Fresh&Vintage

Fiesta ¡Ay Chihauhau!

So...after 15 years of marriage I decided it was high-time I throw my sweet husband a birthday bash to remember! After taking nearly a whole month pretty much to myself (which included getting my hair done, organizing my garage, cleaning out my fabric/ fun pretty stuff supply closets, and redecorating my living room) I was feeling in the mood for a bright and cheerful fiesta. Rob's birthday is on the 26th but we celebrated this past weekend and it was such a great time.

I decorated with terracotta pots, colorful peppers, sombreros, sarapes,  festive strings of chili pepper lights, and these super fun crepe paper flowers that I made. Inexpensive & easy to make, these flowers
really brightened up the abode.
The house looked like Betty Suarez came by to help me get ready to party
(anyone else besides me an Ugly Betty fan???? I love that show)

The Food:
 Green Chili Shredded Beef
Cilantro Jalapeno Shredded Chicken
 Corn Tortillas (steamed, fried, and every kind in between)
Chile Relleno Casserole
Refried Beans
Mexican Rice
HOLY Guacamole
Pico de gallo
Lettuce, cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and LIMES,  LIMES, LIMES to top it all off!

Can I tell you what makes your fingers burn???? Chopping about 20 jalapeños, 12 cloves of garlic, 4 large onions, and 6 lbs of roma tomatoes. ¡Muy caliente! But...tooooooooooootally worth it.

The fun:
Eating like reyes (espanol for kings)
Playing guitar and singing songs like La Burrita & La Cucaracha
Chloe breaking a Mexican Confetti Egg over Rob's head for good luck
Sugar rimmed glasses with Strawberry Margaritas (the virgin type)
Uno Attack and Catchphrase
Good Friends!

The dessert:
Lemon Cake with lemon curd whipped cream filling and lemon cream cheese icing.

Rob's request for lemon cake went perfectly with the fiesta theme--
Good choice honey--I hope you had a fabulous party day and that your birthday this year is a great one!

If you're planning to have a Cinco de Mayo party this year, Id' be happy to share food recipes and decorating ideas with you. Like I said, the crepe paper flowers were a cinch to make and your guests will love building their own authentic tacos while listening to the
Mexican hat dance and the Macarena.

Gracias a todos por haber venido a nuestra fiesta.
Adios Amigos
~eva

Ps. Don't you just love how perfectly Fiestaware works for the theme? I LOVE my dishes.

Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies...muffins and mentos, anyone?

To kick off our Fourth of July Holiday weekend, I started off the day yesterday by making these super yummy Blueberry Muffins. I've been needing to blog a recipe ever since agreeing to join in with my friend Patty on this fun new Cook It, Blog it! project.

Click here to join in on the blog or just to find some great recipes.  I hope you're all enjoying the holiday weekend.  Try out these muffins to sweeten up your weekend. I've made them twice in the past 2 days; once with frozen blueberries and once with fresh ones.

The fresh blueberries took "best in show" in the minds and mouths of everyone here in the Taylor homestead.  It's a good thing blueberries are in season right now and I still have another pint in the refrigerator to use for some Sunday after church treats.

So far, we've eaten muffins, enjoyed an early morning flag ceremony and breakfast with our ward at church, had a bbq and gone swimming with friends, and lamented the fact that the legalized fireworks here in Ohio are not quite as exciting as the ones in Tennessee. They're more like mini sparklers and colored smoke clouds--next year I guess we'll need to make the drive across the state line to the Fireworks Superstores where they sell fireworks that are seriously bigger than a car battery.

