perpetual daily journal calendar

I came across this DIY project on Design*Sponge sometime last year and purchased all the supplies for it but decided to wait until the new year to start. Of course I forgot all about it until a week or so ago when I was cleaning my sewing table and came across the adorable red berry basket I had purchased.

I bought the vintage post cards at my favorite local over priced antique store. They had some beautiful cards but they were in the $2-4 price range. Since I was going to be cutting the cards to size and they were only being used at dividers not framed art I decided to pick some from the 50 cent basket!

I quickly threw it all together and played catch-up for the first few weeks of the year that I had missed.

Now that I am caught up I can just jot down a highlight or lowlight or a funny quote from the day. It's completely simple and doable and is just what I needed because I have gotten so lazy in journaling the milestones of my family.

I have a feeling it is going to be a very rewarding and entertaining project in the years to come!

vegetable sushi roll

Over the weekend I had my first attempt at making sushi. It was fantastic and surprisingly easy! I followed this recipe for the rice though I wish I hadn't as it didn't call for enough water and the rice was slightly undercooked. I should have followed the directions on the rice bag (duh!) as it called for a half cup more water.

I bought my supplies at a local asian market. Everything was very inexpensive and the man running the store was very kind to give me some sushi making tips; wrap the bamboo mat completely with plastic wrap. Lay out an even layer of rice and press down firmly. Keep a bowl of water near by, rice won't stick to wet fingers.

Lay a sheet of nori paper over the rice and add your filings of choice. I made mine with carrots, cucumber, green beans and avocado. Seems like a strange combination but it was delicious! I, personally, wouldn't use raw fish when making sushi at home. It makes me nervous.

Once you have layed out the filling, start with the edge closest to you and roll as tightly as possible.

Roll your roll in sesame seeds.

Using a very sharp knife slice your roll, wiping the knife between each cut.

Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and sriracha hot chili sauce. Enjoy!

Have you made sushi before? What are your favorite combinations of fillings?

my birthday. instagram style.

Yes, my birthday was almost a week ago. Yes, I am still talking about it. It's the only day of the year that is all about me so I try to make it last as long as possible. :)

After taking the big kids to school I dropped the little ones off at my sister-in-laws house and made my way to the spa for a one hour massage. This spa was so posh. It was packed with Ladies Who Lunch so I was a little out of place but I enjoyed myself nonetheless! Unfortunately, I accidentally left my favorite ring there. I am SO bummed.

After the spa I met up with Michael for a delicious (and healthy!) lunch.

My sweet husband mid-chew.

Then is was back to regular life for a while: library, getting the big kids from school, homework. After that I got to share another great meal Michael! We ordered miso soup and several different sushi rolls. My favorite was the garden veggie. It was amazing. I purchased all the ingredients to recreate it at home because I couldn't get enough!

Because we are old and boring we went to a movie after dinner. We saw the new Sherlock Holmes film. I'd like to say it was good but I fell asleep. See? I wasn't kidding about the old and boring part!

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January isn't just my birth month it's also the month that I started this blog, three years ago. Last year I didn't do anything to mark the blogiversary since, you know, I'd just had a baby but this year I want to do another giveaway so be on the lookout for that!

five things friday

Today is my birthday. Thirty-three. Yikes! I am not weirded out by getting older I just don't know where the time has gone. The years are flying by and I would give anything to slow it down!

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My dear mother celebrates her birthday tomorrow. I have always liked sharing a birthday with my mom. Someday when I am rich I am going to take us on some fancy trip, just the two of us, to celebrate our birthdays. But I'm not rich yet so she is getting a tote bag, just like the rest of my family and friends. And it's not even done (let alone mailed across the country) so it will be late, just like the totes for the rest of my family and friends. Wah-wah. At least I am consistent! Happy birthday, Mom!

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I bought some cute second hand ballet flats for Sutton. She loves them but the elastic strap across the top of the shoe was digging in, so I cut them off. As I was tossing the cut-off elastic into the trash can Sutton said, "No, Mom! I can use those for something!" My little repurposing heart almost exploded with pride!

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Yesterday Liam said his first ever swear word. The D word. Exact quote, "I wish I didn't have so much d**n homework." (That kid seriously hates doing homework) It took all I had to not laugh out loud. I'm not proud of that but I am proud of the fact that he got to the age of eight (and a half!) before saying a swear! We had a little talk about bad words and being frustrated. A good reminder for me too because even though I do my best to not swear in front of the kids, you better believe I am thinking or saw bad words under my breath!

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I am really late in hearing this news but Pantone's 2012 color of the year is Tangerine Tango! That is the exact shade of orange as my bookcase. Who knew I was so trendy? Not me!

paint chip art

Back in July Jessica Jones of How About Orange posted about using paint chips to make art. There are many versions of paint chip wall art but I liked her geometric triangles the best.

I decided to make one for Michael for Christmas. I grabbed a few paint chips, made a template and started cutting. My triangles looked like they were all the same size but once I started putting them together and found they were not the same size. Close but not exact. It almost looked cool but I knew the imperfections would bug me.

Enter Plan B. I grabbed a 1 1/4" square punch. Punched out a bunch of squares and sliced them in half, corner to corner. Since I only had to make one cut, all the pieces were the exact same size. Whew! The triangles were a different shape then Jessica's but I was okay with that- 'make it your own' and all that. Plus considering the size of the art I was making it was way faster than cutting by hand.

Then came the fun part, making the design. I played around with the triangles until I found a pattern I liked.  I added a second row to check if I liked how the pattern repeated.

Then I prepared my backing paper with some guidelines to keep everything straight. I sprayed the backing paper with spray adhesive and laid out the pattern, keeping the colors completely random.

This part was really quick and it wasn't long before my paper was full!

I put in in a mat and frame I already had and it was done. Michael was really pleased with it and I like that it sort of looks like a mini-quilt.

(uh, just ignore all that crap under the desk. mmm-kay?)