The Girl Who Ate New York

Well, that would be me! Last weekend my sweet man and i took off to New York for some major eating and shopping fun. We met another couple, friends from Conneticate, who know the city pretty well. This is the view from our hotel window. We stayed at the New York Palace. Bea-u-ti-ful!This chandelier could fill my kitchen. You practically need sunglasses to look at it!
A family of six could live comfortably inside this fireplace.
The view out the front gate is the back side of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

And of course the most important feature of any hotel room are the products! These were positively yummy! We ate, we shopped, we ate, we laughed, we ate, we walked our tushies off, and then... we ate cannolies in bed. Ah, the cannolies! Chocolate covered and filled with chocolate cream. Mmmm, i think i may need a support group to help ween myself off these things! As always, being away is fun, but coming home is the best ♡

MMM, cannolies!

Lemony Goodness

If i could only eat one meal, it would be dessert! I'm not terribly picky either, chocolate, cookies, Hot Tamales, cake, i don't have a favorite child...i love them all! Anything made with lemon always reminds me of summer- light, fresh, happy. I tried this lemon shortbread recipe last weekend, and it's a winner! I thought i'd share it with you.

                                                                                  

                                                                           Lemon Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel

1/2 cup butter

Lemon icing (recipe follows)

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar and lemon peel. Use a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. Kneed gently until dough forms a ball.

2. On an ungreased cookie sheet, pat dough into an 8 inch disk. Cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate.

3. Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Re-cut into wedges while still warm let cool a bit then move to a wire rack.  

4. Lemon Glaze: Combine 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Stir in additional lemon juice, a little at a time to make a drizzling glaze. After cookies cool, spoon glaze over cookies. (I sprinkled course sugar on the cookies before they went in the oven.)                                                 

Yummy lemony goodness! Enjoy!

How was your day?

                                                                        

Lil' Sprout and Fireplace Re-do

I do believe Spring has sprung! I wasn't sure if i would find and spring bulbs left after we had our entire driveway and side walk torn out and replaced last fall. The guys that put in our pavers did a great job but thought nothing of digging up all the surrounding plants and stomping their big ol' work boots where ever they liked!

But look who survived! These two little sweeties!

The heirloom tomatoes i started last week have sprung, too!

I just noticed that in almost all of my photo's there is a little bit of Rylee in each. Whether it's the woosh of her tail or the top of her fro, she always seems to make her way into almost every frame!

(See that fuzzy fro?)

↘

Here is a sneak peek at our fireplace re-do. It's one of those weird 70's corner fireplaces. I never could figure out how to arrange the family room around it. Do i make it a focal point? or do i make the T.V. wall the focal point? This is an odd room to work with...very roomy, but not very much wall space.

Part of the mantle is up and the side boxes. I plan to distress it a bit and do a weathered paint treatment on it. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) it turns out the way i see it in my head.

I'm actually remembering to take before photo's! I'll let you know as it comes along!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Top 'O The Mornin' To Ya

Happy St. Patrick's Day to ye! Normally right now i would be out with the girls putting away a few green beers, but this year i thought i would celebrate this day with you by sharing a few of my favorite green stuffies!

Ivy on the windowsill

These two Irish wanna-be's are wearing their St. Patrick's Day attire ( the only thing keeping their attention is the cookie i'm holding under my chin!)

The granny smith apple green of the stove hood- loved it when i painted it 6 years ago...i think i'm over it now!

My set of yellow ware bowls

The Belleek that was passed down to me from my parents and grand parents

And of course the green that's poking up through the ground

Two of my favorite things in one- this color green and painted roses!

Now my biggest Irish accent..

I colored my hair red!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I ♡ Dirt

Yup, it's true...i love dirt. No, not the kind that accumulates under the bed or hides in the crevasses of the base boards but the kind that smells of spring-of hope. That loamy, ancient smell of the Earth herself.

Right about now i've got the bug bad. I need to dig! This part of the country takes her sweet time warming up, so it's way too soon to plant outside. I get my fix by starting a few things inside. Today i bought my starter kit and a few seeds.

I usually buy tomato plants already established, but i loved the look of these sweet and tangy 'Red Lightning' tomatoes, so i thought i would give them a try. Sweet basil and cilantro are a must, and we can't forget the 'Jack Be Littles' (love those little cuties!)

These big fuglies are 'Elephant Ear Mammoths . They grow the most ginormous leaves- almost 5 feet tall! They come back year after year (if you remember to dig them up in the fall) *sigh*

I did a little thrifting this week and found this sweet chocolate tin.

It's engraved on the top...

...and little Harold did his own inscription on the bottom. It says, "To Mother, From Harold" What a good son!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Still Craftin'

I'm slowly making my way through that project list, finally! The transfer paper i squirrelled away came in handy when making these postcard sachets. I love this stuff! I scanned and enlarged my vintage postcards, printed the images onto the transfer paper and ironed them onto some linen. Trimmed, stuffed with scented plastic pellets, embellished and sewed 'em up!

These are those .99￠cardboard boxes from Michael's covered with scrap paper, Mod Podge and a few cuties.

I painted the inside of this little picture frame with chalkboard paint and smooched on a bunch of paper flowers.

Here are a couple more stamped burlap pillows. 'His' and 'Hers' just to keep things straight!

This photo book uses two small canvases for it's front and back covers. More Mod Podge and sheet music inked with sepia ink...
untied it has room for six photos!

Now it's time to decide whether or not to open an Etsy shop. I've played with the idea for quite a while...i just can't take the plunge. Yikes! Even saying it out loud is just a little scary. What if no one likes my junk like i like my junk! Big.Scary.Thought. Any hoo...

The week wouldn't be complete without some treasures! Found these rosy tea cups ...

and this cozy chenille throw, perfect for the hammock! Ahh, i miss the hammock.

We've had some beautifully mild weather this week, highly unusual for March in Michigan. I can't wait to get out and see what's poking up through the soil. I am a little worried to see what the puppy has been doing to our new tree's...she always seems to find an endless supply of sticks to play with. Oy!

How was your day?

Sugar Rush

When it comes to sweets, this is my favorite candy season!

Marshmallow eggs, spiced jelly beans and chocolate malted eggs.

That's gonna be a BIG baby!

Sweet little chicks (marshmallow chicks are the best!)

Have a sweet weekend ♡