Francophile...

I was sitting having coffee with my friend Christina yesterday....you don't know her yet but if you are coming to the Inspired evening event on Dec 5th..then you will get to meet her. Christina has a shop called Sage Creek...and it has anthroplogiesque style boutique clothing...but at a price range i can afford. I would give you her shop info....but she is in the process of completely re-doing her entire site and will shortly be joining the blog world by storm.



I can't wait to introduce you to her....



she's totally freakin' cute...
...with 3 kids {just like me...}



lives in an old farmhouse...{just like me..}



wears a size 2....{just like me...}



got married in France.....{just like me...}



alright....i might not really be a size 2....but if you multiply it by 4....then it's almost a size 2....



and i almost got married in France....i mean...i did think about it....and the cakes were ordered from



a French bakery...so really......



it's pretty close.



She even offered to dress me for the event...so i only had to think about that for a minute...



anyways....my fab new friend was asking me if i had seen the new Country Living magazine write up...about a house located in Wayne...which is literally only 10 minutes from me.



uhhhhh



nooooo



i had not.



so i rushed home...



after stopping by the hair salon to get rid of the grey that has been sooo slowly creeping into my life...



anyways....the write up is on a girl named Caroline Scheeler.....



who could easily be my new best friend with that uber fabulous ruffle top she has on....

I tried calling Caroline....but she wouldn't take my calls.....

whats the deal with that? I told her..i promise i am not a stalker...i just want to come with my kids..

and see if sitting on a gorgeous settee in the dining room is really as cool as it looks...

like this settee......not quite the price tag i paid for mine that was on craigslist...but this one is from Anthro...

and would look fabulous sitting at the farmtable in my diningroom...

and the best part of the story is Caroline has a daughter......the same age as lola.

yup....

the same age....

i also left Caroline a message about our girls being the same age and probably totally going through all

the same things.....

and they could soooo be besties....

just like Caroline and myself.....

but the problem is.....

Caroline is not returning my calls.....

xo

oh...one more thing....my little shop got a write up {here}...so make sure you pop over and enter the giveaway.....and there are still just a few spots left for {this}.

A journey...

Do you ever just sit back and think for a minute.



I have.....about my relationship with my daughter. You see...we are so eerily similar in so many ways.



We are both so stubborn and hard headed....that sometimes....i have to take a step back just to see that



she is me.



This girl...is me.



Now granted....i don't think i ever took scissors to my hair...because....well.....



err..



and i never said to my mom...your the worst mom ever...



nope...never ever ever said that.



Oh...and i never packed my suitcase and threatened to walk out the front door...



nope.never.



well.....see....i might have done that when i was little......



and that just proves my point that my little girl is me.



We all have struggles....we all have balances......



and i'm just trying to find mine.



ours.



a balance.




When i was talking with a friend the other day...she told me...do you realize how absolutely private you are...about your life...even to your closest friends.



She's right.



I am SO private...yet so open.



I can talk freely about my life in doses and give you glimpses....the same i would a friend.



She then told me that even your closest friend should know all the deep down dirt so that they can in fact be a real friend.



I only have one friend that knows the deep...the dirty...the ugly.



My mom.



Not that there is much dirt.....or much ugly...



but there was some...



and my mom is still my closest go to girl.



I want that with my daughter.....



I want her to be open with me....but i still want to be a parent.



I think we all go through challenging phases in parenting....



otherwise...i wouldn't think you were normal...



I think parenting girls is so hard....and i truly hope that it will



be as rewarding ....



as my relationship with my mom.









I decided to ask lola to share with you her all time favorite book.



{She thought that was pretty cool that i asked her opinion....



and that i was going to share this with you....}







It's called 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane'.



She.....i mean ....WE.....love this book.



It's about a little toy rabbit that is lost...only to find his way home....after a long journey.



I.love.this.book



You will love this book......



as for me...i just picked up Julia Childs cookbook.......yup....



now you won't see me doing a recipe a day....



oh..



no..



you..



won't...



but i did make a promise with myself....



that i'm going to try and make a better home .....



and by that...



i need to start cooking a wee bit more.



Not that mac n cheese is so bad...



but my hubby did say....



I really loved it when you made those rotisserie chicken enchilada's....



and i really loved that



apple crisp.














Anyhoo....


that's a bit about me....


getting a little deep there.


oh....and since you asked about the recipe....