The kids had to get creative this year and go for some Mentos and Diet Coke eruptions to liven up the patriotic festivities.  They want to do a repeat of this tonight so I'll try to get some more pictures. Enjoy your weekend.
Lots of hugs~Eva

A Manatee's Metaphor

Don't you just love a beautiful Spring day trip to the zoo? I don't know how I got so lucky when I chaperoned Chloe's field trip to the CincyZoo today,  but the weather was perfect (not too hot...not too cold... no rain!) and the kids in my group were all well-behaved. You parents know that the stars don't always line up so well for days like zoo-day. Many times, if it's not blazing saddles hot and all of the animals are hiding in the shade, then it's raining cats and dogs ( and...who needs to go to the zoo to see those domesticates?) OR a kid or two (or three) are so cranky or hyper, it hardly seems worth paying to GO to the zoo when you brought the zoo TO the zoo with you. (did you get all that?!)

By far, our favorite animals we saw today were the manatees.

This beautiful sea cow gracefully moved through the water and even paused to strike this perfect underbelly pose for me. I think she liked my camera. I must say I'm pretty proud of this shot. I needed to capture a moment of carefree grace with the lens today. Life's been hectic and to some degree a little sad the past few days.
My new manatee friend took me on a metaphorical swim with her today and it was just the weightless feeling I was needing.
Thank you for your graciousness, kind animal.

Chloe and I also stopped to pose with the elephants. She especially loved the baby one and was amazed that a baby of any kind could be so BIG!

If you have a local zoo, I highly recommend taking a Spring visit before the weather gets too hot and the kids (or moms) get too cranky. And...thanks for letting me wax metaphoric with you. I'm feeling pretty introspective these days.

Cutting Back on the PCHT

Long hair for boys has certainly
come back in a literally BIG way
(some of the faux~fros I've seen are HUGE!)
Comic relief when driving through the neighborhood-yes!
Attractive one bit-not so much!
Call me old-fashioned but when it comes to boys' hair,
I subscribe to the less is more way of thinking.

So, come on....tell me the truth....if you happen to be the mother of a tween or teenage boy right now, does he sometimes look like he has a nervous twitch  because he's acquired a habit of doing what I'm now calling the

PRINCE CHARMING HEADTOSS???

You know the routine...his hands go into his pockets (an attempt to make it look effortless as in LOOK MOM...NO HANDS!) then, the head slightly tilts down and to the side (to lift the bangs just a bit away from the forehead of course) and then with a quick "swooping like snap" his head goes up and over toward his shoulder. His charming locks are now just where he wants them and he's feeling great that his hair is actually long enough to "toss!" Finally, the hands come out of the pockets and he's strolling all cool again
like he cares nothing of his hair at all.

I love it when I get lines from my 13 yr old Sean like...."What...I'm not into my hair....I don't even use a brush Mom!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! There's no fooling this momma---he gave himself away big time when I finally insisted it was time for a haircut. He wasn't one bit happy! I do have to give him props though for choosing to agree to keep himself clean cut enough for our family's standards. He was ticked when I was cutting it but when an after-glance in the mirror still revealed a charming prince he said,
(think Michael Scott while reading this)
"It's all gooooooood"

PHEWWWWWWWWWWW--no harm no foul!

So, what do you think? Grandpa and Grandma are happy I can tell you that much...and the nervous twitching is not as often or obvious anymore. Hair does grow though, so I'll be watching for the PCHT (that's text talk
btw-lol) to appear more frequently and then Sean will have another date with my scissors-what a handsome prince! Any PCHT stories you can share? I'd love to hear them.

Ps. I've been tagged by Annette and Michelle to list 7 things you may not know about me-I'll get on that soon I promise! For now, Annette, you cannot imagine how many times my kids have asked me to link to your blog so they could listen to the Maroon 5 song that's on the top of your playlist. I finally bought it from iTunes because of you :) Thanks hon!

