Nursery Teaser III

So I don't remember when or where I first saw this quote, but I do remember telling Darrell that when we had a kid, I was going to get a print of it to hang in our future child's nursery.

Well, it's years later, said kid is finally on its way, and you can bet I haven't forgotten about including this quote in the nursery decor (perhaps to Darrell's chagrin). And after some careful searching, I finally found the perfect way to incorporate it into our nursery:

Maybe it's just me, and maybe these will just be a passing fad, but I seriously love the printed wall decals (we also have this one in our foyer and another in our kitchen). And I was totally thrilled when I found one that included stars because they fit in perfectly with our gender-neutral nursery theme.

Oh, and yes, that is actually an image of the decal hanging in our house, which means those are the actual colors in our nursery. It may just be my most favorite shade of green ever...

Wedding Wednesday: Picking a Florist

I don't have a lot to share in terms of advice on picking a florist, but my biggest piece of advice would be similar to what I've said with all the vendors--make sure it is someone that you feel comfortable with and trust. They should be happy and excited to be doing the florals for your wedding; you'll probably be able to tell at the first meeting if this isn't the case. Beyond that, the only other major consideration you need to make is to make sure the florist has access to the types of flowers you want. Not all florists may be able to import that beautiful rare flower you have your heart set on; not all florists have large collections of silk flowers. And if you want to include non-floral items in your centerpieces (like lights), make sure your florists does that as well. 

There is also one main thing that you can do to ensure a good experience with your florist (which I alluded to above): trust them. Giving your florist a specific bouquet or centerpiece to re-create (right down to the number and types of flowers) will significantly limit their ability to put together the best possible arrangements for your wedding. An experienced florist will know which types of flowers will work best for your environment (indoor/outdoor/season of the year) and which type of flowers will best complement each other (remember that the colors you see in pictures may not reflect the true color of the flowers). It is best to give your florist guidelines on the theme and style of the wedding (bringing in photos of things you do/don't like is always helpful), as well as discuss color combinations that you are planning to use, then give them some creative freedom to create the final product. Don't hesitate to schedule multiple consultations with a potential florist to help build this trust, and as always, talk with former brides that you trust to help steer you in the direction of the right florist. 

Sarah's Key

It's been a long while since I've had a book review to share (almost five months exactly!), and I have no excuses other than I really haven't been reading. Well, at least not leisure reading; I have made my way through a few pregnancy/baby care books, but I haven't really felt compelled to share my thoughts on those (mostly because I have no experience by which to gauge the applicability and use of the books--at least not yet).

I finally got around to starting a book club with some friends in December, though, so that forced my hand at doing some reading for fun. And I'm glad it did--this is a book that I've been wanting to read for quite some time, but probably would have never bitten the bullet to go out and get it if it hadn't been for the club (the same is true of the book we're reading for next month--Life of Pi).

Sarah's Key starts by alternating between two separate stories--the story of Sarah, an eleven year-old French Jew who is part of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in 1942; and the story of Julia, an American journalist in France during 2009 who is writing an article about the upcoming anniversary of the roundup. During her research, Julia discovers that her husband's family (Paris natives) is connected to Sarah's story, and Julia makes it her mission to discover the truth, no matter what dark family secrets she must unearth along the way.

As a whole, I really enjoyed this book. Rather than being distracting and hard-to-follow, the style of alternating narrators actually caused me to become more engrossed in the book and subsequently increased the pace with which I read the book. I was also fascinated by the story of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup--in all of my reading and studying of WWII, I was unfamiliar with this particular event, which is a testament to the French government's attempt to keep quiet about this dark spot in their history. However, I did feel at times that there was too much going on--family secrets, marital struggles, internal conflicts, etc--and that all these themes were in some ways only loosely connected and addressed. I also thought that some of the character reactions and responses were a little contrived and over-exaggerated, but after discussing with Darrell and my book club I found that I was a minority in that perception (as someone who has no personal experience with many of the conflicts that occurred in the book, I had a hard time rationalizing an appropriate response to the situation, which caused me to be overly-critical of the character's response).

I would definitely recommend this book to others; the few flaws that it may have are not enough to distract significantly from the griping (and at times, heart-wrenching) story.

Our Biggest Weakness

Darrell and I had quite a few reasons for choosing to not to find out the sex of our baby, but as we get closer to the due date, I'm realizing we could add another reason to the list: financial savings. If we knew the sex of this child, I can almost guarantee that every trip to Target or Babies 'R' Us or even a second-hand store would result in us coming home with at least one new outfit for little one. In fact, I've even been tempted to buy some of the super cute outfits I've seen because I'm afraid they won't be available once baby actually arrives, but I can logically reason myself out of those decisions because I know I won't be able to return the outfits (at least not this far in advance) if they end up being for the wrong sex. And let's be honest--none of the gender neutral pieces are really to die for (although Target did have some cute ones while we were there this weekend--and they've since been added to our registry).

However, there is one piece of baby gear that we haven't been able to resist spending money on: books. At the rate we are going, baby is going to have a library that will rival mine by the time he/she is born (and believe me--I have a pretty extensive collection). It hasn't helped matters any that as I get closer to my due date I become more reluctant to buy full-priced maternity clothes, which lands me at second-hand stores to do my shopping. Second-hand stores that just happen to have large selections of super cheap baby books. Who can resist this gem for just $3.00?

Or this classic for a mere $1.50?

And no child's library is complete without a little Dr. Seuss (just $1.00 for the book!)

And that's only the tip of the iceberg! I suppose there are worse things we could be spending our money on, though, right?

I've got Darrell working on a pretty sweet bookshelf project for the nursery that I'm excited to share once he gets it finished; we've also crossed a few other nursery projects off our "to-do" list that I hope to share by the end of the week!

