tuesday. mercy watson.

it's a tough transition between being read to, and reading entirely on your own. it's a transition we're right smack in the middle of—trying to find that balance between too easy and too hard, too 'preschool' and too 'chapter book-ish.'


mercy watson is a pig, although treated more like an offspring by her loving owners. she is tucked into bed with a song, fed toast with lots of butter, and when she is scared at night she snuggles into bed with mr. and mrs. watson. she has a crabby neighbor (of course) that wants nothing more than to be rid of mercy—ensuring funny and charming adventures—six of them to be exact, at least, so far.


mark another on kate dicamillo's list of successes. this series is perfect for those transitional readers who still need some help, but don't want to be stuck with beginning readers like 'biscuit.' great for additional comprehension work and vocab, with bright and detailed illustrations to help look for 'word clues.'

monday. fresh abundance.

fresh abundance. how fitting. i've lived in spokane for a long time. L-O-N-G time. and i like to think i get out and about and try new things in the area. i have no idea how this one slipped past me.


i'm not a nut about my food, but if there's any way i can get fresh produce ... like, fresh LOCAL produce ... and even better ... fresh, LOCAL, organic produce—i'm in!


fresh abundance works in conjunction with P.E.A.C.H farm (in cheney, wa) to provide awesome produce to our community. they have a cute little shop at 2015 n. division where you can see for yourself. it's very pike's place market-ish—local bakery items, lavender bunches, specialty flour, rice, coffee, cheeses, butters ... seriously, they have everything you could think of.


but, by far, the coolest part about fresh abundance is their delivery program. for $35, they will bring a box of produce to you—with FREE delivery! every two weeks they switch up the contents of their 'boxes' based on what's in season, availability, etc. for example, here's the current 'fresh produce variety box':

2 Organic Small Hass Avocados
2 LOCAL Organic Red Danjou Pears
1 Organic Cucumber
2 LOCAL Organic Cameo Apples
1 Bunch Organic Red Beets
1 Large Organic Grapefruit
1 Bunch Organic Baby Leeks
1 Pound Bag LOCAL Safe Sugar Carrots
1/3 Pound Organic Baby Spinach
3 LOCAL Organic Fuji Apples
1 Head Organic Red Leaf Lettuce
1/3 Pound Organic Snow Peas
3 Organic Medium Navel Oranges
1 Pound Organic Zucchini
3 Organic Bananas
3 Pounds LOCAL Organic Russet Potatoes
1 Pound Organic Minneola Tangelos

nothing like great food delivered to your door—something other than pizza!

friday. fringe & fray.

i finally wandered downtown far enough to check out the local vintage consignment shop, fringe & fray.


first impressions
* super-snazzy atmosphere (right next to rocket bakery downtown—the corner of 1st and cedar).
* very anthropologie-ish feel.
* jewelry hanging on tree twigs for display (awesome).
* wall of purses i want to take home.
* racks of fun vintage (or vintage-style) shoes.
* great customer service.

fun stuff.
* great pricing (i found three cute tanktops for $7 a piece, without the daily discount)!
* if you become a fan on facebook, they have specials almost daily (15-20% off if you mention the facebook ads)!
* a good mix of real vintage with modern vintage style—perfect for mixing and matching.
* once your done shopping, you're only ten feet from one of the best bakeries in spokane!

... and the best part? it's a resale shop—so bring in your own stuff for them to sell and get store credit!

thursday. huckleberry streusel coffee cake.

the husband is a ginormous fan of coffee cake. the oldest daughter is a massive huckleberry devour-er. the baby is a sugar-aholic like his mommy.

this recipe was meant to be.

thank you farm chicks and martha stewart—for making the only cookbooks i look at, literally, every. single. day. this recipe is loosely based on martha's version. it was gone in less than a day.

huckleberry streusel coffee cake. yum.

cake ingredients.

