Qui Je Suis ~ Who We Are Becoming

The following was a fun little exercise I did way back in 2004 in a discussion group I belong to wherein I envisioned a perfect little life for myself.  The fun thing is that most of this still rings true for me and is how I strive to live my life still today.  I will probably update it now that I am a little older and wiser though.  

How do you envision your perfect little life?

And are you working to attain that life today?

~B. circa 2004~ish

Let me introduce you to ~B.  At first glance she may seem like a traditional sort of girl.  But upon closer inspection, you will soon realize that she is quite unexpected with her jazzy sense of style.  Let’s take a peek into what a typical day is like for her.

One thing you will notice immediately about her, is that she takes the time to indulge herself in the little luxuries of life.  The fresh cup of hot cocoa in the mornings before pulling on her wellies, fetched from a neat little row, as she heads out the door into the crisp morning air with her chocolate lab hot on her heels ready for a brisk walk along the river near the nature preserve.

On her way home, she can be spotted at her local neighborhood farmers market,  where they know her by name and set aside the best produce for her, knowing that she will soon be there.  Today she has collected some fresh eggs and veggies for a delightful omelet she will savor outside on her brick patio underneath the grape filled pergola.

She relishes the change of the seasons as she sips a cup of fresh apricot nectar she made herself, listening to the many flocks of birds and geese honking overhead as they migrate along the major flyway she lives under.

Her home sits on a green and leafy estate and is filled with a mix of traditional and quirky items that hint of a surprising swank little European hideaway.  It nods to her rich Danish, English and German heritage and love of history but has a very forward thinking approach as she contemplates her own legacy. 

She has thrown open her large, tall leaded windows so that the breeze will gently blow the beautiful window treatments in a graceful manner as she contemplates what to read from her beautiful collection of classics, and charming old etiquette books. 

Her house is not cluttered with ambiguous items, but each thing is carefully chosen with an eye for aesthetics and function, as in the leather bound photo albums she has created with beautiful gold embossing their spines.  Because if there is one thing she understands keenly, is that the details make all the difference on the whole. 

Her closet is neatly organized and one gets the feeling of stepping into a chic little boutique.  It is filled with classic clothes with clean simple lines, yet the first impression can quite deceive you for while it is classic, it is never stuffy or boring.  Upon closer examination you will notice that each piece is set apart by exquisite and unexpected details that make them truly as unique as the girl who wears them. 

The majority of her wardrobe is filled with casually elegant clothing that give off the air of being on holiday all the time.  It is what she considers “Park City Chic”, resort-like, casual and comfortable.  For this truly fits her active lifestyle as a mother.  She looks equally at home whether casually strolling the streets of Park City galleries, chasing children and dogs, or running to the local PTA meeting. 

She treasures her friends and family, and often you will find multiple people and impromptu festivities going on.  Tonight however, she will spend a quiet night with her family, helping her daughter with her homework after a lovely dinner of butternut squash soup, crisp salad and bread.  Later they will play quiet board games and  maybe take a peek into the telescope before the children head off to bed.

Once the house quiets down, ~B. settles into her cozy little nest of a bed with her sketchbook and sketches out the details of her new eveningwear collection.  And of course, she snuggles with her husband while sounds of Paolo Conte waft through the air.

Variation on a Theme: Pale pink

Ok, I'm not really a pink person.  It looks horrible near my face so I usually steer clear of it altogether.  But I've found a cute {and affordable} pair of pale pink {and pale yellow too, but that will be a different post} capri length pants that I keep thinking about.

I keep thinking it just feels so springy and could be a fun and refreshing wardrobe update to throw in for the season.  But!  I have reservations with pink beyond it looking horrible near my face because I

{a} ~ don't want to look like an easter egg
{b} ~ don't want to look "too sweet"
{c} ~ don't want to appear silly wearing it

So I've been playing around with different options on Polyvore to see if I could come up with something that I might like before running out and grabbing them.  The pants I chose on Polyvore are not actually what the real pants look like {aka, the ones I'm considering are NOT skinnies!}, but they were about the closest thing I could find in color on Polyvore to represent them.

