before + after.

my mom and i finally finished one of our projects!! (not the bedroom set, that is almost done....promise!) i needed a client chair for my home office, so we re-finished a piece from my grandmother's 1960's asian inspired dining room set.

before: the chair was black and gold with a pea green and very dated patterned cushion (pictured below along with my then 6 year old mother).

after (51 years later): it is now a beautiful white glossy chair with a vibrant, funky patterned seat (fabric from ikea)!

thank you stacey tookey.

love. love. love.

from last night's so you think you can dance

boys + girls.

so so excited that so you think you can dance is back for the summer. last night they revealed the top 20. loved. it. although, where is alex wong?!

top 10 boys. (amazing)

top 10 girls.

on repeat.

totally obsessed with these two ultimate summer songs. they have been on repeat non-stop!

number 1: party rock anthem by lmafo. can i be a dancer in this video?! (dedicated to miss nicole bean)



number 2: by miss nicki minaj. makes me think about driving around with my friends in the summer back in high school!!

easter brunch.

just wanted to share a few pics from easter sunday. it was very low key and just a beautiful day. my parents came over and we enjoyed a delicious meal of creme brulee french toast, fruit salad, mimosas and of course apple cupcakes for dessert...my mom made those! while breakfast was cooking, we sipped the mimosas on our back patio and enjoyed the sunshine and amazing weather. i found the french toast recipe on allrecipes.com. here are baking instructions:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 6 French bread
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Remove crusts from bread, and arrange in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange brandy, and salt. Pour over the bread. Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature.
4. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.

enjoy!

google again!

google is on a roll this week! today's animated logo is in celebration of choreographer martha graham's birthday! it was illustrated by ryan woodward. brilliant!

have you googled today?

i am loving the google logo today! there are 16 various doodles reflecting the mr men and little misses characters. it is a tribute to their creator, roger hargreaves, for his birthday! everytime you visit or refresh the page, a new drawing will appear! reminds me of my childhood books! enjoy!

mom.

love you mom. so much. hope you have a fabulous day.

happy mother's day to all the moms + moms-to-be!

p.s. thank you to alison conklin for this beautiful image of my mom and i!

so pretty.

happy royal wedding day!

nicole.

i just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped us through this very difficult time.

nicole, this song, shape of you by jewel, is for you. we miss you. (i apologize if this brings tears...i have just loved this song since i heard jewel sing this at the grammys)

i wrote this the day before her funeral, in hopes of reading it that day, but i just wasn't able to:

you live for the fight when that’s all that you got. anyone who knew nicole knows that that was a line from one her favorite bon jovi songs. she definitely was a fighter. everyday.

no matter if it was because she had been sick and in the hospital and proved every single doctor’s negative prognosis and statistic wrong.

or when she was in high school and we all fought just to get her a handicapped bathroom or the auditorium ramp so that she could get her diploma on stage just like all of her friends.

or when she joined wheelchair tennis, wheelchair racing, and wheelchair basketball...proving that she could do anything just like everyone else.

or if it was when she would fight with me because i supposedly would steal the remote control from her, even though it was always right next to her.

or when she would argue with my mom about brushing her teeth, everyday...even though she never, ever would have a cavity when we would go to the dentist.

being her sister i never noticed the spinabifida, her wheelchairs, her crutches, her braces for her legs, her physical therapy visits, the at times, the lengthy hospital visits, her oxygen tubes, or her many medicines she always had to take....she was just a normal person and all of that stuff was just a normal part of our lives.

thanks to my parents we had an amazing childhood filled with so many happy memories. whether it was our rollerskating down our driveway when we were about 4 and 6, yes both of us did that. playing with our barbies and their dreamhouse in her room on saturday mornings. going to our first concert, new kids on the block. playing with teddy ruxbin. when my uncle ben gave us perms, mine only in my bangs?! snow tubing down the wheelchair ramp in the backyard. spinabifida association christimas dance parties. watching eagles games together and playing in our fantasy football league. going to a million nsync concerts. dancing together at my wedding....there are countless happy times to look back on.

next to my mother, she was absolutely the strongest woman and friend that i knew. she put up that fight everyday. even in these past few months, when it was really tough, she stayed strong and continued to prove those doctors wrong.

i love you so much nicole and will miss you. but i know that you are still putting up your fight, wherever you are...and probably stalking jon bon jovi right this moment and maybe even arguing with someone about the remote.

why the phanatic is awesome.

stand by me.

this video was done by 5 sound engineers who went around the world recording individuals performing this song. they then blended them together into one song and video, which is, IMHO, wonderful. the first guy shown is at the 3rd street promenade in santa monica and they move on, around the world from there...

Stand by Me from theRedPillRadio on Vimeo.

pat's birthday surprise!

on sunday, i surprised pat with an overnight 35th birthday trip to the city. i was able to secretly get him a vacation day at his work for monday. after arriving at our hotel, le meridien hotel, we went on a mini pub crawl and had dinner at the capital grille. it was a day filled with yummy beers, lots of good eats and of course, some cupcakes. thank you to kathy for the room. it was amazing!!!!!

while we were away, i had my mom set up everything at home for his birthday dinner on valentine's day!

p.

happy birthday to most amazing, funny, happy, hard-working, stylish, red-headed, blue-eyed, bartending, yellow sneaker wearing, wine loving, romantic, silly, and loving husband and best friend a girl could ask for. hope you enjoyed your birthday suprises this weekend. love you.

keep breathing.

just when you think life is calming down...there it goes and gets crazy again. when you have had enough, and feel like you are going to scream...play this. keep breathing by ingrid michaelson...and breathe.

matters of the heart.

i am very excited to announce a gallery opening for our (absolutely amazing) wedding photographer, alison conklin. it is wednesday, february 23rd at the trust venue in philadelphia from 6 to 9pm. it will be an evening of amazingly beautiful photographs, cupcakes, raffles and fabulous style, all benefiting the american heart association. raffle tickets will be $10 for ten tickets and if you wear red, you will get and extra five tickets! we can't wait!

rsvp by february 18, 2011 to hello@alisonconklin.com! for more information, visit alison's blog.

fab.

i have been on a very long search for unique wallpaper for our downstairs hallway. it has been pretty tough convincing my husband how fabulous wallpaper is these days and that it isn't like our grandmother's floral prints anymore. check out these amaaaazing designs by italian designers wall & deco. i absolutely love these first two (letterpress + sans).

some other really fun patterns.