July, in a nutshell

Kiddos love Uncle Zach

Major wrestling session

Pretty girl1

So THAT is where all the blueberries are going...

Blueberry picking

Ripening blueberries. So cool!

Mike's Pastry in Boston with some CA friends

Central Park with Poppi's hotel in the ground (he worked there)

Patriotic

Battery Park - Statue of Liberty

Sew, anything new with you?

I took up a new interest in the last 2 weeks. I borrowed my Grandma's 80's (70's?) sewing machine to see if I could figure out how to use it and if owning one of my own would be worthwhile.  I started by reading the the manual far more diligently than usual...checking the name of each part/knob/dial on the machine.

 Luckly for me, there was already a threaded bobbin (not that I realized what "bobbin" meant at the time), although the thread was black and my sewing thread was white...it did help me learn how the 2 threads work together.  Oh and also, having young 31 year old eyes, I poo-poo'd the light bulb that has a power switch while going along this process.

 However, the foot pedal didn't seem to work. No worries, I hand cranked it and saw some pretty straight stiching going on on the top of my scrap fabric. I JUST SEWED A STRAIGHT LINE!  Then I turned it over and saw this:

OOPS.  Ok so I guess the power switch controls not only the lightbulb but ALSO the foot pedal.  (Despite learning the name of the "light/power switch" it took me a while to learn this lesson.)  Flash forward about 30 straight seams later, and I was loving the machine.

Then I *gasp* ran out of bobbin thread. Rereading the manual I figured out what this meant, realized the value of a bobbin (whoops may have thrown some of those away previously..."who needs these microscopic spools of thread when I have these giant spools?"  Go ahead - laugh - this really happened!!!) Back the the machine manual...I almost had to resort to Google, but I finally figured it out.  So exciting!!!

Anyhow since then, I've practiced a few more nights. I just made 18 cloth napkins out of 2 large tea towels and actually managed to make most of the hems look pretty good! And it only took an hour of sewing. Pinning was done while watching TV. (Only a "good" example is shown below.)  Now I'm not trying to go super crafty in the sewing department...I really just want to start using cloth napkins and to save money on paper napkins and paper towels.  

Anyhow, it is nice to be more comfortable with a real live sewing machine and have something to do while Zach was gone with the reserves.  If only it did not make my back hurt so much! Any other sewing stories out there?

Turning over a new leaf, literally

Here is my second ever major attempt at gardening. The first attempt didn't end well...I think I blogged about the sorry over-the-fence basket of dead basil...but due to its lack of interest and my embarrassment, that post has been long deleted.  (Oh, you didn't know I censor old posts? All the time.)

So, I have been tempted for a while now by beautiful succulents and their itty bitty garden space.  Throw in a recent blog post from a favorite blog of mine, Kristin Eldridge, (I've also made her granola bars YUM) and I was inspired. That and finding 6 triangular candle holders for under $3 that I *thought* would be perfect for succulents. (You know, since reading a post or two made me such an expert.)

The next day, I found myself at OSH, the store that I continue to go back to despite the fact that they NEVER have everything I want...I'm not sure why. I need to work on that. Anyhow, 10 succulents later, and rocks, and seriously overpriced moss, I was on my way out the door. Mind you, not that I re-read the original blog post or anything reminding me about anything...

So I planted my succulents. It was a so-so job.  I didn't buy any extra dirt so they were still in the exact mold of that cheap plastic cup...not really doing it for me.  So after another trip to OSH (and another experience of them not having everything I wanted...seriously...a saucer for a 4" clay pot...really??) I finally had it all together. Here is the final result!

One of the things I like about the triangular holders is that I can rearrange them (i.e. remove one when I kill one of these plants)

 Aaaand, a cute little circle.

I also planted some in small vase for my Grandma on Sunday...ssshhhh its a surprise!

 Last but not least, I got this orchid at a wedding I was recently in. Its been...11 days and I haven't killed the orchid. Shocking, I know. Its even blooming more! Does anyone know how to take care of these? I think this is the variety that is supposed to be in a hanging basket, but I really have no idea.  (Anyone local want an orchid??!!)

Beth's Bridal Shower pics

I promised some more pictures from a shower I helped throw last week and I finally got them! I was in charge of favors (which ended up being an in-shower craft) and desserts.
Here is a picture of the towel cake we made for Beth. (I think I already posted about this.) The theme of the shower was Paris/Purple/Butterflies and the gal in charge of decorations did AMAZING! I don't know where she found everything but it looked amazing.

 Here are the beginnings of the sugar scrub craft...

 Here are the spoons that we tied to the top (yes, the old ice cream cup kind!) embellished with lemon slices (for honey-lemon scented), lavender (lavender and lavender-thyme) and just some button ones because I thought they were cute.

