broken window series

garden party

things are growing and flourishing post rain and then more rain. green tomatoes are hanging so proud, peppers are blooming, soon to be budding with little peppers. tomatillos are growing their papery skin of protection for the little green tomato goodness to burst forth. we harvested some lettuce last week, and are continuing to enjoy the herbs from the garden. hot peppers and carrots are growing at a steady rate as well!
the weeds are out of control. i need to get out there very soon!
thats the little garden update.
its been a little too long since i've posted.
more of what i've been up to soon.

movie <3

i am looking forward to the release of this movie. a little quirky, but it speaks to my sometimes restless heart. i find myself wanting to travel the country. not looking for a place to raise my children yet, but for a place to raise jason and i right now. to raise our spirits, and find a group of people besides our family that we can call family. not that i do not love the people around me, it just feels like there is something missing something more...

away we go trailer

cupcakes galory

today was filled with cupcakes, icing and a great mess (as always) . my task was to fill an order of 35 dog cupcakes. westies to be more specific
i cut the marshmallows on the diagonal, so they point up and open the inside to roll with sugar!
we had to move the whole operation into our bedroom, because of the humidity outside. unfortunately we only have air conditioning in our bedroom right now. the humidity kills icing. it makes it super runny. very frustrating, but all was fixed with a little more powdered sugar and a cool blast of air.
thanks to my lovely book, hello cupcake, for the inspiration!
here they are. well not all 35 of them. it kinda looks creepy to have 35 dogs who look rather similar staring back at you in the picture.

a cake or two...

i tend to post only the cakes i've done completely on my own, not affiliated with the bakery i work at. so yesterday i ran over to the bakery, to work on it. the one above was a present for my friend who has been dreaming about a green fondant cake with fuchsia flowers. it was a quick little thing. i didn't spend as much time or detail as i would have liked, but it turned out ok and i think she was pleased!
this was a bridal shower cake i did on friday. pretty classic design, but fun all the same. the colors turned out better than i imagined they would! so there is my little cake update. i wish i posted more cakes on here. i just don't remember to take pictures half the time.

cloth napkins

i'll admit. its been a while since i've done anything very crafty. nothing has been inspirational enough to pick up and work on from start to finish. there is a lot going on right now. i'm busier at the bakery. we have thursday night dinners at our house with a bunch of friends and i'm doing some "on the side" cake projects...

so we had dinner last evening and i pulled out the yellow cloth napkins i have. they're great, i love them, but they are my only pair of napkins. so after dinner, i had some time to rummage through my fabric and come up with these linen napkins. inspiration from here. i love these and someday hope to make the table runner as well.

these flowers are amazing. a little "weed" flower growing between some of are bushes. jason found these and gave them to me in hopes of cheering up my blah day. it worked and craftiness ensued.

how the garden grows...

about a week ago my little seeds started to sprout about the garden. i've yet to start plants from seed, so this is an exciting process for me to behold. above here is spinach
and here we have tiny carrot sprouts
leafy greens!

and my most clever husband, has rigged us up a rain barrel to water the garden! now all we need is rain! my grandfather always had rain barrels behind his shed to water his garden, so this has made me think of him. he has since moved out of that house with that shed. its all a little sad. life goes on with all its frequent changes whether we like them or not.

summer dinner for a cold rainy day!

tonight's menu! panini! grilled chicken, tomatoes basil and fresh mozzarella. once again, trying to keep it local. minus the mozzarella, i think i accomplished that. r & j farm market has chicken that i tried for the first time. they are seconds down the road from where we live. they raise and kill their own chickens. so they turned out good, but think that it could have used some sort of spread, to give it a little kick.


... and strawberry shortcake for dessert! i cheated a little. i had every intention of making my own shortcake, but when i realized we had no butter, i suddenly felt too tired to make my own cake. the bakery i work at makes a pretty good one. tasted like summer. tasted like my moms!

lunch and dinner!

maybe not the healthiest ever, but this pumpkin chocolate chip muffin i got from bakers on broad was so yummy! i went there to go get some bread for dinner, and ended up with a little treat for myself. i cannot easily pass up pumpkin in june, let alone with chocolate inside! so bakers on broad is this wonderful little homemade bread shop. they have pastries as well, but manly artisan breads. since reading the omnivores dilemma, i've been inspired to shop as locally as i possibly can. often times its not that much more expensive, it just takes a few trips around town to get what you need.
my adventure into dinner land last evening turned out to be a good one. i made scallops for the first time. pan- seared scallops with artichokes, roasted tomatoes and linguine. yum yum.

local craft show

my sister and i went this local craft show yesterday. by local i mean penn's landing in philly!
it was so so so much fun. the day was a beauty
i was inspired by all the creative brains in this area. i got a cute little headband and print by La Belle Avenue. this will have to be a yearly visit.