Fallen Cake

It has been raining pretty much non-stop for the past 2 days. And while I love rain. I don't love that it makes our front stairway slippery. Case in point: Invitation to dinner extended. Invitation to dinner accepted. Dessert offered. Dessert accepted. Cake baked. Ganache made. Fast Sunday. Rainy Steps. Flip flops. Cake dumped down steps as I slip and fall. No damage to beckie or dishware done. Cake destroyed and covered in rain water and dirt. Wet and bruised butt. Half eaten bag of mini candy bars brought instead. Sad.
Hopefully the rest of the week goes better.

HDMI + HULU = LOVE

Since we are living the poor college student life again, we opted out of our directv service when we moved to Georgia. It was an easy transition. New life, new lifestyle. And who doesn't want to save $60 a month?
So we bought an HDMI cable and watch tv streaming online through hulu.com via our laptop. And guess what? I don't miss cable. Well, I lie. Sometimes I miss the dull glare of the screen as I flip aimlessly through channels. Or the constant weight of the remote in my hand as I anxiously wait to fast forward through commercials.
The truth is though, most shows are available online for free you just have to wait until the next day to watch them. Modern Family season premiere? I watched it this morning. (You should be watching Modern Family. Hilarious) Survivor? We just watched it. So this year it looks like its going to be the dramatic 20 year olds vs. the saggy man breasts. Project Runway? I can't believe Andy "crazy-crotch-saddlebagged-pant" South did not get kicked off. Grrr...you lifetime producers-I shake my fist at you.

So want to save some money? Get rid of your cable.
Also switch your phone to Straight Talk. Our apartment was in a T-Mobile dead zone so we went with Straight Talk which uses Verizon satellites but is a flat fee per month. I have the lowest plan, $30 a month for 1000 minutes and 1000 texts and it is sufficient. Plus there are no fees or taxes. Hooray.

Okay go have a great weekend. We're going on a date tonight and tomorrow is a stake women's conference which means I get a nice break from chasing after a small boy who constantly wants to eat our laptop.

Mini Cupcakes beat all

This post is just a little bit of random stuff over the last few weeks. Or commonly known as an update.

-For our playgroup, I made mini cupcakes. Three different colors with a smattering of chocolate frosting. The good thing: mini cupcakes are cute and easy for children to eat. The bad thing: mini cupcakes are dangerously easy to consume without a second thought.
Steve and I also had the opportunity to host the date night babysitting on saturday and 6 kids is crazy. We barely survived but it was totally worth it for 3 date nights. Thank heavens for leftover glow sticks from girls camp found at the last minute as kids were running everywhere and one was crying her eyes out.

-If you ever need a gift for a pregnant lady, get her a food processor. The 3rd stage foods are disgusting in the jar, so we make our own. Plus, it is cheaper. You wouldn't believe what Henry would eat when we grind it up. Spaghetti and meatballs, turkey and provolone and vegetable medleys. And it makes food prep so easy.

-My etsy store is really doing well. I have already sold 21 covers this month which is almost one per day. I have sent some to Canada, Utah, Illinois, Colorado and Russia. Hooray for indie craft internet business and being a stay-at-home mom. Car payment, here we come.

-Now that Henry is crawling, I have a little shadow that follows me around the house all day. He has even braved both the bathrooms. What a silly guy.

-There was a cockroach under our bed last night. Steve killed it but needless to say, I slept poorly.

Anyway, have a great day! Thanks for reading. Have fun at work Celia.

(The Best) Naan Recipe

Someone once gave me some awesome recipe advice. Just search google for "the best" of what you are looking for and you'll find it. Well it works. I was in the market for a good naan recipe to go with my favorite Chicken Tikka Masala and this one blew me away. I have updated it based on the online comments and my own changes. Enjoy some Indian tonight!

Naan (as adapted from allrecipes)

Ingredients

* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water
* 1/4 cup white sugar, separate out 1 Tbs for proofing
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 1 egg, beaten
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 4 1/2 cups bread flour or 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
* 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, add tablespoon of sugar. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume. (Mine took about 90 minutes to double)
2. Punch down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat. I used a skillet instead. Mix melted butter with garlic.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

You can also save some uncooked dough in the fridge and make a fresh batch the next day for lunch. Or sprinkle cooked naan with cinnamon and sugar instead of the garlic butter. Yum.

