Hey Little Birdie!

This weekend, I made the most delicious red velvet cake ever for my little brother’s birthday. Now I am new to the world of layered cake making, so don’t laugh at the sad state of my decorating abilities. Getting three layers to stack up nicely is not something I have yet to master. But it’s the taste that counts, right? And let me tell you. Honestly, this is better than Sprinkles any day. And I LOVE Sprinkles. The recipe is from the delicious site Smitten Kitchen and was so easy to follow. I could spend hours devouring her posts! The only change I made was to double the frosting so I had plenty for a nice thick coat. (Also my oven runs hot and my cakes were done in about 30 minutes.) I am overjoyed to report that this latest attempt at expanding my love of baking went much better than my previous try at a red velvet cake (which ended up being a icky brown velvet instead.) All that to say, make this cake. You will eat the whole thing yourself. And probably have a permanently red tongue, but who cares?

Also note my amateur cake bunting skills. Next time, I will use longer skewers to avoid bunting sag. But they are still cute. Found the free little pennants at The TomKat Studio.

Happy Birthday Matt!

If money were falling from trees like birds seem to be lately, then these lovelies would have a home with me:

Sometimes I feel like this whole relationship thing we have is about you. Sometimes, it’s clearly about us. Today, well today, I feel like it should be about me. Why, you ask? Is something big going on in your life, where it is totally acceptable for you to take the floor? No. Not really. I just thought we should take some time to really… really focus on me.

So today, I am sharing some of my favorite Etsy sites. First of all, you should know I have well over 200 favorite Etsy sites, so consider this a sampling rather than an exhaustive list. But alas, here we go. How can you not care about what someone so refined like me has to say… I mean, I just used the word “alas” in a sentence.

01. Hellkat Design – Handprinted Rustic Bird Cushion

02. Fort - Web no17 Necklace

03. Quote - Pleated Leather Bag Purple

04. White Owl – Garden Flora Necklace Olive

05. Uncommon - Giant Chandelier Poppy

Sometimes I play a little game with my daughter, Claire, where I tell her all the things I love her more than. Some days it may be naming items within my line of sight, or favorites near and dear to my heart (you know- like Nutella, Martha Stewart, and glitter). But often I pick sentimental subjects such as puppies, rainbows, and stars. Because what could be sweeter than those except for my beautiful little girl? When I spotted this darling wall decal from artist Shanna Murray, you can bet I fell head over heels for it:

I would love to get it for Claire’s room. What a pretty visual of our silly, sappy game.

In case you didn’t already know, Claire was born with rare special needs. And this past Christmas marked two years since we first noticed that she was having seizures. Unfortunately, we still see them pretty much every day. It can be overwhelming, deeply saddening and the worst for me- frightening. But surrounding all those tough things is the biggest, brightest love you can imagine. Shining like millions of stars and reminding me that she is worth it, she matters, and no matter what- it will be all right.

I was just reading an article on MSN titled Hot new-home trends for 2011.  The entire article is interesting, but what really caught my eye was that the front porch is making a comeback. I’m not sure why I feel so excited about this.  Maybe it’s because I just moved from The Lone Star State and still have yet to de-Texanize myself, but a front porch sounds so…. slow….  peaceful…. inviting…. friendly (once I put my make-up on).  It has been neglected for way too long.

As Liz Lemon would say, I want to go to there.

So if this is true… if the awesomeness of the Front Porch is about to be revisited… I thought I’d share a few items I’d imagine to be Front Porch Accessory Essentials.

Pots and/or Planters: I love this one from Wisteria because it brings a little element of vintage fun.  Unfortunately it’s $200, but there is a DIY project in there just waiting to happen! (Maybe I will write about that later!)

Outdoor Rug: Overstock has a lot of choices for reasonable prices!

Lighting: All of Pigeon Toe Ceramics is beautiful.  I especially love this unique lighting. I suggest you pop over for a look to see other outdoor accessories!

A Good Mug: This mug from Mod Cloth is called “Warm and Snuggly“. I just couldn’t pass on showing you.  How fitting for a leisurely morning on the front porch!

Something fun for the kids: A simple, quiet toy or two that is only meant for the porch so the novelty doesn’t wear off.  This will allow you to sip your snuggly coffee and close your eyes (with one eye open). Black Wagon has some really unique toys that would be perfect.

Have a great weekend!  Hope you have that relaxing space ready for tomorrow morning…. and if not, have fun creating it!

*Editor’s Note:  If you don’t have a front porch, a back porch will work just as well…. or an apartment balcony… or well, you get the idea.

I spent a lovely 30 minutes digesting the new West Elm catalog (and a bottle of Hoegaarden-best beer ever!) last night. It was the perfect way to unwind from a somewhat stressful day. And it didn’t hurt that my adorable husband was spoiling me with a foot rub as well. Seriously, I won the husband lottery. Anyway, back to the catalog. As I mentioned in my New Years post, one of my huge goals is to de-clutter every crevice of my house. I think these stylish apothecary jars would look amazing on my bathroom vanity.

