J-Crew Cashmere zip shawl-collar sweater

Remember when JCrew's most popular offering was a unisex roll neck pullover sweater in oatmeal or heather grey? Ahh, that takes me back about 16 years or so...it was quite the popular sweater when I was an undergrad...I think everyone had that sweater...in oatmeal or heather grey....I think I might just still have mine! Well, JCrew has come a long way, baby! Check out this gorgeous sweater!!! Must have in plum. I hope it goes on sale. I wish you could set an alert for them to notify you when certain items went on sale. I would tag this for sure. I love it in plum. I don't think I have an item of clothing in plum...must be a sign that I really do need this sweater.


Things I Like...zip shawl-collar sweater...in plum!

The Legend...Sing it with me yall.....

I am loving John Legend lately. Maybe it's this heat, I don't know, but his slow, soulful lyrics seem just perfect for a hot summer night...cocktail in hand, hanging on the patio, moonlit night, my man....and John Legend! Slow Dance is definitely my favorite...love, love, love it!

http://s0.ilike.com/play#John+Legend:Slow+Dance:689603:s371142.10251728.3789741.0.2.15%2Cstd_15047f0305b9420d90e06a1762e13349




Thinks I Like....I propose that we go to the floor and we slooooooowwww dance.....

bootielicious

I love these. I have been staring at them for about 20 minutes just imagining the outfit possibilities. Sleek and structural indeed. I wonder if they are comfortable and could support my tootsies for an 8 hour retail day?? Me thinks...probably not. They are that fabulous, though, so I may just have to throw caution to the wind on this one.

Things I like....J Crew Bronson Suede Platform Booties

I know it's the last week of July....

and it was 90 out today, but my favorite time of the year to shop is right around the corner...FALL!!! So many great fall items filling up my wish list already. This sweater from LL Bean is one of them!! I am normally not a big fan of the BEAN, but I have to say some of their stuff is really cute...very JCrew-ish, don't you think? This is a really cute, stylish, transition into fall sweater....I think I may have to take a trip to the new LL Bean that just opened in Rochester!!

Things I Like...not your mother's LL Bean.

Free fallin'....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJ-VPqFzy0
I can totally understand why the ladies love John Mayer. Yes, he has certainly not done himself any favors lately with his kiss and tell interviews, but, just listen to this song...all will be forgiven...how could you not love him.

Things I Like...John Mayer

Jack & Annie

My kids are really into The Magic Tree House series. The books are great for their age group--short sentences, easy plots that are filled with adventure and excitement, settings that introduce the kids to history and geography--opening up conversations beyond the text. The books are long enough to stretch their attention spans, and chapters are short enough to hold their attention. We take turns reading to each other, trying to elevate their reading levels a bit and really work on listening and comprehension. The kids are excited about these books! Part of this excitement is due to the fact that they have set a goal to fill up their reading "passports" this summer. After the kids finish a book they answer a 3 question "quiz" on the Magic Tree House website to test their comprehension and if they pass, they receive a passport stamp for that book that can be pasted into their passport (also available on the website). Love, love, love that my kids have this goal, they are sitting still, listening, paying attention and really into taking the quizzes to earn their stamps. I am sure that DH and I will grow tired of Jack and Annie by the end of the summer, but for now, these books are reading MAGIC.

Things I Like...The Magic that is The Magic Tree House

Fla Vor Ice

Best summer treat ever. We are all addicted and with temps around 100 for the past week, we have burned through a 200 count box of these suckers. Anna only eats the red and pink, Max prefers the purple and orange, Mike takes blue, so that leaves orange and green for me and the man.

Things I Like...cold freeze pop (or two...or three...or ten) on a hot day

NAAN PIZZA...YUMMMMMMM

We haven't used our stove/oven since the beginning of June. The weather has been so beautiful and there is just no reason not to grill!! I have been trying all different types of recipes for the grill and this is definitely my favorite one so far. Since I discovered this recipe about a month ago I have literally made this pizza at least twice a week....one week we had it for 5 days in a row with different toppings. I love the artichoke asiago recipe below, but my fav is a homemade margarita with fresh basil, tomatoes and a bit of spinach...oh, but wait, I also love a greek with some sundried tomato feta and kalamata olives.... It is so easy, so delicious and as nutritious as you want it to be. Serve with a salad and it is an instant meal!

