Goodbye April!

Mondays...what can be said about Mondays...nothing good!
Except for the fact that Andy Cohen host of Watch What Happens Live is now on in the background.  Gotta love him.  How he controls those crazy housewives I just don't know!
I really don't have much to say.  I'm exhausted - we had one of those crazy weekends and I didn't feel well on Saturday.  Okay I keep getting logged out!
Must be off!
xo world

This was one of those weekends that I didn't get much done.  I made the Mr. Grouper cake and it tasted delicious but Mr. Grouper didn't look so happy.  So my cake shall go in another direction.  Yesterday we were at a 1st birthday party which was cute.  And today we celebrated my brother's birthday at a restaurant - in my family that's unheard of!  We usually just have a family dinner at home.  In any case here are two pictures of the same tree that I pass everyday on my way to work.  I call it the dancing tree - just look at the way the branches extend.

Now in black & white.

Our Chicklets

Tonight I have spent the better part of the evening making a run through cake for my daughter's 2nd birthday party.  The "theme" is Bubble Guppies - you know that really cute show on Nick Jr.  It's the show that makes her sing, dance, giggle and eat her breakfast, lunch & dinner!  So how could I not throw her a party with bubble guppies everywhere? My idea is to bake a chocolate cake in the shape of
Mr. Grouper (seen here).  Yes I think it's challenging and I might fall flat on my face!  But hopefully I will have some kind of picture to post tomorrow.  I think part of my whole obsession with her birthday is that I'm back to work and I have worker's guilt.  I want to be supermom - even though I know it's impossible.  And I think part of me wants to make an impression.
Well we shall see what happens tomorrow.  I made the buttercream frosting and it's the best frosting I have made to date - so at least that worked out!

OHHH the things we go through for our chicklets!

Little Moments

How many times a day do you have a moment with your kids that just makes you completely happy with where you are in you life?  Tonight, after my oldest had yet another poop disaster both my girls were resting in my bed.  Both smiling at me after I had a long day at work and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
It was the first time that they held hands - like really held hands.  It's the little moments.

Avery & Ellen!

please visit Avery's Bucket List and go to Ellen's website and write a letter about how Avery inspires you!  It's on her bucket list to DANCE with Ellen!  May 1st contact Ellen as many times as you can to invite her onto her show!

Monday Blues

Yesterday was a wet and rainy day here in New York City.  I wish I had captured a picture of the rainfall last night - between the thunder, lightning and winds it was pretty incredible.  Luckily when I left for work at  7:00 AM the rain had calmed to a lovely drizzle.
Here are some pictures I captured while walking through Central Park.

On a normal weather day you can see the skyline of Manhattan at the south end of the park.  Today you can barely make out the tops of some of the buildings.

Question for you out there - does anyone know how to make a decent watermark?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

Another Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

Yellow

This is my youngest daughter's teddy.  He's yellow - but at only 4 months old he's starting to fade from all the cuddles

Something That Makes Me Smile

How could this not make smile?

Antique

My dad bought this at a junk shop over 10 years ago.  I saw it outside the store on the street and convinced my dad to get it for me for my birthday.

As you can see - the picture on the left shows the detailing, picture in the middle shows the two things that are on the side.  And finally the picture on the right shows the key to the cabinet in the middle.

 

Table dressed up for Easter :)

Splash

My kids splashing in the tub.  I was trying to get them to splash more - but kids do what they want

In the Sun

In Central Park on Saturday 

Some More Sun from my Archives

Central Park

Vietnam Memorial

Memorial in Washington DC

 

Feeling Down?

Anytime you're feeling down just think of beautiful little Avery.  She had to have surgery, at just 5 months, to get a tube to help with feeding - she has SMA.  But after surgery she is still smiling - puts a lot of things in perspective.

Avery's Bucket List

Tonight I participated in the first Grits & Giggles Linky party!  You should submit something you made (old or new).  I submitted my Silhouettes.

