week in the life | saturday + sunday

Saturday  8:30 am wake-up.  Morning view from upstairs.  The pups. Steak + roasted cauliflower dinner.  Chilling after dinner.

Sunday  8:30 am wake-up.  Sunday morning coffee.  Pizza dinner.

I'm really going to miss taking pictures everyday.  This was a really great experience!  Can't wait to do it again!

week in the life | thursday + friday

Thursday  5:45 am wake-up.  Always have the bed made on weekdays.  Take the dogs out.  Quick breakfast of toast.  Waiting for the train.  Best salad EVER.

Friday  For whatever reason Friday was an absolute FAIL!  I took no pictures until late in the evening.  And this was it.

week in the life | wednesday

My morning lupus affirmation.  Views from my office.  Getting dinner ready, or at least part of it.

week in the life | tuesday

Packing lunches in the morning.  Afternoon tea.  Waiting for the train home. Waiting for my running partner.  Well deserved dinner after a great run.

week in the life | monday

I'll admit that I didn't do so well on the first day of a Week in the Life.  I was only able to take a few pictures.  Here are some of my favorites

Getting ready. First cup of coffee. Mid-morning snack of yogurt. Evening workout with Jay. Max getting his chew on.

I am realizing that Week in the Life does require a lot of commitment especially for someone like me who works.  But I'm completely up for the challenge!

pantry treasures

My pantry is a treasure trove of surprises these days.  I am constantly amazed at what I find when I poke my head in. It used to be organized, honest.  Now, it's just a plain mess.

Last week I found a bags of toffee and butterscotch chips and I knew exactly what I wanted to make:  blondies and toffee chip cookies.

And now we have a ton of sweets in the house, even after giving some to my in-laws and bringing some to work today!

Happy Monday!
xo

week in the life

Getting ready for Ali Edwards' Week in the Life which starts tomorrow and runs through next Sunday.  I'm participating for the first time!  I'm excited and nervous, mostly because I don't want to flake half way through and not finish.

I'm not sure how many pictures I'm planning on taking per day, but I'm hoping to post whatever I take everyday.

And I just wanted to share a card that I made last week.  It was really quick and easy.

I used my new Martha punch. So love this color combination!  Thanks for looking!
Have a great week!
xo

friday faves | summer food

Happy Friday!  And a truly happy one for me as I finally got a good night's rest last night after several days of insomnia.  I'm not sure what did it, I think it may have been the run outside that did the trick.  Hopefully it wasn't just an aberration.

Unfortunately my fave selection this week is a bit, well, underwhelming given my state of exhaustion from lack of sleep.

• Gelato bars care of Gelaterianaia.  Will have to make a special trip to a Whole Foods soon for these!
• These ice cream sandwiches look to die for!
• The perfect summer snack: smores!  Cute gift idea!

I'm sad to see Borders closing down for good.  It has been my bookstore of choice for many years.  I have spent many hours browsing, having coffee, studying and actually reading at Borders.  I was thinking of heading over to the nearest Borders tomorrow morning to see if there is anything leftover.  Hoping to find good deals on cookbooks I wouldn't necessarily pay full price on.   What's my luck that' there will be anything left except the dregs? 

Have a great night!
xo

sweet nothings

Not sure what it is about July, but I seem to be baking quite a bit this month. First, cheesecake for 4th of July weekend, then peach galette. And since the galette last week was so delicious, I attempted another one over the weekend to use the second pie crust.  This time: strawberry.

I had a few modifications, including some lemon zest and a couple teaspoons of cornstarch.

Some of the strawberry filling oozed out through the crust (you can kind of see it in the corner), otherwise I was very pleased with the way it turned out.  Jay and I pretty much inhaled it.  But here comes another weekend and probably more baking.  Perhaps some toffee chip cookies?

xo   

waiting, waiting

The countdown began yesterday. My last few days of sanity before trial resumes. Now I’m just trying to enjoy the peace and quiet.


Of all the things I have to look forward to, I’m really looking forward to having some company again; it's truly been a lonely three months.  What I’m not looking forward to are the longer work days. And I’m hoping that it doesn't interfere too much with working out. The plan is to do something no matter what, even if it means a shorter run or merely one set of weights.

In the meantime, I'll focus on what makes me happy.

It's not just the food, it's the process.  Cooking with him is priceless to me, and eating with him is the cherry on top!

Happy Tuesday!
xo

it's a miracle

Happy Sunday!  Hope the weekend treated you well!  All in all it was a great weekend; I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

This weekend gets 100 points because I actually scrapped!  (Somewhere pigs are flying, lots of them.)  As I've mentioned before, this layout has been on my desk for several weeks now, but it just wasn't clicking for me until this weekend.  I'm glad it finally did because it was getting really frustrating.

I'm really happy how this turned out!  Working on a card using the scraps, hopefully I'll be able to share it sometime later this week.

Have an  awesome week!
xo

happy thoughts

I'm taking my littlest guy, Max, to the vet this morning for some testing. It seems his blood test results show elevated levels of something (the vet talked to J) and she wants to make sure his liver is functioning properly. Otherwise he may have to go on medication long-term.  Crossing my fingers and toes that this is not the case.  If you could spare a prayer for him, I'd so appreciate it. I'm going to be such a nervous nelly.

Have a rockin' Saturday!
xo

friday faves | this & that

Happy Friday!  I've craving Korean food for forever.  And was looking forward to grabbing some for dinner tonight before grocery shopping only to find that is was closed.  Boo!  So we ended up here.

Not quite what I was hoping for, so the craving continues.  At least got my mojito!

I've kind of  been in a random mood this week and my favorites totally reflect that.  As you'll see, there really is no rhyme or reason to what caught my eye.

• I just love her posts. The succulent garden is simple, but really cute and handy.
• This is worth reminding in our increasingly touched-up world.
• Tim at Lottie & Doof seems to find the best recipes.  I desperately want to try the Buttermilk Barley Biscuits and Sugar Snap Salad.
• Kinfolk Magazine. Only hand enough time for a quick flip through the pages online, but am in love. Beautiful pictures, yummy food!
• And this hilarious video of a practical joke that Tom Hanks played on Julia Roberts on the set of Larry Crown.  Julia is a knitter herself and often knits on set.

Now off of chill with the furkids and strum the strings for a bit before heading off to bed, I have an early start tomorrow.

Have an awesome weekend!
xo

pretty paper

I was hoping to post a layout that has been languishing on my desk now for maybe three or four weeks.  But that ain't gonna happen today.  As you can see it is still on my desk, unfinished, in a state of limbo that is particularly excruciating for me.

Let's face it, scrapbooking has not been high on my list of priorities these days.  Okay, there, I said it.  Whew!  It feels good to get that out in the open.  Blame it on too many priorities, but not enough hours in the day.  But just because I haven't been playing with paper much doesn't mean that I have lost my love for pretty paper.  With CHA in a couple days a week, I've been drooling, swooning over all the sneaks online.  And I think I'm in love.

Anything from Studio Calico is simply amazing.

Vintagey goodness from October Afternoon.

Gorgeousness from my longtime favorite, Crate Paper.

Deliciousness from Lily Bee.

This is enough to get a girl scrapping again.  I guess this means I need to start spending some quality time in my craft room. . . the sooner, the better.  All I have to say is "Hide the credit card, honey!"