true.  Well, time (and several delicious stories later) proved otherwise.

Then we laughed so hard when I found a picture from when I was in kindergarten. The scene:  In the kitchen, early 80s decor, folding table, mother in tube-top and over-sized glasses placing tray of cookies on said table.  Where was I?  Oh, just leaning over the tray of cookies looking like a wolf approaching a vulnerable flock. How I wish I could find that picture now!  We’d all have a good laugh.  Trust me.

Anyway, my love for dessert is undying, but these days I have to be careful because of some food allergies/intolerances I have developed as I’ve gotten older.  Yes, it sucks, but what these allergies don’t know is that I am incredibly stubborn and have promised myself that I will figure out my all-time favorites.

I know there are a ton of you out there with allergies, too. (Believe me, you’re not the only one!)  So I thought I’d pass on this adapted caramel recipe of Ina Garten’s – Fleur De Sel Caramels!  Because, um.  Yum!

The caramels above are gluten, corn and dairy free!  Aren’t they cute?!  It was my first time making them and didn’t get the temperature just right, so they’re a little too soft, but really good!

You can follow the instructions here, but I’ll tell you the ingredients I changed to make them allergy-friendly below:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup – I changed to Lundberg Brown Rice Syrup
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream – I changed to Coconut Milk
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter – I changed to Earth Balance Vegan Butter Sticks
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Next time I make these I will try a different heavy cream option because I found the hint of coconut flavor distracting.  But let me tell you, my husband and son didn’t think I should change a thing and were ooh-ing and aah-ing over them for days.  Such a delicious treat for everyone… those with and without allergies!

I can’t wait to make these again.  Ah, sweet caramel.  How I’ve missed you….

I need you to know about my affection for these.

They would look perfect at my kitchen counter. I’m even thinking about selling my little kitchen table that feels so awkward in the space in order to have the necessary funds to buy a couple of these. And honestly, it wouldn’t take much, because these Ikea beauties are less than $40 a piece. Okay, so they’re one penny less, but that’s still less, right? I’m not justifying here… I’m “thinking outside the box”. Plus, then my kitchen would be one step closer to looking like this…

…which wouldn’t be bad.

Ruffles, giant bows, glitter, hot pink. You’d think I was raised a la Toddlers and Tiaras or something. True that I did actually believe my name was princess for a time, and went through phases where I would refuse to wear anything but skirts, and spent countless hours beautifying my giant plastic Barbie makeover head- but thankfully my mom was not anything close to a pageant mother. I guess my lasting fondness for these sort of things in more subtle ways is how my girly girl persona has grown up a bit. A pretty bow on a shoe, or a sequined tank top, or ruffles on a curtain are all ways I can translate my childhood princessy-ness into adulthood. Like these pillows from Iviemade. I can’t decided which one I love more. This?

or this?

I am determined to pick one for my home redecorating plan! And they make me wish even more that I knew how to whip up a pillow (or heck- anything!) on a sewing machine. One day, I promise myself to learn. I have a feeling it will change my life in all sorts of creative ways.

So which ruffle style do you prefer?