Cleaning...how much time?

Ever since I posted the Fresh Start collage I've been wondering how much time people actually spend doing their housework. Do you consider yourself an obsessive neat-freak or are you a little more lackadaisical when it comes to your home? If you dish be truthful about the time you spend because I'm really curious. I'm dying to know the tidy/time ratio of everyone.

I at least spend a couple of hours a day doing laundry and cleaning but there's still usually toys everywhere. I think for that one I'll just have to wait a few more years. I have to have everything clean I'm just horrible at organization. I'm pile girl. There are piles in a few spots one in particular I affectionately call the sh*t corner. Every so often I go through the piles and keep and toss. Then sometimes what gets kept gets put in another pile usually in a drawer until I go through again and re-sort. It's a lot of work being this disorganized but sometimes I'm just not ready to part with children's artwork or inspiration magazine tear out.

So I'll live with my irritable habit and hope that someday I'll have an epiphany and become Miss Non-Pile. No worries I'm not going to regale you with my resolutions of neatness because there is no way that's going to happen. But I do love to hear your tales of what you do well and things you need to work on, makes me feel good that I'm not the only one.

{images from Miss Perfect}

How are you feeling today?

I wanna feel glamorous today but alas I'm headed to Big's school for centers and then recess/lunch duty. Nothing too glam in that I'm afraid.

{images from vi.sualize, Desire to Inspire, vi.sualize and House Beautiful}

Make It :: Croque Monsieur

I know by now you've all probably seen It's Complicated and fawned over it's gorgeous sets on all of the design blogs.

And laughed (a lot) at the hilarious Meryl and Alec.

But now let's get down to something super important. Seriously, how yummy did all of the food look in that flick? Her darling bakery with the all of the breakfast goodies, yum and gorge. But the the big moment for me came when she made the Croque Monsieur and served it with a frisee salad. I was ready to run out of the movies and make one myself.

I haven't done it yet but it's on the books to try.

Croque Monsieur

{recipe via Epicurious}

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf
4 slices firm white sandwich bread
4 ounces thinly sliced Black Forest ham
4 ounces sliced Gruyère cheese
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Add nutmeg and bay leaf. Increase heat to medium-high and boil until sauce thickens, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat broiler. Place 2 bread slices on work surface. Top each with half of ham and sliced Gruyère. Top with remaining bread. Heat heavy large skillet over low heat. Brush sandwiches with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Add to skillet and cook until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to small baking sheet. Spoon sauce, then grated cheese over sandwiches. Broil until cheese begins to brown, about 2 minutes.

{images from Traditional Home, Greige and Sugar and Spice by Celeste}

Happy Monday!

Morning lovelies, wouldn't this be the perfect spot to enjoy your morning coffee?

{room by Michael Partentio via Desire to Inpsire}

Fresh Start

I know I can't be the only one dreaming of classic clean white sneakers and fresh cleaning supplies. There's something about the beginning of a new year that begs us to give our lives a clean sweep.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Did you get that perfect smooch last night?

{image via Chic and Charming}

2010 already?!

I just want to thank you for stopping by and making my 2009 so special with your comments, emails and super cool online friendships. It's nice to know that I'm not always just talking to myself here at my bloggity blog and honestly your comments really do make my day so thank you.

Here's to you friends, that 2010 will be full of beauty and will bring you happiness, love and of course lots of fun.

xo -Sarah

{photography by Maria Dawlat from This is Glamourous via Chic and Charming}

Back at work?

Happy Monday friends. Hopefully most of you are going back to work or your weekly activities lively and refreshed after the weekend's festivities. We had a lovely, happy Christmas. Lots of family and for the kids lots of presents. My goodness they're lucky. I spent all day yesterday dumping and organizing toys to make room for all of their new loot. I still have work to do today on the toy front and I don't even want to think about taking down the Christmas decorations. Ugh.
For those of you back at work have a good one, here's a little workspace inspiration for ya.

Merry Christmas friends!

{image via Martha Stewart}

Blog Crush :: Lolliblog

I'm just completely smitten with the holiday images put together by Lolliblog. Gorge, gorge, gorge!!

{Cherry Blossom Girl image via Lolliblog}

Warm and Homey

Even though I love a burst of color and trend in a room what really makes it for me is when it's warm and homey filled and with vintage or antique pieces.

{images via Garden & Gun, House Beautiful and Desire to Inspire}

Getting in the spirit

Today I'm off to the North to play in some snow and hopefully really get into the Christmas spirit. We still haven't told the kids about the train so cross your fingers that they love it. What are some of the favorite things that your family does around the holidays? I love to hear about holiday traditions because I'm always up for adding some more at our house.

Have a very happy weekend friends!

Paint it black

What is it about black paint that gets me every time?

Whether it's used a little or a lot, I always like it.

{images via Desire to Inspire and House Beautiful}

The kiddos

Some days my heart feels just so full of love for these guys it might possibly burst. Today was one of those days. Meet Big as a King and Little as his little turkey self.

PS - I love them oodles everyday but some are just really special.

My day

I'm excited about today, my grandparents are flying in and Big has his first Christmas program tonight at school. I have a couple of last minute gifts to buy today, presents to wrap and lots of packing. Tomorrow Big is one of the Three Kings in his Kindy Nativity play and then Friday we're off to the great white North and the Polar Express. The train ride is a surprise so I hope the kiddos love it, I can't wait to tell them!

{image via House and Home}

Pre Fall, say wha??

So after dying over this gorgeous glimpse of De La Renta Pre-Fall, it had me wondering...

What the hell is Pre-Fall? Why am I only hearing of this now? Thankfully my questions were answered by Girl With a Satchel.

