Thursday, July 5, 2012

Happy 4th of July!

This July 4th, we're celebrating with just a few friends and our little guy.  Of course grilled meats are on the menu, but to pay tribute to the colorful festivities, I broke out the ice cream maker and experimented with some cheesecake ice cream with strawberries and blueberries on top.

Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt

Directions
Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Pour into a container, seal it tightly, and refrigerate the base until well chilled.  I left mine in the fridge for a few hours.

After the ice cream base is fully chilled, pour it into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions. We have the Cuisinart ICE-20 and it took about 20 minutes to sufficiently chill our batch.  Place the finished ice cream in a freezer-safe container with a tight-fitting lid and freeze immediately.  You'll probably want to wait about 3 hours before serving.

I sprinkled some blueberries and sliced strawberries on top and added a graham cracker for garnish.  Sorry - no pictures!  I'd like to try to make this again with bits of red velvet cake mixed into the base sometime soon.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Decisions Decisions

So we've decided to make the remodel our upstairs bathroom our 2012 project.  I decided that it would be a good idea to start small.  Our bathroom is only about 30 or so square feet, and with the bathtub, there are only about 25 square feet of floor space. 

The original plaster walls are kind of beat up and the tile combination is a little odd...or at least very outdated.  Mr. CP and I visited a few stores to check out what is available in the world of tile.  We had an idea of what we wanted, but after visiting about 3 stores in SF and two in Berkeley we were a little frustrated.  Since we live in San Francisco, we had also been sucked into the Heath Ceramics hype, but after a little research on their website, I discovered that their least expensive tiles start at $16.50 per sq ft and only come in 6 shades and 2 shapes.  Their patterns line, which would look great on small bathroom floor like ours starts at $41 per sq ft. That comes out to over $1000 just for our floor! 
One example from the Heath Ceramics Pattern Tile line

Finally, I stumbled upon the Ann Sacks website and thought they might have tiles that we would like.  Lucky for us, they had tiles that we liked for both wall and floor and they are all in stock, so we don't have to wait for a special order.
I'm not sure where the tiles from this photo are from, but the Ann Sacks Context tile that we chose looks like the elongated subway tile that they use on the walls here.  We plan to tile all the way up the wall.  I like that mirror idea...maybe we should try something like that.

For the floors, we saw a porcelain tile in a tile store, but the colors were all just a little bit off for me.  One gray was too warm and the other too dark.   The Ann Sacks Evolution tile in Tatanio looks the same in terms of texture, but comes in a middle gray which is what I had been seeking.  It has a slightly ribbed texture, which will be great for preventing slip and falls in the bathroom after stepping out of the bathtub.
The ribbing is very subtle and you can barely see it when the tile is on the floor.
One thing we have found is that a lot of floor tile options are only available in a very large size of 12x24.  Apparently, the trend is to get large tiles to reduce the amount of grout that needs to be used, and later on, cleaned.

On our way to Ann Sacks, we happened to park in front of Waterworks.  I had never been inside of one, but I knew that by reputation they carry very expensive bathroom fixtures.  They had a beautiful selection of ceramic, glass and stone tiles, but most of the options were not within our budget.

Next, we need to think about lighting options.  Recesssed lighting would be the cleanest, but the tiles might look nicer he we have something brighter that drops down from the ceiling.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

So cute!

This crafty little project is so cute!  I love the use of the chevron pattern.
Check it out at How About Orange

Friday, April 6, 2012

Kate Spade, You Kill Me

So, I have been looking at mom-appropriate bathing suits recently because I have signed Baby CP up for some swim classes.  Finding cute one piece bathing suits is hard work!  I scoured department store websites and a few other shops looking for acceptable options.  When I got home, I found a nice little mailing from Kate Spade.  You see, I have a love-hate relationship with Ms. Spade.  I love her stuff, but the price tags kill me!  I don't love everything, but each season there are one or two items over which I become completely obsessed.
Cockatoo cross-back retro maillot
This swimsuit looks perfect...high front, slight ruching but not over the top and low cut legs, lovely orange print...  I'm hoping it goes on sale, but given the dearth of cute one piece suits, maybe it will get sold out before I can get my hands on it.

In the meantime, I've ordered this much more affordable swimsuit from Lord and Taylor.  It doesn't have all the wonderful details of the Kate Spade one above, but it's pretty cute.  I hope it fits!
Vince Camuto Orange Underwire One-Piece Suit
A few other things that caught my eye from the Kate Spade collection...
Dive In Tunic
Candice Espadrille Wedges
Simon - Low Heels(!) and comes in bright blue and green too.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Recent Treasury Action

I have been so delinquent with my posts, I know.  I've definitely been focusing more on Baby CP's blog than this one.  I haven't had much time to print new designs, but we have been featured in a number of treasuries recently that I just haven't gotten around to posting about them...here are a few.