A Real Kitchen

The move might have happened back in June but I'm still trying to make this house into a home and getting rid of unseemly brown boxes is only one part of the problem. Another part of the problem has been our kitchen, which until last week and for the last four years has been unfinished wood. Well, with the aid and especially the momentum of my mother, I now have a kitchen, a real kitchen. We primed and painted the cabinets and what a difference it makes, in the kitchen and in my mind! It's given me a renewed energy to work on other parts of the house. Thanks Mom!

And Moose and Lobster!

And of course the obligatory Maine Moose pictures! And a Lobster!


On of three baby moose that were being cared for at the Maine Wildlife Park. It's just a baby and it stands taller than Miss Emi!


And the real thing, this moose was so big and his antlers so heavy that his breathing made him rock back and forth as he slept.

Mmmm dinner....

Maine: The Way Life Should Be

Just wanted to post a few pictures of my recent trip to Maine. Growing up in Maine you don't always appreciate the beauty of the surrounding landscape but now as a bit of an outsider I am awed by it. I spent my two weeks home visiting friends and family and seeing as much of the sea as I could. The weather wasn't as inspiring as I would have liked, it rained or threatened as much for 14 of the 18 days I was home. But luckily I managed to make it to the beach on the nice day!


Other than beaching I spent time with two of my college friends on Cape Cod where we visited a fabulous pick your own farm. I could not stop snapping pictures the whole time we were there with all the lush greenery springing from the earth!


And of course I spent a whole lot of time with my favorite niece and nephew! Here they are at Home Depot's Saturday Kids Clinic where they were making a Picnic Caddy. You can tell little Joey is really going to town with his tools! After we finished with the clinic we went into the store for a few things and every tool we passed Joey said, "I want that for my birthday next year." Power Drill, "I want that for my birthday next year." Table Saw, "I want that for my birthday next year." Etc. Very cute. And Emi did a great job of making her Picnic Caddy without getting anything on her lovely dress :)


It was a great visit and I miss the kiddos already!

Sushi at Home

A and I have had a busy and tough last few weeks with his work schedule and the impending move, so last night I decided we needed a night together in the kitchen. There is something so comforting and home-y about cooking together. We love to go out for sushi, in fact our second date was to a sushi restaurant, so I thought I'd try to teach him to make sushi. It's something I've done at home once or twice but it's been a while and I love to do it! Here's a look at our feast! We made three types of rolls, one California roll, one roll with shrimp, crab, and cucumber, and one roll of A's own making with who knows what in it (I know it included some hot sauce so I steered clear of it!). We also made Summer Rolls similar to the ones that I learned to make from my friend Julia (Thanks Jules!) and Miso soup with rice noodles. It was far more food than we could eat, but look how fabulous!

Coconut Cake!

Yesterday was A's birthday! I asked him what kind of cake was his favorite and instead of the usual Chocolate or Vanilla or Carrot Cake, all cake's I've made before, I got Coconut Cake! Now let me preface by saying birthdays are a big deal in my family, probably because we all have a really big sweet tooth and will come up with any excuse to invite people over for cake and birthdays are a more natural excuse than say President's day cake or random Sunday cake. So I searched through recipes and cookbooks looking for an easy and delicious looking Coconut cake and decided on one by Paula Dean, Jaimie's Coconut Cake. It was pretty simple, your basic 1-2-3-4 Cake as she calls them but with coconut milk in the batter and then a sour cream and coconut filling and of course coconut sprinkled on top. Coconut inside and out! It came out beautifully, although my icing skills leave much to be desired... A loved it and that's what counts the most, that and the fact that the coconut sprinkled on top hides all sort of problem spots! I asked him later last evening the last time he had coconut cake and what it was like, just for comparison and what did he say? It was plain white cake and white frosting and coconut sprinkled on top! Much simpler than what I came up with, but I suspect not quite as exciting :)

Checkbook Cover

Here's a little glance at another project that I made from the Heather Ross Weekend Sewing book, the Checkbook Cover. This was a very easy pattern to follow, not so much of a pattern as a tutorial or instructions since it did not require a physical pattern as such. I was excited to use this black and white fabric scrap left over from my recent bag project and I thought it was fun to pair it with something bright like this teal floral print. I'm not using it as a checkbook cover however, I'm storing my coupons in it and keeping it in my purse, it makes a great little organizer!

Gracie's Dress

I'm in love with this little dress that I made for my friend's daughter Gracie! It came out really really cute. I posted about it a few posts back. The pattern came out of Heather Ross' new book Weekend Sewing, which I am totally in love with! I've also made the CheckBook Cover from the book (which I am using as a coupon holder) and am just hems away from finishing the Kimono Dress for myself! Wait til you see the Dress! Love it! But one post at a time!