Football and Apple Pie

A strange thing happens to my husband when football season starts.  He suddenly loves to cook.  So imagine my surprise when Nick announced we were going to make an apple pie from scratch (including the crust)!  See my pictures and Nick's step by step commentary below.

 "The Forbidden Apple" Pie begins.

The Spiteri Apple Tree, planted in 1996

 Paula Dean closely monitored the making of this crust, with chunks of frozen cubed butter, teaspoons of cold water, flour, sugar, salt, and good ole' Southern love.

 Paula actually let my husband knead the dough, because of his rather picturesque model hands.

 Again, I am not sure if this shot is more of the apples or of my husbands beautiful hands.

 After a  brief introduction, the apples and dough meet and get married.

 Once again, as Paula was holding my husbands wrist, Nick and Paula detail the outer edge of pie.

 Before leaving San Bruno, Paula took this last picture of Nick.  Paula insisted on having doubles made of this picture, since she had to catch her flight back to the Food Network.

As part of the contract, Paula insisted on a third of the pie being shipped to her, before anyone got any.

If you're up for the challenge and want to make your own "Forbidden Apple Pie" click here. 

Easy Apple Pie Recipe. 

Fall Flower Revamp

October is my favorite month.  Here in San Francisco we experience warm summer days and cool nights.  Although most of our summer flowers are in their last blooming stage, it's too early to say goodbye to great landscaping.  Below are a few pictures of what I did over the weekend to add some texture and color to our front yard.

  Organized chaos:  Utilizing our front lawn as my workspace. 

Fall Rustic Flower combination (full sun): 

African Daisy, Ipomoea (twining vines), Lemon Thyme, Purple Annual Flowers.

Tip: Know your climate.  The death of a plant often happens because we choose a plant because it looks great, but we don't plant it in the right climate.  Pay attention to the climate tags and make sure you select the best plant for your garden.

Fall Rustic Flower combination (full sun):  

Ipomoea (twining vines), Scottish Moss, African Daisy 

Tip: A classic terracotta pot is always a timeless choice. 

 

 

A Gem of an Organizer

Most people do everything they want in the month of December.  You eat until it hurts, shop till you drop and party like it's going out of style.  No wonder January feels like one long Monday. To help pass the time, my mission is to get myself organized once and for all (yeah right....this resolution will be broken by March!)

First up my jewelry collection!

With jewelry being a big trend the last few seasons, I've started to accumulate some fun pieces.  Not owning a jewelry box, my jewelry has been spread out all over.  As a married gal, I have to consider solutions that are aesthetically pleasing, but also something that works with my unisex decore. After recently seeing some fun ways to display jewelry, I was inspired to come up with a practical and stylish solution.

Photo Credit

Kelly Wearstler's jewelry collection.  Wish I could dedicate a whole dresser to accessories, but lack of space and collection doesn't make this a practical solution for me.

Photo Credit

Using tea cups is a whimsical solution to storing jewelry, but I don't think I'm dainty enough to use this idea.

Photo Credit

I love the shadow box idea, but I have too much jewelry for this idea.  

The Solution:

A vintage inspired 3 tiered thing I found from here...

It holds cocktail rings

earrings

necklaces

& bangles!

With a masculine metal finish, but a feminine scallop edge, this was a great find that can easily be integrated into any bedroom or powder room decore.

Now onto the next organization project!

Bill's Hot Totty

Baby it's cold outside.  Better make myself a hot toddy drink!
Ingredients:
•1 oz brandy, whiskey or rum
•1 Tbsp honey
•1/4 lemon
•1 cup hot water
•1 tea bag (optional)

Preparation:
1.Coat the bottom of a mug or an Irish coffee glass with honey.
2.Add the liquor and the juice of the lemon quarter.
3.On the side, heat water in a tea kettle and add the tea bag to make hot tea.
4.Pour the steaming tea (or hot water) into the glass and stir.

Hot toddies are traditionally drunk before going to bed, or in wet / cold weather. They were believed to help cure the common cold and flu, but the American Lung Association now recommends avoiding treating the common cold with alcoholic beverages as they cause dehydration. - Thanks wikipedia for the health tip! souce

Bill's drink tip: whatever you use make sure it's not cheap!

I think this is going to put hair on my chest! oh vey

The Lamp Shade That Started It All

When you've lived on your own for 11 years, moving back home with the parents is an adjustment.  Since my new job requires me to work from home, I thought this was a great opportunity to redecorate Stephanie's old bedroom and turn it into a cozy office (after all she doesn't live here anymore)!  The new room was inspired by a vintage lampshade I bought at a flea market a few years ago (picture above).

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 We repainted the room from buttercup yellow to a battleship blue.  I love how the color goes from blue to gray as the light changes in the room.  I unfortunately had to keep the daybed, (my mother politely reminded me this was still Stephanie's bedroom), but modernized the bed with some decorative pillows.

