Check Out Our First NYC Apartment!

Heinz was looking at websites where you can rent an apartment in Manhattan instead of staying in a hotel. The building where we first lived was sold, and Heinz found where you can rent it by the month. We're pretty sure that this is the living room of our exact apartment because it has the same view. You can stay there for $5,400 a month.

The Hogwarts Extravaganza

Here are pictures of the Harry Potter party, finally! I didn't get them up sooner because I have been recovering from the weekend. As usual, I got caught up in the moment and forgot to take pictures of everyone who came to the party. So if you have pictures of your costumes, please e-mail them to me so that I can do another post. I tried to show as many of the decorations as possible. Sorry the sound effects aren't included: Umbridge's office had a recording of a kitten meowing. I think it creeped a lot of people out, but that's Umbridge for you. Thanks to everyone who came to the party!

Craft Room UPDATE

I've had several people request to see the shelves that Heinz put up for me in the craft room. I have just about everything in there unpacked, but it's not all that neat right now.

Close to the bottom on the left is a shelf that Heinz made me before we got married for me to store my spices on. Now that I have a spice drawer, it's perfect for rubber stamps.



These are $2 plastic shoeboxes that I got from the Container Store for my yarn. I have individual projects in each box. Now I just have to label them.



More shelves, and lots of wrapping paper!



This is an old formica table that my dad gave me. I LOVE it. It's perfect for crafts. It's a really hard surface and it's really wide. And who cares if I get glue on it?



I got this floor lamp at Bed Bath & Beyond. I'm happy that I have one room that I can decorate with pink!

Crazy Halloween

We were warned ahead of time that the guy across the street from us attracted a lot of kids for Halloween. His whole front yard was covered in stuff, he had a maze in the back, and a 7-ft friend of his dressed up like Gene Simmons from KISS. So we bought a LOT of candy. The police shut off our street, and there were several hundred people walking up and down our street and standing in our yard and the street looking at this guy's house. We had 212 trick-or-treaters. And the weird thing was is that not everyone stopped by our house. A lot of them seemed to walk right past. It hurt my feelings a bit.

Would You Want to Stay in This Room?

I'm thinking about getting this bedding for the guest bedroom. I would probably paint the walls the light blue color that's barely in the duvet cover, and then put the red chair-and-a-half in there since it would match. Is this too bright? Or would you want to stay in a room that's more relaxing?

Games Closet

We have a whole closetful of games in our basement, and Layton had a really great time playing as many of them as he could while he was here.



Here Layton and Heinz put together my dad's old Mouse Trap game from the late 1950s. Not one piece is missing! I love the font on the game. So retro!



Then we attempted to play Don't Miss the Boat.



Then Heinz fixed the motor for Mr. Mouth. The box said that it was from 1976. It was originally my cousin's and then he gave it to me.



We also played Skittles (a really old-fashioned game), Yahtzee, Sequence, table tennis, and Memory.

Monkey Cupcakes for a Little Monkey

Yesterday was Julia and Ryan's son Liam's first birthday. I made monkey cupcakes using Magnolia's vanilla cupcake recipe with the chocolate buttercream. The face is a vanilla wafer, and then the ears are made of Nutter Butters. I wish I had a photo of the chocolate icing that Liam smeared all over his face!

Caramel Apples

Layton and I made caramel apples the other night. I'm pretty sure that the Southern Living recipe was wrong--it said to use more liquid than the bag of caramels did. That might be why all the caramel slid off.

New Living Room Color

I painted the living room Marblehead Gold. I think it's hard to see the differences in colors in these pictures, but it's a big improvement. The first color was very cool and olivey; the new color is much warmer. I was going to paint some high-gloss vertical stripes on the walls but it didn't exactly work out.

Read My Friend Michael's Article

My friend Michael in New York got a gig writing movie reviews for Examiner.com. He gets paid per page hit, so let's help him make some money! Click this link to read his first story.

The Hogwarts Test Kitchens

Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Seed Brittle are not mentioned in the Harry Potter books, but I think that they're something that wizards would probably eat. So I've been looking for recipes and trying different ones. They're both delicious!

The Dining Room Before

Before, the dining room had a dark gold/brown color on it. This is the previous homeowners' stuff. See below for the update!!

The Dining Room Is (Almost) Finished

I started painting the dining room on Sunday, and for some dumb reason, I thought it wouldn't take me very long. I'm currently on day 5, and I still have more to finish tomorrow.

After seeing pictures of the first coat, my mom suggested painting the chair rail and moldings the same color as the trim. Which is a great idea, but it sure has taken a lot longer to do. (In addition to already having to paint the lower half of the wall completely by hand. And having to sand down and repaint two panels because I used a difficult brand of paint for part of it.) And I thought that I would be finished today, but as I was pulling up the painter's tape, I noticed that much of the paint bled underneath it. So tomorrow morning I'm going to get a tiny tiny paintbrush and try to fix it by hand, because right now it's a hot mess.