Heart Attack apple crisp:

apple filling

* 8 oz unsalted butter {2 sticks}

* 8 granny smith apples, peeled,cored and sliced

* 4 tsp fresh lemon juice

* 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

* 1 c. light brown sugar {packed}

* 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

*4 tbsp flour

cobbler topping

* 1/2 c light brown sugar

* 1 c. all-purpose flour

* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

* 1/2 c quick oatmeal

* 1/8 tsp salt

* 8 oz. unsalted butter {2 sticks}

Prepare

Preheat over to 350.

Filling: melt butter in large saute pan on med heat. add apples and saute briefly. add lemon juice, ginger,brown sugar and cinnamon. Blend mixture to incorporate all ingredients. sprinkle flour over mixture and blend well.

cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. let cool.

Topping: in a mixing bowl blend all the topping ingredients except butter until evenly mixed. Cut pieces of butter into mixture until just crumbly.

Assemble: Place cooled apple filling into shallow baking dish. Sprinkle cobbler mixture over top.

bake about 30 minutes till lightly brown on top.

serve warm.

Now...

I cut out one stick from each ...the mixture and the filling....and you could probably cut out more if your

heart desires.....

xo

Oh..hello monday.

Have you noticed that it's getting darker earlier?.....which leads to shorter days and longer nights.


The only reason i mention this is because for as long as i can remember...i have been a morning person...which in short translates to not a night person.


All of my friends know that if taking me to a movie that starts anytime after 9....then i'm pretty much a


goner....i am the one falling asleep....my head totally falling forward before it jerks back into place.


I won't even mention the fact that i have restless leg syndrome...


though it has not been confirmed....


but i'm really...positive...that i have it.


I am the girl that in the winter....who wants to climb into bed as soon as the children are asleep.


If you call my home after nine.....it goes straight to voicemail....

yes...i am her.

Anyways....where am i going with this....who knows....but i guess i'm just letting you know not to call my house after 9...

So....back to what i was talking about....apples....

err....

well....now i am going to chat apples....we have a gazillion left over from last weekend when we went apple picking {again}....so i got my trusty helpers..and gathered them around to help me peel....so that we could make our favorite....apple crisp.

Did you know that my recipe calls for 3 sticks of butter....yes....and because i did not want to wake up in the middle of the night with a heart attack.... i decided to drastically reduce the amount....but there is

nothing better than apples basting in a pan on the stove full of melted butter.

We made our apple crisp...then gathered around as a family to watch the movie..."Goonies".

Do you remember that movie growing up? Oh...how i remember quite clearly...how in love i was with

Rand....and i really wanted to be Kerry.....so much so...

that i asked my mother to sign me up for acting classes.

gulp.

My mother agreed....and so she signed me up.

We arrived at the studio in Hollywood where she dropped me off {yes...back then you just dropped off your 12 year old at a studio and tell her you'll be back in a few hours....}

and there i was with about 100 other people who probably paid $100 each for acting class.

It was all going well....till they decided to split everyone into small groups.....then give us all a script to memorize.....

and then we had to go back into the huge group of people.....

stand up in front of everyone...

and say our script.

If you know me...i'm not shy...i like to talk....

but i do not like to talk in front of people....

my eye's get glossy...

my lips start to twitch...

saliva starts to pool in my mouth...

and i start stuttering....

let's just say....i never got that "call back".......

i was that girl that they said......don't call us....we'll call you.

Till this day.....i still dread speaking in front of people....

if Oprah ever calls me...to be on her show....i'll be the one that they say...

just don't look at the red light on the camera.....act natural....

but i can't take my eyes off the red light...and then Oprah will have to

cut to a commercial....and i just know that Matthew McConaughey will be sitting

next to me on the sofa....thinking i'm just a moron....when all i want to do

is smile at him.....

but my eye's are on the red light.

So....

thank goodness it's monday...and there are NO red lights here at my house..

whew.

I hope you had a great weekend....the apple crisp was to die for....but not literally....

obviously.

and if you notice the pic above.....of lola holding the sugar....you will notice a chunk of hair missing on her forehead.

We are still in the process of figuring out how it got cut......

because....

lola claims that she does not remember cutting it....

nope...

not.at.all.

even though i found the chunk on the bathroom floor.

It's time to call secret agent mom.....{that's my alter ego..}

xo

A room with a view...

I'm pretty lucky that one day a month....my home is clean enough to show you. It's unfortunate...

that it only lasts for one day.....the clean house that is.