Pre-fall is the latest fashion event to be invented by buyers bored of summer sale stock and media-hungry brands eager for greater exposure. What started as literally a sneak peek at the season to come via an early drop for department stores, perhaps with one model posing in the designer’s HQ, has morphed into a full-blown mini season complete with runways and blowing out budgets. What’s next? Apres-couture? Pre-pre-spring? My brain hurts.

Ok, got it. Thanks for making this lame mini season funny.

Buon Natale

I remember at Halloween the blogworld was abuzz with Brooklyn Limestone's fabulous Halloween invitations, well she does it again this time on the fly with a Buon Natale party. Here is what the fabulous hostess came up with with a day's notice

Come on, one day? Miss Limestone, you're a genius. Your party looks all kinds of fun and that invitation is pretty awesome.

See all of her bomb diggity entertaining ideas HERE.

Gingerbread

Here is what we did last night.



Those of you with children are your kids as crazy right now for Christmas as mine?

It's mulitpurpose

What a pretty way to store your baubles and show your holiday spirit.

{image via House and Home}

Pencils of Promise

It's the middle of the holiday season and several bloggers have come together today in a collaborative effort spearheaded by Paloma Contreras of La Dolce Vita, in order to make a difference for a very deserving charity.

Pencils of Promise is a wonderful 501(c)(3) organization based in New York, that partners with local communities and organizations to build schools of early-stage education in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children. Sadly, there are more than 75 million children in this terrible situation worldwide.

Last December, the Pencils of Promise team visited a small village in Laos and by July 2009, they had built a new school for the village children who started attending classes on September 1st. This month, Pencils of Promise will be opening their third school and they hope to open the doors to education for more children in 2010. The goal of this blog initiative is to build safe, legitimate housing for the female children to have access to the school.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we are asking for your help today on behalf of these children. Just think of the enormous impact we could have if each person who reads this post donates just $1.00. If you are willing and able to give more (35.00 buys shelves for a classroom, $50 provides pencils for one year, $100 provides a teacher’s salary for three months and so on), it would be greatly appreciated. We are in the midst of the giving season and hope that you will find it in your heart to make a donation to this worthy cause today. Every little bit helps and together, we can make a difference!

Thank you so much friends and readers, there really no words that can express my gratitude for the positive impact this will have on a child who might otherwise never receive an education.

If you would like to stay informed about the difference Pencils of Promise is making, be sure to become a fan on their Facebook page.

Peace be with you this holiday season.

Read It :: Downtown Chic

Merry Christmas to me! I've always wanted this book and someone was nice enough to send one my way. Yippee! I've seen the Novogratz's homes on various blogs but now getting to see them big and pretty in photos made it much more fun.

All this style and all those kids, wish I was as cool.

This house...to die.

More about Nie

If you're like me and love to read about Nie please go and read one of my favorite online friends Jaimee Rose's article. It's heart wrenching, lovely and well-written, make sure you have a tissue handy. Good work Jaimee!!

{Photography by Cheryl Evans via The Arizona Republic}

Part 1 Part 2

Make It :: Headband

When it comes to the web I have two favorite online things, cutie pie free downloads and DIY online tutorials. They both just come in so handy. This headband from Once Wed is now at the top of my to-do list.

Happy Weekend

Happy Weekend friends! I have nothing too exciting on the books which makes me very happy. Just a bit of shopping and I'm hoping even that's not too crazy. I think the hubs and I might be able to sneak in a dinner just the two of us on Saturday night, I can't wait. It's been an awfully long time since we've gotten to hang out. What do you have going on, any juicy deets you care to share?

{image via House Beautiful}

He's Chuck Bass

I love Chuck Bass, obvs because he's Chuck Bass. Need I say more? But has anyone else noticed that he's been looking kinda hot lately?

{all images via the CW}

Speaking of yummy

Gwyneth, you and your GOOP did good this month with your MAKE email. I will make this Spiced Kettlecorn tout de suite, perfect for a movie night.

Spiced Kettlecorn

Yield approximately 15 handfuls

ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 Tbl canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup corn kernels

3 Tbl granulated sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once it's melted, add the oil, corn kernels and sugar stirring to make sure everything is well combined. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook on medium low heat until kernels stop popping. Be sure to shake the pot once or twice to make sure the kernels are cooking evenly. Remove from heat and immediately add the salt and spices, tossing to coat.

One more Santa explanation

Earlier today I read a post by Laura Casey discussing how to explain the in and outs of Santa. You know the never ending questions like, "How does he get into the house if we don't have a chimney?" My stock answer to these sticky situations is simply, "He's magic". This explanation works every time, kids know you can't question magic. So we've had it good around here lately, the kids have been on the better side of well behaved because they know good ole' Saint Nick is watching. (I admit I break into song often to remind them).

Well tonight we had a full blown crisis because Big had a hard night. Lots of whining, crying, not listening and the end result was I had to raise my voice on several occasions and privileges were taken away. No big deal you say, all kids are like this. Well you're right, but not around Christmas. So then we had 45 minutes of crying because he was sure that Santa was only going to bring him rocks and coal because he was so naughty. I tried to explain that I knew for certain Santa was going to bring him presents. He is usually very good so I tried to reason with him maybe if he just tried to be extra good tomorrow it would work itself out. No go, more tears. I tried cuddling, hugs, singing Christmas songs, talking about fun things but nothing worked. Finally I had the bright idea of asking Daddy to email Santa to double check if he was still on the nice list. Done and done in 10 seconds no more tears or worries because Super Daddy could just get him on the Blackberry, and yes thankfully he was still on the nice list.

{Dear Santa letter from Felt & Wire}