Baked Tortellini

(Stock Photo)

I made this baked tortellini recipe for dinner tonight. It was perfect comfort food for the grayest, drizzliest, ugliest day ever. It tasted especially good paired with our canned garden green beans and a thick slice of homemade wheat bread. Check out the recipe here.

PS If you make this, add more bacon than the recipe calls for. You won't regret it.

Image courtesy of Everyday Food.

Triple Layer Chocolate Cake

Pretty cakes always make me happy. I made this one: a triple layer devil's food cake for Valentines day using a boxed cake mix (I swear, boxed cakes always taste better than cakes from scratch) and this yummy frosting recipe from Martha Stewart. I highly recommend. The frosting turns out thick and shiny so it is easy to work with. It is also really rich so don't forget to serve it with a big glass of milk!

Note: The frosting recipe makes quite a bit so if I were to make it again I might consider altering the recipe to make less. I used 3/4 of it but had a little more than a cup left over when all was said and done.

Color

Just trying to bring some color to another gray winter day with some finger painting. I'm really working hard to hold it together and get through my least favorite month. I did just hear some good news: the weather man is calling for temps in the 50s next week. Hip hip, hooray!

Flower Belt

I made this belt a couple of weekends ago after seeing a similar one for sale on-line. I bought a piece of thick, black elastic (they sell it by the yard at JoAnns) and sewed the ends together to make a tube the size of my waist. I made the flower using this template/tutorial from Martha and pinned it to the elastic. Done!

Brooklyn Dress

I spotted the designer version of this dress on Piperlime in the fall and loved it, but quickly dismissed it when I saw the ridiculous price tag. Imagine my delight to see a very similar knock off available at Target in their new Merona Retro Resort collection. Yahoo!

Living Room Inspiration

This photo is from a new to me blog called Pure Style, which my sister introduced me to after she saw it featured in a recent Better Homes and Gardens magazine. What I love about this room is the mantle. If you look closely, you will see there is no fireplace. It is just the mantle of a fireplace, which you can easily find at flea markets and antique stores. It does a spectacular job of bringing a focal point into a room that would not have one otherwise. Genius! The rest of her home tour is really good too. Click here for the details and some before and afters of a great home makeover.

Necklace Display

A really clever idea for necklace storage. Via Say Yes to Hoboken.

Stripey Blankets

These stripey baby blankets are simple, modern & pretty. I'm thinking a couple twin sized versions of that top quilt may be in order at my house.

via HI + LOW and Purl Soho

Polaroid Display

I have been trying to figure out what I was going to do with the little stack of polaroids I've acquired since I bought my camera. I have also been hoarding several boxes of film in my fridge (because it's so expensive!) Now, I have a plan.

via you are my fave

Entry Inspiration

I'm telling ya, being a renter is killing me slowly. Well, I should clarify, being a renter in an old house with textured walls, ugly golden yellow paint and very little natural light is killing me slowly. Really, it is. So, since it might be awhile before I have an entry of my own (sigh) in the meantime I'm loving this inspiration from Green Little Notebook.Painted dresser. Over sized mirror. Framed art with an orange mat. Fresh Flowers. I love it all.

Snowy Day

The view from my back door today is proof that winter can actually be sort of pretty.

(If you are a long time reader of this blog and are confused by that statement, see resolutions below.)

Happy New Year from my Family to Yours!

Out with the old and on with the new! We are ten days into the new year which means I am ten days into some new resolutions. One of which is to not complain about winter. As you can see, this has left me somewhat speechless in this little corner of the world but I think it will be for the best. You gotta admit, my whining was beginning to get a little redundant. I have also decided to abstain from sweets during the month of January and so far, so good. A few other things I would love to do this year are...

1. Make a pretty garland
2. Perfect my pie making skills
3. Take lots of little weekend trips in our new, old camper
4. Buy this book and sew some clothes
5. Actually throw a few of the parties I've been scheming up in my head
6. Plant a small garden
7. Order room service
8. Organize our family photos

I think that is a good start. What have you resolved to do in 2011?

6 months

Congratulations Caroline- you've made it halfway around the calendar!

Merry & Bright

Santa Claus comes tonight and my kids couldn't be more excited. We'll be spending the day doing some last minute baking and gift wrapping and if I have time, I might also try to make a beautiful snowflake garland like the one pictured above. You can find some how-tos here and here if you want to make one too. Merry Christmas!