And tonight I am just too tired to continue writing - sorry.  I had an extremely busy day at work today and my eyes are crossing!  And then I came home and was trying to switch out old and hand-me downs for my youngest because she is growing like a string bean!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Proud

I'm proud of myself today.  Guess what I did...I got up at 5:00 AM - yes I said AM - as in before the sun rises and went to the gym!  It's the first time I've been to the gym - in lets just say a very long time.  I'm no longer preggo and would like to be able to wear some kind of bathing suit this summer and feel pretty good about myself.  I think most women feel that way.  But how does one find the time?  I come home from work at about 4:30 ish and I want to spend time with the girls.  After they are in bed I want to spend time with my man (or be selfish and do things that I like to do).  So when do I possibly have the time go workout - only in the morning. 
It was so early I was worried I would be the only person there.  Luckily there were some hard core gym goers there.  One girl was on the treadmill (running mind you) when I got there and still running when I left.  Young girl - wonder what she does. 
I hope to keep this up every other day.  So cross your fingers for me. 

PS - This is SO not what I look like

Ramblings & Photos: Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This is my fist submission - yeah me!  And it's after 10:00 on a work night and I'm not in bed - go me!
This week's words are: Simple, Grain, Transportation, Stitch & Bubbles.


This is a picture in Central Park during the fall (sorry I had to go into my archives).  It was the only tree of this color in that area - so SIMPLE.

My husband recently graduated culinary school (let's hope I don't put on 10 more pounds).  This is a dish he made several months ago (again sorry I had to go into my archives).  He wants me to let you know his plating has improved.  Right now he's laughing to himself saying "terrible plating" :)

Grain

This week we went to Ikea in Brooklyn.  This is a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge as we are heading back home.  It transports thousands of people each day.  (sorry not sure why there is that black bar on the right).

This is the fabric I used to make a seat cushion for my closet that I'm turning into a "mud room".  I got the idea from the The House of Smiths.

And finally Bubbles!  My daughter is obsessed with bubbles.  Her Grandma Morgan went bubble crazy.  Here they are playing with bubbles!

Thanks for looking.

Raising Awareness

Please visit this blog.  It's about a little girl, Avery - only 5 months old who was diagnosed with SMA - Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  Her parents started this blog to raise awareness about the disease and to create a bucket list for Avery. For me, as a mom, it was hard to read their blog but then I thought - they are living this reality every day.  And you can see from their pictures they can still smile.  The least I can do to help them is spread the word.  I don't know them, but for any child or parent that is in pain we should help.  Please read their inspiring story and beautifully written blog to learn more and to help them get their blog viral so they can raise awareness. 

Silhouettes

I have always thought silhouettes were unique and elegant and wanted to get some of my daughters but figured they were too expensive.  One day I googled how to make your own silhouettes and found a great and easy tutorial at the Women Get Social with the SITS Girls. 
I took a profile picture of my girls - which can be challenging enough with two active ladies both under the age of two.  Actually my youngest was easier than my oldest - go figure.

I realized after I took the pictures that the girls were facing opposite directions so I just flipped my younger daughter's picture horizontally. I copied my pictures into Word and sized them down to 5 x 7.  My printer has been acting funny the last few weeks so the print quality was off.  Just make sure you can see the outline of your subject.  First I traced around their faces leaving room for error and then I trimmed it down to size. 

I turned the paper over and painted the back of the picture black.  Once they were dry I put two books on top of them to prevent curling.

The next day the family Morgan ventured to Ikea in Brooklyn - such an amazing store!  We hadn't been there in a few years so we had a ton of fun.  I found two cheap white frames for 5 x 7 photos.  My original plan was to get one large frame and have both pictures in the same frame - but each frame was $2.00 so I couldn't resist.  I can always get a larger frame at another time and use the smaller ones for other photos.
I inserted the picture into each frame and VOILA!  I have my very own silhouettes that were inexpensive to make.

Thank you!

Thank you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her amazing tutorial on creating my own blog button!  I finally have one - although I think I definitely want to tweek it.
Check her out.

Thanks!