P.S. Don't be intimidated. This is super easy. You can do it, and yes, I am talking to you.

Henry 9 Months

When we first got to Georgia, Henry was on the verge of crawling. A couple of days ago he crawled and pulled himself up. What a day.

SLC Street Madonna

Steve is super into street art and he finds a lot of really interesting stuff that I also enjoy like Banksy. He heard about a piece that was done in SLC early this year and we went to see it shortly after the completion. I have only just remembered to blog about it while reading something on Melinda's blog. It is a 44 foot tall "Ave Maria" done by El Mac and Retna. You can read more about the story here.

If you're driving through downtown, she is on the corner of 200 E and 200 S. Is it inappropriate to say "check her out" about Mary?

BYU: A Retrospective

Shop Update: Yellow Lace

I found this pretty vintage lace at DI years ago still on the spool. I think there were at least 10 yards and all for only $2. So I whipped up some pretty pillow covers inspired by this ridiculously overpriced cami at J.Crew. Even on sale it is $40! But it sure is pretty. Pillows available today and tomorrow over at my shop.

Stay-at-home Stay away from the Computer

I love being home with Henry. And I love having the internet but does anyone else find themselves annoyed with how many times they end up checking their email or their blog or their facebook or someone else's blog each day? I feel like I am tied to the computer all day and in an annoying way.

Like when I leave the house to run errands and I don't go near a computer for hours, its great. But when I am home I think "oh, I'll just check my email real quick." and of course, there is nothing. Or I think "I'll just get on facebook for a minute." and no one has posted anything new but I still waste 15-20 minutes on there. Its something I didn't think would be a bother or pain but I really feel like I need to make a goal to control myself and stay busy with other things. Why do I rely on these things so heavily? I realize they are good in moderation since I do blog and have a facebook account but they stop being enjoyable when it feels more like a chore.

Anyway other stay-at-homers feel the same way?

Dunkin Donuts

One of the best parts about living on the east coast is that my love affair with donuts and Dunkin Donuts are finally in the same town. Albeit, its 15 minutes away but that is really a blessing. And they have a drive-thru! Now I know we had krispee kreme in utah but I love a good sturdy donut with some bite not those wimpy sugary things that dissolve in your mouth.

Pumpkin cake donut, you are my mouth-watering new favorite.

Uprooting your Life

(Picture unrelated to post)

When you uproot your entire life, squeeze it into 11 feet of a moving truck and then set off to a completely new part of the country, you think you would remain influx for awhile. The first few days and weeks are spent unpacking, restocking your cupboards and google mapping every location before leaving the house. Where is the post office? In the Chevron. Where is the grocery store? The Taco Bell? and the Library? Nothing seems to go right as you are in a cell phone dead zone and your internet isn't connected yet.

Then suddenly, you have a new routine. Monday is cleaning and sewing. Tuesday Steve has no classes. Wednesday is park day. Thursday is play group. Friday is grocery shopping and date night. Wow. When did this happen? Last night I was laying in bed thinking about the fact that tonight we will be going to a friend's house for grilling and gaming and what I needed to bring, etc etc. And it hit me. We have a life here already. We have friends. And even though I miss friends from Utah, our life there is already becoming dim in my mind. (And why miss people when there is blogging and g-chat and facebook?) It seems like ages ago that I would trek off to work breast pump in hand or Steve and I would walk to Barnes and Noble and In-N-Out. Maybe I am a quick adjuster or maybe after nine years I was ready to move on. Either way, I am happy to be living in Georgia.

Have a great weekend.

Shop Update: Grey and Yellow

These beauties are now in the shop. After a weekend of frenzied sewing, I am happy to have a full shop again. I especially love the ikat softness of this print by Waverly and the mid century feel of this one by Robert Allen.

Craft Room & Henry's Room

We had originally looked for a three bedroom place so we would have room to grow and I could have a craft room/office. Well we quickly realized that when you're going from 750 sq. ft. to 1000 sq. ft. 2 bedrooms is sufficient. I cannot believe how much more room we have in this apartment. It is heaven.

This half of the room is the computer/craft area and no, I didn't plan on the stripes but I miscalculated my green paint and had to improvise. The green which matches my glasses case exactly is Burnished Green from KILZ. It is very similar to the green we had in Henry's room in Orem.

