Lazy Sunday

Today we have had a quiet lazy Sunday in and around the house. I have caught up on laundry, read a little and listened to music. While, Mr. Michie has done a little reading himself, worked on writing a paper and a new blog post. What could be better than a quiet day to just be?

We made tomato salad for lunch on grilled bread:

We played in the garden and made sure everything was happy:

We made ice-cream sundaes and watched the afternoon thunderstorm from our couch:

Happy Sunday!

What I Wore

It was a lovely sunny 4th of July weekend here! I put on my new Cath Kidston skirt and the sweet little moccasins he surprised me with and went out on a date with Mr. Michie.

(P.S. My skirt was ironed, but I started doing things around the house and got it crinkly before we left, so please excuse the crinkles)

Is there any S'More?

I love S'Mores. They hold within those cookie walls the best of Sumertime nights. The freedom of being little, running through the grass barefoot, eating grilled hot dogs, chasing lighting bugs and roasting s'mores over the open grill.

For those of you who are not familiar with a s'more, it is a toasted marshmallow that is laid upon a piece of chocolate and they are both sandwiched between two graham cracker cookies.  We didn't always use graham crackers in my house though, my Mom would buy the Keebler chocolate covered cookies and we would mush our roasty toasty marshmallows in between those! HEAVEN!

Unfortunately, our little cottage does not have a space that allows us to grill, but that doesn't stop Mr. Michie and myself. We simply spread our ingredients out on the coffee table and light a candle, which acts as our "grill". So, you too can even make delicious s'mores indoors as well as out!

Here are a few S'more recipes or variations on the theme that I came across as I was blog reading this week, so they must be a hot topic! Click on the name to be taken to the recipe:

Uncle Scott's S'mores:

 

S'mores Cake:

S'mores Ice-Cream Sandwiches:

S'mores Milk Shake:

Big Girl's S'mores Pie:

(all images copyright their respective blogs)

Its My Birthday!

WOO-HOO!!! Today is my Birthday and I am having a wonderful time! Mr. Michie brought me breakfast this morning, a chocolate muffin and a chocolate smoothie with lots of whipped cream and a chocolate stick and lots of surprises waiting for me on the kitchen table. He said I should be eating nothing but sugar today, so breakfast was a good start!

After we got in from work tonight, we started watching the lunar eclipse, it is amazing to watch. The commentary is so interesting, they said that the Algonquin Indians would call the June full moon a "strawberry moon", I like the sound of that.

We are about to grab some dinner and watch a movie!  Then on to Birthday cake, I can't wait....

A Week to Party

This week is a big week! It is the week of my Birthday! I am so excited. I will have a mini celebration during the week, but Mr. Michie is taking me out at the weekend to celebrate however I wish, although I know he has a few ideas of his own up his sleeve.

I have asked to go to Camden Market, eat some lunch, sit on a "vespa" seat and watch the water go by and do a little antiquing. There is a stall there that sells vintage suitcases and I have had my eye on a few! I can't wait.

Tomorrow, I plan to work on making my Birthday cake. Goose Girl & Foxy have asked if they can help, I would love their input.  I am busy working away on their new blog, with their help of course! I have put up the bios they gave me, however, Foxy thinks he might want to change a few things, he is very fussy. So, stay tuned I think they will want to show you their bios very soon....

(Image: Found)

Seven Years

Today, I have been married to Mr. Michie for 7 years and I am still loving every minute of it! We started off our anniversary with a bang yesterday and went into central London, to just roam where ever our feet took us.

We ate lunch, spent some time at the National Gallery, wandered through Covent Garden and picked up our tickets for an evening of Vivaldi by Candlelight at St. Martin in the Fields.

It was a wonderful day! We ate dinner at Cha Cha Moon, a new Chinese restaurant we wanted to try off Carnaby Street. It was very authentic, a lot of Chinese people were in there eating and that, to me, is always a good sign. Their dumplings were too die for!

Then we headed over to St. Martins just before they opened their doors. The Church was wonderfully cool and candles were lit everywhere, it was very romantic. The orchestra came out and and played a series of pieces in the first act, one being Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 3. Which is very special to us as we walked down the aisle to this piece after we were married.

My parent's instilled a true love of all kinds of music into my sister and I. We both played with a symphony and even had the opportunity to travel through Europe playing with them as well. My sister is a star violist and I am an oboist. I find that having played an instrument, I am so much more appreciative of what the performers are going through.

