master"PIECES" of my LIFE

table scape

so we had some friends over for dinner the other night & took pictures of my table before i forgot and got busy cooking, drinking, entertaining, etc.  i do it every time and i'm happy i remembered this time around.

i used my usual wedding china, citation lace by lenox.  our waterford crystal and my grandparents glasses from spain as water glasses.  

the flatware and the candelabras i inherited from my parents.  i love using them and i do every chance i get.

the silver serving pieces are pieces i'll be selling at the paris flea market sooner or later.  right now i'm having fun playing with them.  

the main reason i had fun with this table scape though is all the little succulents i'll be selling next month at paris flea market.  i've collected a bunch of mismatched sugar bowls and creamers and with a little succulent and some spanish moss, voila! they look adorable.  some are glass some are ceramic and some are silver and i love them grouped together.

as i look at these pictures i realize i took them before i put the napkins out.  i remembered the napkins and something else in the shower (apres photos) and i can't remember what the other thing was already.  clearly not that important anymore.

bon appetite! 

 

goodbye november

so fall has come & gone and it is officially winter wonderland time.  here are the things our family was grateful for this thanksgiving season:

we all picked something we're thankful for although when we read them they really apply to the whole family.  this is the order they are written: maryjo, lexi, sebi & matt.

as has become tradition we headed to south carolina to celebrate our thanksgiving.  for the first time the weather cooperated & it was absolutely beautiful.  we had some football on the beach:

lexi really got into it.  and of course the boys were all over it.  fun, Fun, FUN!  we had lots of goofiness.

some grandparent love:

and of course for the main event:

AND of course we always have to try for that family christmas card photo...

you'll see one of these or a variation of one on our christmas card this year.  we're getting our tree tomorrow & i'll be decorating all weekend.  the season is upon us!

lucky # 7

our baby girl turned 7 on june 24th.  seven years ago she made our family complete and she doesn't fail to surprise us every single day.  she is in a class by herself.  her dinner celebration with the family was at pf changs (she loves chinese & japanese although she often confuses the two).  

good times.  love hanging with the family.  lexi got two (not one) complimentary desserts which we all thoroughly enjoyed, the great wall of chocolate & banana spring rolls.  YUM!  already at a young age she knows how to shmoosh (sp?).

my life in a nut shell.

girl power!!

one of lexi's high lights of the day was getting stencils tinsels* with meghan.  a little girl bonding....

her fiesta will have to wait 'til closer to school days when everyone is back in town.  too many vacations going on right now.  somehow she makes it a party every single day.  

love this girl!!!  see her stencil tinsel* shining thru?  just like her personality.

*EDIT

 

the end

my last catch-up post:  mother's day.

i was in very good hands.  i got all my gifts in bed.  i love to see all the crafty things my kids make for me at school.  lexi presented me with a ceramic duck and sebastian created a framed parrot image (hmmm, bird theme going on- how trendy of my kids).  ; )  i received white roses from my hubby and yellow tulips from my in-laws; the simplicity of having fresh flowers around the house puts a smile on my face.

after the gift opening ceremony i watched a movie in bed while matt prepared his killer breakfast burritos.  i spent the day pretty much doing whatever i wanted, napping, scrapping (almost done with my december daily- i know it's an embarrassment) or whatever i felt like while matt entertained the kids.  he prepared a fabulous filet & grilled lobster tail dinner and invited fabi to join us.  i love having family around me.

it's good to be MOM!

and there's more....

we finally planted our garden.  it's something we usually do at the end of march, beginning of april at the latest, but this year we actually did it on may 1st.  it's been a rainy, cold winter and had we done it sooner we would have lost most if not all our plantings.

i love the renewal and freshness of new plantings.  this year we added string beans and artichokes as our new trial.  can't wait to see how they fare.

of course we can't forget our little helper.

i love how interested she in the garden, the harvesting and the cooking.  a girl after my own heart.  love it!

 of course she also helped me plant my planter garden stand.  and y'all know how that help goes, but i wouldn't have it any other way.  

i also love how our yard in general is maturing.  this is our second season and all the plants & trees are starting to establish themselves in their space.  and let's not forget whose space it really is:

the mochster!  and, yes, he's getting old.  but he's hanging in there.  love him.  he'll always be my first baby!

how does your garden grow?

 

as promised...

...easter pics.  of course the first thing the kiddos wanted upon waking up was their easter baskets, 'cuz everyone should start their day with chocolate & candies.

we spent the morning as a family just hanging out without having to rush out to a game of some sort.  it was nice.

then we headed out to san francisco to pick up auntie fabianna at the airport and then off to the cliffhouse for some brunch.  the cliffhouse sits on a bluff on the pacific side of san francisco with some amazing views.  

this was the view from our table:

it was beautiful and the food was great.  i'm always apprehensive about brunch buffets but this one was very good (or i was really hungry).  the service left a bit to be desired at times, but between the view, the champagne and the harp player we got over it.

since our reservation was at 2:30, sebastian was astute enough to point out that at that time it should be called dunch since it's a combination of lunch & dinner and not brunch.  yes, he's my highly literal child.  and, he's got a point.  

i do have to say that the kids both enjoyed themselves AND made the experience enjoyable for the grown ups.  my kiddos are growing up and embracing more of the grown-upish activities.  they even left the ds games in the car & everything.  it's a bittersweet acknowledgment.  

we tried to enjoy the outside views after brunch drunch but it was c-o-l-d & windy.

we would have liked to take a little stroll along the water to walk off our drunch but we were all shivering.  that's san francisco though....always picturesque but the weather is a roll of the dice.  

