My Friends' Fabulous Kitchens

Check out the current issue of Kitchen + Bath Makeovers magazine, which features the kitchens of two friends of mine — both of whom have received props in this blog (see below)! My friend Daeaun transformed her kitchen's dated oak cabinetry with chic ebony paint, new hardware, and savvy ideas like creating a backsplash detail with pressed-tin for $20. An incredible transformation. My friend Kaylen's 1925 cottage is equally inspiring because nearly everything is reclaimed or recycled. For example, she scored a Sub-Zero fridge on Craigslist for $90 and freshened it up with chalkboard paint. So resourceful!

I had the fun of styling both of the shoots and writing the accompanying articles. I'll repost with PDFs of the articles when I receive them from the publisher, but in the meantime, you can hit newsstands to pick up the current issue. (Try Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Target, and your local grocer.) Daeaun's kitchen, "Black Magic," starts on page 58. Kaylen's kitchen, "Cottage Charmer," starts on page 82 — and there are loads of other great kitchens and bathrooms in this issue, too. Kitchen + Bath Makeovers is one of my favorite magazines because the ideas are always inspiring yet always accessible. (No $3,000 light fixtures or $800 counter stools here.)

Previous posts about Daeaun:
Ladies (and Husbands and Kids) Who Brunch
Pretty Simple Bouquet

Previous posts about Kaylen:
Super Bowl Sunday: Trophy-Topped Wine Stoppers
Sweet Soaps

Twin Cities Summer "Could-Do" List for Families

My friend Nancy emailed me last night with the kind of question I love. Her daughter is nannying two kids this summer and is looking for "free or very inexpensive things to do, so the parents don't have to spend lots of money each day." Those are precisely the kinds of things I look for every summer! 

Last summer my boys and I made a list of things we wanted to do before school kicked in. It wasn't a must-do list, which would be way too much pressure and would kind of defeat the purpose of an easy-going summer pace. It was a could-do list — things we could do when we had a rare free morning or day. Nothing went on the list unless the prospect sounded good to everyone. As a result, most of our field trips ended up being, according to the boys, "epicalistic." 

At the end of the summer, we didn't worry about the stuff that we never got around to doing. There were plenty of days when I was too busy (or simply not in the mood) to play family camp counselor. On those days, I told the kids to figure out their own fun — which often resulted in me repeatedly saying: "Really? You're bored? Only boring people can get bored. Are you boring?" 

I truly am becoming my mother. 

This summer we tweaked the list. Some things stayed, other things fell off, and we swapped in a couple of new-to-us hikes and parks. I was going to just share this list with Nancy, but aren't we all looking for "free or very inexpensive things to do" this time of year? Maybe there's something on here that's new to you. Many thanks to my mom friends who gave me a lot of these summer could-do ideas. Keep 'em coming, and here's wishing all of us an epicalistic summer! 

I sent my list via email to my local OfficeMax and had them increase the size and laminate it, then my kids took turns checking off the items on the list with a Sharpie. 

P.S. Yes, our summers are ridiculously short, but here's an awesome Minnesota fact that my Houston brother sent to me today: Ninety-four percent of Minneapolis residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, one of the factors that has led the city to the top of the best-park-system table in the USA. —USA Today

"Call the Midwife" and Grab a Hankie

I'm in love with Call the Midwife, a remarkable, memoir-based BBC series that follows a small group of midwives in London's East End during the 1950s. It's captivating, funny, entertaining ... but it's so much more than that, too. One viewer posted this on the show's website: "I feel privileged to watch these sacred stories." I couldn't agree more. The characters, the story lines, the relationships, the clothes, the setting, the time period — it all combines to make a beautiful statement about how history, and the seasons of our very own lives, are so rich and so fleeting. And the birth scenes, though sometimes stressful (and always sans epidural!), will bring tears to your eyes every time. Those tiny babies! Have some Kleenex, or better yet a 1950s-esque hankie, handy.

It's been called "Downton Uterus" (ha!), but I think Call the Midwife is even better than its more famous BBC counterpart. Season 3 is currently airing on most PBS stations, and you can stream seasons 1 and 2 via the PBS website or Netflix.

The Best Way to Serve Cheese at a Party

The Quick Tip:
Serving cheese at your next soiree? Forget plates and platters. Use bread bowls! Serving cut-up cheese in a bread bowl magically prevents those unappealing hard edges from forming, even when the cheese is out for a few hours.

The Back Story:
I learned this incredibly awesome cheese-serving tip this past Friday night from my wonderful friend Terri. Terri's cool job takes her to trade shows where she gets to sample the latest and greatest foods and products that show up in stores like Whole Foods. Cheese purveyors at the trade shows have recently started offering up samples of their cheddars, goudas, and camamberts in bread bowls — not because it's an attractive way to serve cheese (although it is, don't you think?), but because pieces of cheese don't develop those unappetizingly hard, dark, waxy edges that they're prone to getting when arranged on a platter or tray.

Terri's tip proved itself on Friday when our chunks of cheese remained perfect for a couple of hours. I double-tested the theory today when I gave the kids some cheese as an after school snack. I took the above photo four hours later, and the cheese was flawless.

Thanks, T!

P.S. I kinda love cheese. Here are some other cheesy posts:
Real-deal Grilled Cheese
Easy-Cheesy Chicken Salad Melt
From-the-Heart Baked Ziti

EOS Lip Balm Easter Eggs

EOS Lip Balm as Easter Eggs

I may not be an expert in, well, anything — but I do consider myself to be a lip balm connoisseur. I've tried lots and lots and lots of lip balms. For years my favorite has been Kiehl's Lip Balm #1. I swore by it, recommended it, and gifted it many times over. But sometime last year one of these funny little EOS lip balms caught my eye. I bought one, and it was love at first application (super smooth and ultra comforting). My kids liked them, too. Then, my 5th-grade son told me that girls at his school were carrying around collections of EOS lip balms in special purses. Then, my friend Kathy found a package of five at Costco (a steal at just $10!) and sent me a text to see if I wanted her to grab one for me. Then, I went to Costco myself just a few days later to buy another package, and they were already sold out. EOS is hot, hot, hot!