1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)

2 C. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla (the good stuff)

1 C. sour cream (no non-fat!)

1 C. huckleberries (or whatever kind of berries you want!)

1 C. streusel topping (see recipe down yonder)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch tube pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Spoon about half the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the cherries in a single layer on top of the batter; avoid placing any cherries against the pan's edge, as they may stick or burn if not fully encased in batter. Top with the remaining batter, making sure it is evenly distributed, and smooth with an offset spatula. Sprinkle streusel evenly over the top of the batter.
4. Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and let cake cool 10 to 15 minutes. Invert cake onto rack, then re-invert (so streusel side is up), and let cool completely. Spoon glaze over the cake, letting it drip down sides. Let cake sit until glaze is set, about 5 minutes, before serving. Cake can be kept at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic, for up to 4 days.

streusel ingredients.

2 1/4 C. flour

3/4 C. packed brown sugar

2 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

3/4 C. unsalted butter (room temp.)

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt; cut in butter using a pastry blender, until large, moist clumps form. Streusel can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

milk glaze ingredients.

1 C. powdered sugar

2 tbs. milk

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and milk until completely smooth. Immediately drizzle glaze over cake.

oh. yum.

wednesday. 500 days of summer.

seriously. for any of you that haven't watched this movie yet—get it on your netflix queue, red box, blockbuster online, whatever! it's darling, and fun, and unconventional, and real, and so very, very, full of goodness.


zooey deschanel is one of my all-time favorites anyway, but this movie made me love her even more! her vintage-y, laid back, feminine style is utterly wonderful—mass props to the costume designer! (of which i read yesterday, they dressed her in blue, and no one else, to make her eyes dazzle endlessly throughout filming. gosh. it's got to be rough being her.) ... and yes, i might have a girl crush on her. how can you not?!

anyway, it's quirky, fun, and not your average 'romantic comedy.' and the soundtrack is good, too!

new blog-eriffic format.

i seem to be up in the air about lots many things lately (none of which include my love of sugar and/or things like the above decadence). and i think reformatting my blog might help. i'm one to need organization amongst the chaos. so if you come to my house and i'm scrubbing re-organizing the pantry, or cleaning out my kitchen cupboards ... odds are, my brain is frazzled and i'm trying to fix it.

and now that my crazy neuroses is out in the open for all of you, i've decided to broaden my blog world a bit ... or more so, structure it to better fit what i want.

a post a day (more or less)—each day with a general topic. here's the scoop:

monday
vintage finds—LOCAL shops, clothes, decor, photos, the works.

tuesday
kiddo books—much like what i've been posting more recently.

wednesday
big kid books—or other generally girly topics (including crafty-smafty and inspirational yummies).

thursday
food wonderfulness—recipes, pictures of amazing foods, great links, and more!

friday
whatever mood may strike—or whatever you want me to post about! ideas, let me know! although, i'll tell you now ... it'll probably end up being another vintage or kid's book day unless anyone has objections!

weekends
don't count on it ... this is my family time! a girl's gotta have a life, right?!

i hope this organizes some of the jumble and you all can enjoy my little creative space that much more!

help me, mr. mutt!

i may be slacking in the "sharing reviews of the 2010 picture book nominees," ... and i really have no excuse! forgive me!

help me, mr. mutt was the perfect transition back to book-world. this lovely 'dear abby' type for dogs, is hilarious and taylor LOVED it. (It was, however, a tad long for the baby's teensy attention span.)

the letter format it's written in is great. dogs of all walks write in to mr. mutt with their problems, and he writes back as best he can with his advice. his fellow office-mate, however, gets the last word every time ... the queen (cat)—complete with her fancy pink stationery.

plus, how can you see that cute puppy face and not love him?!

hmmmm.

do you ever feel like you have so much to say and so many thoughts flying around in your brain that you don't even know where to start ... so you just don't?

i'm totally there. stay tuned.

a visitor for bear. (2010 nominee.)

bear doesn't like visitors. so much so, that he even has a sign to keep them at bay. and when a mouse shows up at his door, he's not pleased. he turns him away ... but mouse doesn't give up. he keeps coming back. over, and over, and over, showing up in the most curious places ... and bear is NOT having it!

super funny, and WAY fun to read aloud (yes, i said WAY FUN). also makes good use of vocab words!



author: bonny becker
illustrator: kady macdonald denton

2010 children's choice picture book nominees.

