happy birthday, grace!

Melissa 3 Comments

Gracie finally, FINALLY got her birthday party yesterday. Her party was canceled by Hurricane Irene (Remember that? It was a long time ago… its been a long month.)

We had pizza, made ice cream sundaes, and had a moonbounce!

This is our rainbow cake. It was pretty cool.

If you think that it looks like its about to fall over, you’d be right. Seconds after this picture was taken, that whole side flipped off and landed on the counter. Cake making is not one of my gifts. I really should have known better – but the directions looked really easy. I need to just accept this shortcoming and move on with my life.

Happy birthday, Gracie girl.

Don’t grow up too quick.

fashion friday: winter coats

Melissa 4 Comments

Coats are hitting the stores and I love it. A great coat is a key element in your wardrobe – and can last for years. A good, classic coat is a fool-proof investment piece, but don’t away from a cheaper coat to add  some fun to your wardrobe!!

You can never, ever go wrong in a classic, double breasted peacoat in Black, Navy, Red, Gray or Camel. Invest in this one. You’ll wear it for years and years.

But don’t be afraid of a little embellishment, like a belt, ruffle or fur collar! Look at all the different looks you can get just in gray peacoats. Its ridiculous!!

Gray Coats

 

 

And coats are an amazing way to add some color to a dull winter day! Could you even be in a bad mood while slipping into a bright yellow coat??

colorful coats

 

 

You can go totally glam… with leopard print!

Glam it up

 

 

Or casual chic…

chic pea coat

 

 

Or even super casual!

casual fall weekend wear

 

 


Fashion Friday is the most fashionable day of the week! Thanks for stopping by: link up your fashion posts and join in the fun! Fashion Friday Sponsorships are available – contact us for more information!

add a nav bar with categories in blogger

Melissa

As a blog designer, this is one of my top requests. While the new Blogger can automatically add your pages into a nav bar, what if you want to link to categories in the nav bar? Or another site of yours? That gets tricky. Here is a simple tutorial to show you how to do it.

Step one:
Go into your Design Tab to Edit Layout. Click Add a Gadget, choose Custom HTML/Java Script.

If you do not have an Add a Gadget  then you have to modify the HTML to enable it. Don’t be scared. You’ll be fine. But backup your template just in case by clicking Download Full Template.

Now,

  • Go to the Edit HTML tab.
  • Scroll thru the HTML code, towards the bottom, looking for the HEADER code. It is located right above this:
    </b:section>
    and probably looks like this:
    <b:section class=’header’ id=’header’ maxwidgets=’1′ showaddelement=’no’>
  • Change it to:
    <b:section class=’header’ id=’header’ maxwidgets=’2′ showaddelement=’yes’>
    (you should enter a 2 or greater for maxwidgets….I used 2, then change ‘no’ to ‘yes’ for showaddelement)
  • Then click SAVE TEMPLATE button.
  • Now go back to Page Elements and you should now see the Add a Gadget under the header.

    • Step Two: Enter the code for your nav bar

    <div id=’menu’>
    <ul>
    <li><a href=”http://www.yoursite.com”>Home</a></li>  <– links to your homepage
    <li><a href=”http://www.yoursite.com//p/about-me.html”>About Me</a></li> <– This links to a page
    <li><a href=”http://www.yoursite.com/search/label/Category1″>Category1</a></li> <– This links to a category
    <li><a href=”http://www.outsidesite.com”>Site</a></li> <– This inks to another site
    <li><a href=”mailto:youremailaddress”>Contact</a></li> <– This links to your email address

    </ul></div>

    Simply replace my fake links with links your own pages, categories, outside sites and email, and replace the “Category” or “Site” to whatever you want to show in your nav bar, (and remove my notes!) and you have your nav bar!

    Step 3: Click Save, then drag your HTML/Java Script widget to right below the header.

    Step 4: Click Template Designer and go into Advanced. You can edit the text, color, background color, etc of your nav bar by editing the “Tabs Text” and “Tabs Background” here:

    Step 5: Save. And Smile! You did it!

    french onion pot roast

    Melissa 1 Comment

    Ah, Fall. The magical time of year your calendar fills up and you’re stuck trying to figure out what you can make for dinner in the 15 minutes between soccer practice and ballet lessons while your children, who just came home from school, are underfoot claiming to dying of hunger.

