All Things Alice #4: Cherry Blossom Girl Shoot

Melinda (thanks!) tipped me off to this photospread over at Cherry Blossom Girl, a cool fashion blog that was also a new find for me.

Project Linus 7-9

Remember how I started this? Well, I'm still going strong. I have 3 more quilts done and I have to say I am a little addicted. Is it still service if you love it so much? I hope so. Since most of my fabric is pretty girly, I tried a more masculine color scheme on the middle one. Many more are in my head and will be done shortly.

So I still get some personal crafting done, my plan is to do one quilt for the Project and then something for me. That way I stay sane and don't burn myself out.
(Obviously these quilts were made up in my mind as the patterns are a little funky. Next time we're going to be using up small scraps that for some reason I just cannot throw away.)

And P.S. My wonderful husband ordered that book for me. Lesson learned: Just blog about the things you want and directly instruct your husband to buy them for you. My next post will be about pretty jewelry and summery sandals...

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Eaten: Crispy Chicken Burritos

So I am not a food photographer. But this really is delicious and simple. Even if the picture looks kind of gloppy-how can refried beans look anything but gloppy?Since I get home from work at 5:15 and am starving, I don't mess around with dinner. Keeping it simple is my mantra. This is a recipe for enchiladas that I adapted to what was in my cupboard and what makes sense for us. Since I don't really measure I am just approximating the #'s below, please feel free to adjust to your tastes. Plus, you can make a ton of the filling and freeze it.

Crispy Chicken Burritos
Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded (whichever way you prefer, personally I'm a cubed girl)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can green diced chilies
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1-3 cups cheddar cheese (if you want to add cheese to your sauce which is delicious, you'll need closer to 3 cups, if you're just using as a garnish then I would say 1 cup should be fine)
Oil for frying
10-12 tortillas. I like the costco ones that you cook yourself just make sure to cook them before you fill them.
taco seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook chicken in saucepan. I usually cook in a little oil and garlic. Add taco seasoning to chicken or just salt and pepper.
2. While chicken cooks, prepare sauce. Mix green chilies, about 2 cups cheese, soup, sour cream and milk in bowl.
3. Once chicken is cooked through add the sauce to the pan. Heat over medium until hot.
4. Meanwhile, cook your tortillas-if you need to. Set aside.
5. Heat clean pan with oil.
6. Fill tortillas, place spoonful in center of each tortilla and roll burrito style. I wish I could explain how to do this. Unfortunately, I worked at Taco Bell for a brief time so this technique is ingrained in my brain.
7. Place burritos in hot oil and cook until crisp on both sides.
8. Drain on paper towel. Sprinkle with cheese, cilantro and lime.

Serves 4. Or I set aside half the filling and freeze for another meal down the road. Don't forget to label your bag or you'll pull it out of the freezer in a few months and wonder what the heck it is.

You can also experiment with adding corn and black beans to your filling, both good. This is also good if you want to stretch your chicken further.

Eaten: Chocolate Mayo Cake with Ganache

This cake was found in an add for Miracle Whip in Instyle magazine. What? Mayonnaise in a cake? Well, hold onto your britches, this cake is so fab and easy to make you almost won't believe it. I mean its a cake mix, how can you screw it up? Plus, this dessert is so impressive looking and tasting you'll have to keep it a secret how simple it is.
Chocolate Mayo Cake
Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup mayo or miracle whip
3 eggs
1 cup water

1. Preheat oven according to cake mix directions.
2. Mix all ingredients with an electric beater. If you don't use the beater then you might get small lumps of mayo that weren't mixed in and the thought of that makes me want to throw up. Batter will be fluffier than you might expect.
3. Divide into either mini bundt pans (my personal favorite) or you could use a big bundt pan.
*Note-if using the mini pans make sure you use lots of PAM or the cake will stick and your cute little cakes will be a disaster. So apply a layer and then another layer and just when you think you have used enough, put on a little more for good measure.
4. Bake cakes according to package.
5. Cool. Drizzle with ganache, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and serve with fresh berries.

Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Heat cream to just under a boil in a medium saucepan. If you're fancy you could also use a double boiler.
2. Place room temperature chocolate in glass bowl. If your chocolate is frozen, I know I keep my chips in the freezer, it won't work because the cream will cool too fast.
3. Pour cream over chocolate and mix until creamy and delicious. The cream will melt the chocolate but it takes awhile so you might be tempted to add more chocolate but don't, the ratio is very important.
4. Let sit for 5 minutes. Pour over cakes.

*Note-I think this tastes even better the second day!

