merry christmas

aunt jan's easy blueberry pancakes

as a kid eating breakfast at my aunt jan's house was more than just good food, it always meant plenty of laughter too.  last year she made her oh-so-tasty blueberry pancakes.  i finally asked her to spill the beans and give me her recipe.  she laughed and told me it wasn't much of a recipe but gave it to me anyway.  in fact it was so easy that she just walked over to the trash, pulled out a box and said "this is my secret ingredient for my blueberry pancakes".  so i locked the recipe away in my memory bank and saved it for a rainy day....and by that i mean i completely forgot about it.  thankfully, as i was strolling down the grocery store aisle this past weekend the secret ingredient practically jumped off the shelf at me.  the best part?  the secret ingredient is 79 cents.  at least at my grocery story.  but i live in one of the poorest states in the union so you may need to factor in a few more dimes but, yes, you read that correctly- 79 pennies.  or 2 quarters, 2 dimes, 1 nickel and this is too much math.   regardless, here is a super easy pancake recipe for your collection.

recipe:

1 box of jiffy blueberry muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk

boxed muffin mix as pancake mix?  genius i tell you.  sheer genius.   this may open up a whole world of pancakes for me.  as a side note, notice what jiffy's box says, "artificially flavored" and "imitation blueberries".  if you read my usually recipes you know this one ventures off my usually taste but sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and eat hydrogenated lard with a pat of butter and cherish the memories of a beloved aunt and her secret blueberry pancakes and all the warmth it brought to your life.   it's true after all the secret ingredient to any recipe is always love.

pattern mix

pattern mix by cocoplum featuring j crew

i have been loving playing with patterns this fall.  i would love that flannel shirt under a sparkly, sequin, polka dot shirt and top it off with a casual top knot.  those earrings i have been watching and wanting to buy all season!

industrial curtain rod diy

when i posted this picture a few days ago and told you we had a diy project up our sleeves, high class were probably the first two words that popped into your mind.  well high class or white trash but really it's such a fine line.  

rest assured we haven't lost our minds...completely...yet.  we just made a curtain rod.  we followed this easy tutorial but since our curtain rod is so long (96 inches) we added the middle brace.   we love the results and so far they have stood the test of our lives.  

we have been doing so many projects around our new casa.  i can't wait to share them.  i also can't wait to take down those awful shades on the windows too.  which was the whole point of the project and i forgot until i posted these pictures.

any guesses on what project we are working on with this pvc pipe and plumbing flange?   it has nothing to do with plumbing because i wouldn't post such a patronizing question.  well i might but not today. 

chip it

our house remodel is in full-swing right now.   we have our hands busy with so many project currently and somehow our to do list is growing.  one of my favorite projects is painting the interior.  as i was searching for inspiration i came across a great tool- sherwin william's chip it .  have you heard of it?  basically it allows you to take any digital image and make it into a color palette. 

 as i began to search for images i knew i wanted something nautical.  there is something about the ocean that gives me perspective and always restores me.  i want that same feeling in our new home.  when i found the image below i instantly knew this was going to be the base for the colors in our home. 

so i simply scrolled over the image and chipped it.  viola.  paint colors i could use in our home.

as i was painting samples of the colors in my home i began to realize that i wanted a more subtle feel.  the image i used for the colors was bold and bright and didn't quite capture the feeling i wanted.  in march we took a vacation to the coast and had the most amazing time.  there were two images that i snapped during the trip that i kept replaying in my mind.  both were cloudy and even stormy images and i realized that's exactly why i was drawn to them.  even though the sky was brooding and the clouds laid close to us it felt inviting.  rainy days seem to slow time and the need to rush around.  i love curling up on the couch with a blanket and watching the storm pass.  so with that feeling in mind  i decided to use chip it on the images from stormy holiday.  

so if you have a paint project ahead try chip it it's so easy and fun.  you'll start chipping images just because you can.    

perfect summer broccoli salad