Gift Guide 2012: Girls
Look: girls are easy to buy for. Jewelry, art, coffee mugs, bags… you can’t go wrong. Here are some of my favorite gift ideas for the ladies this year.
I’m a huge fan of Everlane, and as a girlfriend pointed out: their weekender tote? Drool.
Ok, am I the last to know about Birchbox? This company — for about $12/$15 a month — will send you a box full of beauty samples: makeup, lotion, perfume, etc, EACH MONTH. And, we’re talking GREAT brands. How smart is this? I love this as a gift idea, and it would really tame my rash spending at the drugstore! Plus, who doesn’t love getting packages in the mail?
Ahh… minimalist bowls. Love BTW Ceramics.
As someone who spends a lot of time happily in the kitchen, I think these pretty measuring spoons would be a lot of fun.
Imogen Heath, unique cushions, that’s that.
Yes this is in the “kids” section of J.Crew, but this would be an awesome blanket!
Books are always a safe bet. Three that are hot for the Christmas shelves include:
Craft a Day by Sarah Goldschadt
My favorite bloggers, Young House Love, have a book! (One day, JD… one day….)
The blogger Oh Joy’s book: “Blog, In.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community.” Sounds good to me!
In my hot pursuit of soaps, I discovered Dr. Bronner’s Castille soap, highly endorsed by Goop herself. This would be a great stocking stuffer.
How cool and unique is this Drusy necklace? Anything from this pretty shop is great for jewelry.
My girlfriend Della got an Ancestry.com membership gift from her in-laws, and I think this is such a special, different gift that can be so meaningful.
Madewell… yep. Just about anything, but pajama shorts would be my choice.
Thanks to Martha Stewart, jadeite kitchenware has gone up greatly in price. Regardless, a pretty pitcher is a practical plus fun gift for summer sangrias and winter bloody marys. Here’s a jadeite one from Fishs Eddy.
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Don’t forget to check out past Christmas Gift Guides since 2009! Scroll down to the bottom of the About Page.
Get ready…
I love love love this. I mean, this picture is totally hilarious and perfectly accurate, especially on the heels of the “gift guide” season… mine being one of them! I do try to strive for creativity and originality with my gift guides, but I can see how the assortment can get tedious. Regardless, I have a friend who specifically asks for it each year, plus it gives me great thrill to curate the best of what’s out there this year. So, get ready for this week’s full listing of gift ideas… hopefully they won’t involve the above template!
This year, we’re keeping it simple: girls, guys, and… a new category … kiddos! I mean, come on. Mags has to be a part of this! See you tomorrow with the annual Christmas Gift Guide back in action.
Christmastime… and Harry Potter?
I love the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays for several reasons, but one thing that I always think about is Harry Potter. Yeah, I know, that’s probably weird to you, but I remember one Christmas while home from college, snuggling up near a fire with my mom next to me on the coach, watching the first ever Harry Potter movie. Now that the movie series is complete (I highly anticipated all the movies), I wanted to throw together some of my favorite pins that remind me of the books and movies, just because!
Muggles are our Friends poster
Vintage Hogwarts Pennant Collection by Society6
Butterbeer Latte recipe (source unknown… oh Pinterest)
And, just for fun… this. (Yes, Libby?)
Friday Feast: Martha’s Chicken Tetrazzini… with Sausage
I have a new favorite casserole. It’s perfect for cold autumn nights when you want a full belly after a long day. I discovered this recipe after searching for a good recipe that is great to freeze/store and landed on this awesome Martha Stewart slide show. I’ve made it a handful of times, including for some family and friends, all with rave reviews.
But of course, I inserted a little Kate Schmate flare and added sausage. I mean, how can I not with JD as my husband?
Here’s the recipe with my variation.
Martha Stewart’s Chicken Tetrazzini with Sausage
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 tablespoons butter
1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 cups grated Parmesan cheese (I use any shredded cheese in the fridge.)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 pound linguine, broken in half (I use whatever pasta I have in the pantry… ziti, spaghetti, etc)
1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)
1/2 pound ground sausage, or Italian sausage with casings removed
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed and drained
- Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for pasta).
