Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Future Barber?

This would probably fall under on the brink of disaster!

I was on the train commute home from work when my husband sent me this picture via text.  My 5 year old, Nolan, came downstairs all excited, "Dad I gave myself a haircut"! 


OMG...It was bad.  Using his "kid scissors" he cut big chunks out of the front of his head almost down to the skin.

Nolan has been is a little obsessed with his hair lately.  One day last week he spent all morning in the mirror making his hair into a "faux hawk" to sport at school.  He even asked me for a little hairspray, what?  I have to admit, it did look really cute and I let him go to school like this.


and now we have this... 

After realizing the big mistake he made he said was mad at himself :( and crying "Dad you have to fix it".

My husband is a barber.  This may explain part of the hair obsession and the attempt at giving himself a haircut.  They made an emergency trip to Lessard's Barbershop. 

Looks like Nolan just got his summer haircut a little early (and a little shorter) this year.


This post wasn't meant to be an advertisement but I might as well give the shop a plug - If you are in the Boston area and have a hair disaster that needs fixing or just need a good cut stop by...
Lessard's Barbershop
545 Washington Street
Brighton, MA
(617) 789-4199











Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mommy and Me

After some fun but exhausting kid-filled couple of days I was looking for a little "Mommy and Me" time...with my Mommy that is...

It is a rare occasion that I get to be with just my Mum, like the old days.  We always have the boys with us or she, the incredible Nana that she is, has them when I am working. 

Our Mission - Oilcloth fabric for my dining room chairs.  I want to recover my dining room chairs for the third time...the first two fabrics that my mother helped me cover them with have been destroyed by little messy Marvins.  I want something I can wipe off but still want a decorative look.  I am searching for the perfect oilcloth fabric.  Who better to search for fabric with than my Mum.  She was an interior designer for years, has an expert eye for color and is fun to shop with.
.

We headed over to the Stitch House in Dorchester in search of greatness. 




This shop is fabulous!


They carry a lot of Amy Butler fabrics.  Just looking at these fabrics puts you in an inspirational mood.  The colors and patterns are amazing.

 

Not only does The Stitch House have fabulous fabric, it has a grand selection of of yarn and quilting needs.




They also have sewing, knitting and decorating classes & parties!


There were only two choices of oilcloths and they were quite lovely but wouldn't really "go" in my dining room.  But of course I didn't leave empty handed.  I fell in love with this fabric.  Not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I LOVE it.


Maybe something in our bedroom, I am liking how it looks with the brown walls...and the search for the perfect oilcloth continues...

You can The Stitch House on Facebook and Twitter or check out their website http://www.stitchhousedorchester.com/

Friday, April 15, 2011

Lunch and The City - Trattoria Andiamo

This week's Lunch and The City (you know like "Sex and The City" but different LOL):



A good salad is hard to find!  Here is one of my favorite places to get a great salad.  It's called Trattoria Andiamo, but I can never pronounce it so my friends at work and I refer to it as "the good salad place".  It's located on South Street in the "Leather District" of Boston and has much more than salad. 


Trattoria Andiamo is a family owned business by two sisters Sandy and Donna.  Each fabulous meal, sandwich or panini are inspired by their Italian mother's home cooking.



Here is Sandy with some of her staff. 

On this particular day I got my usual--Garden Salad with Rosemary Chicken. 


They sell Iggy's bread, an all-natural bread that I cannot resist.  My favorite is the Focaccia.
Another nice touch is Donna gives you a free sample of their homemade soup of the day, which was Lentil and it was so good! 


They sell beer and wine, not that I am going to get wasted during my lunch hour, but it's nice to know I do have the option (kidding of course!). 


They also cater parties and corporate meetings/events.


I told Sandy and Donna that I was going to blog about their restaurant because it is one of my favorites and Donna gave me a free cookie! 

You can find them on Facebook or their website http://andiamoboston.com/

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Decoupage Part Deux


For those of you that were asking what the hell is decoupage, here is a better definition:
decoupage  [dey-koo-pahzh] – French origin – the art or technique of decorating something with cut-outs of paper, linoleum, plastic or other flat material over which varnish or lacquer is applied.

Here is my second attempt at decoupage, this time it's with a galvanized bucket.


A few things I learned decoupaging the second time around:

1.  That unless I want to get interuppted 57 times this is something I can only do when the kids are at school or asleep!  Mom, what are you doing?  Mom can I help? Mum, I'm thirsty...Mom look what I did...Mom where is my paint...mom, mumma, mum!  LOL.

2.  I discovered that there are a number of different Mod Podges!  My favorite so far is the "Outdoor" Mod Podge.  It is really thick, glossy and bonds well.  The "Gloss" Mod Podge was good for overall coverage at the end of the project to give it an extra shine.

