I Learned to Fish

A few weeks ago,  my lovely sister came to visit us for the weekend, and she wanted to go fishing of all things. At first I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do and where to go until I remembered the beautiful pond near our house boasted hourly boat rentals and stunning views…and it’s a mile away to boot!   With a row boat full of snacks and ice cold sangria   in mason jars (which I sadly forgot to take a picture of),  we rowed until we found a lovely pebble beach to enjoy the day on.

Spot Pond,  Melrose MA

Row Boats & Kayaks

We had loads of fun rowing around the pond, and lounging on a beach blanket on a secluded shore  listening to our favorite tunes.

We even caught a little fish!

Quick Cheddar Thyme Drop Biscuits

Homemade biscuits seem like such a treat… but I found that with self rising flour, they are a snap to make.  All you need is the flour, buttermilk, butter  and a dash of sugar along whatever seasonings you like.  I was in the mood for something cheesy and happened to have a block of cheddar on hand so cheddar biscuits it was. A little thyme from the garden and I was in business.

Making and Eating homemade warm biscuits is such a simple pleasure, I highly recommend giving this recipe a try!

Gold Medal ButterMilk Biscuit Recipe

2 1/2 Cups Self Rising Flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup butter (or shortening – I used butter)

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup shredded cheddar

4 sprigs thyme coarsely chopped

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees, In a medium bowl stir together flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender or fork (I used a fork with no trouble) cut in the butter until crumbly. Next stir in your buttermilk  along with shredded cheddar and thyme until fully incorporated.  Drop large spoonfuls of the mixture about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or untill golden brown. I brushed my biscuits with a dash of butter mixed with garlic powder for a light garlic flavor when they were done!

Enjoy!

Wildflowers & Champagne

This sounds too good to be true…but this is absolutely real! Saipua is one of my favorite blogs, and if I lived in Brooklyn I’m pretty sure I would be completely broke and living in a card board box that would be full of gorgeous flower arrangements from their store. The Author Sarah Ryhanen is funny and witty and her arrangements are spectacular. She gives lessons  on how to create these stunning arrangements your self  at the Little Flower School.

These images are from a past wildflower class they held earlier this month:

(all images via Little Flower School)

The cost of the workshop isn’t cheap at $250.00, but you do get to keep your beautiful arrangement and are gifted the flower clippers you use during the class. Best of all each class is ended with a champagne toast and delicious goodies.  While this might not be something I’d do on a random afternoon, I could see this being a really nice & memorable way to spend a special occasion such as a Birthday or even an upscale small Bridal shower. Why oh why doesn’t something like this exist in Boston!? Looks like I’ll be planning a trip to Brooklyn sometime in the near future!

A Lazy Sunday

I’m having one of those Sundays where I can’t seem to get anything done and I really wish those chores would start doing themselves! Instead of laundry and dishes and preparing for getting back to the grind tomorrow, Bowser and I have been soaking up some A/C and catching up on an HGTV Design Star marathon (obviously in sweats).

We really couldn’t seem to get off the couch! I have to admit though it has been a pretty glorious & lazy Sunday.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Cookbook Love

Yesterday I spent the better part of my afternoon crafting, drinking sangria, and shopping at Home Goods with one of my best friends (a perfect Saturday if you ask me!) While I was there, I happened to stumble upon Southern Living’s farmers market cookbook and let me tell you, this is one of the best cookbooks I’ve come across in a while! I highly recommend it.

The entire book is organized by season and provides recipes and beautiful photography to utilize produce from your local farmers market that is fresh and in season.  I love the idea of planning your meals based on what is actually growing that time of year. After all, why shouldn’t we be eating tree ripened peaches in the Summer when they are juicy and sweet and farm fresh acorn squash in the Fall?  Best of all, this cook book is FULL of stunning pictures which I absolutely love, it’s so much easier to mentally visualize a meal you might want to cook!

If the idea of cooking seasonally appeals to you, this book is a must have.

Sun Room Plans

So I know a while back I filled you all in on how we had decided to rip up the ugly old carpet in our sun room…but truth be told besides cleaning up the floors we haven’t gotten much further than that! I guess I cant really decide what direction to go with this room…its on the small side being only about 5 ft wide and 12 ft long. Not exactly the easiest proportions to work with.   I haven’t been able to narrow down whether I want this room to be small and punchy or light and airy.  I stumbled upon this inspiration photo I saved a while back and I’m very much in love. It’s like nothing I’m ordinarily drawn to, however I think I love the simplicity of the room, that is balanced by the bold striped rug and bright red walls.  I think I’d like to mimic a more scaled down version of this, with either a bold wall OR a bold rug.