- In a large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over high heat. Fully cook ground sausage, and then add mushrooms. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender and browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
- In same saucepan, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add flour; cook, whisking, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, gradually add milk and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and add 2 cups Parmesan and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook pasta 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente; drain and return to pot. Add sauce, chicken, peas, and mushrooms. Toss well to combine.
- Divide between two shallow 2-quart baking dishes; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Freeze or bake until browned, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
I’m Gonna Deck You
I’m going to be real here a second, so bear with me. This post IS about how I stained our deck and what you need to know, but I have a preface.
If I could choose, I would be a stay-at-home mom. But because we have a unique situation regarding health insurance, I’m a full-time employee. I don’t want to complain because I’d much rather be a working mom than just a working non-mom, so know that I am extremely grateful to have Maggie in our life. All that to say, being a working mom has some giant disadvantages. One of which is the incredible guilt with how I spend my time after work and on weekends. All I really want to do is spend time with Maggie and JD. Especially in the evenings, I pick her up around 4:30, and she’s in the bath and bed by 7. That’s nothing! No time at all! Then, on weekends, even though I’m itching to do projects and fun crafty things that I used to do, I don’t really want to. I just want to play on the floor, read with my cutie pies, and have fun new adventures with my family.
But sometimes things around the house call for our attention, and you have to pull yourself away from the adorable giggling to stain a deck. The wear and tear was too bad to let it go another season untreated, and October is the best month (at least in Nashville) to stain a deck. It pained me to take two plus full days away from Mags and JD to do this project, but I really enjoyed putting the sweat into it, and I think it came out pretty well.
I say all that to give some explanation to why the project took so long to complete. Any drop of rain to endanger the integrity of the project set me back another weekend… a handy excuse to hang with my sweeties! So, keep this in mind while judging my timeline.
Ok… onto deck staining.
Our poor deck was the pits. We bought our home in 2008… I’m unsure if the deck was stained then or when it was first built in 2004, but by this past spring, it was rough. The railings were breaking, there was no stain left on the high traffic path, and sometimes I could hear it crying. (Just kidding!) But, it still had a good bit of stain on certain places, and it needed a good cleaning. Here are my steps to an extremely elaborate project:
RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH… there’s no Googling when your hands are full of stain. I found a couple good resources, but really, I just read as much as I possibly could about staining. I also emailed a friend who had just stained his deck the summer prior. He gave me his tips as well. Honestly, once it became time to buy the actual stain, my Lowe’s paint guy Dave said I “knew more than most at this stage.” Confidence really does help when you’re in the middle and worried you’ve done something wrong.
I had read some stories online and from a friend, both of whom recommended taking a lot of time on this project. Over and over I read, “Don’t try to rush this project.” The more time you have to make the stain stick in dry weather, the better.
Therefore, my next bit of advice: plan to stain at the best time of year. The weather can’t be too warm, too cold, or rainy at all. So that leaves September-November in Nashville, and many of my weekends that I had planned to work on the deck were rained out. If the wood on the deck is not completely dried out, the wood can warp and ugly bubbles can surface on your stain.
The pressure washer is your friend. Before staining your deck, you have to strip down any remaining stain on the boards. I knew pressure washing would do the trick, but once I had rented it, I was too cautious with it, and I ended up having to go over it again. There’s a fine balance between getting the stain off the boards and denting the wood… so yeah, be cautious. Also, rent that baby for the day, and pressure wash the heck out of anything and everything. I ended up getting the back patio and was later disappointed that I had forgotten to pressure wash the drive way and sidewalk. Just rent the thing for the whole day and enjoy it. Pressure washing was fun… yes I know that’s weird.
Pressure washing took the whole day. I had anticipated a morning project, but then when I started going crazy with the washer, I didn’t come back in until dinner time. It was fun but much longer because I was thorough.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to stain until three of four weeks after this because of crazy weather and other commitments. I can’t say enough, though, about being ready. Be prepared to jump in when the weather is great. Knowing I didn’t want to waste precious sunlight or time with Maggie and JD, I had everything out: stain, stirrers, rollers, brushes, rags, cleaning agents, even the clothes I was going to wear. I did a lot of preparation at night so that I wouldn’t waste daylight.
Onto actual staining… here’s everything in a gist:
- Take off all your jewelry, even wedding rings. Just do it. It’s messy. Better yet, just wear gloves. (My mom of course reminds me this after I’m pretty much done.)
