Healthy Slice of Life: Autumn Spiced Almonds

My friend Brittany has an incredible healthy living blog, A Healthy Slice of Life.  I look forward to reading her posts each night as they are delivered to my inbox.  She has a great outlook on eating and exercising right, helpful tips, and tasty recipes (including great freezer ready meals for my expectant mom friends out there).  Best of all, she is funny, honest, balanced, and completely transparent about her own life.  Please check it out!

 In addition to her blog, she also has a one month-old precious baby girl.  With the new addition on the way, Brittany incorporated a lot of information on her blog about pregnancy, specifically about eating right and preparing for a little bundle of joy, that was both insightful and entertaining.  Isn't Hailey precious?

Anyway, the reason I bring up Brittany and her blog....

Yesterday, she made my day...TWICE.  First, she gave me a call out in her blog.  Being the avid reader that I am, this alone made me smile.  You see, on Friday I posted a status update to Facebook touting the amazingness of the new Planter's Pumpkin Spice Almonds my mother bought me as a treat.  I am a sucker for all things pumpkin...pumpkin cranberry bread, pumpkin spiced lattes, pumpkin pie, toasted pumpkin seeds...  Nothing says fall like a little pumpkin! 

Anyway, Brittany saw the post.  She "liked" it.  (Duh.)   And then in true Brittany-style, she showed  her readers how to MAKE them at home.  Here is a sneak peak at the making of Autumn Spiced Almonds from a Healthy Slice of Life.  For the full recipe, visit Brittany's site.  I can't wait to try these for myself this weekend!

Giraffe Baby Shower: Welcome Everett!

This little guy (my precious nephew) surprised everyone by showing up 5 weeks early on December 2, 2010. Apparently, he is not one to miss a party--- his baby shower (or rather, my sister-in-law Paige's baby shower) was scheduled for that weekend on December 6. Since Everett needed to spend a couple of weeks in the NICU developing stronger lungs, the hostesses went ahead with the shower to give mom a nice distraction.
Everett's shower was inspired by his soon-to-be black, white, and yellow giraffe nursery. Paige picked out some killer fabrics for my mom to sew into bedding, curtains, and cushion covers for the rocker.
Guests were welcomed to the shower at Josie's gorgeous home with this door sign created by my mom. She was inspired by a picture she had seen on Etsy and my brother's love of books. She picked up some inexpensive books from the thrift store, a canvas, and a jar of decopage. I love how it turned out.
For the tablecloth, we used some of the fabric that was destined to be used for curtains. (We were able to capitalize on EV's early arrival!) Patty, Kim, Josie, and myself were able to put together a delicious menu of lunch foods...if I do say so myself.

I am normally against silly baby shower games, but I loved this idea from Josie. She wrapped a box and filled it with 20 small "diaper bag items". I created submission sheets on card stock to distribute to guests upon their arrival. Guests filled out the sheet with their guesses throughout the party. Prior to opening gifts, Josie pulled out the items one-by-one from the box. The guest with the highest number right won a $10 Starbucks card. Who doesn't love a good prize?
For decor, we simply hung a clothesline with onesies and giraffe print outs. Patty and Kim made tissue paper puffs in yellow, black, and white to hang from the light fixtures.
The hostesses and Paige -- celebrating a successful shower just days after Everett's surprise arrival!
For a party favor, I made giraffe-shaped sugar cookies using a cookie cutter I found for $1 at Sur la Table. (Love that store.) My mom and grandma helped me ice and package them the night before!

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

You asked, and you shall receive! Many of you saw a photo of these delectables that I posted to Facebook and requested the recipe. I am embarrassed to share how easy they were-- but here you go:

During our family vacation at the beach in August, my Aunt Lynne introduced us to the refreshingly sweet wonder of the Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberry. She found the recipe on Pinterest and added it to her 1,803 pins. (That's a fact. She's a Master Pinner. Unlike most of us, however, she actually tries many of her pins. Remember this?)