Sugar Cookie Icing

Public Service Announcement: If you live near me (and maybe even if you don't), don't be surprised if I show up bearing gifts of sugar cookies in the next few weeks. I've been staring at this photo all week as I've been working on this post, and you have no idea how much of a craving I have to make and ice these cookies Right. Now. I don't know if it's the bright colors of the icing, if it's the fact that I know they taste delicious, or if baby just can't get enough sweets, but I want these cookies again. Soon. And since I just made them a month ago and remember that they aren't nearly as time-consuming as I had previously thought, making them will probably become a reality. Especially since I discovered I have a ton of fun cookie cutter shapes.

And honestly, even though I think the sugar cookies taste delicious on their own (or lightly sprinkled), it's the icing that is really motivating me to make these cookies again. Almond extract is probably one of my favorite baking ingredients (random, but true), and I love the subtle flavor that it gives this icing. I wish I could claim this as an old family recipe, but I'm pretty sure I got it off of Allrecipes.com or something. Not nearly as glamorous--but still delicious. And although this icing doesn't "need" anything more with it, it would be really easy to use this icing as a base layer and then pipe additional decorations on to to cookies to take them to the next level of fancy. I've never been quite that ambitious, though--but that's usually because I'm in too much of a hurry to just eat the cookies.

Sugar Cookie Icing
(makes enough to ice approximately two dozen cookies)

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract
Food coloring

Stir powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. Add more corn syrup if icing is too thick. Mix in food coloring to achieve desired color. Dip cookies into icing or paint them with a brush.

A few other tricks of the trade if you've never worked with icing like this:

--If icing thickens while you are working with it, you can microwave it slightly to thin it out instead of adding more corn syrup.

--If you are choosing to dip the cookies, I've found that it works best to dip with the cookie in one hand and then to use a finger from the other hand to wipe some of the excess icing off the side of the cookie (you won't be able to get it all and as you can see from the picture it will still drip a little, but this will certainly help).

--Use a flat-bottomed container (or bowl) that is at least as wide as your largest cookie.

--Be sure to let the icing set completely before moving or stacking the cookies otherwise they will stick together.

Happy cookie-making!

Summertime Goals

So I know summer is still months away, but it's been seriously cold up in these parts all week and I can't help but think of a little warmth. Of course, thinking of summer does tend to freak me out a little bit because there will be a baby--OUR BABY--this summer, and I know that the little bugger will change things. And probably in ways that Darrell and I can't even imagine.

However, it's important to Darrell and me that baby doesn't completely change our way of life, because as excited as we are for baby, we do enjoy our life as it is now. So to keep us grounded--and to make sure we don't fall into a routine of staying cooped up at home--I've decided to put together a list of things I want to accomplish this summer. There is nothing terribly life-altering on this list--in fact, in each of the past four summers we've probably completed this list two times over--but for my own piece of mind I wanted to write it down. And if our hopes of maintaining a semblance of our "normal" life totally fails because Darrell and I are so incredibly naive about having a baby, then at the very least I'll have a list of the things we used to do before baby came around. But let's hope that isn't the case.

--Have at least two bonfires

--Attend at least five Sioux Falls Saints baseball games

--Go hiking at least twice

--Make time for at least two "Mommy and Daddy" only dates

--Participate in a road race

--Have at least two lunch dates downtown with Daddy

--Go to the lake cabin at least once

--Attend at least one large public event (Jazz Fest, Rib Fest, Sioux Empire Fair, etc)

--Get together with friends for at least four social gatherings

--Go on at least one long bike ride

I'm sure I'll think of more as summer gets closer, but if we can make it through even just those ten items I'll consider our summer a success!

Wedding Wednesday: Choosing Your Baker

Pretty simple here: Google any potential baker on Cake Wrecks. If they show up, immediately take them off the list of possibilities. If they aren't there, you're golden.

Okay, so that's maybe a little over-simplified, but there's definitely some truth to it. One of the things people will remember most about the cake is how it looks, so you want to make sure you can trust your baker to create a quality product. You might be tempted to think that as long as all the images on their webpage/in their portfolio are good than you can trust them, but a baker isn't likely to display his/her unsuccessful creations. Likewise, a baker might only share positive reviews on his/her website, so don't be afraid to dig a little deeper on the internet to find out if there are any dissatisfied brides out there. Also, be sure ask around to people who got married in the same area--even years later a bride will be able to tell you whether or not she had a positive experience with her baker and if the end product was what she was expecting.

Of course, the taste of the cake is important too, so be sure to schedule a tasting (like I have to twist your arm on that one. Cake tastings are definitely one of the perks of wedding planning). Don't just sample the cake, either; remember that the frosting and/or fondant can have a huge impact on the taste of the dessert, and the flavors and textures will vary from baker to baker. And don't be afraid to ask questions during the tasting--if the baker is serving you fresh cake at the tasting but freezes her wedding cakes before delivering them, you'll want to know how that may affect the taste.

Lastly, if there is a specific design or style that you are dead set on having for your cake, try to find a baker who has created a similar product. While a baker may be able to create beautiful geometric shapes, they may not be as skilled at producing delicately piped flowers. With the easy access to information on the internet, it's probably easy to find lots of cakes that model the style and design you desire. But if you want to make sure it is something your baker will be able to re-create, limit your searching to styles that are already in your baker's repertoire. Find cakes that they have previously created and choose the designs/patterns you like off of those, because it's pretty safe to assume that they'll be able to recreate something they've done in the past.

Hopefully with a little careful discretion and some diligent research you can avoid some of the disappointments that these brides had to face with their wedding cakes! (Or these brides--Cake Wrecks is such a fun and addicting site!)