Grilled Naan Pizza

Currently 5.0/5 Stars.5 ratings/reviews

SERVES 4 ACTIVE TIME: 10 min TOTAL TIME: 20 min

1/4 of 6 oz pkg Food You Feel Good About Baby Spinach (about 2 cups), divided
1 tsp Wegmans Pure Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg (2 loaves) Food You Feel Good About Traditional Naan
4 Tbsp Summer Fresh Artichoke & Asiago Dip (Cheese Shop), divided
6 Tbsp Summer Fresh Bruschetta (Cheese Shop), drained, divided
4 balls bocconcini (Mediterranean Bar), sliced into fifths, divided

Add All Ingredients to List



You'll Need: Grill foil; non-stick cooking spray

Preheat grill on MEDIUM-HIGH.

1.Toss spinach with olive oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2.Spread each naan with 2 Tbsp artichoke dip; top with 1/2 spinach; 1/2 of bruschetta and mozzarella slices. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3.Spray foil with nonstick spray; place on grill. Reduce heat to MEDIUM. Place naan pizzas on foil; cover grill. Cook 7-9 min, occasionally checking for flare-ups, until toasted but not burnt.

4.Quarter pizzas; serve immediately.


Chef Tip(s):
Combine remaining spinach with salad pairing.

Option(s):
For spicier taste, sprinkle each flatbread with 1 tsp Wegmans Barbecue Seasoning before adding toppings.


Vegetables: 1/4 cup(s)

Calories: 400

Nutrition Info: Each serving (1/2 naan pizza) contains 400 calories, 31 g carbohydrate, (2 g fiber), 15 g protein, 25 g fat, (8 g saturated fat), 35 mg cholesterol, and 790 mg sodium.

Things I like...Weggies.

The Perfect Espadrille

Candice Espadrille by Kate Spade. On sale at Neimans. Love.

Things I Like...shoes

Children Inspire Design

I just love the prints on this site! It almost makes me wish that I were decorating a nursery or playroom for a toddler (almost, not quite!). I especially love the wall cards, they are adorable!! Fitting with the green trend, the art is produced on recycled materials with soy ink and packaged responsibly. The little whale featured above is a limited addition print to help efforts in the gulf cost. 50% of the proceeds are donated to the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. The print is $30/$35 depending upon the size and you will also receive a $10 gift card to Children Inspire Design...to put towards the adorable wall cards!!
http://www.childreninspiredesign.com/
Things I Like...Children Inspire Design....love!

move over havaianas....there is a new flip flop in town

oh my word!! How has it taken me until the end of JUNE to find these??? Flip flops made out of yoga mats!!! Genius!! I wish I could send in my old yoga mat and have them make a pair out of it (so green of me!)...seriously, my yoga friends will understand that you get attached to your mat and once it is too worn to use(it starts shedding), it is difficult to part with but yet, there is really nothing you can do with it...so, it sits in a corner, unused, sad...kids have a picnic on it...dog tries to chew at it...but I digress! I love my havis, but I "gotta have these" yoga flip flops :).
http://www.sanuk.com/product/341042/SWS2908/Yoga_Mats/YOGA_MAT

Things I Like...Sanuk Yoga Mat Sandals...aka a big namaste to the feet

this blog...

http://www.suburbansnapshots.com/2010/06/10-reasons-having-toddler-is-like-being.html

Why Having a Toddler is
Like Being at a Frat Party*

Thursday, June 10, 2010

*That one frat party I've ever been to, having gone to a Very Serious Arts College.



10. There are half-full, brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room. Three are in the bathtub.

9. There's always that one girl, bawling her eyes out in a corner.

8. It's best not to assume that the person closest to you has any control over their digestive function.

7. You sneak off to the bathroom knowing that as soon as you sit down, someone's going to start banging on the door.

6. Probably 80% of the stains on the furniture contain DNA.

5. You've got someone in your face at 3 a.m. looking for a drink.

4. There's definitely going to be a fight.

3. You're not sure whether anything you're doing is right, you just hope it won't get you arrested.

2. There are crumpled-up underpants everywhere.

1. You wake up wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there.

Things I Like....Thanks, JCG!

not your garden variety hose.

