teaforte.

When we were in DC, I had a cup of Teaforte's tea for the first time. It was oh-so-good! The silk pyramid packaging made me literally SQUEAL with delight when opening it up. It was served up on it's own itty-bitty ceramic dish which I now want several of for that impromptu tea party that could arise at home.

On Saturday, I indulged in a massage at the Del Monte Spa. (a gift from my loving fiance). Getting ready, I noticed the that they had LOTS of Teaforte tea's out for us to relax with. I tried Chamomile Tisane before my treatment and then after I relaxed some more in the sanctuary sipping Oasis. Googling for the tea, I found that it was on Oprah's O List back in 2004 (where have I been?!) Now I just have to find out where to buy Teaforte tea around Rochester. Hmmm....

fruitabu.

so there I was, on my front porch reading a FREE copy of kiwi magazine I was given - when a mysterious, envelope stuck inside caught my attention. this wasn't the usual irritating postcard insert thats ALL magazine publishers include to drive us bananas - but a thicker package that BEGGED me to open it.

meet fruitabu. a whole new way to eat fruit, all smoooshed up and tasty. think like an organic, healthy fruit roll-up that is naturally sweet. the advertisement collateral blew me away. there were FUN stickers (that have adorned every piece of snail mail I've sent in the last few weeks), iron-on transfers to make t-shirts, a bumper sticker and magnets. their tagline and little creatures are the cutest and who can't like the word SMOOOSHED?

McAllister brought home some organic smoooshed fruit flats to try, and the strawberry is very SWEET and yummy. i've officially joined the fruitolution.

color visualizer.

I'm excited about how many comments I got to our painting dilemma! Back in October, I used Sherwin William's Color Visualizer tool to help lay out color schemes we painted our kitchen walls and cabinets. I'm a visual person, and while doing it online isn't perfect, it does give me ideas of colors before walking into the paint store. (i will check ur recommended book Mom - I promise)

So above are two of the colors I am considering. 'Blonde' (warm light brown) and 'Haven' (green). Using the Color Visualizer, I included them on separate walls for all to compare! And yes, we will be keeping the orangey-mixture atleast for now in the living room.

pick a color.

Boy is it TOUGH priming over red paint. We are currently priming our dining room and the first coat turned it a shade of pink. It was the same shade as my childhood dog was when he got sprayed by a SKUNK and we bathed him in tomato soup. White dog + can of tomato soup = PINK dog for weeks. Even with two coats of primer, I swear I still see traces of PINK showing through.

So my newest problem is deciding what color to paint. Our kitchen is a buttery gold/yellow and our living room is an orangey mixture. I do love how 'light' the room is primed white, so my brain tells me to stay neutral - but my GUT says that is boring and really wants a nice green shade to accent the trim.

I'm testing out blogger's new 'survey poll' feature - so you can share your opinion and VOTE to the left.

picket fence flag.

I've been DREAMING about picket fence projects ever since we scored all the fence scraps from our neighbors. Keeping the picket momentum going, and since it's July, and considering our patriotic vacation in DC - I'll let you connect the rest of the dots. So here it is, our latest picket project - a Picket Fence American Flag!

I researched the dimensions of the American Flag because there is a science to it's size, but decided to wing it a bit when the pickets wouldn't cooperate at their full width. I'm very excited about this one, McAllister hung it from our pergola in the backyard and I think it looks FAB!

Who knows, since our picket fence planter boxes were such a hit at the Dirty Birdies sale, these may be up for sale too!

just stuff it.

Some of the banana pepper plants in our garden are in HARVEST mode. We usually cut them up to throw them on sandwiches and homeade pizzas. But these plants are producing a TON of them which kept me thinking, what in the heck are we going to do with all these banana peppers?!

Meet BOB. We don't know who he is, but he has a tasty recipe for stuffed banana peppers that McAllister found online. He stuffed all sorts of GOODNESS in them, like italian sausage, onions, breadcrumbs, basil and oregano from our herb garden and then topped with Bob's tomato sauce.

