Month

September 2012

Sunday Dinners: Autumn Decor

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When my Mom was growing up, my Grandma Nano hosted Sunday Dinner every single Sunday for whoever wanted to come. Most of the time it was family, but often the parish priest or friends were known to stop by for my Grandma’s cooking. My Dad used to talk about coming over for Sunday Dinner while him and my Mom were dating. Over the years, Grandma Nano kept the tradition alive. I even remember helping her set the table for Sunday Dinner at her house, and my sister helping her clean up in her kitchen after dinner.

Recently, I have picked up the Sunday Dinner tradition, and while we don’t do it every single week (seriously I don’t know how Grandma cooked for that many people every week), I host my family once a month.

This past weekend, I hosted Sunday dinner, and wanted to dress up the table with some autumn decor, but wasn’t really keen on spending any money to do it as I already have tons of fall decor (it is my favorite season after all). Since, Brian and I built and finished the plank table, I have been having some trouble coming up with tablescapes that aren’t dwarfed by the size of the table.

So, I called in some reinforcements. My niece, Allison, just graduated from college with a degree in Film, and she has had some experience with set design. I asked her if she would help me decorate the table.

 

She started with a red table cloth and folded it to make it a runner. Then added the beaded runner for some texture. Then she filled two simple glass vases with some river rock, a branch (which we found outside), and wrapped a little twine around the vase for some extra texture. She placed them on each end of the table.

 

Then, for the centerpiece, she placed some candles at different heights, filled a shallow glass bowl with apples and wicker balls, and placed a faux hypericum wreath around the container.

 

Finally, for each place setting she used some cloth napkins that I found on clearance awhile ago (I originally planned to use them for Christmas, but she thought they were perfect for autumn, and now I agree).

 

Voila! Simple, elegant, and inexpensive. What do you have around your house to create a tablescape? Anyone go outside and grab a few sticks? How about using twine to make something a little more rustic?

 

 

Linking up at The Lettered Cottage for their Autumn Tablescape link party.





Also sharing at DIY By Design for the Fall into Fall Link Party.

Where We’ve Been: Sentimental Art

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TGIF! As I write this, I’m baking a birthday cake and gluten free brownies to get ready for a weekend of celebrations. I will share more on Monday about birthdays, Sunday dinners, and best of all, some fall decorating ideas.

To conclude anniversary week, I wanted to share a fun and easy sentimental art project.

Before Brian and I were married and had children, other than going to concerts (which I talk about here and here) we did a little bit of traveling. The best part of traveling with Brian is he likes to see everything, and get around like the locals. When we went to NYC, we traveled all over on the subway, and pretty much walked all over Manhattan. Unlike most people who gain weight on vacation from eating rich food and relaxing on the beach, we usually come home with loose jeans from walking EVERYWHERE.

 

With three little ones, and with us finally finding a house, and me FINALLY not being pregnant, we are hoping to maybe take a few small trips in the future.

For right now though, I would like to mark all the places we’ve been so far. I found these adorable free printables. Lately, I have kind of embraced all the free art printables that are available online. I find them so cute and simple, and an easy way to spruce up an empty wall.

Here are some free printables in our kitchen:

 

And this one in our Dining Room:

So, I printed out the entire USA, and used a Sharpie Pen (I love these pens, they don’t bleed or run and I literally use them for everything) to mark all the places we have been so far. I put it in a black frame to match the rest of the art work hanging in our bedroom.

 

Ta Da. For the cost of a frame (which if you know anything about me you know I already have a few black frames on hand), you too can have adorable prints in your home. Also, you can make any additions that make them personal to you (like marking all the places you have been together).

Linking up at Serenity Now. Check out some other great recipes and ideas!

Anniversary Week: Our Story

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Brian and I met almost exactly nine years ago this week. I had just started a new job as the alumni coordinator at my old high school. With my new business management in technology degree from John Carroll University (BLUE STREAKS WOOT!) and a new suit from the LOFT I started my first day BEAMING! I was excited about my first real job, with my first office, and my first work computer and email address.

A very tall, dark and handsome man walked into my office to help me set up my email and my network account. As he was setting up my computer and talking me through where my printer was (I felt like I was listening to the teacher in the old Charlie Brown movies WAH WAH WAH) all I could think was, I know this guy from somewhere, he looks so dang familiar. So he said, “ok, well, you are all set-up.”

