Thursday's weather

Happy Thursday! Feels like spring here, but it's really February. Scary? Or great? Or both?

Very cool Amsterdam map, all art'd up. 

Sophie's birthday party ... again

I had good intentions with this party. I had a plan for it to be very cheap. In the end, I hurt my back two days before and had to outsource food and cupcakes.  Overall, between the dollar store and Michael's crafts everything was pretty cheap. Balloons, martha stewart streamers cut and hung from the ceiling, some tulips and a photo montage basically summed up the decor.

Had I been able to make the gluten free cupcakes and wraps myself, this party would have been a record breaker for me.

So glad it's over. No more parties for 11 months. Woohoo!

a special day

This girl is 4 today. Another week of birthday preparing. And today is the day! Another year....gone by way too fast!

Cool polly pocket clock below was handmade by a very talented family member - check out her website here! www.appleheadstudios.com

Hello! And, NYC apartment

New Post. Woohoo!

I have taken a break, yes. I have been thinking about my blog alot lately. Thinking about how and when and if I should post.  I've decided I am just too inspired by great design and clever beautiful artsy things to walk away from this forever. So I will continue to post, every now and then, and hopefully most of you will find me.

So you don't think I just dropped the ball entirely. Over the past few months, I have been pulling my house together (coming along, not really picture ready..yet), getting through the holidays, planning many birthday parties, and last but not least, I have started a new career venture, a health coaching program. I will be creating an additional blog focusing on holistic health later in the spring. All good stuff. But I missed this. And I have lots of posts hanging out in my head waiting to be released.

For today, here's what I saw when I logged onto Remodelista yesterday.  This is a NYC west village apartment. I loved the sliding window panel so much I had to show you. More proof that it's never about the size of your home, it's all about how you use the space!

lucky kids

Look at these fab bedrooms by Jan Eleni, a designer from NYC.

Remodelista posted this round-up awhile back.  Jan's method is to really get to know and understand the children she's designing for, to create a bedroom that's very nurturing and inspiring.  Looks like she's got it right. These rooms are all so different.

I love the top two. Whimsical and sweet.

I really have to get working on Henry and Sophies' bedrooms! I might just steal the cork board wall idea!

Happy Friday

My new favorite 20x200 artist, Jennifer Sanchez. Image this poster size!

Paleo me

So my latest dietary experiment is with the Paleo diet (I know, it's always something!). I'm not sure why I didn't explore this before - it's basically all animal protein, almost all vegetables and most fruits. Sugar and grains and dairy are the big no-no's. This is easy for me - I've been doing something similar to this for awhile, except I would usually allow for non-grain grains like millet and quinoa. I've committed for a month btw.

I have to say, this diet is not that hard unless you're used to eating tons of sugar and carbs in which case you'd have to take time to ease into it. For me, fruit satisfies the sweet cravings and the heavy meat, healthy fat allowance fills me up. The key, as always, is cooking. You have to cook alot. So...you guessed it, that's what I've been doing. My crockpot and I are becoming fast friends! That said, I've already lost a few pounds and noticed an energy shift within the past few weeks. All good stuff.

Below is a great recipe by The Caveman Gourmet I found for a zucchini muffin for anyone who wants to sample a Paleo baked good. I had these recently when a friend brought them over and they were amazing. And they are basically protein which makes them even better. Very easy to digest as well. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

 

Ingredients
Makes 30 mini-muffins
6 eggs
2 cups zucchini (shredded)
2/3 cups pitted dates (approximately 9 dates)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon apple butter
3 cups almond flour

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

- Separate egg whites and yolks and set aside. Take your raw zucchini and shred them. For 2 cups worth – I used 4 small/medium sized zucchini.  Put shredded zucchini in a strainer and press or squeeze with hands to get excess liquid out. (Alternatively you can use paper towels but I find there’s so much liquid that you’re using too many paper towels and it’s a bit wasteful.) 

- Blend the dates until you get a finely chopped mixture.  In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, dates, cinnamon and apple butter. Once those are evenly mixed, add the zucchini and almond flour and hand mix thoroughly. Set aside.

- Take your room temperature egg whites and put in a VERY dry bowl.

- With a mixer, whisk on high until a soft peak forms and the egg whites are not liquidy. 

- Once you have a Cool Whip type of texture, fold the egg whites into the zucchini/flour batter.  I do this slowly – one cup at a time so that the egg foam air bubbles are incorporated throughout the batter.

- When you are done folding all of the egg whites and batter together, spoon the mixture into mini muffin pans. Bake for 30 minutes (you can always do the toothpick test to see if it comes out clean when you poke it in the center). Serve warm or at room temperature!