share the love

"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."
Mark Twain


"There is no remedy for love but to love more."
Henry David Thoreau


"All love is sweet, given or returned."
Percy Bysshe Shelley



Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

here's to a lovely weekend!

I used to not like Valentine's Day, mainly because it seemed I never got flowers and gifts when everyone else did. Now, not so much. I've actually been looking forward to Valentine's Day, mainly because I'll be spending it in Charlotte with my love.

I'm hittin' the road to visit Hunter. Wishing everyone a love-filled weekend!


picture and other funny sentiments from here

sweet treats

Some tempting sweet treats to make for Valentine's Day:

handwritten valentine cupcakes

heart pancakes

chocolate eclair hearts

mini heart-shaped cake

meringue heart ice-cream sandwiches

all from martha stewart...obvi

best vinaigrette ever

I discovered the best vinaigrette salad dressing when I made this cobb salad from Ellie Krieger on Food Network. It is so simple to make and yet so delicious. The taste of it has me craving salads...yes, craving salads!

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Simply whisk all these ingredients together in a small bowl and you've got yourself a tasty and healthy vinaigrette that dresses up those dull leafy greens.

Seriously, I just drizzle this over chopped romaine and baby spinach leaves and add nothing else to the salad and I'm still satisfied. It definitely makes it easier to eat healthier. Which, by the way, I've been doing really good at. I've dramatically cut out the sugar and the carbs (no cokes or Starbucks) and loaded up on healthy "anti-inflammatory" foods that are high in antioxidants (berries, salmon, greens, asparagus, macadamian nuts and almonds, green tea)....I've lost 8 pounds!!

Rodney Smith round two

I could never tire of looking at Rodney Smith's photographs.
















all images and thousands more from here

Leslie Miles

Came across this new blog--it's filled with nothing but awesome photographs. Check it out.

painting with needle and thread

Call me old-fashioned but I really want to learn how to do embroidery. But not the old-timey embroidery that conjures up images of old ladies sitting straight-backed in front of a loom stitching classic samplers. I want to learn embroidery and give it a modern twist--use it to add sweet little embellishments to things and create some art.

Thankfully, good ol' Martha has a handy How-To that shares all the basics of embroidery and teaches the simple stitches.






all images from Martha Stewart

educational reading

I'm taking a break from my usual fictional novels and am planning to go through some more educational reads. I've always kind of thought it'd be cool to somehow turn my creative efforts into something more than just a hobby, so I'm interested to read these two books to get some insight and maybe some inspiration.

The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as you Start, Grow, or Manage a Business by Martha Stewart

I ordered this off of half.com the other day and it arrived yesterday!

Craft, Inc. : Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business
by Meg Mateo Ilasco

Not saying I'm going to be starting my own business anytime soon, but I don't see it as an impossibility and if nothing else, these reads will broaden my horizons!

perfectly pink

I really really like this Faille Maisy Jacket from J.Crew's new arrivals. It's the sweetest shade of pink and perfect for Spring! My $25 Rewards card won't make much of a dent in the price though... I'll wait for it to go on sale.

superbowl let down

Did anyone else think that the commercials during the Superbowl last night were a general let down? Only one or two were really memorable for me. My favorite was this clever Coca Cola ad:



The whimsy and the vibrant colors reminded me of the United Airlines commercials that played during the Olympics. And I love that they used music from Peter and the Wolf. I love that score.

I thought the funniest was the Monster.com moose commercial:



It was the only one that really had me laughing out loud.

Which Superbowl commercial was your favorite?