Rainbow Colors
A few days ago I found another Pyrex dish at the thrift store. And as I was trying to discover the name of the pattern I came across stacks and stacks of lovelies on flickr. And I still don’t know the name of my dish pattern, but I sure found a lot of eye candy. And in all the colors of the rainbow.
[ Red from Odditease ]
[red and orange from tulip girl ]
[ Orange from elizaboothy ]
[ golden yellow by frankcheez ]
[ lemon yellow by _sirkus_ ]
[ greens by odditease ]
[ green dots by seahoney ]
[ happy st. patricks day by twin72 ]
[ aquamarine by halloweve1977 ]
[ snowflakes by twin72 ]
[ blue by srmathias / sheila ]
[ blue by spunkygrind ]
You can see some of my favorite pinks from Pink Week in this post.
[ all the colors of the rainbow by thami.mitten ]
I think I could give away all our DVD’s and have enough room to put these in their place. It would give me much more enjoyment, it would be prettier and if I had a party I could serve the whole planet in style. (Scott is shaking his head at this point.) Sigh, so so pretty.
More Pinwheels
Last week I mentioned my love for pinwheels in all forms. Well look what i found today!
[ For sale at RedVelvetArt ]
What a cutie little headband! (Part of today’s update at RedVelvet.) I love the buttons in the middle, so so cute. Also I had big plans for finishing a super fun sewing project today. Ha. No such luck. Creamie has decided against napping. I hope she gets over it, like by tomorrow.
How to Cut a Perfect Watermelon
One of my very favorite things about summertime is watermelon. There isn’t a single bad thing about it, particularly now that seedless watermelon is everywhere you go. But I hate cutting them up. Well, hated. Last summer my sister-in-law showed me a beyond brilliant and easy way to chop up that huge block of red deliciousness. I can now cut up a watermelon into impressive uniform size chunks in less than half the time. So, just in time for this weekend’s BBQ here’s a little watermelon how-to.
Make sure you’ve got a big sharp knife. And then keep your fingers away from it. First cut that big guy in half and then trim off the end.
Start slicing off chunks of watermelon rind at an angle, following the curve of the melon.
You’ll end up with something that looks like this.
Then go around the melon again, trimming off the rest of the rind and any biggish white spots.
Throw all of this stuff away, or toss it in your compost pile/box/bag/whatever.
Starting from one end slice all the way from top to bottom to make big slices about an inch thick.
Turn your melon 90 degrees and make another 1 inch slice. Then lay that new slice down on your cutting board and chop it up into 1 inch pieces.
Scoop up all those evenly diced pieces and dump them in a bowl. Repeat the last two steps until your melon is all cut up.
Now doesn’t that look delicious! Enjoy! Happy Weekend everyone!
Summer Love
I’m a little slow jumping on the Polyvore wagon. But I sure had fun with it last night! I don’t know that I could wear this whole outfit in real life. Well, unless I left the hat at home. But I am kind of dying over that cute little purse.
Summer Love in Pink by pinksuedeshoe
Of course, maybe I like it better in pinks. And with those killer heels I posted about yesterday. Yes. I think I like pink better. Big shocker. (Of course with a price tag of more than $5,000 for the whole outfit it’ll probably just stay here on the internet where I can enjoy it without selling my arms and legs.)
Happiness Is…
I’ve mentioned before that I am terrible at waiting for things. Like I am seriously bad at it. I hate to wait for my computer to wake up, my email to load, and the camera to catch up with my trigger finger. I hate waiting at red lights, I hate to wait in line for anything (and so I’ve been putting off renewing my drivers license for months). Waiting kills me. But the past 10 days may have been the worst wait of my life. (Ok, not really. But the worst wait in recent memory.) But finally she is here!
Unsurprisingly she is absolutely filthy. Well, now she’s only half filthy, it’s not hard to see the keys I’ve cleaned. (Thank you dear trusty box of Magic Erasers. Did you know you can get them by the case!?!) I’ve obviously still got some more work to do. She is going to visit Stan the Typewriter Man in the morning and she needs to look somewhat presentable. And by presentable I mean I’ve already used a whole can of canned air blowing dust and grime out of her insides and I’m on my third Magic Eraser for her keys. Also, my patio is covered with grimy Q-tips.
And that is what happiness is.
P.S. I named her Beauty.
Mellow Yellow
Yellow usually isn’t one of my favorite colors, but yesterday I found one of the awesomest yellow finds at the thrift store. (Those pics are last.) And after I took some pictures of them I started browsing through my favorites and my bookmarks and it turns out I like more yellow than I thought. Here’s a few fave’s of my fave’s.
