birdsandtrees

Herbs, Herbs, Herbs...and some Blueberry Lemonade

At the beginning of summer, I mentioned to our friend/neighbor that I would eventually love an herb box right outside our kitchen door.  About two days later, he told me he had built it and was ready to hang it!!  Talk about a good neighbor!  

James and I have been looking for ways to use the herbs, and I came across this recipe for Blueberry Lemonade on Pinterest (my latest obsession), which uses some mint. 

I'm always looking for some new drink recipes in the summer, and this one was delicious!

Add some strawberry slices and I think this would be great for the 4th of July weekend. 

Need ideas for how to use your herbs?  Check out some of these:

- use some herbs in cocktails (you might have seen this in Southern Living)

- basil pesto (we've already made one batch!)

 - grilled artichokes with creamy mint sauce

- of course Martha has plenty of ideas

I'm here!

I figured it was time to do a blog post when my mother started counting the months since I last posted!

I thought I'd share some pictures from my phone, since that really shows what I've been up to. 

Since my last post, school has ended.  It was our last year for the school to be at our house.  This next school year, we're going to rent some space at a beautiful, historic church downtown.  I'll get into more details later, but I thought I'd share a present that the parents of the school gave me.  Bryan Johnson, our friend and neighbor (whose oldest son goes to our school), took school pictures for us this year (see all the school pictures on his website...they're amazing!)  He put this together and gave it to me on our last day.  I may or may not have cried. 

After school ended, I went with James to San Diego (he had to go for work). If you ever need some garden inspiration, San Diego is your place.  All I wanted to do was get home and start gardening! 

While we were there, we went to the zoo.  Even though the price of admission makes you gasp when you see it, it's totally worth it! 

Our favorite animal of the day was the meerkat.  I could have watched them all day.  You can see one of them standing guard...the zoo is a dangerous place, so you have to always be on the watch for predators. 

There was even a baby hippo!  You can spot him in the upper right corner of the picture, sitting next to his mom. 

Other than our trip to San Diego, I've been working for Bryan at his studio...doing anything and everything that he needs me to do!  He and the rest of his family have been in China for the past week or so adopting their daughter Finley (here's his post about it here).  So while he's been gone from the studio, I've been working on a little "spruce up" of his studio space.  It was so much fun!!

Lastly, I also "catered" a friend's wedding.  I made LOTS of cupcakes, several small cakes, and her wedding cake.  James even made his famous iced coffee for the event.  I'd say it was a success. 

So there you have it.  Now we're off to the beach with my family.  But there will be more to come, I promise!!   

Spring Cleaning

I'm off this week from school for Spring Break, and I've got cleaning and organization on the brain.  I thought I'd share some inspiring images (mostly kitchens, entryways, and mudrooms) to get you in the cleaning mood!

(the emersonmade pantry via sweetpaul)

(rolling cubby storage)

(simple and clean laundry room)

(there's a lot of stuff in this kitchen,

but everything seems to have its place!)

(organized kitchen cabinets make me happy)

(this pantry is a such a great use of space)

(I loved this garden shed in this month's Country Living...

I'd love for our shed to look like this someday!)

(such a bright and colorful space)

Happy cleaning!

Today

Phew! What a day. 

Today marks the start of the Lenten season.  40 days to reflect, pray, slow down, repent, and prepare for Holy Week and Easter.  It is one of my most favorite seasons of the year.  I had all these grand plans of ways to start the Lenten season at school today (like we did last year), but some rain that came through the night and morning made their way into our basement and changed the plans I had made. I wouldn't have said this a couple of hours ago, but I'm kind of glad they did.  It made me see how much weight I put into my own plans, my own ideas, my own expectations.  My identity is not found in those things, and today made me draw near to God and away from myself.  Not the day I had planned, but glad it was given to me.  

"Lent is a time of returning to God.  It is a time to confess how we keep looking for joy, peace, and satisfaction in the many people and things surrounding us, without really finding what we desire.  Only God can give us what we want.  Lent is a time of refocusing, of re-entering the place of truth, of reclaiming our true identity."  - Henri Nouwen, Eternal Seasons

Some Tripp and A Dip

This weekend James's sister Emily, her husband Nelson, and son Tripp (above) came to visit.  We love having them here in Birmingham and wish they were here more often! 

We had our own small Super Bowl party here at home, and I thought I'd make some Texas Caviar for an appetizer (Nelson is from Texas, so I thought he'd appreciate a little shout-out to his home state).  I thought everyone knew about this dip, but they had never heard of it!  So I thought I'd post the recipe in case you ever need a quick, easy, and delicious dip for a party or get-together. 

