blue

blueberries that chace and i picked this morning.

blueberry muffins with our fresh picked berries.

recipe from smitten kitchen

blue hydrangea in our back yard.

bean's room... the crib

i thought over the next several weeks i would share with you the bean's room, as we await his arrival. 4 more weeks! can you believe it....

the goal with designing this space was to use existing furniture and wall colors to create a whole new look and feel, essentially to reinvent the space. cooper did not spend a whole lot of time in his room when he was alive. he preferred to be held, and since the doctors did not want him to get upset, he pretty much got his way. this being said, i did not have a whole lot of strong emotional attachments to cooper's room, but knew that i needed to create a whole new space for the bean. it is only fair.

i am not a fan of traditional nursery's or colors and i tend to like to play with different color combinations. you will either like the color combo or you wont. thats ok. i happen to love it!

i found the bedding here. they had all kinds of accessories to match the bedding, but i wanted a more eclectic look and feel. i am not a huge fan of stuffed animals, but managed to get quite a few as gifts. i think they work. the bean has two blankets, one on each end of the crib. one is the one i knit for him and the other one is a cashmere blanket his yaya bought him. i swear the kid owns as much cashmere as his mother. the bedding set did come with a matching quilt, it is tucked away in the drawer at the bottom of the crib.

stay tuned for more glimpses of the bean's room......

its official

i believe you can never have too many tubes of lip gloss.

i used to be a lipstick girl, back when i was teaching and had a regular 9-4 job. i would collect different shades of "stick," as i called it. i am not sure why i loved it so, maybe because i didn't have to reapply a million times during the course of the day. or maybe it made me feel older. or more sophisticated. we had a pretty good run, my lipstick and i. and then one day, we just stopped talking and needing each other.

ok, lets be honest. i cheated. i discovered stila lip glaze and was in love. it was an instant love affair. i was drawn in by the packaging, the colors, and the way it sparkled on my lips. with names like plum fairy and pinkle twinkle whats not to love?

so its official, i am now and forever a lip gloss girl. i don't think i even own a tube of lipstick anymore. lip gloss has the power to make me feel younger, not so made up and it has the ability to change my attitude about myself.

tell me, are you a lipstick girl or a lip gloss girl?

requests

i have gotten some very specific requests this week from readers ( i love it, keep them coming), so i thought i would oblige.

**many of you want to know how precious husband has 12 weeks of paid vaca in the winter. he works for a wholesale plant nursery. we are very blessed that he is paid year round, many who work in the landscape business are not paid during the winter and either snow plow, pick up odd jobs, or go on unemployment. precious husband works hard from the end of march to mid- december, so he deserves a little r and r. and he will be home for about a month when the bean arrives.

** the color of the paint in the bean's room is called sea kiss by valspar and we purchased it at lowe's.

** and the empanada recipe, i found it in the the holiday issue of real simple. they have great recipes, by the way.

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 pound of ground beef

1/3 cup of golden raisins

2 tablespoons of ketchup

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

kosher salt and pepper to taste

2 store bought refrigerated rolled pie crusts

1 large egg beaten

** i added 1 cup of diced sweet potato

**heat oven to 375. heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, 5-6 minutes. add the beef and cook, breaking it up until no longer pink. stir in the raisins, ketchup, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

**using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the pie crust. ( i used a bigger circle than called for, it was just easier that way, but it wont make as many or you will need 4 pie crusts) divide the beef mixture among the circles, brush the edges with water, fold in half and press with a fork to seal. transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with the egg. bake until golden, 20-25 minutes.

** enjoy!

lots of cashmere

during my time in santa fe, i managed to knit two new hats for myself. i found both patterns on the purlbee and both are knit using jade sapphire cashmere. i think my hand are now forever spoiled. ( side note, cooper LOVED cashmere. we will see if the bean does as well.)

the first hat is called simple pleasures hat. it is knit using jade sapphire cashmere and silk, along with rowan kid silk haze. i have loved wearing this hat. it is lightweight and super warm, and better yet it doesn't give you hat head.

the second hat is called the dimple hat. it is knit with the jade sapphire 6 ply cashmere. it is a more refined look and fits more like a skull cap. i absolutely love the color of the yarn. the stitch pattern looks complicated, but once you get into a rhythm its all good.

i do love knitting with cashmere, if only it didn't cost so much, but these are great projects that don't break the bank. and were a nice indulgence for someone who has 7 more weeks of being pregnant.

next up..... a couple of hats for the bean.

a blanket for the bean

i have never been a fan of garter stitch, so i was a little skeptical when i found this pattern on the purl bee. but i was in love with the yarn, specifically the colors. i carried alchemy yarns in the yarn shop for a short time and knew that their product was exceptional. i hemmed and hawed because the price was, well expensive for a baby blanket. but those colors kept calling to me. and the yarn is washable, a definite plus for a baby blanket. so i bit the bullet and placed my order.

anything for the bean, right?

i had no idea garter stitch could be so luxurious. its soft and squishy, has great stitch definition and those colors are even better in person. this pattern may be my new favorite baby blanket pattern. it looks great with the bedding that i picked out and cant wait till all the little creative details i have planned for the nursery come together.

i think that the bean will love his blanket.

a whimsical decision

it is time to make a color decision on the whimsy quilt and i need your help. i am trying to decide on background colors for the front of the quilt. the walls of our bedroom are creamsicle orange and the quilt that we have in their now, that i spent WAY to much money on from anthropologie, has alot of the same colors as the quilt i am making.

i am leaning towards the lime green for the front and the rosy and the ecru (which is a light tan) for the back. i think the blush is too pale. what do you think? please let me know.