genius!

I'm sure this is no longer news to most of the blogosphere (since it came out... yesterday *gasp*) but it is still worth a mention. domino is (sort of) back. Can you even stand it?!


stacks of books make everything look cooler, huh?




i love this pendant light so much it might make an appearance in the new house...

This could not come at a better time for me (and that is what they had in mind, i'm sure) as I was (literally) crying over the loss of access to my *hard copies. They accidentally got misplaced - not lost, just literally put in the wrong place, a place that is not accessible to me until we move into the new house - in the midst of putting our things in storage. (have i not blogged about this? well, you've at least seen where my things are, right?) Anyway, i need them while i'm renovating the house SO, here they are. wow. thank you conde nast. this is the best idea you've had in a while.

the noises i'm near

Where I really live, the silence of night never really finds me.

Traffic is incessant; the train keeps the most irregular schedule - it doesn't know the difference between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Sirens blare through the darkness; so do teenage neighbors.

None of this bothers me though. It never has. It makes me feel connected. It makes me feel a part of my neighborhood, the community in which it rests and the great big world that I'm right in the middle of whether I can hear it or not.

Where I currently live, a wood pecker is my alarm clock - he's currently working on a metal chimney. Poor guy. Crickets and rain frogs harmonize their way through the tall grass and geese greet each other as the float back and forth between the flopping fish. Boats buzz by and tractors roll through.

It's a nice change.

But not one I think I'll get used to.

I miss the midnight train too much.

found ferns

Believe it or not, we were (actually) working a few weeks ago. This time, we were gathering wood for new frames. In a word, it was miserable. You might have heard me lament over my disdain for this laborious part of our beloved little biz before... but this time really was the worst (do i say that every time)? While we scavengered around I did find all of these cool ferns though. So that was nice.

 

They were just randomly sprouting up among the mess. I think that's too cool. Aren't they pretty?

happy {packing} helpers

I know you guys are so sick of hearing reading about my move but I came across these pics from the move-out and can't help but share. These cuties wanted to *help. Love them.

*their help consisted of writing their names on boxes ('so everyone will know who drawed this' -roe), drawing rainbows, hearts and stars and in the case of a box having a foot on it, "painting" such a foot's toenails. there was some legitimate labeling too.

rainbow invitations – Mary James {5th birthday}

Party countdown: 15 days

Step 1: decorations

Step 2: invitations (here)

Step 3: cake (to come)

We are now back into the full swing of mj’s birthday party!  we have a couple weeks to go and have been busy putting the final touches on invitations… inspiration found here. 

 

Remember – I don’t sew…so I had to make some adjustments to how this was actually going to happen.  I used this little tool:

that conveniently rolls on these little rectangular pieces of double sided tape

 

I cut my strips of tissue paper (with slits in them) weeks ago. Add layer after layer of every rainbow color, starting with purple at the bottom.

 

keep adding …

 

until you are done!

hang it on the fridge

And then realize you forgot to add regrets and the child’s name (i am handing these out, not mailing…so I needed to attach their name somehow).  Of course I could have written it all on there but that would’ve been too easy :)

Invitations: check :)

a 55th surprise!

this one was for my mom..enjoy the pictures!

           

 

 

menu {cocktails & apps before dinner}

tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil skewers drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette

creamy dill dip: served with sliced red, green, yellow bell peppers

assorted cheese tray

 

key lime filo cups: via kelley (my sister)

1 12 oz. cool whip

juice of 4 limes

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

green food coloring

blueberries or sliced key limes to top

filo cups

just fill the filo cups with the mixture…yum!

 

And Arre is at the beach this week celebrating a big birthday with her mom - an early happy 50th birthday to Miss Angie!  I know y’all are having so much fun!

anniversary

happy happy one to jim – 7 years, 3 children, 3 houses later we are still going strong :)  he still makes me laugh, and seeing him with these 3 cuties melts my heart.
 
On Father’s Day (yesterday) I asked the girls (again) to tell me why they love their dad – so I could jot it down on his wrapping paper.  One of Molly’s answers was – “because he loves you” (talking to me).  I love that she loves him because he loves me :)  She had many other reasons too though – which involved toys r' us and ice cream that were higher up on her list, but that one was my favorite.
Tonight – we get to have dinner with friends to celebrate our 7 years….

this is us on our 1st anniversary…  yikes, we look like babies.
p.s.  Happy 1st day of summer!

homemade pizza

I have to begin this post with something else (and then will get to the pizza.   My grandmother (we call her Nanny- Hi Nanny!) came to visit a few months ago and when she did  - she planted some things (as always seems to happen) but the things she planted this time were herbs, tomatoes, & bell peppers.

