July 4th Escapades

McKinney was kind enough to give us both Friday AND Monday off.

Erin, Katie and I kicked off the long weekend with a trip to Greensboro to see our girl Tay Tay.

I like using Katie as my "excuse" for going to a Taylor Swift concert.

A nice dinner at Lonestar beforehand.

As always, she put on an amazing show.

If she was about to come down with bronchitis and cancel her next 4 shows (she was) you'd never know it.

We got up Friday and headed to the river, but not before a quick stop at Crabtree at Gap (shorts for me), Abercrombie (two shirts for Katie) and Cheesecake Factory (lunch for all). Then we jammed to new tunes for 3 hours all the way to Aurora.

The outside fridge was stocked (Miller Lite anyone?).

The golf cart was decked out in her patriotic best.

Lee's PVC birds were installed.

The crab pot was emptied as the sun set.

And a bit of pier fishing as well.

Saturday was spent crabbing, because it's not Fourth of July unless you've dangled a raw chicken leg tied to string in a swampy marsh.

You shall be dinner.

Spotted on the boat ride home.

It's also not Fourth of July without a ridiculous amount of food.

And flag cake.

I got Seth to smile for a picture!

This is cute.

And this too.

All this sunscreen (arranged in order of SPF) and I still managed to get burnt.

Sunday was our annual trip to the sandbar, also a Fourth of July tradition.

Dad doesn't obey signs.

And I don't either, so I can get pretty pictures like this.

Kate lounging at the sandbar.

Some tubing action.

And being a little brave.

Sugar overseeing.

More food? Who us??

It's not the 4th without our hamburgershotdogsandhomemeadeicecream meal. Lee and I have almost perfected our ice cream recipe.

And then it was time for the big show.

Every year, it's tradition that our Canady Landing neighbors drive over and put on a patriotic parade for Jarvis Landing. (We were at the sandbar when they came through this year and missed it.) But we got together and decided to return the favor on Monday before heading home. So I present to you the inaugural Jarvis Landing July 4th parade.

And this is sure to make it into next year's family calendar. (Sugar is such a poser.)

Other items of note:

• By the end of the weekend, Erin had us all sucked into the Casey Anthony trial.
• Katie, reading from a Loaded Questions card, "If you had an enormous yak, what would you name it?" (The word was yacht.)
• Badminton. Lots of it.
• One night, we watched New Moon and Eclipse, back-to-back on Showtime. That's a lot of shirtless Jacob for one night. #notcomplaining
• I made these again. They got devoured again.
• Miraculously, no one got stung by a jellyfish, sprained their ankle or fell off a ladder this year.

Hope you and yours had a happy 4th!

Office Project Numero Tres: Curtains

Read about my office here, and parts 1 and 2 of the makeover here and here.

I always underestimate the impact curtains can have on a room. Then once I finally get them hung I think "why didn't I do this months ago?" The answer to this is probably that curtains aren't easy and they aren't cheap.

Except for my office curtains. Here is their story.

I knew I wanted the curtains in this room to be bright and fun with some sort of graphic pattern. The likes of Bed Bath & Beyond / Target / Pier 1 were just not cutting it in this department.

So I started researching fabric. But I knew I would need about 10 yards of fabric for four panels, and even with fabric that was $10-15 per yard (never mind the fancy designer fabrics I was drawn to), it was still more than I wanted to spend.

Enter my friend Ikea.

On one of my sacred trips there (the closest Ikea to us is over two hours away), I browsed the fabric section but wasn't able to find anything I liked. The bedding department though? Just the ticket. I found a twin duvet cover in a fabric that I liked (with a small circle pattern in the olive-y/lime green I was looking for).

The length of the duvet was exactly the length I needed, and I figured out that I could cut the width of the duvet in half to create two panels, so I'd only need one duvet for each window. The best part? The $9.99 price tag. So for under 20 bucks, I was on my way to four glorious curtain panels.

Except I got them home and they sat in a closet for four months. And THEN I was on my way.

I sliced each duvet in two and used no-sew iron-on hemming tape to make a nice seam on the one side of each panel that had been cut.

Some inexpensive brushed nickel curtain rods and ring clips from Target later, I was in business.

And as a bonus? Each twin duvet cover also came with a pillowcase, so I DIY'ed a custom mousepad to match the curtains (and I still have another pillowcase left over).

I just bought a cheap mousepad from Walmart and used spray adhesive and hot glue to cover it with the fabric.

So there's my cheap and easy curtain story. Tune in next week for some wall art action!

Backyard Updates

Our backyard has been feeling the love lately. Even though the grass back there is already dead as a doornail (due to the end-of-spring drought and 90+ degree days) we've got a lot going on back there.

Up first, the garden.

(Itty bitty cucumber)

What we've already been enjoying: basil, cilantro, oregano, rosemary, jalapenos, bell peppers, cucumbers, roma tomatoes

What's getting very close: squash, better boy tomatoes, grape tomatoes, peas

Who knows if it'll ever be ready: zucchini, beans, watermelon (very ambitious considering our space)

I already showed you the rose bushes and grapevines we planted next to our neighbor's fence (just looking back at that picture shows me how much they've grown already!), but we decided to put in a little mulch bed around the area.

