obsessed: cupcakes

This has been the summer of cupcakes. Since becoming obsessed with Georgetown Cupcake I have become obsessed with baking them myself. What can I say ... looking at the shelves and shelves and shelves of cupcakes is inspiring. And delicious.

I still have a ton to learn --especially with the whole decorating thing (I want them to all look the same ... one day). Also, I just found one of those cupcake corer things ... so we can make filings! Filings!

From the top: classic chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, vanilla-caramel cake with salted caramel icing

pink

This is by far my favorite beer combination -- it is totally worth documenting.

One night Josh and I walked down to a local bar that had just opened. What started as a normal evening  ended up with some serious bartender bonding. We sat and talked with the guy for hours ... long after closing time. We tried all sorts of beers and learned a ton -- he was a beer know-it-all ... in a good way.

Just as the night was coming to a close, he showed us his favorite beer combination: Left Hand Milk Stout and Framboise Raspberry or Peach Lambic. Instantly a favorite.

While tilting the glass, slowly pour in 3/4 a bottle of Left Hand Milk Stout. Using a beer layering spoon, pour in the Lambic. Watch the Lambic turn the stout into a sexy pink color. 

Enjoy.

bedroom: lights

Josh the master electrician rigged these bedside lights up. These are the things that make me happy -- call me superficial and just look at them.

summer list

When we got back from Florida we immediately made a "summer list". Just a few fun things to focus on. I know, the list isn't very long.  But it's surprising how you can let a vacation fly by just working on house stuff ... and not have any fun. We will do this every summer from now on.

We crossed the first two off ... and without blabbing about them I will just say they were amazing. Sigur Ros at The Mann Music Center skyline stage and canoeing just down the road.

We are still trying to figure out details for a Delaware Beach trip.

little guys

I miss Florida on a daily basis.

I try really hard to focus on everything I love about where we live -- this helps on most days.

But on other days I can't get the beach out of my mind ... counting down the days until our next trip.

All over there are these crazy plants (look like "air plants") ... they are usually holding on lightly to a tree or bush. You can gently pick them up, put them in your car, drive them back to Pennsylvania, put them in glass bulbs, and look at them everyday.

bedroom: print

This Banquet print (Sarah Edmonds) was the first item we bought for our room. It is special because we are obsessed with the Gulf Coast. It shows up more red in these pictures but it's actually very orange (more like the first picture). 

Josh finished installing the lighting yesterday. All we need to do now is patch a few holes (from the lighting installation), one more coat of paint on the brick, and hang that other curtain. 

color-block pots

Things have been pretty busy around here lately. As far as the fresh start, it's been up and down. By far this past week was much better (and I felt much better). Just pushing myself to be intentional about eating (hello, actually cooking) and exercising made all the difference. I cut back on chocolate but didn't eliminate it completely. 

In between lots of family fun, we've been working on the bedroom. It is almost done ... really! The wardrobes are up, closets organized, room clean. Still need to-do: install lighting, put up the other curtain, and figure out the mirror situation. 

Okay ... enough blabbing. Now I know this has been blogged 1,000 times already, but these color-blocked pots make me so happy ... you don't even know. A cheap IKEA pot and some pink fluorescent spray pant ... I stare look at them everyday. I'm heading to the craft store to pick up more paint (aqua maybe?) to color-block my bedside stool.