More Unsolicited Party Planning Advice

Good {Sunny Seattle} Morning!!!

Ready? Isn't this what you need today? No, seriously, you do because the holidays are coming up and hospitality is a completely lost art. I l.o.v.e. having people over, and doing it up right, so I just thought I'd pass on a few of my tried and true tips.

Mark's Mandarin Orange and Dark Chocolate Cheesecake. Will never do you wrong. Soooo good. I'm still deciding if I'm going to post the recipe.....

Colored crystal sugar as sweetener. I mean, who can really use all that sprinkle on cookies that you're never going to make. Serve it at a party alongside some teas. People will swoon! 

I've been keeping my tea selection in an extra piece of my expandable utensil thing-a-majiggy. I don't need it for silverware, and it has handy dividers (from Storables), and is perfect for separating different teas. People are really into tea. Serious. This way I can just pull all the tea out at once, and not be fumbling with all the little cardboard boxes, etc.

Do funky napkins. Just for fun.

And stick with white plates. Most food doesn't look very appetizing on really busy plates. The simpler the better! I'm putting off the cheesecake recipe. Maybe at Christmas...just because....I should probably check with Mark first. Ha!

Enjoy Entertaining!

Operation Costume: Dogs

So, we're in full "Halloween Prep" swing around here.
"Mom, have you ordered my costume yet?" I feel like its just an exchange of goods and services...no love. Ya know? Remember "back in the day" when moms made costumes....crickets. Yeah. Well, I'm crafty, but for some reason costumes seem to kick my butt.

Anyway, I had to laugh at and share some of these costumes for dogs. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know my undying love for our two beagle brothers, Charlie and Rocky, seen here:

Ok, so, not a great picture, but you get the idea. Imagine these doggies or your own doggies in the following costumes, or have a really really great laugh today!

I mean, that's just good stuff, right?

Perfection for "Boo-ing" neighbors!!

How cute is this? You could whip out twenty of these in a heartbeat to drop off at all your neighbor's houses to wish them a Happy Halloween! I'm in love with fall, and this goes right along with it! I found this great idea on Pinterest, and so I thought I'd try my hand at exactly that...

Got a few "boo" peeps, hershey's, and graham crackers...

Easy!

I made 18, with these cute tags that were little invitations to my neighbors (who we're still getting to know/don't know) to invite them to a Bunco party at our house in Oct. Peyton, Avery and I walked around and distrubuted these. So funny to hand these to the neighbors...they sort of looked at us like, "What is this poison you're handing me?" So suspicious...lighten up people. Boo!

Enjoy! xo

Restaurant Ticking Time Bombs

Its summer.
Its hot out.
Mommy's grouchy.
Mommy calls Daddy.
"Daddy, can we go out for dinner?"
"Sure, my love, let's go."

And, scene. Ok, what to do with kids at a restaurant to keep them happy for the last 30 insufferable minutes before the food comes....

Just saw this amazing, cute little post around the blog world, at Be Different, Act Normal (my fave blog name, to date)

Shut Up! Its such a good idea, I can't stand it. I'm easy these days, I guess.

Go see all 5 ideas that she suggests, here! Enjoy!

Eat out, and be merry!!

Mommy Loves You

Sometimes we all need a hug. Or a fruit snack.

I'm super grouchy in the mornings, so I'm not one of those nice mommies who writes her kids love notes in their lunches.

So, I prefer to write it on their after school snack, like THIS!

xo

Why Follow? Blogging 101

Huh?!
That's what most people say when I ask what blogs they follow.
Then a blank stare.

credit: cutest blog on the block

Well, if you've found me here, you are either:
1. new to blogging.
2. a seasoned blogger who knows where its at.
3. or one of my facebook friends that just likes to take stalking to another level.

At any rate, I'm super glad you're here. I've had lots of questions, recently, about "blogging 101", so I thought I'd fill in some gaps.

First, why blog? Blogging, for me, has become a way of connecting with people who share my same interests in a way that we've never been able to before. I'm interested in home, family, kids, etc. So, I follow (feed) those types of blogs. However, there are photography, cooking, travel, pet blogs...everything under the sun! There are professional bloggers (people who make money through advertising on their blog). I do not make money by doing this blog. I am, however, attempting to grow a small decor business, either in person or online, through the promotion of this blog. Some people only have a blog to keep grandma updated on all their family pictures. This is not that. So, I'm somewhere in between a pro blogger and a personal blogger.

Secondly, RSS. What is it? RSS= Really Simple Syndication. It is a way to "follow" blogs and see them in one location. When you choose to "follow" me, you will sign in with a "reader", ie Google Reader (you have to have an account with Google to do this--easy to get). Then, all the blogs that you choose to "follow" will be in one location. You log into your google account and click on the "reader" tab, and you can see all the blogs you've decided to follow. Before I was a blogger myself, I only followed about 5 blogs. Now, because I want to stay current with more blogs, in order to have mine seen more often, I follow about 15.

