Top 13 Gifts for 2007

Merry Christmas!

Following, in no particular order, is a list of my favorite gifts for this year (this combines two of my biggest loves GIFTS + LISTS):

1. Personalized Notepads of your dog, cat, child, lover, house, car, self, etc. Very fun! Send in a photo of your friend's new home and have them made for her.

2. For the foodie-Goat Cheese from Texas Haute Goat Creamery-where even the cows enjoy happy hour!
3. For the greenie (like myself!)-Hip Grip Cup Sleeves (and remind your barista that you won't need a sleeve with your drink. Brilliant!) & a Bunny & the Bee tote for a quick trip to the store OR a Nellie's Dryer Ball to reduce drying time and rid your home of chemical fabric softeners (yuck!).

4. For the jewerly lover (again like myself...possibly a hint if my husband is reading) this Elephant Ring Holder would likely be a welcome addition to a nightstand or vanity.

5. I can't get enough of these Caramel Chocolates with Sea Salt...something about the combination of the chocolate & caramel and then the surprise & texture of the sea salt. YUM! **Crate & Barrel also have Sea Salt Caramels-just not online.

6. For the organizer (yes, like me!) these are a must-Hang it All! Door Organizers from Uncommon Goods, which is a great site for gifts.

7. To spruce up a friend or coworkers desk, because yes it's okay to decorate your office to your liking-you certainly spend enough time there-these Thomas Paul mouse pads from SeeJaneWork are totally hip.

8. For rainy days at home serve soup in these super cute bowls from pearlriver.com.

9. For rainy nights at home light your favorite candle, draw a bath and pop in a bath bomb from Davies Gate-inside there's a packet of oil for use after your bath...it's scrumptious!

10. For the wine lover-Sagaform Carafe from Globaltable.com

11. I love love love this and am using restraint from purchasing it for myself (hint hint Chris, Mom, Dad, Dillon, etc!)-I have gadgets in various plugs in all rooms in our house, this recharge station from Pottery Barn would make charging and storage a cinch!

12. For the person (and everyone has one) who has EVERYTHING, make a contribution to FirstBook and provide a needy child in the U.S. with a brand new set of reading books. $25 will donate ten books to a struggling family. Beautiful. Because receiving is only fun if you are giving as well.

Starbucks TV commercial

i love this ad campaign.

Starbucks TV commercial

please watch for immediate happiness.

Happy Mondays

Happy Mondays!

Seven things that make this Monday happy:

-seeing my breath when I exhale.
-listening to Miles Davis while looking out the window at the beautiful, cold, dark fog and the orange, red, green and yellow trees..finally.
-fifteen days until Christmas! Hooray!
-finally getting to wear a scarf and a coat.
-the Starbucks commercial that i will post in my next blog (please watch for warm fuzzy feeling and repeat daily or when necessary) featuring music from my favorite Badly Drawn Boy and an adorable little cartoon dog.
-it’s the day after yet another unbelievable Cowboy win.
-the moisturizing gloves i got for my mom arrived today in the prettiest Tiffany blue packaging.

Happy Weekend!

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward. "
— Spanish proverb

Dillon's 1st Thanksgiving

Fall 2007

Before & After

Isn’t it funny how quickly life changes? In my pre mommy days, I used to love to sit down with a cup of Earl Grey (mine’s one sugar and an inch of milk please!) and read my monthly In Style, People, Glamour, Vogue, Domino & Real Simple cover to cover. First came love, then came marriage, then came Dillon in a baby carriage and now my old reads have been replaced with Parents, Family Circle, Shape & Health. Books that could be found on my nightstand used to be about Tudor England, by Nick Hornby or Helen Fielding. Now books such as “How to Make Your child Mind Without Losing Yours”, “Baby 411” and the “Girlfriends Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood” can be found collecting dust next to my bed. I attempt to read, but before I can even place the bookmark on the next page, my eyes are closed. My books are like sleeping pills. The good news is that my new reading materials (when I can stay awake to read them) are proving to be just as enlightening as my old…it’s just that the fashion & makeup tips are replaced with sleeping, behavior & childproofing tips. Has your life changed? For better or for worse, what are the things that make life different for you now?

I would pretty much rather be anywhere but here right now, but I would especially like to be in Zihuatanejo, Mexico at La Casa Que Canta (The House That Sings). Gorgeous. Where would you like to be?

Mediterranean Dip

Following is a wonderful recipe that my friend Shelby made us last night at our Fall Happy Hour (well happy hour for all those who aren't nursing a baby!). My wine comes after baby D is fast asleep. Thanks Cathy & Shelby for having us and thanks Shelby for such a great dip. I plan to try it as a spread on paninis and make garlic bread with it as well...yum!

Mediterranean Dip

Chopped Tomatoes (I use 5+ roma)
One Jar of Kalamata Olives Chopped
One Garlic Bulb Chopped or use the pre-chopped garlic and do three big spoon full(s)(tons of garlic)
Two packages of Fresh Basil Chopped
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Red Pepper Flake to Taste
Olive Oil
Two tubes of plain Goat Cheese

Mix the first seven ingredients together and let it marinate for a minimum of 15 minutes. Crumble cheese and mix into the other ingredients. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until it bubbles.

Serve with mini toast, pita chips, pita or a crusty bread

Enjoy!

I love getting my Real Simple in the mail. It is so clean, crisp & full of great ideas & images. For example, last month I learned that you can make lists (honey-do lists) on mirrors with dry erase markers. So when the light above my vanity went out last week, instead of asking Chris fifty something times to replace it, I simply (get it real simple, ha.) wrote my request on his bathroom mirror! This week, I have a new light above my vanity to better view the dark circles under my eyes(see about me section-new mom). To be fair, I still had to make the request verbally a few times, but we'll get there.

"Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. "

— Palmer Sondreal


HAPPY FRIDAY!

What hands can do

Very clever ad from the folks at volkswagen...i'm such a proud VW owner.

dillon brady ring. chris & i's creation. thief of my time. owner of my heart. love of my life.

Youth Group: Sicily

youth group is a band my husband, chris, turned me on to. today this song is making me very happy. it runs through my head over and over. beautiful.

Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark

a song that i am addicted to right now. enjoy.

my old college roomie, mel, introduced me to her favorite movie, which quickly became one of mine.

splendor in the grass starring natalie wood (gorgeous) and warren beatty (what a total stud) is a heartbreaking and beautiful tale of first love that ends with a lines from William Wordsworth's "Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood"

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind...

Primera.

bienvenido. today is the first day of my blog...hooray!

i am looking forward to sharing images, ideas, recipes, music, stories, videos, anything and everything that interests me. it's for all to enjoy, and i hope you do!

fyi-the name of my blog came from an AIR remix (Air - Casanova '70 (The Secret Of Cool Brendan Lynch Remix) i was listening while trying to come up with a clever name for my blog...by the way everything clever is taken.