The original source for the recipe is the lovely blog Sugar Derby. I adapted some of her directions (ever so slightly) and made these tasty treats for the Georgia v. Coastal Carolina tailgate.

Tools:

• Strawberry Stem Remover: This thing makes life so easy. (Again, thank you, Aunt Lynne!) However, you can use a knife if you want. I like my Chef'n Strawberry Huller. (Available at Williams-Sonoma for $7.95)



• Sandwich Size Ziploc Bag
  


• Electric Mixer
  
  

Ingredients:

Two cartons of fresh strawberries

8 oz. pkg of light cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 sleeve of graham crackers (optional)

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Wash strawberries and remove stem and core with either the corer or a knife.
   


2. With the electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.



3. Scoop cream cheese mixture into the ziploc bag and seal-- making sure that all air is removed.



4. Use scissors to cut the bottom corner of the ziploc bag to create a piping bag. You will only need to cut a tiny opening.
   


5. Squeeze the cream cheese filling through the opening to fill each strawberry.

I stopped there, because I was transporting the strawberries on an hour car ride and wanted them to look their best upon arrival-- no smears, uneven distribution, etc. However, you can go on to the next steps if you wish:

1. Crush graham crackers in another ziploc bag. Dip the filled end of the each strawberry in the crushed graham crackers.



2. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth upon stirring. Use the spoon to drizzle chocolate over the finished strawberries.



3. Place in refridgerator until chocolate is hardened.
   

The final step is always the same-- serve and enjoy!

What's your favorite easy tailgate recipe?

DC Girls Weekend

Last week, my mom and I headed to DC for our annual (well, this was the second year) Girl's Weekend with my Aunt Lynne and cousin, Lauren. We hosted in Atlanta last year -- so it was our turn to travel!

We spent most of our time antique shopping, eating cheese, drinking wine, thrifting, crafting, eating more cheese, drinking more wine, and -- oh yeah -- dodging trees that Hurricane Irene dropped on my aunt & uncle's roof. Check out my pictures from the weekend:

(I will go ahead and apologize for picture quality in advance. We seemed to have a lot of trouble with camera batteries...most of these are iPhone pictures.)

We started out at G Street Fabrics where we found this amazing chalkboard oilcloth fabric. We bought a few yards to cut in thirds long ways and use as table runners at parties. How great will it be to label the food on the actual runner?

Next, we headed to JoAnn's (to get crafting necessities-- part of every good girl's weekend!) and to Goodwill where I found a horse & rider painting (for just $16!) to add to the yet-to-be-started gallery wall in our den.

We refueled with a stop at Cheesetique -- a gourmet cheese boutique / wine & cheese bar. We all had our favorite cheeses and specialty items, but I have mention the Fig & Brie Crostini. Creamy brie, Prosciutto, fresh figs, and a drizzle of honey? AMAZING. Atlanta needs one of these. Stat.

After that-- CRAFT TIME! We made wine bottle gift bags out of old sweater sleeves. The idea came from a Grey Likes Weddings Pinterest pin. We ended up making 12 bags in about 30 minutes!

To wrap up Thursday, Uncle Peter took us on an evening monument "driving" tour. He said driving. We walked. (Honestly, it was refreshing and beautiful to walk around at night.) The best part was getting to see the brand new MLK memorial up close without all of the crowds -- very powerful. We also saw the FDR Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial...

And the WWII memorial. I had not seen this in my previous trips -- and I am glad I first witnessed it at night. It's mesmerizingly beautiful.


Friday, we were up bright and early to head to Leesburg, Virginia for antiquing and wine tasting. The first stop was Lucketts, a store I have been DYING to visit since first hearing about it on Pure Style Home. Love. That's the only word to describe it. I only wish (kind of) that we had driven so that I could haul furniture home. Aunt Lynne bought the picture frame below for just $3! We hope to replicate this photobooth scene at a certain someone's wedding at some point in the future ;)

Before I ever set foot in the store, I fell in love with this sideboard piece. I fell in love with it even more when I saw the price tag. $289! Velvet in the drawers! Are you kidding? Ryan is lucky we didn't drive, or this would have made it's way back to Atlanta to go...somewhere.