They were very YUMMY and reminded me of my mom's homeade galumpkis. (which I never knew how to spell until now). They also taste just as good cold as lunch leftovers.

Now I'm on a mission to find things to STUFF in our peppers. I'm drooling over the idea of a three cheese stuffed banana pepper, kinda like stuffed shells or manicotti sans the pasta. MMmm... cheese.

sky-divin.

alright, so this is my crazy friend allison. today she jumped out of a plane (no I was not with her to take the pic, i was on the ground happily eating hummus).

she told me I could have all her scrapbooking supplies if she didn't make it to the ground on two feet. (she really is a great friend) but she made it without splattering. it's better this way, i know her crafty-crazed roomate would have put up a fight.

i chuckled at the funny looking hat they made her wear, it must be an aerodynamic model.

happenin' hummus.

Today I was cravin a snacky-snack so McAllister whipped us some homeade HUMMUS. He made two kinds - roasted garlic and roasted red pepper. Roasted garlic is up there on my list of BEST smells ever. I wish I could upload the scent so everyone could hit play and experience the intense flavor that permeated our home.

call for corks.

The newest craft to keep me busy is making a wine cork wreath. I started it EONS ago, but it gathered dust in my basement until I saw a completed one at my cousin's house in Alexandria. His looked so great, it kicked me in gear to finish mine. I'm just about half-way done, (much farther along than this pic) - but I'll hit a road block soon b/c I NEED MORE CORKS. I'm very grateful for all the donations I've received (I'm not a huge lush!) but please keep 'em coming!!

Delivery appreciated but not required ;-)

tomato stalks.

Even though the rain is keeping me on the bus and off the bike - it is doing WONDERS for our garden. Our tomato plants are HUGE (that is Mc behind them) and the fruit is finally starting to turn RED.

riding the bus.

Today I woke up to RAIN which meant no bike riding to work. My only backup plan was catching the bus for the first time EVER.

I have to admit - I was pleasantly surprised! It was quicker than expected, clean and full of NORMAL people like me just trying to get from point A to point B. I've now purged all bus-riding stereotypes.

There are no non-stop buses to my job, so if I keep this up, I'll have to get an all day pass. With a bus transfer and paying 'per' leg, riding to/from work would be more expensive than GAS (if I had my Jeep) ;-)

bowl full of cherries.

The cherry invasion has hit our house. We have several BASKETS from McAllister's parents' cherry orchard and they are tasty. I'm eating CHERRIES for breakfast, snacks and dessert....

new ride.

Check out my new wheels! That's right, I downsized from 4 to 2 for the next couple weeks. In order to save LOTS of money, my jeep is over in Canada getting some love from my special mechanic! (future father-in-law)

My friend Betsy was nice enough to lend me her bike. It's been about 10 years since I rode a bike, but after day two - I have some tips for anyone using the main drags to get to work like me.

• Cut through neighborhoods and take side roads as much as possible
• WATCH out for cars zooming out of their long driveways, cause they don't watch out for you.
  
• Wear a helmet. (even if it's purple)
• Be on sprinkler ALERT. When you are biking 30 minutes with a 20 lb backpack - you need a refreshing shower every now and again.
• Bring deodorant to work.
  

Even though my new wheels aren't as nice as Emily's - I am doing my part as a GREEN citizen by biking. On rainy days, I will try out the new hybrid bus from the Rochester Transportation System. I read that the diesel bus is quieter and more fuel efficient.

cornhill.

Today I went to the Corn Hill Arts Festival with some friends. Corn Hill is a historic neighborhood in Rochester which has some of the best architecture in it's old residential homes. The Arts festival was actually started back in the late 60s as a means for the Corn Hill residents to preserve the architecture of the neighborhood by raising money bringing public awareness to the area. It now draws over 200,000 people each year. It's my fave festival of all, well above Clothesline and Park Ave.

Coming off my patriotic vacation, I got Lucy a new American flag collar. I also came home with some cute glass mushrooms to adorn my garden. Those were my only purchases other than food, of course!

welcome home lucy.