Time Management

Something I haven’t been able to conquer.  I work full time outside the home and I’m a full time mom.  I recently went back to work after an amazing maternity leave.  My second daughter was my early Christmas present.  I loved being at home with my girls.  At times it was literally insane – poop disasters (both girls at the same time), teething, girly drama for no apparent reason, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.  When I was at home I was able to play with the girls, clean and get some “me time”.   And by "me time" I didn't feel rushed.  However, now that I’m back at work I’m finding it hard to juggle it all.  I leave for work before the girls get up (most mornings they are still asleep) and I’m usually home by about 4:30.  My oldest usually goes to bed at about 7 and my youngest usually at about 9:30.  How do I manage to play with both of them, get dinner ready, bath time, read books, put to bed, clean house, laundry and get to do what I want to do?  Something has to give…right?  But I don’t want to give up anything.  Do I stay up later and pound more coffee the next day?  Each thing I do – I multitask.  While I write my posts I’m also looking for jobs for my husband (he was laid off).  While I’m feeding the girls I’m negotiating with my oldest that she can have an M&M if she eats her turkey.  While I’m bathing the girls I’m thinking about what I would like to take on next.  How does one accomplish it all without giving something up? 

How do you manage it all?

Easter Cupcakes

It is our family's tradition to have Easter just the 4 of us.  My husband made an amazing dish - with a gravy that literally makes you want to lick the plate (because I did).  I took on Easter dessert.  At Christmas my husband set me up with a whole bunch of baking tools including a few cookbooks.  One is The Big Book of Cupcakes - Betty Crocker.  One of the cupcakes is a cupcake that has different colored layers.  Their recipe called for coconut extract (but I don't like coconut) so I just made a vanilla cupcake.  Their recipe also called for fluffy white frosting.  However mine was disastrous.  I burned the mix and then melted a plastic spatula in the mix, then I let the mix sit too long in the pot while it cooled so it hardened in the pot.  Basically I shouldn't try that recipe again without supervision.  So in the end I made a multi-colored layered vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting topped with M&Ms.  In order to make the different colored layers I made the cake mix then divided into four bowls for each of the food colors I had.  I picked a color for the bottom layer and used a teaspoon to transfer the mix from the bowl to the pan.  I used the back of the spoon to smooth the cake mix.  Just be careful you don't mix the colors when going from bowl to bowl.  I continued until all the layers were done (or I had 12 cupcakes).

Obsession...

Do you ever become obsessed with an idea?  And then just spend hours thinking about it?  Well my new obsession is my daughter's 2nd birthday party!  We decided on a bubble guppies "theme".  I'm not one to go all out for a young child's party but I've become obsessed.  I just sent out the invites today - all bubble guppies.  Now I'm looking up decorations, cake ideas, party favor ideas.  I can't stop the bubble guppies from running through my head! 
What are some of your recent obsessions?

Peg Board Completed!

At last the hooks for the kitchen pegboard arrived!  My husband was finally able to complete his masterpiece.  I think the wall looks amazing with all the burnt ends of the pots showing.

Happy Easter!

Back to work

On Tuesday I went back to work after a beautiful maternity leave.  I was blessed to have such an amazing time at home with my girls and I wish I could extend that time indefinitely.  Alas, one of us have to work :(
My husband was laid off about a year and a half ago so I've been bringin home the bacon (oh joy).  I am lucky enough to return to a job where I like most of the people I work with and have made a lot of friends there.  But, if I had the choice - there would be no question.   I often envy the stay-at-home moms.  I envy the time they have with their kids, the tears they get, the opportunity to mess up their house and then clean it up, the GIANT SMILES that light up a tiny face, I envy the time.
So if you're a stay-at-home mom enjoy it - gobble it all up!
xo

DIY - Peg Board

I live in an apartment - and space to say the least is extremely limited!  So in my search for more DIY projects and remodeling what we can - I found pegboards to be extremely exciting!  One of the websites that was helpful in my search for inspiration was Apartment Therapy.   My husband, the professional chef of the house (no really he's professional - he went to school for it and all) agreed that we should "totally do it!".  And off to Home Depot we went!  There we got the peg board (2) for just over $6.00 each and the beautiful green paint for $7.00/gallon - because it was in the OOPS section!  How amazing is that?!  My brother helped my hubby put it up - and now we are able to create more cabinet space!  We are waiting for the hooks to arrive (we ordered from Amazon) and then we can arrange where the pots and pans will go.

 I think the green gives our extremely bland kitchen some beautiful color.  We are also going to put another board up over the oven.  However, in our quest our batty next door neighbor complained so we only did 1 today.

One more project to look forward to is turning our coat closet/crap closet into a "Mud Room"!  The fabric for the cushion arrived and here is what it looks like.  Stay tuned for that transformation!