royal wedding

Exquisite.  

Image Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

color

Color.  I love it.

Found here.

work hard

Word.

that jamie oliver

I made this yummy salad over the weekend.  

Fantastic 

with a simple grilled salmon

and rice.

It's from Jamie's Dinners

a super must have cookbook.

Here is the recipe:

(so easy & can be made way in advance) 

I didn't have chillies, basil or mint.

I used parsley which was perfect.

summer chickpea salad

serves 4

• 1 small red onion, peeled
• 1–2 fresh red chillies, deseeded
• 2 handfuls of ripe red or yellow tomatoes
• 2 lemons
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 x 410g jar or tin of chickpeas, drained, or around 4 large handfuls of soaked and cooked chickpeas
• a handful of fresh mint, chopped
a handful of fresh green or purple basil, finely ripped
• 200g/7oz feta cheese

First of all, finely slice your red onion. Once that's done, finely slice your chillies then roughly chop your tomatoes, mixing them in with the onion and chillies. Scrape all of this, and the juice, into a bowl and dress with the juice of 1½ lemons and about 3 times as much good extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste. Heat the chickpeas in a pan, then add 90 per cent of them to the bowl. Mush up the remaining chickpeas and add these as well – they will give a nice creamy consistency. Allow to marinate for a little while and serve at room temperature.

Just as you're ready to serve, give the salad a final dress with the fresh mint and basil. Taste one last time for seasoning – you may want to add the juice from your remaining lemon half at this point. Place on a nice serving dish and crumble over the feta cheese.

photo and recipe from here.

macrame rings

Found these

macrame rings at Amira jewelry on etsy.  

They are all screaming summer!

happy easter

Happy Easter Folks!

Found this springy thing here.

minted rose lip balm

This is the lip balm I have on 

my night table.

I love it.

You can find it here.

carrots for easter

Great idea for Easter from bkids.

the sartorialist

Love that SARTORIALIST 

and his eye for style.

flip and tumble

First off,  I am baffled by 

organic produce or organic anything 

for that matter

that is sold in plastic...

does not seem right in my very own humble opinion.

I also think that plastic produce bags are a big waste 

EXCEPT for this little window in my life where 

I reuse plastic bags for pooey diapers. 

I also don't like storing loose veggies or fruit in plastic.

 SO

I was happy to have found these via that great blog

momfilter.

The idea is to take these to the grocery

for loose veggies and fruit.

I will store my produce in them as well...

worth a try!

Flip and Tumble reusable produce bags can be found here.

jump

This is the most joyous photograph.

Found here.

Have a happy weekend!

bookhou at home

 The alphabet.

This is a fantastic piece of art for a child's room.

See it in this sweet room?

Bookhou at Home is the creator.

Trad Home

Got this email blast today from

Lonny Magazine.

More eye candy for you....

another great zine

called Trad Home.

sweetnellie

The sweetest puppets at sweetnellie, an etsy shop.

Just in time for Easter.

milk and honey home

 I love this.  

It's from this great shop called

Milk and Honey Home.

And here are the 

tiny hands that steal my heart away.

deer ticks

 As you will recall, we went for a hike in the woods when Everett was on staycation.

The day after, I was shocked to find a tick embedded 

in the right side of my abdomen above my hip 

where my jeans hit my waist.

I pulled it out with tweezers in a nano second.

It was so disgusting.  

The bite area was extremely 

red and irritated and swollen for a whole day.

Of course my first thought was

LYME DISEASE.

LUCKILY, a mom from the studio 

gave me the info as to where to send the tick for analysis

if ever I found one on me or my family.

I am so grateful to this lovely mom 

(she has dealt alot with ticks and Lyme disease).

Now, some towns will test the tick for Lyme for you 

if you take the thing to your local health department.

I would rather do it myself.

I sent the tick to:

The Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

University of Connecticut

Department of Pathobiology

61 N. Eagleville Rd. U-89

Storrs, CT 06269-3089

 Send the bug dead or alive in a damp paper towel in a ziploc baggie in a crush proof container.

The lab will call you in 3-5 days with results and will follow up with a letter with all the details.

Bill for $30-40 will follow.

I was happy to find that the tick I found in me was:

an adult female

slightly engorged (gross!)

head and mouth parts missing

(because they were stuck in my side...nice.)

LUCKILY and most importantly

it tested 

NEGATIVE for the Borrelia burgdorferi 

(the causative agent of Lyme disease)

THANK GOODNESS!

If you live in these parts you know how horrible Lyme disease is.

So I am passing this info on to you

just in case you ever come across a tick on you or yours.

I did go to my physician to document and show him the bite.

Not a whole lot he can do

until one knows the kind of tick

one is dealing with or if one has flu like symptoms

and/or that bulls eye rash.

I found the following info here.

Removing Ticks

Ticks need somewhere between 24 and 48 hours to spread infection, so if you spot one, remove it immediately. Here’s how:

1. If possible, put on latex gloves.
2. Use tweezers to grasp near the attachment point and pull back.
3. Clean the bite area with soap and warm water, your hands and the tweezers.

Final Tips

Watch the infected area for a small red ring or rash. A rash could mean that a part of the tick remained inside the skin and will work it’s way out. A red ring could indicate possible lyme disease. Fluid could be a sign of an infection.
Remember, the tick will not back out (unless it is fully engorged and ready to drop off). You must pull it out. Also, do not use other methods to remove the tick such as burning the tick, using nail polish remover or petroleum jelly. These methods do not work and can cause the tick to release more pathogens into the epidural layer.

more of our staycation

 museum of natural history

 hike in the woods

 strep throat

little sister

 sleepover at leslie's

stroll in central park

if I had a.....

 bakery...

This is what it would look like.

Found this bakery

here.

dream stone holiday house

 

When I go to sleep tonight

I will dream about this

stone, stucco house.

I will dream I am living there 

for one whole glorious month

on a summer holiday

with all my favorite 

peeps popping in.

Found it on this fab blog 

I just discovered called

The Diversion Project.

ellmania

 Our living room 

was featured 

on this swedish blog.