He started to walk away, and suddenly like a bolt of lightening it came to me. I chased him down the hall, and I said, “Oh my gosh, is Joe your little brother? I graduated from here with him. How is he doing? Are you the tech director? What year did you graduate? Do you remember me? I used to go to parties at your house and took pictures at your house before dances.” I was talking a mile a minute for two reasons: a.) I thought he was cute, and I remembered he was a senior when I was a freshmen in high school so I was a little nervous by the older, cooler, and did I mention cute guy and b.) I was so happy that there seemed to be someone around my age that could show me the ropes.

 

We became really fast friends. My job entailed attending a lot of school events to talk to alumni and Brian went to a lot of school events because often they needed technology set-up. One night while we were both working late, Brian plucked up some courage and asked me out for a beer. Our first date turned went from a beer, to dinner, to going to see some live music. It was a great first date. I guess you could say we were high school sweethearts, without actually being in high school.

 

After a few years, I ventured out into a new career. Once I left the high school we spent more social time together going to concerts in the city, movies, and out to dinner. We even started attending mass together in the city at our favorite church Old St. Pat’s. The more time we spent together, the more we started to talk about getting married. I figured he would pop the question when he was ready, but really did not want to know when or where or any of that. I figured there are so few surprises in life, I wanted to be surprised for sure.

So, along came the weekend of the Old St. Pat’s World’s Largest Block Party. This is aa two day concert event where all the proceeds go to all the programs of our church (Guster was playing that year!). Brian and I had finished a hard HOT day of volunteering and were sitting on the steps of the church looking up at the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower), and just talking. This moment is important because, Brian later told me that this was the moment he decided he was going to ask me to marry him. He had bought the ring  and asked for my Mom for “my hand” months before, but he said this moment was so perfect, and he wanted to propose in the place we would be married. So, after a few minutes of talking Brian said, “let’s go, we have another long day of volunteering tomorrow.” So we left.

 

The next day, Brian picked me up and we drove into the city for our second day of volunteering. He had orchestrated how he was going to propose with our good friends, Jaclyn and Chris (my second born’s godparents and who got married the weekend after us). He asked them to somehow get me in the church.

After volunteering for what seemed like forever, Brian, Jaclyn, Chris, and my friend Nanci headed over to the church to get the historical tour that was given to people visiting the church. Jaclyn and Chris got Nanci to walk around and Brian grabbed my hand and said, “Have you ever seen the alter up close? It is really pretty and is original to the building built over 100 years ago.”

He took me up to the alter and it was just him and I. There was silence. Brian says that he was praying I would say yes. I remember praying for him to ask soon (I didn’t know it would be in 2 seconds). Then, I started to walk away, and he said, “Erin, wait.”

I turned around, and he was already down on one knee, holding a box, teary eyed and shaking a little (he was so adorably nervous in that moment). He said, “I love you so much, please will you marry me?”

I cried and said “YES!”

The rest is history.

 

I Do: Our Wedding

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When Brian and I were planning our wedding day, we tried to think of all the weddings we had been to, and the best wedding receptions were the ones that had the best food. I know it sounds ridiculous, but good food can go a long way to your guests enjoyment of the reception. Once we knew the food would be fabulous, we tried to focus on lots of sentimental and personal touches.

The Date: After the proposal, it was kind of a whirlwind of telling people and picking a date for our big day. We knew we wanted an autumn wedding. We love cool weather, the colors, and we met in the fall, so we thought it was appropriate. We finally came around to picking September 16th. It was the only date that both the church and our banquet hall had at the same time, but it was totally meant to be. You see, this is also my parents’ anniversary. My parents were married for almost 34 years before my Dad passed away so we figured it was  a nice tribute to my Dad, and almost like a lucky day since my parents had such a happy a loving marriage.

 

The Church: Old St. Pat’s is an important place to us. We spent a lot of time there when we were dating. We attended mass there, volunteered there, and met life long friends there. Brian popped the question there. It remains a very special place to us as it is still our parish and the parish where our children were baptized.

 

The Band: Brian and I LOVE music (mentioned here). We spent a lot of time at concerts (Guster is still one of our favorites), listening to music, downloading our favorite songs, and researching new bands together. One of our first trips together was to Graceland and then to Nashville where we saw Josh Turner before anyone knew who he was. A monthly tradition of ours was to see a band called Tributosaurus. They are a band that each month has one concert and picks a different artist or band to cover. We saw them become Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Paul McCartny just to name a few. It was/is still one of our favorite things to do. Anyway, we explained to the band how we are die hard fans, and would you please play for our reception. They agreed and played a mix of all of our favorites. Everyone enjoyed because it was good oldie type music perfect for dancing, but they also played some newer music for the young ones.

