Scenes from the Snow Days

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Baby Shower Garland

The sex of the baby is unknown until they are born, but I do know for sure that Baby Wargin is going to be beautiful!  Here's the garland I've been working  on for the shower:
 

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Inspiration for some DIY..

[hopevenessa]

I've been spending these past snowy days snuggling with my boys, watching movies, drinking wine, and doing some sewing for my BMW's baby shower.  I think I may have made a few too many rosettes.. and I think they would so cute as a headband.  Hope Venessa's Etsy shop has given me some inspiration for how I can utilize these cute pieces.

Ya'll should really go peep her store, because not only are her items gorgeous, but she's giving 50% of her profits to Invisible Children and Missionaries of Charity.

Can't wait for winter to be over.

But if we're going to continue to have this chilly weather -- please bring some snow.  Especially because I'd like at least to do this:

[Poor Girl Gourmet]

 

Love.

This outfit is bananas.  and I love it.  Catch me at the end of spring -- I'ma pull something like this off.

also -- how gorg does Anna P look?

You're so Vain.

[Darling Dexter]

[Martha Stewart]

[Apartment Therapy]
[Apartment Therapy]

Moms gave me this gorgeous vanity table and bench a while back, and it has always traveled with me.. but I've never quite used it for its purpose. Currently, it's holding a lot of my jewelry, and some stacks of magazines.. but in no real orderly manner. Once I move into my new apartment in NOLA this summer, I definitely want to use it for a vanity. Mirror, organization and all. I love these images above and can't wait to really use mine.

Can't wait for this..

These are the newest additions to the Moleskine collection.. they also have ones for tracking your wine too!

Still not officially out yet, but I can't wait until they are released!

I couldn't help it.

What I purchased during work today from HauteLook by Danielle Stevens:

And what I wanted to purchase:

Photographer Inspiration.

I love reading food blogs lately -- and these images from Cannelle et Vanille is giving me some inspiration for my own documentation of my food endeavors. How gorgeous are these?

Adore on Etsy.

[bijouxbydesif]

I'm such an earring girl -- if nothing else, I'll wear these as accessories. I simply adore this shop on Etsy.. especially these.

Want.

[Pamela Love]

Adding these to the wishlist.

Lazy Sunday.

It's been a pretty perfect laid back weekend. This is the majority of what it consisted of..

Being a Foodie Blogger.. 101.

I have to admit -- my food images are something I really want to work on. All the foodie blogs that I read have these incredible pictures of food that I envy.. so I found a couple that took a food blogger camp. Here's some tips they wanted to share:

When photographing a dish, focus on some of the individual ingredients, highlight them and try to show them looking their best.

Using the patina off of old wood, dough board or cutting boards adds great texture to a food shot.

Don’t be afraid to use old pieces with new pieces of dishes. Mixing vintage and new pieces in a photo adds interest.

Build your plate in small portions and small scale. Use smaller plates (about 8 inch diameter or smaller) or smaller glasses.

When garnishing with herbs, turn the leaf upside down. The veins underneath have beautiful texture.

[white on rice couple]

Mini Poms.

Here's a mini preview of the mini-poms I've been working on. I'm throwing my cousin BMW (just realized those were her married initials.. huh!) a baby shower in a few weekends and I wanted to make a garland for a cute decoration. We don't know the sex of the baby until it's born (and the Scrap Exchange didn't have green or yellow fabric) so I think these colors work well for this occasion. Look forward to the finished product soon!

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Land of Talk.

I absolutely love this band. JP and I went to see them a few weeks back, and it was probably top 5 shows I've been to. Her voice is haunting, and it's absolutely mesmerizing to listen to them play. The drummer has ridic skills, and she plays lead guitar while belting it out (very uncommon). This is my favorite song of theirs right now. I hope ya'll like them as much as I do.



I'm also a huge fan of poignant lyrics. Beautiful and Heartbreaking.

what started at a summer lake
a sentence and a name
if only for a moment's sake
we called it and it came

held it down-the loving heat-
longer than a time
held it down-the loving heat-
softer than a chime

We've seen how Sick Wind blows
but i've got your bovine eyes
i'll love you like i love you
then i'll die

shot the rats and as they ran
from the quarry to the tracks
chased them as you took my hand
and never gave it back
held it up and felt the wind
blow and miss a chime
found a god and begged it in
to fight your body crime

More Tacos...

It's been can't stop, won't stop with tacos lately. I bought an avocado and it became just perfectly ripe on Tuesday. I was NOT going to make the same mistake again.

Guacamole is a snap with those packets you can buy at any grocery store for about $1. Adding some medium/hot salsa really gives it a nice kick too.

I used my leftover Balsamic chicken, added guac, salsa, spanish rice (when you're in a rush, the 90 seconds steam-in-a-pouch is perfect), roasted frozen corn, and some authentic Mexican tortillas.

Ridic delicious. Really quick. And the guac was amazing. (I have a soft spot for guac).

Etsy Loves [ineedtheseinmylife]

[Made By Sam]
[Violet Bella]
[persephonevintage]
[rollandtumblepress]

Tacos! (again..)

I cannot help how much I love tacos. Simple. Delicious. Healthy. And really cheap. What's not to love??

