Do your kids dress better than you?

The first thing I do every morning is dress my little one. Together we pick out her outfit the night before, find shoes to match and the appropriate accessories (think head bands, bracelets, hats etc). Then the other day when I posted this picture of Paul and the wee one, one of our friends left this site as a comment. It reminds me that I too should make sure to dress well, not just my kid because the last thing you want is for them to always out dress you ;-)

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Happy 5 year Anniversary- prints on wood.

Wow, it has been 5 years since we got married at pikes place market in Seattle. We had such a great day but we don't have any wedding pictures of us up around the house, mostly because we both love great art and there is only so much wall space. My favorite picture was taken by one of our guests and shows us walking together. I love how it is not staged in the slightest (look at the ugly backdrop) and how it shows my dress in all its glory (it reminds me of when Paul first saw me in this oh-so-fun dress to wear).

Since year 5 is all about wood, I decided to have our picture printed on wood. I stumbled upon prints on wood and they did a great job printing and shipping it out. Not only can you have your own pictures printed on wood, they also have a large art collection that you can choose from. I like the print below which can be found in the "love" section. Happy anniversary Paulie.

Photocredit: prints on wood. Pixopop.

Inside out German Chocolate cake (GCC)!

I love nothing more than a fun baking project, especially when it is for a birthday party. Chocolate cakes are not (yet) in my repertoire so I hit up the ol' internet and searched.  I came across this inside out GCC originally posted on Epicurious.  I read all 328 reviews (I take this very seriously) and decided to go for it. I doubled the cake batter recipe and used 3 9" pans. I sliced each layer in 2 in order to obtain a total of 6 layers. I also doubled the filling and 1.5 the frosting.

The key to a great cake is patience, research and good ingredients.Then built the cake, it's as easy as 1. 2. 3.....

I will be out of town for the party so I don't have a finished picture but below you can see the bits and pieces.

p.s. Paul is happy that I did not go for the "boiling-the-cans-of-condensed-milk method" but rather went for the safer, "waterbath-in-the-oven-pain-in-the-butt-to-clean" method.

Woolly pockets

Photo credit: designed by Daniel Nolan for Maven in the lower Haight district of SF (my old stomping ground)

Woolly pockets- they sound so cozy and fun and they ARE. I first spotted them at my friends Stephanie's apartment. As you can tell from the picture below (sorry for the poor picture quality), she has a green thumb and an amazing sense for decorating. She combined 2 large woollies with a teeny tiny one.

When it was time to start decorating the baby room, I figured I would add a couple of pockets myself. It fills up the space on the wall nicely and adds just the right amount of pop. I opted for the black woollies and filled them with 2 giant ferns.

You can find more inspiring ideas for woolly pockets here. Also, they currently offer a 20% discount on mini wallies in black until the 19th of August.

p.s. How cool would it be to cover an entire wall with woolly pockets and let it all spill over. 

photo credit: Kitchen by Jardins de Babylon- Amaury Gallon 

How to dress a boy?

I have quite a bit of experience dressing a girl but am still learning how to dress a boy. I am taking advantage of the fact that he can't tell me yet what he does and doesn't like, unlike his 3 year old sister who has a mind of her own.

I have discovered that onesies and pants are my go to outfits. Easy and cute.  Here he is sporting a cotton white onesie (I love the gerber onesies, you can find them at any target), H&M pants with ribbing to support his growing belly  (similar ones can be found here) and robeez shoes.  Double chin courtesy of drinking plenty of milk.

p.s. I love the detail on the pants. The little buttons and teddy bears are adorable.

AOTMC- Avocado of the month club

Who knew there is such a thing as the avocado of the month club?!  Well, my father in law did- and I am so glad he found out about the club. It was Paul's birthday earlier this month and what better present to give this avocado lover then 4 lbs of freshly picked avocados every month.  I have to say, it is a bit of a present for myself as well. My brain is  currently going into overdrive to figure out what we can make with all these awesome avocados- guacamole, crab and avocado sandwich, BLAT, avocado salad. YUM!

The postman, who delivered the box of goodness, was also curious and mentioned this was the first time in his career he had ever delivered avocados (he had seen coffee of the month club and wine of the month but never an avocado of the month club).  This month we received Hass (4) and Gem (3) avocados.  We are used to eating Hass avocados, they are creamy, medium sized and bright green skinned (see avocado on the right in the picture below). They are always delicious and ripen on the counter top in a few days and hold for another week or so in the refrigerator.  Hass and Gem avocados are usually in season around the same time. Gem avocados( see avocado on the left in the picture below) are grown in Guatemala and are medium sized, slightly larger than the Hass variety and darker in color. They are simply delicious. Sprinkle them with a little dusting of sea salt- Dean and Deluca offers a wide variety of great sea salts- and you have the perfect and healthy snack.

Here you can read a few tips on how to pick the perfect avocado- in a nut shell, just remove the pit and look at the color of the flesh. Also, to keep the avocado from browning you should leave the flesh attached to the pit and you can also sprinkle some lemon juice on the fleshy part.  If all else fails, just cut off the browned layer.

My first avocado sandwich; titled "green and white sandwie". 

Toast 2 slices of sourdough bread, butter the toast and layer with freshly sliced avocado, sprinkle with some sea salt, add firm goat cheese, butter lettuce, brie and a few slices of bosh pears. 

p.s. My friend Michelle started an amazing and inspiring fashion blog. Don't forget to check out "catching couture". 

Jumpsuits for Fall

I love Zara's new add campaign. Forget about summer, hello Fall. Are we there yet? I love jumpsuits on toddlers, they seem so comfy. You can just roll out of bed and put on your jumper and voilà, you are dressed. These fancy new options make me thing differently. Below are some of my favorites. (Honestly, I cant quite think about Fall just yet, as we are still experiencing triple digits but I can fantasize about the clothes).

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