the washington children's choice picture book award focuses on picture books for grades k-3. Various titles are discussed, based on things like: balance of male and female focus, ethnic diversity, and a variety of reading levels (plus lots of other really important things like illustration, how much the kids love them, read-aloud coolness, etc).

the nominees are in, and the deadline for voting is coming to a close april 1st! there are 20 books on the nominee list, and starting today, i'll be going through each and every one—sharing thoughts, comments, and adventures with each. if all goes well, i'll have the last one finished on march 29th ... right before the deadline! this year's nominees are:

a visitor for bear—bonny becker
astronaut handbook—mehgan mccarthy
bats at the library—brian lies
bedtime at the swamp—kristin crow
bone soup—cambria evans
critter sitter—chuck richards
dirty joe, the pirate: a true story—bill harley
help me, mr. mutt!: expert answers for dogs with people—janet stevens
mrs. muddle's holidays—laura nielsen
ms. mccaw learns to draw—kaethe zemach
one is a feast for mouse—judy cox
the pencil—allan ahlberg
peter spit a seed at sue—jackie french koller
the pink refrigerator—tim egan
snoring beauty—bruce hale
timothy and the strong pajamas—vivianne schwarz
too many toys—david shannon
two bobbies—a true story of hurricane katrina—kirby, marcy, and nethery laron
wangari's trees of peace—jeanette winter
woolbur—leslie helakoski

happy reading!

chicken little.

yesterday was library day, and lucky me! i had the chance to read steven kellogg's hilarious rendition of 'chicken little' to taylor's class! giggles ensued throughout, and concern that the gang of chicken little, henny penny, lucky ducky, loosey goosey, and turkey lurkey would be gobbled up by the big, bad fox was all over each little kiddos worried face—but this version has a goofy twist at the end that the kids LOVED! (hint: the fox does NOT end up eating well that evening.)

it's an awesome read-aloud, and the kids LOVE chanting (or yelling ... however you would describe it) 'the sky is falling! the sky is falling!' over, and over, and over ... and over. and the dialogue is funny, repetitive, and fun. plus, it's a great way to share a traditional story ('henny penny,' by paul galdone is the most recognized) and show how it's changed over the years.

by FAR my favorite version of this classic to-date. if you haven't seen or read much steven kellogg, click here to see a list of books ... odds are, you've seen more of him than you think!

baby's first colors.

number one ...
who wouldn't want a pair of super-snazzy rainboots like these?!

number two ...
what baby doesn't love a fun book about colors—especially one that uses bright colors and fun pictures to boot!?
number three ...
looking at these with your baby over and over ... and over, saying the colors out loud, pointing and saying the object's name; will guarantee they learn their colors early—and they'll be pointing out cutely, "boots! boots!" everywhere you go before you know it!

number four ...
if anyone finds socks like these for sale—do share! i want them!
there are tons of baby books out there on the shelves ... just weed through and find the ones with objects and colors your baby will actually see (so they can show off their new vocab throughout the house)! ... odds are, your baby won't need to distinguish 'sage' or 'apricot' anytime soon. and big letters with words they can go back and read once your little genius starts learning how (when they're like, 18 months, of course)!

read across america day.

merry merry birthday, dr. suess!


as i slowly wandered through the kitchen this morning, i heard a happy little 5-year old girl running across the floor, jumping up and down, singing, "it's jammy reading day! it's jammy reading day! la la la la la! jammy's and reading ... all. day. long!"


in celebration of the lovely dr. suess' birthday, march 2nd has become a day of reading awareness across the nation. the nea (national education association) offers activities, lesson plans, printables, book recommendations, and SO much more for teachers, librarians, parents, and kids to share in their love of reading.

reading is such an important part of educating our children—and anything we can do to motivate them should be greatly promoted (especially if it means our kids get to go to school in their jammy's and read all day)!

take a few minutes to read with your children (or the children in your life) today and every day. i can't even begin to share how powerful such a simple, easy, and FUN can be. reading is a perfect chance to spend quality time with your children and keep their minds busy, at the same time! if you don't already read with your kids every day ... what a great day to start! one book a day makes a HUGE impact!

read, Read, READ, R-E-A-D!