new-homefurniture: May 2011

A Reason To Have A Party

I've never baked a cake in my entire life. I keep wanting to try but have yet to tackle it. This "funfetti" cake, however, I want to try pronto! This post makes it seem like it's a childhood classic, but I've never had this adorable dessert...have you? I'm sure we'll see this reposted a lot but I'm partly posting it so that I don't lose the link in my favorites bar and forget about it.

Love the colorful specks...

From Me To You - From Spring To Summer

It may still technically be spring...

But it sure feels like summer. So I'm diving in!

{Polly Mellen by Steven Meisel}

Another fun thing to dive into is a new(ish) blog, From Me To You xo, started by my friend and old co-worker, Jen and her BFF, Lindsay. They write messages to each other and we get to eavesdrop. These Connecticut girls have me missing it up there!

Random Weekend Thoughts

It has been a wonderful, long holiday weekend. Did you take a trip or stay home? We relished in not having too many plans. We put our American flag out, tried a new recipe, a new restaurant, met new friends, enjoyed a big family dinner, and ate too many whoopie pies.

Stella woke up Sunday morning after falling asleep in her clothes coming home from a BBQ. Wasn't that the best as a kid? I'd pretend to be asleep in the car so my dad would carry me into the house. I'm sure he was on to me.

We had brunch at Oddfellows. This is a great place to bring little ones.

She loved the doggie door handle.

The fried green tomato, bacon, and avocado sandwich is my new fav.

Stella loved the "beign-yeas" (you have to yell the yea part).

And wear white because beignets are messy!

They have an old yellow piano out front.

I got this cute blue and white tray from Target.

It didn't take long for Stella to find the tray and fill it with her little bunnies.

Speaking of trays, I just ordered this lucite one

from Iomoi for my cousin.

I had to take a peek in the box before I mailed it off.

If it wasn't personalized, I'd keep it for myself!

Oh, and the whoopie pies? It's not the only thing I was bad about.

This is my aunt's infamous Pinwheel Cake. Isn't it so pretty?

I have a feeling it's going to be a challenge waking up for

school and work tomorrow.

So looking forward to this new show starting, though.

Holiday Weekend

Doesn't this picture of a garden in the Hamptons look like heaven?

I love that little white house you see in the distance.

I just read that there are 99 days between

Memorial Day and Labor Day.

I hope all 99 of your days are filled with sunshine and fun!

{via}

Elaine's To Close Today 1963 - 2011

{article}

Happiness

"The secret of happiness lies in taking

a genuine interest in all the details of daily life."

- William Morris

{via}

Stormy Weather

Have you heard about the women in Joplin who never took tornado warnings seriously? But this time she "had a feeling" - probably because she was now the mother of a 22 month old baby. So she wrapped her baby around the toilet, wrapped herself around the baby and toilet, and her husband followed suit. And then just as they were pulling a blanket over them, they saw the sky as the roof was ripped off. They survived.

Tonight, as three back to back tornadic storms passed through Dallas, all I could think of were the stories out of Joplin and Birmingham. I've experienced a small tornado touching down around my house before when I was home alone. And when I was pregnant, I found myself racing for the bathtub three different times. But tonight was different. I had a little one to protect. I suddenly wished she could still fit into her Baby Bjorn so that she couldn't slip out of my arms. And yet, between shaking, heart pounding, wanting to throw up, wondering if the hail I was hearing was really bricks being ripped from the house, I found the need to floss my teeth and straighten things up. I actually cleaned for the arrival of a tornado!

The storms have passed, my nerves are back in check, and my teeth and house have never been so clean! Before the storms came, we took some pictures of the mammatus clouds in the sky. And then Stella tried directing them out of Dallas.

Hope everyone is safe and sound!

Pink GiGis

I have these Sam Edelman sandals in neutral, however, I spotted them on somebody in this pink colorway and they immediately went on my wish list.

Butter

Every time I have strawberry or honey flavored butter at brunch, I always make a mental note to make it at home but never do. These Southern Living recipes might inspire me to finally make a batch.

The Constant Gardener

Our vegetable garden is starting to produce tomatoes, various peppers, and squash. Somehow it's a lot more fun when you have a little one who is excited to always water and check on the progress.

All this gardening wore her out. Nap time!

Whale Of A Deal

I'm one of those moms who wanders over to the boys section to find things for my little girl. I find that there are better deals, better stripe color combos, and sometimes I just want a departure from pink and purple. So while this whale sweater by Oscar & Belle may have been intended for little boys, I think it would be adorable for a little girl, too, and $45 for a cashmere sweater is a great price.

Another good deal I just came across are these darling red woven sandals by Little Monkey Toes. I may need to take a tiny little break from Salt Water Sandals this summer and get these for Stella instead. I have a thing for red sandals...they go with a lot more than you realize.

Rose & Hudson

** Reposting due to Friday's Blogger issues**

Put on your glasses and come take a lookie-loo at a new(ish) tumblr site, Rose & Hudson. Surely it will become your favorite, too! What I like about it is that it's everything I love and it's not updated so frequently that my Google reader gives me a panic attack.

Comfort Island

This 9 bedroom house on Comfort Island in Alexandria Bay, NY, which is listed for $1,450,000 is described as a ramshackle of a mess. I don't know...I find it rather intriguing and would love to restore it.

Sure, Norman Bates immediately comes to mind...

But it's nothing some hydrangeas and fresh paint can't fix.

Think Marina Rust's summer home in Maine.

The inside has loads of potential...

I think I could make it work. Am I crazy?

Pinterest. Finally.

I was having a love/hate relationship with Pinterest because while I loved perusing all the wonderful images, I had signed-up twice and never heard a peep back. Sweet Julie from Milk & Honey extended an invitation to me and I'm beyond obsessed now. (side note: Julie and I started blogging around the same time and the success of her blog has allowed her to parlay her love of design into a business...I'm so impressed by this!). What I love most about Pinterest is that I like so many different looks when it comes to decorating my house and it's hard to reign it in (at least, in my mind). With Pinterest, I find that I have to LOVE it to pin it and I wind up finally realizing the look I'm trying to achieve.

So come on in...

Take a seat...

...and take a peek at some of the images I've collected so far. And if you'd like, you can follow me here: http://pinterest.com/tiffany_rossics/. And if you're on there, too, let me know!

Turning Three

You might remember my post about being nervous to pull off a whirlwind of a spring schedule...multiple birthdays, trips, a reunion, a graduation, family in town, etc. Well, yesterday marked the end of all the festivities. It was fun but exhausting and now, nothing seems more perfect to me than a blank calender page.

Amongst the celebrations was Stella's third birthday. We wound up having two parties with different sides of the family. First, we had a Hello Kitty inspired celebration...