living life to the fullest
One way I get over my sadness from summer ending is decorating my house for fall! I see beautiful fall centerpieces and decorations in store, but I always cringe at the price when I know I can make my own, and making it unique to my style and home decor. I’ve seen this easy pool…
A few summers ago while we were in Maine for vacation, one of the kids asked us to buy cookie butter. Most of us had never heard of it, but we’re so glad we got it!! Cookie butter is a delicious, creamy spread made from Belgian Speculoos cookies. The most popular brand is Biscoff, and…
It’s always a good time to make pesto, but this is my favorite time of year to make it because I harvest the basil from my garden all summer and early fall. My son and I love pesto, so at the end of August or early September I harvest my basil and make batches of…
If you like ginger, making your own candied ginger saves SO much money! I like ginger as a snack, in my meals, salads and baked goods. Ginger is especially good for an upset stomach, nausea and indigestion. Ginger is the only thing that relieves my menstrual cramps! Some say it can even prevent certain cancers…
I grew up eating sweet potato pie during the holidays. I mean, the WHOLE holiday season. Either we or another family member always had sweet potato pie in their house from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. Sweet potato pie is known as a southern dessert. It was likely created and made a staple by slaves…
I roasted broccoli for the first time this spring, and now I’m hooked! Even my family asks me to make that “burnt” broccoli now. It’s so fun to eat veggies in a different way other than steaming or boiling, that has more flavor and texture. I can’t even go back to the old way of…
To me in cold New England, winter is already here! But if we go by the calendar, we still have a few weeks until the first day of winter. I’ve been a homeowner for almost 20 years, and I’ve had a lot of problems that could have been prevented- from frozen pipes to ice…
In the last year, I haven’t been sewing as much as I want. This has been mostly due to my motivation (or lack thereof), but also because I renovated my sewing room, I was feeling indecisive, and life happens. To bring back some inspiration, I started following more sewing sites, reading pattern reviews, and visiting…
It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of winter. I ask myself every winter why I live in such a cold climate! One thing I hate about winter is getting sick. I believe that we’re sick more in the winter because we’re cooped up with all of the germs. Once my son gets…
Our elf on the shelf, Freddy, has been with us for about 5 years. Every year, I try to make him do bigger and funnier things, because each year I think this is the last year X will believe. Well, at 8 years old, his faith in Freddy is stronger than ever! It’s great, but…