    Meet my BFF – my crockpot.

    I have the 6-quart Cook & Carry Slow Cooker by Crock-Pot. I love it because its giant enough to make a double batch of whatever I’m making and the tight sealing lid makes it cook super fast. So if you forget to put your crock-pot meal in the cooker in the morning and only remember around lunchtime that you forgot, but don’t have anything else planned for dinner you are still okay if you crank it up to High. Not that this ever, EVER happens to me. Ahem.

    This week, I made Pot Roast – which I almost never make. This was a huge hit with the family, so it will be making appearances all winter to be sure!

    French Onion Pot Roast
    (found on The Little Kitchen, a seriously awesome blog I’ve discovered)

    3-4 pound boneless beef chuck roast (I did a 3 pound and it was not enough – my family wanted more leftovers)
    3 Tbsp flour
    1/4 tsp pepper
    1 tsp salt
    2 Tbsp olive oil
    2 celery stalks, trimmed & cut into 3 inch pieces
    4 carrots, washed & cut into thirds
    10.5 oz can of french onion soup, condensed (I used Campbell’s)

    Directions:

    Mix flour, salt and pepper together on a plate.

    Trim any fat on the sides off the roast, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Dredge in flour mixture.

    Heat 1-2 Tbsp of oil in a skillet or dutch oven on medium heat. Add roast to heated pan and heat to sear for 2-4 minutes on each side. (Just to lightly brown.)

    Add carrots and celery to the bottom of the slow cooker and add roast on top of the vegetables. Pourfrench onion soup and 3/4 can of water over.

    Cook roast in slow cooker on low for 17 hours or high for 5 hours.

    touch-a-truck

    Melissa 2 Comments

    Like most boys, Colin has the Truck Gene. The gene that has teeny tiny babies making noises like “VrrrrOOOOMMM!” and gives them the ability to tell the difference between a bulldozer and a crane before they can differentiate between yellow and green. So Touch-A-Truck was a thrill, to say the least.

    for permission to repost, contact author

    Born to be WILD!

    fashion friday: princess style

    Melissa 3 Comments

    Tomorrow I’m co-hosting a twitter party with Classy Mommy and Go Mom to celebrate Rapunzel’s Celebration happening at Kensington Palace in London tomorrow when Rapunzel will join the court of Disney Princesses. The #TangledTweets party will start at 11am on October 1, so be sure to join us!

    Meanwhile, who says you can dress like a princess in real life? Life is short!

    Add a little sparkle!

    sparkle!

     

    And remember, a princess is always a lady! Luckily, ladylike looks are totally hot right now!

    lady like cocktail dresses

     

    Don’t forget the pearls… 

    via stella and dot

    Can you even imagine actually getting to wear something like this???

    via net-a-porter

    If only.


    Fashion Friday is the most fashionable day of the week! Thanks for stopping by: link up your fashion posts and join in the fun! Fashion Friday Sponsorships are available – contact us for more information!

    gluten free fall cocktail party menu

    Melissa 4 Comments

    This week I had a little cocktail party with some friends, two of whom are gluten free. I was immediately stumped about what to make. Just about every appetizer that came to mind had gluten in it – crabcakes, stuffed mushrooms, anything with puff pastry, crackers for the cheese plate… even the spinach and artichoke dip (which is always a hit) has flour in it.

    So I scoured the internet for ideas, and then headed out to Trader Joes and Wegmans, two stores in my neighborhood that have great gluten free sections with brands like Udi’s. All the food was a big hit – even with the non-gluten free guests. Here’s my tasty gluten free menu!


    First, when serving wine, you must serve cheese, right? My cheese plate had a English Stilton with apricots, an English Cheddar with carmelized onions and a third Italian soft cheese that I forget. I added figs and grapes and some rosemary almonds to the platter, along with regular crackers on one side and gluten free crackers on the other. I’ve learned from gluten free friends that you need to keep things separate, since even if gluten free food has touched food with gluten, it can cause reactions.
    cheese tray for gluten freeI also served a spinach dip (check the package or make your own – many premade versions use flour as a thickening agent) with corn chips and root vegetable chips from Trader Joe’s. These are a fall favorite of mine, just because the colors look just like fall leaves!

