Monday, May 30, 2011

Google Mania

Google

I recently signed my life away to Google. Haven't we all? 

That's right I have started using almost every Google product available. First of all let it be said that their products services software (help! What are they called? You know, Google mail, Google reader, Google Docs etc..) are pretty ridiculously amazing! 

In today's world there are hundreds of thousands of apps, programs, softwares, etc.. promising to make you more efficient, more organized, connect with more people and on and on. I get so distracted by it all and I'm such a sucker for marketing that I believe each of the claims and instantly feel like I must get it as it will change my life!  

Google has everything I need, does the job so well and has clean & neat aesthetics - always important! Also a fantastic 'help' section that always gives me the answers I'm seeking well at least when I ask questions related to their products, so far they haven't been able to help me sleep train my son. 
I have moved my life over into Google. I no longer even get tempted by all that's available out there since it would be more trouble then it's worth to start over transferring all my information. 

I definitely feel more organized feeling like my 'stuff' is all in one place, so to speak and it's calming to be able to ignore the siren call of the latest 'it' thingy. 


What I Use & For What: 

For my email obviously, I've played around with and gotten to know the labels and filters and it's changed the way I do email, I'm much more efficient with getting to the important stuff but still seeing the all the emails that I subscribe too such as my Daily Candy newsletters, Rachel Zoe's and notice from Net-a-Porter and The Outnet.com when new items come in. All important but sometimes actual emails from family, friends or work get lost amongst all that :) 


Google reader organizes the blogs I follow. I have to admit I just started using Reader so I'm still learning the ins and outs and how to best use it for my needs. 
I love Picasa! I use it to store all my photos. Period. They also recently added this amazing photo editor Picnik, it's seems like child's play but actually creates very professional results. 

 
Oh G-chat, how I love thee. My sisters and I chat every day, all day on this. Some of the best moments in our relationship happened here :) 



                    
  Google Calendar is great, I can access it from my iPhone's calendar app and anything I add     to it there will show up in Google calendar and visa versa. 


   I'm also fairly new to Google docs but I have very quickly managed to scan most of my important documents. I love how I can access it from anywhere and share stuff with people. I'm using it to create a virtual 'household management book' that my husband and I can both see, edit and use. 



-- Are you a Google lover, user, expert, all three? I'd love to hear! 

Disclaimer - I do use one other program that I'm in love with that is not a Google product. But that's for another day :) - Also I wasn't paid to say any of this, I just am so happy that I've finally found a system I couldn't resist not sharing :) 

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Weddings on My Mind

With my little sister's upcoming wedding on my mind I couldn't help but share this beautiful bold but delicate cake. My favorite part is the perfect shade of seafoam green! 

Looking at cakes is easier then trying to find the perfect dress to wear :) 



If you have any suggestions on the dress front, please share! 



Monday, May 9, 2011

What's Cooking?

- Lentil Soup -
I always try to have a nice big pot of soup in the fridge during the week.
It makes a wonderful light dinner when paired with a salad and some warm toasty bread.

As you know from my 'tweet's' I recently confessed that I have trouble following recipes but I have some good amateur pictures to compensate for that :) 

The onions sauteing in my huge 6 quart soup pot

I didn't add the called for carrots because I decided to add.....
wait for it.....

CAULIFLOWER :) 
(and I didn't think they would play off of each other well in this particular soup)
I'm on a cauliflower kick lately, especially for soups it creates such a great base both of flavor and texture

Here I added the dry lentils to the pot


Filled the pot with water, added herbs (thyme & some fresh rosemary, salt & pepper) 


Let it boil and then simmer and after some cleanup and a few dishes 

voila! 

Delicious lentil soup for dinner. 

not the prettiest soup to photograph, hehehe :) but it tasted amazing! 

Serving Suggestion: 
With some of the heartier soups I like adding a scoop of cooked rice to the bowl. 

Delish! 

