Show and Tell Friday

I can't believe how fast this week has flown by!!!  Friday's seem to sneak up on me so quickly lately!  This week I'm sharing a plant stand that I bought at Marshalls a couple years ago.  I'm not really sure how it was supposed to be used but I put moss around the bottom and sides and filled it with soil and plants...

It's been in my backyard for awhile now and it's holding up well!

These are actually old photos...I planted impatiens last weekend but they have a ways to go before they look like this...

something to look forward to though!  I LOVE impatiens, they are such sweet little flowers!

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.Thank you! I look forward to seeing everyone's posts...it may take me awhile to get around to visit everyone since I work full time but I'll do my best to get to your blog as soon as I can!

I'm going back to school!

I've decided to do something I should have done a long time ago... I'm going back to school to become an Interior Designer!  Lauren is now almost 18 so I thought it's time for me to do what I should have done when I was 18.  I remember looking into it back then but decided against it.  Over the years I've thought about doing it numerous times but with having a family and working full time, I just couldn't make it work.  I think now is the time!  It's a two-year program if you go full-time so it will probably take me at least 5 years since I will be going just a couple nights a week. I can then continue on to a 4 year degree if I choose.  I think what really made me decide to move forward with this is if  I get laid off from my job at the big Fortune 100 company I work for, it would be a lot harder to find a job now that I'm at the age I'm at...which is almost 50!  It's always good to have a back-up plan...

Coconut Cupcakes!

We moved to a new building at work yesterday so for the last week I've been going through 8 years worth of stuff deciding what to keep and what to throw away.  It's so amazing how much junk and old paperwork, not to mention dust I have accumulated over that time!  It was worth it now that we are in our nice new office space!  You're probably wondering what the heck that has to do with cupcakes...

Well, I decided to make cupcakes to take to work to celebrate our move!  I had resisted the urge to buy those coconut cupcakes I showed you on my trip to Napa but I couldn't stop thinking about them so I made my own!

They were so good! They even have cream cheese frosting!  I used The Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcake recipe that you can find here.

Once I get settled in my new cubicle at work I'll show you what it looks like!

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The winner of the sugar and creamer is Greatma ~Antique Rose.  

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

It was such a beautiful weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area!  Yesterday it was about 80 degrees!  Lauren and I went to the Farmer's Market and I came home with a lot of strawberries!  I froze some for smoothies, kept some to eat fresh and made homemade strawberry ice cream with the remainder!  I have a Donvier Ice Cream Maker. It's really easy to use because you don't have to mess with ice and salt like the old fashioned kind.

Strawberry Ice Cream
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
2 cups cream (I used 1 cup cream and 1 cup half-half)
2 cups fresh berries (mashed)

Beat egg and sugar until thick and cream-colored.  Add berries, cream and vanilla.  Refrigerate until chilled well and then use in ice cream maker.

Show and Tell Friday

This week for Show and Tell, I'm going to share some beautiful gifts I received awhile back. 

These beautiful chintz plates were from M.~Tales from an O.C. Cottage.  I just need to rearrange things a little bit to make room for them in here...

I think I may need a bigger cabinet to display them soon!

The next gift I receieved awhile back was from Elsie.  Elsie doesn't have a blog but she leaves the nicest comments on mine.  She made this beautiful blue pillow for me...

It even says "My Romantic Home" on it...

Elsie also sent some hair ties for Lauren and a jar of homemade jam which I haven't even tried yet.  I still have opened jars of peach jam and pomegranate jelly I made in the fridge so I want to wait to finish those before I open another jar. 

And because it's Earth Day I thought I should share some roses that are blooming in my garden right now.  These are called "French Lace".  The early spring blooms on these are usually more pink and then when the weather warms up the blooms are a soft apricot and ivory color.

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.Thank you! I look forward to seeing everyone's posts...it may take me awhile to get around to visit everyone since I work full time but I'll do my best to get to your blog as soon as I can!

Napa Valley Part 3

This is part three and the final post of my day trip to the Napa Valley, scroll down to see part 1 and 2.

By late afternoon we were needing a cup of coffee to recharge and Dean & Deluca was the perfect place!

More amazing pastries to temp us...

Later in the evening it was time for dinner.  When we pulled in the parking lot of the restaraunt this is what we saw...more beautiful vine covered buildings...

I love the detail on these windows...

Tra Vigne was the restaurant my friend Kim picked for us...

They had beautiful garden gates...

and a very charming patio area...

and a huge front door...

the view from our table...

very good bread...

Kim and Natasha ordered soup before their meal.  I got a picture of that but forgot to take photos of our main course! Haha...I guess I was hungry and just wanted to eat at that point. The food was really good and our waitress was so nice!

Here's another shot of the patio outside the restaurant as we were leaving...

After dinner it was time to head home...

As we got on the freeway the sun was setting and I snapped this photo from the car. 

 Natasha and I joined a wine club at St. Supery so we will all be going back in June to pick up our wine. Why have it shipped when you can have another wonderful day in the wine country?

I feel so fortunate to have been born and raised in such a beautiful part of the country.  I feel like I should take a moment and thank my parents for moving out here before I was born...

Thank you mom and dad!

Napa Valley Part 2

This is Part 2 of my day trip to Napa Valley. If you missed Part 1 just scroll down to yesterday's post. 

After we left the Alpha Omega Winery we stopped at the V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena.  This is the most gorgeous place of all the wineries we visited!  My only regret is that we didn't do any wine tasting here. We arrived here at the end of the day and just stopped to look around but now we know to come here first next time!

I loved these vine covered buildings!

  

The wisteria is blooming all over Northern California right now and it is so pretty...

Beautiful blooming tulips and azaelas...

What a gorgeous place!

Let's go inside...

Look at all these amazing pastries...

This coconut cake was tempting me but I remained strong and just took a picture instead of buying it...

The inside is as beautiful as the outside...

A beautiful gift shop...

These little birds were so cute...

Their cheese display was unbelievable...

Mmmm fresh baked french bread...

We're going back to the wine country in June and we've already decided that we are going to have a picnic lunch at this winery!  I can hardly wait!!!  I prefer this over a fancy restaurant any day!  

If you are ever in this area, V. Sattui Winery is a must-see!!!

I took over 200 photos on Saturday and I've edited them down quite a bit but I'm going to spread this out to the final Part 3 post tomorrow.