First up, some navy and pink combinations.  I kind of like these. The navy keeps them from being "too sweet" I think.  And they seem like  great mom~on~the~go type of outfits.

Next up I went with some pink and green combinations because hey, deep down I'm kind of a preppy sort of gal!   The first one is more of a pale green which kind of feels a little "sweet" to me, but with the right accessories it feels more of a "grownup sweet" than "childish sweet" if that makes sense.  It might not be a combination I wear often, but for the right occasion I think it might be nice:

The next green combination is more of a bright playful green which could be really fun.  I couldn't find a shirt I liked with this combination on Polyvore yet, but I think you get the vibe I'm going for with it?

The last combination that I didn't have time to play around with yet was a classic chocolate and pink combination.  I may have to play around with polyvore ideas for that one later.

 So over to you:

Are you a pink person?

What are your favorite things to wear with pink?

You Are Loved

Ok, so I know this song was written as a Christmas song, but it's just so cute I had to share it ~ even in March! And besides, I totally love the message ...

You Are Loved!

"You Are Loved" - Happy Holidays! from The Girls With Glasses on Vimeo.

Like it too? 

Well you can download it for free by going here!  

Merry Christmas! 

Pizza and Calzones

One of my favorite ways to clean up the fridge {and save money} is to make pizza or calzones at the end of the week.  You can throw so many things on those ~ you don't have to eat a standard fare pizza.  Oh no! Feel free to get creative!  Go gourmet and make your own creations!

Check it out!  If you look closely you can see

the steam rising off my calzone!

For a pizza or calzone you will need pizza dough. Making your own dough requires a little bit of forethought, but it really isn't that hard to make.  Plus, it uses fairly inexpensive ingredients to help you save some "dough"!  Ok, I just couldn't resist!  I had to throw that in for you!  

Here is my favorite pizza dough recipe:

Pizza Dough:

2/3 cup lukewarm water

1 pinch sugar

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups unbleached white flour

1 tsp salt

To make dough:

Stir together 1/3 cup water and sugar in a large bowl.  Sprinkle yeast over the mixture and let stand until foamy {about 10 minutes}.  Stir in the remaining 1/3 cup water, the olive oil, flour and the salt.  Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface for about 10 minutes or in a food processor for about 5 minutes.  Put dough in a deep, oiled bowl and turn to coat it with oil.  Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.  Punch down the dough and form into four balls.  Each will make a serving size pizza.

Ok, so now you have your dough ready.  Now is the fun part of creating the toppings for your pizza or stuffing for your calzone.  Like I mentioned above, a lot of times I throw on whatever veggies are still hanging around in the fridge.  A little bit of spinach?  Sure!  White bean  puree?  Why not!  I've even been known to throw on some steamed sliced carrots!  But you could always throw on some leftover chicken with barbecue sauce too.

If all this seems a little too adventurous, you can always use your favorite toppings or find some new variations in cookbooks.  But I am going to give you two of my favorite recipes that I was considering giving Adrienne when she asked me for some cost~friendly meal ideas. 

First up ~ a butternut squash pizza!  This is a great recipe to use up some of the root storage vegetables throughout the fall and winter.  Come to think of it, your dough ingredients can all easily be stored in your food storage too!  Score! 

Butternut Squash Pizza

1 cup sliced onion
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and sliced thinly
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, sage or herbes de provence
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil {1 tbsp reserved}
2 tbsp parmesan cheese {ok or more if you feel like it needs it! And um, mine usually does because I um, really love cheese!}
Pizza dough

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine onion through olive oil {except for the reserved tbsp} in a roasting pan and mix well.  Roast for 20 minutes, or until onions are beginning to brown and the squash is tender.  Roll out pizza dough and place on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.  Distribute squash mixture evenly and bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until crust is firm.  Take out of oven and sprinkle with parmesan and drizzle with reserved olive oil, then enjoy!