[ This handmade yellow felt hairpiece by TheGiantDwarf ]
[ Not much beats fresh pears. image found via weheartit ]
[ This print by KatieDaisy. Order copies from her etsy shop. ]
[ These yellow suede shoes by Joan&David. I want them in every color. ]
[ Milkmaid Butter Dish at Anthropologie ]
[ I love a new stack of Post-it’s. source ]
[ this yellow cardigan from J.Crew, on sale for 50% off! ]
[ I may like lemon curd cupcakes most of all. This picture makes my mouth water. ]
[ If each chair had a yellow suitcase this would be an Expedia travel poster. image by jukka_re. ]
[ image by Kimberly Clark found via weheartit ]
[ this orla keily bag. I pretty much like everything she designs. ]
[ This outfit by Amanda Johnson ]
[ And last but not least, this image by beth retro photography ]
So, are you ready for the real awesomeness for today? I stopped by my two favorite thrift stores yesterday morning and found treasures at both, but I am the most excited about these two.
I don’t usually spend too much time looking for toys. But these caught my eye and I was thrilled to bring them home. They are vintage metal Tonka Trucks. My brothers played with these same trucks and spent hours and hours digging up stuff. They are huge, like 18″ and 24″ ish long. And for $2.50 each I could not in good conscience leave them there.
They both need a bath. Badly. But Creamie is going to have so much fun digging in the dirt and the sandbox and the woodchips under the slide. I realized yesterday that Creamie doesn’t have very many girly toys. She has a baby and a stroller that she loves. And she carries a purse around religiously. But her favorite toys are her trains and her Lego’s and her blocks. And my new favorite of her toys are these dudes. I’m going to name them. You know, with her help.
I Believe in Pink…
I just saw this on Caitidid Designs this morning. If you aren’t following her blog, you should be. Caiti is a graphic designer and she is sending this beautiful Audrey Hepburn quote out into the world as a free PDF download. Thank you Caiti! This is so going to hang up on my wall.
[ Go here to download your own version. And leave Caiti a comment. She’s awesome. ]
(PS- you know how when you have a post titled something like Weekend Recap, Part I that you would logically assume there would be a Part II. Yeah, well that isn’t going to happen. We did have a wonderful Part II. So wonderful that I didn’t take a single photo. But, you can just believe me when I say it was awesome. Full of more family, more food, more cuppiecakes, more fireworks and an episode of Wipeout on the DVR. Doesn’t get better than that.)
Weekend Recap, Part I
We’ve been celebrating for days over here. Days! Friday was an all day party for Creamie and me. Saturday was an all day party for Scott, Sunday was an all day party for everyone and today we are going to do it again. I love long holiday weekends! Here are a few pictures of our 4th of July, which we spent with my wonderful in-laws complete with great food, a new dress, cuppiecakes and sparklers. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Creamie sporting her new 4th of July dress. I can not even tell you how much trouble I had finding a plain white tshirt for her to wear under this dress. It’s been a months long process. Months. And yesterday afternoon I nabbed this one at Target. On clearance for $1.25. Score! (So that’s great and all. But I need to have a chat with the American Children’s Clothing Association. What is the deal here. I wear a plain white tee probably three days a week. Scott wears a plain white tee three days a week. Why are little plain white tee’s impossible to find! Sheesh! End of chat.) Her awesome hightop converse shoes I got for $2 at a yard sale a few weeks ago. That brings the grand total cost of this outfit to less than $5. WAY better than a boring Old Navy flag shirt, right?
She thought the sparklers were great. Until she tried to touch one and I freaked out a little and told her they were hot. Then she lost all interest. Ah well, I had a good time with them.
She was much more into the snap-popper things. When she figured out how to stomp on them she was thrilled and she and two cousins stomped all up and down the driveway. And she stole her cousin’s shoes. Don’t worry, we gave them back.
This was her face when she found out that we were having popsicles AND cuppiecakes. Well, everyone but her. (I’m a mean mom, I know. I’m not going to make her eat dinner but I’m sure not going to reward that behavior (not a single bite!) with cupcakes and popsicles. Even for that adorable face. I did give her some watermelon though, and she was as happy as can be.)
[ I made these in a mini muffin pan, so they were very bite sized. Oh, and delicious. ]
And speaking of cuppiecakes I made these baby bites of lime awesomeness for dessert. I snabbed (pretty sure I just made that word up) the recipe for Key Lime Pie-Cakes from my sister and though I didn’t get to the pinwheel toppers, whipped cream and a smidgen of lime were just as tasty. Particularly the whipped cream part. Yummy.