- I would recommend the Van Morrison Pandora radio station to keep on while staining. That was the perfect cadence for the necessary staining stamina.
- Stain… stains! So, keep this in mind when pouring it out into your bowl. I put everything into the grass, rather than on our patio.
- Stain acts like the opposite of paint: coats aren’t really a thing for stain. You have to do everything while the stain is wet. Coats won’t really cover up mistakes.
- Stain drips… a lot! Just keep that in mind.
- I used a combo of brushes and rollers: brushes for the spokes, stairs, and posts; rollers for the floor. And use a big brush. This seems obvious, but really: the wider the brush, the more stain you can apply, minimizing how many times you dip into your bowl.
Below is my progress halfway through the spoke-painting.
When I stained next to the brick, I used a cardboard box to protect the brick from getting hit with stain. This worked pretty well, but, honestly, a little careful detailing will be just as effective.
Actually staining took me four different days for frustrating reasons: once, I ran out of stain, then I forgot to stain the bottom of the railings, and then I decided to throw caution to the wind and add a second coat to the floor. The floor was much lighter than the border and spokes, and that annoyed me because I knew it was going to get the most traffic. So, I went against my better judgement and recoated the floor. But, it actually looks so much better.
Another added component that many restaining-deck-DIYers might not run into is replacing boards. Our top railing boards were U-G-L-Y. So, we pulled them up and purchased replacements, which we stained and installed.
Our across-the-street-neighbor (who is a saint) ended up cutting and beveling the railing boards for us, and he clued us in to an important fact: boards have outsides and insides. If you look at the end, you can see the tree rings etched. If the rings are in a sunset shape, the top is the outside of the tree. If the edge is a smiley face shape, the top is the inside of the board. (Check out this example.) You want the outside exposed to the sky, because after some aging, a board will round toward the inside. So, we kept that in mind when we were placing our boards.
I’m not thrilled how the railings turned out where the stair rail meets the top rails, but I’m not sure how I could have made it better with the resources we had.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the project. I learned a lot, had a ton of time with my thoughts and the Van Morrison Pandora station, and saved money rather than hiring a professional (supplies cost about $180 total, including stain, boards, brushes, and the pressure washer rental). I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Friday Feast: Best Pancakes Ever
I didn’t get JD any presents for his birthday… I just cooked a bunch of fun meals. He was thrilled. I of course wanted to incorporate bacon into a meal. We used to make more elaborate breakfasts pre-Maggie, but we haven’t had the opportunity lately. So, one night, I made pancakes from scratch, with bacon IN THEM. They were great.
This is actually just the recipe for the pancakes, but if you want to throw the bacon in, cook the bacon all the way (10 minutes on both sides at 350 degrees in the oven), and then add them after you pour the pancake mix on the griddle. Yum.
Non-Bisquick Pancakes
Put into a large bowl:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ½ tsp salt
Whisk these dry ingredients together until they are well incorporated.
In another mixing bowl:
- beat the 3 egg yolks with a whisk to break them up
- add 1 2/3 cup of the milk of your choice (I used half and half… YUM again)
- 4 tablespoon of softened butter
- ½ tsp vanilla
Meanwhile, using a stand or hand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, except the egg whites. There will be plenty of lumps, but that’s ok.
Fold in the egg whites. This is important. You want the egg whites to maintain their volume and air.
Pour onto a hot griddle and only flip once. And don’t pat them! (The best advice ever courtesy of Nashville’s Pancake Pantry.) And that’s it!
I can’t express enough how much better these tasted than Bisquick mixes, which to me have a specific sourness to them. Even though they require a little more effort, I thoroughly enjoyed these pancakes, as did the birthday boy!
Who Moved Your…
It’s 10:00 on a Monday night. JD and I are relaxing on the couch but about to go to bed.
Kate: “Man I’m hungry again.” (I’m constantly hungry these days, since I’m still burning a bunch of calories breastfeeding.) “What should I eat?”
JD: “I have an excellent idea.”
Kate: …
JD: “Cheddar cheese.”
Kate: “Cheese?!”
JD (strongly): “CHEESE.”
Kate: “No.”
JD: “…. Ok.”
