Derby day

Happy Monday, friends!  I hope your weekend was as pleasant as ours was! 

In addition to having some old friends staying with us, which was awesome, we also threw a little Kentucky Derby party.  I spent all of Friday in the kitchen preparing the food, which made for sore feet on Friday, but a relaxing day on Saturday. 



Steve and I made this awesome poster with our big roll of brown paper.  It has all the horses listed on it and everyone got to pick their top three horses.  Our guests ranged from guys who were phoning friends to get horse advice, to our sweet friend, Sherry, who voted for all the horses that nobody else picked.  The winner was promised some sort of plaque at next year's party, so the stakes were very high. 

We played croquet and the weather was perfect.  All day I worried it would rain, but it never did.  Normally I like the rain, just not on party days. 

Eventually, the mosquitoes chased us inside.  Everyone lingered in the kitchen and helped polish off some of the leftovers that couldn't be saved.  Such helpful friends! 

We're in the middle of the season (I think this happens every spring) where our house feels like a bed and breakfast.  Our guests left yesterday and we are expecting a new crew to show up by noon today.   We used our 24 hours of empty house to hang out in our lounge chairs and have a dinner date, so now we're recharged and ready for more friends!  And, thankfully, we still have some party leftovers to feed them.

Over the past week, Steve has been working on some stop motion photography and has made some really cool videos.  I asked him to set up a camera to take pictures before and during the party on Saturday.  It's so fun to be able to see the whole afternoon in one minute- click here to check it out! 

Adventures in car sharing

If you've been keeping track, you may already realize this, but Steve and I are quickly barreling towards the nine month mark of car sharing.  I know- even I was a little shocked when I calculated it out. 

If you don't know the story and are currently wondering if this is some weird social experiment, let me assure you that it is not.  The story is pretty simple, really- we used to have two cars, and then one of them passed on (she was sixteen, so this was not unexpected).  We decided to take a few weeks to figure out what type of vehicle to get next.  But instead of figuring out what to get next, we found ourselves calculating how much we could save by only owning one car.  We also found ourselves being more purposeful with our weekly planning and learning the train schedule by heart.  (And yes, sometimes we found ourselves fantasizing about stealing shopping carts and sleeping on benches, but that was a low moment.)

So we decided to share, for as long as it seemed reasonable.  Steve learned exactly how long it takes to get from the train station to his desk at work.  I learned exactly how long it takes to power walk to Food Lion and back when I've forgotten an important recipe ingredient (I've also learned how to make do without important recipe ingredients). 

One day, we realized that we'd been sharing a car for six months.  Six months!  It had gotten so easy, we almost didn't even think about it.  At that point, we set a goal: one year of car sharing.  We were already halfway there! 

On Sunday evenings, we powwow and look over the schedule for the week to decide who is driving each day.  I try to schedule any appointments on one or two days, and then plan to do any errand-running on those days as well.  Steve takes the car all the other days.  I'm super thankful to have a business that I can run (mostly) without leaving the house!  I have fabric delivered right to my door and ship everything from home. 

Sometimes, Steve takes the camera to work with him and brings home cool pictures.  I love it because it's like he's bringing the outside world to me and I can see what's going on beyond our backyard. 

Bottom line: car sharing isn't for everyone, but it sure is working out great for us!  If you're wondering what our plan is when we hit the one year mark, the answer is- we don't know!  Buy a car?  Keep sharing?  Go on a road trip to celebrate?  We'll see!

I'm so excited about this weekend.  We've got some old friends coming to stay, plus the Kentucky Derby on Saturday!  I'll be back Monday with pictures from our Derby party.  Hope your favorite horse wins!

fancywiches

(Welcome Design Mom readers!  I hope you feel right at home here!)

Over the past year, I have discovered the secret to a quick but delicious dinner and today I would like to share this valuable knowledge with you.  It's fancywiches.  That's right- you heard me- fancywiches. 

Fancywiches, of course, are sandwiches that are way fancier that your regular old turkey and cheese on wheat.  They are meal sandwiches, and I don't mean lunch.  When you are done eating a fancywich, you never think, "I just had a sandwich for dinner", because you are too busy thinking, "mmmmm...". 

