A portrait of a puppy

Kirby is the most photogenic member of our family.  

He's so darn cute and he knows it too

Look at me, my big ears and tiny paws are enough to 

distract you from the undershirt wearing man in the background

I also do emo puppy

But mostly I'm irreverent!

Wishlist Wednesday: Navy stripes

Sometimes I like to load up virtual shopping carts of my favorite stores to create my own little wishlists.  It's a good way of waiting for my favorite items to go on sale :)

I was scanning my Urban Outfitters cart and these items were in there--can you tell I'm a bit obsessed with stripes and navy this spring?

New garden flowers

Now that the vegetable garden is planted, B and I turned our attention to the flower gardens.  Landscaping certainly is an art, and one we are not well versed in.  We know what we like, but achieving that is a bit tricky especially when you're trying to plan in advance for how the flowers will eventually look versus the immediate gratification of having what you want right now.  We chose quite a few perennials along with annuals this year and hopefully will keep seeing them year after year!

Vintage Monday: LuRay oval platter

Yes, yes, I know I already have fifteen different sets of china that I am collecting but when I saw these LuRay platters in the gorgeous Persian Cream color at the NoMoCo thrift shop for a steal, I couldn't help myself.  (is this what addicts say?)

LuRay was produced by Taylor Smith & Taylor from 1938-1961 in four colors: Persian Cream, Windsor Blue, Sharon Pink and Surf Green (Chatham Gray was added later on).  Facing competition from Homer Laughlin's brightly colored Fiesta Ware, Taylor Smith & Taylor released this pastels line in the spring to appeal to those getting married. They also made sure that the plates were stamped which makes it easier for collectors today.

 

What I love the best about this oval platter is the fun handle detail--functional and beautiful as well!

ps: this failproof peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe can be found HERE

New throw pillows!

I haven't had much time in the last few weeks to cook, bake or photograph any food so I thought this Friday I'd show off some new throw pillows I've recently acquired.  Usually I have orange accents in our living room, but this spring, yellow seemed like a perfect pick me up and so I finally caved and got these two bright and cheery throw pillows.

The triangle/pyramid cover is by the wonderful Austin designer Leah Duncan who also designed one of my favorite prints seen here.   I'd been eyeing this cover at her etsy store for a long time and when West Elm hosted various local designers for a mini showcase a few weekends ago, I got to meet Leah for a few seconds and took the opportunity to claim this pillow cover.  Love the pyramids and bright colors. 

The second pillow with the cutest puppy curled up on it is from Robin & Mould, designers based in the UK.  Seeing this pillow never fails to make me smile and reminds me of my puppies who love to curl up on their own pillows.

 

Have a great weekend!

Wishlist Wednesday: A garden that grows

Our raised bed garden adventure began a year ago.  You can check out its evolution and how we made the raised bed here, our giddiness at the first signs of prosperity,  and enjoying the fruits of our labor here and here. 

We've learned a lot of lessons last season, namely to water more frequently and in the mornings, build trellises sooner,  and plant more realistic vegetables that we can and will actually consume (remember my sole green bean harvest?)

So this year, B cleaned out the garden bed, added a few bags of organic cotton compost and we were ready to plant!

The garden bed always looks so neat and tidy in the beginning... 

This year, we've chosen cherry tomatoes 

(we figured this might give us a slight advantage 

over beating the squirrels to harvest first)

Seedless Japanese cucumbers and Persian cucumbers

(same seeds from last year)

And just to break it up a bit, I chose a Thai hot pepper 

(perfect to spice up Vietnamese spring rolls this summer)

 

And B chose a Habanero Pepper (on the far right)  

to spite the squirrels I think

Winner!

Stephanie in Houston

You are the winner of the brass animal giveaway! 

This little guy will be on your way soon, 

please check your email!

Thanks to everyone that participated!