Starting the Halloween Projects

Okay, so I started a little stenciling this evening on a cute mini pumpkin. Not bad...but I think I need to get a little more creative. :)

Black and orange jelly beans...what better candy to celebrate the holiday with!

My favorite shop just up the block from me.

I wanted to introduce you to a shop up the street from me that has fabulous girly stuff! It's called Lucky Me and lucky me that it's so close. :) I have to be careful and limit myself to maybe a once a month visit.

http://luckymeboutique.com/

Another coworker brought in some grapes he grew in his own backyard! I get the feeling people at work think I'm all about food. Well.....they're right! I LOVE FOOD!

Hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Antique Shopping with a Friend.

Sunday was a day of antique shopping! My friend and I went to Aurora, Oregon where we antique shop hopped! I found a little history on Aurora on the internet and thought I would share it with you....

"The Utopian society of Aurora, Oregon was established by Dr. William Keil as the site of what was to be his last communal settlement. Keil was a charismatic Prussian tailor and self-styled physician who began preaching soon after his arrival in the United States in 1831. He attracted a following for his fundamental Christian preaching which centered on the Golden Rule and his belief, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” Like the Shakers, Rappites, and other religious Utopian groups of the 19th Century, Aurora Colony was inspired by the description of the earliest communities of Christians in Acts 2: 44-45: “And all who believed were together and had all things in common and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. [RSP]”

Aurora is known as Oregon's antiques capital and here are a few pictures from our adventure that day.

This was an adorable antique shop. Like many antique shops, this one had tons and tons of rooms of treasures for us to meander through!

I love the historical buildings the antique shops are in.

This was so beautiful. I regret not buying it. :( I might have to go back.

In getting my daily Starbucks that day, I noticed these beautiful roses at the counter.

Palmiers Dipped in Chocolate!

Okay, as I promised here are the pictures of the Palmiers I made. I also made some that were square and dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. They went over HUGE at my girlfriend's place, especially with her husband. Ha! These are simple and very easy to make. I like easy recipes, if you haven't noticed.

For this I just bought the Pepperidge Farm puffed pastry, let it thaw out enough so it was easy to work with. I simply spread one sheet of pastry dough out, sprinkled with sugar (you can also use cinnamon sugar), rolled each end towards each other (like a scroll) and sliced! You then sprinkle each slice again with sugar and bake at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. I melted Nestle's Toll House (okay, so that's not really too French but oh well) over a double broiler and dipped the cookies in it! Sooooooo sweet and tempting!

All things French!

I'm not sure I've told you my other passion.....all things French! I think I may have lived in France in another life. I love the city, I love the food and most of all the decor! Oh, and maybe the desserts! Speaking of desserts, I will be making some Palmiers today. I'm meeting a couple of friends for dinner tonight and I will bring some of these French pastries for them to drool all over!

Stay tuned for the Palmiers!

Chocolate and Marmalade Tea for this evening.

Well, I'm finally posting my recipe of a comforting and delicious evening snack, Chocolate and Marmalade Tea! Well, marmalade tea, oranges and chocolate wafers, that is. I think the marriage of chocolate and oranges is divine! Let me know what you think!

Marmalade Tea Recipe

Ingredients:
5 cups water
3 tea bags, black
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs lemon juice
Preparation:Steep tea in near boiling water for 5 minutes. Stir in marmalade, sugar and lemon juice, until marmalade is melted and well mixed. Strain tea if desired and serve.
Serves 4-5

Oh! My corworker brought me in these beautiful tomatoes from her own garden. I can't wait to taste them...perhaps with a little sprinkle of salt. :)

Sweet dreams....

Bracelets!

I decided to get back into jewelry making recently and these are two bracelets I made in the last several days. Not too bad, I guess. :) I will be giving the bracelet with the sparrow to my girlfriend Thea. There's a sparrow story behind it and I will tell you about Lucky the sparrow very soon. The second bracelet I made this evening. I love BIG charms. :)


Can I help mom? What are those tiny little things that look like treats? Notice my Starbucks right by me.


More fall decor...

I call him Mr. Pumpkinhead. I am going to try my hand at paper mache in the next few weeks.