Handmade by Emy
It’s one thing for me to highlight a bunch of fun products and stores on Etsy, but I really do need to emphasize that I consistently have good experiences using Etsy for gift-buying and general commerce.
This past summer, we bought JD’s dad a very cool seer-sucker bow tie for Father’s Day. It ended up that the bow tie was too small, so I contacted the seller. The seller was super kind, very helpful, and was happy to make a replacement in the right size for free. I was super impressed with Handmade by Emy. Here are a few of her products as you think about your Christmas shopping! You have the full Kate Schmate endorsement!
Baby Boy’s Green Seersucker Stripe Bow Tie
Black and White Gingham Men’s Tie
Happy birthday, goofball.
Maggie’s best friend, Lucy’s third favorite person, and my beloved funny guy is 31 today. Happy birthday, sweetie.
Art Update Ideas
We’ve been in our house now since the summer of 2008, and I’m starting to get a little antsy about our decor. A lot of things have been the same since we’ve moved in. One Saturday night, I did a little bit of art rearranging, and I already feel refreshed. It also gave me the opportunity to find more potential art spots in the house. This always leads to a stroll through some Etsy shops, and here are a few fun pieces out there.
Home Cozy Home pennant by Roxy Marj
Twig Number 1 by Natasha Newton
Stay Calm and…
I definitely don’t talk about my work life much here on Schmate, but today is big: I start a new job today. After five years at my old position, I’m beginning a new adventure. The older I get, the more I avoid change… but this is a change in the right direction, and I’m so thankful for this opportunity.
Of course, I’m still a little nervous. Even though I am staying within the Vanderbilt family, there are definitely variations to my day: new parking, what I wear (a nametag! woohoo! I’m a dork.), my daily flexibility, new colleagues. It feels like I’m starting fresh again… like a new year at grade school. But my bookbag is packed, and my first-day outfit laid out… let’s go!
Planners, Calendars, and Agendas… oh my!
It’s October… the time of year when I start looking for a yearly calendar. Cue dramatic music… this is always a very big purchase for me. Not “big” as in expensive, necessarily… but always a big decision. I use this puppy every. single. day. I carry my calendar with me everywhere: meetings, office, vegging out on the couch after a long day, time with friends… My calendar is quite important. For the past few years, I’ve been pairing it with a notepad, and together, I feel totally equipped for any decision-making disaster.
Since about 2008, I’ve just relied on my At-a-Glance Weekly friend: solid color, professional, sturdy. But, hey, I need to live a little. Plus I imagine a big factory of “At-a-Glance” calendars just being produced on an assembly line by faceless drones. Maybe I should support a small business of calendar makers? That could be fun. (Or maybe I just need to tame my imagination and buy what’s best for me.)
What do you do during this time of planner uncertainty? Turn to the gurus and ask the epic planners among us. Enter Jessica. One quick email, and I have six options! (Is that not the mark of a true friend?) Here’s some of Jessica’s suggestions:
Sarah Pinto‘s pretty, colorful, weekly planner ($20)
Jonathan Adler ($20) has a very colorful planner as well.
Laurel Denise… definitely another calendar I’m seriously considering, although I don’t know whether the size would work for me.
Erin Condren ($50) has customizable calendars, which I really like too!
What do you think? Should I take the plunge and try something new? I like my options!
Maggie + beach = cuteness
I go back and forth with how I want to use this blog… is it a personal record/journal? Is it more of a log of things I like? Is it a way to track my progress with our house and other projects? I think yes to all above, so I think it’s completely fine if I share pictures from our recent beach vacation. I’d say this would definitely fall under personal journal, something I like, and something I created!
We had a very fun time at the beach a couple of weeks ago. We got to see both sets of parents, and Lucy had a fine time as well. Maggie played in the pool almost every day, and we practiced dunking her under water, which she …tolerated. Overall, it was a very fun trip but I can’t remember a beach trip that wasn’t a ton of fun!
These two just like hanging out with one another!
So fun to see Pappy and Nanny!
Gram and Maggie. Her bathing suit was perhaps the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Stripes? Little flowers? Done.
One of Maggie’s swimming outfits. She hates the act of putting on clothes, thus the pacifier/soothie post-tight-shirt-application.
Dunking!
What a fun trip!!