When I put all of my EOS balms on the kitchen counter, they reminded me of colorful Easter eggs. Whether snuggled in an egg carton or nestled in a basket, EOS "eggs" would make a great Easter gift for the lip-balm lover or 'tween-aged girl in your life. They're sold all over the place. Start collecting now, and you'll have an awesome assortment in time for Easter.

Just in Time for the Tourney: NCAA Fabrics

Bracket fever has struck my house big and bad. As I write this, a heated debate is taking place in my kitchen between my husband and our two older sons regarding their respective picks. They banter about turnover-to-assist ratios and three-point shooting percentages and coaching pedigrees and hot streaks like ESPN commentators. Me? I base my selections on where I went to school (Iowa State University), where friends went to school (e.g., Michigan State), where I've lived (e.g., Arizona), and where friends' kids are currently going to school (e.g., Minnesota and Marquette). I also have Michigan going far because of, yes, those neon yellow uniforms.

Credit: Rick Osentoski, USA Today Sports

I just went online to see if I could score any Iowa State gear in time for the game Friday night and saw that JoAnn is selling all NCAA fabrics for 50% off! Cottons are $4.99/yard, fleeces are $7.49/yard. Even if you miss out on this sale, chances are a fabric store near you carries prints for your regional NCAA teams.

Think how easy it would be to cut out a tablecloth for your buffet spread or to make a SuperFan party parka! (SuperFan party parka = cut a hole in the middle of 1 square yard of fabric; insert head through hole; wait for compliments.) Here's to enjoying the next three weeks of basketball fever!

Iowa State University Block NCAA Fleece Fabric, $7.49/yard 

Minnesota NCAA Fleece Fabric, $7.49/yard

Pottery Passion

Artist Whitney Smith. (Image from whitneysmithpottery.com)

"Eight Nesting Lotus Ceramic Bowls in Red" by Whitney Smith. Image from etsy.com/shop/whitneysmith.

I've had the chance to write about ceramic artist and Etsy superstar Whitney Smith twice now – once for Pillsbury.com (my go-to site for family-pleasing dinner ideas), and again for the awesomely inspiring site produced by Sherwin Williams called STIR. Not only is Whitney's work beautiful in its simplicity and freshness, but her life is beautiful in that she's turned her passion for pottery into her profession, with stores as far away as Paris now selling her creations. She's super cool and nice to boot. Here's a link to the STIR Q&A, "Color and the Kiln."

Super Bowl Sunday: Trophy-Topped Wine Stoppers

Trophy Topped Wine Stoppers

Super Bowl Sunday is the perfect day to give a big cheer to my friend Kaylen, a true champion in the creativity department. I was at Kaylen's house a few months ago styling her kitchen for a photo shoot (you'll be able to see her incredibly affordable and yes, creative to-the-studs remodel in an upcoming issue of Kitchen + Bath Makeovers magazine) when she showed me these so-freaking-funny wine stoppers that she made with her own two incredibly creative hands. I went bonkers over them, and Kaylen reacted with the nonchalant response that is the signature of all-star creative types: "Oh my gosh, these are so easy to make." 

Here's the gist of her "so easy" method: Kaylen buys kitschy old trophies at second-hand stores, pops off the tops, spray paints them, and somehow affixes them to wine corks. (Sorry, I was too busy gushing to take proper notes.) 

If I had Kaylen's creativity, I'd not only be making these as gifts, I'd also be setting up an Etsy site and peddling them outside my son's basketball tournaments. But for people like Kaylen, whipping up fanciful wine stoppers is just another day at the office. Just wait till you see what this woman can do with a can of chalkboard paint and a Sub-Zero refrigerator. I'll post that inspiring tale later this month!  

Great Gift Idea: Cocoa Cones

Here's a repeat of a popular post from two years ago — these crazy-cute (and easy to assemble) cocoa cones. You can whip up a dozen of these in 30 minutes and deliver them to neighbors, teachers, coaches, or anyone else on your "nice" list. Link to the original post with instructions here.

Click here for instructions!

"Our Family Gives Thanks" sign

Download and print

The completed turkey

I'm thankful for so much this year — including a forgiving family who doesn't mind me pretty much punting Thanksgiving. We're happily hosting, but I sent an email to everyone about a month ago explaining that we would only be furnishing the bird and the wine. Using the awesome Sign Up Genius site (free!), I posted a list of all the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes and desserts and let relatives sign up for what they wanted to bring. Easiest coordination ever!

I know I'm not the only mom who's bugged by how "Thanksgiving" might soon be more appropriately called, "Let's-get-shopping." Greedy stores opening Thanksgiving night to fan the flames of Christmas consumerism? Yuck. Tomorrow I simply want to spend the day with my family eating, drinking, playing, and being thankful — not checking Twitter for Black Friday buzz. To help emphasize gratitude, I made this sign. I'll have the kids cut feathers out of construction paper, and we'll encourage grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins to write what they're thankful for on the feathers and stick 'em on this cute little turkey throughout the day. You can download a PDF of this at my Scribd site. 

A friend just told me about a sign at a little shop where the owner had written, "Closed on Thanks Giving." I love it. Here's to celebrating Thanks Giving with a capital T and G!