My other favorite recipe is a zucchini-tomato calzone.  It is wonderful in the summertime when the garden is overflowing with fresh home grown tomatoes and zucchini!  But if you are having a hankering for this on the off season, the tomatoes and zucchini aren't too expensive and it still makes quite a tasty meal!

Zucchini Tomato Calzone

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups sliced onions
1 small zucchini, grated {or about 2 cups}
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 medium tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped basil
pizza dough

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium high heat.  Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or until softened.  Transfer to a plate.

Heat the other 1 tbsp olive oil over high heat and once it is very hot, add the grated zucchini and garlic.  Stir often and make sure it doesn't burn for about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the parmesan, salt and pepper.

De-seed the tomatoes by cutting in half crosswise and squeeze the seeds and juice out.  Chop them into a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Roll out pizza dough and place a layer of onions, followed by tomatoes then zucchini into the middle.  Sprinkle with chopped basil.  Fold dough over and moisten edges with water and press edges together with fingers to seal.  Place on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal and bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Enjoy!

So there you go!  Those are two of my favorites.  What are some of your favorite pizza/calzone combinations?  Do tell!  I'm always up for trying something new!

Variation on a Theme: Chocolate {and a quick observation on black}

I have been having fun playing around on Polyvore lately.  Just for fun I've decided to take one dress and try accessorizing it differently.  So I decided to take a basic chocolate dress and see what I could do with it!  Here we go!

First up ~ a fairly basic look

with gold and pearl accents.

 Then I decided to freshen it up a bit

with some blues and greens

{check out the cute flower pin at the waist!}:

 

Then adding in a bright pop of pink

just for fun!

And some light pink

for a softer feel:

And lastly, a more natural look with straw accessories

{I forgot to change the shoes to a cute wedge ~ oh well!}

I think I could have fun wearing any of these combinations!

But on a different note, today I attended a CE class to keep my professional credentials current and decided to observe the women.  As I began to look around I realized just how much black is worn by people.  And let me tell you something ~ it is worn a lot!  Just start looking around you.  Every single woman in my class was wearing black in their outfit to some degree, whether it was the entire outfit or just a skirt or pair of trousers.  Out of the 14 women in attendance every. single. one. wore black, except me.    But then again, up until very recently, I probably would have been wearing something black too.  So I was never very good at math, but I'd say that percentage was pretty darn high!

But do you really want to look just like everyone else out there?  I've been noticing lately that the women who catch my eye and stand out as being truly chic aren't usually the ones wearing black.   I'm not saying black can't be chic.  It can actually be quite stunning on the right woman.  I don't know, it was just an interesting observation and offered some food for thought!

 

So, what do you think?  

Are my black observations similar 

to what you see in the workplace too? 

Do you think the percentage would be

different in a larger setting?

and . . . 

How would you accesorize the LBD?

{That would be the "little BROWN dress"!}

Let me know!

Call Me Crazy!

Call me crazy but I let my 14 year old neice cut my hair this weekend. See?

It's curled up at the ends and it feels kinda spunky right now.  But I'm fairly laid back about my hair.  It grows back.  In fact, in highschool my sister and I used to cut each others hair all the time.  We used to say, "as long as you can cut in a straight line, you can cut my hair".  Sometimes we wore striped shirts to help with that straight line.  We were awesome!  In fact, you can see some of my {cough~cough} high school awesomeness over on my friends blog today {scroll towards the bottom} ~ plus she outed my name if some of you hadn't figured it out already by other friends who had let it slip ~ oh well!  I'm pretty easy going about that too!

If I wasn't so easy going I probably would have to go drown myself in an amazing salad from Zupas ~ you know like the Vermont Maple Blueberry salad, or the Mangoberry salad.  Oh man, now my mouth is watering!  Good thing I ended up there this weekend {twice}.  I mean check it out:

Talk about fun! 