I like to see my New Years Resolutions more as a to-do list than as lofty goals that I am likely to ignore. This is for a couple of reasons. First off, I am addicted to lists. My house is scattered with notebooks full of various list making adventures. The normal shopping and chore lists, favorites lists, places I want to go, restaurants I want to try, baby names, interior design wish lists. You name it, I have probably listed it! Secondly, a to-do list seems more intentional to me. Resolutions can often be unrealistic or easy to dismiss (I can’t even tell you the number of years I have promised to lose x amount of weight by x amount of time. And then blew it off.) But a list can be checked off, broken down in to smaller steps, and is a visual reminder of what needs to get done. All of this to say, here is a peek at my New Years List.

1. Bake more, cook more. Eat out less. I love baking and cooking so why do we often order out? It’s not as healthy, not as economical and makes me feel grumpy. I hate making a decision about where to eat (I am not only picky but also very indecisive- bad combo), and then I feel bad about eating that/wasting money/being a lazy cook. Ways to achieve this are menu planning (more lists!), scheduling grocery shopping trips when my mom can babysit, and keeping a recipe file on my computer.

2. Go on a walk 3 times a week. It’s good for me, good for Claire, good for my dog. I’m starting out small here. No promises of ‘I will go to the gym everyday’ or ‘I will exercise for 45 minutes’ when I know that is too much too soon. I have been slowly losing weight because of better food choices and my 100 or so trips up and down my stairs everyday, and walking will only further that process along.

3. Organize, de-clutter, live with less. I will assign a different room each month to be the next victim of my purging plan. If we don’t use it, we don’t need it, and someone else might. That means more donating, a prettier home, and being purposeful in our possessions. We (like most of you, I’m sure) have way too much stuff. We’re spoiled, we’re wasteful, and I want to make small steps in changing that. No area of my home will be safe! Under the sinks, pantry, closets, my husband’s office (eek!) You don’t even know how excited I am about this one!

Lastly, a good thing about posting this list on a blog is that it is public. That means you can hold me accountable. And I want you to! Feel free to call me, email me, bug me about these three items until I happily tell you of my successes. And if I am slacking off, I give you permission to pinch me. Just not hard please.

And If you love list-making like me, check out these cute mini chalkboards from Mary Kate McDevitt.

Today we have a sitter… for the whole day. I’ll pause while this sinks in for all of us. Okay, have you been able to move beyond your overwhelming jealousy yet? I don’t blame you if the answer is “no”. I understand. And yes, we all do love our kids… immensely. But this baby-sitting goodness will allow me and my strapping young husband to go out to breakfast, watch a couple of movies, and do some post-Christmas spending. All in all, it’s a gift of a day.

Mike and I have been married for what some would consider a long time. And it’s probably true… this coming June, it will be 13 years. (I’m sure you all are doing the math and can’t figure out how I bamboozled the law in order to get married at the age of 12. Well, that’s another post.) All I really know is that 13 years is enough to truly appreciate the importance of going on dates… with each other, of course. Most days I would say that we are a pretty good team in life, but there are a few things a proper date always gives us… It allows us to get back in-sync with each other… We get to be husband and wife again, not just dad and mom… And in the mass of to-do lists which are especially prevalent this time of year if we’ve forgotten to really enjoy each other’s company, we do that in our uniquely comfortable form of jabs, sarcasm, and plenty of laughing.

So while I am out gallivanting around town, I thought I would pass along this etsy site. Alexandra Ferguson makes so many unique pillows that I love, but my favorite would have to be the Ampersand.

It only seems fitting on this particular date day to be reminded that me and my guy will be forever linked by the word “and”. So we come full circle… and now I am out to enjoy myself… & my husband.

As you all know, I have been on a quest for the past year to inject more white into my decor. And of course that desire for a clean, modern meets vintage look took over my holiday decorating as well. Problem was I didn’t want to spend a ton of money buying all new stuff. I saw a few ideas around the blog world for DIY wreaths and such, so I decided to give it a whirl and craft my first Christmas wreath and tree centerpiece. In total, this cost me under $20!

I got a foam wreath form and cone form from Hobby Lobby. Then hot glued white coffee filters onto them. It’s simple- just fold the filter in half so the ruffly ends meet up and twist/roll it into a petal shape. Then glue the end onto your surface. Keep the filter flowers close and fill in any bare looking spots as you go. Keep in mind, this takes awhile. A few times I almost gave up because I thought it wouldn’t work. But after a couple hours of devoted gluing and twisting, it looked beautiful! Then I added on some holly berry twine from Michael’s. I had a spare gold paper star in my stash and added it to the top of the tree centerpiece. As well as added a gold ribbon to the wreath. I am extremely happy with them both!