Sick little little

 My 2.75 yr old (HA) has gotten the stomach flu. The reason I state his age so precisely is for the fact that he simply hasn't ever had the flu. Thus - when he happily put on his coat to go to the "taco store" (aka Chipotle) with me and just "threw up" we were both shocked. I thought it was a bad burp gone wrong. Then it happened all over our kitchen floor. But, I was still suspect. Then while we were resting on the couch the big ka-boom happened. It's official, Charlie has the stomach flu.

Do you ever stop being a rookie parent?

I'm at home w/ him today. Ben went to day care so I could focus on Cman. He made it thru the night w/o any other incidents. (phew). It's nap time and he's sound asleep in "mommy's bed" after watching a little Cars. They're so sweet when they're sick. Gotta go bust out the rest of Robin's save the dates while I have a napper.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Robin & Chris

I just dropped off the proof for Robin & Chris's save the date. SHE LOVES! Which makes me super super happy & giddy.

Robin & I met a few weeks back @ Starbucks and went over the details of their wedding. We talked so much we didn't even have time for a skinny latte. Robin and I talked about yellows & navy blues, how she likes polka dots & wanted to use their engagement pic. (which is sooooo gorgeous) Throw all those fun elements together, put it in a postcard format and..... wall-ah! (to quote a good friend)

I think it turned out great!

We are currently working on the invite...stay tuned.

This time, Robin & I are going to meet for vino.

Creating inspiration boards

We moved into our house almost a year ago. We've tackled a few things to get us comfortable. Refinished our hardwood floors, painted the main room & the den & hallway. Worked on the baby's room. Then we had BENSON and we took a break. ;) It's been sort of tough to work full time, run after 2 boys, cook, clean, and just live life and still find energy to have some creative thoughts about what to do w/ the house next.

One way to help regenerate the creavite juices is to make an inspiration board. I've been slowly filling up a folder on my computer with images that I've spotted on blogs, in magazines & such that speak to me. I complied a file with my top favorites. This has really helped me stay focused in what I'd like to achieve in our house.

Take a look at the kitchen & Charlie's room. We've got lots to do...but one day we'll get there! Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

I have room to place paint swatches once I get there.

Hardest part of the process if you ask me.

Here is where I found some of the pics & inspiration. The 2 women's blogs I think are super super creative women & very inspirational. Ohdeedoh is just a playground for ppl w/ children. I look at that blog DAILY!! It's like my "smokebreak"!

Resources:

www.ohdeedoh.com (almost all of kids room inspiration photos & a few kitchens)

www.restorationhardware.com (light fixture)

www.kohler.com (sink)

www.urbangracedesign.com (kitchen w/ ikat fabric)

www.megduerksen.typepad.com (kitchens)

www.marimekko.com (charlie's black spotted fabric)

www.leejofa.com (ikat fabric)

www.americanstandard.com (facuet)

Save the Dates

Wedding season is fast approaching.

Which means SAVE THE DATES are going out like crazy!

Here are a few that I have been working on lately.

The post card save the date is a great idea. It's economic & a bit more environmentally friendly. (sans the envelope!)

Sally is my sister and Andrew is our soon to be coolest new member of the family.

YAHOO!!!!!!!! But more about them later.

WHAT TO MAKE FOR DINNER???

I constantly struggle with figuring out WHAT TO MAKE FOR DINNER. We are not the family who eats the same thing on Mondays, Tacos on Tuesdays, Pot Roast on Wednesdays. Things are just not that scheduled at my casa.

Then I am always looking for new recipes and never seem to hold on to the good ones. How silly is that? Lately I have been trying to keep a simple system of writing down our favorites on an index card and storing them on the shelf so that when it comes time to figure out what to make - we have TONS of ideas.

Then I stumbled up on this fabulous idea:

Isn't this great?!?! I am going to share my BBQ'd Chicken Pizza recipe. It's our go-to on busy nights and makes me feel like we're not eating something out of a box. PHEW!

BBQ'd CHICKEN PIZZA

1 big cooked chicken breast, chopped (I either buy from Whole Foods or use left over grilled chicken)

2 Scallions sliced

Jar BBQ sauce (any kind will do-i tend to change it up)

pizza dough (I usually buy the fresh from Whole Foods, they have whole grain, too)

mozzarella cheese (at least 2 cups)

italian seasoning (1 tblspn)

salt/pepper (to taste)

Preheat oven to 400˚

Roll out pizza dough (use flour so that it doesn't stick)

Place on a pizza sheet & put in oven for 5 min to lightly cook

Remove from oven

Spread BBQ sauce all over the pizza crust (use as much as you want)

Sprinkle the chopped chicken (use as much as you want)

Sprinkle the sliced scallions (use as much as you want)

Sprinkle the cheese (use as much as you want)

Sprinkle the salt/pepper/italian seasonings over the top

Bake for approx 15 -19 min (ovens will vary) till cheese starts to get golden on the edges.

I hope I'm not forgetting anything. You can dial this recipe up & down to your meet your fancy.

I like to serve this w/ a salad of fresh greens, parmasan cheese shavings & balsamic/oil vinagrette. YUM YUM YUM I'm really into arugula right now - I just throw it over the top of my pizza on my plate & eat it all together. I'm probably enjoying a glass of wine with this as well.

TIME TO JUST DO IT

Well....I have been toying w/ the idea of creating my own blog. And last night the thought literally kept me up at night. That and the Olympics and my little 6 mos old boy Benson who has a little cough/cold and can't fall asleep because he can't suck on his thumb and breathe at the same time.

I was lying in bed, watching the freestyle skiiers (wow) and a million ideas, thoughts, lists, wishes were flying thru my head. I also realized that I had one more baby burp cloth to sew in the basement for a friend so I hopped out of bed and ran downstairs to finish it. Feels good to complete that as the ingredients with which to make these fun little burp cloths have been sitting in a bag for months. Why do I do that?

When I crawled back into bed my mind was still racing with other projects, long time dreams and annoying to-do's. I wished I had had a piece of paper next to my bed to write them all down. Right then I vowed that I would start up this blog and fill it will all the goings on in my life. My work, my stationery company, my family, my boys, my wish to be a good cook & find the best/easiest recipes, my wish to be this crafty crafterson, my home (renovations!).... shall I go on? I get so inspired when I read other folks blogs who seem to be diving into all these fun situations. Time to get busy. Life is too short.

PS - here is a pic of my middle of the night project. Will get better at having a nicer background setting - but we're remodeling our kitchen ourselves and that's a whole 'nother blog entry! ;)

Okay - this is funny. I haven't blogged since Charlie was born.

As you can see from this picture - we now have BENSON and he's wearing the outfit Charlie did when he was 6 mos old!!! YIKES!