I must say i’m ADDICTED – mostly to having an endless supply of basil around.  This addiction led to lots of recipes that included basil, tomatoes, & fresh mozzarella.  In the beginning, I didn’t know what to do with the overflow of basil..so I made pesto:

1/4 c walnuts
1/4 c pine nuts
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 c fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 c olive oil
1 c freshly grated parmesan

Put walnuts, pine nuts, garlic in food processor for 30 seconds.  Add basil, salt, pepper while running slowly.  Pour in olive oil and process until finely pureed.  Add parmesan and puree.                                                                                                
  i can’t remember where this recipe came from but it’s a good one!
I poured the pesto into ice cube trays stuck them in the freezer, pulled them out the next day and dumped my perfect little serving size pestos into a freezer bag.  
So onto my search for more things to do with my herbs…I came across this amazing blog.  Dinner: A Love Story (via Raising Foodies) and i am in love.  This post got me hooked.  And that post led me to the Jim Lahey’s pizza crust post and I by then, I was ready for them to take me home to live with them!  I’ll lay it all out here – the only change I made is using a pizza stone for a crispier crust.
Step 1: Make the dough.
Jim Lahey’s Pizza Crust
3 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or other active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cup room-temperature water
stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until blended, at least 30 seconds. The dough will be stiff, not wet and sticky. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Divide the dough in two and shape each into flattened balls. Freeze individually. (i wrapped mine in plastic wrap, then put in a freezer bag – also, make sure you use room temp water and don’t let it rise under fans – thanks sarah ;))
I love this because you can pull it out anytime to use for pizza and it’s all ingredients you have on hand (mostly).
Step 2: Make the pizza (if you don’t have a pizza stone – check out Dinner: A Love Story’s post on how to make using a cookie sheet)

• Let your pizza dough defrost on the counter (takes a few hours at least) or overnight in the fridge)
• Put the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 475.  you need to let the stone heat up with the oven.

 

• Prepare your surface: some people suggest a pizza peel but all I have is a kid’s placemat and it works wonderfully!  Sprinkle a generous amount of cornmeal on the surface

• Take your ball of defrosted pizza dough and let gravity do the work (this is just how i do it…i tried throwing it in the air but the results were less than positive!) by holding the dough up and letting it “stretch” itself out.

if you get little holes in the dough, just pinch it back together

• Start with your toppings!  Put a base of spaghetti sauce (or yummy homemade pesto).  Add a thin layer of mozzarella cheese.  Jim & MJ are big meat eaters so I add ground beef to their side / whatever extra white cheeses i have in the fridge to my side ..and I usually add tomato, basil, & fresh mozarella. 

• Brush the edges of the crust with olive oil
• Once the oven is preheated – carefully add some cornmeal to your pizza stone
• Slide your pizza (this can get tricky) onto the stone

for the pictures i was in a hurry and i settled with sharing the cheese side with molly & mills

• Cook for 8-10 minutes
• Voila!  The best pizza ever :) 

Don’t forget the dipping sauce: 1 cube of homemade pesto, mixed with 2 T olive oil.  YUM…Jim dips his crust and dip my whole pizza slice :) 
It took me about 10 minutes to throw it all together while taking pics, kids were hungry and tired..so thankfully, mills put herself in the older girls’ time out spot and pretended to cry for the entire 10 minutes…it was funny and helpful at the same time :)

Oh and if you are having company over and want to pretend like you always eat vegetables with your meals – add Barefoot Contessa’s Pesto Pea Salad.  (using your homemade pesto of course).
Enjoy!

how cute are….

Christen & Rachel?!

Becca purchased these frames for 2 of her friends (both of whom I was also friends with in college!).  They were both belated wedding gifts and she graciously forwarded pictures of their frames displayed.  (Christen just so happens to be the reason for this display of our S&J frame on Whittington Design Studio’s site) Thanks girls!

Christen:

Rachel: (how stinking cute is this puppy!?)