As you can see, we've found it impossible to grow grass up on the berm, so Lee thought creating a mulch bed up there might alleviate a little bit of the dead-grass ugliness.

He also snuck in a birdhouse on the grapevine post (even though he's well aware of my bird phobia).

Up next is the outdoor sink Lee built.

(Please ignore the dirty house and rain barrel. Someone has a date with the pressure washer.)

I'm not really sure what it's for (planting, washing out dirty things, cleaning fish?) but I'm thankful for whatever yuckiness it keeps out of my kitchen sink.

I asked Lee to do a guest post on how he built it but he declined. All I know is that he scored the sink for free at Habitat ReStore -- on the day he went there looking for a sink, there was a sink outside in the "free" pile (and as he says "there's never anything good in the free pile!"). He already had some leftover decking that he used for the top of the sink, so the only expense was the 2x4s for the legs. And as you can see, it's just a water hose that provides the water, nothing fancy.

Finally, we replaced the random stepping stones we had leading from the patio to Sugar's kennel (that I have to traverse every morning), with a walkway to match the patio.

We realize this path to nowhere might not make much sense for future buyers, so we might one day extend it to wrap around to the sink or continue it so that it's a second level/extension of the patio.

So that's what we've been busy with outside -- and by we, I mean 90% Lee, 10% me (it's just too darn hot out there).

Some of This and That

1. I made these pepperoni pizza cups for a party last weekend. They were super easy and we all scarfed them down.

2. Another bird has nested on our porch, almost identical to last year. Except note the plastic netting in this one. I said it was kind of sad but Lee said, "are you kidding me? that is excellent building material, she was tickled to find that."

3. Even though summer TV is sparse, I'm getting my fix via: So You Think You Can Dance, Toddlers & Tiaras, The Challenge: Rivals, and Friday Night Lights (and soon, Big Brother). I'm so happy SYTYCD is back and I think it's going to be GOOD this season.

4. In case you're curious, you can see my all-time favorite (so far) SYTYCD dance here. It wasn't super memorable or lauded, but for some reason I love it (there's something about Mark that does it for me in this dance).

5. Lee made homemade wheat bread today. Beautiful AND delicious.

6. Are you on Pinterest yet? If you like cooking, photography, interior design, fashion, crafts or just pretty things, you should be. If you join (or have already joined) be sure to follow my boards. You'll see me pin things like Dreamy Kitchens, Party Pretties, and Farmhouse Fantasies. But mostly I just pin delicious-looking food. Pinterest is dangerous when you're hungry.

7. Speaking of farmhouse fantasies, Lee and I for-real considered buying this house for about 3.8 seconds.

We're not looking for a new house but this one kind of fell into our laps so we decided to go check it out. We ultimately decided that we're too chicken to take on the risk of renovating an almost 100 year old house. But we're having a hard time getting it off our minds.

8. And finally, some funnies to start your week off right:

• 13 brilliantly smart-ass responses to completely well-meaning signs
• Graduation fail

Office Project Numero Dos: Leaning Bookshelf Storage

It's been over a year since I introduced you to my office (or lack thereof) and told you about the plans I had for the space. I shared Office Project Numbero Uno: Worktable with you, and while progress in this room has been slow but steady, I'm finally getting around to finishing up the series (and the room) and sharing the rest of my projects with you.

S0, up next -- a bit of storage.

Using a leaning bookshelf from my old apartment (originally bought at Target), I added some Stockholm containers from the Container Store in navy and white. I ordered magazine files, a few different document and photo boxes, and the desktop file box. Then I added some color with two lime photo boxes from Target.

In the magazine files I store -- you guessed it! -- magazines. I just can't stand to throw them out, thinking I might need to go back and reference an old article or issue. (I do force myself to only keep as many issues as will fit in these files, so that means I have about a year's worth of each magazine and throw older ones out.) I also keep some Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware catalogs on hand for inspiration as well.

The document boxes hold various mementos I'm not ready to part with, including lots of wedding stuff.

I also have a box that stores greeting cards, invitations, Christmas cards, souvenirs and hard copies of photos (like old school pictures of the niece and nephew). When I get invites/cards/pics, they go up on the fridge and when it's time to make room for new ones, they get transferred to this box. Since I'm not really scrapbooking anymore, it's nice to have an organized place to keep this stuff, and it's always fun to go back through the box.

I have a filing cabinet that matches my computer desk where I file away all of our important paperwork (bills, bank statements, insurance info, tax info), but one file in that drawer was getting out of hand -- the file of instruction manuals. So I used the desktop file box to create a separate filing system for the manuals to all of our "stuff." So far, it's working like a charm.

For a little decoration, I added the white plant pots from Ikea, a Table Topics game that I got as a gift, and the framed quote print that I got free from a blogger (she had created them for a shower and had some left over, so she mailed me one, how nice!). The colors just happened to match and I love the quote:

"We've grown to be one soul, two parts; our lives so intertwined, that when some passion stirs your heart, I feel the quake in mine." -- Gloria Gaither

So there you have it -- the bookshelf that suits my storage needs and is pretty to boot.

