Archive for May, 2009

Friday is My Day

May 29, 2009 · Filed under Molly

So, I hate to do this, because I really enjoy writing this blog and sticking to the schedule, but I have been inundated with work, and too overwhelmed with governance issues (way too complicated to explain) at my daughter’s preschool lately to have the time to write a post for today. On top  of that, my mom is visiting from New Mexico (yay!), and I need to take a break and enjoy the time with her.

But I will be back on Monday, and I hope you will be to. I promised a crafty, how to make Fairy Dust project (since I am knee-deep in fairies lately).

Have a great weekend!

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My New Chair

May 28, 2009 · Filed under Design, Molly, Pretty Things · Tagged

If ducking security cameras, stealing these chairs and loading them into my getaway car is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

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The upholstery is luxurious – it looks like silk dupioni. I really like the white one. (They also have a turquoise version).

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The chairs belong to the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation, whose office is two floors below mine at our new green office building in Morristown, NJ. They have an amazingly beautiful space.

They wouldn’t notice if I took just one chair, right?

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Fairies, Part 2: Updated

May 28, 2009 · Filed under Kids, Molly · Tagged

I know this is ridiculous, but I really hate the photos I used in Tuesday’s post to show the little Fairy Corner in the girls’ bedroom. I don’t like using the flash on the camera – I like the warm tones of natural light – so I turn it off, but when I took those photos, there just wasn’t enough natural light in the room, and my pictures were too out of focus.

So I took some new photos today, and want to share them. Because I am a total, obsessive geek.

Here’s the corner – with assorted fairy books, little fuzzy animals (and fuzzy animal homes), and various fairy toys.

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The fairy bed in the little fuzzy tree stump:

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The Rainbow Magic books (please don’t embarrass me by counting how many of these we own):

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Fairy dust:

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and Ruby the Fairy with her little owl friend:

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Ok, I feel better now.

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Michelle, ma belle…I love you, I love you, I looooove you

May 27, 2009 · Filed under Etsy Finds, Molly, Pretty Things, Recipes & Food, Stationery & Paper Goods · Tagged ,

Below is the original blog post I put together for today, but please hang in there with me until the end, because there’s more to the story…

***

I think I’m going to have to change the category from, “Somebody Please Buy Me This Cool Stuff” to, “I Should Stop Making an Ass of Myself” Wednesdays.

In my defense, I try very hard not to be an ass.

But you know that whole “I’m disappointed in you guys because you never buy me anything” schtick I dumped on you two weeks ago? I was KIDDING. Sheesh, people. Can’t you take a joke? But then you had to go and send me some nice things, and now I feel like an ass.

As I already mentioned, my mom was the first. She bought me the fabulous French Bulldog picnic set that I had blogged about only a few days before. It was insanely generous of her, and I am so excited to have it.

Then, to my surprise, I got a package last weekend and inside was this inkjet pocket mirror:

inkjet pocket mirror

Read the rest of this entry »

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Fairies, Part 2

May 26, 2009 · Filed under Kids, Molly, Projects · Tagged , ,

I’m supposed to be posting a new recipe, but I’ve got a little follow up to Friday’s fairy post, so I’m going off topic today.

This weekend, I thoroughly cleaned the girls’ bedroom, and I had an idea as I was rearranging toys to create a little fairy corner for Elena, to which she enthusiastically agreed. I said, “Maybe we just need to make a little place for the fairies to come visit. And maybe they would like to have some little animals around, because we know they love animals.”

So, we gathered all of our fairy things (fairy wands, Rainbow Magic fairy books*, fairy dust** and toys), as well as some Fuzzy Town animals and tree stumps. We also taped Elena’s fairy creations to the wall. This is what it looks like (apologies for the not so great photos):

Fairy Corner

* I am still kicking myself for not being the inventor of the Rainbow Magic Fairy series. A cash cow for Scholastic.  Could’ve been my cash cow.