  

when i reminded the children of the story and symbolism behind easter i received plenty of questions and concerns which was my easter present.  although we don't frequent church as often as i would like my kids embrace it & understand it deeply. 

 

when life gives you lemons....

make lemonade {which i plan to make today}

make roasted lemon chicken {which i made last night}

make lemon cheesecake {which hopefully i'll make this weekend}

but our tree overfloweth and i need more recipes {of course i haven't googled yet or anything}

our tree is going crazy {which i love & not complaining by any means} i just don't want them to go to waste.  this basket is not even half of what's out there.  i surely will be gifting to friends and family.

i'm really happy since last year it didn't do much, but it was mr. lemon tree's 1st season with us.  unfortunately our lime tree is doing nada!  i still have hope though...

and of course i can't forget about my fellow harvester.

sebastian was at baseball practice so he didn't participate this time around, but both of the kids embrace our garden and love the process from dirt to table.  i hope we instill in them enough that they'll grow up to want and have their own vegetable gardens some day.

on a TOTAL side note: do you see that pen mark on lexi's shorts?  new shorts. just bought them on sunday for her spring wardrobe. 1st time wearing them. already, really?  

lexi's sleepover

so we finally, Finally had lexi's birthday sleepover.  yes, her birthday is in june and we had celebrated in idaho (remember this), but i had also promised her a sleepover with her montair bffs from kinder.  we didn't want to have it during the height of the summer 'cuz everyone's traveling and busy so we wanted to do it right berfore school started when everyone is back in town gearing up for back to school.  well end of summer came & went.  first day of school came & went.  i finally got our act together the 1st weekend in october when we got back from disney.

the deal is 5 little buddies invited so lexi makes 6.  sebi had the same deal-ie-o when he turned 6.  remember this.  anyway, it ended only being 5 little girls because of family commitments, but it was fun, Fun, FUN!!!  here's the gang.

i had set up activities & crafts to make sure the girls were entertained but they had fun simply running around the back yard with the soccer ball and playing tag and giggling... so between all that we played games and created a friendship necklace

and they decorated a frame where we inserted the above group picture. and they all had matching slippers to wear for the sleepover.  i had wanted to give them all pedis to go w/ their new slippers, but lexi did NOT want to do that and put her foot down (no pun intended) {wink}.

makes me a bit sad; she's all about jean shorts and sneakers (all tho the twinkle toes are cute & all); she no longer wants dresses & frills....  she's growing into another phase.  to me it seems more tweenesque aged things but then again each generation becomes more advanced.  she likes peace signs and bling and rainbows, which brings us to her birthday cake.  she wanted a confetti rainbow type of cake inside with a rainbow on top to match.  i did what i could....

that's a rainbow made of colored sprinkles on clouds of white frosting.  now, i don't consider myself a baker (love to cook, but i'm definitely an aspiring baker) but it's not bad if i do say so myself, right?.  the best part?  lexi absolutely loved it.  sebastian was impressed as well.  they both helped (ate batter, watched me decorate, and commented play by play...) but sebastian grasped how hard it was to lay all the sprinkles just so.  but at the end of the day (quite literally) all the girls knew is that it was CAKE!

 

i wish you everything you can ever dream of baby girl!  xo

tomAto, tomaato....

here we are towards the tail end of september and my garden is still going nuts with tomatoes.  i love this california growing season!  this picture is from a couple of weeks ago.  this week i had an overflowing basket of the plum tomatoes & i just can't keep up.  i'm not into canning...(yet)...so it's basically what i cook and give away to family & friends.  the problem?  i can't give away enough fast enough.  i'm not complaining by any means, i just need more recipes.  since i also have a plethora of basil in my garden it compliments well most of the dishes i prepare.

so far this summer i've made:

• mixed green salad  a la materazo
• caprese salad (A LOT!)
• fresh tomato sauce with mozzarella & basil w/ your favorite pasta
• penne w/ shrimp, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella & basil
• stuffed tomatoes (need to do another version of this still)
• salsa

tha's all i got w/ my fresh tomatoes so far.  i need more....

and as i proof this post i realize i need pictures of these dishes.  i'm hoping to get back to my goal of one new recipe from my magazines & cookbooks every month.  AND if i'm on top of my game maybe even document it here.

how does your garden grow?

  

we planted our veggie garden for the year,  ok, let me clarify.  I selected the varieties, the WHOLE family shopped for the plants, I arranged the vegetables and MATT did the actual planting.  i did some things different this year based on last year's yield. 

tried & true: basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, small tomatoes. 

what i liked about last year's crop:  small tomatoes (cherry, pear, grape, etc.), jalapenos & long, italian peppers (just not as many plants).

what i didn't like about last year's crop:  the freakish zucchini, squash & cucumbers.

what's new this year to the garden: snap peas, arugula & butter crunch lettuces. 

some of the above might (MIGHT) have been affected by the fact that i was a very, very poor garden tenderer (is that a word?) last year.  i DO plan to be better this year.  i'm excited about the snap peas & lettuces.  i know it's not lettuce season, but we planted these from seeds anyway.  i just want to try it out & we'll do it again from plants in the fall when it is the season.  the only things that survived from last year are the rosemary, chives & strawberries.  we actually didn't harvest any strawberries last year so i'm excited to try these little, dainty pretties this year.  OH!  we also did a planter of mint (they tend to take over in the boxes).  planning for some mojito magic, since it's the one cocktail that evades us in this house.  we just can't get it right.  i also like mint springs for summer desserts.  just a  nice touch.