Make A Wish!

I don't know about you, but I can't resist making a wish when I see the white puffs of a dandelion.  Those airy little seeds that dance on the wind taking your wish with them!  I'm one of those people who dry out the wish bone.  I make wishes at 11:11!  Eyelashes are fun to wish on too.  I also always make wishes on birthday candles (even when they aren't my own)!  You can never have to many wishes, right?

Well, I think this habit, my wishing habit has rubbed off on my 2 and 6 year olds.  Whenever we go for a walk we have to stop, pick the dandelion and make our wishes.

Conor making a wish!

Check out the look Poppy is giving Conor!  Utter disgust at spreading dandelions over our lawn (I'm sure my hubby will think the same when he sees this picture).  This wishing does make our walk take longer. But I love this part of spring and summer.  It reminds me of being little and doing exactly the same thing.

John, making one wish at a time!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!  Perhaps, take a moment to wish on some dandelions.  If you're local, there is still time to sign up for The Great Scituate Scavenger Hunt.  Don't forget to check back here on Monday - for a really fun giveaway!

Tex Mex Dinner

Our Tex Mex Dinner

My kids are great, but sometimes they don't always like what I make for dinner.  This can be really, really annoying.  I'm not sure if anyone else has picker eaters, but I think this may be my comeback for being such a picky eater growing up.  

Our policy at home is this is dinner and you need to try it before saying you don't like it.  But this isn't the problem I had the other night.  My boys (all of them) devoured dinner.  It was music to my ears to hear them all say "Yum, yum" between fork-fulls.

I posted a picture on facebook and many friends wanted the recipes.  So here goes.  Oh, this is super easy and quick.  The perfect meal if you've been running around all day or tired from work.

Cilantro Lime Rice

(Serves 4)

1 C Brown Rice

2 C Chicken Stock

Handful of chopped Cilantro

1/2 a lime

Pinch of Salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a casserole dish, place the rice and chicken stock then stir.  Cover with foil and put in oven for 45 minutes to an hour (until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked).  Pour rice into a mixing bowl.  Add chopped cilantro, the juice of half a lime and salt to taste.  Toss and serve.  This dish tastes so delicious and it is so easy to make!  It is my rendition of the rice at Chipotle's.  A place my family loves!!!!  I discussed it a while back.

Black Beans

1 15 oz Can of Black Beans with juice

1/2 Onion, chopped

1 clove of Garlic, chopped

Dash of Chicken Stock

1 Packet of Sazon Goya (without Annatto)

Olive Oil

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Cook the onions and garlic until they are softened.  Add the whole can of beans and stir.  Add, the chicken stock and Sazon Goya packet.  Stir.  Reduce some of the liquid off and serve!

Quesadillas

Tortillas (I like whole wheat)

Shredded cheese (I like the taco blend, but any cheese you have is fine)

Simply turn on your panini press and put the cheese on half the tortillas and fold.  Each quesadilla takes only moments.

I told you it was quick and easy!  Hope you enjoy a Tex Mex Dinner!  Let me know if you try it at home.

Not Your Ordinary Tins

On Friday, I had a little rant at my kitchen.  Guess what?  Well, I was right that pinterest kitchen didn't fall from my ceiling.  But that's okay.  I did make the empty spot above the sink a little cheerier.

Robert Opie Steel Sign

It all started with this amazing Robert Opie Steel Sign that my in-laws sent to me for Christmas.  I love old tins and packaging, especially those from the 1930s in England.  They are so iconic and rich with heritage.  Marmite, Quaker Oats, Lyle's Golden Syrup, Wheetabix - this sign has them all!  I truly love the images and thought this would look great in the gap above our sink with a shelf under it.

Then I found this great shelf at our dump in the take it or leave it section:

(Before)

It was a little sticky, but other than that in very good shape.  I washed it down with denatured alcohol, mineral spirits and then some warm water.  Once it was dry, I got my ASCP out and did one coat of Graphite and one coat of Emperor's Silk.  Just like the mirror I shared with you the other week:

Mirror

I really love that rustic, wine colored red which happens when the black peeks through the red.  This color also brought out the same hue in the steel sign:

(After)

The shelf is the perfect perch for all the important things in my kitchen.  My olive oil and vinegar from The Roman Table in Scituate Harbor.  Cindy's oils and vinegars from Italy are out of this world and make even a simple green salad taste gourmet. 

There is now a spot for Luke's Marmite (he loves it, I hate it!), the Coleman's mustard and the Herbs de Provence (I use it on everything!).

Especially dear to me is the little green tin car.  I bought it for my mom, when I was little, at a chocolate shop in Andover.  It is an English car with a family inside.  It's as if, I knew, at such an early age, that I would settle down with an Englishman (and consider England my second home).

The double decker bus I got for Luke at Christmas time.  It was filled with Walker's biscuits.  The biscuits are long gone, but isn't it a lovely keepsake?

And there is my new little bit of sunshine (my England in Scituate).  It will do until I can get my pinterest kitchen!

Linking to:

The Great Scituate Scavenger Hunt

The Great Scituate Scavenger Hunt is happening this Saturday!  Have you signed up yet?  This fun hunt was devised by 12 Women Care.  The group aims to make a direct local impact through small charitable acts of giving.  They are a group of wonderful women in my town who have an outrageous sense of humor.  Like any ordinary scavenger hunt your team is asked to do things and perform different tasks and then be photographed doing them.  You wouldn't believe the things we had to do last year - like the Polar Plunge in the icy Atlantic.  100% of the proceeds raised from the scavenger hunt will be donated to the charity chosen by the winning team.