Inspiration: Knotted Belts

Every month I get an Instyle in the mail, it is usually one of the better days of the month. Over time, the magazines tend to pile up until one day, when I've had enough, I sit down, reread them and rip out anything inspiring. Those pages are then trimmed and glued into a black sketchbook for future musings.Thanks iphotobooth for the pictures.
I had one of those days recently wherein I found this amazing belt. So I went to Home Fabrics bought 6 yards of 50 cent cording, spent an hour aggressively hot gluing, another 30 minutes figuring out the knot (thanks girls camp certification!) and voila! a way cute belt for under $5.It was only afterwards that I realized the same knot is on the headband I bought at the biggest Forever 21 when I was shopping with Jenny. And no, I am not wearing them on the same day, it is only for pictures because that would be ridiculous.

NCAA Tourney and Weekend

Our office is doing an NCAA March Madness Bracket and I am in 4th place. We'll be watching lots of basketball this weekend. The winner gets a $50 giftcard. I really want to win, not just to beat the guys in the office but for the giftcard!

Hope you all have a fun weekend, we'll be visiting with family, trekking to the Gem Show, watching the YW General Broadcast and as always trying to catch up on sleep, be crafty and spend time with my boys.

Need something to do while you're watching tv and surfing the net at the same time? Trust me, we do it too. Check me out on tumblr, updated everyday with inspirational lovelies from my internet journeys. Or see link on sidebar.

(Did I just say 'surfing the net'?)

SLC Sartorialist

While blog browsing I came across a blog like the Sartorialist but in Salt Lake City. As pathetic as it sounds, and believe me, its not really worth your time, Steve did manage to find something hilarious.

Recognize this gentleman? Well the writer didn't.

Is it sad or awesome that L. Tom Perry made it onto a fashion blog?

P.S. Mila should have totally gone home for her nasty washed out rainbow tube dress. I'm still upset about it. Bye Anthony, no more will you have us laughing in the work room,

Tuesday Night I Came Home to This...

And last night Henry slept through the night! Probably a fluke but we'll take it.

Stay tuned for finished quilts, yummy recipes and some new accessories.

Preordering this...

I love Martha. I don't care what she has done in the past, I don't care that her show is dull. I love her style and I am thrilled for the release of this book. Basic Techniques for Sewing, Applique, Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing, and Printing, plus 150 Inspired Projects from A to Z. 150! Plus you know it is going to have the clean lines, thoughtful writing and beautiful photography indicative of anything Martha touches.

Want to preorder it for me, Steve? Just click here and use your free shipping. Overtly obvious hint hint... I'll even throw in a wink and a nudge.

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Random Thoughts on a Random Tuesday

I never know what to title these posts. Some people call them Brain Dumps but I didn't come up with that so it feels like stealing. I guess I could just call it thoughts. Whatever. You don't care.

Since tummy time is now moot, we sit in our Bumbo chair. And by we, I mean Henry. He can sit it in and not freak out which is great. Sometimes he sits in it on the kitchen table and watches me make dinner but mostly he just eats his hand. At least in the chair his neck is being strengthened.

A couple of weeks ago Steve got 2 brand spanking new dollar bills in the mail from Arbitron Ratings. I was dubious. Remember anthrax? My doubts went away when on Saturday we all walked to In-N-Out together and those $2 bought me a chocolate shake. Yum.

Henry can smile but not for the camera. This shot is blurry because it was night and I hate flash. Flash makes your child look like they are going to be taken up into heaven. Sometimes when he smiles it makes me think of the Joker. I'll have to try to capture it on film for you to see so you don't think I am some bizarre mother.

I am watching American Idol but I am so underwhelmed I haven't a single thing to say about it. Except I like crazy girl Shiobon (?) and Crystal Bowersocks.

I'm also watching LOST and counting down the hours until all my questions are answered. Like was Sawyer really a cop the whole time? Richard Alpert tonight will have me riveted to the tv.

Henry is losing his hair. Do you know where he lost it? In his crib. Its like the floor of a barbershop in there.

Despite working a 40 hour work week, I still have plenty of time to craft, quilt, spend time with Steve and sleep. I guess you really can have it all especially if you are being fueled by Diet Coke...

All Things Alice #3: Tim Walker

When I think of Alice in Wonderland, immediately I think of Tim Walker. Even though we hasn't done a specific wonderland spread that I could find, his works are definitly curious and enchanting. He takes you into another world, a beautiful fantasy with a witty play on size that echoes Alice's transformations.

The Waiting Game

This is what tummy time has turned into-hand eating time. Henry has made a new best friend and his name is Hand.

Picture unrelated to actual post content.

So we're officially playing the waiting game. Its a game that causes you to check the mail early, hold your breath for any white, letter envelope. Its a game that causes continual email checking and looking at the calendar. Craigslist browsing for rent prices and quoting SAM vs. Uhaul vs. PODS.