Often, and especially on weekends, I need a break from cooking.  Who doesn't?  But what's exciting is that taking a break doesn't have to mean eating out or cereal for dinner.  I like to plan a sandwich dinner for Sunday night so that I don't spend the whole afternoon feeling like I need to be working on dinner.  Fancywiches make my weekends seem longer. 

You need ideas?  I've got ideas.  Here are my favorite fancywiches in no particular order because I love them all:

Italian Pretzel- (as seen in picture 1) Cut a pretzel roll in half.  Spread pesto on each side.  Sprinkle each side with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Add two slices of prosciutto.  Place sandwich on a cookie sheet in the oven and broil for 2ish minutes.  Top with lettuce and tomato.  Munch munch munch. 

Tuna Melt- (as seen in picture 2) In a bowl, mix two cans of tuna, one big spoonful of mayonnaise, one diced celery stalk, 1/2 diced apple, 1 chopped hard boiled egg, a little bit of diced red onion, salt and pepper.  Spread mixture on a slice of bread and top with the cheese of your choice (I like Havarti).  Broil for 2 minutes. 

Avocado Egg Salad- (above picture) I found this recipe here, on the Pioneer Woman's blog.  It combines two of my favorite foods (avocado and eggs) into a harmony of delicious. 

Eggs Benedict- Cut thick slices of French bread and toast them.  Mix together 2 cups arugula, 1/4 cup diced red onion, 2 tsp. olive oil, and 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice.  Place a big heap of arugula mixture on top of each slice of bread.  Top with two slices of cooked bacon and a fried egg.  Make some hollandaise sauce (either from a mix, or from scratch is super easy) and drizzle over the egg.  Top the whole thing with fresh tomato slices.   Oooo la la. 

Spinach Salad Wrap- Whisk together 5 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 tsp. chopped parsley, 1 tsp. salt, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, and 1 tsp. olive oil.  On a tortilla, pile some fresh spinach, one slice of mozzarella cheese torn into pieces, 1/2 a sliced hard boiled egg, 2 slices of bacon, a bit of sliced red onion, and a handful of sliced mushrooms.  Drizzle with dressing, wrap up, and enjoy. 

So now that I'm totally craving a sandwich, what about you?  Any go-to quick dinners that you can't keep a secret any longer? 

I'm super flattered to be featured on Design Mom's blog today!  Be sure to head over and check it out!

oh the places we go

Believe it or not, we had time for something other than strawberry picking and eating last weekend.  We also did a little exploring!  Our first stop was The Boulevard- a little boutique that carries locally made goods.  The prices are surprisingly low for handmade items and they had a great selection of stuff ranging from jewelry and bags to clothing and furniture.  Seems like a great spot to pick up a gift!

Our next stop was Modern Fabrics, which we had never heard of, but passed on the way in.  They sell designer textiles at a significant discount and had tons of fabric!  Steve and I were most excited about the basket of leather remnants we found in the back.  We have secret leather-working dreams over here.  We chose a remnant to take home and play around with and they were kind enough to give it to us for free! 

After all the shopping, we headed to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.  Charlotte has an amazing system of greenways and is constantly working on more.  There are 37 miles of developed greenway so far and 150 miles yet to be finished!  The greenways are paved paths that usually cut through scenic areas and connect parts of the city. 

The Little Sugar Creek Greenway was recently expanded and they were having a festival to celebrate.  Arts, crafts, and food vendors were set up along both sides and there were also concerts going on throughout the day. 

We ended up doing a TON of walking, but it was so much fun!  The greenway runs along a creek and there are lots of birds and wildflowers, but still all within sight of the city.  Amazing. 

Thanks for all the kind comments about the new blog design!  I love to hear what you think!

the best ten pounds I ever gained

Happy Monday, friends!  I'm so excited you're here today, because I have something big to show off- my new blog design!  Steve and I have been working so hard over the past few weeks on a fresher, cleaner look for the blog and we finally finished up last night!  You may still see a few small changes here and there over the coming weeks, but I think we got the big stuff done. 

In addition to blog work, we also went strawberry picking.  This is the second year that we've gone picking here in Charlotte at Hall Family Farm.  It was cloudy and gray on Saturday, which happened to be perfect picking weather. 

