A Day in My Life

As I said in the post previous to this, I joined this "Day in my life" Once a month I will join with other women and share a day, today was not a good day to share. By doing this though, it helped me to look around and find something good in the moments of dispair. I also noticed that during the week, I judge my days on how much I get done, guess thats a good thing to notice and try and change. So here goes!
Woke up late as usual, Razzle and Midnight, our kittens like to sleep all day so they have lots of energy to charge around the apt all night. So I had about 2 hours sleep and the worst allergies I have had in about 30 years.
Pried my crabby daughter out of bed, made her breakfast and lunch and an after school snack. Still in my pj's (half hidden by a coat) Walk her to my favorite coffee shop to meet her friend Kate, kiss her goodbye as they walk to school together.
Grab a coffe and go to my morning meeting which I didn't plan on doing, I am still in my pyjamas! The topic was: self seeking will slip away and we will gain interest in others.
Leave the meeting early because of the sneezing and return home. Do some computer work while eating the left over pumpkin cheesecake with my fingers. Oh.

Last week when we were upstate, a farmer told me about an online dating service for farmers, so I sign up for that (time is running out for me to get my dream life of owning a small farm) I haven't dated in 8 years. I got a few flirts from cattle farmers! One man emailed me and it was like he was speaking in another language. I begin to think, Do I live in a Fantasy World? This isn't what I thought farmers do! Kill animals, yuk! Exausted and depressed, I go back to sleep for 2 hours.

Farmers we met upstate! They didn't kill animals, they grew lavender and had gourmet hens and bees and apple trees?!

Get up again, take a shower and off to my dd's volleyball game. It is almost 4:00 and with the help of a Starbucks Vivano I start to wake up. Join my mommy friends at the game and my dd scores 8 points, 8 great serves. I was so happy for her and so proud. They win the game.
Off to Best Buy to exchange the ipod dd got for her birthday. We walk up to 86th street both of us in a great mood. Her dad calls and tells her he is getting her the phone she wants for her birthday. Could her afternoon get any better?
Get to 86th, ipod sold out, hop on subway down to 42, get the ipod, dd drops part of the head phones, starts crying, there is a grateful dead record signing in the store, chaos, the whole front of the store smells like drugs. AHHH! I am leaving, go to wait outside while somehow my dd talks the manager into giving her a new set of headphones. Lots of traffic on the bus ride home. Protest outside of grand central. 7:00, dinner in the pizza place, she sits and does homework, I make 6 trips up and down to our 5th floor walk up to schlepp the laundry across the street. Oh no, I left the quarters upstairs.
Am i boring you to tears yet?
10:00 Laundry done, DD takes shower, I start sewing. Mom, can you lay down with me? (Just when I am finally about to start work) I give in because she is my life. We have a nice cozy talk in bed and hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Talk about You Tuesday

LITTLE JENNY WREN
A really special blog! Little Jenny Wren, a blog that celebrates life. From her handmade waldorf style dolls to her lovely quotes. I have to admit this blog touches my heart. One day a month you can join "a day in my life" where woman share about the simple things they do throughout the day and post it. Right now, she is having a sale in her Etsy shop. The dolls are amazing. I am a dollmaker and I know the amount of work that goes into these waldorf dolls. A handmade doll is unlike any other. It is not just a doll, it really has a soul and a life of its own. Buying one of these dolls is an investment in your childs life.
So go check out her blog and Etsy shop and be inspired!

**And don't forget to sign up for my halloween skirt giveaway here, you have until tonight at midnight.

Recipe Monday

Well, it has been a busy 5 days! My dd's 12th birthday has been a 5 day celebration! There was a hiking trip upstate, a sleepover party at our house, Saturday's trip to 6 flags great adventure, Sunday's pumpkin picking out East and a party at my parents today. I AM EXAUSTED!! But, it was lots of fun with lots of good food! My daughter wanted pumkin pie for her birthday cake so thats what she got on Friday at our house. She loves my mothers cheesecake, so my mom surprised her with a delicious pumpkin cheescake today at their house. So anyway, now I have about 5 minutes to post this recipe before it is no longer Monday. Now 4 minutes! I think I am going to hit the publish post button and then come back and finish. Be right back! Well I hope that worked. So, this weeks recipe is a really delicious pumpkin bread. A lot of the things that make baking easier and more succesful to me is to share the answers to the questions I had to ask when I did the baking. So, here goes. Hint 1: It looks like a ton of dates, but its not, they shrink when they are baked. I thought the recipe was wrong and was going to dump half of them. Hint 2: Sift the flour before you measure it and Hint 3: This recipe calls for breadcrumbs, make sure they are unseasoned NOT Progresso seasoned Italian Breadcrumbs!

