Memorial Day Glamping (Glam+Camping)
May 10th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
This year will be year two of the annual Memorial Day weekend camping trip with my two best friends from high school Myra and Mandy.
Last year was my first time ever camping without my dad running the show so obviously being the resident chef I demanded to make all of the food and was pleased to find out if you bring a frying pan you can pretty much make anything you want.
I am obsessed with the UK phenomenon of Glamping (which is glam camping)- so this year we’re going to do the Memorial Day camping trip a little differently.
Cute decor. Candles everywhere. Couture clothes and heels. Fondue and red wine night. Gourmet meals. Mani-pedis by the fire. I just can’t wait for an even better weekend with my girlfriends than last year if that’s even possible. The best part of all this is I was mentioning it to another friend and she said “um… can you go glamping again this summer and can I come?!?”
I will definitely be posting photos but until then- fellow glampers-here are some links to help guide you to your first glamping excursion and maybe help you prep for the big trip:
Glamping Girl’s Ultimate Glamping Checklist
Wine glasses that travel great and can withstand any weather. Set of 2 stainless steel wine goblets- $24.00
Just say NO to beans and wieners! Seriously- some of us want to avoid sitting in the outhouse all night. You can pretty much cook anything you would cook on a normal stove over the fireplace with a sturdy skillet but if you’re looking for some inspiration here’s Robin Donovan’s Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors- $10.85
Or just bring the kitchen to you! Camp Chef Camping Outdoor Oven- $183
Sleep away in style and be way ahead of the trend. Shoot you can’t even find this booty in the states. Ric Rac Striped Teepee from UK designer Cath Kidston- £65.00
Juicy’s jumping on the bandwagon so it must be cool. Juicy Couture Sleeping Bag + Pillow Set – $178
For the weekend I plan to sew us a super-cute canopy to hang over our picnic table with fresh linens and grosgrain ribbon, utilize my parents’ toastite maker, in addition to plushy pillows and candelabras. Can’t wait to post the pictures!
What’s on the Itinerary
April 5th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Lately I’ve just had so much to do I don’t even know where to start! I have all of these projects lined up which means a ton of planning but not so much posting 
BUT I will give you some hints on what’s on the to-do list:
I totally fell in in love with this Lanvin Pompom Necklace from Barney’s but first of all let me start by saying it is $1,195.00 and second of all growing up my mother refused to buy me anything expensive she could make herself (and did! Thanks mom.) So I’m going to figure out how to make this and with the extra money maybe pay my rent.
While looking around for vintage liquor decanters for my latest home project (turning my desk area into a mini-bar- hey it was just collecting papers!) I encountered this object. I love that pretty much every year the fashion mags announce nautical themes are in as if we should be surprised- so naturally this will be a good investment of $1.99. Immediately my thoughts turned to my latest obsession:
The anchor necklace by Betsey Johnson seen in Confessions of a Shopaholic. Sigh. But to my dismay the rope was just too big to make into a necklace. However it is the perfect size for a bag handle! I’m thinking navy striped fabric with two giant ruffles at the top with a tattoo-style anchor and rose applique- also hoping to find a cute nautical print to line the bag with. Pirate ships maybe?
This last one’s a doozy- with all the crafting and creating I’ve been doing lately I have accumulated so much crafting supplies it looked like Michael’s threw up all over my apartment. SO I thought what a fun challenge it would be to make over a nasty old filing cabinet from Value Village ($14.99 yeah!). This is it before I gave it a giant bath in cleaner. The plan is to paint the outside and line the inside, cover the outside with linen fabric, and replace the handles with cute vintage drawer pulls.
Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.
Oh my but I’ve been a busy bee…
February 28th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
This month has been filled with my birthday and the subsequent party that followed. I have always wanted to throw a grown-up Disney Princess Party and my birthday was the perfect opportunity! I took out all the stops and came up with some great party ideas, DIY decorations and invitations and best of all had an amazing time with my friends. I’m posting the juicy details as fast as my fingers can type.
How to make perfect place cards when you have horrible handwriting
November 11th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
It can be done! The trick is to use dark paper. See the end of the post for tips on placing those guests.
All you need is some pretty paper (preferably dark, you’ll see why), a lighter color paint pen, scissors, glue, and a printer. An internet connection would be useful too.
On the computer, type out your guests’ names in your favorite fancy font, arrange them with plenty of space in between, and print on your fancy paper. I love to download fun new fonts from 1001FreeFonts.com. For tips on installing a new font on your computer, here’s a PC tutorial. Here’s a Mac one.
I then used a credit card to trace a rounded-edge square around the names, but then I discovered I didn’t leave enough room in between the names- good thing I had extra paper!
And now for the magic- trace over the printing with your paint pen. Because the paper is dark, the print ink will be unnoticeable. You’re so sneaky.
I didn’t like the rounded corners so I hacked them off to make something different. Did I mention I made larger cards to glue behind the names since I screwed up? I then outlined the outsides of both cards- I did this on newspaper to bring the paint to the very edge.
I really like how they turned out- maybe professional calligraphers aren’t telling us something…
As promised – here are some tips on where to seat guests when you’re using place cards- referenced by my FAVORITE life/entertaining/cooking manual; Jane Buckingham’s The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life.
- Try to alternate males and females, and seat couples away from one another
- Seat yourself at the head, with your significant other, or maybe a special helper, at the other end. This is a place of prominence and it might make a guest feel obligated to help out with the dinner logistics like refilling the water pitcher
- Use your knowledge about your guests’ personalities to dictate the flow of the table- spread out the more talkative guests among the quieter ones, you don’t want one end of the table sitting there awkwardly watching the other, more conversational end.
- Set a kitchen cart or small table up near the dining table with all of the water, wine openers, etc. you can see yourself leaving the table for. This will keep you in the action while you tend to host/hostess duties.
The Holiday Season is here- BRING IT ON!
November 10th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
The chill in the air, the 30-page Toys R Us ad (and by ad I mean catalogue) in the Sunday paper, the eggnog lattes- it’s here! Even the flu, which unfortunately I have had for the past week so I apologize for the lack of recent posts. No Martha-in-training can resist the call of the holidays- the baking, crafting, card-making, decorating- which is why I am so excited for the coming weeks. So much to post!
For now I will leave you with a little diddy to get you in the holiday sprit. Get excited!
A Teeny Tiny Haiatus
June 3rd, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Hi Everyone!
So here’s the deal- while my blog is meant to incorporate all thing fabulous such as cooking, decoration, crafts- there was a heavy emphasis on crafts and other goodies that were original ideas of… Moi! Being as my current camera is broken (curses to you Polaroid for making a forever bad product) I have taken a haiatus on blogging until I get a new one- please keep checking back because I have WAY more ideas than I know what to do with involving crafty ways to update your wardrobe, gifts, entertaining, etc…I have a wedding invitation spotlight (with instructions!) and much more. I am so grateful those of you that have followed me thus far but I am SO tired of giving you posts that are not my best ideas. Give me 2 weeks I will not disappoint!!! And as always I love to hear back from you on ideas and suggestions- domesticandinspired@gmail.com.
In the meantime for those Puget Sounders out there check out Seattle’s BEST cupcake boutique(featurd on Martha Stewart- yikes!) I have met the owner and Jennifer is the absolute sweetest (no pun intended!) Find her at http://www.trophycupcakes.com/
Muah!
Kelly Ann