Friday, May 6, 2011

Designer Profile ~ Miu Miu 

These clutches sucker punch me each time I look at them,  the color, the details and the material/fabric are exquisite. I'm pretty sure they're begging me to take them home tonight :) 
I just might have to....

colorful clutches








Thursday, May 5, 2011

Kids + Pets = What To Do? :)


This is NOT a posed picture!! 
Can you believe it? I didn't even know I got this shot until I was flipping through the pictures once we got home.
As sweet and 'awww' inducing as this photo is we are reaching a stage where boundaries need to be set and rules enforced. Mostly on the baby side of things, Ethan is always trying to go after Nikki's paws and fur while she does her best to maintain a respectable distance. 
It's time to decide (not that what we think or say matters to them anymore :) if anything goes or do we try to limit Nikki smothering Ethan in licks kissing and Ethan sneaking Nikki food off of his highchair (yes, I have caught him doing this already) 
The old (read: pre-baby) part of me says we need to have rules of what goes and what doesn't while the new and improved and too tired to care me says we can't really control it anyways so why get bothered by it. 

What do you think? 
Those of you with furry kids how do you handle it? 

P.s - Happy Margarita Day! The day formerly known as Cinco de Mayo :) 

Wait Till You See This!!

I couldn't wait to share this all with you. 
Jen Ramos of Made By Girl fame has recently launched a new store called 

which features her artwork.
There is no way for me to describe in words her talent.
Let's just say I'm infatuated with her work and I think she is amazing! :)


This is one of my favorite paintings. 

LIPSTICK DOTS 5 

Kinda reminds me of the MAC lipstick display at the department store, that's probably why I like it so much - hahaha :) 
No seriously, I'm already designing a room around it (my husband says 'thanks a lot' Jen!). 
So run and check out Jen's new store and be sure to drop by her blog MadebyGirl

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Dream Dressing ~ Hard/Soft

Yin & yang, hot & cold, sweet & sour
hard & soft.
Opposites play nice in fashion, the best when it's rocker black coming together with fairy tale pink. 
A structured jacket with a flirty dress can only be topped by killer Christian Louboutin python and nubuck ankle boots

NEED. THEM.NOW! 
hard/soft


Weddings on My Mind.....

I know, I know, I'm crazy. 
The rest of the universe world is on wedding overload and I'm still gaga over all things wedding. 
To be fair my sister is getting married this August so clearly we can't be over weddings since we're just getting knee deep in the planning of hers. 
Because my favorite movie since infancy was The Wedding Planner (yes, that one with Jennifer Lopez - hey I was young! My tastes of since matured only slightly) and I have collected (that's a gentle word to describe piles of magazines from the 90s) Brides Magazine since I could beg my father to buy them for me (I'm not kidding! I was 5!!) she was sweet enough to enlist my help with the planning :) Well that and I may have threatened her....but hey enough about me. 
In order to help her out with the big decisions I offered to put together a mood/design board for her. 
{side note} 
apparently not everyone reads blogs and is obsessed with design like we all are, she asked me what a mood board was!! Can you believe it??
{end side note}

So enjoy these visuals that might make it on. 

I'm thinking green..
Sage-Green-Bridesmaids-Dresses
via



She's thinking purple...



Kate Hudson in Bride Wars
Source: weddings.theknot.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Maybe both...



via
via
garden-wedding-ceremony-white-petals-in-grass-purple-flowers
via
Nothing says 'wedding' more then this - yummy!  































...and stay romantic even if you'd be okay if the media didn't mention the words THE dress, wedding and princess ever again....hehehe :) 

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Dinner Party Delight



We hosted a little dinner party on Friday night in celebration of the Sabbath.

I wanted it to be homey so I stuck to a pretty simple but full of flavor menu that included roasted herb potatoes and chicken de Provence

The potatoes about to go into the oven
up-close view - I used 5 different fresh herbs 

It was us and a few good friends and several bottles of wine so I kept the table decor relatively unfussy even though it was hard to resist my urge to pull out all the stops.
NO IT'S NOT!
 I prefer the sign that says "Going All Out Doesn't Mean You're Insane" hehehe :)
Anyways, a lovely time was had by one and all


Nothing like good food, good friends and good wine!!

Happy Weekend!

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