Remembering how quickly we went through our berries last year, we resolved to pick even more this time.  After about an hour of picking (with plenty of breaks for photo taking), we weighed in with ten pounds of berries. 

(At one point, when I had almost filled my bucket and Steve had maybe picked ten berries because he was so busy taking pictures, I called out, "Remember- whoever picks the most berries gets to eat the most berries!".  Turns out, he was filming me at the time, so we will forever have the memory of how poor I am at sharing...)

There was banjo music playing through a bunch of outdoor speakers that really made the morning perfect.  Berry picking?  Awesome.  Berry picking to banjo music?  Amazing. 

So far, we've been eating the berries by the handful, on our cereal, and covered in chocolate (I know- romantic!).  I have plans for freezing a bunch for summertime smoothies, and I've also got my eye on this strawberry cream pie that I'd like to make. 

In other fruit news, here is the pineapple top that I mentioned last week.  Check out all those roots!  It's almost outgrown the jar, so we're debating on where to plant it next. 

All the new market totes and day bags have been listed in the shop and one of the totes has already sold- be sure to check them out before they're gone!

recount

Good news: we ate dinner at the dining room table last night.  There wasn't a rotary cutter or tape measure in sight.  I was pretty proud. 

The lack of sewing supplies in the dining room means that I finished all of the bags I was working on this week.  Remember when I said there were ten? 

Um, there were actually fourteen.  I may have a slight problem.  Sometimes I just can't stop. 

Yesterday I had a fun time, dragging the furniture out onto the front porch and crouching down in the bushes to take pictures.  If I were my neighbors, I'd probably call the police.  Good thing none of them were home. 

Above, you can see the new day bags that will be posted in the shop shortly.  I made a few variations to the previous day bag style that I'm pretty excited about.  My favorite part is that they now have a magnetic snap closure.  I had no idea how much I would like magnetic snaps!  I'm also super excited about the new fabrics- I've been drooling over that yellow and gray chevron all week. 

The other new bags that will be appearing in the shop are these market totes.  I found this fabric from a new Spanish designer and knew I had to make something with it.  So the totes were specifically designed around the fabric, which is not my usual method, but I think it worked well in this case.  The market totes are very light and simple, with super cool handles in two different lengths!  They are also very affordable- I think they'd make great gifts. 

I couldn't bear to throw away the scrap pieces from my new fabric, so I decided to make fabric ribbons with them!  I cut long strips, about 1 1/2" wide, and finished the edges with my serger. 

I'm going to include a length of fabric ribbon as free gift with every order for a while.  I love it when I get bonus gifts with an order and want everyone who gets a Plumfield Shop package in the mail (or delivered by hand) to feel super appreciated. 

I'm so excited about the upcoming weekend!  We've got lots of great food in the fridge, and some new lounge chairs to hang out in.  I think we've finished all the heavy duty yard work, so now we get to sit around and enjoy it!

Today is the final day for voting in the Handmade Olympics... if you haven't yet, would you pop over and vote for my summer tote? 

Heaven is Here: book review

I have been reading Stephanie Nielson's blog for a couple of years now and I've been super excited for her book to come out this spring.  I checked it out from the library last week and finished it in just a few days. 

I feel like most people have probably heard of Stephanie by now, but in case you haven't, here's the deal- Stephanie and her husband were in a plane crash together and survived, but were terribly burned.  They had four children at the time (five now!) and, thankfully, a large extended family to support them.  I always been impressed with Stephanie's attitude on her blog, but reading her entire story from start to finish gave me a whole new level of respect for her. 

There were several chapters of the book that I cried straight through.  But it was the good kind of crying, because you already know there is a happy ending to the story.  Stephanie is living and thriving today, writing books and having babies and enjoying her family.  Her story is captivating and her writing is honest and straightforward.

My favorite thing about Heaven is Here is the message of hope that runs throughout.  There are so many parts of Stephanie's story that I have no experience with and can hardly relate to at all, yet I could easily translate the main lesson to my own life- I can do hard things.  We all can. 

Now that I've read through my latest stack of library books, Steve and I are looking for something classic to read together and discuss.  Any suggestions?