oh how i love

all things flowered.
all of the mother's day flowers we have sitting around that are on their last leg, have me looking at ideas for keeping that "springy" look around. this is just for fun, of course, as i procrastinate (who me? never!) packing for our big move in one week.

flower garlands
paper flower headboard
lightbulb vases
teacup flower pots
wreath
flower crown

graduation gifting

i've been in the market for a few graduation gifts since my little brother (who's not so little anymore) will be graduating high school this year. although the gift of cash is always a safe one, i like to gift a little something if i can, it's always fun to have something to open!

anyway, i wanted to share a few boy and girl ideas i found.

for the boys-
pillow- self-explanatory
frame- gives you the ability to add magnetic hair to any picture, score.
stationery- i'm on a one-person campaign to get the world to start hand writing more letters. and who wouldn't want to receive a nice letter on this stationery?

for the girls-
laptop case- geometric love
eye mask- how cute would one of these be with some cute knit PJ set?
monogram necklace- would someone please get ME this? so very classic.

7 quick takes maine edition

occasionally i accompany andy on one of his work trips, it's the best! i love to watch him give retreats and talks, and i'm not left alone with le child all weekend, PLUS, the added bonus of exploring a new place. normally we'll try to extend the trip a little bit so we can have a mini-vacation, which is exactly what we did recently in Maine. 

1.gilbert's chowder house: portland, ME. it was my first time having lobster and honestly, i was a bit underwhelmed. not only did i not get one of those tres chic bibs (i was left with the dilemma- do i ask for one? will that be too touristy? how did other people in the restaurant get them??), the texture kind of freaked me out.
2.whoopie pies from the cranberry island kitchen: portland, ME (but moving to freeport) i had never heard of a whoopie pie before, but when i told this to mainers they seemed to be shocked, so maybe they aren't indigenous to Maine as i had thought (note to self: look into origins of the whoopie pie). these little nuggets are SO good. and this store was famous for having made the best whoopie pie martha stewart has ever tasted.
3. and 4. LL bean headquarters: freeport, ME. nabbed a picture on their infamous 'bean boot.' and rosie was enamored with the fish in the interactive fish tank.
5.portland headlight: one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, we stood there for a good bit listening to the waves hit the rocks. i had nickel creek's song stuck in my head for days afterward
6.rebel without a cause: portland, ME, unfortunately after seeing this guy rocking out with his electric guitar whilst walking down the street, i was only able to snag a blurry pic. still made me laugh out loud when i uploaded all of my pictures.
7.a gif of my superb self-timer pics.

go check out jen's blog for other quick takers!

book reviewin'

wanted to share some books i've read recently, and a few reviews too. by 'recently' i mean within the last 5 months. i had a few months in there when i was reading non-stop and now i haven't read anything in a few weeks, i'm just fickle like that. if you have recommendations, be so kind as to leave them in the comments, i'm always looking for a good read!

THE GOOD

in cold blood by truman capote

i checked out this book after watching the movie Capote which chronicles the making of this book. the book details the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas and the subsequent investigation, trial an execution of the killers. The book is a classic, and if you didn't read it in high school, you should pick it up now. Truman Capote has such a way with imagery and detail.

the end of normal by stephanie madoff mack

i've been fascinated with the bernie madoff ponzi scheme for a while. the fact that someone could run a scam with upwards of 50 billion dollars, for so many years, without people knowing, is insane. so this book chronicles the story from stephanie madoff's (bernie's daughter-in-law) point of view. stephanie tells of her perceptions of bernie and ruth (his wife) and then the effects of the scheme on her family. she's so very eloquent! 

brutal by kevin weeks

kevin weeks was a long time confidant and friend to James "Whitey" Bulger, the infamous mobster who evaded police for 16 years, but has since been arrested and awaits trial for allegedly being involved in 19 murders. this book is a tell-all of their relationship and crimes. if you're interested in the book but want a little more info, check out this 60 minutes interview with the author.

sharp objects by gillian flynn

a reporter camille is sent to investigate a murder in her old hometown. she goes reluctantly, and you'll discover why she is so reluctant as her past begins to unravel throughout the book. honestly the book was pretty dark, and left me with nightmares, but it did keep me enthralled. 