The second half of the concert was the entirety of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and as night began to permeate around us the glow of the candlelight became more heightened. We had the great fortune to see the lovely Kerenza Peacock play her first concert since she injured her wrist. It was outstanding. As her bow struck the first note, I was beyond moved.

What a sight to behold. Music that has been played for centuries to Kings and Queens and we had the opportunity to see it played within the hallowed walls of St. Martins in the Fields by an outstanding orchestra. The entire audience was on the edge of their seats, there was a true electricity in the air and I found that more than once I was holding my breath. How lucky we are to have had the opportunity to see and hear this!

We finished off the evening with a few little surprises from Laduree. They have opened a new store in Covent Garden and since I can't go to Paris at the moment, at least one of my favorite things from Paris can come to me!

So, Mr. Michie, here to seven more years on the roller-coaster of marriage and may they be as wonderful as the first seven!

The Flying Scotsman

The Flying Scotsman came to visit me today (well really he came to see Goose Girl) and I showed him the lovely yellow roses my sweet red-headed Scotsman gave to me!

The Princess & The Pea

The Princess & The Pea is one of my favourite fairytales. I really have no idea why. I think mostly it was for the fact that I loved seeing the illustrations of all the beautiful assortment of mattresses piled one on top of the other, so high that you needed a ladder to climb to the top. The mattress were always covered in polka dots and roses and stripes and stars and I was always amused by that, as my mattress looked nothing like that. I also thought the idea that she could feel the pea under all those mattress was funny as well, however, as of late, I am beginning to think that feeling one little pea wouldn't be such a bad thing!

I haven't been sleeping very well for awhile now. We have a very old mattress and it is causing me to fall apart like an old lady. I can feel more than a "pea"! I can feel springs and boards and lumps and bumps when I sleep. I stripped the bed the other week and in looking at it, it reminded me of a 3D geographical map with a lot of mountains and valleys. Not what you want your little oasis of happiness to look like. I love my bed, so I want to be comfortable in it!

Since Mr. Michie isn't sleeping so well either, we realized that is was definitely time to make a change and to stop thinking about making one. So, we decided to go mattress shopping. I did my research and we knew what we wanted, we went to the store and were helped by the nicest man named Henry.

He was from Africa and had the most exotic accent, I loved listening to him speak. We told him of our old aches and pains and that we wanted a medium to firm mattress. Well, he took wonderful care of us, we walked out with a new mattress being delivered this Saturday and two new pillows as well! We even got a hug from him when we left! The company ranks their mattresses on a scale of 1 to 5; 5 being the "softest" and 1 being "orthopaedic". We must really be getting old because the bed that felt the best to us was a number ONE! We just had to laugh!

I will truly feel like a princess on this mattress as I will not notice Mr. Michie roll about, since he is quite a fidget, I can just lay still in perfect blissful sleep! So begone, peas and springs and feathers and lumpy mattresses, I am ready for sweet dreams!

(Image by Tim Walker)

Sunny Sunday Surprises

This weekend the weather was extremely gloomy on Saturday, but extremely SUNNY on Sunday. Mr. Michie had been away on a school trip for Friday night and most of Saturday, so Sunday became our "weekend".

He woke me up early and told me to get ready he was taking me out. Off we went in the golden sunshine to the train station and waited for a train to take us into central London.

We had so much fun, wandering around. I saw the latest goodies in Anthropologie, but I was very good and left without letting anything jump into my hands. I wasn't so good however when I went to Cath Kidston, they were having a clothing sale and I never never look at her clothes, but I did on Sunday and a beautiful skirt, jumped into my hands.

Then, Mr. Michie took me to Topshop to look at their jewelery stands. One of my favourite places to hunt for unique pieces and this little lady jumped into his hands and was purchased for me:

Isn't she sweet, I wore her this week on a Spring green Boden jacket that I have and she was just a piece of happiness on my blazer all day!

Buttermilk

Mr. Michie and I don't watch a lot of TV, but when we do, it tends to be American TV shows. One of our favourites is: Castle. Nathan Fillion is very easy on the eyes and being a fan of detective shows, I enjoy watching this one. It has all the key crime show points, that make it perfect for both of us to view: the mystery, the drama, the humour, the romantic tension between Castle and Beckett...

Watching this show, a few weeks ago, brought to our attention, something that I had no idea existed on the scale that it does. After they wrap up a hard case, Beckett offers to buy Castle a hot chocolate and some macaroni and cheese from the "Food Truck". This sparked our interests, what was the "Food Truck". Thus, began an internet research session, that uncovered a culture we were not aware of.