Today we welcomed home Lucy. Lazy Lucy has been sleeping under the cherry trees at her grandparents house the last two weeks playing with her cousins.

We've missed her LOTS the last two weeks, the house just isn't the same without her. We immediately went to her fave place Ellison Park so she could go for a swim and see all her friends.

travel pains.

One way to subside travel pains is getting a fun, CHEERY to-go mug from Starbucks that will keep one very caffeinated during delays. and more delays. Cheers to making it back to Rochester.

missing lucy.

We dropped Lucy off for her Canadian vacation almost two weeks ago and we're missing her BIG time. When we were in Alexandria, I went to Fetch - a dog and cat bakery. It was hard for me to resist carting the fun, FESTIVE doggie treats all the way back to the Roch.

1000words.

I'm featured on kodak's BLOG today talking about two of my favorite things. PHOTOS and JUNK.

It's called 1000words. Take a peek and comment over there if you'd like!

Happy Tuesday!

my new fave store.

In 'Old Town' Alexandria, VA last week, I accidently stumbled on the Paper Source. I was outside their store window, taking a photo of their fun paper garland project when curiousity BEGGED me to wander inside. Low and behold, I entered into a crafty, paper HEAVEN. I wanted one of everything but somehow my will-power brought me home with a moderately full bag-o-goodies.

I treated myself to new rubber stamps and gifts for friends. Since I find their wasp logo irrestible, I MUST go back for their bug glasses.

After checking out their website, I found no stores in New York state. (boo). Guess I'll have to sign up for their catalog instead.

sight-seeing.

While Jon and Lisa were working today, we made our way into DC to do some sight-seeing. After meeting them for lunch, we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum which was a very powerful and impactful memorial of that era. Then we strolled down down along the The National Mall to visit some monuments, which was much nicer without the 100,000 people who were with us for last night's fireworks.

Oh, I can't forget the lovely steak dinner our hosts prepared for us.... I'm still FULL.

happi 4th.

road trip.

6.5 hours in a car = LONG drive to Washington, DC.

$5 tees.

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Originally uploaded by cunhatuna.

I heart tees. What's more fun than picking one up for $5?! If you don't have your outfit planned for tomorrow, OLD NAVY has some cute patriotic tees that won't break the bank! (actually only $4.97)

I even got our vacation HOSTS a pair of coordinating tees so that our pics will be all decked out in the red-white-and-blue!!

meet skinny.

I came home from work and McAllister said he had a surprise for me. He opened the freezer and I found it chock FULL of Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. He made the trek to an out-of-the-way Wegmans' to fill our freezer! (my East Ave Wegmans' hasn't caught onto the craze yet)

For those who haven't indulged, allow me to introduce you SKINNY and her ice cream treats. They are low-fat ice cream products and you'd never know it. You can rest assured that my palette has no time for ice cream that tastes 'low-fat'.

Skinny's website has lots of fun tools: the cowculator, Skinny e-greeting cards (my mom is gonna LOVE the one I sent her) and my most recent discovery - Skinny's Flavor Finder. As much as I heart Wegman's - I may have to make a pit stop at the Top's in Greece to try Skinny's Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream sandwiches. (I just hope Top's doesn't mind me carrying my treats out in my Wegman's tote)

oh canada.

Today McAllister and I quickly went to Canada to drop Lucy off for the week. Her grandparents are going to help us out and dog-sit while we go on vaca for the 4th. We fought lots of border traffic b/c it's Canada Day. It wasn't bad though - I got to wear my Canada tank top and take photos of Niagara Falls while I was in line.

We took our time coming back along Route 104, stopping at roadside farmer's stands and yard sales. I scored lots of treasures! It was picture perfect weather, so I made true by I taking CLOUDY 'photos from the car'. I tried to get a cloud in every photo, but after going through them just now - I think there are a couple we missed.

We also stumbled upon Beyer's Drive-in along Route 104 for lunch. It was a great grease-pit stop that we think Guy Fiere of Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives should spotlight for their onion rings.... yum.

Happy Canada Day to everyone!