 

~~~miX-uP mOnDaY~~~read some SEuss while...

ReaD Some SeuSS whiLe...drinking juice!
Wear a HaT that's tAll or FaT,
puT on YouR pants WHile doinG a Dance
tHen SpoRT a wide SmilE and sTaY for AwHilE!

The kids celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday at school today. Wearing silly hats, crazy hair, and "clothing all askew" were all required elements for commemorating the master of catchy rhymes and outlandishly fun characters.
If you know my Bradford, then you know that slicking his hair like Alfalfa's and posing for these Whoville-like pictures were just part of everyday antics for him. My little comedian is always ready for the spotlight as long as it involves lots of giggling (and unfortunately, passing gas is A-okay with him as well...BOYS... what can I say?!) Chloe went for her own fashionable twist on a crazy headcover--3 hats and 2 big boutique bows in some Super Seussy colors.

The kids had a ball at school today--thanks Dr. Seuss for making the world of reading more colorfully fun for the kiddos!

...making your heart LEAP!

You know those special moments in life that just make your heart LEAP?
Well...we just had one such moment in our family and appropriately enough our hearts were leaping on
LEAP DAY!
Chloe's school hosted a daddy-daughter dance this weekend and she was so happy to exchange flowers with her daddy and have him escort her to what she kept calling her first "prom." Sean and Bradford helped me make a special daddy-daughter dinner for the evening;the boys even put on their suit jackets to play waiter and maitre d. Chloe tried her first steamed asparagus spears tossed is lemon garlic aioli but she preferred the plain steamed broccoli. We played some classic Frank and Dean on the cd player and enjoyed a really nice meal before the dance. Chloe said it was one of the most fun times she's ever had... I say having a great dad like Rob (he's decided a no on my pseudonym Maxwell, by the way)is one of the best gifts a little girl can have.

PITTER PATTER PITTER PATTER....LEAP!

Any daddy-daughter dance or date memories you can share? I'd love to hear about them.

And, what do you think about the facelift on my blog? Many thanks to my sweet friend
Shabby Miss Jenn
for having the most beautiful embellies to buy for making things vintage-pretty. Oh...and I will announce the winner of my cupcake goodie in my next post.

Murphy's Law and The Pinewood Derby

Well...that sneaky little Murphy seems to creep in with his laws just about everywhere you turn. Today, he even showed up at Cub Scouts. It goes something like this:

Like any good mother, I wanted to go to the Derby. I mean...come on...I had TIME invested in this thing. Although building the pinewood racers falls into what we lovingly call the "Daddy Category" (because Mommy has enough to do already in our house) I still ended up spending about 6 hours yesterday trying to fix the paint job on Phantom.

Daddy (known as Mr. Maxwell from this point forward on my blog) didn't know that candy apple red CLEARCOAT means just what it says-a clearcoat~~ AKA a top coat that needs to be painted on top of another color like silver or gold. Many of you may know what a nightmare red paint can be anyway. Think of the last wall you tried to paint RED inside your house. How many coats of paint did it take--like 8? So...anyhoo...I'm here to tell you that red clearcoat takes a gazillion coats if you don't paint a solid color underneath like the instructions indicate should be done. By the time Maxwell had painted several coats of clear candy apple on the unpainted car--which was drying in subzero temperatures out in the garage  late last night--our little derby racer was a pathetic, no-wheeled, gooey, never-gonna-be-dry-on-time mess.

Step aside Maxwell (he was so willing at this point) Mom and the instructions are coming to the rescue. It says right here, we gotta paint the car silver, grey, or gold first and then add the candy red CLEARCOAT on top.(can the meaning of clear coat be any more clear by now--hahahahaha---sorry but I had to digress).

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

(huge light bulb moment for Mr. Maxwell here)

Thank goodness Mom already had some silver spray paint on hand. Of course, I couldn't use the paint just yet. First I had to take a putty knife, butter knife, toothpicks, and sand paper to the car just to scrape off all of the not yet cured sticky redness from the car. A little elbow grease and an hour later, the racer was sanded, washed, dried, and ready for the silver undercoat. After spraying the car silver in the garage, I brought "her" into the kitchen to dry and Brad fell immediately in love. I want a silver car instead Mom he said. That look so cool. This was the moment PHANTOM was born. Perfect color, perfect name. It took Mom adding several more coats of silver throughout the night and Dad adding Phantom's wheels around 1 AM but by morning, the racer was finished and ready for the Derby at 2 o'clock.