PUMPKIN BREAD

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoons Cloves
2 Large Eggs
2 cups light brown sugar packed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 lb (2 cups) canned pumpkin
8 oz (1 cup) pitted whole dates, each date cut into 2-3 pcs (no smaller!)
4 oz (generous 1 cup) walnuts

Oven rack should be set 1/3 up from bottom. Set oven to 350. Butter a 10 x 5 x 3" loaf pan or 2 smaller pans. I used 2 smaller pans. Dust the pan with fine dry bread crumbs, then tap out excess.
Sift together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside. In a large bowl beat the eggs just to mix (I used my kitchen aid) Mix in the pumpkin and then the dates. Now add the sifted dry ingredients and stir or mix on low setting until they are smoothly incorporated. Stir in nuts by hand.
Turn into prepared pans and smooth the tops.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours in large pan or 70 minutes in the small pans. Bread is done when a tooth pick comes out of the middle JUST ABOUT clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove and let stand on a rack until cool.
Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge for 2 days or frozen for 3 months.
To serve immediatly, cut slices 3/4" thick with a serrated knife. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Enjoy!

A PERFECT DAY...

BREATH TAKING!
DELICIOUS!
A GREAT DAY TRIPPER FRIEND
ME AND MY GIRL!
JENNIE AND THE BABY GOATS

All that was missing was Daniel!

Give It Away Wednesday

Although I can complain now and then and it's probably true that I don't have "the perfect life" I do have SO MUCH to be greatful for, so Wednesday is the day to give back.
Every Wednesday from now until Christmas, I will be giving one of my designs away. All you have to do is leave a comment here. This weeks giveaway will be this cute halloween skirt. You can leave a comment until next Tuesday, October 14th, midnight.
The winner will be picked next wednesday at random. Also if you know of any child in need of a special piece of clothing that can't afford it, please shoot me an
email.
The winner of this give away was Tracey, comment #3

Todays Quote

God loves you and has a purpose for your life, don't try to fulfill someone elses purpose. Don't compare, instead walk in wisdom and love. Ask the Lord what He wants of you and look to His Word for direction.

Talk about You Tuesday

Good Morning. So Tuesdays will be the day I talk about you! There are so many great blogs out there. I never realized how many creative and generous woman there were in this country. If you love vintage and great prices and flea market shopping you have to check out For The Love of Vintage. Now you can shop the flea market without leaving your living room. This lovely lady runs a market from her blog on Fridays and you can preview it on Thursday. There is also a give away. Why am I telling others about this, I should keep it to myself! Kidding! So, get ready to shop this Friday and for now take a look at the great finds below!

Recipe Monday

I am trying to get myself on some kind of system here so Mondays will be favorite recipe day, please feel free to share yours. These are the best muffins I ever had,
the extra sugar added on top makes them crunchy. I also like to use old griswald baking pans which are fun to collect and make me feel like I am baking in 1940! This recipe goes back to the 1930's. They are sweet, but not to sweet and can be eaten right out of the oven or cooled. I had some mom friends over for coffee on Friday and baked these while they were there and served them warm. Delicious!



Adena's Blueberry Muffins

1 stick soft unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar (more for tops)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (room temp)
2 cups bleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 pint blueberries or rasberries (fresh)

Line the pan with paper baking cups. Coat the top of the pan with butter to prevent overflow sticking. Preheat oven to 375 and set rack at the middle level.
Cream the butter with sugar and salt by hand or with an electric mixer. (I use my kitchenaid, which was a great investment) Mix until light. Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth. Mix the flour and baking powder together well and stir into the batter alternating with the buttermilk. Crush a quarter of the berries into the mix. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan 3/4 of the way. Drop the rest of the berries in each cup. Sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes until well risen and golden. cool about 10 minutes in pan.
Storage: Keep the muffins loosely covered at room temp. the day they are baked. After that, they can be individually wrapped in saran and frozen. Enjoy!

Another fun blog..Bless Our Nest

I saw this idea on Bless our Nest who saw it on Frills Fluff and Trucks who saw it on My Romantic home! This is such a cute idea, I have to hit the thrift stores. It takes three pieces, candlestick, glass plate, and cheese dome, just stack them up and glue the candlestick on the glass plate. These are great for a party, you can make them in all different shapes and sizes and fill them with so many different things, fresh cupcakes, mini pumpkins, cookies... They would make very inexpensive and lovely christmas gifts for friends, just put some home baked goodies inside!
So go check out Bless our nest for Christian inspiration and some nice home
decorating ideas.

projectdomesticbliss

Why do we follow certain blogs, I find my self attracted to blogs that inspire me and that talk about homelife and recipies and nature. I found a really inspirational one the other night, Project Domestic Bliss, written by Nikki, a young mom. I am so inspired by her. It's a take on the perfect "50's" style mom, very cute. Sometimes, I think, I am waiting for my life to be perfect and be making enough money to be living a life. OOPS! Something wrong there! So thanks, Nikki, for helping me to get up Saturday moring and make pancakes and pumpkin pie and celebrate life with my daughter and knowing that life is now and that there is no waiting around. I heard a great quote this mornig, "If you want to be happy, don't want what you don't have, Want what you have. I want my beautiful daughter, I want the opportunity to start my business again, I want to meet lots of new frinds in cyberspace, I want to be an artist, I want my 5th floor walkup apt in NYC, I want to enjoy the fall and have my apt filled with scents of baked pies and cinnamon and sonds of laughter and friendships. Looking forward to keeping in touch! What kind of things do you want!