Almost There

Tick, tick, tick. That's what i hear in my head.

Ms. A's bat Mitzvah is in eight days. EIGHT DAYS! Yes, i'm freaking out. No, i have not finished with my list yet. Yes, it's all going to be O.K.

Ms.A has been working so hard to memorize her Hebrew, it just amazes me. I never could have done what she's about to do at 13.

Passover ended last week and i wanted to share with you one of my favorite passover desserts. I've seen this recipe made with saltines, but i think matzo rocks it.

Matzo Brickle

Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay about 4 boards of matzo on the pan, breaking to fit.

Pre-heat your oven to 450.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, heat 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar till melted into a caramel sauce.
Pour hot caramel sauce over matzo. Bake for 4 minutes until bubbly. Remove.
Sprinkle on 12 0z of chocolate chips. return to oven for 1 minute. Spread chocolate evenly over caramel/matzo.Break up about five Heath bars { make it six, i always end up eating one!}

Sprinkle and press Heath bars into chocolate. Refrigerate to cool.

Lift the foil and break into big pieces. This never lasts more than a day in our house.

Enjoy!

It's been raining like crazy here. Just thought i'd share with you the latest craze in Ladradoodle fashion- mud mittens. They're stylish, they're hip, all the dogs with fuzzy feet are wearing them!

She loves to showcase them on her runway, my newly cleaned family room carpet. Mud mittens, get yours today!

Is it too early for a glass of wine?

Happy weekend!

Great Get -Away

I feel like i've been gone for ev-ah! Sweet man and i took off for a weekend to Washington. Every where we went we kept saying, "We have to bring the kids here!"

I hung out with the most inspiring men {aside from sweet man ♡ }

Enough said
I spent some time hanging out in Julia's kitchen {sort of}

How cool is it that she totally got that shabby french/farm kitchen look, even then?!

Spent some quiet time with two of my favorite people

And some of my childhood friends. Love those guy's!

O.K. I had to show you the chair in our hotel room. Could you die? MAP fabric. Gracious me.

And of course this surprise in our closet. Yup, three animal print robes, and you guessed it- sweet man modeled them all. Heaven help us!

Over all it was a wonderful weekend.

What have you all been up to?

Kitchen Spruce-up

I'm NOT afraid of color. I'm not! Just look at what i did seven years ago when we reno'd our kitchen. COLOR!

Yep, i know, it's a bit much. Once i started painting the kitchen this granny smith apple green, i was determined to love it.

And i do! Only... it's grown to be a bit much.

Time for a change. While i still love this color, i decided to keep it as an accent color on the hood and chandelier shades.

Here's one more shot of the wall color and my sad attempt at a window treatment (yes, it's been like that for seven years- the shame.

I painted the walls and bead board "Buttermilk" from Vaspar. I love the creaminess it takes on later in the day. I also found the deal of the day at Ikea with these linen panels. I used two, together. I gave them the usual treatment- wash and dry with mega dryer sheets.

I pulled this picture for inspiration from either Ballards or Pottery Barn, choked on the price,

and then found these decals at JoAnn's! Woo hoo! Love me a good cheap copy!

I blinged up an old lamp shade with rick-rack and buttons,

and covered these,

with this mod green and white fabric, and black ball fringe.

Fun!Well, that's about as far as i've gotten. I still need a window treatment over the sink, and chair cushion covers. I've cleaned out the cupboards and edited the shelves. With this job done {almost} i'm feeling better about the 'list'. It taunts me, it causes me to lose sleep, i hate the 'list'. I want it gone.

Soon enough!

I'm off to Washington tomorrow to see the cherry blossoms. Can't wait!

Have a beautiful weekend!

There's Been a Cover-up

The culprits:

Feet.

Bare feet, flip flop feet, Ugg feet...

and dog feet. Flip flopped dog feet. Don't ask.

The victim: The orphaned foot stool from our short lived chair- and- a -half -days.

The cover-up. A nine dollar drop cloth from the depot.

Washed, dried with six, yes, count them, six fabric softener sheets, to make it soft and rumpled.

I pinned the cloth to the top of the foot stool, and trimmed and sewed. Easy {and lazy} that's how i roll. {and sew}

Cut strips from the rest of the cloth, made a loose pleat, a sewed it to the top, and...

...the crime is concealed!It's not perfect, but it's a good crime stopper! Now when the perps {that's crime talk} victimize the foot stool, it's a simple trip to the washer, and all is forgiven.

I've been working on my to-do list. It seems to grow every time i check something off! Hopefully by the end of the week i can show you the changes i've made to my kitchen.

One month from today is Ms. A's Bat Mitzvah, oy! We have our dresses, our shoes, all the important things! Now, to get that Hebrew memorized!

Let's talk soon!

Happy Wednesday!