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So, since the wee one arrived, we have not had a real house project.  The husband loves a project and has been hankering for something new to work on!  Well, he now has one.  We have a strange room in our basement that is "finished" it has a fireplace and everything.  I will share more on the "update" of the room.   At one point, the husband had made some "improvements" in hopes at one point of having a "kick ass" man town.  But, he never really used the space.  My philosophy is use it or lose it! So, we have a three bedroom house, once Avery arrived we lost a guest room.   At Christmas we had more guests than beds.  So, we have decided to convert the basement room into a playroom/guest room.  Now, Avery will not use it as a playroom for quite a while, but I like to plan ahead!  It will be great to have some additional guest space.  So, in order for it to function as guest space and "hang out" or play space- we need sitting and...

So, around this time of the year I tend to get the winter "blahs". This is enhanced this year as I have had no "umph" in my life.  What is umph?  To me... it is a great pair of shoes, killer handbag, cute coat or great jewelry.  You know... the stuff that takes an outfit from okay to super cute! :)  Something needs to spice up the jeans and hoodie i live in these days! :) I am sure you have all heard of Stella & Dot ... right?   My friend Andrea is a "stylist" for them and recently reminded me of what cute stuff they have! Here are some of my favorites!  Charlize Earring $34 Mini Bloom Flower Necklace $19   Deco Drop Earrings $44 Lucky 7 Rings $59 Dylan Necklace $24 Check out Stella and Dot for yourself!  Until next time....xoxo

I cannot get enough of this yogurt!   This blog entry is kind of a break from what I usually write about design, fashion, etc but this yogurt is worth it!  Since I am no longer pregnant and feel the pressure to eat healthy and get back into shape I decided to give greek yogurt a try.   The big draw for this is that you can eat it with one hand.  No one ever told me that once I had a baby I would only be able to eat with one hand.   Now, I have to admit that I haven't loved yogurt in the past, but greek yogurt has changed me, especially this yogurt!  I LOVE this yogurt!  Stonyfield's Oikos chocolate and caramel yogurts are nothing short of AMAZING!    The caramel is my favorite, but the chocolate is damn tasty too.  These are the perfect treat when you want a little something sweet, but still want to be good.    Both are 110 calories 10 grams of protein and ZERO fat.  I literally am stockpiling this yogurt in my fridge. ...

So, today is a Monday holiday.  I was not planning on doing an official blog post, but changed my mind!  Not only are holiday weekends great because you get an extra day to sit in your pajamas, but there are great sales in stores and online!  I thought EVERYONE knew about online sample sales at this point, but it came to my recent attention that some of my coolest friends were not "in the know".  I thought I would share an overview of my favorite online sample sale sites.  You can get some AMAZING deals. What is an online sample sale?  It is a "sell off" of designer goods at a discount price.  Quantities are limited, so it is first come first serve.    Sales open at a particular time (i.e. 12 noon EST).  The good stuff goes quickly!  These events are "invite only" as in you have to be a member, but it is pretty easy to get an "invite".  You are invited by me if you use any of the links below! :)  There are a TON of sites n...

Photo via Food Network Okay, a long time ago my friend SH told me that she cooks a chicken every week.  I thought... hunh?  This might have been because I was pregnant and for some reason I could not eat chicken when I was pregnant.  It grossed me out... weird I know.   Well, now able to eat chicken again and am loving roasting a chicken weekly.  SH- it is a brillant idea.  Why?  It is super cheap at like $6-$8 a pop.  You get several meals out of it.  A "roast chicken" meal the night you cook it and leftover meal for the following night.  You can use the meat for enchiladas or chicken pot pie or put in in a salad or whatever!   My FAVORITE roast chicken is one I blogged about before here .  I recently tried another one of Barefoot Contessa's chickens and it too was delicious.   It was near perfect , but  I made some changes to make it my own (i.e substituted leeks for potatoes).  I would not recognize a leek if ...