Ralph Lauren Style = My Style

For as long as I can remember I have LOVED the Ralph Lauren look whether it had to do with clothes, home furnishings or fragrance! Ralph Lauren is the epitome of classic style. Here are a few of my favorite things about him.

I have been a busy little Miss Homemaker today!

I was craving peanut butter cookies. I know, I know, I haven't cooked anything fancy yet but I still think you'd enjoy seeing a past time favorite. :)

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla one at a time. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press each ball once with fork tines.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned.

Time to pull out my adorable mittens!

It got a little cold this weekend so it was time to pull out my mittens. I love these because my hands are kept warm and my fingers are free to do as they please!

My great find...garage saling....Audubon Society visit....shopping and more!

The weather has finally cooperated and decided to cool down a bit. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do today but them remembered the two lamps I saw for sale on Craigslist! Two lamps with toile shades! They were adorable and only $20.00 each. I had to have them. I called the girl selling them and she said she would hold onto them for me. Then she told me they were having a huge garage sale as well. Well, guess where I went today? :) I took my honey's daughter with me and we, of course, had to get our Starbucks. We have his girls every other weekend and it's become a ritual for us, Starbucks. :) I'm afraid I taught them that bad habit. Then we decided to head on over to Northwest Portland where the garage sale was. The house was an old, very beautiful, mansion in a very trendy neighborhood of northwest Portland. Most of the houses were built at the turn of the century so you can imagine what they look like. There were tons of bungalows, my favorite of course. I took these two pictures so you could see the types of houses that are in that area.

Then we decided to just drive around and get lost. :) That's always fun in a new neighborhood. Guess what we stumbled upon? The Audubon Society! I've always wondered where that was at. We got to see some amazing birds up close! Check them out!

This guy is a Falcon and seemed very curious when we greeted him. :)

This is Sid the Red Tail Hawk. He was absolutely gorgeous!

Then Julio the owl. We were making funny noises and I could just hear him saying, please quit making fools of yourselves humans. Ha!

Then we noticed all these bird feeders! There were so many small birds coming and going it was hard to watch them all!

Last we went shopping! Yay! I have to introduce you to another one of my favorite shops! It's called Zucari (http://www.zucari.com/) They have the most adorable home furnishings. I sneaked a few photos while inside.

Last but not least, on the way home we stumbled upon this beautiful tree! Who wouldn't want to climb this!

Another busy day. Hope you had a wonderful Saturday!

Carmel Dip Recipe

This recipe was given to me by my boss' wife when I went over for an hor'dourve event. The food was fabulous there! We had smoked salmon, smoked tuna, wonderful wine, ten different cheeses and crackers and then this wonderful carmel fruit dip. It's so easy to make and delicious with pears or apples. Try it, I think you'll like it. :)

8 ounces cream cheese

3/4 cups of brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Just mix it up until smooth! Whisking helps too. How easy is that?

Getting ready for Fall - A place for my teabags.

I just won these on eBay! Aren't they cute? I've collected several sets of teabag holders but I had no idea they had holders for the seasons! I must get one for every season now.

Mom, can we go to bed now? I need my beauty sleep.

My Meditating Frog ~ Ohhhmmm....

I had to quickly put this guy up. He's my meditating frog. He reminds me to breathe and relax every once in awhile in this rat race we call LIFE!

I LOVE Shopping!

Well I'm really hoping today will be the last hot day of summer because it's been unbearable! Ninety degree weather is a bit too much even for a hot summer. I'm anxious for the cold season because I love wearing sweaters, turtlenecks and warm scarves! I even started shopping today with my girlfriend Tami! I have to admit I am a shopaholic, although I'm not as bad as Becky Bloomwood in my favorite series of books called the Shopaholic series. If you haven't had a chance to read this series you must! They are hilarious and written by the British author Sophie Kinsella. Anyway, we went to Nordstrom Rack today and found some delicious sweaters for the upcoming season. I even found an adorable pair of Mary Jane shoes that I had to get! Check them out! These shoes go with just about anything. I have another weakness when it comes to shopping and it has to do with a little French boutique I'm sure you've all heard of, Anthropologie. The clothes they carry are so me. They even have adorable home furnishings, dinnerware and smelly things like candles, perfumes and more! Here are a few samples of what you'll find when you enter the world of Anthropologie.

Oh well, what's a girl gotta do to look good? SHOP, of course!