And the food is sooo~ fresh and tasty!

{I've got to figure out how they
make those salad dressings!}

Oh!  And the creme brulee?

So cute!

So what did you do over the weekend?

Chocolate Covered Bananas

I was playing around with the fabulous fudge sauce again.  Oh my goodness, I cannot get enough of it!  Dark chocolate?  Yes ma'am!  Healthy chocolate?  Bring it on!

Don't believe me that chocolate can be healthy?  Just google it and you'll see ~ dark chocolate health benefits ~ but in a nutshell it is extremely high in anti-oxidants, has properties similar to polyphenols which are found in black tea and red wine which are proven beneficial for heart health.  It also helps lower the bad cholesterol {LDL's ~boo, hiss!} while raising the good ones {hooray for HDL's!}.  It helps reduce the risk of heart attack, strokes, high blood pressure and may even reduce the risk of cancer!  But wait!  There's more!  It also includes nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, folic acid, B2 and B6!

It was so valued in the ancient Americas as food, medicine and beverage that it eventually became the official currency!  The Aztecs even required their citizens to pay their taxes in cocoa beans!  Those Aztecs were onto something I tell you!   They knew what a valuable commodity it was!  I'm surprised it isn't our currency even still today what with the world's almost crazy obsession with it! 

We once threw a dessert party at our house and I am not kidding you, every.single.dessert {except one} that came was chocolate!  We're obsessed people!  Obsessed!!!

So here is what I propose.  It is a simple switch.  Just switch out your cocoa powder for the real stuff.  The cacao powder before it is heat treated and processed and the nutrients are damaged.  I mean, if you're going to eat chocolate, you might as well eat the real stuff and get the health benefits out of it!  Seems like a no brainer to me!  But I digress...

I was telling you my latest creation with the fudge sauce.  It is so tasty, my friends!  This time I decided to dip bananas into it and then roll them around in crushed almonds.  Whoa! Tasty yet so simple!  Check it out:

Chocolate Covered Bananas

1 cup coconut oil, gently warmed*
1 cup agave nectar*
1 cup raw cacao, or unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 cup crushed raw almonds, or more as needed
Bananas, sliced about 1" thick, as many as desired

Combine coconut oil, agave and cacao in a blender until smooth.  Gently warm for a runnier sauce or place in fridge to thicken the sauce if needed.  Dip banana slices in fudge sauce and roll in crushed almonds to coat.  Place on a dish and freeze.  Serve frozen or thawed for 5 minutes or so.

This one truly is a healthy and tasty dessert!  And just goes to prove, yet again, how versatile that fudge sauce really is!  

* If you have a hard time finding these ingredients, you can purchase them from here. That's where I order mine from.   And if you want a brief low down on the coconut oil benefits, you can read about it on my original fudge sauce post!

~ ~ ~

This recipe was featured in The Holistic Kitchen Cookbook available on Amazon. I'm so honored to be included. Go check it out!

Shoe Codes

When it comes to getting dressed, sometimes it can be so hard to be a girl! I mean, guys have it pretty easy when you think about it! Girls? Well, varying pant lengths or styles of pants will require a different type of shoe. Why, oh why, do we have to be so complicated???

I've been trying to figure out how to teach my teen to wear appropriate shoes with her outfits. She's not really into fashion, and really doesn't care, so a lot of times she comes out with the wrong shoe and I have to send her back to her room to get something a little more appropriate because the wrong shoe can totally throw an outfit off sometimes.  I mean, she wants to look cute {who doesn't?}, she just needs it easy enough to be manageable, so she knows what to do and then she will totally do it.

Then I had a brain spark the other day!  If we created a code we could write on the inside tag of her clothes then she would know what type of shoe to wear with her outfits!  Bingo!  So this is what we came up with:

It is taped to the inside of her closet for reference.   If this works, then I am going to attempt to teach her the art of accessorizing.  Luckily there is a Dressing Your Truth club night for members this Thursday on how to accessorize which I hope will help with that step.