Maybe next time I won't wait 15 months to show you the next project.

In fact, I'm going to try and post an office project every Wednesday until I'm done (but don't hold me to it!).

The Worst Birthday Present I've Ever Given

A few months ago I spotted a Groupon for an "all-day cake-design workshop." This was the description:

Before cakes, the only vehicle for frosting consumption was the bare hand, and the only place to load frosting onto that vehicle was the neighborhood frosting bucket. Eat frosting the evolved way with today's Groupon: for $110, you get a spot in an all-day cake-decorating workshop from Cafe Liardi (a $250 value). The workshop will be held at Marbles Kids Museum on Saturday, June 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Cafe Liardi’s cake-decorating workshops fulfill frosting fantasies with explicit instructions for turning humdrum baked goods into towering masterpieces. Throughout the six-hour Saturday session, owner and Chef Gailyn Gagliardi walks students through the basics of design, such as forging fondant adornments, gum-paste flowers, and icing subliminal messages, as they design their own three-tier cake. After production, each student leaves with a recipe booklet crammed full of Chef Gagliardi’s confectionary secrets, as well as their completed cake in a complimentary carrying case. In addition to a wealth of sweet knowledge, Cafe Liardi supplies a continental breakfast, gourmet lunch buffet, and in-between snacks to keep charges' energy up and ensure steady-handed misspelling of frosting-scrawled congratulations. Call or email Cafe Liardi to confirm dates and reserve a spot.

(By the way, while some people love them, Groupon's descriptions infuriate me. No need for all of the fancy copywriting, just tell me what I'm getting.)

Anyway, I thought this sounded awesome. Something fun that my mom and I could do together. I ran it by her and she was in. Her birthday was right around the date of the class, so I purchased one for each of us.

The day of the workshop rolled around and we arrived at Marbles Kid's Museum ready to get our cake on.

There were early warning signs that this might not be the magical cake decorating experience we were hoping for:

• We were crammed in 6 to a round table -- how are we going to roll out our fondant with no work space?! (yeah, no rolling of fondant was going to be happening)
• There were over 100 people in attendance -- how can you get the instruction and interaction you need to learn a new skill with this many people? (answer: you can't)
• The "supplies" we were provided with to cut, stack and frost our sheet cake? Styrofoam plates, a huge tub of buttercream icing from Sam's Club and a plastic picnic knife. (I kid you not.)

We trudged through the morning session, cutting, stacking and "dirty icing" our cakes. Some people were already starting to complain that this wasn't what they were expecting out of the class. I tried to be optimistic and give the instructor the benefit of the doubt.

Then lunchtime came around. I was looking forward to the "gourmet lunch buffet" we had been promised -- it was one of the reasons I was willing to pay $110 each for this workshop, because we'd be getting a yummy breakfast and lunch out of it (the workshop was put on by a catering company after all). But this lunch was "gourmet" only if you consider mixed greens with store-bought bottled salad dressing (Wish Bone brand, if you're wondering), bland flavorless pasta salad, and chicken with an unidentifiable sauce to be gourmet. I, my friends, do not.

We had been promised that after lunch we'd be able to go back over our cakes with another layer of frosting that would clean them up and make them look great. Yeah, not so much. As everyone tried to slather on more icing with a serrated plastic picnic knife in an attempt to salvage the cakes, the instructor moved on to fondant and gum paste decorations.

We were given packages of white pre-made fondant and gum paste. We were to use food coloring to color the fondant and gum paste -- except they provided writing icing (the tubes you buy in the grocery store) to "color" our fondant and gum paste instead of actual food coloring.

And the gum paste bow that the instructor demonstrated for us? It looked like this:

I'm pretty sure I could have done better at seven years old.

By this point there is a room of 120 creative, crafty, pissed off women who have paid $110 to make a cake that they could have done a much better job on at home with the proper tools and absolutely no instruction. Women are yelling at the instructor, the instructor and her assistants are getting flustered, and the conference room is a mess of powdered sugar and frosting.

All of the attendees are complaining amongst themselves and discussing how to get their money back. People start leaving, trying to salvage what's left of their wasted Saturday. There are abandoned cakes lying around everywhere:

There were some very talented women at this workshop (some who decorate cakes for a living and just came for fun) and NO ONE was able to leave with a presentable cake. The resources were just not there.

My "finished" product:

The "recipe booklet crammed full of Chef Gagliardi's confectionary secrets" were these pitiful cards:

And the "complimentary carrying case" was a cardboard box:

The workshop was meant to last until 4:30. We only made it to 1:30.

So, you live and you learn. If you ever hear the name Chef Gailyn Gagliardi or Cafe Liardi in Burgaw, NC, run as far as possible in the opposite direction. I think she meant well, but she was totally unprepared and in over her head.

However, I have to give Groupon props. I emailed them at 5:00 that Saturday afternoon and had a response within 20 minutes saying "no problem" and that my money would be refunded in full.

Mom, I am sorry your birthday present was such a bust. But at least we have a good story to tell now and we got some cake out of it (the cake actually was pretty delicious).