farm to table

…sort of.

I love that phrase – farm to table.  It sounds like such a basic concept.  It is one that we’ve embraced recently in our house.  Well, I guess it has been more like farm to store to table.  But once the harvest season starts it will definitely be more farm to table.  Anyway…

First let me say thank you to so many of you who have consistently followed up with us on Ryan’s MS diagnosis last fall.  He is doing just wonderful.  In fact, much better than before.  And me too.  We have embraced new routines and ditched a few old ones.  Mostly we’ve been really cognizant of what we’re eating and how our meals are made and, most importantly, how those foods impact Ryan.

I’ve never been much of a chef and I’m no food blogger.  There are plenty of fantastic blogs out there for recipes and such but as I’ve been sharing some of my new recipes with friends, they encouraged me to post about it.  Perhaps you’ll have an interest too.

We haven’t become vegetarians or anything official but we’ve embraced a highly vegetable based diet and legume based for that matter.  The turning point was receiving my first ever food processor at my bridal shower.  We ate veggies before but usually in a raw or steamed state as a side. Nothing fancy.  The food processor has hands down changed my life.  And I actually like cooking and experimenting in the kitchen now.  I had no idea how versatile chick peas are!  Yes, I’m getting excited about chick peas.  That’s the new me.

Let me just share some of my latest concoctions.  Ryan laughs at me every time I take pictures of our meals.  I take pictures of our sofa, mantelscape and everything else.  So why stop at dinner?

Chick pea “meat”loaf with carrot soup – my soups need some work

chick pea loaf & carrot soup

Sweet potato stuffed pepper with a garlic cream sauce – hands down, my favorite so far although probably the least photogenic.  Can you believe I never ate a radish before now?

sweet potato stuffed pepper

Mediterranean loaf (with basil, pepper, tomato & mozzarella) – Ryan thinks we need to come up with a new word for “loaf”.  I agree.  Any suggestions?

Mediterranean loaf

Smoked salmon salad – an oldie but goodie.  I think we may be headed down the path of pescetarian but again, no official commitments here

smoked salmon salad

Mango vanilla smoothie – we still go for the ol’ classic strawberry smoothie on the reg too. Apparently I don’t have pictures of either.

I seriously shock myself with my new found kitchen prowess.  Ryan is feeling very healthy and active which is the goal when you have MS.  You want to keep a high energy level and remain active so the disease doesn’t creep up on you.  Certain foods, like kiwi, can increase your energy level.  He’s even lost weight.  Men, they lose it so easily!  Hmmph.

And we LOVE doing yoga.  It is so relaxing & strengthening.  I find it helps me a lot with stress.  I never thought I’d become an organic, yogi but I think that’s the path I’m on.  Ryan continues to do all of the things he loves like fishing & bike riding.

It’s funny how life has a way of throwing you curve balls.  You can either let it get you down or embrace it and make the best of it.  I’m pretty happy with how we’re tackling Multiple Sclerosis head on over here

So what healthy recipes should I try next?

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making progress

Everyone in the blog world is talking Thanksgiving and Christmas and here I am talking spring.  As most of you know, we are planning our dream wedding.  Ok, my dream wedding.  Ryan is a doll who seems to agree with all of my ideas for our wedding.  So at this point, we’ve made a lot of progress including securing a date, venue, photographer, officiant, band and some of the other “big things”!

No I didn’t choose a dress yet.

We’re getting into the nitty gritty details at this point so I thought I’d keep you up to date.  Details, as you know, are my thing.

About 6 weeks ago we had an engagement photo shoot.  We lucked out that crisp fall morning with a wonderful showing of bright autumn colors at Maple Acres Farms.

They were so very accommodating at the farm.  They even let us bring Wilson although he was a bit of a diva (or is that divo?) when it came time for his close up.  I thought you’d like a peek at our photos since there are rarely pictures of us posted.  But let’s start with Wilson since you see him all of the time.

Our e-session photographer, Mandy Keep, captured just how vivid the autumn day was and all of the natural beauty and charm the farm offers.  I particularly like how the photos emphasize the primary and secondary color scheme which is very opposite of how the wedding color scheme will most likely work out.