The Sweet Table: Brian and I didn’t have a traditional dessert of wedding cake at our wedding. In Brian’s family, it is tradition to offer an entire table of sweets and treats after dinner. Ours was piled high with tiny creme puffs, eclairs, small pieces of cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and other sweet treats. To keep with tradition, we had a very small two tiered cake  to cut. Our baker actually made us a replica of the cake for our first anniversary for FREE.

 



The Bouquet: My bouquet was a place that I found it easy to add personal touches. It contained lots of sentimental flowers. My Dad’s family is Dutch so even though it was fall I included ivory tulips. My Mom loves hydrangeas so I made sure I had a few of those. My grandmother had gardenia in her wedding bouquet so I included those, and my sister had roses in her bouquet so I included those as well. I also added a few of my favorites like ranunculus and stephanotis with pearl centers.

The Shoes: Another very personal touch was to honor my Dad. My Dad passed away when I was only 19. Him and I were extremely close, and one of our favorite things to do together was run (I still run today). Our favorite brand of running shoes was New Balance, so I found a pair of all white New Balance shoes and my friend and bridesmaid, Sara, bedazzled them for me with crystals and pearls. My brothers and my “Dad’s shoes” walked me down the aisle on my wedding day.

 

The Photos: We wanted to make sure we got some pictures with the Chicago skyline behind us. Brian and I feel like it is “our” city so that was important to us.

 

The Little Things: Instead of table numbers we labeled the tables with all of our favorite Chicago date spots. For favors, we are big believers sending people off with a little snack for the car ride home or something to share the next day. Our favorite fall treat is a carmel apple, so everyone got a carmel apple from Affy Tapple (pretty much an institution in Chicago). Our programs contained pictures of the stained glass windows of Old St. Pat’s.

I’m not an expert wedding planner, but I will say this. It is very similar to hosting any party. The food should be great but there should be a few personal and sentimental touches that help to make it personal and special to you and your guests.

Newlywed Dinner: Quick Chicken and Dumplings

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When Brian and I were first married, I so enjoyed having my own kitchen to cook and bake and make messes in (Brian can attest I used to be a very messy cook). I had lived with my Mom prior to getting married, and while I did plenty of cooking, it still wasn’t MY kitchen. I also did a lot of experimenting in those early days, and they weren’t all winners.

One of Brian’s absolute favorite meals when we were first married was Rachael Ray’s Chicken and Dumplings. It is something that remains in our dinner rotation, and it is usually the first thing he asks for as the weather turns colder. Since fall is on the way, I thought I would share with you the recipe. It is simple, everything cooks in one pot (easy clean up), only takes about 30 minutes, is great leftover,  and is a true comfort food

 

The only difference between cooking then and now is all the helpers I have in the kitchen now.

 

 

 

 

Out of Ideas: Date Night Craft

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Brian and I will be celebrating 6 years of marriage this weekend so I have declared this week Anniversary Week. Some blogs out there in the blogosphere like to have a wedding week detailing all aspects of their wedding, and while I loved our wedding day,  and will share some details with you later in the week, I thought it might be fun to talk about the last six years too. On Mondays, I typically blog about a craft or home improvement project, so here is a little sentimental craft project that I thought might be fun as our anniversary approaches.


No this is not a post about doing a craft on date night. I don’t think I could talk Brian into that. He is creative, but not crafty. Reminds me of that episode of Scrubs when Zach Braff takes Tara Reid to paint their own pottery and Tara Reid paints ‘This is so lame’ on a ceramic plate.

Brian and I try to make time for date night. Sometimes, we schedule it weeks in advance and get a babysitter, and other nights it is more of an impromptu stay at home kind of date. However, we run into the same problem, when it comes time for a date, we are sometimes stumped for something to do together. I know it sounds crazy, but I think we are so busy thinking about everything for the kids, our jobs, and the day to day grind of life, that when it comes time for date night all we can think of is the old standby of dinner and a movie. Granted, dinner out where no one has to cook or clean up is definitely a treat of us. However, sometimes it is nice to try something new.

So, here are some of the ideas I came up with:
Redbox Movie and Popcorn
Bowling
Mini Golf
Try a New Restaurant
Walk on Trail
Concert
Go Out for Dessert
Walk to Gelateria
Cocktails and Appetizers
Walk Around the Apple Store
Morton Arboretum
Go to a Museum
No Kid Zoo Day
Picnic Lunch
Exercise Date
OSP Speaker
Sushi Night
Sundaes and Sitcoms
Project Date
Walk Around the Mall
Sporting Event
Beer and a Game
Out for Breakfast

I saw this idea a few months ago. So, I thought I would put my own personal touch on it.

