February 2015 archive

Patchwork Pants

Anthropologie had some funky patchwork jeans late last summer/early fall, which I looked at many times but eventually decided not to buy. I couldn’t see myself being able to pull off the look at the office, even on casual Friday, and that’s usually my test – if it’s not really suitable to wear in all facets of my life, I don’t usually make the purchase. But a few weeks ago I was lucky and honored to be chosen by Anthropologie in an Instagram contest for the Pilcro brand, for which I received a pair of my choosing. I opted for this season’s patchwork pattern – why not? Still pretty limiting, but it’s good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while.

DSC_5133_edited-1Anthropologie pants (now on sale)| Target shirt and tank | Madewell vest | UGG Australia booties | MARC JACOBS handbag | Kate Spade sunglasses
(more…)

Perfect Steaks (without the Grill!)

I love grilling steaks at home, primarily because besides grabbing the goods at the grocery store, I don’t do anything but enjoy the final presentation. Trevor is great at grilling, but managing the grill in the winter can be at best isolating (not a lot of volunteers to hang out with him when the temperatures take a sharp dip) and at worst not possible (on more than one occasion we’ve been unable to get the grill warm enough to adequately grill). We recently tested Ina Garten’s Steakhouse Steak recipe (link here), which uses a cast iron skillet (I recommend the Lodge brand, link here), the stovetop and the oven. It has many benefits, including keeping Trevor out of the deep freeze, ease of preparation, and consistently delicious steaks cooked to perfection. Click the link above back to Ina Garten’s recipe for ingredients and preparation.
DSC_4709_edited-1 (more…)

Cold Weather Cookies

I had some goodies on hand from last week’s recipe post for roll-out sugar cookies (link here), which proved helpful as we looked for good indoor activities during our recent cold snap. On these cold weekends the days can seem especially long when the kids are cooped up inside all day, and it gets tempting to pop in a movie to keep them occupied. On this particular night it was right before bath and bedtime and I gave them their choice of watching a show or decorating cookies – they jumped up and down at the latter option. I mixed up some simple powdered sugar icing (1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 tablespoons milk), gave the kids some food coloring and sprinkles along with the cookies, and let them go to town.

DSC_4745_edited-1 (more…)

1 2 3 4 5 7