My team is the Real Housewives of Plymouth County.  Here we are:

That's me with the platinum blonde hair!

We've already got our registration in and are plotting strategies.  It really is an amazing and fun event.  We laughed so hard last year, I think one of us may have peed their pants.  Ha!  There is still time to get your registration in or to make a donation.  Every little bit counts.  If you are interested in learning more here is their registration page.

I hope to see you there!

A Few Additions...

I have so many fun things to share with you, but unfortunately I can't share them with you today.  Sorry.  There is a fun giveaway planned for next Monday!  You are really going to like this one and can't wait to share it with you next week.  I have also been working on a few pieces of furniture for a friend.  I can't wait for her to see them, but again you are going to have to wait on this too!

But I can share a few new additions to Conor's Beachy Big Boy Bedroom.  I made a fabulous little pillow for his bedroom using the sweetest image from The Graphics Fairy's website using the citra solv transfer method.  I've shared this method before, but if you are a new follower you can see it here.

It is a little boy dressed as a sailor with the text saying "I love the sea" in French.  Conor loves his new pillow and was so proud to have one made by me :)  The back is a blue polka dots on green which ties in nicely to the stripes in the other pillows.

back of pillow

Here is a close up of the front.  The little boy is just so sweet on it, just like my Conor.

Poppy, our lovely flat coat / lab mix, loved Conor's old rug a little too much!  It was a flokati and I think she could smell the sheep.  Anyway, she had chewed a large hole it and it was just looking ratty.  I spotted this fantastic Dash & Albert indoor / outdoor rug at the Welch Company in Scituate Harbor.  They were doing a sale so I got it for 20% off too.

Dash & Albert rug

The great thing is it can be hosed down outside and Poppy isn't interested in chewing on it!  The blue and white really calls out nautical to me and I'm thinking of getting some deep red and white striped ones for John's room (his bedroom is still a work in progress).

A month or two ago, Conor and I were treasure hunting at Reflections Antiques Emporium in Cohasset (as we do) and I came across this fantastic sailing scene in a rustic wood frame.  I think it is from the 1930s.  It is such a soft image and seems to change as the light hits it making it look like sunrise or sunset.  I could just stare at it for hours.

Vintage Sailing Scene

Finally, I came across the most amazing water color artist on Etsy.  You all need to go and check out his shop here.  I got two watercolors, one for John and one for Conor.  John wanted the shark and Conor got the whale.  I picked up the frame at Ikea the last time we were there.  It is a great addition to his beachy big boy bedroom.

The details in the watercolor are just so beautiful.  I had to show you a close up:

Watercolor from Jason Paints, Etsy Shop

So there you have it!  A few new additions to make it even more beachy!

Linking to:

My Pinterest Kitchen

My sunny kitchen has been getting on my nerves lately.  Not only is it doing double duty as my furniture painting studio (it has the best light and the most space in the house), but everything about it is getting a little tired.

I love the color, Light Blue by Benjamin Moore.  Of course, I do because I picked it.  But the original 1960s cabinets are falling apart, the slate counters look great when oiled, but when they aren't look a bit dry and water stained.  The oven, well, a double oven and a hob would be fantastic.  I know, I'll stop my moaning and instead of showing you photos of my current kitchen, shall we day dream together?

If a kitchen could drop out of the sky (a la the Ikea ads), I would love the following:

White cabinets like Layla and Kevin's of the Lettered Cottage.  They were the first blog I followed:

via The Lettered Cottage

I would love, love, love a rustic, reclaimed farm table.  I'm dropping a huge hint to my hubby here.  Isn't this one from White Flower Farmhouse beautiful?

via White Flower Farmhouse

I love the idea of a huge chalk board for the boys to create masterpieces on, not to mention space for me to write all my "to do" lists (and there are many):

via

I also love that massive, rustic island and the glass pendants are gorgeous.

There would be a rustic hutch filled with white pottery just like this one:

via 

A gorgeous range and white subway tiles, like the one featured in House and Home:

Via House and Home

Glass cupboards and a farmer's sink:

via For the Love of  a House

A pantry that I could fill to the brim with all the snacks and sippy cups that currently topple out and fall on my head!  And finally, a cozy window seat to cuddle up on with my boys or to sit and sip afternoon tea while reading or looking at design magazines:

via pinterest

It would have lots and lots of over stuffed and homemade pillows:

via

So that currently is my dream kitchen.  I have a feeling that it isn't going to drop from the ceiling anytime soon and my kitchen will still be filled with furniture waiting to be painted.  But I thought you and I could day dream about what it would look like if it did!

A Pocket Full of Posies

My sons know how much I love fresh cut flowers.  I always try to have some fresh flowers in the house.  Usually some spring flowers from Trader Joe's in a vase with seashells or some daffodils in mason jars.  But I'm loving the little flowers gracing my counter right now.  I was the lucky recipient of this little posy of grape hyacinths and violets.

They were picked from our yard with the tiniest hands and brought to me with the biggest smiles.  What more could a mother ask for?