I would love for you to follow mine, but honestly, I'd just love for you to read mine, and pass it on to anyone you think might like it. Its been an invaluable tool in directing potential clients to the blog, especially so I don't have to "repeat" myself re: paint colors, my accessorizing philosophy, etc. Hope you find this helpful when looking at any blog!

Send questions on blogging my way, and I'll try to help! I'm really just finding my way, too. Happy Blogging!

Mad Science

My mom is a saint! I was dreading doing Peyton's science fair project with her. We even recycled one of my 1980-something science fair projects because I didn't want to expend the mental energy it was going to take to come up with something new. I know this is lazy, but....please.

So, enter aformentioned mother, here visiting for spring break (I've already mentioned my awesome dad, and all his hard work on a headboard for Peyton...they do love the other 2 kids...Peyton was high-need this trip!) The project was called "Biscuit Explosion: What makes biscuits rise?" (Yes, I did this in 1986!)

Here's mom helping Peyton measure baking powder on the first batch of biscuits. Three batches are necessary. I was the resident photographer....happily sipping my coffee between shots!

Here's our naughty doggy, Rocky, with his nose in everyone's beeswax, to see if maybe since Peyton was at the helm, one morsel of food might drop down his direction! Bad doggy, I love you, bad doggy, I love you.

More baking, with which I am not involved. Love it!

And, why do we knead to knead in a North Face coat? Not sure, but its 9 yr old logic...go figure.

Playing with new camera shots...love it! First batch goin' in the hot box!

This is second batch getting measured!

There's my mom sacrificing her good nails on a hot pan, to get the shot of the low/non-rising third batch. Taking one for the team! Where is our ruler, she asks!? Don't know.

Grand Finale!

Thanks mom!! Project in 1986: check. Project in 2011: check.

Herb garden haircuts

Here are my little guys, just growing away...you'll remember that a few weeks ago, when the Fruit Market near our house opened, I was so excited to go down there. I picked up these cute little herbs, and showed you how to plant them here.

Well you can probably see from this pic that they need some haircuts....

I mean, they're going wild!

Ha!!!

Seriously, I didn't like it. So....

Here they are with their new "do's"

(Mo)

(Larry)

(Curly)

How does your garden grow?

PS. When you cut yours, KEEP THE HERBS!! I'm so dumb...I totally cut them, then sent all those good herbs down the drain. My bad. Coulda used them. Isn't that the whole point of growing the herb garden in the first place. Total party foul. Next time. Next time.

Mini Herb Plantings

Not sure what these are called. For some reason the word terrarium comes to mind, but I think that has a lid, and these don't. If you know, let me know....

**Side note: Oh my goodness, the new camera came today. I'm so excited. Big Dog (that's my husband) and I are going to play around with it tonite. That is a commentary on how bleck this picture is. Sorry. Anyway, I decided, after my little jaunt down to the Fruit Market, that I needed a little outdoors, in. Here's my attempt at a small herb garden. I've never tried this before, so hopefully they'll live past dinner.

I just used these basic water glasses. We never use these, except for company, so if they taste like dirt next time you come over, sorry.

Then put small rocks in the bottom, here:

Then, I just pulled the little herbs out of their little plastic homes, tore off some of the roots and dirt to make sure it could fit, and plunked them right down in their new little glass house. Super easy....

I had to move over to the sink, because it was getting messy all over the counter. I think they'll be fine for a while....I just watered in there a tad. It smells so good. These are sage, rosemary, and thyme. I use rosemary and thyme quite frequently, when cooking, but we'll see what becomes of the sage.

Happy Fruit Marketing!

Semi-Homemade

This title might become a series because for about a year I've been enamored with this phrase. Did you know its a magazine that you can actually subscribe to? Its with that gal Sandra Lee. Anyway, everything in this mag is showing things that are "semi-homemade". That is not how I was really raised. Everything had to be from scratch. So, when I saw a WHOLE cottage industry endorsing things that could be semi-homemade, my interest was piqued, to say the least.

This is a little "recipe" that would definitely fall into the category of semi-homemade. Its the cream puffs from Costco (freezer section) and chocolate chips. These are super duper yummy. I'm notorious for making these for baby showers because I'm obsessed with having miniature food for a mini-person celebration, but we're having a house-warming party, and I made them this weekend. Here's the how to:

Place chocolate in a double boiler. You can do this in the microwave, but given my "from scratch" upbringing, I have to use a double boiler. What would mom say?

Stir until melted, then remove from heat

Then just take the puffs and dip, one at a time, and place on parchment paper, on a cookie sheet so you can easily transfer to the fridge.

These are super delish! Enjoy!!