we're the proud parents...

Of a beautiful baby named Petrie.

Remember in this post when I raved about my love for this sofa from The Breakup? That movie came out in June of '06, and I've been drooling over that sofa ever since. I love the combined look of midcentury and modern, I love the tufted cushions, and I love the thin armrests and legs. 

I tried for a while to figure out who made the sofa, and the only thing I could find was the Stylus sofa. The very helpful fourth door pointed me in the right direction, and it's actually the Petrie Sofa from Crate & Barrel. It's named after Rob and Laura Petrie from the Dick Van Dyke Show. Isn't that cute? The C&B Petrie sofa has not only been in The Breakup, but also Lipstick Jungle and Brothers and Sisters.

before...

after!

It makes a huge difference in the room, and I am still pinching myself because I can't believe that it's really ours to keep:) I was going to save this post until Monday, but I just couldn't wait!

If anyone needs me and Jemima, we'll just be lounging about glamorously on our glamorous new sofa.

a must-read

These all come from the new blog "Catalog Living". They are hilarious. They take images from companies like Pottery Barn and write captions that are "quotes" from the people who live in the catalog set.

Elaine was not amused by Gary’s passive-aggressive response to her request to “garnish the cocktails.”

It broke through the wall during the last big storm and we decided just to leave it.

I’ve only set out personalized towels for Margaret and Patrick, but I see three people arriving on horseback…if they’re bringing a friend I wish they had told me ahead of time.  The embroider is fast but not that fast.

Sweetheart, the Turners will be here any minute now!  Did you put the plate of figs under the table?

it's june!

don't forget to drop by design*sponge and pick up your desktop calendar!

chocolate chip banana nut cookies

About a year ago I stumbled upon this recipe while looking for something to do with some just-about-to-go-bad bananas ... and my life changed forever.

For real. They are that good.

You'll need: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg - room temperature

1 cup of over-ripe, mashed bananas (about 2 medium bananas)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

pinch of salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I like the jumbo ones)

Pre-heat the oven to 350
Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and beat until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, mix mashed bananas and baking soda. Let this sit for 2 minutes. This is what makes the cookies light and fluffy!
Mix the banana mush into the butter mixture and cream. I know it looks pretty gross here with the brown mushy bananas, but stay with me.

Mix together flour, salt and spices. Sift into the butter/banana mix.
Add the chocolate chips and pecans.
Dollop onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 11-13 minutes.

it's monday again!

I'm back with my new feature - lots of fun retro pictures every monday:) Since spring is in the air, and a lot of us have started (or are soon to start) our spring cleaning, I thought it would be fun to make this Monday Cleaning-Themed.

I love how absolutely thrilled all these ladies look to be doing their cleaning. Here's your spring cleaning checklist, courtsey of these well-dressed ladies:

Shine those pots and pans! Put hubby to work waxing the car!

Don't forget to vacuum under the furniture.

Lovingly dust under your Mother-In-Law's portrait.

Time to launder and iron the window and shower curtains!

Polish your silver and give the contents of your china cabinet a good scrubbing!

Re-stock your pantry with a fresh set of the essentials. Yay shopping!

Don't forget to polish up those floors (while wearing heels, of course).

Or ... just forget the whole thing and make this your new motto!

10 things that make me happy:)

I was very flattered when the adorable Lauren from With Two Cats gave me this blog award. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should!!! She posts gorgeous inspiration pictures, has the perfect blend of pictures, personal info and text (most blogs seem to be a bit heavy on one of the three), and her little family is just so cute. Make sure to check out her nursery! It's not even done yet and I'm already swooning.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I wanted to keep it light and happy rather than mushy and serious, so without further ado, here are 10 things that make me happy.

1. Pizza and a movie nights with my husband. Getting all dressed up to go to a fancy dinner is fun, but honestly ... my very most favorite thing is when we just pick up a pizza, rent a movie, and have a date night at home:)

2. Full House. I don't know what I'd do without this show. It's not even that funny, interesting, or entertaining ... and heaven knows there's no good acting or writing ... but it always makes me happy! For our first Christmas together, my husband bought me the DVD series that comes in the little mini-house. Best gift ever!!!

3. Making movies with my siblings. Let me tell you, we've made some doozies. We have several infomercials ... always for absolutely worthless and ridiculous products that my brother Sam (the mastermind behind the infomercials) comes up with. A little under a year ago, we pulled out all the stops. We re-made the movie Signs. The movie is about 12 minutes long, and has all the important scenes in it. The "swing away, Merrill" scene, the creepy leg in the corn field scene, even Bo's baby monitor scene. It's awesome.

4. Daisies. Aren't they just the cutest? Daisies make everyone happy. When my friend Mary Claire and I were young, we didn't have boyfriends (but we wanted some!), so on special occasions we would buy each other daisies, our favorite flower.

5. Nora Ephron films. In case you couldn't tell from my blog's tagline, this post, and the countless You've Got Mail and Julie & Julia posts I've done, I LOVE any movie Ephron is involved in, and they make me very happy:)

6. Oldies. I love old music. The majority of my iTunes downloads are Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc. Click here for a list of some of my favorite oldies, with a few new songs thrown in there as well!

7. The lyrics to In Christ Alone. You can click here to read them, or you can listen to it right here by playing this video.

8. Seeing a loved one you haven't seen in a long time. There are very few feelings in the world that can compare to that feeling you get when you first spot your spouse/parent/siblings/best friend at the airport after being separated for a while. I love that. You just can't beat that sudden rush of emotions.

{photo credit}

9.  Jemima's antics. She is about the funniest little creature I've ever seen. She's so floppy and cuddly, and she does a million tricks (some we taught her and some she just picked up on her own). She has us laughing all the time. We're convinced that once she figures out a way to make us laugh, she starts doing it on purpose.

