Happy New Year!

Here in North Carolina, they like to drop pickles rather than sparkly disco-esque balls. Or, giant lighted acorns. Raleigh is the city of Oaks after all!

Max sends along his belated Christmas wishes.

This is really the extent of my Christmas crafting this year; an off-kilter wreath.
It's paper so I can't hang it outside (brilliant move, me).

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I treated myself to the Domino book. I need inspiration for the house. I am determined to rise above our current mishmash of styles and furniture. First step, picking paint for the living room and dining room (and possibly bedroom). We need to paint straightaway before we move in.

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I love the line of Pacifica soy candles.
I'm not a huge candle person, generally (too cluttery) but these smell so lovely.

Santa Paws!

We don't have kids, so instead we must embarrass and torture the dog. It was for a good cause, the SPCA of Raleigh.

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Shorpy is a fascinating vintage photo blog. A Frenchie from the 1915!

Xmas, stapler style

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These look like really easy to do DIY decorations.  I might try some of them this weekend.  

Rollin'

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How adorable is this bike?  I don't need one but it's nice to look at, isn't it?

Spendy Gift Idea

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Wishing I had $400 to buy a Orla Kiely roll-on bag.

Gift Idea

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Not a paper cup!  What a clever design; it's ceramic with a silicone lid.  An excellent, inexpensive holiday gift!

Wallpaper's making a comeback

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Nice pattern from Tempaper - removable wallpaper! My mind is already racing with decor possibilities for the house. Paint or paper?

Suddenly feeling very grown up

We went into contract on this house this week. Close date is the end of January if all goes to plan.

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Stuck Labels makes cute little labels for any use. I wish these had been around when I was doing wedding stuff a year and half ago. I made liberal use of labels and there aren't many cute ones out there - though Paper Source has a few.

Shooz

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Two lovely options for footwear that are nicely priced. I'm taken with the green patent pair.

All-American Buffalo Chicken Tenders

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From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. So tasty and very easy - also, hopefully slightly more healthy than standard buffalo wings!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 4 ounces)
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 1/3 cup hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet, and transfer to oven. In a medium bowl, stir together blue cheese and 1/2 cup buttermilk. Season dip with salt and pepper, and set aside.
2. Place flour and remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk in separate medium bowls; season with salt and pepper. Set out another rimmed baking sheet alongside. Dip chicken in buttermilk (allowing excess to drip off), then in flour (shaking off excess); place on sheet.
3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Working in batches, fry chicken until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to rack in oven to keep warm.
4. In a large bowl, stir together hot sauce and melted butter. Add chicken, and toss to coat. Serve tenders with blue-cheese dip.

Helpful Hint

To keep mess to a minimum, use one hand to dip chicken in buttermilk and place in flour; with the other hand, toss, pick up, and place on sheet.

to do

From The Vintage Laundress

I really like this wall treatment. I'm filing it away for possible future painting projects.

My thanks for this year:

• An adorable (but bratty) dog
• A husband that puts up with me
• A family that isn't perfect but is still pretty perfect
• A roof over our heads and a chicken in the pot
• A safe and successful move cross-country
• A better work/life balance

Hope everyone has a nice Turkey day!

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Yummy shoes.

Hee!

From Black*Eiffel

Could you swim to the edge of Victoria Falls and just chill out?  Me either.  See the original post for more terrifying photos.

From here.

I think I need this.

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I was never much of a JT fan, but his appearance on Weekend Update on SNL this weekend was pretty entertaining, n'est ce pas?

Photo of Ladu, the French Bulldog taken by Jake

Polaroid photos have such an interesting quality, don't they? As the film is getting harder and harder to find, technology is allowing us to fake it. For those Mac users out there, this looks like a really fun program - the Windows version is supposedly coming soon!

More houses

This house is emerging as an interesting possibility. Huge, wooded lot in a pretty, established neighborhood. Nice lower level with a finished rec room and separate workshop. I really like houses built in the '60s. They have a solid feeling that's just lacking in newer construction.

Looking at

Basement = like

What can brown do for you?

Lol.

Burt met a new friend, Louie! Louie's the dog of my friend from work back in CA that I ran into here in NC. She moved here, too! Although I had no idea til I spied her coming out of a Marshall's one fine Saturday morning. They got along just grand, both running in circles and battling over sticks.

Apologies for the image quality but I wanted to show off one of the houses in our neighborhood.  It is decked out for Halloween.  They even nailed boards across all the windows for a haunted house effect.  The large grim reaper is made with a basketball goal.  Almost all the homes in the area are decorated to some degree for Halloween.  I have to say I find it charming.

Photo from here via here.
Um, too adorable for words!

Last night we had some houseguests who brought their dog. So, we had 4 adults, 2 dogs and 1 cat crammed into a 1 bedroom apartment overnight. Needless to say, it was a little bananas. Today we're supposed to be heading for the state fair but it's raining at the moment - hope fully it clears up by this afternoon.

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The things I find when I seach for Burt Reynolds on Flickr.

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When I win the lottery, Jonathan Adler will be doing my homes. Yes, I said homes.

The weekend apple butter session was a success. I took my turn stirring and did a little bit of bottling it up, too. It was the perfect fall weekend. I still smell like smoke, though!

Sweet tea, there's more!

Is it wrong to have a baby almost solely so they can wear such adorable costumes? If so, I don't want to be right.

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This photo speaks to me, in obvious ways.

This is a pretty typical dog park scene with Mr. Burt Reynolds. He's the instigator, leading all the other dogs in mad high-speed tears around the park. We can't even take a still shot of him - he's just non-stop action.

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I know I'm kinda late to the party, but I'm loving Michael Cera lately.  Has anyone else seen Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist?

I like this dining room - it's probably the wallpaper and curtains speaking to me.

I am trying to buy more heels...

Both photos from Nordstrom

I bought the teal-edged pair above with some birthday loot I received but I think I prefer the triple-strap pair on the top. Looks like a return will be made to Nordstrom post haste.

I'm hoping to branch out from my LiveJournal and create a blog of all the little (or big) things that make up my day.  Most of them will be things I find inspiring or humorous or otherwise notable.  

I'm a transplanted Californian living in the Triangle of North Carolina.  I've got a beagle dog, a surly cat and a lovely husband.  Welcome!