** One day we made little containers of glittery fairy dust. I’ll post the how-to next Crafty Monday

Elena decided to make little tiny beds to stick in the Fuzzy Town tree stumps (it’s a tiny cardboard box, with a tiny pillow and piece of fabric for a blanket. She added a little fairy pendant – perhaps to entice the fairies):

Fairy Bed

And here’s a fairy we have. Rosa named her Ruby:

Ruby Fairy

Elena put loving detail into creating the corner. In the bottom tree stump, for example, she put a couple of little glass lady bugs because “fairies really like lady bugs.” And of course the tiny fairy bed is a perfect reflection of how gentle and thoughtful she is.

So, we’ll just have to see where this takes us.

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Fairies

May 22, 2009 · Filed under Kids, Molly · Tagged ,

Elena Fairy Queen

I tend to offer up family games and activities on Fridays, but today I’m just going to talk a little bit about fairies.

My 8 year old has a long standing love affair with the Tooth Fairy and all other fairies out there. She has written many sweet notes to the Tooth Fairy, and the Tooth Fairy has always written back. As a result, she thinks that fairies are all around – living in tree stumps and under leaves and visiting her in the middle of the night (looking in her bedroom window). In our front yard, we have a row of trees between our house and the neighbor’s house, and this is her special forest where she plays and imagines and communes with nature. I am certain she believes the fairies are in the forest with her.

But, she’s 8, so that means she’s also starting to doubt.

The other night she said, “I haven’t heard from the Tooth Fairy for a long time. I think I will write her a note.” Which she did. She added, “I am going to write the Tooth Fairy a note every night.”

In teeny tiny handwriting, a new fairy* – not the Tooth Fairy – wrote a very charming and silly note about how much she loves living in and around our yard and singing to the girls when they go to bed, but, the fairy explained, she was heading to Canada because it’s lawnmower season, and she and the other flower fairies are afraid of lawnmowers.

* not me.

When I tell you the content of the note, perhaps it’s not surprising that my daughter is a little upset that the fairies are leaving, and has been for the past couple of days.

So, there’s  no resolution to this issue, yet. I am guessing the flower fairies are going to send postcards or little notes saying that Canada is a nice safe place during the day, but perhaps they can come for visits at night. Right? Or on days when there’s no need to mow the lawn?

I was the youngest of five kids, and I don’t really remember ever believing in Santa Claus, though I am sure I did. I have no recollection of learning the truth or being upset. So, I’ve been biding my time, wondering how my daughter will react and whether all of those innocent beliefs – in Santa, the Easter Bunny, fairies – will collapse like dominoes all at the same time. She can be sensitive – she has got the sweetest little gentle soul – so I do worry a little.

Does anyone want to share their own stories?

The photos are fairies that Elena decided to make the other day, before getting any notes from the flower fairy. The girl fairy is the Fairy Queen and the boy fairy (below) is the Fairy King.

Elena Fairy King

Happy Holiday weekend to you. Hope to see you back here on Tuesday.

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National Design Awards

May 21, 2009 · Filed under Design, Molly · Tagged , ,

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (which is part of the Smithsonian, but it’s on the upper east side in New York City, not in Washington) recently announced its 10th Annual Design Award winners, and I think the various categories and winners are worth a look.

For example, I recognize this project by the firm, SHoP Architects, which won the architecture division:

Greenport Carousel

It’s the carousel in Greenport, NY, which is at the very end of the north fork of Long Island. An old college friend of mine used to have a house on Peconic Bay, and when we’d visit her in the summer, we would always make a trip into Greenport to take a ride on this lovely carousel.

Dwell Magazine was a finalist in the Corporate and Institutional Achivement category, and I thought the landscape design and the interior design categories had some really interesting photos to look at.

If you live anywhere near New York, the Cooper-Hewitt is definitely worth a trip. I saw an exhibit there called Design for the Other 90%, which really left a lasting impression on me. They currently have an exhibit on sustainable design that I would love to see.

