Thursday needs some love.

I mean, this might be sensory overload. It is to me... however, how beautiful are these images? I needed a Friday's eve afternoon pick-me up... from the bed, to the floral, to the loobies, all the way the stripes & jewels... sigh.

images from here.

PMS lovin.

Anyone want to know Fall 2010's PMS colors? We've been playing with these hues for a while... Man on man, I love the world of Pantones... and fashion. Colors become so specific, so precise. love it. Check it out here.

SB & LA

I can't wait! Spending time with my sister in law in Santa Barbara, {oh, man, I can't wait to see all the spanish tile & beautiful homes} then trucking back down to LA for my cousin's wedding. Wish I wasn't going solo & Ry could be there, but I'm excited to spend time with family, eat good food, play on the beach, visit some wineries, and do some shopping. Wish me luck, I'm hitting the California highways solo. eek.

lovely weekend = boring post.

You know those weekends with no or very minimal agenda? They are few & far between, but undoubtedly the absolute, positive, over-the-top BEST when they come around.

We went estate sale-ing, cooked yummy- fresh meals, worked in the yard, hit up Sonic, watched home videos of dear friends in their wee years, finished touching up (finally) some kitchen drawers, did some rearranging/nesting of our home, went to the ballet with fun chums, spray painted/ re-worked some home decor goodies that needed a face lift, purged a closet, tried multiple variations of souffles, swam with Senga, tested some new recipes on the agenda, drank Sangria, did some uninterrupted design web surfing/perusal for work & personal application one morn with coffee in hand, sewed, helped my bro shop for & decorate his new place, enjoyed sweet time at church & with the little nuggets in bitty church, and caught up on my novels. {It is a mistake to read two at once, never again will I commit to this.}

I tried this new chicken marinade that was super yummy & had to share with y'all. DELISH Chicken Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup beer
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/5 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp chopped garlic

Cover 6-8 chicken breast for for 1-2 hours... then pop on the grill. {I halfed the recipe.} from here.

My quest for concocting the perfect banana bread recipe continued... I think I am getting closer... my problem could be I never follow directions. :) As a rule of thumb, I always double vanilla, or tweak cinnamon amounts, etc... but when I do follow directions, the goodies never seem special or over the top, it seems like something is always missing... so right now, my journey is working on combining many multiple recipes and playing with levels. We'll see... I'll keep you posted. :)

Happy Monday!

prett-ify your recipes.

We have established awhile ago that I :

a) am a dork.

b) love to flag & tear things.

c) am anally organized.

d) like pretty things, and...

e) love to eat.

So therefore, when I tear out really delicious looking recipes from a magazine, they don't bother me because they are on pretty shiny paper, usually accompanied by a beautiful image of the dish, I then file it in a plastic sleeve, and I'm done.

Recently, my love of food blogs, such as Catherine's Fish & Veggies, Ashlea's Little Kitchen that Could, Pioneer Woman, & Smitten Kitchen, {just to name a few} constantly have me electronically cutting & pasting the yummy looking recipes into a word document or emailing them to myself because I want to save & try all their delicious concoctions.... and in the end, the cut & paste text turns out, well, not so pretty.

So... to solve this personal issue, I designed a little electronic 5 x 7 recipe card, laid out the image in the background of word doc., & added text boxes, so now all you have to do is cut & paste your recipe into the card text boxes, print, cut, & file in your recipe index box. I created the template with two recipe cards for either double deliciousness or the recipe's overflow. I uploaded it here for your your own downloading & printing purposes. Just save it & next time you visit those ladies' blogs & find something scrumptious... just cut & paste it into this template & give your recipe box the respect & pampering it deserves. :)

phew.... I can sleep well now. Enjoy!

more J.O.

I know, you're thinking, "More Jackie O? Really, Melanie?" But how can you resist... she really is that intriguing & chic. She was so ahead of her time... and everything she donned suited her figure & the occasion perfectly. She had such an impeccable sense of her own personal style... and it never looked like she attempted to try too hard. I could look at images of her for hours... {see here & here for more.}

Check out this write up from Habitually Chic:

Ron Galella was the original stalkerazzi and his most famous prey was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He tormented her and even followed her to Capri. She obtained a restraining order against him. The New York Post at the time called it "the most co-dependent celeb-pap(arazzi) relationship ever." Without Ron Galella, we wouldn't have any of these most iconic images of Jackie O.