I wouldn't say I'm a fashionista by any means, but I do know the value of presenting yourself well to the world, and the desire that every woman wants to feel beautiful.  I always wished I had had someone to mentor me and teach me some of the finer points of makeup and getting dressed.  I had to learn a lot on my own by trial and error.  Heck, I'm not perfect and I'm still learning even today! But hopefully this will be a good teaching tool for her.  That's my hope anyway!

Hope

Look!

Spring is finally beginning to appear!

The bulbs are peeking through!

This makes me so ...

HAPPY!!!

With so much suffering going on in the world
I needed a little something to cheer me up!

Makes me want to smile and give the world a hug!

There is hope in this world of ours!
{Of course!  There always is!}

 and ...

This song has been on my mind all weekend long.

Sorry about the blurry pics! Taken with my iphone!

Lunch Bunch Linkup: Breakfast Recipes

Our lunch group had a hard time getting together again this month due to school field trips, dentist appointments and various other things going on at the same time.  So this month I am going to give you some of my favorite breakfast recipes.  I hope you will post your favorite breakfast recipes and link them up to us so that we can all drool ~ er, I mean, be inspired with something new!  ;)

This recipe is a favorite of mine when the strawberries are in season. They're not growing in my neck of the woods yet, but they were on sale at Walmart for $1.88 today! A month ago they were like $4 or $5 a basket! So yeah, I had to snap them up! 