This room is the room we call the sun room. When we bought the house a little over 2 years ago...it was just a screened in sun porch....pretty much a 3 season room. That's what people around here call screened in porches......a 3 season room.....silly....because normally it's so freakin humid here that no one wants to even sit outside in the summer...so why have a room that can only be used a few months out of the year?

After we bought the house....we gutted the room....piped in venting so that it's heated in the winter and cool in the summer.

This room is not only a sun room...but it's my office as well......and i love fall....because the gorgeous big tree out back is what i look at.

I love this room...it's perfect.

my desk is an old farm table that i tacked linen around.....pretty much so you can't see the junk that hides underneath.....seriously.....it's for your own good.

I love the look of painted wood floors.....yes.....we painted the wood floors white.....and yes they get dirty...but i love...love them. I'm really close to painting the floors upstairs......really close....but i'm getting talked out of it.....and somehow......I get talked out of a lot of things.....

so let me ask you your opinion.....

yes or no ?

I will then present the tally to the "person" that is talking me out it.

I might wear these glasses with my tooth fairy costume at Halloween.....gives my outfit a bit of ooomf!

I don't really know if that's really a word so don't call me when you try and use it on your next scrabble attempt and lose because you said......kasey used the word.....

ooomf.

I got that darling settee off of craigslist right after we moved in....a screaming deal...don't you love craigslist?

That concludes a tour of a room with a view. Do you see that hammock sitting so lonely in the back......yes...poor thing......the weather has been so crummy and i know it misses us. There is nothing better

than grabbing a big ole duvet....a good book....and climbing in that with a kid or two......

or even better......while the kids are at school......take a nap in it.

Just don't forget that you are in it while the kids are at school...then fall asleep.....

because that is so not cool when you fall asleep and forget and the kids get off the bus and can't

find you in the house.

nope.

not cool.

xo

An Inspired Evening...

Well....two weeks of planning and it's here.{click on invite to enlarge}

All the details have worked themselves out.....so i'm excited to actually invite you to

what i promise is going to be a fabulous evening!

It'll be catered with food and wine from one of the most darling places here ...

Beth from Eliwill is here to help all of the guests make their own vintage key necklaces...

Christina from my favorite shop Sage Creek will be chatting with you about styles and trends...

and super sweet Kimberly of Mimi Charmante is here talking up some photography....

ohh....i'm so excited.....and each guest goes home with a wonderful goodie bag put together with

gifts donated from some of my sponsors....there will also be some giveaways from some of the larger items donated for this evening.

This evening will be all about YOU......an intimate evening to mingle with like minded...creative...inspiring....women.

The details:

Click { here } to purchase your ticket.....there were only 15 spots available and as i write i think there are 9 left....

If you are coming from out of town...email me for hotel information...or email with any questions.
I can't wait to meet you!

xo

Hello monday..

I learned ten things this weekend.

1. make sure you know where your scarf is before you go pee at a restroom.

2. just because you have a tub of popcorn at the movies followed by an apple...that isn't "watching what you eat..."

3. Somehow i end up with 2 out of 3 kids.......which makes for uneven parenting....

4. We love a good walk in the woods.....

5. I love living in a state that has four seasons.....

6. The book and the movie...'where the wild things are' ...are quite different { i love that my kids questioned everything in the movie}....even why Max was so unhappy.

7. I can cry at a childrens movie.......

8. Skirts are really cute inside the house....but when you step outside and it's 30 degrees...your leg hairs start to hate you......

9. My kids love boxed {dehydrated} mashed potatoes......and it's just as easy to make as mac n cheese...

10. I made homemade pancakes the other day...and Fin demanded that i give him the real pancakes....the ones from the freezer.......{why do i bother cooking..}

10. Even though i promised i would have the "official" invite ready for 'An Inspired Evening'.....some things don't go as planned ....

11. I'm glad i don't have a checklist.....umm.....i do have a checklist actually.....but don't worry...because i'm not one of those that gets carried away when things don't go as planned....nope....i'm not one of those..

xo

Loved...

{When you love.....that love will turn around and love you right back in the most amazing way.}

Things i'm doing this weekend. Coffee with my friend vana this morning......flag football game tomorrow morning......definitely taking the kids to go and see Where the wild things are tomorrow.....and last but not least.....apple picking.....because Mason felt left out...and he would like to go and grab some if his favorite....Honey crisps.

oh...and getting the invite for An Inspired Evening ready for monday.......

What's on your list?

xo

xo

For the love of mirrors...

