Bon Voyage

We had a birthday party for my friend Mary on Tami and Mark's yatch. We went out on San Diego Bay and enjoyed all the beautiful views of the city. The weather was perfect and the food was delicious, thanks to all my friends. We had fresh sushi, pizza, sandwiches, melon & prosciutto. Carly and I made french cupcakes for dessert. 

Happy Birthday Mary!

Thanks Captain Mike and Vicki!

We'll Miss You Dad

What a great father we had, always there for us with that big smile and laugh. We will miss all the family get togethers and music we shared. Now you will be with your wife, Toni, and your son Albert Jr. You are the best dad! You will be missed forever. We love you Dad.

Antique Collection

Photos by Jody Gabara

Today seemed like one of those days you just want to relax and unwind.

 I love looking at our antique collections that we have found thoughout the years. 

 

The key is have fun collecting!

PALMIERS

Carly and I had a lot of fun with these cookies.

We found the recipe in an 

Ina Garten "Barefoot in Paris" book. 

She had gone to a famous Paris pastry shop that made huge palmiers.

 Her recipe consists of:

2 cups Sugar

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

2 sheets Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets

They were delicious and very light. 

Thank you so much Barefoot Contessa!

Photos by Carly Gabara

Strawberries & Cream Macarons

Photos by Carly Gabara

I recently bought Carly a French macaron cookbook, because that's her favorite cookie. 

We both realized that there's an English "macaroon" that refers to the coconut cookie. While the French spell it with one "o". Macarons are a sweet meringue cookie made from egg whites, icing sugar, superfine sugar and almond flour. 

It's name is derived from an Italian word "maccarone" or "maccherone". French macarons are commonly filled with butter cream and jam. 

You can use food coloring, sprinkles or edible glitter to make these delicate irresistible cookies.

We made Strawberries & Cream Macarons. Making the cookies step-by-step are time consuming but well worth it. We garnished them with edible pink glitter. 

Now you can have the taste of Paris in your Kitchen...

Distressed Vanity

Photos by Jody Gabara

I found this vanity at a garage sale. It was the original wood color but I knew I wanted to paint it. I picked out an off white paint and did a distressed look to it and I loved how it turned out. I had some french material saved and used it for the chair. I display my favorite dishes in it. Very Chic!!

VIGNETTE WITH LETTERS

Photo by Jody Gabara

We saw these letters at Roger's Garden and couldn't resist them. They are decorated with glued on fancy paper. I added the little birds on top that I  collected at different stores.

Photo by Jody Gabara

I like that you can see the letters from a distance,

it makes a vignette with little work....

Photos by Carly Gabara

After designing our vignette, we rewarded ourselves with a glass of lemon water. Refreshing...

Painting With Chalkboard Paint

Photos by Carly Gabara

We have collected old trays from thrift stores and garage sales and saw this idea about painting with chalkboard paint. You need to paint a sealer on first and let dry. Then apply the chalkboard paint and dry 24 hours. Your ideas can be endless with the paint. It's a great summer project!