Strawberry Banana Breakfast Bowl

Slice into your bowl as many bananas and strawberries as you like.  Then drizzle with your favorite sweetener.  I used a little drizzle of agave because it is low glycemic, but you could sprinkle sugar, honey or maple syrup on it if you wanted.  You could probably add some crushed walnuts or your favorite nut of choice if you wanted!  Enjoy!

~~~

This next recipe is a family favorite at our house.  It is the first breakfast my mother-in-law ever made me when I went home to meet my husbands family.  It is the one breakfast my daughter always requests whenever we visit Grandma.  And a fall favorite when the apples are in season.

I need to play around with this one a little bit though ~ I haven't figured out a totally healthified version yet.  I'd like to make it more whole grain and figure out how to make the apple syrup without as much sugar and other stuff.  There is definitely room for improvement, but it is pretty darn tasty the way it is.

Apple Pancakes with Apple Syrup

For the pancakes:

3 cups flour

5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1/3 cup olive oil

2 small apples, peeled and diced

For the syrup:

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 cups apple juice

1/4 cup butter

For the pancakes:  Mix together sugar, eggs, milk and oil.  Add flour, baking powder and salt.  Fry on a griddle.

For the syrup:  Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cook until thick.  Serve over pancakes.

So there you go!  Now over to you!  Show us or tell us about your favorite breakfast meal!

Next month we are going to do:

Favorite Seasonal Spring Recipes!  

So start thinking!

Caulichowder Soup Recipe Featured

I was honored when Adrienne over at The Rich Life asked me to give her a vegetarian recipe that was easy on the budget.  Today she featured my recipe along with a few others that look quite tasty!

I'm all about inexpensive meals.  I try real hard to keep things in the budget.  I have a few friends who think that the way I eat is expensive.  Sometimes it is ~ when I'm buying or stocking up on my raw cacao, real maple syrup or strange ingredients like coconut oil etc.  But a lot of times it is off set by not buying as much meat as I used to. 

The Caulichowder Soup I gave Adrienne came out to about $4.88 for the recipe or about $1.22 a person.  This didn't include the salad or the bread though, so it would be a little more once you add those in.

A head of cauliflower isn't that expensive.  Neither is an onion.  If your pantry is stocked with spices then you're good to go.

My recipe {and cost analysis} used store bought vegetable broth, which  I don't feel was very expensive {about $1.47 for about 4 cups worth}, but you could make this meal even more economically by making your own vegetable broth.  I have a container in the freezer that I throw all my veggie ends in that I don't end up using and once it is full I simmer up my own broth.

The only other thing you might have to buy is a can of evaporated milk, which you don't use that much of in the recipe. 

It's a fairly simple recipe which I love exactly for its simplicity!   Good food doesn't have to be expensive to taste good, especially if you start with fresh, quality ingredients!

Thanks for thinking of me Adrienne!  

I hope you enjoy this tasty soup!

Now everybody else...

hop on over and pay her a visit

and get some more tasty ideas for dinner!

~ ~ ~

Here's the recipe for you:

Caulichowder Soup

2 tsp olive oil

1 white onion, chopped

1 head cauliflower, broken in florets

3 cups vegetable broth {or if you want a lighter colored soup and don't want it vegetarian you can use chicken broth}

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

salt to taste

Preheat a large nonstick saucepan over medium high heat.  Saute onions in olive oil until tender and translucent.  Add the cauliflower and saute until heated through.  Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered until the cauliflower can easily be mashed {about 10 minutes}.

Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree.  Pour back into saucepan and add the milk, nutmeg, pepper and salt. Heat to serving temperature over low heat.  Garnish with sliced green onions.

Inspiration Pieces

My husband is very traditional in how he likes to decorate.  And masculine.  You know, dark woods, leather and traditional fabrics.

Me?  Well, I go for a more relaxed vibe.  I'm thinking of taking the main living area towards a British Colonial type of look because it would marry his traditional aesthetic with my more casual, beachy love.  I think it would marry both of them quite well.

Here is some of my design aesthetic:

This is one of my favorite places on the planet!

This stop along the Road to Hana in Maui

is absolutely breathtaking!

It mesmerizes me every time I go!

I could spend hours just sitting here watching 

the water crash against the dark black rocks!

And the blues of the ocean out there?

Amazing!

And so incredibly beautiful and varied!

Just look at all the different shades of blue!

I want to bring in pops of blue into the color scheme I think.

Green is my favorite color.

I collect green leafy platters and bowls.

I love paintings from the 1500-1600's.

Especially these paintings of colonial Brazil.

Brazil is special to both my husband and I.

We both lived there for a while.

It's where we met.

We lived in a region of Brazil that could be compared

to the deep South of the U.S.

I should have bought these benches

from NapaStyle a few years ago when I saw them.

They make my  heart skip a beat

~ even still today!

via NapaStyle a few years ago

I love large statement pieces