NOT SO MUCH

wild by cheryl strayed

i hated this book. i only picked it up because, 'every blogger who's ever written' was writing about how amazing it is. it's about a hike cheryl takes on the pacific crest trail on the west coast. she takes the hike as her life is sort of falling apart and sort of finds herself again. to me the details were all so boring, it was extremely slow, and hiking some huge trail is like so far off my 'to-do' list it was hard to relate to.

the little black book of style by nina garcia

just okay. nina garcia (famous from project runway, or neena gaseeya, if you're heidi klum) outlines a few staples for every woman's closet. for example every woman should have a men's oxford, and a little black dress etc. i enjoyed going through her list and even came up with a few things I would add or edit. but if you're looking to snag one of her books, pick up her more recent one, instead of this one.

gone girl by gillian flynn

Amy Dunne disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary, her husband Nick is of course a suspect. But everything Nick says is directly contradicted by Amy's diary, so what's the truth? and Where's Amy? I didn't like this  novel as much as Sharp Objects, it fell short for me, things within the plot dove me crazy, but i must admit it grabbed my attention, gillian flynn has a way with doing that!

looking for alaska- john green

Miles Halter heads to boarding school for the first year and meets Alaska Young whom he is so very smitten by. i can only describe her as a tortured soul. things go haywire from there meeting. i've checked out a few john green books, he's super popular right now and i wanted to see what he's all about for myself. It was definitely good, but left me with a lot of unanswered questions! i HATE it when books do that. i'm going to give another one of his books a chance, but if he does this to me again, we're breaking up!

easter outfit OTI link-up

andy: "how do we know the camera is even pointed at us, it looks wayyy off...."

and then there's the post-mass upper-half photo. so you can gather the outfit from the two, i'm sure.

we also managed to snag a blessing from bishop caggiano for rosemary, who was more interested in his metallic hat for her very own slobbery fingers and teething gums... 

all in all i'd say the bishop was best dressed, since this is an outfit post, and metallics are trendy right now.

now go check out all the other outfits at the link-up grace is hosting, i'm sure other participants even managed to get their whole outfit in one glorious photo...

happy easter season, which if you didn't know lasts until next sunday-validating every last snickers egg for a week!

top:via crossroads 

cardigan:loft via gabes

skirt:club monaco via crossroads

belt:f21

shoes:sears

eggs, egg hunts, eggcetera

rosie and i spent the morning at an easter egg hunt a friend put together. the weather was perfect and it was just the outing we needed. right after all of the eggs were hidden, a squirrel ran down a tree and retrieved an egg for himself (which he did multiple times)! what a sprightly little chap... for some reason it's one of those things that i can recall perfectly in my mind, and it still makes me laugh. can i remember so vividly the first time i saw my daughter? or my wedding day? no, but i will never forget the scamper of said squirrel.

now i'm sitting with a cup of tea, finishing up easter baskets and watching the wonder years on netflix-which, is like fine wine and only gets better with time. i sincerely wish i could make it to the easter vigil at andy's parish tonight and watch 7 of his teens come into the church, but with one sleepy chicky i'm bound to this couch. i did want to share a last minute crafty something i did for andy's easter basket:

all i did was, as with traditional egg dyeing, poke 2 holes on either end of the egg and blow out the whites/yolk. i then painted the egg (only because we had no food coloring) and stuck a rolled up easter love note inside. i'm already thinking this will become a fun yearly tradition which rosie can participate in by drawing little easter pictures to go inside.

and that's it... well almost, did you see grace is hosting an easter "what i wore" link-up?? hope to see you over there manana!

brooklyn children's museum

the best part about living in new york is the crazy amounts of things to do. i haven't tackled nearly all the places i want to see before we leave because, i'm a wuss. sincerely. there have been times when i get everything all ready to go (diaper bag packed, chicky in layers, carry stroller down flight of stairs, walk to nearest subway stop with elevator etc. etc.) only to get to my destination with the little lady in total crazy hysteria mode. the brooklyn zoo comes to mind as one of our really fun outings. i have a dear friend who babysits in brooklyn and we meet up often (but not nearly as often as i'd like) and i'm always in awe of her valiance in juggling 2 toddlers to museums and art exhibits. 

i. want. that.

anyhow, when andy had a day off a couple weeks back we spent the morning at the brooklyn children's museum, a trip on the top of my nyc bucket list- which i wasn't willing to do alone. on the first floor they have a toddler and baby area where we spent most of our time. the area is complete with water toys crafts, things to climb on, a sand area to play in, and tons of mirrors (rosemary's fav.). although the areas are kind of foul and reminiscent of that nasty smell at any kids place, DZ, chuck E. cheese, mcdonald's play place.... it was worth risking an immune system building sickness for the Rose.

 i couldn't help but wish she was a year or two older to really appreciate it all, especially the world brooklyn area with a mini grocery store, a replica of L&Bs pizza (one of our favorites), and a green house.

thanks for stopping by!