mango quinoa salad

I recently ran across this mango quinoa salad on Our Best Bites, I have been wanting to find more quinoa recipes. I currently have two good ones with two more to try out. Hopefully this one will fall under the 'good' category.

poppies

photo via Design Mom

I want to take up painting. I think this picture would be a great place to start. Oh to live in France. It just sounds lovely, doesn't it?

inspirational

via House Beautiful

I love this couch coupled with the gigantic library behind it.

farewell to ace deuce

Today is moving day. We are sad to leave Ann Arbor, we have come to love it.

But on to new adventures! Wish us luck in crossing the flooding Mississippi!

via Joe Braun, Film Maker Magazine,

travel tuesday: india with guest blogger martha

Here is a taste of some favorite moments from our adventures around Incredible India. All that can be said is sensory overload! One has to see it to believe it. Visit curiousmisadventure for the full story.

Contrast beach moment, Goa

Gate of India and Taj Palace Hotel, site of the 2009 terrorist attacks.

Dohbi Ghat. The biggest laundro-mat you’ll ever see. Only men working. In Mumbai.

Hand-dyed sari threads.

Sun Temple, 1000 years old.

The Taj Mahal, at Sunset

Transportation.

Home of the magic carpet.

Cows wandering the roads.

The kiddles. My favorite thing to discover.

So much delicious food. And almost always vegetarian! Heaven.

new life

I have four mismatched bookshelves, two of which REALLY need some TLC. Perhaps a coat of spray paint will help them. Or maybe I should just sell them and get a new one...

via apartment therapy, kaboodle,

a new book

My husband and I have been listening to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I am on the fence, it is intriguing but not so much that I am dying to read the second and third books. Part of the problem could be listening to it rather than reading it, I tend to get less involved with books I listen to. One way or the other it is nice to start making the transition back to real books. Any suggestions of good books I have missed out on during the last two years?

a galactic nursery

I have wanted a collection of moon paintings for my one day nusery for a while. I have recently seen these constellation pieces and love them. The question is, does adding constellation pieces to moons make it more battle star gallatica than Good Night Moon? Probably, but I love them still the same.

Via Restoration Hardware and Say YES! to Hoboken

white brick

I have been doing some more research on painted white fireplaces for Angela. Since her fireplace is positioned between two windows there isn't a lot of room to add a mantle on the sides.

One thing I have noticed about the best looking painted white fireplaces is the they keep a contrasting tone or color in the floor tile or interior brick.

The second observation surprised me, they all have a simple mantle. I thought you would want a large elaborate mantle to contrast the white but almost every one I have found has a simple mantle.

Notice the red interior brick?

The third thing I noticed is they all have a white wall behind them. I don't know if it is necessary or not but it is definitely a trend found in all of these pictures at least!

I hope this helps Angela!

via country living, home for the better, decor pad, from the white bank, little blue deer

cleaning the freezer

We are moving in a week and a half! I am trying to clean out my freezer so I am going to try this Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak recipe tonight with a side salad.

keri russell's home

I was browsing Elle Decor and fell in love with Keri Russell's Brooklyn home.

I remember a couple of years ago looking for examples of dark wood kitchens, I think this is an excellent use of dark wood in a kitchen.

I really want an upright piano, they are my favorite kind of piano.

tour de brownie: barefoot contessa

Last night we tried out the Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies- and they certainly were outrageous with a pound of butter and more than a pound of chocolate. They were very rich brownies and definitely needed adequate time to cool, when they first came out they were very crumbly. They have a good flavor but they are rich enough that it would be hard to eat more than one, especially if you don't have milk or ice cream to go with them. The crumbly factor was not in its favor either. The directions said to tap the brownies against something half way through cooking, there was no way that was going to happen, they would have spilled all the way over if we had tried. Overall I would give these three stars because they had a good flavor but they are not my favorite.

loosing the hips

For the last two years I have been working full time and going to school full time. My exercise and diet suffered and I developed some sweet secretary hips. The goal this summer is to get back in shape and try to develop better habits. I want to try some of the six golden rules of weight loss.
1- Keep a log of everything you eat. I actually did this a while ago, but I photographed everything. It was a major pain but it worked.
2-Beef up your protein intake. For this one I think I will try buying almonds again. Yahoo also suggests greek yogurt and edamame.
3-Add color to every meal. This is something I definitely need to do. Cooking kind of took a back seat these last couple of years and I want to change that. I think maybe I will see if I can find one of those services that delivers a box of locally grown in season fruits and vegetables each week.
4-Stop grazing. I have never been a huge grazer but I think following the other food guidelines will help me stop any grazing that I might do.
5-Have a meal plan. I have done this with varying degrees of success. Hopefully with a little more time I can do better. I think I like the weekly planning better than monthly though.
6- Take your time. This is the hardest for me, I am a fast eater which means I often end up eating more than I should. I am going to try and implement some of the suggestions like eating at the table and putting food on the plate instead of putting the food on the table family style.

Some of my own additions are to exercise 4-5 times a week and to not only start running again but to add variety to my workouts with exercises that will tone. So this is my game plan. Hopefully I will be able to start implementing this month but the chaos of moving cross country may put the hardcore implementation off for another month.

aqua

I love this bathroom. Mostly because of the colors...

via home decorating ideas

easy pasta

I tried out this Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter pasta from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It was fast, easy, and delicious. A triple threat.

the monogram

As my friend Martha says, monograms are a staple of East Coast prep. I like a good, well placed monogram. The questions is where is the line to monogram overload?


Shower curtains are toeing the line.

Pillows? I think they are fine.

Personally, I like monogrammed totes.

I think it is safe to say monogrammed valances is past that line.

So what do you think, how much is too much?
via fabulous k, project shannon, js monograms, 3bs, daily cup of couture,

tour de brownie: suzanne's best brownies

photo via simply recipes
This week I went with Simply Recipes Suzanne's Best Brownies recipe. I was intrigued by the substitution of vanilla extract with almond extract. The recipe was easy but I did end up tacking an additional 10 minutes to the cooking time. The brownies got mixed reviews. The texture and density of the brownies was determined by all to be the best yet. The flavor was disputed, loved by some but not by others. Personally, I thought the almond extract was overpowering. Substituting vanilla extract back might make it a contender for the grand prize. Overall, I rate these three and a half stars with a potential of five stars when made with vanilla.