Two favorite things

In the last week, I employed two of my favorite kitchen items:

First, the legendary Cupcake Courier that I purchased just prior to having my first child, knowing that this phase of life would require an easy and efficient way to transport muffins and cupcakes (and cakes for that matter)


Second, the inaugural use of my cupcake stand that my hubby gave me for my birthday. I can't believe that it took me this long to pull it out and fill up the tiers with frosting slathered cakes

*these cupcakes are coconut cake with coconut frosting & yellow cake with chocolate frosting, made for my daughter's first birthday a week ago. Instead of making a full two dozen so that I didn't have many tempting leftovers, I made small pink paper flowers to fill the empty spaces.

Dressing Room

Along with the squeaky floors mentioned in an earlier post, one of my other main complaints about my 1919 house happens to be the lack of closet space. They're non-existent. Thus the pile of clothing on the floor of my minuscule "master" bedroom.


I saw the above dressing room in the September 09 issue of Living, Etc and just fell in love with it. Imagine - to have an entire room to organize one's clothing!

Then I ran across another dressing room on Decorpad - what a fun and playful space! I'm dreaming of a day when it could be mine...even on a small scale...

The perfect home fragrance

This morning I found my nose wrinkling in disgust as I was surrounded by the typical, offensive smells that are so common when one has a 1 year old infant and a 3 year old toddler. Blah. Thinking about which smells transport me to my happy place, I thought that it'd be wonderful to somehow create a candle with the following scents:

Shoe leather,



a lovely perfume like my current favorite, Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb,

and add a dash of one of my favorite coffee blends, Kenya from Starbucks.


Serenity Now!

Wearing my art instead of framing it

A month or so ago I mentioned that I was eager to frame and hang a new print coming in from England with the motto "Keep Calm and Carry On". Well, as usual, I've procrastinated on the visit to Aaron Brothers, but in the meantime I've thoroughly enjoyed "wearing" the art with my nifty new purse that doubles as a diaper bag:

Now that the busy summer days of trips to the park, BBQs and other such time-consuming diversions are coming to a close, I should get my fall to-do list organized and completed.

Backyard Solution

In our neighborhood, I've noticed that many homes are now in a flurry of remodeling - whether an exterior paint job or raising the entire house to create a basement or garage, people are staying put in this economy (unless they get a steal on a cheap house).

At one time, possibly 1919, our back shed was once a garage...maybe a horse stable (just kidding). We use it for miscellaneous storage, but since it dominates our backyard, I'd love to convert it into something like this:

MetroSheds are amazing pre-fab kits that can be change one's backyard into an urban oasis of leisure and chicness.

The challenge would be whether it'd turn into a retreat for the male species or mine...

Fun Find

While sauntering through the shops of a local neighborhood this afternoon, I saw what I hope will be a fun new craft/project -- these terrific iron-on fabric transfers from Sukie:

Immediately I thought of adding them to onesies, tote bags, and possibly curtains. Some of the reviews comment that it's difficult to get them to work well, but I figure that I'm up to the challenge.

Inspiration Realized

The "red balloon" birthday party has come and gone, thank goodness. A great time was had by all, and I was able to translate most of what I wanted into decor and fun. Most importantly, it didn't rain. Clouds threatened, but we enjoyed a semi-balmy lunch outdoors with plenty of room for active toddlers to run.

The all important "red balloons" and homemade banner in the living room:


Gorgeous red dahlias from our local farmer's market:


I started creating pinwheels a few days ago to add to the red balloon decor. After prepping two dozen large and small sheets of paper, I realized that I would never be successful (in this life) in getting the pinwheels put together correctly. So a quick change in plan was required and we ended up hanging the pinwheels (minus stick) from the trellis and picnic table umbrella:

I fondly remember as a child my mom would place a small basket overflowing with M&Ms next to each place setting at our birthday parties. This group gathered today was certainly not in need of more sweets since we dug into a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream cake and already sugared-up children didn't need to miss their afternoon naps from an "excellent sugar rush".

But, I do like favors, so we created magnets out of the photo we took of GT (used on the Evite) and wrapped them up in simple kraft boxes. They were a hit!

Here is a shot of my new, very useful potting bench that we served drinks from - keeping things simple, we provided Pellegrino, Sangria and Pink Lemonade. This is a tad messy as it's near the end of the celebration.