"do you have your floatation devices?"

we decided to take another break from our packing yesterday and take everybody up to gk's house on lake lahusage. after lots of texting on friday night, our friends from the atl decided to come with us. they arrived in rome on saturday around 2:00 (sans my bff, the mom. she was feeling a little under the weather). we had coolers packed, floats to be blown up, fishing rods, plenty of iphones and itouches, and the fry daddy to make onion rings to go with our burgers for dinner. we were ready to go! the morning was overcast but the clouds gave way to a beautiful day. it was so quiet on the lake and without any motorized distractions, the kids had some good old fashioned fun. and there is no cell service in the house or on the dock, so that made it even better for them! i tried to document the day for my sweet friend while her husband and kiddos were basking in the sun with us. their middle child was at the beach so she missed the fun as well. next time, we will get the whole family to the lake. we missed you!

the guys enjoyed these vintage chairs. we are on a mission to find more.

fishing, burgers, and kayaking.

more enjoyment of the vintage chairs after dinner. i wish i knew what marsh and em were saying...
and pb and olivia too!

and 2 train rides to end the day.

thanks for coming with us, hazlehursts. and thanks to gk for letting us all crash!

the "it's not my birthday!" birthday dinner

when wil was little i was obsessed with the movie, sliding doors. i'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that gp starred in the movie and i was equally obsessed with her. as soon as my bff and i saw it, we were even more obsessed with her haircut. and i must say, i thing we nailed it. i need to find some photos. anyhow, i was walking this morning and this song played on my ipod and i got so nostalgic. i started thinking about how fast time goes by and how every day is such a gift. i know that sounds sappy, i've said it before, and it can even sound trite. but it is the truth, nonetheless.

so last night, we asked wil and em to tell us their favorite meals that will always remind them of this house on 2 pear street...nostalgia is heavy in the air around here with one week left in our house. not that we aren't excited about all that is to come, but it is bittersweet. one of the things they mentioned was this pesto pizza. so i decided to include the directions and some photos tonight. we are documenting this week thoroughly!

we started with fresh pesto made with the basil from our herb garden planter. and some grilled chicken with a yummy marinade that pb created tonight.

next we brushed our pizza crusts (not homemade, boboli...lots of ideas here!) with olive oil and baked on 350 for 5 minutes.

next, we topped with the pesto

and the shredded grilled chicken with mozzarella and parmesan cheese

baked on 450 for 8-10 minutes or until cheese was melted and bubbling!

everyone lovvvved it.

even pumpers.

and after dinner, we celebrated my birthday...again...because em missed it while she was at camp. this might be the best birthday cake i have ever had. thank you pb and kate at honey moon bakery. red velvet with butter cream icing. divine.

everyone here is fat and happy. goodnight!

spotted. a great find. yet to spot. billy bob thornton.

if anyone wanted any pertinent info on us, all they would have to do is look in our pantry. not to discover the food choices we are making (you could find a range of things from twizzlers to whole wheat pasta) but real info. for the last 3 years everything from our taxes to birth certificates and passports have been "filed" somewhere between cooking light and a folder of my favorite recipes. that is where we "hid" these things when we moved in and somehow they never found a safer home. soooo...we decided that it was time to properly file said info and the search began for a filing cabinet. we didn't want a metal one. unless it was something retro and very cool. we found a beautiful wood filing cabinet at the antique mall but couldn't justify the price.

yesterday, to celebrate the first day of summer, (any excuse to avoid more packing) i ran to the thrift store on 5th ave where i found these things last month. this place is hit or miss but so far, i have had a hit every time. i spotted this and sent a photo to pb.

he immediately texted back, "i dig." (he was working and not leaving because we have some starz in town. they are filming this movie and staying at the hotel where his studio is located...more on this later!) i went home to ponder it. it was not a filing cabinet but that is what i liked about it. it could function as one but much cooler. so i went back. and after the use of a damp cloth and this magic pen...

for touch ups...

we have this amazing cabinet for $35.00!

we need to have a store one day.......

orange you glad it's tuesday?

i have always loved the color blue. when i was little, everything i had, had to be blue. when the children i teach ask me what my favorite color is, i say "blue". even though i like so many colors and color combinations, blue is forever my favorite...from the palest, whitest blue to the brightest turquoise...it is consistently the shades of blue that catch my eye. i am a visual person. i love color. i loved studying color theory in school. i liked the science of it. i love mixing colors. i love the challenge of taking the primary colors, white and black and making just the right shade of a color for a painting.

as we i we have been collecting images of things we like for our house (and you know there is an organized notebook for these images) there is a common theme of shades of blue and shades of orange in most of the ideas. it is obviously my favorite complementary color scheme on the color wheel. (i know, what a dork.)