It was important to me that we look like ourselves and dress like ourselves.  Ryan and I shopped our closets for favorite clothes we already own in complementary colors.  We didn’t do anything over the top to prep for the shoot.  We were just us.  Wilson too.

Now this is where Ryan would probably point out that we don’t normally take a wagon full of vintage props out on a walk with us.  And he’s right.  That’s where I may have gotten carried away but overall I like how the props and colors worked into the farm setting.  Subtle right?

Check us out on the vintage Orrlaskan wool blanket (similar to a Hudson Bay blanket)!

We also had a pair of vintage industrial stools out in the field which is totally natural.  I love how Mandy captured the foliage in this shot.

And who doesn’t love frolicking in the cornstalks?

We’re just about 6 months out from the big day. I am starting to think about our invitations and what they might look like.  As you may have guessed, I would like to hand make them.  I had initially thought we wouldn’t send Save the Dates mostly because it would be too laborious to make them all plus how could I practically make them and add engagement photos?

However, our wedding is essentially a destination for 99% of our guests since we are getting married at the beach which is about 2 hours away for most.  We decided it would be considerate to send Save the Dates after all.  And I’m glad we did once I heard the date morphed from May to March in one line of communication in my family!  Now everyone has plenty of time to  make accommodations.

We partnered with Wedding Paper Divas to create the perfect Save the Date.  After narrowing down several hundred Save the Date choices to about a dozen, we ended up going with Chalk Frame Charm for our layout.  I like how it had the look of an erased chalkboard but also allowed us to incorporate 3 pictures from our shoot.  It definitely foreshadows the fun, casual vibe that we’re creating for our wedding.

We received the Save the Dates in less than a week and sent them right out to our guests.  We actually had the opportunity to speak with a live consultant at Wedding Paper Divas and provide feedback on our proofs so we were sure they were perfect!  I’m glad we ended up doing Save the Dates.  It wasn’t nearly as daunting of a task as I’d initially thought.  Check that off the list!

And the money shot of the day goes to Wilson.  This one is going up on the wall.

There are a few other favorite photos that have a vintage vibe to them.  I am using them on other areas of the blog and for business purposes.  My favorite one is on the ‘About‘ page.

Photos by Mandy Keep Photography

on the road

Today was a pretty great day.  The perfect fall day to be on the road with my sidekick, Wilson.  (This was the best shot he’d give me.)  Fall is still hanging on and the sun was shining high.  We had a gorgeous drive.

We made a new friend who was all about posing for the camera.

She wasn’t shy at all.  In fact she gave me her better side.

And then invited me in for a tour.

I don’t know what it is about barns and farms in general that I am enamored with.  I suppose it is a lifestyle that I know little about having grown up in the suburbs but I’m always caught off guard by all of the simple, natural undeveloped beauty a farm offers.

And the old construction of the barns plus the new patina.  Boy, what I would do with that door.  It would look great above my mantel.

So what was a non-farm girl like me doing on this beautiful horse farm?  My upholsterer’s studio is located there!  I know.  Amazing.  I love taking that trip.  There are a couple of cute outbuildings and several homes on the property including a grand old farm house!

Back to biz though.  I picked up a fabulous club chair that I will post about next week after I tweak the finish.

Wilson and I made a few other pickups today.  Mostly of the holiday merchandise type.  Specifically vintage and handmade!

We also made some wreaths, painted a bit and planted paperwhites when we returned home.  Actually who am I kidding?  Wilson took a nap!  I did those things.

Prep mode continues for the holidays at our Brick & Mortar.  Hope you’ll come visit this weekend!  Open Saturday & Sunday 10-5.  Don’t forget, we have Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in stock too!

Other local events that I am participating in this weekend include viewing Freud’s Last Session at Arden Theatre after attending The Scene.

And on Saturday night I will launch my modeling career at The Frock Shoppe’s charity fashion show.  And then I’ll retire my modeling career.

