October Art

In honor of the upcoming spoooooky holiday, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Autumnal prints from contemporary folk artist, Nancy Thomas. She has set her roots in Yorktown, Virginia and has galleries both in Yorktown and Williamsburg. Some of Nancy's most favorite motifs are Santa, Angels, and Chefs. Our family favorites are the Seasons and the Chefs. Many of her prints have metal "accessories" incorporated in their frames. As you can see above and below, the metal bat, pumpkin, and garlic clove (I think thats what it is???) are cute additions to the prints.

Be sure to visit Nancy's website for more art (she paints more than just Halloween inspired work!!!), monthly specials and to learn a little more about her. Oh, and she has a blog! Happy October!





Note: Love her work? Be sure to stop by the studios in Yorktown and Williamsburg for her annual Holiday Show. This year the show is set for December 5th and 6th!

Lilly Eyewear

I think I go through Lilly "phases." One day I love her clothing and accessories, the next day its a bit too girly-girl for me. Today, I love it. The company now has a line of eyeglasses and sunglasses that are super cute! Take a look and be sure to view the catalog.

Lonny and The Digital Magazine

I feel repetitive for writing a post about this, but yes, I like the new Lonny Magazine too. Its nice to have a new shelter magazine in the mix, especially in this time of shelter-mag-shutdown. I really wish it was in print though. Call me traditional or old fashioned, but I miss the tactile approach of turning pages. I have such a hard time reading magazines, newspapers, and documents on the computer. And being able to earmark or flag pages with different fingers as I read is also is helpful. Not being able to do that just kind of stresses me out (crazy... I know!).

We just had this conversation at work, regarding one of our vendors who has gone completely "digital." Yes, its best for the environment (and it definitely saves the vendor some serious money too), allows for faster updates of pricing, materials, etc, but I can't stand having to review price lists on the computer. And whats a girl to do when the internet is down? Yeah... it happens. Oh, and how in the heck am I supposed to build a brochure for a customer while they wait? Can I just have some paper documents to show them??? Anyways, just some thoughts on this new digital format that is appearing here, there, and everywhere.

Overall though, I'm beyond thrilled to have a replacement for ye olde favorite, Domino Magazine. Thanks Michelle and Patrick! Now if someone would just bring back the look and feel of Cottage Living. I'll settle with that one in digital form as well.

Autumn is Here

Its Thursday evening and I'm ready for the weekend. I spent some time this evening relaxing and catching up on blogs, plus some brainstorming. I made a mental checklist of the things I want to do this weekend. The weather should be nice, so I'm hoping to go to the downtown farmer's market on Saturday morning, and a country drive later in the day.

I also need to go pick some apples at Carter's Mountain so I can make applesauce (my Mom's applesauce mill has been sitting unused on my kitchen countertop too long!), but I don't want to have to battle the weekend apple picking crowds. Too many people for me! I might go early or right before they close.

I picked up some molasses chew cookies made by Mission Home Bakeshop today when I was at the grocery. They were the perfect addition to my chicken salad sandwich lunch. The cookies were definitely were an impulse buy thanks to the crisp cool weather we've been so lucky to have. Go pick some up and celebrate Autumn. Its here!


I'm hoping to do a little cooking this weekend as well. Last weekend I made Barefoot Contessa's Lentil Sausage Soup. Delicious. I give the recipe 5 stars! Go make it yourself if you want a great afternoon activity that will leave your home smelling scrumptious all day! This weekend I'm looking forward to trying L'Etoile's Pumpkin Soup recipe that they sampled at the Farmer's Market last weekend. Served with some crusty bread, a fresh salad, and a glass of wine... perfect Saturday evening dinner.

While Fall is fresh on the mind, be sure to take a look at this lovely guest bedroom from The Newlywed Diaries. The colors are beautiful and the simplicity of the space is just what a guest is looking for. Someplace to feel welcome and cozy, but without the clutter of their own home. Wouldn't you love to be a guest in their guestroom?

Coastal Living 2009 Idea Cottage

When you get a chance, take a look at the 2009 Coastal Living Idea Cottage in I'On, South Carolina. I just got the magazine in the mail today and am loving it. Take a look at the website or pick up the magazine next time you need a little $4.99 vacation!

Check this out, and quickly!

Meg of Pigtown Designs has posted a link to upload a large printable vintage Parisian map. Its available for download in Greyish Sepia, Black and White, and Sepia. Just think of the possibilities...

- art ... obviously!
- wrapping paper
- book covers
- I know there are more things you could do with this... just can't think of any off the top of my head.

I'll work on printing this out and getting some photographed ideas.

Download quickly. It looks like these downloads will only be available for a few more days!

Souper Noodle Soup

When I was little my Dad made this special soup for rainy days, snow days, pretty much any weekend day when we wanted to help him cook. We called it Souper Noodle Soup. The recipe is simple, basic chicken noodle soup, but instead of using just one plain noodle style, you create a mixture of all the noodles you have in the pantry. Curly noodles, bowties, macaroni noodles, alphabet noodles, linguine noodles, even egg noodles made it into the mix (I hate egg noodles now, but at the time I loved them)... pretty much whatever was in the pantry. My Dad, who my sisters and I named Daddy Boy (everyone has a crazy name like this at my house, it must have been some sort of classifcation system we did when we were growing up. Its completely normal to call my Mom Mommy Girl, Emma- Emma Girl, etc), probably did this to clear out the pantry. Daddy Boy would start the soup an hour or two before eating. The aroma of fresh chicken broth, herbs, celery, and carrots would float through the air.

I recall that my sisters and I would usually abandon Daddy Boy after the noodles were thrown into the pot; back upstairs we would go. Legos would call our name, or dolls, or other neighborhood friends. For some reason or another we would wander back downstairs and the scrumptious smell of Souper Noodle Soup would catch our noses. My Dad is notorious for having a soup spoon and a small dish by the stove, perfect for him to take a taste every once in a while. We would ask to try the noodle-y goodness. It was always delicious and suddenly we would want to eat a meal right then (even if it was only 10:30 in the morning, or 3:00 in the afternoon). Usually we had it for lunch, then again for dinner.

So I'm bringing this up because my Dad has scheduled surgery tomorrow morning. I'm nervous, but hopeful that all will go well. I knew I wanted to make him something, but was struggling to come up with the perfect card. After wracking my mind of creative ideas, a watercolor illustration of Souper Noodle Soup seemed most appropriate. I'm hoping to be able to go and visit him this weekend and make him some Souper Noodle Soup. I will share his recipe with you when I get back from my visit.


Update: My Dad's surgery went well. We will know the final test results next week.