Well....if you came here looking for some really cool....really awesome...Halloween decor...


then i am sorry to disappoint you...


because yes.....


i am one of those....


i do not get out all of my goblins....


because ...


i have the real deal.


real..honest to goodness goblins...


ages 8....7...and 4.


You also won't find the fake spiders.....


because ...


I HAVE THE REAL DEAL.


right along with dust bunnies....


{even though i believe those are more of a spring time thing..}


but the best part is....


I have ....


creaky wooden floors....


the real deal.....


so creaky..that when i get up early in the morning...


and by EARLY...i mean yes.....


like 6...


i grab my coffee.......


i grab this computer...


and i sit....


and get a little quiet time.....


but sometimes......


the creaky floors......they wake kids up...


so i have gotten used to which stairs are the worst...


and how to tip toe around....


{you see...i live in a 100 year old house....}...


and there is


no


way around the creaky floors.....


Anyways....back to decorating....


this is it...


this is all there is around here...


some white pumpkins on my chandie...






So...as i was cleaning out closets and drawers this weekend...i realized what a vast amount of mirrors i have....


and then when i grabbed the camera to take some pics ...


i realized i might possibly have a problem.....


{please don't remind me that i have problems...}


we all have problems.....


but i think that my little bit of OCD...is in fact...


also...


collecting mirrors.

don't get me started on the sheet music hanging on the wall of my bedroom......

i can't afford anymore therapy....

seriously.....

{does it help that i have my family picture there?.....}

never mind....

you don't have to answer.

sheesh...

two stories in one post.......

i almost threw in the story about how i was so "busy" working on the computer that a 4 year old got into the food coloring and mixed up a batch of ...

colored acorns....

yes....that was quite a site...

and i won't even mention the fact that

acorns have worms....

no....i won't......

and the reason i won't....is because when i opened that 4 year olds

backpack FULL of acorns.....

that i did not see

any worms.

nope...i will not mention that fact.

consider yourself spared of that story....

{oh.... the boots from the last post are from Anthro last year...

and...monday is the day i will post the invite for

"an inspired evening"}

xo

Hello monday.....

Good morning {or evening....} and happy day to you. I'm going on my 4th day home with the children...yes...they had a 4 day weekend....lucky kids.


Part of living in the midwest...means that when there is a festival in town....the kids get an extra day off.....so that maybe we might attend the so-called festival......needless to say.......


it was a rocking 40 degrees here this weekend........


which means.....i had to dig into the closets looking for jackets and hats.....


which then got me into the .......


throw everything that has to do with summer into a large bin.....


clothes strewn everywhere......


goodwill bags accumulating....


then... my horns started popping out.....


my eyes started turning a shade of red....


and.it's.not.even.halloween.


I admit...i get a little crazy when it comes to organizing.


I actually tackled 3 closets....and a pantry this weekend.....


which means a lot of downtime for the kids....or in better words
translates to....


fighting.


But...the good news is....


i snuck away....because i needed some more.....


knee high socks!

oh...


yes.....


i know they look like the $18 dollar knee highs from ANTHRO....


but alas...


they ARE NOT.







I wear my boots from the beginning of October all the way.......


till April.........


and i wear.....


KNEE HIGH SOCKS.......


because i love how they PEEK out from the top.


Silly...maybe....








but....when you can get them at good ole target for around $6 a pair...then...


i can buy 3 pairs for the price i would have bought them at Anthro for....


ya know.....


just trying to save a buck.......or two......

{are you a knee high type of girl ??}


Okay.


on to other exciting news.....


i'm in the middle of planning something.


SOMETHING EXCITING.

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a revelation....a dream....

well....

i did.....

i dreamed of having an evening

with you girls....

full of inspiration.....

talking about ...

anything....

or everything.....

about life....about dreams....

about wants....and if's.....


I promise to share more details soon.......


really.....


but i will be opening up my home on December 5th...


for an evening of good food....maybe..just maybe....


some great wine......

time to mingle...time to create....

time to talk....time to feel inspired....


a special guest to help us make some beautiful jewelry....


oh...and some fabulous gifts for you from some of my sponsors...


just for you.

An inspired evening.


Ticketing will be limited....but i will let you know more..


really soon.


i promise.

whew....

so....how was your weekend....did you purge and tie your children up like i did....

no....

i didn't think so....



Oh...

one more thing....the winner of Simply me day is:

Rachel of little nest!

{email me and i will forward your info to Jamie...and thank you Jamie....you are SO generous!}



xo