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My Mom Rocks

May 20, 2009 · Filed under Molly, Pretty Things · Tagged ,

When I got home from a spectacularly crappy day yesterday, there was a big box waiting for me which said, “French Bull” on the side of it. French Bull…hm…where have you heard that before? Does it ring any bells?

Does THIS jog your memory?

French Bull Picnic Set

It’s the French Bull picnic set that I blogged about on Friday (how’s that for fast shipping?!), and it’s even more amazing in person than in the picture.

It comes with a little salt and pepper shaker, a cutting board, plates, cups, flatware, cloth napkins and a cute little corkscrew. It also has a fleece blanket and a detachable insulated wine carrying case. And did I mention that it’s a backpack, so it’s easy to carry?

The only way French Bull could improve the design is if they could figure out a way to magically fill it with all of my favorite foods for me every time I wanted to have a  picnic.

I decided that it would be very gauche to post my Wednesday “somebody buy me this, please” list, having just received this fantastic gift.

Thanks, Mom. Your gesture reminds me, once again, that of your five children, I am clearly your favorite.

Not that there was ever any doubt.

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Tomato, Lime and Tortilla Soup

May 19, 2009 · Filed under Molly, Recipes & Food · Tagged , ,

Sundays at Moosewood

Unexpectedly, I have a bag of lemons and limes to use as I please. Is that pretty lucky, or what? Think of the possibilities!

I’ll make more lemon yogurt cake as soon as I get some eggs from the store. Or maybe some lemon marscapone cupcakes – just saw a recipe for those. Is it any wonder why my daughter said that “cake” was her mother’s favorite food on a Mother’s Day project? (No. The answer to that question is no, it’s no wonder. She’s got me pegged.)

With the limes, though, I’m grabbing the (highly recommended) Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook from my shelf to make one of my favorite soups: Sopa de Lima (Tomato, Lime and Tortilla soup).

I haven’t made it yet this week, so forgive the lack of photos,  but trust me: it’s a great soup and it’s very easy to make. A definite crowd-pleaser, plus it’s easy to whip up a big batch for friends and family.

Sopa de Lima/Tomato, Lime and Tortilla Soup

1 cup chopped onions
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1-2 minced chiles (or to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
½ teaspoon dried oregano
3 ½ cups of chopped fresh tomatoes
3 cups of stock (the recipe calls for vegetable, but I use chicken)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
salt to taste

Plus:
Homemade tortilla chips to crumble in soup
Chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the chiles, cumin, and oregano and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover the pot and cook gently until the tomatoes begin to release their juices. Stir occasionally. This will take longer with winter tomatoes than summer tomatoes. Add the stock and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Add the lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve topped with crumbled tortilla chips*. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

* Buy some corn tortillas, chop them into strips and fry them in about an inch of oil until golden brown; drain on paper towels and sprinkle some salt on them. I find that a wok is especially useful for this, and the tortilla chips taste so much better than store-bought chips that it’s worth the effort.

LimesAlso, I usually take the seeds out of the chile and just use some of the seedless pepper (minced) for the soup, but how much you use depends on your tolerance for heat.

The next time you’ve got some limes lying around, this is the recipe for you.

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Apples For The Teacher

May 18, 2009 · Filed under Freebies, Gift Ideas, Molly, Stationery & Paper Goods · Tagged ,

Throughout this school year, I have been the board president of my daughter’s co-operative preschool, and I explain to anyone who will listen that the reason why I put all of the extra hours and effort into the school (on top of my own full time job) is because I especially adore the teachers, and I figure it’s the least I can do to repay them for their devotion to the school and to our kids. They make the school an incredibly special place.

So, now that the school year is winding down, I’ve been thinking about how to say thank you to them. Here’s one small way: free apple print notecards from Creature Comforts. You can download and print as many as you want and make special sets out of them for all of your favorite teachers.

Creature Comforts Downloadable Apples

I love the idea of personalizing them with your child’s handwriting.

And I love the Creature Comforts blog. It was one of the first blogs I started reading regularly.

She has a bunch more free downloads here, and an adorable Etsy shop, Wren and Chickadee.

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