New Tricks from the New Mama
Every once in a while, I’ll share some of my “secrets” for how I stay on top of things… keeping the house clean, changes in the season, money, cooking, etc. Ever since Maggie came into the world, my sneaky techniques have received a major shake-up, and I have had to refocus and figure out new ways to do things. Here are some of my current favorite tricks to get things done and to stay clutter-free.
Be smart… think bulk. Since Maggie’s bedroom and bathroom are both upstairs and really everything else in the house is downstairs, I used to bring a nighttime diaper and a night’s pajamas up the stairs with me every time we’d go up for Maggie’s bathtime and sleep ritual. Often I’d forget this step, and Maggie would be left shivering in her towel while one of us would run downstairs to grab her jammies. Then finally, I figured out that I’d save a bunch of time and brain power if I just kept the jammies and diapers stored in the bathroom. Imagine that… the clothes stayed in the room where Maggie would need them.
Less guilt! We got take out… again. There’s laundry in the dryer that’s been sitting there for two days. I haven’t weeded the garden in three months. That’s ok! It’s going to be ok! Why am I beating myself up about these things? I don’t know, and I need to let it go.
I still routinely move around my house from room to room while grabbing things. This is still a very good ritual. If I go from kitchen to bedroom, I bring my shoes. If I go from bedroom to living room, I bring toys that need to be put away. Especially on trips upstairs, I bring up Maggie’s items or bring down the garbage. My hands are rarely empty. Yes, sometimes I bring a pillow to the bathroom… but usually my head is clear when I’m doing this!
Reminders on my phone. I got an iPhone for Christmas, and it has been a lifesaver. Especially helpful is the reminder app, which I set all the time. I use it weekly and monthly to remind me to do simple chores that we sometimes forget (writing the weekly daycare check, putting out the garbage every Tuesday, giving Lucy her flea meds, changing the air filters at our house). It’s also wonderful for just small reminders I might normally put on my hand-written to-do list. Even simple things like, “call in a prescription,” or “stop by the bank,” all scheduled at times when I can actually address the issues. These things have been lifesavers.
I can’t say this enough… especially once I started working again: everything for the next day has to be ready the night before. This is huge. Mornings are nuts. And there are so many variables… spit-up on your work clothes, a random extra dirty diaper that needs to be changed, a couple more minutes of sleep… too much could happen after that alarm rings. The morning is stressful as it is… why would I procrastinate the night before?
Staging ground for future situations are also helpful. The couch in our bedroom is currently the designated place. For example, we’re visiting a set of grandparents and we want to bring them something when we go. I’ll set aside those items on a special cushion of the couch, knowing that when we pack, the items will be ready and waiting for us. This is so much better than stressing myself out about something I was going to bring but now have forgotten. My parents actually do this (and where I stole the idea), and they keep all the things they want to show me and JD on my old bed at their house. By the time we get there, it’s always fun to go to the bed and see the spread of things they have set aside for us to see.
Ready, set, box! Right after Maggie was born, I was overwhelmed with all the stuff … clothes, socks, gear, blankets. Plus, there were sentimental things that I wanted to keep but didn’t know where to put (papers from the hospital, notes, special gifts). Ready Boxes, as I like to call them, have been super helpful for taming all the baby items. I have three boxes labeled, “For Next Baby Stuart” (something that Maggie used but is too old for now), “To Donate” (for items I didn’t use and don’t want for future kids), and “Maggie” (her own box full of all her special sentimental items… the masks from the c-section, cards we received after her birth, hospital bracelets, etc.). Even though these boxes were empty for a while, it’s nice that they were there when I was ready to put things away.
So that’s it! These are my little “secrets,” and so far, things are working out pretty well. I’m sure things will get more complicated when Maggie starts wobbling around, but for now, here are our tricks of the trade. Anyone else have ideas too good not to share?
Alabama Chanin
For Christmas a couple of years ago, I gave my dad a subscription to “Garden and Gun” magazine. Anyone get it? I LOVE it, and thankfully, he gives me his magazines after he reads them. While perusing the June/July edition a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across Alabama Chanin plates from Heath Ceramics and instantly fell in love. They are a bit pricey, but what good tableware isn’t? How wonderful are these nice patterns and versatile colors?
Kate Schmate 