This brings me back to the beginning of my story. Like I said, I really wanted to go to the race. But I took one look around the house which was destroyed from building Phantom, on top of the fact that the kids missed 3 days of school during the week. One day: a holiday for good ol' George and Abraham and the other 2 days: canceled for SNOW (did that darn groundhog have to see such a huge ominous shadow this years-sheesh--I am sick of the snow).

Anyway, I was torn between going to the race and staying home in a quiet house all alone to..get this... CLEAN! You know you've had a whopper of a week when you're dying to get rid of everyone so you can have some alone time with the clorox wipes and the vacuum cleaner. I tore through the main floor of the house and had it sparkling in 45 minutes flat. Keep this up and the entire house will be clean and I'll be sewing for a whole hour before anyone gets back. Here's where technology enters. I pick up the cell to call and find out how Brad and Phantom are doing. The first race is about ready to begin--I can hear the cars racing down the track through my phone---

Phantom takes first place, Maxwell says. WOOHOO--okay, so call me back after they've run a few more heats and let me know how he does. Ten minutes later, the phone rings...Brad's won all 5 races he's been in so far. Soooooooooooo cool but shoot!!! I am missing it and I didn't even send a camera with the guys.  At this point, I drop the broom and head to grab my purse; there's still time to catch and PHOTOGRAPH (this is blog worthy after all) the tail end of the races. I won't even get into all of the details about Maxwell having my car keys with him at the race and so he had to come home to get me. Murphy's Law strikes again is where I'll leave it. On the upside, I got there on time to see several rounds and in the end Bradford took Grand Champion out of 37 racers.

Cupcakes and Haircuts

I was recently asked by another designer to join in on an e-bay launch celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the design group Ivylane. What an amazing group of talented women. Each guest was asked to design something with the idea in mind of "bringing something to the party." Chloe and I put our heads together and we decided cupcakes were the way to go. Click on the logo below to find this sweet set on e-bay.


A little cupcake set seems the perfect match for a sweetly sassy, new haircut. Last week, Chloe's brothers helped talk her into braving the chair at the salon. When the stylist first cut off the ponytail in the back, she had a look of silent horror on her face for a few seconds but within minutes, she was the happiest little cupcake imaginable. We ended up cutting just over 9 inches off-wow! As we were leaving the salon, Chloe said, "My hair is GOURTIFUL" (her name for something that is both gorgeous and beautiful) and continued, "Mom--I hope it doesn't grow back tonight while I am sleeping!" She later confessed that she was a little scared when the ponytail first hit the floor because with freckles and stringy, uneven hair hanging around her chin, she was afraid she was going to look "like a boy from the olden days!" What a scream she is-always makes me laugh! In the end, everyone is happy with Chloe's new look. Here's the before and after.

Tell me what you think of the new "do" or the design by posting a comment and one of you will win a free CUPCAKE surprise made by me. Have a sweetly frosted day.

A Holiday Favorite Worth Sharing

Sometimes a cookie recipe is just so darn yummy, you simply must share. The first time I made these, I was hostessing a small Christmas party in South Carolina. I still remember my friend being somewhat annoyed with me that by the party's end, he was certain, he'd eaten 15 of the pretty yummers. Thank goodness for him, I'd made the small bite-sized rounds with these lovely fluted round cutters--smaller does equal less calories, right?! :) Since that party, these angels have flown their way right into the hearts of my family and I've been making them in different variations ever since.

Yesterday was the beginning of holiday baking in my house and I ended up with about 16 dozen of these-most of which are now wrapped tightly and hidden away from the kids in the freezer. They'll be making their way to a church Christmas party tomorrow night. This red tray is empty now-just a few bits of sugar left behind by my crew who screamed with delight when they got off the school bus yesterday-they're so used to my giving the cookies
AWAY-they could hardly believe I'd
saved so many just for them.

Now, does that sound like my childhood memories or what?! I'd always be so thrilled when Mom's homemade holidays fares weren't all given away to neighborhood friends and the bosses at work. I guess some traditions are just well worth keeping. ENJOY!