But overall, I love the look. I think that the moldings make it look crisp and will work really well with the ideas I have for the decor.

Here's to Project Runway

Last week while we were watching Project Runway, Heinz expressed his disappointment that I hadn't posted this picture on the blog while we were in New York. I happened to find it on my computer tonight; I think that his mom took it while she was visiting. So Heinz, this one is for you!



More Fashion District pics



I don't know who this guy is. Maybe it's Tim Gunn.

Stay Tuned!

For new dining room photos, hopefully later tonight. I'm painting right now!

Flower Power Cupcakes

Happy 30th Birthday to my friend Stephanie! (And happy birthday to third-person Grandma, who turned 85 today too, but she doesn't know about blogs.) I made Magnolia Bakery's chocolate cupcakes and used an idea for decorating them that I got from Betty Crocker. These flower petals are actually pieces of marshmallows that I cut up with scissors. Hard to believe, huh? I was very skeptical but it worked great. The centers are ginormous gumballs because I know from a previous blog post that Stephanie loves them as much as I do.



Hey, has anyone seen Kermie and Miss Piggy? ... uh-oh.

Lemonade Cupcakes

Every year I have to make Lemonade Cupcakes for Heinz's birthday. This year I had an idea for making them look like a glass of lemonade. Next time I'm going to make squares of rock candy to put on top to look like ice cubes.



The birthday boy makes sure that no batter is left behind.

From Instant Bar Mitzvah to Instant Live Bait

In New York, I could step outside my apartment and get an instant bar mitzvah. Now I can get fresh, live bait anytime. (But I do have to say that the live bait is not real close to my house. But it is close to Heinz's work.) I find this comparison amusing.

Craft Room Lights

I know that this light is super trendy right now, but I don't care because I love it. Heinz put two of them in the craft room for me today. You can get it at Ikea.

The Harry Potter Party Is Still ON!

I am so mad I can hardly see straight right now. The jerks at Warner Brothers (don't think I'm not going to complain) have pushed back the next Harry Potter movie until next JULY. I have been planning a party around the movie release date for MONTHS. I mean, you can have a Harry Potter party anytime, but it was fun planning it around the next movie. The party is still on for Nov. 22, because I can't wait until next July. I mean, I already bought gumballs and jelly beans!

My First Herb Garden

I've finally planted my first herb garden. I've been wanting one for years. I've had a hard time finding seedlings since it's the wrong time of year to start an herb garden. They all treat me like I'm crazy. But I don't care since Heinz is going to make me a green house for the winter.

I've already had some of the basil, which looks the best (in the left pot). I made a fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad yesterday. YUM-O!

I Finally Got the Dishes Unpacked

Two weeks ago when my mom was here we went through my old childhood toys and cleaned them up. It's amazing what good condition they were in. I guess that's what happens when an only child has my personality type.



I'm ready to make cupcakes!

At the Beach Cupcakes

I made some Beach-themed cupcakes for Luke's birthday a couple of weeks ago. I was pleased with how they turned out because this is what I hoped they would look like. I first made some little white chocolate seashells that I tinted ivory. I used Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcake recipe (YUM!!). I first spread on some ivory-tinted frosting and dipped that part in vanilla wafer crumbs. Then I spread on some aqua-colored frosting and put a goldfish cracker in it. Then on the back of the seashell, I put a little bit of ivory frosting on to adhere to the sand. Then once we were at the party, I put drink umbrellas in some of them.

This Is Why Men Aren't Allowed to Decorate

We were at Home Depot a couple of days ago looking for a sconce for the stairway. This was Heinz's suggestion.

Grumpy Old Bear

I made Susan B. Anderson's Grumpy Old Bear from Itty-Bitty Nursery for Luke's birthday. I think he liked it!

Now We're REALLY Back in the South!

Because I'm frying okra, yum! I believe that this was my great-grandmother's cast-iron skillet. Fried okra is my favorite. I order it sometimes at restaurants but it's never as good as when it's fried in cornmeal.

Craft Bookcases

My mom painted the bookcases for my craft room for me. I think that they're going to be really cute against the lime walls!

Colonel Mustard, in the Library

We've always wanted a library. We're using the front living room as a library because how many people actually use their front living room? We eventually want to get two of these recliners for the room.



Thanks to Abe for the beautiful bookends from the New York Public Library. Patience and Fortitude were one of our favorite sites in New York City, so we love seeing them every day. And to the left are my library labels. You can purchase them from www.levenger.com.

Craft Room: From Drab to Muppet

There are two slanted walls in the craft room, which were painted dark navy for some reason. It made you feel really closed in (HGTV says to paint them the same color as your walls, and not too dark so they look further away). So my step-mom Linda and I painted them lime green. At first I was worried that it was going to be too bright but I love it. Tomorrow I'm going to paint some bookcases fuschia and turquoise. So how long do you think it'll take me to regret these colors? I think that it's going to be a fun, vibrant, and creative space. Stay tuned for updates!