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My new bag is in

As you know a couple of weeks ago I was debating whether or not I should invest in a new designer bag or a new lens and I was able to come to a happy compromise. I was able to purchase the 35mm Nikon lens and a bag from etsy seller Valhallabrooklyn.

After anxious waiting my bag is in and I LOVE IT. The leather is so soft and supple and the colorful lining gives it a little retro flair.

I am a purse fanatic and I love designer bags, but I am starting to not like designer prices. Over the past year I have moved away from getting big name designer bags and instead opting for well made bags done with high quality materials by independent artisans or unexpected retailers/designers.

I would highly recommend Valhallabrooklyn and I now have one of her luggage bags on my wish list.

I have the Larch bag in jet black.




Large travel bag I have my eye on.

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There is a New Kid on the Block

I saw this over at Daily Sip Studios Blog and was instantly intrigued.

I love fresh modern clothes that are also clean simple and classic. Thus my love affair with J Crew. So when I saw Land's End new line Canvas I was blown away. Yes Land's End! They have this image of dated suburban house wife but not any more. I think they are trying to give J Crew a run for their money. I have always thought they produced quality products, particularly their outerwear and canvas bags, so I am anxious to get some pieces from this line and test them out. Plus the prices are fantabulous.

Watch out J Crew there is a new kid on the block.

Photo courtesy of Land's End Canvas Facebook page



Photo courtesy of Fashion.Glam

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Too Cute not to Post

I'm bored. It's snowing (AGAIN!). I have the winter blahs and cabin fever.

So what the hey I might as well show you what Roe and I looked like when we were little people.


Obviously I hadn't yet learned how to sit like a lady.

The suit gets me every time in this picture. Plus the Mickey Mouse watch really puts it over the top - could he even tell time at that age?

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Guess who has clients?

That would be little ol' me.

People loved the pictures I took this past Saturday so much that I have already booked a maternity session and a graduation party with some other possible events in the works as well.

I am so excited that my heart feels like it is doing flips in my chest.

I have been hoping to launch a photography business since last year and now its really happening. While I say I am an "aspiring" lifestyle photographer since I am still a student of the craft, I just know that with ever fiber of my being that this is something I was meant to do. There has rarely been things in my life that I have been so passionate about it and to see things being set in motion is such a blessing.

If you would like to follow me on this journey hop over and check out my photography site Girl Photography. And of course I will keep posting pictures here as well.

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What I love right now


I could listen all day.

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Have you heard of Bemz?

Have you heard of Bemz?

I hadn't either till a couple of months ago when I read about them on another blog (I forget which one.) But if you own Ikea furniture like millions of us do then listen up.

Have you ever found an upholstered piece from Ikea and loved the shape but hated the fabric choices they had to offer? (I know I have never been a big fan of their fabric selection, and their strategy of offering everything in plain stark white cotton duck is just not practical for everyone.) Or is your upholstered piece discontinued and you can no longer buy different slipcovers? (Like what happened to us with the Ekeskog sofa. Loved, Loved the sofa. However, when I bought it  the slip cover I loved best of all was just discontinued so I had to settle for my second choice.)

Well here is Bemz to the rescue.

They make affordable slipcovers for  a wide range of Ikea furniture (pillows, chairs, arm chairs, and sofas), and they have a huge selection of quality fabrics in a variety of prints and colors. I have been stalking them for a while since getting a new slipcover for our sofa in the family room is high up there on my decorating wish list. I have even ordered samples a couple of times to see the quality and feel of their fabrics and it has just fueled my lust for a revamp even more.

And the fun part is you can play around and see pictures of your furniture piece with their different fabrics.

Here is the fun I had with our  Ekeskog sofa.









All of these are way to busy for my liking but it is fun to play around.

I am leaning towards something more along these lines.


Yes something very neutral (yawn .... boring) but it gives me more versatility in terms of pulling in decorative pillows and fitting in with decor changes.

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I have a dirty little secret

I have a dirty little secret ..... I suffer from potty mouth.

Yeah I need to get the soap treatment.

It is very shocking to people when they first find out and really very few do. Only my closest and dearest friends know about my affliction. I have been suffering with this illness for a while and stress only makes it worse. The worse is when I am in the car driving. Luckily the other drivers can't hear what I am saying.

So I decided to do something about it.

Even though I am not Catholic every year I give up something for Lent to see if 1) I have the will power to do it and 2) to see if it can make a positive impact in my life and carry over outside of Lent. In years when I have felt that my sweet tooth had gotten out of control I cut out all forms of sweets which did curb my desire beyond the 40 days and got me back on track.

So I am seeing if this no potty mouth ban can carry over outside of Lent. So far I have slipped a couple of times but I have definitely seen an improvement in terms of how I even verbalize things to myself.

