May I suggest?

This for your next breakfast?

It is a pomegranate smoothie and boy was it yummy (recipe from Every Day Food 4/08 I think).  Here's how you make it:

1 C berries (I used a couple of frozen strawberries and the rest were frozen raspberries)

1/2 C Pomegranate juice (I used Langer's straight from the jug...fresh is not necessary)

1/3 C or 3 oz of silken tofu- yes, tofu...trust me it is really good!

2 T honey

1/4 C ice

Blend, drink, enjoy, feel healthy, wonder if you are really drinking tofu.

Also, there is this for your next afternoon snack:

Roasted Garlic Cheese

Late July Buttery crackers (or Ritz)

Slice, stack, devour, resist the temptation to break out the wine at 4pm.

And for your next movie viewing, please consider this:

North and South (TV series from BBC)

Join Netflix, stream all four episodes in a row, fall in love with Mr. Thornton, watch again and again.

The week is off and running!  I have a huge pile of fabric that I hope to attack sometime in the next few days.  Results coming soon!

**ps thank you for all your sweet comments about my hair.  I am no longer pouting about it- I may even learn to love it!!

Makeover

My dear sweet Tante spent her entire afternoon here yesterday. With just a hammer and some nails, she totally gave my living room a new look- rearranging what I already had.

I wish that we had taken a "before" picture because the difference is amazing.  I couldn't get the whole room in the shot-- I almost fell to my death from my perch on the ledge of the staircase.

Here are a few things that she taught me about decorating.

1. Always use odd numbers to group things (ie. pictures, knick knacks, etc)

2. Hang pictures low, at least down at eye level.

3. Vary heights.  Your eye should go up and down as you look around a room.

4. Keep the room interesting, create opportunities for your guests to discover surprises.

5. Old and out of shape women (I include myself) can move any piece of furniture when they get excited about decorating-- we know because we moved my huge, heavy armoire approximately 6 inches.

I am so grateful to her for coming.  I always enjoy my time with her, and my room looks so much better.  She promised to come back and tackle another one next time.

Also made over was my mop.  I am much less excited about this change.  Almost 8 hard earned inches hacked of my hair.  It is just a whole lot thinner and shorter that I had pictured.  Oh well, it is not like an arm or leg or something...it will grow back.

New shoes too.  Flats are becoming a compulsion for me.  Perhaps it is their resemblance to ballet shoes that makes them so endearing.  Good thing Old Navy makes them cute and CHEAP!  These were $11.70 online.

I must tell you what my husband did for me yesterday.  I left the house in a raging mess as I overslept and scurried to get the girls off to school on time.  After dropping them off and keeping an appt. I was to meet my Aunt back at the house for our afternoon of decorating.  I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and upset because the house was going to be so gross for my company and I wanted to make her a nice lunch too.  With dread I pulled into the driveway with only 30 minutes to attack the house before my Aunt was due.  I was strategizing about hiding dirty dishes and sweeping crumbs into a corner in order for everything to look somewhat presentable. As I walked inside, I couldn't believe what I saw.  A perfectly, PERFECTLY clean house.  My wonderful, handsome, thoughtful, considerate husband had some compassion on my plight and stayed behind us that morning to clean the house.  We're talking vacuuming, dishes and all!  Isn't that just the sweetest thing that you have ever heard?  It was such a treat for me.  Truly, I don't deserve him- well maybe a little.

Have a great weekend!

yo

I have been pretty preoccupied with the task of preparing for an infant resuscitation course that I took today.  Please, if I ever say that I want to go back to college- remind me of this post.  Man, it was so hard to study whilst being a mom!  My ability to retain information has really gone down the tubes.  I would almost venture to say that my brain in turning to mush.  Happy mush.  I love learning, but on my own terms...and yes, learning to help non-breathing babies is a valuable skill- but it wasn't my first pick in books to read or subject material.  Thankfully, I passed with flying colors (you would be amazed at what some of the Family Practitioners don't know, there were some in my class today).  Glad its over.

A few days ago I did manage to crank out a little bag for Hannah's best friend.  If it weren't for the accountability of all these birthdays...not sure any sewing would get done around here.

 

I used the pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book for the Simple Tote, then just added some yo-yos.  I loved how it turned out.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that there will be several more of these made in the future.  We filled it with sticker books, nifty pens, and a fun little pair of flip flops. My children just bless me so much when they proudly offer handmade gifts to their friends.  When I suggested to Hannah that we make something for her friend, I expected her to roll her eyes and ask if we could buy her a pink Barbie with glitter eye shadow or something.  Instead, she lit up and said, "I was hoping you would have time!"  Sweet, sweet girls. Sweet bag too, no?