When I was in College there were more food "stands" than trucks. The usual ice-cream stalls for the tourists and a great hot dog guy near the Museum I worked at, but that was it. In England, the most you get is a guy selling kebabs or possibly fish and chips. This is a social event that I am truly missing out on. It is more than your usual hot dog and pretzel vendors, it is, in some cases, gourmet food on wheels.

By the time we were done researching we were left starving. Like, when you watch "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives" at 11pm at night and you know 5 minutes into it, that it was a mistake, because you are now desiring everything that Guy is munching away on.

Out of all the food trucks we discovered in our mini research session my favourite was: Buttermilk. Maybe, it is because I am a girl from the South, but anything that has buttermilk in it, just has to be good! By the time I was done looking at their website, I headed to bed very hungry and dreaming of Hawaiian Bread Cinnamon French Toast Sticks. MMMM!

Besides the delicious looking menu, who wouldn't want to eat out of a truck that has such an adorable little face on the side? Klippy the Buttermilk Boy is a cutie and I love his back story! Do you have any amazing food trucks in your neck of the woods?

Check out the Buttermilk Truck here.

PES Films

I recently came across this highly amusing animation sight all created by PES. I have been given a few animation lessons from Mr. Michie. My first attempt was making a plastic ballerina cake topper dance. I did it the old fashioned way, by taking a series of pictures one by one as we slowly turned her in a dance and then loaded it into Adobe Premier to create my film.

I have also been lucky enough to get to work with the wonderfully kind and talented, Kim Noce on an animation project and learn a few lessons from her. I used a web-cam as my "camera", on my small part of the project, which made the film making process a whole lot easier.  As that "film" can be loaded up as one piece, instead of the individual photos. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of time it took to create these videos. They are wonderfully sweet and brought a smile to my face, I hope they bring one to yours as well!






I think the addition of the Peeps makes it feel like Eastery fireworks!

Spork

This just made me honest to goodness laugh out loud for about five minutes, last night. I hope it makes you laugh too!

Found via Swiss Miss via Mr. Michie.

The Anatomy of a Cupcake

Mr. Michie e-mailed this to me after coming across it. He knew I would love it and he was right! What a beautiful image. It was created by Allen Hemberger and Sarah Wilson as a birthday gift for a friend.

I think it is stunning! To see how they did it, watch the video here. Just looking at this poster makes me hungry!

Peppersmith

Mr. Michie and I like to give each other little love gifts, nothing huge, just little surprises here and there to bring a smile to that person's face. A little "hello", a little "someone is thinking about you", a little "someone appreciates you had a tough week", a little "I Love You" kind of gifts.

I got a little gift like this placed in my hand a while ago. It was a box of Peppersmith Gum. I tell you, I was instantly smitten! I love packaging, that is after all what you see first and often, I am tempted simply by that factor alone. Yes, crazy as it sounds, I will buy something because I love the box that it is in.

When you purchase something for the design and asethics of the packaging, it does not always deliver. This, however, certainly did! Because inside this smartly clad box is some of the best gum, I have ever had the pleasure to chew away on. Not only, was Charlie Chaplin on our box, a little info was printed up on him as well, the little touches that make all the difference.

What excited me more than anything, is that I don't have to save the wrapper, or dig through my purse to find a scrap piece of paper or receipt to spit my gum out in, they have already solved that problem by providing that answer with moustache decorated paper tucked into the lid of their box. It is ingenious, I tell you! Ingenious!

Mr. Michie found this for me at Whole Foods, if you can find it at a store near you, please run out and buy it, it not only in the cutest packaging, it is also delicious!

Painted Piggies

I got a pedicure yesterday after I left work, and I tell you, it is always such a treat! To just be, for that hour and have someone do something for you, is beyond wonderful. As usual these ladies performed miracles, I do yoga and am on my feet most of the day, so they are not always in the best of shape.

Mr. Michie and I did try something together last week over 1/2 term, in the desire to give our feet a break, we had our feet nibbled on by Doctor Fish. After the initial giggles from the tickling of their little mouths, it felt like champagne bubbles were all around my feet. They started a really wonderful thing, I was on my way to the smoothest feet I have had in a very long time and the ladies at the salon, finished it off last night, after they pulled out the electric sander and hacksaw!

I always pick a different colour when I go, normally I choose pinks and peaches for Spring and keep my bright reds and pinks and melons for Summer and the more dark reds for Fall/Winter, or I just go through a phase and only wear one particular colour for a little while. Yesterday, I went for a colour which I thought was going to be more of a ballerina tutu pink when it was on judging by the colour in the bottle, but as it turns out, it is a very simple pearlized colour.