Next, we headed to a wine tasting and lunch at Bluemont Vineyard where we had...wine and cheese!
After lunch, we walked through downtown Leesburg and visited Cottage at Leesburg, Four Shabby Chicks, Bees Keeper Cottage, among others. I bought antique maps of Georgia and Tennessee (the hubby's home state) to add to the developing gallery wall in the den.

That night, we packed up a picnic and headed to the Air Force Memorial Concert at the base of the Memorial itself.

Saturday was full of rain as Hurricane Irene descended upon DC. We stayed local and visited the largest, most organized thrift store I have EVER been to in my life. Aunt Lynne and mom bought random items to spray paint black and use for decorative accessories for Halloween as seen on Domestic in the City. Sound weird? I thought so. But check out this 50 cent toy house...perfect for inexpensive DIY Halloween party decor!


Next, we visited Celebrity Delly in Falls Church for lunch and hit up a few more shops. We ended the afternoon celebrating Lauren's friend's birthday at a bead party at Potomac Beads in Old Town Alexandria.


...followed by drinks at a Speakeasy above Eamonn's where we sipped classy cocktails. Of course, we did have to knock on the unmarked door under a pirate flag when the blue light was on to get in...

Then, it was off to bed. Only to be awoken at 12am to a transformer blowing. Thanks, Irene. And then again at 1:30am to THIS:

That's right. Two 100 foot oak trees fell on the house. (Yes, we are all okay. Thank goodness.) Surprisingly, there was very little damage to the house. Probably because Lauren and I held up the tree for Aunt Lynne and Uncle Peter:

With no power throughout the city on our final day, we were left to capture photos of the weekend's loot.


What are we going to do with all of that stuff? Let me show you:

Aunt Lynne used her antique child's potty chair to hold a flower pot on her front porch.

Mom hung the clipped wall piece (adorned with photos and cards) above her library table and used the antique vise to display books.


...and then we flew home to Atlanta-- where there was electricity and hot showers for all. I can't wait for 2012 Girl's Weekend!

Spotted: Lilly Pulitzer Shoe Storage Ottoman

Last night, I was flipping through my latest issue of Real Simple (disclaimer: it arrived weeks ago...) and found THIS:

This is a GREAT piece that is very versatile. How genius of the folks at Lilly Pulitzer to think this up? It would be ideal in a walk-in closet, master bathroom, bedroom, or even in the living room of a compact loft or apartment. I wish our closet was just a little bit wider to fit this ottoman and transform it into my dressing room! Wishful thinking...

I'm Back....

After almost a six month hiatus...I'm back. What kept me away?

I took on a new role at work.
I worked two jobs for two months until my replacement could be found.
I got overwhelmed by MBA coursework.
I helped plan and took an 11 day trip to China.
My nephew was born.
We celebrated the holidays...and turning 28.
We shut down the antique booth to focus on the growing design side of the business.
We are toying with the idea of selling some of our vintage finds on Etsy.

In summary, a lot. But, I'm back, and I have a lot to catch you up on...

Ashley

Holiday Open House -- Gallery Wall

We are putting the final touches on the booth for the Scotland Yard Holiday Open House tomorrow! We hope you will join us from 4-9pm. We will be on site and available to answer any questions. Check out our latest addition below-- all the makings of a gallery wall!

Gallery walls look best when they feature not only beloved pieces of artwork or photography, but also other acquired items of various shapes and sizes that give the wall a collected look. We paired the beautiful photographic artwork of Kate Cunningham with unique wood carvings, keys of all sizes, wooden molds, iron crosses, and an architectural candle sconce.