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Monday, January 30, 2012

Kids Say the Darndest Things

"Hey... , am I the only one doing the dishes?"

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Food Stuffs

Saturday morning I went out with some women for breakfast. This is a favorite pastime of mine and something I have missed since moving. Check out these desserts! Beautiful, small desserts are one of life's little joys! They are Argentine, Gabs! No surprise. ;)
This picture does not do them justice, but do you see those cream cakes? Oh my! :)

And today, I wanted to share a recipe with you that melts in your mouth. My friend Suzanne is one terrific cook and she graciously shared this with me. It is for a pot roast. I know you cold weather folks are up for some hearty food at this time of year! Take your beef ( fat in the middle will make it more tender) and brown it ( medium high heat). If you have a dutch oven, this is the best to use because it only requires one pan. Preheat the oven to 300. Once the meat is browned, sprinkle an italian seasoning packet on it and pour a beer over it. Cover ( I just used foil because I unfortunately got rid of my dutch oven a long time ago) and bake for 3 hours, turning once. You can roast some vegetables inside this pot, too. I hope you give it a try! It's smelling mighty good.





Next recipe: my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Friday, January 27, 2012

you can't take it with you


Remember this from a week or so ago?


It, too was pulled off. There must be something about tassels that says, "pull me." Joke's on me! HA!

Have a wonderful weekend! We are celebrating my husband's birthday with some Tres Leches. Yum! Happy Birthday, Mike! That, however, you can take with you... ( love remains).

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Nothing too deep today



I love color pops. And after many months, I have finally made decisions about which ones I need in the house to make it just right. Do you know what I mean?

I love looking at decorating blogs, but I am not one who can start from scratch. I have to go with what I have ( I wish more decorators would focus on this!) and make it all come together with a few simple flourishes. My decor did not automatically transfer from Bethesda to Miami- there is different lighting, not to mention a totally different home! So, in this one spot I have some big plans that will make it all come together for me. I just ordered a yellow and white lumbar chevron pillow from Etsy and Lisa from Idari was kind enough to let me just order one for $10! Yay! A bit of yellow goes a long way. As soon as I find some boxwood balls, they will go on top of those candlesticks next to the hippo given to my baby by a very good friend ( a digression- I read I think on the inspired room about using things that mean something to you in your decor. Seems like common sense, but I liked it). And lastly, I have been mulling over what color to paint this side table. As is, it is too country. Red? Hague ( which I love)? No- coral reef from Benjamin Moore!! In Bethesda this color probably would not have crossed my mind. But here, there is a whole new world of color that has come to my fancy. So here is the before, and I will send an after, just for fun.

Have a great week!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Tassels!


I love big impact pieces, like a big chandelier over a dining room table. I also love a big tassel. Unfortunately, they can be expensive, for a tassel. Luckily, Tuesday Morning carries them every so often so I snagged this awhile back for $7. I also love a great deal :). While in Naples this past weekend for a wonderful trip with my husband, we saw big tassels with seashells tied in them! I don't usually decorate with shells, but something about living near the ocean gives me the urge to add them in. When in Rome.. So, I scrounged through our sea shell collection and got some help from my eldest to tie these on! Fun! :)

I also was thinking about adding something to my very practical and boring key chain when I remembered that one of the tassels got ripped off ( what are you going to do?;) of a pair, so...


Whala! I get excited about these little things. How about you? Any simple projects you've done lately that add a little something to your day? Have a good one!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Feel the Rhythm

I am not a decorator, although I love the topic and love to find ways to improve the physical beauty of our home. But, something I am is a musician. Not professional, but a musician nonetheless. I am grateful to have taken 12 years of classical piano lessons. I have always enjoyed hearing the musical qualities of a particular piece, no matter the genre, and want to share some of the things my ears have been trained to hear because musical beauty has been a source of sheer blessing and joy to me.

I am a Van Morison girl, but let's start with some ear candy from Paul Simon. Check out his Born at the Right Time . My computer does not do it justice- I hope yours does! If not, go ahead and download it from iTunes. Not only does the chorus knock my socks off by it's melody, the syncopation ( the notes/words not landing on the downbeat) is astounding as well as the harmonies with the female chorus. Once you get your fill of the melody, listen for the layers of drums in the background. The drum for the downbeat slides you in gently, yet is strong. The tonal quality of that drum is soft on the ears- unlike the keyboard made-up drums of pop music ( think back street boys- its ok to like dancing to their songs! ;)). Ok, now, listen to the other drum layers going on in the background- they stagger perfectly against each other. You can hear it best in the last chorus and the oooo part near the end. Although I do not agree with some of his lyrics ( "the planet groans when it registers another birth"- we won't get into his ideologies, but it does seem as though he realizes that people are special no matter what, ie. "his eyes as clear as centuries.."), this is some amazing creativity, and I can't think of another way to describe it than ear candy. Go ahead and dance!

That was longer than I thought, so I will leave you with that for now. Coming next in the music category- Opera! Seriously. :)

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Keeping that Resolution




                                                       ( photo: amazon.com)




I HAVE BEEN THERE. Believe me. Not only have I had to loose weight from having my 3 wonderful babies, I have once been close to 60 lbs. over what I weigh right now when I was taken off of my thyroid hormones getting ready for my nuclear radiation treatment for thyroid cancer ( see my There's Always Hope Article). Yikes! It did not feel good, even if it was a lot of water weight, and I did not look like myself. 


I have been there. But Tracey makes it easy. She has been my pal for the last 5 years. When I am starting back with working out, I only do a 6 minute work-out, plus warm-up and cool down, twice a week. I am simply not strong enough to do more. What is more, I start at the easiest level. I offer this tape because the idea of working out on a machine for 45+ minutes keeps most of us from working out. It sounds too good to be true, but I never do more than a 12 minute workout ( 2 "phases"). My theory is that you are busy enough the rest of the days with the kids. Once you get stronger, move to phase 2. It is that simple. Trust me! I HAVE been there.


Here is the link for fast ordering! http://www.amazon.com/Tracey-Mallett-Your-Body-Back/dp/B002N5L4VY


Happy New Year!