Yellow Shoes

I know it's flipping freezing outside but someone should buy these, tuck them away for a few months and then wear them with a cute summery skirt. Just an idea.

Camping Trailer

Image

Just before Thanksgiving, Jared and I became the proud owners of a vintage (late 70s) Tag-Along camping trailer. It's in great shape and it even has a cute stripey awning! We're hoping to take it on a maiden voyage before the New Year (hopefully somewhere a little warmer than Ohio.) I've already started planning some epic family road trips for the future in my head: Yellowstone, the Pacific Highway and New England are high on top of my list.

Update: The trailer pictured is not Jared and I's camper. (Ours isn't nearly as cute...yet!) However, the one pictured is available for rent in the UK. :)

I Love Your Style: Lauren Hutton

In case you don't stalk the J.Crew website, American style icon Lauren Hutton is currently featured with some very valuable words of wisdom regarding fashion:

You never want to look like you've spent too much time getting dressed.

I like mixing expensive with inexpensive. And i like easy things that don't normally go together...

Get to know your proportions. one of the secrets to figuring out your proportions is to really listen when people pay you a compliment, especially if you're getting the same compliments over and over. If someone says something looks good on you, look in the mirror and take note. There's a reason.

It's massively important for me to feel comfortable in what i'm wearing. it just makes me feel better, then my face looks better. When you show the world your best face and your best self, you quite often get that back.

Developing your very best personal style...involves a lot of trial and error.

I want to wear whatever looks good on me, no matter where it comes from.

Don't shy away from color, but be sure to learn what works best with your skin tone.

Fashion is what you're offered four times a year. Style is what you pick out of that fashion...it's what you make of it once you've learned what to accept and ignore based on what best suits you.

Click here to check it out!

Well Hello December

November sort of slipped through the cracks but here we are in December and winter has officially arrived. On the very first day of December we were greeted with light flurries which left a delicate dusting of snow all over. It has been flurry-ing lightly every since so we have had a snow covered yard almost all month which makes for high Christmas spirits. And, speaking of the Christmas spirit, I had the pleasure of attending my very first performance of Handel's Messiah Sunday evening. Wow. Marietta College collaborates with the community to put on the performance each year at St. Mary's Catholic church on 4th street. The venue in and of itself is spectacular since the church is huge and beautiful at every turn but the performance was equally breathtaking and so powerful. For a little history on Handel and to watch a performance of the Hallelujah chorus to get you in the spirit, see here.

Halloween

There are very few things in this world I enjoy more than seeing little kids in Halloween costumes. This year Spencer dressed as a cowboy and Mitchell was a superhero he called "Stormy." He and Jared created the concept and then Mitchell took the liberty of designing the costume, right down to the rocket boosters on his boots. I took these pictures last night- right before we went trick-or-treating with my sister and her kids in our old neighborhood in Columbus. We are looking forward to more Halloween fun this weekend with cool temperatures, a little more trick-or-treating and hopefully a date night for Jared and I to a local attraction called The Castle which offers eerie ghost tours this time of year. I hope your Halloween weekend is spooky and spectacular!

Hot Diggity Blog's Best Places to Live 2010

Jared finishes his graduate program next summer and will be gainfully employable as a Physician Assistant. (Hip hip hooray!) The cool thing about his career is that PAs are needed just about everywhere. This puts us in a lucky position of being able to choose where we would like to live. Our families are both from Ohio and aside from his 2 year mission in Brazil and my two years of college in Utah, we have always lived here. We love Ohio (most of the time) and we love living close to our families (most of the time), so chances are we'll end up sticking around. However, we can't help but wonder if there is something we are missing somewhere else (I'm thinking mild, sunny winters) and by choosing to stay in Ohio we are missing what might be our last great opportunity to pack our bags and experience something new before our kids get older and we get settled comfortably right here. Anyway, it is something we have been thinking a lot about lately and we have been all over the map: from Alaska to Virginia, from Texas to North Carolina, from Idaho to Michigan. So, I'm posing the question to you - If you could live anywhere in the United States, where would it be and why? Perhaps it is the city where you are currently living, the state where you grew up or a place you frequently visit for vacation. Don't forget to include the why- I'd like to know the reasoning behind your choice (good schools, close to family, low cost of living, great weather etc.) Okay. Ready, set, go!

(United States pin map from here.)