My little flower garden in front of our house is looking pretty. I don't plan and don't organize the flowers that I choose to plant...there is no pattern to the pretty...I see what I like, buy it and plant it. This year, we have lots of orange and purple and red going on... I can't even tell you the names of the flowers that I picked...I just walk through the garden store and pull together what I think looks pretty...be it annual or perennial...I do not discriminate. I know my gardening friends are cringing by this point. I apologize! So, girlfriend (Anna) and I were watering the flowers this morning when she told me that the hose did not match, and girlfriend was right...ugly green hose. So, I got to thinking...there must be a prettier hose out there! And guess what, there is!! Check out these rainbow colored hoses...certain to match any garden!
http://www.gardeners.com/Colorful-Garden-Hoses/Watering_New,37-516,default,cp.html

Things I Like....a hose of a different color.

six year old funny....

My kids compete to make each other laugh and generally goof off to make other kids laugh (as witnessed in picture above featuring the boys and cousin Rafi--another classic jokester!). They just crack each other up. Some days it is endearing and truly funny, other days it just gets annoying! Today, they were in rare form. Mike has mastered burping words and now has taken to burping words with funny burp-voices. It is pretty funny, pretty disgusting, but the kid has a talent. Max just cracks up and says gross words (yes, we are in that gross boy stage full on!) Anna tries hard to keep up, but she is just generally very silly and non-sensical and most times cracks herself up before anyone can get in on the joke. So the kids were all hyped up and in rare form tonight on the ride back from soccer. It was borderline insane asylum behavior, lots of hysterical laughter from the back seat. All of a sudden, through giggles, Mike yelled out "Mom, is there milk coming out of my nose?" And so I responded, "What? Mike, you aren't drinking milk" To which he responded "I know, but I am laughing so hard milk is going to come out of my nose." And I thought, how great it must be to be 6 and to laugh with such abandon that you think milk is going to spontaneously squirt out of your nose!

Things I Like...silly six

White Jeans

Ok, not so sure about this one as white jeans are really hard to wear, and remind me of skanky girls who hang out at the local carnival...you know the type. So, this "like" comes with 2 stipulations...1.just say no to skinny white jeans and 2. never, never ever pair white jeans with stilettos. IMHO Skinny white jeans tend to make even the skinniest most toned bodies look a bit fleshy and dare I say it? trashy...especially when paired with heels...big, big no-no unless you are posing for a fashion magazine and you have been professionally cleared to wear them. Your average, everyday gal should avoid the white skinnys like the plague as they really don't do us any favors ladies. Seriously, they are not forgiving and let's all remember that what doesn't pour in spills over...and who wants to see that?! Skinny jean and stiletto disclaimer aside, there are some really, really cute white jeans out there! I have a pair from JCrew from about 3 years ago that are a bit baggy and capri length...easy to wear and very cute with the flip flops. I must admit that they are definitely not the most kid friendly or easiest to care for and are definitely not without the occasional yellow stain from bleaching out something left behind by kid sticky fingers (your guess as to what is as good as mine!). I also love the pair pictured above from Gap...very cute, very wearable and very appealing on any body type...be it long an lean or short like me. So, moral of the story is...enjoy the trend! You too can wear white in fashion and in comfort without looking like the local hoochie-coochie.

Things I Like...white jeans with rules

Red, Red Wine

I have no idea how I stumbled upon this one, but I believe I have found my favorite song for this summer. Such a great version of this classic tune. I also found out the song was written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond--not a big fan--think I will stick with this version by the virtually unknown Tony Tribe.

For your listening pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwO_on4CZw0&feature=related

Things I like...this tune by Tony Tribe

Pineway Ponds Spray Park...AWESOME!

A few days ago a I blogged about how Forbes Mag rated Rochester the #3 city to raise a family...parks like this one definitely contribute to this rating! What a little gem!! My kids LOVED this and as it is a public park, it was free. It is a new, fun, CLEAN spray park, the adjoining playground (currently under construction) is huge!, the park itself is gorgeous and clean. We were pretty much the only kids there as most are still in school (still, where were all the prek and morning k kids?). The kids splashed around in what seemed like their private water park for over 2 hours...I had to promise them we would come back to get them to leave!!! WOO HOO!!!!! Couldn't have asked for a better afternoon!!!




Things I Like...BIG smiles on a warm and sunny day!