 

I found an adorable glass pitcher at Home Goods a few months ago on clearance, and thought it would the perfect place to house my version of date night popsicle sticks. I also had all the other supplies for the project on hand from my teacher days, so this whole project cost me $1.99

Supplies:
Popsicle Sticks
Markers
Clear Container

Color: You can skip this step, but I thought it would be cute to have the popsicle sticks match the color scheme of our recently updated master bedroom. I used plain Crayola markers to color the popsicle sticks in different shades of blue and green.

 

Write: Using a black marker I wrote all the date ideas on the popsicle sticks. I also left a few blank sticks to add to the jar in case we think of something along the way.

 

Go on a Date: Put the newly styled popsicle sticks in the container, pick one, and go on your next date night.

 

Now, we have 23 ideas for things to do, and we can spend less time thinking of things to do, and more time on our dates.

Fast, Easy, Cheap: No Sew Curtains

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When we first moved into this house, we removed a lot of things, especially upstairs. One of the things we removed was all the window treatments. They were dusty and in various stages of disrepair. I figured I could do something on the cheap. The first step was to get everyone room darkening shades for privacy and for sleeping. This held us over until we could do something a little more decorative. I did a little research and found this tutorial on Young House Love. I’m going to share how I made these curtains, but the Young House Love tutorial is great for tips on how to hang curtains.

 

 

I don’t own a sewing machine (someday I hope to). So, the idea of doing something with just an iron made me so happy (my iron doesn’t get the workout it used to since my hubby has decided to outfit his entire work wardrobe with wrinkle free apparel).

Since Coco, already has a room darkening shade, and these curtains are purely decorative, there really is no need to open and shut them, therefore I only needed a few yards of fabric to make floor length curtains. Overall this project was quite inexpensive, especially if you have a 40% off coupon to JoAnn Fabrics, and a home sale at Target where I bought the hardware. After doing this project, I’m totally convinced I could make curtains for my whole house. It only took me about an hour and a half, which for me any project that can get finished during afternoon naps is a dream project (just like this sentiment art).

Supplies:
Fabric
Heat n Bond (it comes in different widths and strengths)
Fabric scissors
Iron
Ironing board
Curtain rod
Curtain ring clips

Measure, Measure, Measure!  I always follow the measure twice (three times), cut once  philosophy. Also, make sure you leave enough allowance for the width of the heat and bond. That will be how wide your hem is.

No, seriously, cut it out! Cut your fabric to length and width. Really, does there need to be more explanation?

Iron ’em out! Iron ’em out! Smooooooth! This step could not be any easier. All the directions are right on the back of the Heat n Bond. My only tip here, is just make sure you hold the iron in place for the correct amount of time while “hemming” otherwise if there is not enough heat, there will be no sticking. Keep in mind, if your fabric is thicker you may want to hold the iron in place for a few seconds longer.

 

 

 

 

Hang ’em up! This part I left mostly to the hubby, because the kids woke up, and he could hang the new curtain rod without having to use a step ladder. I clipped the curtain rings about every 6 inches, so that they would gather nicely.

 

So viola, there you have it! Fast, easy, cheap… curtains.
Linking up today at Serenity Now and Tater Tots & Jello. These are great places to check out anything from home projects to recipes, crafting to organization tips. 

Big Kids Now: Cherry Cola (Pop) Brownies

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I know this week has been a little “kid heavy” in the way of posting, but here’s why:

 

My boys started school this week. They were SO excited. I don’t know if you can tell
However, for bearing with my crazy pictures of my knuckelheads, I will reward you with a recipe.
To celebrate heading back to school, and the boys having a great first day, Coco and I decided to make the boys a treat. 

 

I dug through my baking cabinet and found a box of brownie mix. I wanted something a little doctored up (after all this is a special occasion), and I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. I LOVE CHERRY POP (yes, I just said pop. I’m from Chicago, deal with it people). We always have cherry pop of some kind in our house as it is my favorite.
Anyway, what grabbed my attention about this recipe (other than containing cherry pop) is it only contains one egg. My boys have a slight egg white sensitivity, so I like to find recipes that have one or no eggs or can easily have substitutions for eggs. Also, the picture totally captured my eye. The kids like anything with a cherry on top.
So we baked. 

 

 

The kids loved, mom and dad loved. It doesn’t get much better than this people. 

Linking up with Adorned from Above.