3.  Don't use Mod Podge the day after getting a manicure :( 

I moved production down to the play room, thinking everyone would stay in the same place.  Sean was the only one that complied...Nolan had other ideas.


I was going to completely cover the entire thing with decorative paper but found it to be much too advanced for my current decoupaging skill level.  So I added some strips and shapes.  Here are some tips/pictures on how I did this (again, I am not so good with the step by step)


I painted the "Outdoor" Mod Podge on the bucket and on the back of the paper.  After sticking it on I painted more "Outdoor" Mod Podge all over it.  And then some "gloss" Mod Podge.  I went a little Mod Podge crazy!


I took it outside to dry in the lovely sun.


 I also decoupaged a little gift tag...



I used the decoupaged bucket for a "his & her fabulous hair" gift package we donated to a fundraiser.  It was filled with "Moroccan Oil" Hair Products for her and "Towel Dry" products for him along with a gift certificate to Lessard's Barbershop (my husband's barbershop). 



Nolan wanted to add his own bow...



The fundrasier was for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  A friend from high school, Jimmy Stone, is running the Boston Marathon to raise money for Dana-Farber.  Jimmy's wife has been battling cancer this past year and is now in remission.  A great gift, a great night, for a great cause.














Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Food Allergy Thing...what the heck do you feed him?

Both of my kids have food allergies.  My 3 year old, Sean has a laundry list...ready?  Peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, dairy, soy, sesame seeds and bananas!  We have known about Sean's allergies since he was 9 months old.  With Nolan, my 5 year old, we thought he wasn't allergic to ANYTHING until a recent a scary incident with a cashew.  Nolan is also allergic to sesame seeds (see "The Food Allergy Story" for their stories). 

For Nolan we avoid sesame seeds (sesame seed buns, hummus to name a few) and anything containing ANY kind of nuts just in case.  For Sean, the usual question I get is...What do you feed him?  What CAN he eat?  Sean can have chicken, beef, all the meats as long as they aren't mixed or cooked with anything he is allergic to.  He can have veggies and most fruits.  Here are some of his other favorite things:

These hot dogs are from Applegate.  Most hot dogs contain milk or casein which is a milk protein (I know, I didn't know either!)  These Applegate dogs and also Boars Head hot dogs don't contain milk.


Sean can't eat bread because it contains wheat.  This is his favorite "bread" it's made from brown rice.  It took us a while to find "bread" that wasn't hard as a rock.  The "Light Brown Rice Loaf" from Ener-G is a good one.


Sunbutter!!  The is our all time favorite and a staple in our house.  It is made from sunflower seeds and is a great alternative to peanut buttter.  My kids LOVE it, I love it!  They both bring sunbutter and jelly sandwiches to school for lunch.  When their preschool became peanut/tree nut free, I called the Sunbutter company and they send us 100s of samples for the school.  The director of the preschool sent it home with the parents for the kids to try, it was a hit!!


We sometimes make plain popcorn with canola oil or even olive oil.  Sometimes packaged popcorn has dairy in it but this one from Trader Joe's doesn't and it is really good...sweet and salty!


This is brown rice pasta, it's really good!  Sean loves it plain or with tomato sauce and ground turkey or hamburger.

                                                                                              (I love seeing this on a label)

Sean's addiction...Rice Milk!!  I buy 5 of these a week, he can't get enough.  He likes both brands--Rice Dream and Trader Joe's.  The ones I buy are enriched with calcium and vitamins.  Not only does he drink it by the carton, he puts it in his cereal, I use it to to make mashed potatoes, frosting--basically any recipe that calls for milk.  They also come in little boxes, like juiceboxes, get on the go! 


Something fun...365 (Wholefoods brand) Tater tots, we all eat these!

These are Enjoy Life cookies and bars.  They are an awesome treat!

He loves the Sunbutter bars
If Sean is having a party at school or we are going to a birthday party, we use Cherrybrook Kitchen cake mix and make cupcakes.  They actually keep some in the freezer at school :)

You can get more information on any of the products I talked about by clicking on the highlighted brandname.  It will take you to their website.

Other "normal" junk food that he can eat - Lay's potato chips, Fritos, Skittles, Dum Dum Lollipops. 

Sean has a really good appetite and is not picky...he eats whatever I put in front of him.  It is only now that if we are out somewhere he asks "can I have that" or "is that my kind"?  He is usually pretty good about things, probably because he has been eating this way his entire little life and doesn't know any different.

Here is my happy boy Sean and his big bro Nolan

More to follow on eating out...which we don't do much anymore with the kids but we have found a few special spots!