sweet little babies

swarms of pregnant friends x 9 months = swarms of cute newborns. for fun, I photographed several of my girlfriend's babies over the past few weeks. it was a blast! warning: these faces are so sweet they'll make your heart hurt.

{baby hartz in his muscle tee}

{the sweetest little head I've ever seen}

{wyatt waking up from his nap}

{miss millie, ready for tea and crumpets}

{teeny tiny hands & fingers}

{don't you just wanna pinch those adorable chubby cheeks?}

taco tuesday

it's taco tuesday at our house tonight. I've been practicing "taco tuesday" since college; it never gets old.

{robert's taco's are always prettier than mine}

cupcake-theme baby gift

so, I mentioned babies are "the thing" to have right now. here's another baby gift that I put together for a friend's shower last weekend. she registered for two pairs of baby pants with ruffles on the bottom, so I rolled them up around a pair of baby socks to make fabric "cupcakes" & then wrapped with ribbon. the box in the back is a wooden play pastry set.

porch drink: arnold palmer's

my porch drink of choice this summer: the arnold palmer. a.k.a sweet tea + lemonade. I've altered tyler florence's recipe a bit to include sweet tea & a little alcohol. hey- it's summer, afterall.

arnold palmer {adapted from tyler florence's recipe}

1-2 family size iced tea bag

1 tea kettle filled with boiling water

pitcher

* ¼ sugar {for sweet tea}

1 cup simple syrup {for lemonade, recipe below}

1 lemon zest

1 cup lemon juice

ice cubes

vodka {or sweet tea vodka}

fresh mint for garnish

directions:

place 1-2 tea bags in a saucepan. boil a tea kettle full of water.  pour the boiling water over the tea bags.  let steep for several minutes. add *¼ cup of sugar & the hot tea to a pitcher. fill pitcher up with cold water & mix well until sugar dissolves.

lemonade:

to a blender, add the simple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 cup ice cubes & pulse to puree. place the mixture into the freezer for 15 mins.

add a handfil of ice cubes & a cup of the sweet tea to the shaker. using an ice cream scoop, scoop some of the frozen lemonade into the shaker. add 1 shot of regular or sweet tea vodka & mint leaves. shake well & pour into glass with the mint as a garnish.

simple syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

add the sugar & water to a medium saucepan. bring to a boil & allow to simmer until the sugar has dissolved. remove from heat & set aside to cool completely. 

sprinkles cupcakes: the original

as you probably know, I am a bit obsessed with cupcakes. I've tried all the best & sprinkles is still my fave. I've made three trips out to the dallas location but have always wanted to visit the original sprinkles in beverly hills. I finally got my chance a few weekends ago on an impromptu visit to los angeles. we limited ourselves to one each: the peanut butter chip & the vanilla milk chocolate. they make a great breakfast at 10am.

"kara in savannah" photobook

a few years ago my little sis graduated college & got her first real job in the beautiful city of savannah. you know that saying, "it's a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there"? well eventually it was time to move on, & kara got a promotion to the big city of atlanta. but I wanted her to always remember this time in her life.  so one weekend we walked all over the city & I took photos of all of her favorite places, signs, squares & people. later I complied them all into a hardback photobook using blurb. it turned out fantastic... I even scored a few tears. here are just a few pages below.

fig season

we are patiently awaiting our figs to ripen. we've picked a few but most are still green. you've gotta pick them just at the right moment, when they start to change colors but before the squirrels & birds get to them. looking forward to making all kinds of delicious things with the fresh figs this summer.

catching up on correspondence

I love sending cards & letters in the mail (it seems like a bit of a lost art these days). I have stocked up on these fun, oversized abstract expressionists stamps.

french toast

I love lazy saturday mornings. robert & I slept in & then he made me the most delicious french toast for breakfast. I could get used to this. happy weekend!

eames house alphabet blocks

right after posing about visiting the eames house, I received an email from nestliving about these awesome alphabet blocks for kids. there are 36 of them, so at about $5 each, I'm thinking that if I skip lunch for the next month, I could totally afford them. yea. either way, they're adorable. buy 'em here.

happy 4th of july!

we attended a couple of fourth of july cookouts yesterday & I wanted to make some sort of cutesy patriotic dessert to take. luckily, my mom whipped out her "fourth of july" recipe folder & had a photo of these cute lemon bars torn out from a magazine in 1996 (seriously). they were fairly easy to make & everyone loved them. if you do decide to make these, I recommend making them the day before & then decorating the day of. happy 4th!

lemon cheesecake flag bars

crust:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

lemon filling:
8 oz light cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
1/3 fresh lemon juice

topping:
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
garnish: fresh blueberries, rube of red piping gel or icing

1. heat over to 350f. line a 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, letting ends extend above pan 1-2 inches.
2. crust: in food processor or with electric mixer, process butter, flour & confectioners' sugar until mixture holds together & forms a dough. press evenly over bottom of prepared pan. bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden & firm when touched.
3. lemon filling: beat cream cheese & sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until smooth. reduce mixer to medium & beat in eggs, lemon peel & lemon juice just until well blended. pour over crust & spread in an even layer. bake 20 minutes until top is almost set.
4. topping: mix sour cream, sugar & vanilla. carefully pour & spread mixture over top. bake 10 minutes longer.
5. remove pan to a wire rack. cool, then refrigerate at least four hours before cutting.
6. lift foil by ends onto a cutting board.
to decorate as flags: cut into bars & arrange on a serving tray. pile blueberry "stars" in top left corner, then pipe horizontal red "stripes" with piping gel or icing. 

eames house

robert & I are big fans of charles & ray eames. we were out driving around in los angeles & I decided to put their address into the gps to see if we could find the place. sure enough, right near the edge of a cliff in the pacific palisades, in front of a grassy meadow & overlooking the pacific ocean, it stood.


charles & ray built the house in 1949 and they lived in it until their death. the couple's family now maintains the house to preserve their collections & decor. it was quite exciting to get to wander around the residence & experience this mid-century masterpiece up-close. it was definitely an unexpected highlight of our trip.

{the front of the residence}

{constructed entirely from "off-the-shelf" parts available from steel fabricator catalogs}

{there was a crack in the curtain & I was able to get a shot of the interior}

happy birthday, baby wyatt!

we all have people who come & go into our lives at different points in time. but sometimes, if you're lucky, there might be one who comes in & stays. for me, that person is my best friend kristy. we've know each other since we were born & are still close, 28 years later.

today she had her first baby, a sweet little boy named wyatt. it's hard to believe that my best childhood friend is now a mother. I hope wyatt is blessed enough to someday find a lifelong friend, like kristy has been to me.

{kristy & me in 1984}

{kristy & me + wyatt in 2010}