Love...

Love is a gift.

I hope you are surrounded by it today.

Halloween at my Mom's...

My Mom has always decorated really fun for Halloween and she always has a big party that night where all the grand kids... make a GRAND mess decorating cookies. Little c used to pile her pumpkin sugar cookies about an inch and more high with sanding sugar and then say, "Eat this mommy, I made it just for you!" It still makes my teeth rattle and rot a little just thinking about it. One year we had soup in little sugar pumpkins (that's the variety I think)...

Anyway, I love Halloween.. we get some pretty fun trick-or-treaters around here. One kid was very ambitious and he came around once dressed as I don't remember and then the next hour we saw him again standing on our porch with a pizza box in hand.. he said he was a pizza delivery guy. I reward creativity.. I thought that was hilarious. Then, we had this little girl who stood there and dug through all the full size chocolate bars to find a little pink dum dum at the very bottom..."tank ooo" with a big smile and that princess had stolen my heart... it was the cutest thing to see.

I need to remember to get some fun candy like that. It shocks me how many kids don't like chocolate. However, the most popular candy at our house on Halloween is just a plain chocolate Hershey Bar.. I'm going to get lots of those this year. What's the most popular trick-or-treater loot at your place?

Gardner Village...

We had a fun day visiting the witches at Gardner Village... but it was crowded!

October...

You ought to know that October is the first Spring month. - Karel Capek

That's how I feel too.

Pantry Woes...

Above is the before shot of my pantry before I cleaned it out the other night in desperation. I have to look at it so much that its total lack of order makes me feel like my life is out of control. I want all my closets to look like Real Simple magazine, but they never do... ever.
I like how I wrangled the paper and plastic supplies in these cool crome bins that I purchased at K-Mart. But the rest of it looks pretty much the same.
I guess we eat a lot of cereal and chips around here. Any suggestions, brilliant tips available on the pantry front?

Card Case...

So, do you carry around those little cards that you get from businesses everywhere (in Utah anyway). The ones that say things like stop by 5 times and the 6th item is free (Taco Time). I have tones of these cards floating around in a mess in my purse and along comes this brightly colored solution. This little purse fits all my cards perfectly. Another great Etsy purchase. See Danielle Bags here.

New York Calzone...

When I went to New York, I ate the most delicious calzone and I tried to recreate it when I got home. It was deceptively simple, just ricotta cheese and fresh spinach. I purchased those two ingredients at my local market and some (I'm embarrassed to say this) Rhodes bread dough. Ya, it didn't taste like the one in New York at all. I can fix a few of the things. For example, the cheese had a little salt. Oookay, that's about all I can fix. Did I mention the amazing marinara dipping sauce? Mine was from a bottle from Costco and not so fabulous. I know there's quite a few great cooks out there. I still want to make this, but it has to be really easy because I don't really cook all that much, but I also want it to taste a little better. Anyone have a great pizza dough recipe? Know of fabulous marinara in a bottle? Or any other tips?

Even considering what a disappointment this was, it was not the worst thing I've made for dinner.

Little Missmatched...

I bought these funny leg-warmers at FAO Schwartz when I was in NYC for littl c. They come in a package of three... funny. Little c thought they were hilarious and she loves to wear them. See the fun Little Missmatched site here.

By the way, FAO seemed to have been totally re-done since I was there last time. They seemed to have decided to be FAO again. I was even met at the door by a very cute, very large, very smiling toy soldier with pink cheeks.

Nikki's Cookies...

One of the highlights of the Sun Valley culinary experience this September was being introduced to these Ladybug cookies (no ladybugs were injured in the making of these cookies). They are so yummy. They would make a wonderful cheer up gift for a sad friend I think. I think Jenni gets the credit for these as well. Visit Nikki's site, the Halloween and Christmas things are adorable and you can ship them with an ice pack so that they will arrive in perfect condition.

Granny Chic Cute Item of the Week...

I haven't done a Granny Chic item for awhile, but I still love old-fashioned things which they have in abundance at Rubyjane.com see the apron here.

More Halloween...

Candy is my favorite decoration. I may not take this stuff down.

The Best Zucchini Bread Ever...

3 eggs

1/2C melted butter

1/2C applesauce
2C white sugar
3C grated zucchini
2t good mexican vanilla
3C unbleached all-purpose flour
3t ground cinnamon
1t baking soda
1/4t baking powder
1t sea salt
1/2 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8X4 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans. Divide batter into pre-pared pans. Bake for 60-70 min, or until done.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and I was really impressed with it, but with a few alterations, I think C and I (it was a team effort) made it into something even better. It makes two loafs and so it only has 4 tablespoons of butter per loaf.. pretty good? And, it is just so yummy.. you must try it. Little c had one suggestion... CHOCOLATE CHIPS! She feels that chocolate chips would make it taste much better. :) Maybe.

Gavin de Becker...

If there were such a thing as required reading to be a woman, a mother or even an employer, I would put these two books on that list. I have read them both more than once and have found them to be real, informative, truly helpful and empowering.

It's probably about time to read them again.

The War by Ken Burns...

This is amazing. Did you see it? Are you watching it now late like me?

Ken Burns is amazing.

Autumn Leaves...

The morns are meeker than they were,The nuts are getting brown; The berry's cheek is plumper,The rose is out of town.The maple wears a gayer scarf, The field a scarlet gown. Lest I should be old-fashioned,I'll put a trinket on.- Emily Dickinson, Nature 27 - Autumn

I know this is the third appearance in a year of one of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems.. but someone could have missed it before. I took these shots this morning and doctored them up just a little in order to show how glorious these pear trees really are. I just love them. Hope you are having a beautiful autumn day where you are.

Bunting... in the Shop!

In The Love Boxes SHop

Halloween Decorations!!!

The first thing I wanted to do when I got home from my trip, even before the laundry ha! ha!, was to get all this Halloween junk up. I love it! Every year little c and I add one or two things. She has made a marvelous Scarecrow for the front door. I will show you when I've finished. Also, I finally finished the book review for Mrs. Dalloway, it's clear down the post list but just in case you were interested.... Also, if you like this Halloween banner, I made 3 and put 2 in the shop.

MJ Trim ... Hyman & Hendler

I love to shop for ribbons in NYC. It's so much fun. My two favorite places to visit are MJ Trim and Hyman & Hendler & Sons. MJ Trim has really fun novelty ribbons in stripes, plaids and patterns. They also carry a beautiful selection of floral jacquards like the green pictured above. Hyman & Hendler sells some of the finest and most beautiful ribbons in the world. It is a favorite ribbon shop of Martha Stewart. Both of these lovely shops have a limited quantity of their wares available online.

Norma's

One thing that is really fun about NYC is that you can have an elegant breakfast at 2:30 in the afternoon. This is a photo of Norma's in Le Parker Meridien Hotel. Yum! I had the mandarin orange french toast with candied macadamia nuts which was just heavenly. If you go to NYC, this is a really fun stop.

Pearl River...

If you happen to be dreaming of a Flourishing Happiness parasol, Pearl River is a fun place to visit, but you can also purchase quite a few of their products online here. It was really fun to see the store location and to visit China Town, which is only a few blocks away.