wit wisdom and food

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whet your whistle wednesday: issue two

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Welcome to the second issue of the whet your whistle wednesday. I have been more excited about writing this post than I anticipated. I thought I wouldn’t get into a link style post but I have some ideas now and it is fun to create it. I haven’t done any planning on these. So far, they have just been what has caught my fancy that day.
When I was little I thought the key to being interesting was being able to contribute to every conversation. That thought and the fact that my mom watched a lot of Jeopardy made me want to take the Jeopardy test. I used to record Jeopardy on my VHS during college which elicited much laughter at my expense. I still want to take that test some day and I just found the Jeopardy practice test.
I saw this gold accent wall and I can’t stop thinking about them. I don’t know that it would every be in my house but I am mesmerized by it.
Have you thought of eating healthier? Maybe Whole 30 has crossed your mind. There is an interesting journal at Retro Ranch Reno of Gabbi’s journey on the Whole 30 experience.

Clothing companies should know the difference between chevron and herringbone. This sweater is an exaggerated herringbone not chevron.
I do have a thing for Madewell right now and this elbow-patched sweater is exactly why.
I am not very good at fashion but I found a pair of ankle boots and want so much to wear them more. I turned to pinterest to find out how to wear ankle boots.

Since I am not a millionaire yet my goal for work is to find ways to dress up my hawaiian shirts. I am thinking some colorful cords. Can you match a fall fabric with a hawaiian shirt?

I will need some new shoes to go with this plan and while I love my dansko clogs for comfort they are clunky. Maybe a new style of Dansko like this franka wedge. The would certainly look better and still be comfortable.

I want more cute socks and you can never go wrong with argyle or stripes.

The store is always cold so I can never have too many scarfs and I have my eye on adding this kate spade scarf to my collection. I think it would be even better if I could add this one too!

Some fashion themed infographics for your viewing
10 fashion trends that are harmful to your health - I disagree with the tattoo list
What you clothing color says about you - my green wardrobe puts me at ease
History of Converse - you can never have too many pairs of converse
Buying a winter jacket - I have a weakness for jackets I want them all
Are you a fashionista - no, I am pretty certain I am not

my new happy place

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A few months ago I stumbled upon Matchbook Magazine and I couldn’t even tell you how. I started following them on pinterest and subscribed to their newsletter but I have to admit I haven’t really looked into it as much as I should. Then this happened…

Tom started talking about something and said “I found something and I probably shouldn’t mention it but..” What he then started telling me about was the line of pajamas made by Andy Spade, Kate Spade’s husband. Yup probably shouldn’t have mentioned that because I now want $300 pajamas. Is that outlandish? In my effort to find these not-fancy-expensive pajamas tonight I got online and typed in kate spade pajamas got a link that was to Matchbook Magazine. So after I checked out the pajamas at Sleepy Jones I headed back to the magazine and started looking around.

I decided to try out the November issue. That is when I came across this page all about herringbone.

I love herringbone so this made me very excited. What made it even better is when I clicked on the page it became live links. I can click on any item and it will take me to the site to purchase the item or just pin it depending on budget. All of the items in the pages are right up my alley and I can’t wait to dive in to more issues. I will be keeping a close eye for the next email that comes from Matchbook.

If you want to see if they are up your alley too I recommend you check out the Matchbook Magazine pinterest page.

Happy shopping and don’t forget to come back Wednesday for the second whet your whistle wednesday.

spray paint rug

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The final challenge of DIY May-nia has arrived. To all of you that have participated, stopped by and checked out the projects thank you. I hope you found some fun new blogs to follow. I know I have.

Let’s get to the spray painting shall we…
I was late to the spray paint party. I didn’t appreciate the allure and then I made some christmas decorations and caught the spray paint bug. I now want to spray paint everything. That is how I thought outside the box to come up with this project.

I really want to make the laundry area in the garage look like a laundry room. Again, I blame too much time on Pinterest for my desire for a decorated laundry room. It made it on to my 2013 DIY list of projects so now I am committed. I wanted to do something to the floor and thought about a duct tape project but you can’t wash that so I moved on to spray paint. One 5×7 canvas drop cloth and some spray paint later this is my new “rug”.

On 5×7 canvas drop cloth and a couple rolls of frog tape. I tried the blue brand of tape but it didn’t stick to the canvas as well as the frog tape.

I put my sewing supplies to good use and measured from the center of the cloth and made stripes in equal measurements all the way around. I then spent a good amount of time trying to tape off the straightest lines possible.

I picked out my colors of spray paint. The choices were inspired by a Kate Spade box.

And then to the spray painting. I had a little bit of bleeding on some of the lines. Which I later learned is solved by spray painting parallel to cloth and not at an angle. At an angle some paint got under the areas of tape that weren’t as secure to the cloth.

