happy labor day!

with the last official summer weekend upon us, i thought i'd share my idea of a perfect beach pic - you know i love storms and rain.

its part of an album at webshots called "Darkly, deeply, beautifully blue!" they're beach pix, but what makes them so absolutely beautiful and unusual is that the beaches aren't sunny and turquoise blue - they're wonderfully dark and stormy - think deep swirling sapphires and silvery grays -- just the way a beach should be every once in a while :)

sundried tomatoes

its still raining tomatoes around here so i decided to make my own sundried version. well, not "real" sundried - that would involve screens, netting, and a few days of my tomatoes sitting in the sun - so i took the easy way out (again!) and am making them in my oven.

plum tomatoes - halved lengthwise
olive oil to coat
s&p

toss in a pan, lay out in a baking sheet - cut sides up, sprinkle with s&p. bake at 250 for 6 hours. freeze and use in any recipe that you think could benefit from some intense tomatoe-y bits of goodness.

finally!

i was driving down the road a few days ago and could not believe my eyes.

we finally have a starbucks.

its opening this labor day weekend - note the construction dumpster. i don't know why it took us so long - my town is cute and kind of hip. we are home to 1 of 2 university of maryland campuses (its huge) and an expanding community college - so lots of college kids -- and i just checked - we have a pretty high average median household income (59K). so i'd say we're pretty suburban cool - i never understood why the bucks was holding out on us...

but there it is, and geek that i am - i can't help but be happy. catonsville will now have some well deserved, albeit long awaited, coffeehouse culture.

commitment issues

from Blueprint magazine current edition:

"You fall in love with a different look every month. So why not literally change with the seasons? Invest in a solid white duvet and sheets/shams, and treat this as your neutral base. An all-white composition is a timeless classic that suits any space -- we were feeling a little bit country, so we added an oversize ruffled pillow, matelasse coverlet, and elaborate throw pillows for the look shown opposite. When the itch to move on inevitably strikes, all you need to do is alter a few key elements."



i think this is pretty good advice if you like change, have decorating commitment issues, or are a gemini :) being able to change my surroundings on a whim - with pretty big impact -- is decorating nirvana to me. the idea of taking neutrals and adding awesome color though pillows, throws, flowers, art, etc. is a really easy and effective way to change things up - for the season, a party, or just b'cuz of the mood ur in.

front pots

i planted these 8 weeks ago. i always plant in the same wonderfully shady spot under a big tree -- but we're having a serious drought this summer, plus i went away for 10 days right when they were newly planted - so they lacked proper care in their formative weeks :(

but here's how they're doing - i think they've still got at least 5 weeks till frost. i always get a little sad when i look at my plants and have to consider the upcoming frost -- cuz i know that'll be it for these little guys...

miracle fabric?

just got my new joann flyer and its all about new upholstery fabrics. there is one called "crypton" which is a pretty confident name for an upholstery fabric if u ask me.

























according to them - it's "impenetrable to moisture, bacteria, and microbes." if you like light colored interiors like me, this sounds like the holy grail of interior design. a white sofa that stays white?! i'll take 12!

just liked this pic - its a bit too traditional for me, but that navy blue wall gets my vote. any color with lots of white seems to please me.

halloween hand towels

i know its early -- but i'm trying to learn to sew, so i needed a cute & easy project -- straight lines & no patterns.

i just sewed two halloween-y strips of fabric to black linen and then glued down a cute ribbon. we'll see how well the ribbon part holds up - i spent a good 30 minutes in the store trying to decide on fabric glue...

and tah dah! cute guest towels for my most favorite holiday of all!

sweet ginger chicken

quick dinner - everything was stuff i already had in my fridge - but it was an all new creation for me.

had fresh corn and peas from the farmers market,then i just poached a chicken breast, shredded it, and stir fried with purchased sweet ginger grill sauce, and finally some basmati rice.

yummy and fresh - i think the veggies were the best part!

banana muffins

i'm always looking for a better banana bread / muffin recipe...tyler florence is my standby, but its always really dense.

then i came across this recipe for banana crumb muffins with 1500+ positive ratings!

i made a batch of 12 with 3 different toppings:

• cinnamon crumb
• shredded coconut
• pumpkin cream cheese frosting - pumpkin butter blended with softened cream cheese - ez cheat

verdict: OK but still kind of dense - so the search continues...

didn't think of taking pix till too late - this was the last one - coconut topped -- topping my laptop.

:)

applique u.

i have a friend whose neice loves dora the explorer. her name begins with an " i " so i cut out the letter, used some fusible web, and then chain stitched around the edge.

california : fave pix

i was so dreading my trip to california - i always hear about how sunny it is -- "sunshine 365 days a year" -- or something disturbing like that.

it was sunny. but dry. so that took the edge off. we vistited sf, stayed near -- and wine tasted -- in napa, and went to monterey, carmel, big sur, santa barbara, and la. then back up.

these are some of my fave pix from the trip.

sf - lovin the fog
















sf - my namesake
















sf - great hair day on the ferry


















monterey - near cannery row - i just loved these trees
















oh how i love fog when i dont have to drive in it
















this is what i imagine ireland is like
















why i try not to complain too much when the price of produce goes up - thats a tough job no matter how u slice it