It has been a while since I have done a shoe of the day!  Today's shoe was a Christmas Gift from my sister!  Thank you sister.  It is a classic flat that is comfortable, stylish and comes in a variety of colors.  Made by Rocket Dog, they are affordable are around $40 (give or take) depending on what color you choose.  She got me them in gray to match the cute Talbots gloves she gave me and the Zara cape !  It was a super perfect gift. A quick google search will tell you that you can find them at Endless , Amazon , and many other places.  Get yourself a pair or two! Until next time....xoxo

Hopefully you got your love a Valentines Day gift!  It is the day for treating the one you love after all.  Love is in the air.... and on Etsy also! Find it at Etsy !   Find this at Etsy !   Find this at Etsy !   Find this on Etsy ! L-O-V-E!  Until next time...xoxo

So, it is Friday... so it is another recipe!  I have been trying to eat healthy and would like to be healthier!  Earlier this week I cooked quinoa for the first time.   What is quinoa?  As per Wikipedia....Quinoa (say KEEN-wah) is the wonder grain: high in protein, gluten-free, easy to digest, and quick to cook. It is fairly easy to cook, but I think what makes it really good is what you add to it!  Here the recipe I went with, basically adapted from a Food Network recipe .    I ngredients 1 cup  quinoa , rinsed well  (must get a very fine mesh strainer to clean/rinse the quinoa) 1/4 cup pine nuts 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (I did not have any, so did not include.) 1/4 cup golden raisins 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Kosher salt  and freshly ground pepper 1 3/4 cups chicken stock 1/2 onion, chopped (this was my addition to recipe.  It added a lot of flavor.) Opt...

When I wrote my blog post yesterday the Talbots skirt was $30.  Now it is $60.  Bummer!  Sorry to get so many of you excited.  Hopefully it will go back down to $30.  I will keep you all posted! I guess that is the danger of writing a post on a different day other than when you post it! Oops....xoxo

Did you see this article about how stock performance impacts skirt length trends?   It is quite entertaining.  Apparently if the economy is looking dark then skirt lengths get longer.  Well, I guess things are looking challenging because skirt lengths have dropped.   I am very much in love with this current hot trend of calf length skirts.  I have always preferred below the knee skirts. The current runway trend of mid calf skirts is TOTALLY up my alley.  I think it is so lady like and classy. Here is the runway version! I stumbled across this  PERFECT calf length skirt at Talbots.  I love it.  It was originally $129 and is now on sale for like $30.  AMAZING.  I bought one... well okay.... more than one.  Plentiful color choices, well made and super cute!  This length is my favorite because you can wear it in the winter with boots and can get away with not wearing tights.  Of course, it does look good with tights and ...

So, I have been spending a TON of time in our family room.  Never short of creative ideas (that cost money and sweat equity)... I came up with something I want to do in our family room!   It is a HUGE room with cathedral ceilings as it used to be a two car garage.  It is the ultimate entertainment room and houses my husbands GINORMOUS flat screen.  As I sat in those room I decided it was screaming for a wall of built-ins.  As I have mentioned before,  I am kind of obsessed with anything " built-in ".  We have created several built-ins including our breakfast nook and entryway benches .  My idea would be the "ultimate" built in as it would be quite large and would require some new skills on the husbands part.  Although... he is quite handy for a finance guy!  As the husband and I talked, below is the "plan" we came up with.   My analytical husband drew it to scale... of course!   It includes housing the TV, a desk area, lightin...

So, as I  mentioned last week I am trying some new recipes out while on maternity leave.   I am all about EASY recipes.  One of my favorite EASY cooking tips is using the crockpot.  What is not to love?  You throw it all in the pot in the AM and you have an amazing tasty meal by the end of the day.  Last week I made Pomegranate Beef.  It was amazing.  It was super super easy in that the only thing you needed to cut was onion and garlic!  I found this recipe on one of my very favorite blogs, A Year of Slow Cooking .   I took some photos (but they do not look at all appetizing), so I am not sharing.   This photo from A Year of Slow Cooking is much much much more appealing.  So, photo credit goes to that blog!   I followed the recipe as is with the exception of the canned tomatoes.  My grocery store did not carry fire roasted crushed tomatoes, so I substituted Hunts crushed tomatoes with onion and garlic.  The firs...

Okay, imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this "Look for Less" on Overstock!  I have been waiting to debut my house photos (I will soon, I promise).  Here is a quick "sneak peak" (old photo) at our living room.  Check out the rug we have in our living room.  It is from Pottery Barn. Now, check out this rug on Overstock.  It is generally half the price of what we paid.  Ugh.  I cannot comment on quality, but it is basically the exact same rug.   It is slightly "busier", but same flowers, same colors, same rug! What the what!!! Need a rug?  I do recommend this one.... lots of colors to work with.  My husband joked that we should get a "backup" since our dog has had an issue or two on this rug ... if you catch my drift.  If you like a good "look for less", check out Copycat Chic's Blog!  It is one of my favorites! Until next time....xoxo