A Week of Many Firsts.......1st Day of Preschool

So this is a busy week around here.  The girls had their first day of preschool on Monday and their first day of tap and ballet class on Tuesday and we have our little man's first birthday coming up on Friday.  Whew.......that's a lot of firsts all in one week!

It's hard to believe that both my little ladies are in preschool this year.  This is Matilda's first year and she is in the three year old class and this is Savannah's second year and she is in the four year old class. It works out really nicely because both girls go on the same days which allows me a little alone time with my little guy.

Miss Matilda was so excited for her first day........

Savannah was excited to see her friends again and show Matilda the ropes.......

Savannah is really into purple lately.  Can you tell?  She picked out her own outfit.

These silly sisters truly love each other.  As much as they know how to push each others buttons, they really adore one another......

The first day of school was just an hour and the parents attended with their student.

Savannah loved showing her sister exactly what to do and where to go.  The girls are in different classes, so my husband took the day off and went with Savannah and I went with Matilda.

Here are some pictures of Matilda's first day in her class.......

The girls had a great time on their first day!  Today was actually the second day and they both went for a shorter day without the parents.  Both girls were absolutely fine........they barely even looked back at mama (which was quite different than Savannah's first day last year.......oh, the tears).  My girls are growing up. I am so excited for them and all the fun they are going to have this year!

And this goofy guy.......he and I will be doing a lot more hanging out this year (which I'm really looking forward to).  I seriously cannot believe he will be one year old in a couple days.  

Where did the time go? {Sigh}. I guess they all eventually grow up..........

dishes // bone china

A few weeks ago Kay was asking via twitter where to find good white dishes and it made me think of our dishes that I adore. When Aubrey and I were married 8 years ago we received formal china for entertaining. But we totally cheaped out on our everyday plates. Total regret.  Our everyday plates were heavy and chipped easily (they may have been ceramic?) Although they were inexpensive per piece, it still adds up to be an investment when you buy a number of place settings. So should you be looking for everyday plates, I wanted to tell you about what we did.
As our everyday plates dwindled (due to chipping/cracking/breaking) I decided that we should maybe invest in good "everyday" plates. My Mom has beautiful dinnerware and she's the one that told me about bone china. Bone china is lighter and more resilient to chipping than our ceramic plates.

Although we picked up our set of bone china a few years back at the William Ashley Warehouse Sale just as recently as last week I was at HomeSense and found plates that were bone china. How can you tell? Pick up a piece and turn it around. You can see that it says what it is. As above, it says in small type "Bone China".

Anyhow, that conversation on twitter really sparked this post as I really adore our dinnerware. So if you're looking for new awesome dishes, maybe source out bone china for your house.

Update: We have the Dutchess brand of plates & bowls via William Ashley and a set of 8 of the Wedgwood "Night and Day" small bowls in addition (as shown above) The night and day bowls are perfect for berries or ice cream. :)

thanks for the help....

I got a amazing feedback on where to find blue & white pottery much like the ones I found antiquing in cottage country. Shadi snapped a photo of a page from HGTV magazine (shown above) and it showed these Chinese Ginger Jars are from a shop CWonder.com. (Thank you for taking that photo!) Robbin via the comments told me that Bowing having a collection (and they are on sale!) and LouLou via the comments sent me a link to the Bombay Company's collection. Of course, there is Chinatown which is actually where I did find one similar a year ago, but the pattern wasn't totally to my taste. But I should go back down for fun to search out more treasures. Anyhow, just wanted to say thanks for the help but also - pass along these links should you want to find some too! xo Linds

summer food - la tomate

Summer food... we want fresh, we want healthy, we want quick and abundant and high in colour.  La belle tomate makes an appearance nearly every day on our table during the summer.   Oven roasted, sun dried, puréed in a gazpacho or quite simply sliced and seasoned with olive oil  as a salad.

Doesn't take much ..... some good tomatoes, olive oil, olives, basil leaves, 

some rock salt, maybe a few anchovies ......

part of the enjoyment is the beauty of the fruit itself ...

and what to serve alongside for a quick and easy lunch on a hot day ....

this combination  has been happening a lot here this summer, tomato salad and goats cheese

 baked in the oven on a slice of good bread , a little olive oil and a few sprigs of thyme ...

it really only takes a few minutes ... 

 and it looks so pretty it can go straight from the oven to the table

all these great pictures were taken by my daughter Ella, you can see more of her photos  here .... please excuse her for not updating too recently, she is busy living her life!!   :)

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the last of my august giveaways - this one you do not want to miss!!

Client Kitchen

 This is a recent kitchen we gutted and redesigned.  The client has a very clean aesthetic, this kitchen looks like her (and me).  Not fussy but stunning in person thanks to gorgeous finishes.

Images Marianne Strong Interiors, Photography Beth Hontzas Photography

grouting surprises

Grouting the kitchen backsplash is complete. :)  We had a little surprise when the grouting was done - Although the container from Home Depot said "Bright White" as you can see in the image below, it definitely isn't bright white.

It's kind of gray .... no?

Thankfully it was a happy surprise. For the longest time our kitchen was being used without grout and the spacing between the tiles made it look like we had done gray grouting. The look was growing on me and I was nervous to go completely white with the grout. But we did - partially because I like to play it safe. When Aubrey was done the grouting I said to him cautiously - "It looks kind of gray doesn't it?" He agreed, but then we kind of moved on because we both liked the look. It also plays well with the Caesarstone Misty Carrara countertop.

So conclusion to the pre-mixed grout? Awesome as there is little cleanup and you can use what you need, and put the rest away. Downside - the colour was a wee-bit off from the label. ;-)

summer entertaining - improvisation is the key!

While we were on holiday in the south last week, we kept the meals fresh and simple, but in the evening it was nice to enjoy our dinner al fresco and dress it up a bit!

Of course, away from home, I had none of my familiar 'accessories', but one little foray to a local brocante fair provided me with a heavy linen sheet to use as a table cloth, and some charming vintage glasses and pitcher that immediately gave a 'special' feel to the table.

Added to that a few candles in champagne glasses and really the simplest of flowers, nothing more than branches of pink roses and a variegated greenery.  First we tried them in tall wine glasses, then finally simply laid them down the table centre.

White plates and the simplest of cutlery, summer can be easy on the eye ...

How about you, do you like to improvise a special table now and again, or is the holidays for making life as simple as possible?

all the wonderful close up shots here are by my daughter Ella - thank you sweetheart!  :)