the best $3 I spent today

It's hot here.

My kids were good sports and ran a bunch of pre-vacation errands with me in the middle of this bright summer day with nary a complaint or whine.
So we picked up four vanilla cones on the way home.

Cool bliss.

Blueberries are on sale.

So I made a cake. I just couldn't help myself.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a Bundt pan well with cooking spray.

2. Make the streusel topping: Mix 1 brown cup sugar, 2/3 cup flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup butter or margarine; topping mixture will be crumbly. Set aside.

3. For the cake: Beat 1/2 cup butter or margarine in large bowl until creamy; add 1 cup white sugar, and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

4. Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Cover with berries, and add remaining batter by tablespoons. Cover with streusel topping.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, until deep golden brown. Remove pan to wire rack to cool. Invert onto a plate after cake has cooled, and dust with confectioners' sugar.

This recipe makes a ton of streusel. So I put some in the middle of the cake and the top (which becomes the bottom when you turn it out of the pan). Also, I didn't measure my blueberries. I just used as many as I thought looked good. And I increased the milk to 3/4 cup.

My kids ate the cake part, but left little piles of blueberries on their plates. Silly kids. I thought it was gooey and rich and fantastic.

thank you, allrecipes.

saturday morning waffles

yum.

another tee shirt idea

Please note: I did not make this shirt.
I purchased it after the birth of my Oliver and it has been a favorite ever since.

But, I have always wanted to make another one like it.
And I think we could all do it.
Just sew 3 lines of elastic thread from side seam to side seam in the back.

It's simple, feminine, and flattering.

I tweeted today.

Help! I have no idea what I'm doing. It must be summertime boredom. Or the fact that I finished my book last night and can't get to the library for the next installment til tomorrow.

So follow me, or something? I'm right here.

Our summer is almost over.

So we are living it up and laying around doing a whole lot of nothing.

It's pretty much too hot to go outside, anyway.

Next week we are off to cool Alaska and then school will start. Yikes!

I leave you with a picture of Stella in Babel's ded. Or Mabel's bed.

This is where she has decided she needs to drink her bottles.
And only Mabel or Oliver are allowed to lay down with her.
And if neither one of them is available, she would just like to lay there by herself, thank you very much.

What's the funnest thing you've done this summer?

It's all downhill from here.

Mike turns 30 today.

We celebrated last night with some of our favorite friends and some of Mike's favorite things:

dinner at Flancer's,

homemade carrot cake,

and a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit that lasted into the wee hours of the night
(or until we called it quits at 11:00 - sheesh, maybe we are getting old).

Happy birthday, honey.
I hope this birthday was a good one.

Love,
your much younger wife

My sister gives the best presents.

Look what Leslie sent me for my birthday.
(I'm turning 30! next month.)

I've always dreamed of owning a dress form.
I just love it.
I feel so official now.
Do you want me to make you a dress?
Because I can.


I think this green dress will be my first project.
What do you think, Les?
It's very you.
(And really, it's the least I can do.)

My sisters-in-law are expecting boys this summer.

So I threw them a joint baby shower last night.
It was lots of fun.

And the food was really yummy.
Here is some of what we ate:

Chocolate Lovers' Favorite Cake
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix

1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
1 cup melted butter
5 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan.

2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in sour cream, melted butter, eggs and almond extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Blend in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

with this glaze:

Satiny Chocolate Glaze
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.

2. Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

Be sure to buy a cake mix that has doesn't have pudding in it, and don't overmix the batter. I mixed it just until blended, not for the 4 minutes the recipe recommends. I don't like almond extract, so I used vanilla instead, and I used mini chocolate chips instead of regular ones. I tossed them with 1 tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter. My cake needed to bake for about 65 minutes. It was very moist and so delicious. The glaze is just perfect. In fact, I think I'm going to have a slice for breakfast this morning.

Caramel Apple Dip
16 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup water
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, or in the microwave, melt caramels with water, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and sugar. Fold in caramel mixture. Serve immediately.

This was my favorite of the night. I doubled the recipe and served it with 3 pounds of green apples, but should have served it with more. I had a bowl of mini chocolate chips to sprinkle on top. The dip is caramel-y, but not too sweet. I added a few more caramels than the recipe called for. Also, I made it early in the day and it kept just fine in the fridge til the shower that night. I also sliced my apples ahead of time and put them in a bowl covered in about 4 cups of water and 1/4 cup of lemon juice to keep them from browning. You should make this. It is really yummy.


It was a nice night. Now I am going to relax and enjoy my clean house.

Wanna go swimming?

I love the late afternoon light in my Living room.

I love kids who read books together, too.

Our previously yellow office is now the perfect shade of pink.

On Monday inspiration struck. My office had to be painted pink that morning-- that moment, if possible. I had given the yellow sufficient time to grow on me, but it just never felt right. So the kids and I ran to Ace and picked up some paint. After painting the room and moving all of the furniture back in place and trying natural light and artificial light and afternoon light and nighttime light, I realized that it wasn't quite the shade I was looking for.

I hate when that happens.

So Tuesday morning, Mike met us at the Home Depot and I described the perfect pink to him. He showed me some swatches, we discussed, and one was chosen. I trusted him completely, bought a gallon, and headed home. This is what I should have done in the first place. You see, Mike should be a professional paint color picker. He is spot on, every time.

And now my office is so very pretty.

The end.

p.s. It's Behr Antique Pearl - a pale, beigy pink, just fyi.

That's the last time I'm mowing the lawn.

Let me give you some advice.

If your husband is really busy and you think you will help him out by mowing the lawn, make sure there is plenty of gas in the mower before you pull the start thing with all your might over and over and over again.
Because not only will you look really silly, but you might also sprain your rotator cuff.

And that totally hurts.


In other news, Stella wore pig tails today.
It was darling.


Have a very happy Independence weekend!
We are headed out of the heat and into the mountains.

She takes her Ranch dipping seriously.

I just found these pictures of our breakfast on the road from Utah last week.

Yep, those are french toast sticks she's dipping. . .
in Ranch dressing.

She's got to keep her figure somehow, I guess.

a ha!

Remember this shirt?
Well, I finally realized what to do to the neckline.

Turns out, it just needed a little gather.
What do you think?
Better, no?

Have you ever used elastic thread?
Well, neither had I.
But it is my new favorite thing.
I used it for the neckline and liked it so much that I ripped out the elastic on the sleeves and used it there as well.

Honestly, this is the easiest project.
Start to finish in under 30 minutes, no problem.
And no advanced sewing skills needed.

Elastic thread is so much quicker than sewing with real elastic, just make sure to wind it onto your bobbin by hand, without stretching it.