Monthly Archives: February 2013

Head to Toe

Posted in Style by

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As I looked down while walking yesterday, I realized I was in head to toe J.Crew…most of my jewelry included. I wish I could say that this is not a common occurrence but that would be false. With classic styles, great fit and fabulous jewelry, J.Crew is my go-to, número uno choice of store. The always occurring sales, with additional markdowns AND a student/teacher ID discount of an additional 15% off doesn’t hurt either! Thanks to a recent sale with additional 50% then my 15%, I snagged these pink leather flats for just $21 down from over $140 retail! I am a sucker for a sale and that’s what created today’s look along with the majority of my wardrobe.

Chambray Shirt

Polka Dot Pants (on sale in store)

Flats (sold out, similar here)

Coat, last winter.

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The Itch

Posted in Home Life by


I’m a stay at home mom and love my job! However, there are those days that I feel the need for adult interaction – sans kiddos. That my education and all my hard work throughout my school years are going to waste. That if I had time to get a hair cut (haven’t had one since I was 8 months preggers- Reagan’s 16 months), my nails done (haven’t had a mani or a pedi since I was 2 months preggers), and get a much needed massage (not since before I was pregnant) all in the same day, the same week or even the same month…I would feel like a new woman.

It’s not a feeling that I have on a daily basis, it sneaks up on me every once in awhile. When I do actually act on the urge to get out and do something for myself- it just seems like it’s more work than it’s worth and I always want to hurry home or whenever I have left Reagan.

I will always have my fabulous friends to spend time with sans kiddos, my education can never be taken away from me; I can put it to good use whenever I see fit and beauty salons aren’t going anywhere. My daughter is numero uno and won’t be a toddler forever. I’m so fortunate to be able to spend so much time with her as she grows up…even if I do look a hot mess while doing it.

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Grilled Cheese Roll Ups

Posted in What's Cookin' by


I struggle to find things that Reagan will eat. We offer her everything that we eat and she just isn’t interested in anything a majority of the time. Her diet consists of breast milk, pasta, fruit, wheat bread, peas, yogurt, cheese and snacks (such things as Auntie Anne’s crackers, goldfish crackers, and raisins). Reagan’s pediatrician said that as long as she continues to gain weight and is still breast-feeding, she’s fine and is getting what she needs. Finding different ways to present food to Reagan, that she actually likes, has been a process. I’m trying to make eating fun, I want her to enjoy it…but not too much.

After seeing these Grilled Cheese Rolls (http://www.recipebyphoto.com/grilled-cheese-rolls/) I just had to try them for my little dipper! They would be the perfect size for her little fingers to pick up and dip, dip.

Ingredients
(FOR 2 SANDWICHES)

2 pieces of bread
2 slices of cheese
butter

Cut crusts off of bread.

Flatten bread by pressing firmly down with hand.

Top bread with one slice of cheese. I have found that if you add too much cheese it’s very hard to roll the bread and the cheese hangs out the sides and burns to the pan when cooking. I actually tore off edges of the cheese slices that were hanging out of the bread roll.

Roll the bread topped with cheese up and pinch the seam to secure the closing.

Melt a small amount of butter in a frying pan over medium heat and once melted place the sandwich roll seam side down to begin cooking. Press sandwich roll to secure seam.

Turn sandwich roll to cook all sides. Pressing down with a spatial.

Serve with ketchup for dipping!

Score! She loved the roll!




Bacon and Egg Bites

Posted in What's Cookin' by

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Back in August, Con Ed accidentally cut the gas line outside our building while doing construction on the street. Fast forward 6 months later and we still do not have cooking gas in our apartment. Yes, you read that correctly, 6 months without cooking gas! Therefore, my dreams of whipping up all the recipes I have pinned under ‘wine & dine’ have been put on slight hold. Without an oven or range, we have purchased several appliances to help us survive this horrid adventure. Sometimes, I feel like I’m on a camping trip inside my NYC kitchen as I cook on an electric hot plate and use the microwave for things that it probably wasn’t built for. Because there are only two of us, most things can be made in the toaster oven, which surprisingly does a fantastic job with most meals. If you’re a Real Housewives fan, I have no desire to be the next Sonja Morgan and would much rather have me full size oven back. However, when I was craving red velvet cupcakes a few weeks ago I had to head to Home Goods to improvise. All of the muffin tins were just a bit too wide for the toaster oven so I settled on this silicone muffin cups. They did the job, but after making the cupcakes in three rounds of 6, I gave up. They do work perfectly for an easy weekend breakfast that we have (I have) made the past two mornings.

Ingredients

6 silicone muffin cups (or of course, if you’re a person with a real oven, you can use a regular muffin tin)
6 slices of bacon
4 eggs
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Line each muffin cup with a slice of bacon

2. Whip eggs and add salt and pepper to taste

3. Fill each muffin cup with eggs

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes (check status throughout as a real oven may cook them differently)

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The first time I used nonstick spray but then came out a bit too greasy. Today, I didn’t use it and they came out much better. Next time, I’m going to try and add some cheese and veggies but just didn’t have any on hand.

Gallery Wall

Posted in Home Life by


I began this project months ago and am only now attempting to hang them up on the wall in Reagan’s room. I’ve waited patiently for my husband to drill a tiny hole in the back of each piece of wood so that I could use small nails to hang the wood pieces on the wall. Since the holes still aren’t drilled and I’m not familiar with the power tools; I found another way to hang these beauties. I created the wooden pictures and name plate, as well as the chevron canvas with the pink ‘R’. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of these projects from start to finish. I did love how they all turned out and plan on making more in the future.

Needed materials:

– Wooden pictures to hang
– Enough ‘mouth looking’ hooks for the number of pieces of wood that you are hanging
– Super glue
– Picture hanging nails
– Hammer
– Paper cut to the size of your pictures
– Painters Tape

I measured Reagan’s wall and then began to plan out my gallery wall using pieces of paper cut to the exact size of my wooden pictures, painters tape and the chevron painted canvas. These stayed on Reagan’s wall for a few days as I painted the pink ‘R’ and figured out how I was going to get holes into the back of the wooden pictures.

I decided to use super glue to attached the ‘mouth looking’ hooks to the backs of my wooden photo pictures.
I glued my fingers together after the first drop of glue…damn that stuff is powerful!
I held my finger on the hook, pressing down hard for about one minute. I left the glue to completely dry- about 5 minutes.



I also used the super glue to attach the pink ‘R’ to the chevron canvas that I painted. I measured from top to bottom and from left to right before gluing the ‘R’ to make sure that it was centered. I placed the ‘R’ on the canvas and then lifted random edges and squeezed super glue underneath. I put a large book underneath the canvas and pressed the ‘R’ firmly down for a minute or two.

Once the glue was dry on the back of the wooden pictures it was time to hang them up! I thought that this was going to be a breeze,but it was anything but… Our outside walls are cement, which means that they are a pain in the butt to nail anything into them. I bent about 15 nails using my meat mallet (the hammer was in the garage) and took off various pieces of plaster from the wall. shhh…don’t tell my husband. Help me god when we move, this isn’t the only room that I’ve hidden missing plaster chunks behind frames. I was finally successful in getting the tiniest of nails that were included in the picture framing kit to stay in the wall! Woot! Woot! I replaced the orange cut out rectangles with Reagan’s beautiful pictures and name plate.

I think that it came out great!