as i was gathering all the images i have been saving to write this, my mother in law rang the doorbell and handed me a little something that i didn't realize i was missing.
we sold our washer and dryer because we need a stackable set for the new house. so we are doing our laundry at her house downtown until we move. last night we walked over in the dark to pick up our clean laundry. my favorite blue underpinnings fell out of the basket and were waiting for her in the driveway this morning. thanks for rescuing them gk.

so with that, here are some pretty blue and orange treats!

spotted this car while having a glass of (the best!) wine with jbp last night on broad street. didn't photograph so well but it was the perfect orange for our foyer.

great table. great wall.

perfectly distressed turquoise.

cute orange pants.

cheers!

this trim, these chairs, this lounge.

the hanging of the artwork in this orange bathroom.

and this cat (sitting up like a person and watching eat, pray, love with me last night) that matches everything we own.

photo of the week

so fresh and so clean!

we made this vinaigrette a few weeks ago and i am addicted to it. i don't know why i thought whipping up your own would be so difficult? once i tried this, i was sold. much better than anything store bought. and completely fresh!

so today i decided to make it again and have a salad for lunch. i started with this.

and added these.

sprinkled some feta cheese for protein and added a few croutons for crunch. (forgot i had sunflower seeds which would have made it.) i drizzled some of the vinaigrette on top and voila! the best little salad.

here is the recipe:

1/2 cup good olive oil (this is key)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/2 t dijon mustard
1t kosher salt
1/2 t cracked pepper
whisk all ingredients together. i added lemon thyme from our herb garden today and that was reallllly good.

i know this is not original to anyone that makes vinaigrettes, but i feel like i have discovered something! it is so easy and so good. it will keep in the fridge for a few days in a cruet. not sure how long because we have used it all in a day or two every time. and excuse the bad photos. quick ones with my phone.

happy weekend!

i found them! finally found the perfect pair of white jeans. i ruined my other fav's last summer and have been on a mission. so...white jeans have now been removed from the list of things i am currently hunting. of course, i do have the j.crew white toothpick jeans that i love and would highly recommend for a great summer staple. these are my go-to jeans for any occasion. cute in the spring with boots but cool enough in the summer with flip flops or sandals. but i wanted to replace the bootcut ones that i ruined. found these on net-a-porter.com. if you subscribe to the website and create a profile of things you are interested in, they will email you with alerts when these things are on sale. got an alert for these and they were less than half price. a steal!

the skinny bootcut by seven for all mankind

and on another note, no pun intended, this is what is going on in our garage right now...

and this is what is going on to hide from the noise. our camper is home and worn out!

tgif!

winner, winner part deux

we have been busy with a week of art camp. wil has helped as one of my counselors this year so it has been extra special. it is so amazing to work with your child and see him in an element other than home. he had a great friend, ml, working with him as well. a fun week.

a few things that have caught my eye in the midst of packing and artistic expressions...


first of all, this photo. we took our campers to pb's studio for a little guitar playing by wil and ml and a camp photo.

our campers!

this precious pup, lucky. he showed up in my classroom the first day of camp and spent the day with us. he is a neighbor of the lower school. the hilarious thing was when his owner came to get him and found out he was hanging out with us, she left him. she asked what time camp would be over and picked him up in the carpool line.

and this design by pb is going on the back of our camp t-shirts. pretty cool, i think.

this quote.

this coffee table. liking the thought of hermes orange. thinking it might be a good foyer color.

like this

and these rings. found a great one at our yard sale on saturday (thank you t.f.). into the big rings again.

and last, a song by georgia fields. a cover of sweet child of mine. took me forever to find it. i even won a bet with pb because he tried to tell me it was someone else. i was right. he was wrong. i won. listen here.

Georgia Fields - Sweet Child Of Mine (Live) Found at abmp3 search engine

and again, i won the bet.

happy friday!

i have so much to do today but of course, have been collecting images all week that i love and have to share on this sunny friday. enjoy!

loving this little dish. it says it all.

and i have so much orange mint right now. i think this would be the perfect use for it. freeze a leaf in an icecube for summer drinky drinks!

and i think this outfit is so cute.

and this headboard is very cool.

in love with orange.

moving is so carthartic. i fall willingly toward the nostalgic side so every change of season stirs the pot of memories for me. combine that with a move, going through all of our drawers, cleaning out, saving treasures...it has been a good thing. i heard this song earlier and the flood gates opened. it reminds me of sitting on the porch on late summer nights with pb several years ago. i put it on a playlist for him...probably trying to impress him with my ecclectic taste in music. that makes me laugh now. and although this song is a little melancholy, it still makes me smile.