summer shoes

When I was little there were two mandatory summer purchases made every summer. Salt-water sandals (but only in white) and keds (but only in black or blue)

I kind of want some keds for this summer and if I had a cute little girl, I would get her some salt-water sandals. Every little girl needs a pair.

remodelista

I saw this post on Your Heart Out and I love the idea of reclaimed wood, especially if it means having floors like the ones on the left!

While I was perusing remodelista.com I fell in love with this picture, I want a house that looks like this one day. But maybe with some curtains...

P.S. do you like the new design???

travel tuesday: southeastern idaho

Today we are exploring three towns in Southeastern Idaho- Preston, Soda Springs and Lava Hot Springs. When I was looking at picture of these towns I couldn't help but think that they are a wonderful representation of small town America.

The mountains surrounding Lava Hot Springs and the Portneuf River


The hot pots in Lava Hot Springs, these are pools of natural hot spring water, and they are what Lava Hot Springs is famous for.

Downtown Soda Springs and Alexander Reservoir

Soda Springs geyser, the only man captivated geyser in the world, and an abandoned farm house


I love this picture of the grain elevators and railroad tracks, it does something for me. If you ever travel to southeastern Idaho you must stop in Soda Springs and try the carbonated mineral water at Hooper Springs, try it plain but most people like it some lemonade mix.


Preston, Idaho home of Napoleon Dynamite. They have a Napoleon Dynamite festival every summer at the local high school, I think they filmed a lot of the movie there.

summer reading

Some books for my summer reading list...

twenties girl by sophie kinsella (to be released July 21)
the scarlet pimpernel and emily's quest (really the whole emily series)


the thorn birds and the grand sophy


what books would you like to read this summer?

handmade baby shower gift guide

It is that time of year. Baby showers are back and I swear there will be hundreds this summer, everyone I know seems to be pregnant this year. Here are some ideas for gifts...

blue felt booties (I am in love with felt shoes today). My favorite bows are small and simple like these ones.

coriander blanket (the other side looks so soft!) or this frog hooded bath towel


I love this oil cloth bib and this red bird onesie


These cherry felt booties are darling. I can already see this blue and brown striped hat on my soon to be nephew (see how sure I am that it is a boy Camilla?)

This giraffe sleeping gown might be my favorite of all of these. I love the texture of the gray felt shoes.

herb plant markers

love these, found on Etsy...

capers

I have always steered away from recipes that call for capers, I am not sure why but I associated them with caviar. Well after a quick trip to Wikipedia today I learned that they are in no way associated with caviar or fish for that matter. Capers are actually the pickled buds of the caper plant and according to my trusty source they are similar in taste to olives?? Can any confirm this? Regardless, now that I know there are no seafood connections (not a fan of seafood) I will be trying this recipe, it looks delicious.

photo found here

baby shower flowers

I have some green mums

and some white hydrangea's for a baby shower I am throwing tonight and with some inspiration from here (the first picture), hopefully it will look as nice in real life as it does in my head...

ebelskivers

Have you ever had an ebelskiver? They are danish filled pancakes and they are amazing. When I saw that Williams Sonoma is selling ebelskiver pans now, I was so excited. I love ebelskivers. You can see the pans as well as video instructions here.

half blood prince

Travel Tuesday: Winterthur Estate and Gardens

This is a companion post to last weeks Longwood Gardens. Another DuPont family estate, just miles from Longwood, has over 600 acres of naturalistic gardening as well as a 9 floor mansion turned museum for you to tour! The gardens are filled with wildflowers, bluebells, magnolia and cherry trees and daffodils galore for spring. If you visit in April or May there is a special 20 dollar ticket that will get you into both Winterthur and Longwood Gardens. For more information visit www.winterthur.org.





pics via winterthur and flickr

butterfly garden

I liked this idea from Martha Stewart...

If you like butterflies you might want to consider putting heliotrope or snapdragons or any of these in your garden.

pasta with goat cheese and roasted asparagus

Doesn't this look delicious? I plan on trying this recipe out in the very near future...

britain's got talent

I can't help but smile when I watch this, I hope she wins

love old navy

Thank you Old Navy for making this pretty t-shirt for me to buy, for $12. Thank you Room Somewhere for posting this picture, which inspired me to buy said t-shirt and pair it will a blue cardigan and white skirt. I love it.

around the blogging world...

I saw people playing in a recently filled fountain today, I am getting so excited for summer! (photo via flickr)

Here are some of my favorites blog posts from the past week or so.

From My Kitchen Cafe:

Black and White Cheesecake Squares

Lemon Sugar-Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

Garlic Knots

From Say Yes! to Hoboken:

Dinners this week

Rainbow Macaroons

Etsy Crush

From Pioneer Woman Cooks!:

Lost Tamale