And, I kinda like it. It is not my norm, far from it. I very rarely paint my fingernails, they are usually wrecked in one day, but my toes, on the other hand, I love to have painted. It just makes me feel pretty. So I normally pick a colour that I like, and will be visible on my little piggies when I look down at them.

Next time, I will pick something a little more peachy, I noticed the perfect colour sitting on their shelf while my feet were soaking, but I always think every colour I pick is perfect for that day, that mood... I suppose this simplistic yet elegant colour I chose, is a little of what I am attempting my weekend to be, simplistic, yet wonderful. After a full week back at school, I am taking this weekend easy.

I hope you get to do one thing just for YOU this weekend or coming week. We all forget and it is important to carve out time for ourselves, I am trying to be better at this, but it is not an easy habit to break, when you don't normally do that, but little by little, I'll get there.

{Colour: Isn't It Romantic by OPI}

Valentine's Sweets

MMM! Just munching away on these, while I decide what to do for dinner!

It was one of my Valentine's surprises from Mr. Michie and came from Rococo, one of my favourite chocolate stores! I'm in Heaven!

The Force is Strong

We stayed up the night of the Super Bowl to watch as much of the game as we could. But at about 1am we decided to cash it in and go to bed. I however, was still wide awake and followed the game from my macbook while snuggled underneath a mountain of blankets.

I have to say, the commercials are one of the things I really love to see, who doesn't? Sadly, because of ad rights we don't get to view the commercials in England. YouTube was hosting a site by adblitz that updated the commercials almost as quickly as they were played on everyone's TV sets at home.

As Mr. Michie slept peacefully next to me I watched the commercials and when I saw this one, I almost woke him up. Almost. I know that one day when we have children, if we have a car that does this, Mr. Michie will be standing at the kitchen window car keys in hands to make our kid's Star Wars dreams come true. Because if he had the Force, that would be his dream come true!

However, I think we will probably be more of a Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo kind of household.  The Force is strong in this one! Hmm. Yes!

Sugar, Sugar

As I opened my e-mail this morning, there was a message waiting there for me from Mr. Michie.

He had sent me a link, stating that he thought I would love this. Well he was right! Swiss Miss is a blog that I always peer at over his shoulder and this image, just made me smile!

So, I am sending a little sweet sugar your way on this very frosty Sunday afternoon.

(Image copyright Arkadia & Co.)

Happy Halloween

In the run-up to Halloween you had to make the toughest decisions you had made all year, it was like the practice test that got you ready to start working on your list for Santa that would become your focus not long after Thanksgiving. What was the toughest decision you made? It was: what would I be for Halloween?

I was so many things over the years, a pumpkin, a witch, a pink bunny, a little leopard. One year I was St. Lucia, I dressed up just like my American Girl Doll, Kirsten Larson, with my hair in braided loops and a wreath around my head that my Mom lit with battery operated candles. Knowing my love for all things Christmas, this was one of my favorite costumes.

As I was growing up, on the other side of the pond, so was Mr. Michie. Being British he never had the full American Halloween dressing-up, trick-or-treating experience. But, I know if he had and we had been friends when we were little, as I know we would have been, then knowing his love for all things Star Wars, he would have made us go out trick-or-treating like this:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Tate

This week, Mr. Michie visited the Tate Britain with his media students. The museum lover that I am, I have to admit, sacrilege as this is to say, that the Tate just doesn't seem to really do it for me, and maybe that is because I always seemed to end up in the Turner room with my classmates studying his pieces and I slowly came to hate going there, being stuck in that room.

And maybe, because the John Singer Sargent that I love and used to visit often, "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose", suddenly, never seemed to be up when I went, it started to become this elusive painting, I was always hunting for.

I do love going to the Tate Modern however. I love that an old power station instead of being torn down was used to create a space in which people can walk around, interact with art, or sit in a chair, look at an art book and watch the Thames float by.

But, after Mr. Michie's adventure out on Thursday, I am starting to slowly love the Tate again, if only for this:

I will be going to visit the Gauguin exhibition at the Tate Modern in a few weeks and I am going to try to squeeze in the going to the Tate as well and I will be looking around it again with fresh eyes, as Humphrey Bogart once said, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

(Image taken by Mr. Michie, Artwork by Bob & Roberta Smith, I was Hansel in the School Play, 2008)