What's even amazing is that Ron Galella is still making headlines. HBO will air a documentary about the photographer this Monday, June 7th at 9:00pm entitled Smash His Camera which will also have an accompanying exhibition at Clic Gallery on Broome Street. "Smash His Camera" is apparently what Jackie said to her secret service agent after Ron got a little too close for comfort after a bike ride to through the Park with John Junior. So glad they smashed it after he got some good photos!

O my, its Friday... happy day!

bike it. {part 2}

Sooo, I bit the bullet.

I got this cutie, new mint green cruiser bike: Her name is Nellie.

I got a great deal on this little puppy... plus, I had a gift card {from my sweet husband} that I decided to use it on.

Cross my heart, this was not an impulsive purchase... I have been looking at cruiser bikes now for about a year & half. {It is ironic I posted about bikes yesterday, obviously, it was on the brain.}

I was more excited than a kid on Christmas morning to take her home: I pumped up her tires, affixed her new basket, adjusted the reflectors, oiled her up...only to ride down the drive way about 2 ft. and have the chain fall off. {major bummer.} Did you know you can find out how to do ANYTHING on the internet? Its pretty baffling... I looked up how to fix this dilemma, got out our wrench, drive sockets, and screw drivers, took off the back wheel, fixed the slipped chain & realigned it on the bearing. I had grease all over me, but I was pretty proud of myself. :)

Now, I am just excited to get to take her for a spin tonight... I need to return my brary books... she's jut the ticket. :) I'm pretty pumped.

Happy Happy Friday's eve people!

bike it.

This is my dream bike... I imagine riding to the groc. to pick up some dinner or hauling it to sonic for a dc+vanilla Route 44. I think I would add a tiny bell & wicker basket... maybe even put my name on it Alexandria font white vinyl. Wanna know why I love this bike so much? Welp, bc I got to design all the features it at Republic Bike... They have some pretty sweet rides. Check it out: the sky is the limit! Now all I need to stumble across is an extra $400... {I realize this sounds like I am being paid to endorse their product... nope, I just love their concept THAT much... wishful thinking, I guess.} Happy hump day!

summer.

This is my fam last weekend headed to the lake... Oh, how I love you, Summer. I'm excited to finally get to spend QT with my hub tonight & welcome the season right! On the menu: some of sweet Kim's famous salsa, corn on the cob, watermelon, chicken, blackberries, greek salad & some homemade vanilla bean ice cream by Tyler Florence. My mouth is watering already... & yes, we are fully aware we eat like a family of six. Its pretty typical...

Dear Summer,

Thank you for arriving & coming with a vengance.

We are ready to partake and play hard.

Your not so secret admirers,

The Fraziers

Happy Hump Day!

on the ocean of emotion.

I am in love with this is shoot from Vogue. {& who would have thought that that was Will Schuester?} Everything from her suits to her hair is just fabulous...

Speaking of Will, I'll admit, Tuesday night TV has my night to plop down on the

couch & do everything from laughing, to dancing, to crying... lets face it, it doesn't get much better than Glee and Parenthood back to back. Parenthood has actually stepped into a close lead now... I think I'm done with reality TV for good.

{images via here.}

swoon worthy.

This weekend, Ry & I finally rented, "Its Complicated." I did love the plot, but I think I ended up staring at the interiors of the house more than I did pay attention to the dialogue. This home was absolutely stunning... the majority of the shots were set in Meryl Streep's Spanish style ranch home in Santa Barbara, CA. {Where my sister-in-law just moved to... jealous does not even begin to explain. ha.}

I do, however, have a few questions for this movie:
- Why on earth did she need to remodel her kitchen? really?
- Can I have a friend that owns a bakery one day... yah know, just to pop in at midnight to bake up some munchies in? that would be pretty sweet.

Below, see images of the Set's absolute perfection:

Meryl, was a remodel really necessary... ? I'm sorry, I think not.

A+J

This weekend we hosted couples' a shower for our dear friends, Alexa & Jono who are getting married in Cabo this August. It was a great time of friends, food, drinks, and laughter and the weather could not have turned out better, but I wish I had taken pics throughout the night. {Please note the On the Border decorations at the back table, mind you, that was the result after reining the catering man in and nixing the mexican blankets & gourds of faux plastic food... he insisted on the metallic chili peppers.} Cheers to the soon to be Probsts!