10. Cute neighborhoods. I could drive around cute, sunny neighborhoods where trees line the streets and little craftsman houses in different colors are all in rows for hours and hours.

{photo credit}

Do something that makes YOU happy today!

good morning:)

Things have been busy and I wasn't able to blog yesterday, but just so you know ... I have a before and after coming this afternoon ... a BIG one!  So don't touch that dial!

Have a great morning!

XOXO

Here's some nice Monday images for you. If the new work week gets you down, just pretend you're still in bed, wearing dainty PJs and yawning.

Or leisurely indulging in a game of checkers on a warm spring day (with the windows open and a pink, pouffy dress on, of course.)

Or that you're off for an afternoon of sailing and sunbathing with your best friend.

Happy Monday!

yes, even more recent pictures

I promise I'll resume tomorrow with all the decor and furniture goodness that you expect from white waxflower, but for tonight, here are a few more pictures from the last 2 weeks or so that I felt like sharing.

The Mr. and I were having a very lazy Saturday morning a few weeks ago. We just sat in bed and drank coffee. I read magazines and he was reading a book. I walked back to the bedroom after getting up for more coffee and thought this sort of looked cool. It looked like a lazy Saturday:)

I snapped this at the park 2 weeks ago with my camera on my iPhone. To my surprise it came out really well ... and it's now one of my favorite pictures of my husband.

I was leaving to go have brunch with some friends when my husband stopped me at the door. He told me I looked really cute and he wanted to take a picture. I wouldn't indulge him ... but he snapped this one anyway and loved it. Haha:)

I took this picture so I could ask my nature-expert little brother what kind of bird that is, but I like it just as a picture-picture, too:)

This one is a bit blurry, but it's still really sweet. She looks very content.

See you tomorrow!

summer fun

How cute is this retro picnic set for 2 by Blyton?

It makes me want to time-travel back to the 50's, put on this dress

grab my basket and one of these blankets

call up some friends and hop on our beach cruisers ..

(that's a young Rita Hayworth in the middle)

and head off for a picnic!

Maybe here on the green grass where all the couples are color coordinated in baby blue and white,

or here on the beach where none of the adults seem to be wearing swim attire:

or maybe meet up with this lovely lady. Couldn't resist posting this image ... too funny!

If Monday gets you down, just close your eyes and dream of sunny picnics!

it was a monster mash

how to make the anothropologie gift card-holding monster

by white waxflower

If you've given or received an anthropologie gift card lately, then you've seen the adorable monsters they're putting them in. I fell in love with mine, and wanted to make more of them. They make adorable cell phone and iPod holders, too:)

 These are some instructions that I put together as simply as I could to help you make your own. There's always room for improvement, so feel free to make suggestions in the comments if you try it and find something that works better! And if something isn't clear, speak up!

here's what you'll need:

• measuring tape
• fabric (a fat quarter, or 1/4 yard is enough for 2 monsters)
• two buttons of different size
• thread that coordinates with the fabric
• needles
• pins
• scissors
• light stuffing or batting
• material for accessories such as ribbon for a bow {optional}

now it's time to cut out the fabric for your monster:

For the body: cut out 2 sections of fabric: both 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches.

For the mouth: cut out 1 section of fabric: 3.5 inches by 4.25 inches.

For the arms: cut four sections of fabric: all 3.5 by 1.5  inches

for the mouth:

Fold a small seam over, iron it flat and pin it. Now sew it shut.

I used a cross-stitch, but you could use any stitch you want.

for the arms:

fold the arm in half INSIDE OUT and sew the long ends shut.

leave the short end open (the one opposite the folded end)

turn the arms out so that they're now right-side in. Iron the seams, then lightly stuff them.

for the body:

now it's time to start putting all the pieces together.

lay the mouth/chest piece on top of one of the body pieces.

leave the other body piece aside for now.

pin it in place, then sew the mouth/chest to the body.

pin the little monster arms to the back of the body.

sew them in as you work your way down the sides, sewing the mouth to the body.

I like to put one arm a little higher than the other.

now that you've got the arms, mouth/chest and front of the body all sewed together, you can sew on your little button eyes. Don't get them too close to the sides of the fabric or it will be hard to sew the back of the body on.

this next step is very important, and if you forget it your poor monster will be arm-less.

pin the little monster's arms to his chest. This will keep them in place so that when you turn it inside out, sew it, and then turn it back out again the arms won't be trapped inside it's little body.

so again, make sure you pin his arms to the FRONT of his chest, right in under the cross-stitch for his mouth.

for the back:

take your last remaining cut-out cloth, the back, and put it on top the monster's face, so that the pattern sides are facing each other. remember, you're going to be sewing it INSIDE OUT!!!!

{caution: don't be confused by the little "arms" that you see there. those are the little "nubs", the short fabric left inside when I had sewed the arms in.}

sew it up on three sides: the top, and the long ends. leave the bottom open. when you're sewing the long ends shut, don't go quite all the way to the bottom. leave about a quarter of an inch or a little less open.

iron your seams if you'd like, then iron the quarter seam that you left at the bottom backwards so that it will fold in when you turn it back right-side in.

now it's time to turn the little guy back so that he's right-side in!

sew the little monster flat to give him a more polished look, then very lightly stuff him.

your seams that you sewed in the last step should still be in place.

use these to help you sew up the bottom.

Now just add your embellishments (if you want to add any), like this little lady's hair bow!

I also recommend giving them a very sophisticated name. Perhaps yours is a Maxmillian, Rupert, or Evangeline?

Don't forget to cut a fun design in a business card or card stock to give your little guy some teeth!