 I wrote up some instructions (which are long since in the garbage, so hopefully I don't need to do this again!)

 And, because I can't sort pictures well when I blog, here is dessert #1: Chocolate mousse heart cups.  Delish.  The mousse is made with cook and serve chocolate fudge pudding (made with whole chocolate milk and using about 1/3 less milk than the recipe) plus equal parts heavy whipped cream. Put into chocolate heart cups (never going to make those again...at least not 100ish of them)

 And we also had lemon flavored...delish!!!

 The other dessert was brownie pizza. This represents 4 portions...got cut up after the photography session. 

 Both of these ideas were mostly inspired by pinterest, of course.
Oh, and here is the final product, someone's hand scrub:

Do you buy a lot of stuff online? Get cash back.

*Sales Pitch*

I wanted to share these 2 links with you in case you are interested.  These are my "referral" links so if you happen to use these (versus signing up on the websites) then I get a small kickback. But, no sense in pimping out your email address (that is totally what I call it) if it isn't stuff (purchases) you really need. 

#1 Ebates --  I check ebates before I make any online purchase. (except amazon and costco.) If you start on their website, and type in the store you know you are going to go make a purchase at (if its on their list) they'll show you a few specials they might have and a % Cash Back value. You click on the store and you get a little message that they are opening a ticket for you. Then whatever you spend at that other store, you get the % cash back (i don't think shipping counts) in a quarterly check. Only once when I forgot my password to snapfish did I not get my credit, at which point I just checked with ebates, found the ticket that should have linked to the purchase (i.e. you MUST "start" on ebates then go to the store from the ebates link aka "ticket") and emailed them my invoice and had my credit the next day.  Sometimes Snapfish is 20% cash back and even 40% cash back and I have gotten 50% cash back at magazines.com for gift subscriptions!  I also use it for just like target.com, vitacost.com (vitamins and health), staples, etc. Below is my referral link. If you join ebates through that link, then after YOUR first qualifying purchase of I think $25 (or multiple purchases combined to $25) both YOU and I get a $5 gift card. (It used to be $10 for you, the new member, but right now it is $5)

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=ub23whUfoQuFztOog9DovQ%3D%3D  (Update: looks like no sign-up bonus right now, but still a good deal for a nominal cash back on purchases! Update again: the referral link still says you qualify for a bonus when you sign up AND make a qualifying purchase...best bonus is a $10 Target gift card!!!!!)

#2 Vitacost.  Simple website for discounts and deals on vitamins and other health stuff. I got the lemon and lavender oils for Beth's shower scrubs from this site and they have a lot of prenatal vitamins and all other stuff.  With my referral link, if you sign up you get a $10 coupon off $10 purchase in your email almost immediately. (I'm pretty sure this can go towards shipping even...just keep in mind if you go through ebates first and pay only with the coupon you aren't spending "cash" so you won't get cash back on that particular purchase.)  I think I also get a $10 coupon as well! Crazy right? Ok anyhow, here is my link.

http://www.vitacost.com/Referee?wlsrc=rsReferral&ReferralCode=90197014

I will say that ebates spam-mails me about 2 times a week and Vitacost about twice that often.  But both of these sites (especially ebates) have put otherwise pricey gifts into a super-reasonable window. (Especially photobooks at snapfish and magazines.com! Macys.com is 6% back...like for wedding gifts, tons, literally tons of possibilities!)

M&M Button Cookies

((source idea: http://griffithsrated.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentine-prezel-buttons.html))

On Saturday I helped host a bridal shower for a friend. It was SO fun to plan the details, I've been working on these ideas for literally weeks and loving it! I was in charge of the desserts and the favors (which ended up being an in-shower craft.)  I will blog more about these when I get better pictures from someone else, but I couldn't resist at least one post.

These bite size delights are super addicting.  I was able to snag some purple M&M's after Valentine's day, which were perfect for the color theme of the shower!

Basically you melt a Hershey Hug on a square pretzel in the oven at 200 degrees for 5 minutes. After the chocolates get melty enough, pull them out and push on the M&M. I was careful to put the "M" logo on the down-side so we didn't see them with the cookies.  They set much faster if you put the cookie sheet in the fridge for a bit after it cools.

I also tried this with some Andes Mint Kisses and while those kisses did have intense minty flavor, they were not as good as the white chocolatey mix that was part of these cookies.

Can I plan a zebra-themed event for the sole purpose of making more of these?

March Meal Plans

I don't think you have to be a pinterest member to follow this link. I posted my main meals for March that I'm planning to be cooking...if we make it to the store to get everything!  The next couple weeks are going to be busy here but I think we can make do for a while!

http://pinterest.com/cmdaven/march-meal-plans/

I do have some other ideas but either I could't find a version of the recipe online or I am too lazy to share the recipe I have.

-C