like this great statement art:

I've had this image in my inspiration file for years ~ not sure where I got it anymore!

Or this simple statement artwork

(that lamp over the table is kind of fun too!}

via Pure Style Home ~ she shares my love for lime!

So those are some of the kinds of things I hope to go over with my friend today while we're making plans to update our main living area.  More to come!  Stay tuned!

Why I Was Going To Hire An Interior Designer

Until the ol' world wide web and blogging, I never realized there were so many fabulous and talented people out there! I mean, of course there were, you just didn't know about them as easily!  But if  I spend a lot of time on any of these decorating types of blogs, while they're fun, they can also make me feel like I'm just not as cool!  No matter how hard I try, I can't pull a decorating miracle out of pure sawdust, glue, some sparkly paint and have it actually look amazing and still be smiling about it.  I am a crafty clutz!  Of course I'm exaggerating but let's face it, it's easy to feel like you just don't measure up.

It's not a weakness to admit that you need a little help sometimes.  That's why I am proudly going to admit that I almost hired an interior designer to help me finish and update the main floor of my house.

It doesn't mean that I can't decorate something by myself.

Because I can.  I've had a few projects turn out that I have absolutely loved!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

It doesn't mean that I don't have any style, ideas or taste of my own.

Quite the contrary!  I'm loaded with ideas and opinions {in fact, maybe too many!}.  

But I consider it a very mature thing to be able to admit when you need to seek advice from another.   

Trust me, I know when to pull this car over and ask for directions!

via Sxc

Here are the top reasons I was going to hire an interior designer:

1.  To help me finish pulling my ideas/vision together
2.  To help me source products I don't have time to search for
3.  To know and help me get good prices on above sourced products
4.  To act as an intermediary at pulling together my ideas and my husbands ideas {sometimes things are just better coming from a 3rd party, if you know what I mean!}
5.  To present us ideas that we may not have thought of
6.  To help solve problems I haven't been able to figure out for myself {for instance balancing an off~balance wall}
7. Because I've always wanted to get inside the head of real designer and see them in action!

So why am I NOT going to hire an interior designer in the end?

Well, money for one thing, but mostly because I've decided to have a great friend help me out instead.  She can make anything beautiful!  She is super talented that way!  She is strong in the parts where I am weak.  Plus it will be a good excuse to hang out, make the house pretty, do a little shopping together and probably eat some Cafe Rio salads or something fun like that!

We're getting together tomorrow to start deciding what we're going to do, so stay tuned!  This is going to be fun!

Lunch Bunch Reminder and Breakfast In Bed

This is just a friendly reminder that this month's Lunch Bunch will meet on Thursday for my local friends and we will post the linky on Friday for anyone else who might want to join in from afar {and you totally should because we want to see your tasty creations too!}.

This months focus is on:

Healthy Breakfast Foods

My cute neice made this french toast for my daughter when she turned 13 ~ complete with 13 strawberries and 13 blueberries {oh and super~duper healthy green candy sprinkles! ~wink~wink~}

So before I sign off, I want to know, if the breakfast fairy was coming to bring you breakfast in bed . . . what would be on your tray?

Been Cooking Up Some Surprises!

Oh I sure do love Sundays in the kitchen!

Where the magic all happens ~ the toddler caught this picture of me a while ago.

Here is a rare glimpse into my kitchen.  It's tiny.  And I don't have a huge workspace so I feel like it's a mess when I cook most of the time.  But I love to get creative and play around with recipes.  And I was cooking up a storm today!  I have some yummy new recipes to share with you this week but first I need to go clean up the mess!

Getting Back Out In The Garden

Things haven't really started growing yet, but I feel it coming closer and closer everyday.  I have a friend who just planted her spring veggies.  I'm not quite ready for a spring garden yet.  I wish I was.  I just usually don't have my act together in time.

But today we finished pruning the apple espaliers

This was from a few years ago.  Right now they just look like twigs.  :D

and pruning and training the grapes 

to grow up the pergolas.

From last fall.  The first time we had grapes on them!  And they were TASTY!!!

I'm trying to convince my husband to get rid of the hot tub {that needs a new motor, that we haven't fixed for over two years!} so that I can place some new garden boxes on the patio to grow more food.  I want four of these {ideally}, in the bronze finish.

Self-Watering Raised Bed, in Bronze

I really love the idea of self-watering containers.  I want to switch all my pots and planters out to them so that when I take off on vacation I don't have to worry about getting someone to water my plants for me. It's a brilliant idea I tell you!  Plus, I hear that plants do really well in them.

Food prices are going up again but I love the feeling of being able to grow and provide food for my family.  It's a nice feeling.

Reflections on Dressing My Truth {and black}...so far

Well, it has been a few weeks since I started this Dressing My Truth experiment and surprisingly, I don't miss my black. It's amazing how fast I gave it up and how readily I gave it away. 

