last of the mohegans....or the day i broke down and bought a kindle.

          anyone who knows me personally, knows that i adore books, the way they smell, the texture of the paper, the sound of the crisp pages turning, ahhhhhh, i love book.
          my love affair with books started when i was very young and would visit my local brooklyn branch of the library, "where the wild things are", "the lonely doll", "bread and jam for frances"..."charlottes web" made me cry each time i read it and how i lost myself for endless summer days reading "the hardy boys", "nancy drew" and lets not forget those  "bobsy twins"!
          i can pour over magazines the dozens and have every issue of mary englebreits home magazine categorized by season.and have dozens and dozens of cookbooks,hell im a paper artist! a trip to the book store is like disney land, its not just a trip but an experience, am i painting a picture for you here?
         i was having nothing to do with an electronic book of any kind,i would poo poo such an idea. electronic book, what idiot thought that was a good idea?
      well, i received a gift card from my students and wanted to buy something that would remind me of them and i was chatting about books with my mom and she and my dad both have kindles and share books, and i'm trying to purge items in my home and more books is the last thing i need, i can only use so many to decorate with, not to mention how expensive they are to buy. so i thought, why the hell not indulge in a kindle and see what all the hoopla was about for myself. julian has been wanting one as well so off to best buy we went to purchase our electronic books. now we got the basic model, i couldn't bring myself to get the more expensive one even though my give card was very generous, but i did have some shoes in mind and i wasn't even sure i would enjoy using this foreign object. well folks i'm here to tell you I LOVE MY KINDLE........yikes, there i said it, i do, i love it.its easy to read, its light and reading in bed is so enjoyable, no fussing with the book, loosing pages, or getting a cramp in my hand, i have downloaded several books and can't put the darn thing down! its as if i have learned to read for the first time and cannot get enough.

       now don't get me wrong, i will still take trips to the book store and i will still buy a gazillion magazines and the odd book now and again, but this gal has caught up with them times.....now if i could only figure out how to set the dvd player and work my remote and i will be an electronic guru!

sending this out to the universe

Picnic sandwiches
Originally uploaded by stacycakes

its no surprise to you that this has been a very stressful year for my family and myself. the loss of my uncle has been a devastating one and i don't think we will ever get over his untimely death. now we are facing some financial worries. i know that necessity is the mother of invention and i have worked very hard to provide for my family after my divorce but i need to find something to do to supplement my income. so i need some advice, and here is where you, my friends come in, here are some of my business ideas
1. selling my famous raspberry torte, it is delicious, it is always one of the most requested desserts that i make, good idea? pros/cons?
2. i could be a picnic planner, i love picnics, i make lovely picnics for my family, i could make a lovely romantic picnic or a family picnic for twelve, no problem, from sandwiches to dessert, and all the accouterments, i am your gal! good idea? pros/cons?
3. simple art/baking classes for children?i am a preschool teacher, i am an artist, and i am a cook (although not professionally trained) i would really enjoy some small classes with kids, what fun we could have. good idea? pros/cons?
just writing these ideas down have made me feel a bit less confused but would love and appreciate any feed back you could offer.
so i;m sending this out to the universe....universe can you hear me?

mixed media door

once upon a time i had decoupaged and painted my door and after several years needed a change. i happened upon a fabulous dolce and gabbana catalog from paris and thought the images would be beautiful decoupaged on my door. i started by punching circles with my martha stewart punch and deocoupaged them on the door, i used approximatly 125 circles. this worked out well to cover up the pre existing decoupage. i then chose a paint pallete of creams, blues, taupe and gold. i painted around each of the circles haphazardy. i think the effect is very visually pleasing, i will go back in and add some more creams to lighten it up, but am happy with it thus far. never be afraid to take a chance, the worse thing that could happen is you need to buy a new door.

-take risks: if you win you will be happy, if you lose, you will be wise.



My room all done

My room all done
Originally uploaded by stacycakes

It all started w a box, a Tiffany box to he exact. I wanted to paint my room the color of my Tiffany box, cause let's face it, when you are lucky enough to receive a gift from tiffany's how excited do you get? I get very excited!.... Breakfast at tiffany's is one of my favorite movies and I enjoy the store, it's jewels and the color immensely.now I went to the store and got lots of swatches that I thought were a match but nothing came close, and the nice people at home depot told me they could match this color exactly,I thought This was the best thing since peanut butter and jelly, ut the machine wasnt working so we ventured to a different home depot. Low and behold we left w the perfect color! We painted the ceiling buckwheat by martha Stewart, the duvet and matching shams are linen from restoration hardware, the throw is from anthropology,the " love" shams are from the u.k. And the burlap drapes are from ballad design. The dress form is from a flea market in manhattan, the ballerina prints are degas, the night stand was my grandmothers sewing table that I painted. The bench is an antique that i reupholstered w burlap and stenciled w a french stencil.My bed frame is from pottery barn and I added the piece of salvaged wood to the head board. My room is my sanctuary, and I adore sleeping in a Tiffany box every night!!

Lemon squares And Meyer lemons

Originally uploaded by stacycakes

Last week we went to eataly and I couldn't resist the beautiful lemons I saw when I walked in. Meyer lemons, gorgeous color, lovely leaves and shiny, the smell, intoxicating.....after admiring them all week I decided to make lemon bars. I searched for a recipe that suited me and settled on this one from about.com. Even though I didn't eat any myself,the empty platter was proof enough!
Heres the recipe
2 cups flour
1/2 cup confectionary sugar
2 sticks butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
4 eggs well beaten
1 heaping teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
Sift flour and confectionary sugar together, cut in butter until blended.ressive into bottom of 9x 13 pan, I used a fluted tart pan. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Combine re,remaining ingredients and spread on crust. Bake at 350 for 30 more minutes. Sprinkle w confectionary sugar, enjoy!

Frog preschool lesson

Frog preschool lesson
Originally uploaded by stacycakes

This week we learned about the life cycle of the frog. We started out by talking about the difference between ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans. Than the children were asked where different creatures live. I filled my sensory table with water beads, which resemble frog eggs. If you are not familiar with water beads, google them immediately, they are very popular with the preschool set. It was so lovely out that we held circle time outside and I drew the different stages of the frogs life. The children than all had a turn drawing one stage. Most chose frog eggs, they did a great job! One day hey painted just tadpoles, we made frogs out of paper plates, and we illustrated the life cycle on paper, which though a challenge, came great! We made some cat talks out of pup cleaners and some paper turtles and made our own pond in our train table.finish the week w leap frog and a rendition of five gene and speckled frogs. I always enjoy this lesson, and so do the children!

Bunnies and carrot fun

Originally uploaded by stacycakes

We did so many fun projects leading up to Easter, we did a whole study on carrots, we planted carrot seeds, ate carrots as snack, we drew carrots,pai Ted carrots and sculpted carrots and than added some bunnies into the mix, cause bunnies love carrots! Than we had fun w eggs, dying them ,playing w plastic eggs. We had a fun couple of weeks.