Talk About Pop Culture

Seriously.  We must discuss this.

I am obsessed with these two.  I stumbled upon this train wreck of a show a few weeks ago.  I am blaming the asses responsible for inventing the month of February.  In Ohio, no less.  February beats my mojo down something fierce.  After months of shitastic weather, come February I resemble a shut-in person.  So after exhausting my DVR and everything worthy of viewing On Demand, I was left with Big Rich Atlanta.  I wanna hate it like I'm supposed to hate gluten and cheese.  But I am a woman obsessed.  I am as obsessed with these two girls as Minaj is with every freak on Idol.  No judging.  Purple wine teeth, too many Outrageous Brownies, and February in Ohio does something to a person.  And it is not something cute or funny.

I'm gonna knock you out

so pretty without makeup

Also pretty without makeup

It’s official.  I’ve done gone and lost my mind.  Spring you better get here quick before the possibility of comatose blonde extensions and wearing Lady Gaga shouldermapad dresses to the grocery seems like a great idea.

Images

kisses,  mrs. V

My Nursery Design Philosphy

A lot of folks around me seem to have partaken of the conceiving waters.  Preggos everywhere I turn, whether IRL or on the interwebs. My sasster is on her 4th go round.  I cannot even imagine.  As with each one, she is not finding out the gender.  Whatever.  That just fractures my control-craving brain.  I LOVE obsessing about nurseries.  I especially love nurseries that don’t scream ‘baby’ or my name is ‘…’ As if you don’t know your own baby’s name.  Since sass is no help in the gender department, I put together two designs, one for a boy and one for a girl.  These are purely for fun as she is sticking to a neutral palette.  I, however, don’t really ‘do’ neutral.  I also don’t do ‘not finding out.’  And unless you have Bey/Jayz crazy money, I also believe it is imperative to design a nursery that will grow with your child.

This isn’t my sister's first rodeo, she knows the drill.  But for those of you on your first, here is my philosophy on nurseries - forget about dedicated nursery furniture aside from a safe crib.  Use or invest in foundational pieces that will transition with each stage of development or into other rooms in your house.  Makin babies is a spendy endeavor, so where possible, re-purpose pieces that you already have.  As hard as it is to imagine, the wee baby stage is truly a blink of an eye so look at your choices with the long view in mind.  As you can see here, I put together rooms that would have longevity.  The foundation pieces can really work anywhere.  To add levity to the foundation, I like to inject some fun or quirky element.  In the boy's design, the asses have it.  I mean, come on.  Baby donkeys = awesome redonkey donkness.  In the girl's design, I like the idea of shoving two blinged out side tables together and paring them with the modern lines of the grey rocker.  And that ceramic maltese?  Well, that's my Ruthie homage.  And as always, toys and accessories will keep the room age specific, as your child grows.

Let me know if you are interested in sources.  The blue abstract can be found here.  The Rorschach ink blot can be found here.  Love both of these art pieces hard.

All layouts by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V

A Fancied Up Box Cake

I did so do this.  And in doing so, discovered two very important things.  First, box cake is my new favorite friend.  Second, I should always make cake when ill.  I didn’t even enjoy so much as one lick of this delicious buttercream frosting.  My hips are thankful.  But back to the first important thing.

 

Let’s talk box cake.  Eddie rocks box cake.  Eddie Ross has long been my new Martha.  No surprises here as he worked for her.   I fell in love with him on Top Design - he had me at hello with his spin on granny chic and continues to amaze with his fabulous flea finds, gorgeous floral arrangements, STUNNING homes, even more stunning boyfriend, and don’t even get me started on his tablescapes.  Be-Yond.  Also, Eddie is funny, which you don’t necessarily get a flavor for from his blog.  If you aren’t following him on Instagram you are missing out.  How else will you know when he is channeling Joanna Stayton on his way to a fabulous trip on the Vineyard?  So if Eddie tells me that flaming turds are delicious, gonna try me some.  And if Eddie rocks a box cake every now and then, gonna do the same.  I mean, look at these beyond gorgeous monogrammed cakes he did!  Get out right now.

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I don’t consider using a box cake for this ‘cheating’ because I made the frosting.  Which is ironic because we all know that icing/frosting is the true nemesis in my kitchen.  But this frosting is ridiculously easy and delicious.  The recipe comes from an old Country Living recipe and I have used it in many applications.  

I used a yellow cake mix, following the instructions, and used two 6" x 2" round pans.  I cut the domed tops off the cakes with a serrated knife and then cut each cake in half, totaling 4 layers.  But I only ended up using 3 of the layers here.  For the record, the mr. said the cake was very good and moist.  That’s what he said alright.  None the wiser.

Mucho thanks to Style Me Pretty for the original inspiration although I have spent the last 45 minutes trying to find the original link on the SMP site to no avail.  I didn't have time to fancy up the skewers.  I just hand drew a heart and arrow tail on cardstock and attached each one to  an extra large toothpick with my daughter's glue stick. Cinch!

the inspiration cake

the Chez V version

One of these days I will get the hang of perfectly smooth frosting but today was not the day.  I am told the trick involves refrigerating the iced cake and then using a paper towel to smooth but that could be another urban legend.

PS if you're not following me on Instagram, you are missing out too!  Although I should warn you that I am not nearly as interesting or funny as Eddie!

All photos and layouts by mrs. V unless otherwise noted

kisses,  mrs. V

Happy Heart Day

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I so want to do this.  Aside from the fact that I cannot bake and that I am just getting over major vomitoso flu, I would indeed be doing this today.  Heck, maybe I still will.  But I can shop vicariously.  And shopping has been empirically proven to solve all ills, no?

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Squeezes to you and yours on this Hallmark day!

All layouts by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V