And that skinny door goes to the second bathroom. We have 2 bathrooms! A palace indeed. The nursery side is pretty much super cute and I am very happy with how it turned out. The blue rug used to be the one in our living room. Funny how it was the only floor space we had and now it doesn't even cover half of this room. Ideally Henry can play on the floor in here while I use the computer and sew-like we're doing right now. I love that he has a whole bookshelf for toys and books and that the glider and his other furniture fits so perfectly. Hooray! I also like that this room only has one window so it stays darker in his crib corner and not as hot during the day.

The Specs:
Desk: Craigslist and refinished
Chair: Thrifted and recovered
White Bookcase: Target
Album Frames: Urban Outfitters
Blue Rug: Home Fabrics
Crib: Gift
Glider: Yard Sale and reupholstered
Dresser: Yard Sale and revamped
Drawer Pulls: IKEA
HNC: Molly Pettis
Germany Poster: Thrifted
Frames: Thrifted
Green Bookcase: Yard Sale and painted
Lamp: Base-University Village storage cages, shade-thrifted
Alphabet Cards: Land of Nod

Sunday in the Park

I think the weather has finally turned a little. I mean it is still hot but it is not unbearable. We all went on an adventure yesterday to the park. Henry loved the swings again and was scared of the slide. Baby Steps. And not bad for a self portrait.

The Living Room

The Living Room. Pretty much where we spend all our time and it is almost 2X as big as our last one. Hooray!

I wanted to do a soft but fun robin's egg blue and Steve and I chose this one (Soothing Eucalyptus by KILZ). At first I thought it was way too bright but once we got everything else up on the walls and the shelves stocked, I really like it. I think it is so cheerful and looks great in the sunlight. And we have such a nice sliding glass door to let lots of sun in. I love being upstairs so we can have all our windows open during the day.

Again we started with a blank box and now we have a place I love to be. The only thing left is to find an entertainment center for all those tempting DVDs. (Hey, do you like how much I have obviously been using the Wii Fit?)And the truth of the matter is-even after all my big talk about that new couch-I love our old couch. I do. I am not ready to part ways. So my gift cards will rest quietly until the time is right.
Art by Klimt, Emily Martin, Eelus, Pat Kerr, Anne Julie and of course the black piece of paper waiting for a picture to be printed is by me.

I love having a fireplace although we haven't hooked it up yet. I can't wait to hang our stockings over it for Christmas.
Mirror: Thrifted and painted
Red Clock: Target
Metal C: gift
Vintage Keys: ebay
Frames: Thrifted
Paintings: Steve's grandma & Eelus

Couch: Craigslist
Chairs: Thrifted
Brown Bookcase: Yard sale
Black Bookcases: target
Lamps: Thrifted
Album Frames: Urban Outfitters

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!! We'll be gasin' up the grill! Hope your weekend is full of good food and people you love.

Georgia Peach Pie & Shop Update (!)

This week has been busy. I have been up to lots of fun projects and I kind of can't believe tomorrow is Friday and we get to go on another date.

Tuesday I made this delicious peach pie from fresh Georgia peaches. The stars are a cop out as my top crust broke for the third time and I was getting frustrated. Pie really is the best breakfast. Its fruit, its flaky. It's warm with melting ice cream on top. Did I just admit that sometimes I eat ice cream for breakfast?

Wednesday we went to the park again and this morning we had play group. Play group was at our house and I loved it. I love having people over. Hostess is one of my favorite hats to wear. Henry was a little unnerved seeing the other kids everywhere, the noise and all his toys being played with at once.

And today I am announcing the return of bexcaliber, my etsy shop. I have all my old inventory on sale and have posted new stuff this week. Here is a taste of the new fabrics I am offering. I am loving these oranges and creamy accents. Stay tuned for LOTS more. (I have some lovely soft grey and citron colors coming soon!) I am also going to be branching into children items as well, hopefully by the end of the month.

It feels good to be sewing again. I love being productive. And not that being a mom isnt' because it is. But this lends a schedule to my day and I find myself so fulfilled with what only creativity can give me. Maybe that is why I loved being pregnant so much. I always felt like I was doing something creative even if I wasn't. For now, I think I'll just be peddling away at my machine.

And here is sneak peek of the living room too which I have been too busy to photograph. Coming soon.