What are your plans for the weekend?

thanks and a fall wreath

First of all can I just start by telling you how incredibly moved I am by all of your support and sweet feedback on Wednesday’s post about Ryan’s diagnosis?

Seriously moved over here.

Social media has become a very powerful tool.  As I wrote about us, reviewed it, re-reviewed it, hesitated to post it, I just hoped that a positive message would be transmitted.  We basically want to take something that we are already doing and that is well-liked and make a contribution with it.  So thank you all for your enthusiasm in this fundraiser!  It truly means a lot to us.

Now how do I follow that up with a fall wreath?

Well here it is.  A mini Indian corn wreath.

In January, after we removed the holiday Douglas fir wreaths from our windows, we saved the metal wreath forms.  They look something like this.

I pulled a few out to make mini Inidian corn wreaths.  You can buy clusters of the Indian corn at just about any Farmer’s Market this time of year.  I laid clusters of 2-3 cobs in between each prong, overlapping one after another.  The corn covers the mechanics of the prongs.

The prongs close over the stalks while adding rustic fall texture.

And of course it wouldn’t be complete without a bow!  I went with a simple 4 loop bow.  The ribbon I used is like a combination of burlap and raffia.  It can be found at flowers shops.  I also looped the ribbon throughout the wreath.

Indian corn can be really brittle to work with.  It naturally wants to disconnect from the stalks so hot glue may be necessary for keeping it in tact.  I wouldn’t recommend hanging this wreath outside.  It will be gone in no time since the squirrels love Indian corn.  Definitely hang it behind a storm door or indoors!

hot pepper re-run

Hello all!  Tuesday already, huh? We certainly had a busy weekend around here with the Harvest Party sale and all.  Thanks to everyone who came by.  I love meeting new vintage fans and followers.

We had beautiful weather for the first weekend of fall which had me thinking about this time last year.  My how quickly time flies.  We had similar blue skies and crisp weather.  This little blog has grown tremendously since then so I thought it would be fun to post a project I did exactly one year ago.  I loved my hot pepper wreath and hopefully this blog re-run will give any fall nesters out there an easy DIY idea…

SO…

I was inspired at the farmer’s market again. There was a huge basket of wrinkled hot peppers on sale. $3 Take ‘em all. Who can argue that?

Shiny. Red. Luscious. A couple of days past their prime for cooking.

Not for crafting. So I got a 12 inch flat wreath form.

And some wire. Layer 3 peppers on top of the former 3 and secure with wire.

I wired half of the wreath with the pepper stems out and the other half with the curly ends out.

I love the curly shape of these peppers.

I worked in some burlap scraps to up the fall factor and to hide the mechanics of the wire.

There you have a farmer’s market red pepper wreath.

Only 4 “ingredients” used.

Linking to Thrifty Decor Chick & Southern Hospitality Blog

lavender, clover & a harvest party

September is one of the reasons I love living in this part of the country.  (And October too.)  The cool evenings.  The brilliant blue skies and the hint of fall foliage.

And opening day at Clover Market!

On Saturday morning, we took an early drive out to New Hope and stopped at this beautiful lavender farm on the way.  I love how even Wilson took time to smell the lavender.

We also made a few new friends.  The resident llamas were very welcoming.

But seriously, the lavender.  Can’t you just smell it?

Then Sunday was all work.  And fun too.  As always, Clover Market did not disappoint.  I just love being a vendor at this seasonal antique/art/handmade/vintage market in Ardmore.  I get to see so many familiar faces, and new ones as well, in such a fun setting.  Thank you to those of you that stopped by and said hello!

If you missed Clover yesterday, the next market is October 14th.  Mark your calendar.  We’ll be there with new inventory.  I hear people drive 2-3 hours just to attend!  Yes, I’d agree that it’s that good.

But first we’re gearing up for next weekend’s Brick & Mortar Harvest Party!  There will be fresh, never before seen Circa Dee inventory in store.  Open 10-5 both Saturday and Sunday.  We’re located at 1814 Valley Forge Road in Worcester, PA.

See you soon!