Texas Caviar

Mix together:

 1 small red onion, diced

1 can Rotel

1 can shoepeg corn

1 can black eyed peas, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 small can chopped green chilies (I find these in the Mexican food section)

1 8oz. bottle Italian Dressing

The longer it sits, the better.  Fritos Scoops are our chip of choice for the dip.  

I hope you like it! 

For your Valentine...

(image found via)

I've been bookmarking lots of Valentine projects and ideas since last year.  I thought I'd share some of my favorites!  After all, we did buy a house whose former owner did Valentine's Day like no one else!  And in the move, I somehow lost my wax paper hearts.  So I knew I needed to step up my game.  

Let's start with some downloadable ones (the first is an oldie but a goodie, and one of my personal faves) :

    "Je t'aime" cards from Black Apple

A collection of valentines from jones design company

Adorable fruit stickers from twig & thistle

Another great download from twig & thistle

(I'm doing this one for the kids at school this year - they also have this option for a white bag)

And here are some other sweet links for ideas:

- you know Martha has you covered.  Check out these ideas: paper heart wrappings (pic above), doily envelopes, and lots of other crafts to get you inspired

- a handmade fabric card and envelope project

- a simple and quick valentine card idea for kids...here's another example of the same idea

- felt headbands and bracelets

- my friend Marla sent me this link for a heart garland...so cute!

- it doesn't get much easier than this!

- and last...if only I really had my act together, I could recreate something like this for our Valentine's party! 

I'm having some technical difficulties over here...my computer will not let me upload any of the wonderful pictures I have from Christmas.  Like the table my mom set for our Christmas dinner, the Epiphany cake we made at school (like the one last year), a picture of the beautiful calendar I gave students as an Epiphany gift, the snow day(s), and so much more!  Ugh.  It's frustrating.  I feel like before I can just move onto current stuff, I need to cover the past!  Oh well.

So I'm just going to move on!  I have given myself the challenge of making SOMETHING (ANYTHING!) every month.  It's what I love to do and I don't know why I don't do it more.  I've already made something I want to share, and more are on the horizon.  So I will definitely be sharing those soon. 

Thanks for sticking with me.  

Tree and things

 This past weekend we went with some friends to a tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree.  The weather was perfect - cloudy and chilly.  Add a hay ride and some hot chocolate, and we were good to go!  Although they had fresh cut Frasier firs at the farm, we all decided to go with one of the varieties they grew at the farm - the Leyland Cypress.  It is gorgeous!  I coudn't wait to come home, turn on my Christmas mix, and start decorating.  Hanging ornaments on the tree is a big deal in my family, and it's engrained in me to hang slowly, thinking and talking about each ornament that you hang. 

For the past few years, I've been trying to make new ornaments to add to the tree.  Last year, I made some paper globes (tutorial here) out of Christmas cards we received (especially with the ones that had beautiful papers), and I'm definitely going to continue to make some of those each year. 

I'm looking for some ideas to make for this year's ornament, so if you have any to share, please let me know!  In the meantime, I'll be waiting, curled up in a chair next to the fireplace, taking in our tree! 

Currently loving...

- Nigella's Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins, found in her new cookbook.  I've already made them twice and will definitely be making them again. 

- This AWESOME idea for kids at Thanksgiving time...I'm making it for our Thanksgiving party at school tomorrow.  I can't wait to see how it comes out!

- This beautiful Thanksgiving paper chain (via Twig & Thistle).  We had the kids fill them out at school today.  They should make a lovely decoration in the classroom, or in any place for that matter. 

- Advent Calendars - I want to make one for our house someday.  In a lot of the ones I see online, you can't fit much in the box (other than a peppermint candy or extra small trinket)...so when I saw this Advent Calendar, I was really inspired.  I love the fabric cones! 

- fort & field's Etsy shop.  So much goodness in one place. 

___________________________________________

James and I are headed to St.Louis for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I'll be back here next week. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! 

I'm alive!

Well hello there, everyone!  I hope you didn't worry.  I'm alive and well.  After some "gentle" "nudging" from several friends and family members, I knew it was about time I came back to this place.  I've missed this space! 

These past four months (!!) have been filled to the brim.  Since my last post, we've managed to:

::go to the beach::pack up our old house and move out::end the third year of our school::house-sit an amazing house for the summer::go to Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta (AWESOME.  Must. Go. Again.)::read lots of good books::get the keys to our new house (see above)::make many trips to Home Depot::paint almost FORTY gallons of paint::go to the lake::turn a basement into a schoolroom::catch a raccoon::make more trips to Home Depot::go to the mountains with friends::start a new school year in our new basement/schoolroom::add another teacher and class to our school::laugh a lot::cry a lot::go to Wisconsin::say goodbye to summer:welcome fall in our new home::

So sorry for the absence - I hope you'll stick with me!