wilson goes to camp

wilson goes to camp today for 6 days and i guess this is what it (sort of) feels like to send your kid to camp...although with kids, you probably dont feel as guilty since we are headed on vacation and wilson is headed to Doguroo! his friend stella miller will be picking him up with his aunt lindsey or uncle adam on thrusday before going to the river. 


tune in and see if you can spot wilson on the Doguroo Web Cams and wish me luck when we go drop him off...considering most times when i drop him off for a hair cut i dont leave with dry eyes, this should be interesting!! 

happy birthday!

we have produce!!!

last minute 4th of july needs!

anyone in need of some killer beach chairs for the 4th? pig and kent introduced joe and myself to the best beach chairs around! these will be especially critical on our 4th of july trip since we aren't right on the beach and will need to cart our belongings around.  these can be found at Costco (right when you walk in, regardless of the store) and are Tommy Bahama chairs. online at Amazon.com (see link below) they go for $50+ however at Costco they are only $24.95 each.  they cam be strapped on your back, have a cup holder, cooler, headrest, and zipper pouch on the back. if you're a costco member or have a friend who can take you, and are in need of some chairs here you go!

http://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Bahama-Backpack-Cooler-Storage/dp/B003F8Q5YY

the guest bathroom

so we have our guest bathroom which we honestly rarely use. it is upstairs (oh so inconvenient) and also until recently was not even repainted. it gets little use...so you can only imagine how often its a priority to clean.

well...not any more! we have officially started to rethink our guest bathroom! i'll share some before and after photos along the way but we'll have many stages to show.  first thin that needed to be done was a new paint job. daddy had spackled the cracks in the plaster filled any holes back in june 2010. it hit me when we had company come over for the first time and they saw our bathroom...didn't think i could use the excuse "we just moved in" any more....hence my motivation.

so on a thursday night i poured a glass of wine and got started on the paint. 4 hours later and very late in the night, the 2nd coat went on. the khaki, "dessert storm" bathroom went to white. we have black and white tiles throughout the bathroom and white sink, toilet, tub etc all which will stay the way they are.

the next problem was that we could not use a standard shower curtain if we wanted it to touch the ground...so carrie came in and measured for an extended shower curtain to give us the height we need in the bathroom. also, to make our project more complicated, our closet does not have a door so we submitted an order to deb to help us out with that too!

stripe is for the valance over our window and the shower curtain will be in the ikat print

very cluttered guest bath storage no one wants to see

finally a window valance in a cute stripe will finish the jobs for mom off nicely!! to top things off joe's "poop stool" for reading when going potty that has been quarantined to the upstairs bathroom which was an old blue bedside table from his childhood was sanded, sanitized, and repainted the same color gray as our den to house our new gray guest towels. 

new towel color goes perfectly with the purplish gray in the shower curtain

Stay tuned to see the final product & more updates along the way!

solid saturday dinner

last night we had adam & lindsey over for a thank you dinner as we now have mulch and gravel spread in our yard in all the appropriate places! it was actually quite a fabulous menu for dinner!


we started out with palmetto pimento cheese with jalapenos as well as pig's cucumber, feta, hummus dip. then for dinner we had a berry and pineapple medley, salad with some cucumbers, tomatoes, walnuts, and feta....after that came skewered shrimp that i did in three different marinades--lime, northern italian, and an ginger vinaigrette.  Also tacked in some roasted potatoes and green beans! 


dessert was the best part (for me) though as we were wrapping up dinner i got started on the shortcakes for strawberry short cakes and had already had the strawberries waiting ready (cut & cleaned)...kitchen aid mixer bowl was in the fridge for the homemade whipped cream and we enjoyed the shortcakes (recipe below also from Oct 2010)!


amazing strawberry shortcakes! 

what you need... 

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/3 cup cold butter 
1 egg, slightly beaten 
1/2 cup dairy sour cream 
2 tablespoons milk 
5 cups sliced strawberries

what to do

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet (or use nonstick). In a bowl combine flour, the 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Using a pastry blender (or fork but it is way more time consuming) & cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl combine egg, sour cream, and milk. Add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until moistened.
2. Drop dough into 8 mounds onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
3. Toss a little sugar on the strawberries after they are cleaned and cut.  Split shortcakes in half; fill with strawberry mixture and whipped cream. Top with remaining sliced strawberries.