I was originally going to leave some of the sections natural but because some of the paint did seep under and bleed I decided to paint all the sections. So back to taping and another roll of frog tape later I was back in the yard painting again.

I of course busted out my graph paper and colored pencils so I could see which colors would look the best.

I think it adds a nice bit of color to my gray garage. We were so proud of our purchase of this washer and dryer when we moved to the ‘burbs. Laundry was one our requirements when we left the city and it has been great to have it just off the kitchen.

Also linking up to 52 Mantles and Chic on a Shoestring and Organized 31

Now for the audience participation part of the the post. Link up and show us your great spray paint projects.
The Rules:
- please link back to one or all of our blogs (handy button add to make that easier)
- no linking to shops, stores, giveaways or other link parties
- link directly to the specific post
- make a point of checking out other blogs and giving out comments. This is a party after all and if an introvert like myself can mingle so can you.
Feel free to use this button during the link-ups, for easy linking back to your host. Just copy the text in the box below, and then paste it into your blog post.


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live color fully

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I have finally accepted the fact that I like a rainbow of colors in every room. I think simple clean rooms look great but they make me feel like I need to be tidy and proper and I just don’t live that way. I like vibrant, playful, happy rooms. I am sure it is why I love Le Creuset, Fiestaware and Kate Spade.


Kate Spade
One of the DIY projects for 2013 is to make the back porch summer ready. You might remember the picture of our barren back porch that I took the weekend we boxed up the Christmas lights. It certainly had potential.
I bringing my love for color to the porch. The best part about this is it is allowing me to embrace my new found love for spray paint. About the same time I admitted that I am addicted to color I realized the wonders of spray paint. I am not sure this is a coincidence. Nor am I sure which came first. It might have been the spray paint aisle that led me to realize I love color.


My current collection of spray paint. I think I own most of the blues rust-oleum makes.

Plain pots I spray painted red for a Christmas project that I was able to repurpose for summer.

Cheap owls I got at Ross. They were LED candle holders. They will hold some citronella candles for us this summer. Have to keep those bugs away.

One of two ceramic owls I got at Ross as well. I have a soft spot for owls and they fit the backyard well.

We have worked on the yard the last two weekends. Coming soon a fun story about power tools and a more complete look at the back patio.

In addition to the backyard color I found some new ways to add color to the blog. I finally found some social media icons in bright colors that I love. If you want to keep on some of the behind the scenes there are lots of ways to follow along. Maybe you have a question you want answered just send along an email. If you love the buttons as much as I do you can find them here.

channeling kate spade

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This week for the Dare to DIY challenge the theme is entertain. I don’t do a lot of entertaining. I love the romantic notion of entertaining. Cooking a fabulous meal, having company over that showers you with accolades for the great decorations, the food and how they could never do this as well as you. It never goes that way. Sure it turns out okay and the guests are happy but it is no spread in Martha Stewart Living. I am more comfortable throwing a BBQ than a Holiday party that might fit in this weeks theme. If we are ever on House Hunters you won’t hear us say “we want a nice space where we can entertain”. That gave this weeks challenge and extra degree of difficulty.
Then she came to me as she always seems to in my time of fashion and design need. I am inexplicably drawn to Kate Spade. I frequently pick up products I love at stores only to find it is Kate Spade’s handy work. I don’t own a Kate Spade bag but I do have a few other things a wallet, earrings, shoes, phone cover, scarf and mittens. My favorite Kate Spade pieces are our china. When we were registering we found a pattern we liked and guess what it was Kate Spade. I am certain Tom humored me a bit with the selection. He knew I loved it and then we saw the label.
As I was thinking about this challenge I thought if I was going to through a party it would be fun to make it fit the new dishes. To have a proper party with nice china you need linens. I went to my pinterest board to find the pin for reversible placemats and napkins, made a quick run to the fabric store and shortly after had a great table setting to help me check off week two of the DIY challenge. The instructions I followed are from Centsational Girl. If you haven’t checked out her blog I highly recommend it. These placemats and napkins were so easy I am going to make some more custom placemats and napkins for every day.
To keep with the Kate Spade theme I decided on green polka dots and a kind of fleur de lys pattern for the other side. I didn’t plan this project well and the amount of fabric I had left over wasn’t enough for a true napkin. If you are going to eat a meal with these napkins you will need to be fairly dainty eater. I am very happy with the final look. I don’t usually leave the table set but it so pretty and festive I just might and we will probably eat Christmas ham with the table set just like this.

What does your holiday table look like?
Week two of the Dare to DIY challenge has been brought to us by Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One. See you again next week for Dare to DIY version give homemade which is really up my alley.