I realize now that black was a cop out for me. It was too easy to find. But it also hindered me from really creating the personal style that I really wanted.

I also realize that it wasn't a very flattering color on me. I have always suspected that chocolate was great for me but always had visions of  icky brown 70's fashion atrocities dancing around in my head.  But of course what I've been finding have been anything but!  In fact, it seems to be a much warmer color on me that tends to compliment my pink skin tones.  I mean chocolate and pink are very flattering together, right?

And with my dark brown hair it creates a much warmer look. Not stark. Not harsh.  Black made my skin feel old. It emphasized the bags under my eyes and how tired I looked.  Not pretty, my friends! The dark brown tends to brings out the prettier parts while somehow glossing over the yuckier stuff even though I'm still tired or have bags under my eyes.  

I don't think I truly realized or understood how wearing certain colors really made me look or appear to other people but the course has been a great teaching tool for me.  There are so many resources and videos to use once you sign up.  In fact, in one recent video available to members, Carol demonstrated how black really isn't for everyone {like her}.  She came out wearing a black dress and with her more chiseled features it just made her look mean and unfriendly by further emphasizing and bringing out those chiseled lines even though she was smiling.  Then she changed into something more appropriate for her type and she warmed right back up.  It was such a great {and interesting} visual for me.

So, bye bye black!  

We had a good time for a while, 

but now I realize it's not you . . .

. . . it's me!  

We're just not meant for each other. 

And I know on the right person 

you will be perfect.  

But I'm not that person. 

What I've come to realize is that the "black is right for everyone" mentality is a myth.  You may not think black looks that bad on me, and maybe it really didn't, but the most important thing for me is that I feel prettier without it.  And that's huge!

Switching To Spring

The spring bug has definitely bit me!  Yesterday I couldn't take it anymore and packed away the old winter comforter on my bed.  I needed the light, airy, refreshing linens back.

Shhh!  I know I need to iron the wrinkles out of the sheets!  But um, that's casual elegance for you!  Yeah, casual elegance!

The deep, rich reds and golds I love during autumn were beginning to drag me down. They are nice and cozy during the colder months which I love though!

Hmm ~ maybe I should bring the topiaries back out!

The master bedroom is one of the only rooms that has never been repainted in the 12 years we have lived here.  The linens and things I originally decorated the room with have long been gone, but the paint still remains.

For a long time I wasn't sure what or how I really wanted to decorate the room.  But now I know that it will be painted a gorgeous yellow I have used elsewhere in my house that always seems perfect with just about anything else you place with it.  It is such a perfect neutral backdrop!  And it will enable me to change out my wintery bedding as well as springy bedding effortlessly.

One more shot of the springy bedding!  Now you can see the contrast on the back of the comforter ~ love that!

Now I just need to figure out the decorations in the rest of the room.  I'm thinking I want to go with red accents to coordinate both sets of bedding.  Plus it will simplify the seasonal change out.  I don't want to have to store too many things during the off season, if you know what I mean! Gotta keep it simple folks!

So what about you?  

Do you change anything out seasonally?

The At Home Workout Club: Month 3

Wow, I can't believe it is March already!  Time is really flying by for me this year!

I thought last months selections were really fun but holy cow!  I've got some practicing to do!  I feel like I got a lot of the basic hip movements down but when you start adding in the arms and some of the walking type steps at the same time?  Yikes!  I feel like my coordination flew out the door!  But I think with regular practice it will get easier ~ and I plan to keep trying because it is just so fun!

But now it's March and it's time for me to add some new selections to the workout library.  I know it's not officially spring yet, but once the calendar flips over to March I pretty much consider it springtime anyway!  I'm so finished with old man winter!

One thing I noticed this winter was that I tend to hunch over a lot in the cold ~ it's that huddling up to get warm thing I think.  But it's horrible on my posture and a healthy spine and back are so important!    Not to mention you just look better when you have healthy posture.  It can even make you look thinner and who doesn't want that?

So this month I am going to add Back Care Yoga for $12.99.

I've heard that yoga is great for back injury patients
{though check with your doctor first
if you're in that situation please!}

Since I am still within my budget I also plan on adding some basic yoga props since I'm a beginner and I know my flexibility isn't as great as it used to be.

Yoga Strap

Yoga Blocks

I already have a yoga mat, but if you don't you might want to pick one of those up as well.  They've got some pretty cute designs these days.

So there you go!  Yoga is my selection for this month!  I also plan to start taking more walks outside as the weather continues to warm up.  I love the sunshine on my face!

Happy Spring Everyone!