    Next up, I had Roasted Shrimp Cocktail (from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics). It was super easy and so much more yummy than regular shrimp cocktail! All you do is buy uncooked shrimp, already peeled and deveined if you want to make this dish even easier, toss it in olive oil, kosher salt and fresh pepper and throw it in a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Yum.
    Then, I made Mustard Ginger Sausages. These were a HUGE hit. I found this recipe on BusyGirl’s pinterest page and had to make it.
    Mustard Ginger Sausages
    ½ cup ginger preserves (in the English food section of the grocery store)
    ½ cup whole grain mustard
    1 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
    1 tbsp soy sauce (soy sauce has gluten, so get a gluten-free version)
    1 packages cocktail smoked sausages
    mustard for dipping (I used a hot and sweet mustard from Trader Joe’s)
    Mix preserves, whole grain mustard, olive oil and soy sauce in a bowl. Add sausages and toss to coat. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, tossing once.
    roasted shrimp cocktail | mustard ginger sausages
    Finally, we have dessert! I’m lucky enough to live by so many wonderful places that sell things like Flourless Chocolate Cake, but if you don’t you can make one yourself or try one of Udi’s yummy gluten-free treats! I love their cookies – you would never guess they were gluten-free! We also had a pear torte (not gluten-free, I confess!) and a great selection of wine and a fabulous fall cocktail! Its just 1 cup apple cider, a good glug of pomegranate juice and a shot rum. You could serve it warm, but it was such a warm night that I served it on ice.
    fall cocktail recipe

    What are your favorite treats for a fall cocktail party? I love anything with apples – or maybe a carmelized onion tart (made with Udi’s gluten free pizza crusts)! Oh! And zucchini fries, substituting Udi’s gluten bread crumbs for panko breadcrumbs… YUM!

    disclosure: this post was sponsored by udi’s gluten free.

    evening with elnett

    Melissa 2 Comments

    Last night, I had a few friends over to join me in an Evening with Elnett.

    Elnett Satin Hairspray is a fabulous and uber-luxurious line of hairsprays from L’Oréal that has been around for almost 40 years, but is just now available in retail outlets across the US. While it is a favorite of models, celebs and top stylists around the world, it is perfect for busy moms as well!
    Elnett offers long lasting hold that disappears at the touch of a brush, leaving hair clean and shiny with a satin touch. Hair stylists love it for fashion shows and photo shoots where models are wearing multiple hair styles. Which is just perfect for us busy moms!  I can use Elnett in the morning, throw my hair up on a trip to the gym and then brush it out later for date night – so much nicer than layering on products all day that leave my hair dull and crunchy.

    We had a fabulous fall spread:

    evening with elnett

    yummy!!

    We had a hair station set up with flat irons, curling irons, hair do-dads and some Elnett products: Strong Hold, Extra Strong Hold and Extra Strong Hold with UV Filter. Yes, you read that right. Hairspray with UV filter to protect color treated hair! Amazing!! You can protect your color by using a product you’re probably using anyway.

    We all tried out the hairsprays and had passionate, in-depth conversations about hair that only a group of girlfriends can have.

    My personal favorite stylist, Gracie, was on hand to style my hair. Isn’t it cute?

    We also got to view some fantastic tutorials by Johnny Lavoy, a consulting hair expert for L’Oréal. My favorite was his tutorial on defined waves – so gorgeous and it looks so easy! My daughter saw it and squealed “Its Taylor Swift’s hair!! I WANT IT!” I can’t wait to try it on her!

    Thanks so much to L’Oréal and Mom Central for sponsoring this event and introducing us to Elnett!! To keep up with all the latest from L’Oréal, you can follow them on facebook and twitter. And check out my review of Elnett on my fashion blog, All Things Chic!

    disclosure: I was compensated for refreshments and supplies for hosting this event, as well as receiving compensation for my time. as always, all opinions are my own.