camping

we love to camp and finally had a free day and night. before it was booked with memorial day parties, we booked a camp site to make sure that we didn't loose the opportunity.
french creek state park was really beautiful and we loved it! the camping spots were nice and big, although not all of them were. some were in the midst of rocks, so the camping area was relatively small. we lucked out and got a nice, big camping spot.
we took moz along, and he loved it, although it meant that we couldn't go hiking. he wouldn't last for a long walk and we tried to leave him in the tent to see how he would react and he just tried to walk right through the walls and barked and whined. it was actually amusing.
dave made a kick ass beef stew.

while i watched.
then it stormed, which was pretty awesome. luckily the timing was perfect and it started after we ate dinner, and put all the stuff in the tent or car.

monday we woke up and had maple sausages and pancakes.

then took moz for a swim in the lake.


what a handsome devil.

auction

wednesday i took the day off of work and went to an auction with a friend. we had a great time and made out like bandits. i had no intention of bidding on a lot of old enamel bread boxes, but since one was the same color as my first car (an orange vw bug) something possessed me to wave my number around and before i knew it i was the owner of a LOT of old bread boxes. some of them i left there because what the hell am i going to do with 20 bread boxes? i think they will go in the garden as some sort of art/planter type thing because most of them are missing hardware.

so this auction was super huge and awesome. it was an antique place that was going out of business so there was a TON of stuff. the auction will be a total of 4 days. the lots are HUGE, so you can't really just buy a couple of things. for instance if you want a meat grinder, you have to buy 40 of them. we REALLY wanted to get these tiles, but they were $40 x 9 boxes and you had to get all boxes, so it would have been a lot of $$.

i got a huge lot of silver plate items (5 wine boxes full). and i split a couple of lots of glassware with my friend and her mom. it going to take me forever to get it all listed! but here's a start and is only approx 1/15 of what i have.

my friend got these two great chairs:

and this sewing cabinet. both for a steal!

dummy

(me not him.) today our FLOR tiles arrived and i ordered the wrong color for the border! what a dummy. moz likes it so far though.

and you can see part of his butt patch of hair that hasn't grown back yet, hopefully it does!

brunch

it's a little late, but our mother's day brunch was wonderful. lots of great food and family.
the only place for moz's bed was under the table and i think he liked it.

some of the spread.

this sugar, creamer and tray set is for sale at the brandeye etsy shop

and new sofa (with morgan and grandma.) (ikea KARLSTAD)

the bar.

the snack plates and milk glass pitcher shown are also for sale at the shop.

happy belated mother's day!

beautiful vintage lamps

while running errands saturday we just so happened to drive by a yard sale. i told myself that i would take a break from buying until i sold a few more things, but it was for a good cause. they were raising money to buy school supplies for kids and i just needed to help the kids! ;-)
i got these two gorgeous lamps. this one is seriously beautiful and believe me, if i had the space for it, i'd be keeping it.
art deco frosted glass lamp


scalloped base glass lamp

getting ready...

we've been cooking and cleaning all day to get ready for our mother's day brunch tomorrow.

here's the menu:

-peach bellini's
-bloody mary's
-cranberry orange scones (recipe below)
-plain scones (recipe below)
-lox and bagels
-mushroom and leek quiche
-ham and asparagus quiche
-waffles with a berry compote
-tiramisu trifle (recipe below)




i plan on using lots of vintage to decorate and serve (these snack trays are available here).


this scone recipe is amazing. i made them one day with week for work and everyone raved. i have to admit that the only reason i have plain and orange cranberry scones is that the first batch i made last night i forgot the orange and cranberry... i amaze myself sometimes, not in a good way.

orange cranberry scones (recipe available at allrecipes.com here.)

ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 dried cranberries
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
zest of 1/2 orange

directions:
adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

in a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in dried cranberries.

in a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth, add orange zest.

using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (the dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)

place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. sprinkle with a couple tbsp sugar. use a sharp knife to cut into 12 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. bake until golden, about 15 minutes. cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.




tiramisu trifle (based on recipe from allrecipes.com here) i was going to make the cake, but they didn't cooperate and come out of the pans nicely, so i made it into a trifle.

ingredients:
CAKE
vanilla cake mix (i used trader joe's brand) and ingredients from box
about 1/2 cup espresso

FILLING:
1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur

FROSTING:
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur

GARNISH:
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

directions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees F. grease and flour 2 (9 inch) pans.

prepare the cake mix according to package directions and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. brew about 1/2 cup espresso and set aside.

filling: in beat the mascarpone, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur beat until smooth.

frosting: beat the cream, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur until stiff. fold 1/2 cup of cream mixture into filling mixture.

assembly: tear apart the cake (or chop) and place 1/2 of it in a trifle bowl. add the layer of filling. add a layer of 1/2 the frosting. add the rest of the cake and then top with the remaining frosting. run a vegetable peeler on the edge of a chocolate bar to top with chocolate curls. refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

and this is what punch was doing all day...

flor tile decisions

since we have a new, larger sofa i wanted to get a new area rug. flor tiles seem like the best choice with 2 pets and the occasional red wine spill. so here are the choices.

i think we're going with this, the center will be the one on the right and the border will be the ginger color. what do you think?

excellent weekend

even though it rained all weekend, we had a great one. i went to zern's again with some friends and despite my favorite vendor not being there i got lots of great stuff for the shop and for myself. while i was away dave was putting together our new ikea sectional. we LOVE it and can now both lay down and be comfortable and can even cuddle. the room looks so bare now though, since the sofa is a natural color, so i'm working on adding some more color. once it's done i'll post some pics, should be later this week.

here is some of the stuff i bought at the flea. i also got a pyrex 4 bowl nesting set, which was in the sink, so i forgot to photograph it. and i also got lots of left over mens suit material to make something out of.



the little pictures are hanging on the turquoise wall in the living room and look awesome. i can't believe dave let me hang them there! i thought he'd hate them, and maybe he does.

and look at this awesome trim. i can't wait to use it for something.


sat night we went to see dinosaur jr. in baltimore and they were great. luckily i was to the side and not in direct contact with the sound waves. they are INSANELY loud.