 

For extra storage, I'm using the dresser as a place to house my files. 

I spied these file holders on this favorite blog site.    

I also personalized the space with my favorite pictures 

(including this one of Stephanie).

 

I finally framed the prints bought at this flea market 

and mentioned on this blog entry.

 My desk bought at target features a chrome vintage chair bought from e-bay.  Life lesson #453: When bidding on a piece of furniture, it is only a bargain if your shipping is less than your purchase.  E-bay chair cost:$35.  Shipping cost $150.  Can you say ouch!  I also recycled an old picture frame, by spray painting it white and turning it into a chic bulletin board.

This decorating business is harder than I thought.  If you have any suggestions or tips, please let me know.

Bring Texture Into Your Life

I think TEXTURE is my new Favorite Word!
My parents don't realize it yet, but my secret goal is to slowly makeover their house one room at a time.  It's not that my parent's house is outdated. They certainly aren't stuck in 1992.  After living on my own for 11 years, I've become a  DIY type of a gal and just because I'm back home my decorating and gardening passion  shouldn't have to stop.  So with October here, I felt Bill and Marge needed some texture in front of the house.     

Step 1. Stella and I went to Osh (yes, I brought her in the store with me! She can pass as a service dog.) We bought these great full sun perennial plants.  I love the texture of the bright green ipomea  mixed with the purple angelonia.  

Step 2. Buy some exotic pumpkins (with great texture).  Cinderella pumpkins is an ornamental novelty pumpkin. Deeply ridged, exceptionally flattened fruits and weighs 25-30 lbs. You should have seen me digging through the box at Trader Joe's trying to find the perfect 20 lbs pumpkin. 

 Step 3. Stop Stella from eating the stem of the tiger pumpkin.

Step 4. The finished product. I should have taken a picture of the front of the house, but thought it would be more exciting to show a picture of the dogs.

We Be Jammin'

Fall is here and it's almost time for the Napa Valley to harvest grapes. Today I helped pick a few grapes so my mom and I could learn how to make Merlot jam.  Check out the step by step pictures below, as I learn from my Aunt Jayna how to turn seven gallons of Merlot grapes into 56 jars of jam!  



The Merlot vineyard with barn.

Don't these grapes look delicious?

My mom and I picking the grapes (and eating them too!)

Alyssa aka " The Crusher"

It may look like blood, but this is the juice from our beautiful Merlot grapes!

The left over skin and seeds from the grapes after the crush.

Once the juice starts to boil add sugar and pectin .

Me trying to stir the jam.  Wish I would have lifted weights before volunteering for this job! j/k

After jars are filled with jam, they 're submerged in a boiling water bath so the container will be sealed.

Our finished product.  Yum yum!

A group effort!  Here I am with Aunt Jayna, Uncle Ron, Mom, Dad and Alyssa. I think the display is awarding winning  Don't you?

Me relaxing in the pool after working so hard!

I Love To Picnik

Photograph has been a passion of mind for several years.  Although I understand the basics, I'm far from an expert.  That's why I love to Picnik!  This awesome website allows you to adjust the exposure, color and can even help you fix those unfortunate crooked lines in your pictures. Not to mention can also remove red eye and has a fantastic cropping tool.  Take a look at my before and after pictures of a bench I took in Nice, France.  They almost look like two different pictures! 

Before Picnik: Ugly  

After Picnik: Not so bad 

Flea Market: Junk or Treasure

I never understood those Designing for the Sexes shows until I got married. I’ll never forget the day Nick moved in and suddenly all of my things that resembled shabby chic, were packed in boxes on their way to St. Vincent de Paul. No more pastels and frilly prints. I was forced to move on to geometric prints and gender neutral colors. Although it took Nick and I some time to get into our decorating groove, we eventually got there and now we both can confidently buy things for our apartment knowing the other person will love it just as much

Although it’s been 3 years since my apartment was “girly,” I still can’t resist the urge to go to the flea market. Needless to say, I forgot to think about the above statement last Sunday when I was at the flea market. Husband wasn’t happy when I came home with this treasure:
.

In my defense it does have a geometric feel. What sold me was the amazing circle pattern. Although the chair needs some work, I love the faded Robin Egg color and I even don’t mind the octagon cream fabric. Husband thinks I should paint it brown (aka gender neutral) and recover the chair cushion with a rich fabric. What do you think?

I also scored these amazing vintage hand painted watercolor prints from a Japanese artist. Again, clearly I forgot my own house rules as these are very feminine, however I think once they are matted they could look great in a dining room or office.

Lastly, with market starting this week, I had to get my “Accessorizing On.” When it comes to jewelry, I’ve always gravitated to unique vintage things. At the flea market you can find some wonderful statement pieces for an incredible price. To visit you local Flea Market check out: http://www.iantiquesguide.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20040209191046117