Eating Bon Bons: Being a Stay at Home Mom

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I don’t normally write posts like this. I pretty much like to keep it lighthearted here, but I just kind of felt that with school starting, us parents needed a little encouragement. Just to give you some background: I had my first child in 2007 and worked outside the home until my second child was born in 2009. Then in 2010 I had my third child. I have seen both sides of the coin.
Last week, I checked my email, and there was a note from my husband with a link to a blog post about a woman, who when asked what she did for a living, she felt kind of ashamed to say she was a Stay at Home Mom. She wasn’t ashamed of staying home with her kids every day, she was more embarrassed of what other people would think. Like being a stay at home parent wasn’t enough.
This was my response:
“Do I feel inferior to hardworking professionals? Yes, occasionally, but not because I’m not hardworking. It is an exterior pressure that I sometimes feel. If I got paid for what I do at home, I think that there would be less sense of inferiority. I also think this is mostly a phenomenon in the U.S. I’m pretty sure that being a stay at home parent is the hardest work I’ve ever done, and will ever do. The total sacrifice of self is what makes it so hard. In my professional life, I could leave my desk at any time to use the rest room, I could listen to whatever I wanted on the radio, I had ½ hour commute to myself in the car, I could eat whatever I wanted for lunch, I could talk to adults, I could put on make up, and shower on my own schedule. These simple tasks to me almost seem lavish and selfish to me now. As a stay at home parent, I am a teacher, mediator, laundry service, psychiatrist, nurse, event planner, personal assistant, chef, accountant, maintenance woman, janitorial service, chauffeur, and that is not even scratching the surface of all I do for my family. I have learned all these jobs without any formal education or on the job training. Parents who work outside the home, do all of this AND earn money for their family, however, they also get to use the bathroom in peace. There are arguments to both sides, but the implication that a stay at home parent is less of a person or should feel shame because they are home with their children drives me insane. I think families make the choices that are right for them, there shouldn’t be any shame in taking care of your family, no matter how you want to do it, whether it be earning money outside the home or being a stay at home parent. We should all be supporting each other in raising happy, healthy, independent and well mannered members of our society.”
I wrote this response to the woman’s post in the hopes that she knew A.) she was not alone B.) I think a lot of stay at home parents feel this way and C.) that being a stay at home parent is hard work.
I totally felt for this woman. Brian knows how I feel about stay at home parents. I think it is a very honorable job, but an extremely thankless one. I also feel that there is a stereotype that comes with being a stay at home parent.
When I was a kid, there was always that notion that Stay at Home Moms did nothing but lie around, watch soap operas, and eat bon bons all day. Oh! How I wish that were true! More days than not, I wish I could just stay in my jammies, not because I cannot find two minutes to myself to shower and get dressed, but because I am actually making the conscience choice to stay in my pajamas.
I was surprised to see that I was not the only person who felt this way. That while we all know we are doing something honorable for our family and we are making serious sacrifices, we also feel like we are fighting an image.
For the past three years, I have stayed home full time with my kids. It was the right decision for OUR family at the time, and continues to be for the time being. Here is what I have found out in that time:
  • Those who have children are parents. Period. Whether you stay at home, work outside the home, work part time, have a nanny, or send your kid to day care. We are all doing our best for our kids.
  • Fact of the matter is, kids (little kids that is) cannot be left alone. So, whether mom or dad stays home to care for the kids or Grandma, Grandpa, neighbor, friend, nanny, day care provider is helping to take care of a child, the reality is, there are different jobs to raising kids. Someone has to be with the kids, and someone has to pay for it all. So, who cares who does what job, as long as the job is being done.
  • Being a stay at home parent is probably the hardest job I will ever have. It is a 24/7, 365 grueling marathon. No, I’m not sitting around eating bon bons all day. I’m not even sitting most days. And forget bon bons. There are some days feeding myself doesn’t fit into my day until nap time.
So why the judgement? Why the criticism? Why do stay at home parents feel guilty about not earning money (even though they help save their families thousands of dollars in child care costs)? For that matter, why do working parents feel guilty for having to work outside the home for their children? Aren’t we all “there” for our kids? Whether you are the emotional support, general caregiver, or financial supporter (or all three)?
I don’t know why there is judgement, but I’m going to do my part and just be grateful for the happy, healthy, well mannered and loved kids I know. Because I know first hand how much work goes into having just that.

 

Unofficial End of Summer: Fall Fest

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This past weekend, was our town’s annual Fall Fest. It includes, food, live music, parade, and HUGE craft fair. It is the perfect way to end summer and kick off the school year. We live walking distance to “The Fest,” so we usually invite friends over to come park in our driveway (saves them $20), and we walk up and enjoy.

Sara (my friend from college who I talked about here), took some pictures of the kids enjoying their favorite part of Fall Fest, which was the carnival rides.

 

Now that Fall Fest has come and gone, I guess it is time to plant some mums and get some pumpkins.