Yes, we are waiting for yays and nays to graduate school. So far we have 3 no's, 2 yes!'s and 5 we're waiting on. Our yes!'s are University of Georgia and University of Maryland. Both offer lots of great options for seeing and experiencing a new part of the country. Its a blessing to have options and the fun of the whole waiting game is still pretty thrilling. I only wish the game would draw to an end and we could start the next game. The Decision Game.

What I am not waiting for is the overwhelming feeling that we are finally leaving Utah which is going to hit with many yays and many nays of which I will be sure to bore you with over the next few months. (Months!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Its a day late but when your baby falls asleep in his crib at 9:00 pm, you don't go in to blog about some lame holiday and risk waking him up.
I am wearing a green tank with my cool Brazilian necklace just in case you were wondering where my festive dress was-I went more subtle this year.
And the only way we can get Henry to smile is to smile at him in the mirror and then quickly turn towards the camera. That's why he is not really looking at the camera.

Loving: Simple French Inspired Artwork

I think there is something so charming about these prints. I have always been a sucker for french stuff though. From Blanca Gomez, cosas minimas

Man on Wire

Steve and I watched the documentary, "Man on Wire" this weekend and it was incredible. The film mixes home videos and dramatizations to recreate the planning and successful demonstration of Phillipe Petit, a wirewalker who walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

Not only is it thrilling, entertaining and comical, but the feat itself is breathtaking, leaving you with an awed smile on your face."In an interview conducted during Man on Wire's run at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, director James Marsh explained that he was drawn to the story in part because it immediately struck him as "a heist movie." Marsh also commented that as a New Yorker himself, he saw the film as something to give back to the city. He said he hopes to hear people say that they will now always think of Petit and his performance when recalling the World Trade Center's twin towers.[3]

Responding to questioning as to why the towers' destruction 27 years later was not mentioned in the film, Marsh explained that Philippe Petit's act was "incredibly beautiful" and that it "would be unfair and wrong to infect his story with any mention, discussion or imagery of the Towers being destroyed.'"

Also of note, we recently watched (500) days of Summer and enjoyed it. And another documentary, The Cove was worth a watch as well. Thanks OPL!

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The Red Vest

When I was searching high and low for the white button up shirt, I checked DI a couple of times. I didn't hold my breath as any white shirt found in a thrift store is bound to have its problems.So when I found this stunning ensemble for $3, I had to get it. Yes, that is a hounds tooth bow tie, and yes, that is a red vest with a crest on it and yes, his expression says it all.

And now a word from Henry

All Things Alice #2: The Black Apple

Years ago I fell in love with this print set by the Black Apple on etsy. If we had had a girl, an Alice themed room would have been lurking in the shadows of my mind.

Loving: The Broken Bells

When James Mercer, the lead singer from The Shins gets together with DJ Danger Mouse from Gnarls Barkley, you know good things are on the horizon. Broken Bells will be my soundtrack for the weekend.

Have a listen for free, here.

Also Gorillaz dropped another album and it is pretty good too. More free listening here

Have a great weekend everyone! I will be sleeping, sewing, visiting a tiny new baby and cuddling with my boys. And maybe blogging...

Henry's Blessing

(My parents, us and Steve's parents)
We were lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents come out to Utah for Henry's blessing. Not only was it nice to see everyone but it was nice to have 4 extra sets of hands willing to hold, bathe and cuddle Henry. He was rather spoiled after all the attention and has only recently gotten back on schedule.

Thanks again everyone for coming (even those who came from the valley) and celebrating with us.
For Henry's outfit, I didn't want to do the traditional all white so I made him little white trousers, finally found a white shirt at DI for $1.00, (who would pay $16 for a tiny little white button up? No thanks, Carters) blue shoes I bought at a yard sale last summer for .50 cents and a vest I made out of one of Steve's old shirts and some navy corduroy I already had. Top it off with 3 airplane buttons and I think he looks pretty cute and kind of disco-seventies. There is a better picture of his outfit below but this one shows the contrasting back of the vest nicely. Steve, Henry, me and my parents)
(My dad with Henry on the floor. Laughing it up at the after party)
(Henry with Steve's parents)
("I'm so done. Get me out of all these clothes." I think this picture is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S)

I'm ashamed...

This morning on the way to work, I turned up Owl City and sang along. Every word.

"Its hard to say I'd rather be awake when I'm asleep..."

All Things Alice #1: Vogue

In celebration of seeing Alice in Wonderland, I am going to be posting some of my favorite things Alice over the next few weeks. There is just something so magical about retelling and recapturing Wonderland.

First is the classic Vogue spread by Annie Leibovitz. I still remember the first time I opened to it, it took my breath away.






And speaking of Vogue, if you haven't seen The September Issue yet, I would highly recommend it. Thanks OPL!