I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July. And if you don’t celebrate I hope your July 4th was nice too. We are going to continue the party today with more time off work (YAY!), a nice nap (YAY!) and another party(YAY, YAY, YAY!). And fireworks. There will be more fireworks.
Happy 4th of July
Seven years ago today I came home. I had been living and working in Moscow for a year and on the 4th of July I left my Russian adventure behind and came back to the States. Just like any adventure there were some wonderful amazing experiences and some life changing difficult ones. My year abroad had ended much much worse than it had started. I came home alone and afraid. Unsure of my future. (Without going into details, don’t assume it was a WORST case scenario. But at the time I was totally overwhelmed. Just thought I’d be clear.) And on July 4th 2003, as I flew into New York City, and over the Statue of Liberty I started to cry.
[ image by jmd41280 on flickr ]
I still had hours before I’d be all the way home. But I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of HOME that flooded my heart that afternoon. It was already a bright day, but I finally felt sunlight breaking through the clouds that had been hovering over me. I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders, which was replaced by an overwhelming sense of freedom, love and peace. I am so thankful for all the men and women and their families who have sacrificed in ways I can’t imagine to preserve those freedoms for me and my family. My daughter. I know words aren’t enough, but Thank You.
* * * * *
On a lighter note…. would you check out this cake! It was made up and baked and photographed by a seventeen year old in Seattle last year.
[ more pics and how to from Elissa (age 17!) here ]
I know. I am dying. It beats the heck out of the cupcakes I’m going to make. But next year… I think next year I’ll try it. (And I think 17 and Baking might be my new favorite food blog.)
However you celebrate your Sunday, and whatever place you call home, I hope that you take a moment to think about what you are truly grateful for. Family. Love. Freedom. Home. My mom. (Well, YOUR Mom.) Walking outside without your passport and visa strapped to your leg. Your towel soft and warm from the dryer. (I didn’t have a clothes dryer in Russia. And during that cold cold winter my clothes would take three or more days to drip dry. And then they were crunchy. And cold. Cold and crunchy socks/towels/underwear is SOOO not cool.) And then when you are done, go see if you can make something as cool as this guy.
[ image found via weheartit ]
My last attempts at sparkler light painting ended in a very sloppy looking mash of letters and a psycho smiley face. I clearly need more work. Happy 4th to you!
*Also, I’d like to point out that I still cherish the time spent in Moscow, the friends I made, the people I met and the incredible experiences I had. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Except for that whole bit about washing my jeans by hand and the missing dryer.
Pinwheels
I love the way that pinwheels look. They just look like summer and picnics and outside to me. I remember making some when I was little and I loved them. Creamie loves them too… only she forgets what to do with them. Here are a few of my favorite pinwheels that I’ve seen lately. And not so lately.
[ Buy these cutie notecards from prettyinpaperdesign’s etsy shop ]
[ Free pattern to make these from Jenny Harris at Allsorts ]
[ photo by Larissa Holland at mmmcrafts ]
One of my online blog crushes is Larissa at mmmcrafts. She is brilliant and creative and I maybe want to be her when I grow up. Her blog is like a treasure trove of awesome-sauce. When I first stumbled across her last fall I literally spent two full days and read every single one of her posts. And I probably bookmarked 200 of them. Yeah, it’s that good. Anyway, she took Jenny Harris’ (and you should follow her blog too. I heart it.) pinwheel pattern and turned it into this garland for her girlies bedroom. See, she’s brilliant. This is so on my to do list. And if you aren’t following her blog you should be. ( Go here to see more pics of her girls room.)
[ Two-tone pinwheel necklace by marymaryhandmade ]
And besides jewelry and stationary and old fashioned childhood toys, and garlands for your room, the pinwheel block is probably my very favorite in the quilting world. They just look so happy!
[ This great pinwheel quilt by suejoy70 ]
I love the little tiny ones thrown in with all the big ones! Oh they are just so cute!
[ Pretty baby pinwheel quilt by Elsie’sGirl ]
You just can’t go wrong with pinwheels in my book. I loves them. We are going to a BBQ tomorrow night, and it’s my job to bring dessert. I am seriously considering making cupcakes and topping each one with a little pinwheel. What do you think? It would be festive, right? And easier than making pie for everyone. And the little kids would love them. And the big kids would love them. And I am pretty sure no one ever went wrong with pinwheels. Right? Super, glad we agree.
[ Another free pattern for these patriotic cuties by Jenny at Allsorts. ]
Here’s wishing you a safe and fun 4th of July if you are celebrating. (If you aren’t, then you should make some pinwheels anyway. Or cupcakes. Or both.) Happy Birthday America!
pinksuedeshoe 