raspberry brownies

My parents spent last weekend at our house. It had been a pretty long time since they visited, and so I wanted to mark the occasion with a special treat. And since I come from a long line of sweet-tooths, I knew it had to be really, really good.

While I was weeding through my recipes, I kept coming back to these Raspberry Brownies. The recipe looked simple enough (kind of a necessity now that twins are underfoot!), and I'm such a sucker for the combo of rich chocolate and tart berries. So the decision was made, I mixed up the batter, sprinkled some fresh berries on top, popped them in the oven, waited - very impatiently - for the timer to ring while the smell of dark chocolate filled our entire house, and then proudly brought them to the table once our dinner plates were empty.

Oh. my. gosh. Let me tell you about these brownies. In a word, perfection. Rich, chewy, dark chocolate. Not too sweet. And with little bites of fresh raspberry flecked throughout...



Needless to say, they were a hit. ;)


PS - the only thing that can possibly make these better is a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Of course I speak from experience.

(Recipe from Sweet Paul Magazine.)

summer styles at lands' end canvas

I can think of a whole lotta reasons to add these to my summer wardrobe...



Starting with... they're so pretty, I could wear them everywhere!

(Dress and wedges from Lands' End Canvas)

loving sea green

I didn't realize it until I looked at them all together... but it seems that almost every thing that is inspiring me lately or that is on my wish list is a lovely shade of green.


Like this statement necklace...

This swirly pillow...

This scalloped dinnerware...

And this seaside bathroom...

It must be that spring is here.

bold bedding

Morning, Sunshines! Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Speaking of sunshine... we had NONE for the past three days. It was quite possibly the coldest, rainiest, dreariest, windiest May weekend in history. (Well, that I can remember at least.)

But walking out to sunshine and blue skies and the greenest, green grass and brightest spring flowers (thanks to all that rain!) put a big smile on my face, and so I guess our lazy weekend at home wasn't quite so bad...

And all that spring-ness outside made me think of this...



Bold, bright, colorful. Just like a spring garden. It would be a treat to wake up in this bed every morning.


(Laelia Bedding. From Anthro, of course.)

fuzzy head

Without fail, every time I sit down to write you something today, the minute I poise my hands over the keyboard to type, all the thoughts that were swirling about in my head just disappear. Poof! Gone.

I've got nothing to say.

(you don't even want to know how long it took me to come up with that paragraph.)

Because I'm feeling much too lazy to force words that aren't there, I'll just leave you with this...



This is exactly where I'd like to be on a day when I just can't make sense of my thoughts. Here's hoping a good night's sleep will give me a little bit of focus tomorrow.

(Image via here.)

it's hummingbird cake, y'all

A few weekends ago, Wade took me to Table 52 for dinner. Dinner was outstanding, but the real show-stopper was dessert. We finished our meal with one of the most delicious, won't soon be forgotten slices of cake I have ever eaten. It was Hummingbird Cake, which from what I've heard, is a pretty popular cake down South. And now I can't stop thinking about it!

The love child of banana bread and carrot cake (except with no carrots at all, but with pineapple) and with thick layers of cream cheese frosting, this cake has very quickly staked its place in my top five favorites list...




And I am so excited that I found not just the recipe but HIS recipe! online.

Now I need a special occasion to make it. Perhaps because tomorrow is Tuesday would be a good reason, no? I'll let you all know how it goes. And if you happen to have a recipe for Hummingbird Cake that you love, please share!


PS - Everything about dinner was uh-mazing, and I highly (highly!) recommend it to anyone in Chicago.

(Photo from here.)