Porkingpines and Brownedhogs

My sweet little Nana is not very nature-inclined. We went on a nature hike yesterday with her class and let's just say she was done with it well before the rain started, which was well before the hike was over. It was a miserable day for a hike...cold, rainy, dank...and this set the tone for the day. First, there was a debate over the outfit..she wanted to wear a summer dress (of course) and I had the fun job of convincing her that jeans, a sweatshirt and rain coat were more appropriate for the occasion. That was Battle 1 and it ended after many 5 year old tears in a compromise of jeans and a fancy sweater. Battle 2. Shoes. Of course, it is always the shoes! Why can't we wear the sparkly flip flops to go hiking in the rain? Lasted for a good 10 minutes....she finally succumbed and put on the hot pink hello kitty rain boots...and then complained about them for the rest of the morning....but she wore them. Battle 3. We arrive at the nature center and are told that there are no umbrellas allowed. One of the other mothers tried to convince her kid that we were going to be like the frogs and have fun in the rain...worked for her kid, not so much for mine.."I don't want to be a frog. I want my princess umbrella." And so we hiked and the guide rubbed leaves together to release natural oils and scents and pointed out woodpecker holes (are we done yet?)and weeds that stick to clothing and various animal tracks and told a story about how the pond was formed and why it has no fish (let's go mommy!). We did get to see a duck and a frog...apparently they do have fun in the rain....and then it started pouring and we started walking back and aforementioned kid started making frog noises..fun! So...we walked back up the trail and gathered in a room filled with stuffed snakes and birds and rodents (squirrels and the like) and some living things too. We were treated to a little info. session re: animals that we may have seen on the hike had it been a nicer day. The kids were allowed to pet (EWWW!) a salamander, a snake (it was from Africa, not sure we would have run into that one on the trail!), a butterfly, turtles and here is the topper a damned groundhog named Dandelion. Is that just weird to anyone else? Am I a crazy parent to have worried about my kid petting an animal that is for all intents and purposes a wild rat? Bugs?? Claws?? Well, despite my hesitation (disgust) the petting portion went off without a hitch. Anna was happy to pet Dandelion b/c she loves animals and thought she was sooo cute. I just about keeled over in my chair...my little girl petting a rodent, an overgrown squirrel...this she liked (thank god for purell!)...and it actually turned the "hike" into something that she enjoyed! In relaying the story of her day to her dad, she spoke fondly about the "porkingpine" that she pet. In telling the story to my mom, she relayed how cute the "brownedhog" was. So, thank you Dandelion the porkingpine/brownedhog/ground hog for making this a memorable and enjoyable hike for my sweet little girl.

Things I Like...Dandelion the porkingpine.

Silence! Wired or Wireless!!

Our household is very loud. The kids are very loud. The dog is very loud. Mom and Dad are very loud so the very loud kids can hear us over each other and the dog. The toys in our house are very loud. The TV is always too loud, computers...yup, too loud. And if we are all very loud in the house, imagine the fun that is the car ride on most days.....and then just imagine about when we travel, which we do often. I just can't take it any longer. We tried to get the kids to wear headphones on our last car trip, but the non-ear bud style that we could find last minute were way too big, so kids got frustrated with them....and then their complaints were even louder. SO I have been searching for some earphones for them and stumbled across these. They are an iParenting Media Award winner and are supposed to have lower decibel levels to protect those little ears (and they will have to sit very quietly to hear :)! My kids are 6 and 5...too young for ipods? I know that would be a perfect combo!!

Things I like....peace and quiet...even if I have to pay for it!!
http://www.gearforkidz.com/shop2.html

Thank you Forbes!

Finally some positive press. I for one am sick of Rochester getting a bad rap and it is good to be recognized for something other than Wegmans!! When you ask any Rochesterian about what it is like to live here, at some point in their response, usually in the first sentence (after Wegmans has been mentioned, of course), you will hear something like "It is a great place to raise a family." And it is! In addition to the incredible housing prices, the short commute times, great schools, and cultural amenities mentioned in Forbes, Rochester and its surrounding suburbs have gorgeous parks, plentiful playgrounds, top ranked medical facilities and universities, minor league teams with good fan bases, great canal communities, the lake!, gorgeous farms, good snow and mountains to ski on, great restaurants, lots of fun festivals, fabulous museums, loads of history and some good fly fishing (thank you Mitia!) and overall really nice people. We are down-to-earth Midwest with a Northeast flair. It is a really easy place to live and a great place to grow up. I am sure that there are more exciting places to be, and I have lived in some of them, but when it comes down to it, Rochester is not Philly or Boston or New York, and that is exactly why many of my friends with young families have moved back from those cities... So listen up all you naysayers out there, Rochester is a GREAT place to live so try spending less time complaining about the weather and more time enjoying all that the city has to offer!

Things I Like...my hometown & Forbes!
http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/04/best-places-family-lifestyle-real-estate-cities-kids.html