I am determined to get through this and make this change in my life.

Are there any bad habits in your life that you are trying to change?

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Jambalaya - It's a Party in your mouth

I always think of jambalaya as a party for your mouth. Its a mixture of everything I love - rice, meat, tomatoes (and to think I wouldn't touch tomatoes as a girl I thought they were yucky), hot spices all dancing around on your tongue. Even the word sounds festive.

Some people make it with chicken, some make it with shrimp, since I love meat in all its many forms I put chicken, shrimp, and sausage in my version. I try to make it whenever shrimp goes on sale and its a favorite of both myself and my husband.


Jambalaya

Ingredients

  • 16 ounce bag of long grain rice
  • 1 1/2 lbs of shrimp
  • 1 lb of andouille sausage
  • 1 extra large boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 6 oz can of tomato paste
  • 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 large onion diced
  • 2 celery stalks diced
  • 1/2 large green pepper
  • minced garlic
  • Cajun seasoning
  • hot sauce
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Kosher salt
  • ground white pepper
  • paprika
  • olive oil
  • 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
  • 2 cups of water

1. Season chicken beast with cajun seasonings and cook till done. Dice into bite size pieces. Set aside.
2. Cook sausage and dice into bite size pieces. Set aside.
3. Peel and clean shrimp. Set aside.
4. In large pan or dutch oven heat olive oil (about a tablespoon). Add minced garlic, peppers, onion, and celery to pan. Cook until tender and onion is slightly translucent.
5. Add in tomato paste and rice. Cook about 3 minutes till rice is well coated.
6. Add in diced tomatoes with liquid, chicken broth, water, seasonings,  bay leaves, sausage, and chicken.
7. Cover and cook until liquid is nearly absorbed and rice is almost done. (You may have to add additional water as it cooks). Stir occasionally during cooking to prevent rice from sticking to bottom of pan.
8. Add in shrimp
6. Stir in shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink in color and rice is done.

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Project 52 - Week 6

You can see additional photos from my week here, here, and here

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Scenes from a Birthday Celebration

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my friend's ladies potluck birthday celebration. It was a day of good people, good food, good drink and of course laughs.







The Birthday Girl! Isn't she lovely.





Even the cat was a girl.
The only guy there ;)




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Jillian or Tracy?

Last night while I was vegging out and prior to watching Star Trek VII on hulu (Yes I am into science fiction. Right now I feel so geeky but what the hey I was a math major.) I was trying to decide if I want to be down with Jillian or Tracy.


The mean exercise drill sergeant from Biggest Loser that everyone loves to hate


The fairy like creature that floats around like a sprite and is BFF's with Gwyneth and Shakira

I  just want something to supplement my days where I don't have dance class. Not trying to lose weight just maintain. And if I get a little more tone than great. (Who doesn't want to be more tone?)

However in no way am I trying to morph myself into this.


Have any of you tried either? Thoughts? Likes/Dislikes?

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Is it that time of year again?

Given that I was in a horrible mood yesterday I thought I would post about something that gives me great joy in the warm months. My garden.

I have been so focused on getting our bathroom redone, which is set to go the first week of March. Wohooo!!! However, we have to poly the new vanity sometime before then. Booooooooo!!!!!! And we are contemplating getting a new car. Sniff Sniff. I love little Minnie but she is not in tip top shape. That means doing a lot of research and going around to dealerships. So somewhere in the midst of this I see that it is time to start thinking about my little plot of land and what I want to do with it this summer.

I have perennials and shrubs (mostly flowering) surrounding the house and even beds out in the front. I try to choose low maintenance plants, however, no garden is without some form of maintenance.

Here is what our outside looks like in early summer. Now these photos are from '08 so imagine that these plants are much much larger now.  And unfortunately the big task ahead of me this summer is thinning them out. I absolutely hate thinning out my plants because I feel like I am killing my little beauties. But it is a necessary evil because if left unchecked they will begin to crowd each other out.  Perfect example are my spider plants which are lovely spring/early summer bloomers but spread like the plague. Those little suckers are the bullies in my garden and threaten to push out everything. Plus they pop up in the most surprising and unwanted places. And I hate to tell you this but echinacea or pink cone flowers are another bully. If you give them an inch they will take a mile.

Our door is to the side


Our side view or should I say front view.
You can see the lamb's ear at the bottom which has literally gotten out of control this past summer and the white irises that Roe finds a nuisance since they fall over right by the door.  By mid-summer you start to see the gladiolas, hydrangea (which is quite frankly a bush now), black-eyed susans, and echinacea.



A  pick of the back with our ornamental grass and butterfly bushes (which are my favorite since they bring so many lovely butterflies to the deck - quite a delight when we are relaxing outside). You can also see some lilies and cone flowers peeking out.