All these things you can buy in larger quantities.

Frozen pre-cut onions + peppers (perfect for single living!)
Salsa
1 egg/taco (or more like 1.5 if you're really hungry, which I usually am)
Cheese
Tortillas
Frozen Roasted Corn (from Trader Joe's. divine.)

Perfection for an easy meal for one.

Gorgeous Gams.

There's something very sexy about tights to me. And I adore these:
[Briony Ridley]
[Hilary Laing]
Le Fashion

RSJ -- My Heart and My Rock

A few weekends back I went to Greensboro to celebrate RSJ's 24th Birthday. It was absolutely a ridic amazing time, and the only thing that would make it better would be S$ coming down to make the reunion complete. RSJ is one of my very best friends, who is absolutely essential to my life. She is my rock, and the pragmatic one in the Trifecta (S$, RSJ, and me).. and let's be clear.. although RSJ keeps us all level-headed and chill, she is still as bananas as the rest of us. Top night, ladies.
RSJ and LKW. These girls look like trouble.
Bananas. Blackout or Backout.

The Birthday girl getting decorated -- mandatory shots were included (not shown).
LOVE love her.

To sum up the night. We met in Gboro, went out in Winston Salem. Someone (not us, be clear) sober drove us to a friends house where the majority of Surry County's finest went to the afterparty. Flipcup, beers, food thievery (my bad). Woke up. The mandatory Bojangle's trip with LKW (our original ride left us) then to Pilot Mountain for a bit until we traveled back to our cars in Greensboro. Sounds like a whirlwind. and it was. And the best piece of advice LKW's mom gave us upon seeing our hangovers was "Good. Luck." hahaha -- perfect post-grad weekend.

I miss RSJ everyday and wish she wasn't so far away in the mountains and the cold. Stay warm boo! (Also, please move to ATL. Kthanks.)

Experimenting with Balsamic

I don't know what it is about it, but I am obsessed with it. After reading a few of my essential foodie blogs and having them mention this staple of mine.. I started getting a craving for it.

So here's my Balsamic Vin Experiment:

Purpose -- I needed to eat some healthy protein AND have green on my plate.. all while having some balsamic throughout. Love love the stuff.

Materials:
1lb frozen chicken cutlets (found in the freezer -- months old, but still good!)
1 fresh medium yellow onion
Minced garlic (canned)
Salad -- the iceberg, romaine mixes tend to last longer in the fridge than the spring mix..
Balsamic Vinegar
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Oregano
Salt/Pepper

Method:
Balsamic Onions
Chop up the onions into large chunks and put them in a ziploc bag.
Add a good heaping portion of balsamic vinegar -- enough to cover
A few scoops of minced garlic
Marinate it in the fridge for about 45 minutes.
About 20 minutes before you want to cook them.. take them out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 450F.
Pour everything that is in the bag into a non-stick pan.
Bake them for about 20-25 minutes until they're tender with a fork (if they start browning quick, just put some foil on it).

Balsamic Chicken
Defrost the chicken for a bit (not all the way since you're going to marinate them).
Put them in a ziploc bag.
Add some balsamic vinegar, a few scoops of garlic, oregano, salt/pepper..
Marinate for about 20-30 minutes. Since some of it will still be kinda frozen, you can just leave it out on the counter and it will finish thawing while it marinates.
I used my cast iron grill pan and pulled out the chicken pieces from the marinade and grilled them at medium heat for about 10 minutes or so until they were done. (If you pour the marinade on the grill pan, it makes for a really hard clean up on the cast iron.. esp since you can't/shouldn't use soap.)

Salad
Easy. A handful or two of salad plus the dressing.

This may seem like a little balsamic overload to some of ya'll.. but I was craving it. on everything.

and this was really delicious and super simple. It was perfect marinating time too, so I could set it up and then go walk Cooper!
salt/pepper

DWW 1.20.10

At a local show outfit.

Dress: UO

Cardigan: UO

Tights: Target

Date Night.
Dress: Macy's, brand idk right now.
Tights: H&M
Shoes: UO

Workday.
Dress: H&M
Shirt: Target
Tights: H&M
Boots: Reaction by Kenneth Cole












Biking to Work Outfit.
Shirt: JCrew
Belt: JCrew
Skirt: H&M
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Nicole.. prob DSW






This weather has been such a tease -- it goes from mild cold, to really warm.. and I hope it stays this way! I'm ready for skirt and dress weather to STAY. for good.

Update your Bookmarks!

I've decided that with the evolution of this blog, I will change the link for it.  I'll begin with the new link on Friday to give all ya'll a chance to update your links.  I was originally designing this blog to much of a food blog, as I tend to enjoy cooking and wanted to document that. But also, I wanted to share other aspects of my life in the blog.. hence the new direction my blog is taking. So here's the new link:

http://ladybirdsarahanne.blogspot.com

Photographer I love: Peter Lindbergh

especially this latest spread he did for Harper's Bazaar with Lindsay Lohan -- "I Need a Hero"

I'll say it again..

I'm obsessed with Danny Roberts. I adore his artwork, and I envy his talent. His latest that I'm in love with: