Wedding Madness

Good Morning Dear Readers,

Well, we are down to the last push before my daughter's wedding.  Sixteen days to go!  I don't have time to give you lots of detail so I thought I would just share a few photos of recent projects.  I need to get the house in the wedding spirit so I thought I would switch out some spring decorations with some wedding themed decorations.  Here are a few of the results:

Starting with the foyer.  The front door got some white roses in my vintage Saturday Evening Post mail bag:

To the right of the door is a bench that now is filled with wedding albums and paraphernalia from my older daughter's wedding, my wedding, my mom's wedding and my in-laws wedding.  Lace and tulle bind them together into one vignette.

I also replaced the eggs in the vintage egg basket with the headpiece from my bridal veil.  Brought back some lovely memories:

Above the bench, I filled the sewing drawer with pale pink satin (my daughter's wedding color), white lace and several pictures from my parents 1940's wedding.

I updated my birdie on the kitchen windowsill.  Now she is a blushing bride.

 

Onto the dining room.  I've just started there because it is the staging area for all of the reception decorations that will be transferred two days before the event.  Until then I can only decorate a few areas.  I started with the linen dresser.  On top I put a chalkboard and photo vignette  dedicated to Allison and Rob.

That's it for now.  I'm off to make the last payment at the reception venue.  Hallelujah!

My Personal Chef

What could be more lovely than a romantic dinner for two prepared by your own personal chef?  Not much, I say.  But that's one of the benefits of being married to Bob.  Not only does he take me for delectable bike rides, but he also whips up some delectable dishes.

With our straining wedding budget, we have had to forego eating out at fine dining restaurants.  This has been quite a challenge for my "foodie"  of a husband. We have tried to make up for it by spicing things up in our own cooking.  I'm a decent baker, but I must admit, Bob is the master chef of this household.  He loves food and is not satisfied with a can of Campbell's Chunky Beef soup over noodles ( a staple of our first year of marriage), so he scours the newspapers and magazines for tempting things to make.  This weekend he graced us with a salad that was a meal in itself. The salad boasted golden beets, raspberries and pistachios sprinkled among tender greens.  And it was accompanied by goat cheese toasts...heaven!!!  He found the recipe in the Healthy Eating section of The Star Ledger, but it came from the cookbook of Ellie Krieger.  Ellie has a blog and a weekly newsletter and you can reach her Here .  Take a look at these greens:

Bob may have done most of the cooking for the meal, but I added some ambiance.  I set the small round table in our sun room with a faded pink vintage linen table cloth.  The centerpiece is a simple rustic green Ball canning jar with a "necklace" of jute twine.  I added a few Queen Anne"s Lace blooms from the garden.  The dinner plate is from Pier One (last year's summer purchase) and the salad plate is a find from Home Goods.  Just lovin' the blue transferware-like patterns. Wine goblets are part of an etched glass collection we bought years ago from  Flemington Cut Glass.  Sadly, after decades of being in the cut glass business they closed up shop.  What a loss for the community, another landmark gone, but at least I got a few treasures before that happened.  

To make the experience even more romantic and restaurant-like, I added some music from one of our present favorite artists, Michael Buble.  Love those mellow tones and smooth jazz sounds.  Bob was so inspired, I got a slow dance out of him!  We kept the sliding door open, so we could hear the burble of the patio fountain and feel the warm late afternoon breeze.  Almost like eating alfresco.  We must have created some envy in the neighborhood because we ended up with visitors at our door.

The basset on the left is our neighbor's dog, Violet.  She often stops by for bones and sunny spots for sunbathing on the patio.  The beagle on the right is our grand-dog, Lilly.  She's our youngest daughter's dog and used to live here with us before Alli bought a house of her own and moved out.  Lilly often comes to visit her old play pals Violet and Violet's housemate Sudsy.

If you want to make the salad yourself, you can see the recipe HERE. All in all a lovely evening.
 

Everything is "Rosie"

Good Morning Dear Readers,

I've been traveling the past few days, and that is why I have not posted for awhile. My adorable great-niece graduated from high school, and I just had to attend the festivities.  She lives in Erie, PA, so Bob and I were off and traveling again. No bikes this time, Erie is about a seven hour ride without any stops or road construction.  So, I had plenty of time to read.

I just had to share and recommend the book I had taken along for the ride. What a delight...The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.

What a hoot!  This book had me laughing out loud and reading passages to Bob as he tried to concentrate on navigating past the giant 18-wheelers that tend to populate and bully the lanes on Route 80 (the most direct way to traverse the entire state of PA).  But, I just couldn't keep quiet...the story, and mostly the main character, were just so outrageous and quirky.

The main character is Don, a professor of genetics in a university in Melbourne, Australia, who just so happens to be "on the spectrum".  Don suffers from Aspergers and thus is dramatically lacking in social skills, this provides a deep well for humor. To add a complication, Don is on a quest to find a wife.  He calls this The Wife Project and goes about finding the perfect mate via a very straightforward questionnaire that will narrow his search to only "acceptable" candidates. Enter Rosie, who Don thinks has contacted him as part of The Wife Project.  He determines she has failed the questionnaire and plans to discontinue contact with her, only she has a project of her own that intrigues the geneticist in him...she is searching for her real father.  Hence, The Father Project begins...

The story has everything to delight a reader:  endearing characters, plot twists, mystery, suspense, HUMOR, and a touching romance. I can't wait for the movie to come out...the book just screams "make me a movie"!  I want to see Don in action on the big screen.  Don has a lot to teach all of us; just read The Rosie Project. You will know what I mean.

So, my 14 hours in the car on route 80 was a delight.  Thank you Don and Rosie!

Travels With Bob

Good Morning Dear Readers,

Have you ever read the book Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck?  It's not one of his most well-known works, but it is charming.  Steinbeck loved America and decided to see it up close and personal way back in 1960.  He packed up his pick-up truck, Rocinante, that had been equipped with a camper, and took to the road with his French poodle, Charley, to learn about the people and land he loved. I couldn't help but think of this book when I was out on the bike paths of the Delaware again the other day with my husband Bob.  Now that we are both retired we do a lot of exploring together.  He's John Steinbeck, of course, easily chatting with every stranger we meet, and I'm his Charley, just happy to be along for the ride.  I have seen little towns and hamlets I never knew existed so close to my own hometown.  We go in search of antique shops (my passion) and eateries (his passion; he's a true foodie) and the end result is we discover lovely places and lovely people (most of the time).  We've discovered so many things, from an antique shop whose barn once stabled George Washington's horses, to an historic tavern that hosts phenomenal jazz sessions on open-mic Wednesdays.

Once my daughter's wedding is over, we should have more time to branch out in our explorations, but for now we are enjoying getting to know the lovely things Central Jersey has to offer.  I took a few snapshots of our recent bike excursion along the Deleware in Frenchtown which I share below.  I love this little town, so many cute shops, like my favorite, Thistle,  and of course quaint eating places like The Bridge Cafe, where you can get the best spinach cakes in the world and the more refined Frenchtown Inn that offers exquisite French cuisine.  Both boast al fresco dining with delightful views of the river.

This time we sought refreshment in a brand new coffee shop that Bob had read about in the Hunterdon Democrat.  After our 6-mile bike ride we stopped at the Eary Bird for some espresso to recharge!  Great place...hope it does well.

The bike ride was delightful, Spring was in full bloom.  The path was lined with feathery Queen Ann's Lace and a beautiful flower( I don't know the name of ) that appeared in  multitude shades of purple .

I even spied some buttercups.  I always think back to idyllic, childhood summer days when I see buttercups.  My friends and I would test each other's love for butter by placing the flower under your chin.  If your chin showed yellow... you were a butter lover!!!

I was amazed at how much the landcape had changed in just one week.  The trees were lush with leaves, the grasses tall and green and flowers, flowers everywhere.  The river views from this section of the path were different too from the Stockton- Lambertville stretch...but just as scenic.

If you get a chance, visit Frenchtown, NJ... another quaint river town along the Delaware.  Who knows where my "travels with Bob" will take me next.

Sweet Potato Vine Love

Good Morning Dear Readers,

The weather here has been doing its usual spring thing: one day hot and sunny, the next cool and breezy, another rainy and gray.  But the flora world seems to be loving it just the same.  In fact, my perennials are sprouting and springing up in luxurious clumps all over my gardens.

That even goes for indoors!  What??? I know... how can an indoor plant be influenced by the outside weather, you ask.  Well, it can't really, but I wanted to share with you a funny incident that happened in my kitchen produce basket involving a quirky sweet potato. I usually store onions and potatoes in a wire basket on my kitchen counter.  For some reason, I had one lone sweet potato among a stack of russets.  One day, I was cleaning out fading produce when I spied a clump of small dark green leaves poking out of the bottom of the stack.  I pulled out the lone sweet potato and was surprised to see that one end of the spud had a prett y thick growth of quarter-sized leaves.  Hmmm....guess I wasn't cooking with this one. The sight of the blossoming sweet potato triggered a childhood memory of sweet potatoes soaking in jars on the window sill of my classroom, getting ready to plant a Mother's Day surprise.  I bet many of you have a similar memory.  So, I thought, what the heck, might as well go all the way with this potato since it wants to become a plant so badly.  I plopped it into a ceramic pot from my gardening supplies in the garage, added some water to the pot and set it in the sunroom to sprout roots.  It just loved the special treatment.  Within two weeks it grew lovely thick roots and even more leaves. This past weekend, I decided to plant it in a large container on my patio.  I'll keep you posted on the progress, but here are a few photos of the planting session; it's a very simple process.

all sprouted and ready to plant

Best to have thick growth of roots and leaves; be patient

Be sure to add drainage to pot to prevent root rot

pot the potato!

I added a trellis to help the vines as they grow

Pataki Not the Governor

Good Morning Readers,

I decided to switch things  up today and share with you a new author I have fallen in love with...Allison Pataki.  She has a famous last name, and that is because she is the daughter of former New York State governor, George Pataki! One would expect that this little gal would be involved in politics, but clearly she has a great talent for writing.

The first book I read by her was her debut novel, The Traitor's Wife.  This is the story of Peggy Shippen, the wife of Benedict Arnold.  Though the story is fiction, it is heavily based on historical facts and populated with real historical characters. I'm a big fan of the Revolutionary period of American history, so this book was already right in my wheel house.  Ms. Pataki, however, managed to bring new insights into one of the greatest betrayals in our country's history.  The saying goes that behind every great man is a great woman, well, this doubly applies to Peggy Shippen, only I'd change the saying:  "Behind every wicked man is and even more wicked woman"!!!  That poor man was lead around by his nose by this devastaingly beautiful, greedy dame.  Now, I'm not absolving Benedict of all blame because he certainly had free will and a weak moral character, but Peggy most definately was a huge influence. I won't give away any more details, but I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Traitor's Wife; it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Learn more about Allison Pataki and her debut novel, and even watch a video of Allison's thoughts about Peggy Shippen by clicking here.

One of the cool things about revolutionary historical fiction is that much of the action took place right here in good old New Jersey.  That's the case with The Traitor's Wife.  Though a good part of the story is in Phili, if you want to see the home of Peggy Shippen it's just a quick car ride to Burlington county. Click here to read more about the Shippen house and for directions... a fun and interesting day trip idea.  PS.  I think the book is being made into a movie soon.  Can't wait!

The second book that I read by Allison Pataki was The Accidental Empress.  This too, is historical fiction by genre, but the time period is not Revolutionary America. The story is set across the Atlantic in 1853 in the luxurious Austro-Hungarian Empire. The main character is the spunky, young duchess of Bavaria, Elizabeth, affectionately known as "Sisi". The story follows Sisi from her provencial upbringing in Bavaria, to the stunning glamour of the Austrian court of the Habsburg Empire as she marries the emperor, Franz Joseph.  Sisi is a much more admirable character than Peggy Shippen for sure, but her life is beset with strife and tragedy. The reader has to admire her fighting spirit as she attempts to keep her identity and independence among the politics of the court and times.  Sisi is a real historical personage.  I didn't know anything about her, but she is a fascinating character.  You can read about her, just click here.

Author Pataki hints at a sequel to The Accidental Empress.  Sisi's story is an intricate one and could surely continue into a series of books.  I look forward to the next installment.  If you're interested, you can check out potential movie trailer, the author's thoughts on the book and more, just click here.

So, dear reader, if you like books and want a suggestion or two, pick up one by Allison Pataki.

Spring Inside and Out

Hello Dear Readers

I know Spring is well underway, and I assure you I have welcomed it into my home.  I just haven't had time to share with you what spring touches I have added to bring spring into my world.  So I did a quick photoshoot around the house, inside and out, and will simply share with you now, some of the quick things I did to celebrate the season.  After such a cold and long winter, I was delighted to decorate the house with new life!

family room mantle gets dressed in spring blooms

I have a grove of lilly of the valley blooming under a kwanzan cherry tree in the back yard.  Every spring, I look forward to their reappearance.  It also reminds me of my grandmother who was born in May, since lily of the valley is May's flower. I gave them a place of honor and put a few blooms inside some vintage jars.  I also added a few branches of the spirea bush that is putting on quite a show in the side yard! Here's a closer look at the blooms.

My kitchen needed a little spring too, so I added a new Scrabble message next to my birdie that sits on the window sill my my kitchen sink. Now I can look at birds inside and out  

Birds and nests and eggs are such symbols of spring.  I decided to use these symbols in my spring decorating. My dining room is inundated with wedding preparations, but I managed to carve out a little space on the dining table to display a vintage silver tray filled with espresso and tea cups that I made into bird nests with moss and shredded raffia (PS - the center tea cup is from my grandmother's set...I will do a whole post on that later...they are one of my favorite things)

Front entry also needed a touch of spring...eggs for the vintage egg basket.  Scored the simple white eggs at Walmart at Easter time.

Outside is welcoming the season too. Pansies at the front door...

Hope you have brought spring into your home too!