Weekend Recap: Getting Back into the Swing of Things

There are some things that once you know how to do them, you never forget... like riding a bike.  Well, apparently running errands is not one of those things for me.  First weekend with no plans post-tax season, so we decided to get some things done.  We braved the gridlock traffic to pick up some gifts and a new trash can (yes, Supper Clubbers, I admit we need a new trash can).  About 2 blocks from home, I realized, one, I'd forgotten the gift card to buy the trash can and, two, we didn't have the addresses for sending the gifts.  Errands, fail... let's go get lunch.  The trend continued when I finally bit the bullet and went to the Apple Store for a new computer (!!).  New computer in hand at check out and no wallet in my purse.  Errand fail again.

Oh well, all was not lost.  I'm now blogging from my new computer (!!!) and we ended the weekend with delicious pizza on the grill.  There's always next weekend for errands.

Pinterest Cooking

It's been oh I have 4 months until we go to FL... still have 3 months until our trip to FL... I can get in shape in 2 months before we go to FL.  Now it's oh no, we go to FL in two weeks... I have to put on a swim suit?!  Thank goodness we hit up the JCrew outlet this weekend and I invested heavily in cute coverups and maxi-dresses.  But there's still time to cram, right?  We're trying our best to eat healthy.. detox during the week, still eat healthy on the weekends.

Thanks to my dear friend Joanna's Pinterest board, I made a few new recipes for us to enjoy this week. First up, Sarcastic Cooking's Blackened Chicken with Cilantro Lime Quinoa.  This turned out quite tasty!  I pretty much followed her recipe to the t so go check it out.

Photo from Sarcastic Cooking

For lunch, I made this Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing from Once Upon a Chef. Also pretty tasty.  One pointer, take her instructions to buy prepared coleslaw mix and shredded carrots... or at least buy the shredded carrots.  Those suckers are hard to shred by hand (surprisingly I didn't have a kitchen gadget to tackle the task) and I ended up with WAY more cabbage than we'll ever be able to eat.  But on the positive side, it was about time for me to buy cabbage... 30 years old and had never bought cabbage.

Photo from Once Upon a Chef

Weekend Recap: R, R and R

Just what I needed-- a weekend to restart!  I was dragging at the end of last week after the deadline had passed.  But now I feel relaxed, rested and rejuvenated (that would be the third R) and ready to tackle life again.

For mom's birthday, she wanted a weekend at the Inn at Perry Cabin and for Andy and me to join.  Lucky us!  I rode up with mom and dad on Friday and mom and I enjoyed a spa day which was amazing. 



 
Despite plans to go into town (a mere 300 yards into town) for dinner, we were too relaxed to leave. Thankfully there's an adorable pub at the Inn.  It was the perfect spot for a casual dinner for the three of us and also for a drink for Andy when he arrived after a day's work.



 
We had beautiful weather on Saturday (before a much needed soaking rainstorm moved in that night).  Spent some time on Mom & Dad's new boat, watched the Caps hockey game, and, of course, napped.



 
Drinks in the Pub before our dinner in the Dining Room at Sherwood's Landing. Dining with a jazz band, how swanky?


 
I'd say it was a successful First Annual Trip to the Inn at Perry Cabin.  Yep, we decided that this will be an annual adventure.

inspired by... Domino Living Room

I've had these images saved for years-- long before I truly cared about sourcing images.  They were featured in Domino (which is coming back with a special edition, did you hear?). Considering I still love this living room after a few years, I decided it was the perfect candidate for the next "inspired by..." post.

Thankfully, it's now pretty easy to give proper credit for images thanks to reverse image search engines such as TinEye and Google Images. You just upload the image or paste the image link and bam, lots of webpages pop up containing those images.  I'd say I find the original image (not a reblogged version with no credit) about 90% of the time. But I digress...

The inspiration images are of Tori Mellott's living room, photographed by Annie Schlecter and were featured in Domino Magazine.  You can read more about her and her apartments and see other pictures on La Dolce Vita and So Haute Style (both of which came up when I uploaded my picture).  So here's my take on the room.  I'm now dying for that sofa.

Wallpaper // Osborne and Little - Spenser Stripe Wallpaper W5723-04

Picture Frames // Ikea Ribba Frames with paintings from my favorite art post and a picture from our wedding

Pendant // Urban Electric's Carlyn Single
Side Table // West Elm Parsons End Table
Lamp // Heaton Table Lamp by Lauren Ralph Lauren from Circa Lighting
Sofa // Jayson Home Rockefeller Sofa
Pillows // Jonathan Adler & Luxury Mongrams (via Virginia on Pinterest)
Side Chairs // Restoration Hardware Upholstered Vintage French Round
Coffee Table // Bungalow 5 Jacqui Coffee Table at Clayton Gray Home
Decorative // Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia Candle, Brass Urchin from Furbish, Monogrammed Coasters at Neimans

Anyone Still Out There??

So that was a much longer break than planned... oops!  While work has been taking up a bigger slice of my time than usual, it's not the only thing.  I've tried to stay focused this tax season on not dropping completely out of my social life... and I think I've some what succeeded.  So, those have been my priorities while the blog has taken a backseat.  But good news!  Tax day is right around the corner (bad news considering how much more I have to do), so the blog will move up on the priority list again.

Here are a few things that have caught my attention during the break...

I Am a Food Blog (found via design crush).  Love the amazing photography and the editorial presentation of the pictures.

Have you heard of the Couch to 5K training program (yes, this means I'm admitting that I am so out of shape that I can't run 3 miles)? I first read about it years ago and started the program but at some point, got distracted and didn't ever finish.  Then a few years later, tried to do it again, this time making playlists that would keep me motivated and had indicators about when to walk and when to jog.  That stopped when I only made 2 weeks worth of podcasts (lots of work).  Well, now there's an app!  It's great and has motivated me again.  You set your music and then the trainer speaks over that telling you when to walk and when to jog.  Here's to hoping I can finish the program before we go to Florida in a few weeks!

After seeing this post on Backstage of Style Me Pretty, I was convinced that I wanted to get back into film photography.  Don't get me wrong, I love my DSLR but there's something that's so timeless about film photography.  I don't have the patience to exclusively shoot film, but definitely want to incorporate it when I think it's the right time.  So yes, Andy, this means that I'll be carrying around multiple cameras!  When I bought my first DSLR, I went with a Pentax as that's what I had always used for 35mm photography (and what my parents used to use!).  This is a time when I'm so glad I did that as I can use some of my lenses on both my DSLR and my SLR that I still have.  I also have a few toy cameras that I bring out every now and then.  So this weekend, I went out and bought Jonathan Canlas' new book which is wonderful, beautiful and quite helpful.  I love the book and I especially love supporting Jonathan as he took our wedding photos which I adore.

picture via AMC

And then of course, there's the new season of Mad Men.  This is really the only show that I'm 100% into and I'm so happy it's back (although I should have rewatched the prior season as a refresher as my memory just isn't that good and 11pm is a little too late to stay up on a Sunday!).

PS - A special thanks to those that missed me.  Sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to myself (and my mom... hi mom!), so it's nice to know that others enjoy T&V as well.  xo!