Dream Room:

Reality:

Here’s a quick shot of the current state of affairs in our sun room & entryway. Please don’t judge….we pretty much ditched the project about half way in.  The trim and walls need a coat of fresh white paint, while the floors need to be either stained and sealed or painted and finished off with new white baseboard.  But since this room serves as our entry way and as our mud room, It’s really in need of some desperate help! For now Mike and I are waiting for the Summer heat (and our busy schedules!) to cool down before we tackle anymore indoor projects, but it’s on the top of the list for this Fall!

New England Living

I might be a born and raised Jersey girl, but my heart is in New England. I love our charming coastal style and worn in beauty. And I love how our summers always seem to revolve around the sea. Just the way I like it.  One of my closest friends growing up was here visiting us last weekend and she managed to snap a few beautiful pictures while she was out whale watching.

I love this shot she got of the lobster men reeling in their traps . Thanks for the gorgeous photos Catherine!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer as much as we are!

Packing in Style

If you think the past few months have been busy, just wait until you hear about my end of Summer & Fall. Two out of town weddings, a trip to Philadelphia followed up by a leisurely long weekend out to the Berkshires with my honey and puppy…all before the end of October.

With all of these weekend trips headed my way It’s high time I pick up a more stylish get-a-way bag.  I’ve owned the same Vera Bradly tote for almost seven years now and she’s still hanging in there, I just really need something bigger.

My smaller one seems to be running out of space pretty fast these days.

I really love the direction Vera Bradley is going in this season…It seems as though there is a more mature range of textiles to choose from.

All Images via VeraBradley.com

I love all of these prints…not sure how I’ll be able to decide on  just one.  I do know though, that I will be traveling in style this Fall!

Blackberry Infusion

There’s nothing better than juicy, fresh summer fruit. Except maybe the combination of a juicy fresh fruit and cocktails! A while back I told you all about my blackberry infusion that we enjoyed during our fourth of July party, but I realized I never did give you all the run down on how to make this yourselves! It really is quite simple especially for how lovely this will turn out, and how impressed all your guests will be with your crafty cocktail skills.

You’ll need a few simple Ingredients about 15 minutes, and a weeks worth of patience.

Ingredients:

2 Pints fresh Blackberries – washed & dried

1 Liter good Vodka

1/2 cup sugar

An air tight container for infusing

Place your washed blackberries in your container. You’ll want to use a container larger than the Vodka Bottle as the blackberries will displace about a third of the volume of the vodka, and a larger mouthed container will make the whole process easier.  Next, pour sugar over berries and give a light stir then top with your vodka.  You’ll want to let the berries soak for at least 7 days  in a cool dry place – and should your berries turn a pale shade of pink before the week is up, you might want to replace the old blackberries with new ones.

In order to strain your vodka after the infusion period, you’ll need a funnel and some cheesecloth, as well as a bottle to strain the vodka back in to. ( I chose to use a decorative glass bottle I had on hand from HomeGoods – but obviously the original liquor bottle will work just fine) Line your funnel with cheese cloth and place funnel over bottle. Gently pour the infusion through cheesecloth, discard berries & enjoy! Remember to store your infusion in the refrigerator to extend it’s life. (Not that mine lasted long enough to go bad!)

This infusion is delicious served straight up over ice, but is also very refreshing when mixed with lemonade and seltzer & topped off with  fresh fruit.

Butterfly Bush

This past weekend we added a few new plants to the mix in our front yard, my favorite of the bunch being our new butterfly bush! We had been procrastinating on updating our landscaping this summer until we stumbled upon a great sale at our local Home Depot garden supply. We picked up two smaller sized pots and planted them next to each other in hopes that they will slowly but surely grow in to a beautiful large scale plant.

Butterfly Bushes, technically known as Buddleias, are fast growing resilient plants that are known for their sweet scent that is prone to attracting butterflies. We’ve hardly had ours planted for two weeks and I’ve already begun to notice an influx of happy Monarch butterflies fluttering around the front yard, landing on the bush’s flowers  for a drink of nectar.  Many people say they are the Summer Lilac – which suits me just fine since I love lilacs.  They were a great option for us since they can grow pretty much anywhere and were quite inexpensive as well as the fact that the plant enjoys quite a long season.

Slowly but surely were making some progress out front and with the height of the landscaping season coming to an end were seeing some great plant  sales which we’re trying to take advantage of. Hopefully soon we will have some nice before and after shots to share.