Picture of one of the big bullies in the garden. They are in a turf war with the spider plants for control of the side of the house. Little do they know that I will be the enforcer this summer.


These are the biggest thorn in my side. My roses are in the front beds off to the side of the driveway. I blame it on myself for not investing the time into learning the proper care of roses. Some of my bushes have grown like weeds while others loose their leaves mid way through the season but still bloom (WTF). It looks so horrible.

So I am faced with the decision of what plants I want to scale back, which ones I want to get rid of completely, and what new lovelies I want to introduce to our garden.

What are you planting this summer in terms of flowers? What has and hasn't worked for you? Does anyone have any tips about roses?

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Tough Day

I had a tough day.

Heard some very very distressing news.

On days like these the only thing that gets me through is prayer, the love of God and family, and finding beauty in the everyday.

So till tomorrow.

I leave you with a photo of my little guy in his usual morning spot - waiting for the opportunity when we are not looking so he can lick the drain. (Cats are strange creatures)

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Guilty Pleasure

Today I hauled my tush the 110 miles round trip down I-95 to my office in Delaware. I am pooped. I don't know how I used to do the commute everyday. Plus I even got social interaction with (gasp!) real people which sadly has also drained me of energy. (Socializing with a PC and a cat all day is definitely less taxing.)


But one good thing about my trips to the office is the fact that I get to patronize one of the best hoagie shops in the whole wide world. Capriotti's


Now I am a Philly girl born and raised and we are to put it frankly sandwich snobs here. From the time we are able to eat table food we are chowing down on hoagies. I won't even touch a hoagie outside of the city of Philadelphia so for me to even try Capriotti's (which is a national chain - it hurts me to even write that - Breathe, breathe) was in and of itself a big deal. But to give a glowing endorsement is to some Philly natives akin to blasphemy.

They make a sandwich called the Bobbie that is like a little slice of heaven. Every time I go down to the office I have to bring back one of their 18" hoagies to share with my husband. (Yes we make pigs of ourselves. Oink. Oink.)  

I dream about Bobbies.

Feast your eyes.

  

Fresh homemade turkey,  cranberries, stuffing and mayo. And the bread is so soft and fresh. YUMMMMMMM

Plus they make a mean eggplant parm that literally feels like it melts in your mouth. 

Look them up and if you are so blessed to have one near you. Run don't walk and see first hand the awesomeness that is Capriotti's.

Now that I have indulged in my fattening lunch , am all tuckered out from traveling up and down the highway, and had play time with other kids my age today I am too tired to go to ballet class.  Just when I need it the most.

note - no photo from me since I was too busy stuffing my face full of tasty sandwich goodness

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Can you cook with Pickles?

courtesy of Food Network

Food Network Magazine is asking just that question.

For this month's secret ingredient contest the star food is pickles.  I was racking my brain Saturday while out with Roe trying to think of how I could think outside the box and use pickles not just as a condiment but as a main ingredient.

If you are interested, the link to the contest rule and entries are here. Deadline is March 5th.

Oh yeah and grand prize is $500. Does that make it easier?

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Book of lists


I love to create lists and here lately I have been slacking. The only lists I have been creating of late are grocery lists for Roe. I guess between my camera, my laptop, my Iphone, and my Kindle  (digital overload) I have fallen off with my traditional habit of hand writing out lists as a way to organize my thoughts. Lists are ways for me to not only to remember little things like "Hey we need more deodorant" but  a way for me to map out and structure my dreams, aspirations, and desires.  So to get back on track  I created for myself a pretty little "Book of Lists".

Taking a plain kraft paper covered mole skin notebook, a piece of 12"x12" Amy Butler Scrapbook paper, and a glue stick I covered the  notebook old school style like we used to do in elementary school.



I took an additional piece of scrapbook paper to create a decorative inside cover to hide the edges from where I folded the paper over from the front.


I then used my much neglected Xyron to create a label for the cover from a simple print out made in Mac Pages.

This project was extremely easy and took 10 minutes top. If you ever covered your text books in school then you can do this.

Now I have a cute little notebook to tote around for all my lists.

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I never thought ....

I never thought I would be jump up and down, wet my pants excited about a camera lens - but I am.
Today when I heard the mail truck outside and that sweet thump at the door which signals a package being left on the stoop, I flew downstairs. My little heart was racing as I ripped open the box and unveiled "My Precious".

 I just had to bask in her loveliness for a second

I immediately started to take her for a test drive.


I can't wait to really put her to use with bokeh shots.


I am amazed at her sharpness and her ability to take pics in low light. I can't wait to put her fully out on the road Saturday when I will use it at a birthday luncheon. (Keep your fingers crossed. This is my first time taking photos at an event. I hope get good shots.)

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