Home Wong Nga and Black Cty: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Birthday Party Recap

My childhood birthday party memories are filled with images of kids, cake, balloons, presents and pinatas (my Dad would make me pinata year after year for my parties). Simple pleasures. So I put aside the idea that Oscar's birthday had to be a production, and focused on making it purely fun. And to make it purely fun, I focused on making it easy. :)

My 5th birthday party with my friends from the street.

We hosted a birthday party on the Saturday for immediate family, which is why I was baking up a storm. A simply BBQ, and family brought salads and munchies. I ordered 24 helium balloons from my neighbourhood stationery store, and they delivered them the morning of the party and they were scattered throughout the house. I used my no-sew bunting flags for the event - they can be reused every year, something I intentionally wanted, to create some tradition to birthdays. Over the years the bunting flags will get worn, but I hope that little things like these will contribute to fond memories as he gets older.

Our Living Room was filled with helium balloons for Oscar

The next day, Sunday was Oscar's real birthday. Aubrey had to work, so Oscar and I spent the day taking a little walk to Starbucks to see his favourite barristas who all wished him a Happy Birthday, and playing with some of his new toys. At night we went to my Parents to celebrate his real birthday with a celebratory dinner, and this cake by my Mom....

My Mom made this cake for Oscar

Oscar's Birthday cake is a perfect example of how my Mom made birthdays so special for us growing up (and still does). She found this recipe online at Betty Crocker and made it for Oscar. How cute is that!? When Oscar gets older, we're adding a pinata to the mix as it was one of my favourite traditions at my birthday. Not sure if others have traditions they have carried down for their children?

So there you have it. The birthday festivities weren't themed or overly planned. We just had family, sweets, balloons, presents, and a lot of hugs and snuggles. The perfect recipe for a perfect birthday weekend.

A kaleidoscope of colors at the Aix-en-Provence
flower market. April 2011.

French markets overflow with colorful goods and good people. Visiting villages on market day is often high on the list of priorities for many travelers. You can easily build a "market-a-day" travel itinerary. I've been to many markets in Paris, Provence and the French Riviera. Indeed, it is great fun and the fresh foods, flowers and handmade crafts are especially appealing. The interaction with the vendors is both educational and entertaining.

After spending nine days in Paris in April, I looked forward to a week in the village of Aix-en-Provence. Aix is a convenient base for accessing the surrounding area—the Provence countryside and Luberon villages, the Mediterranean coast, the western French Riviera and the Camargue—no more than a two hour drive in any direction.

One of the most famous and popular markets in the region of Provence takes place in the lovely village of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. A river literally runs through the picturesque village.

My first full day in Provence was a Sunday and perfectly timed for the not-to-be-missed market day in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue! I saw the antique stalls, the spices, the fabrics, the flowers and everything else at the market.

Sunday market day in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Provence, France.
Vendor stalls line both sides of the river. April 2011.

After spending the morning browsing the market and enjoying lunch of chilled wine, fresh veggies, cheese and strawberries, it was time to take to the winding country roads. Driving past vineyards and rolling hills there were many choices for the rest of the day, but I opted to visit the villages of Bonnieux and Goult.

These two Luberon villages were sleepy and practically empty on that Sunday afternoon. Wandering the cobblestoned streets, climbing rocky and precarious steps for vistas, it was a perfect day for getting lost in the maze of village houses. I could hear the laughter and attempt to eavesdrop on the French conversations among the locals as I passed the cafes.

Later in the week, I visited the bustling markets, in particular the flower market, in my "home village" of Aix-en-Provence. It was after the flower market that I learned a valuable lesson. I visited the flower market in the morning, then walked to a nearby cafe for a leisurely lunch indoors, out of the rain.

After lunch, the sun was out and as I walked through the Place de l'Hôtel de ville again, the flower vendors were gone and the square had taken on a whole new vibe. Cafes and conversations. Strolling couples, families and friends.

When the market packs up at the end of the day, the ambiance is entirely different. I've blindly traveled for years without stopping to appreciate this remarkable transformation.

Aix-en-Provence flower market on a rainy April morning.

A few hours later, the market is gone
and the same square is a cafe scene.
Aix-en-Provence. April 2011.

I sadly realized that I hadn't really experienced the true village of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue without festive adornment. The squares and streets that I saw were crowded with visitors and tourists. I didn't go inside the local shops. I can only guess that the streets were cobblestoned. I don't know anything about the historical buildings, monuments or beautiful architecture. For this trip, it was too late to return to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue to really get to know her.

While the market was extraordinary, I am left with a feeling that perhaps I missed something even more extraordinary.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Hello everyone,

I am back again as there is just so much beauty all around us now so I wanted to share some of it with you. My husband and I went for a walk on the Confederation Trail today near our home and all around us there were lovely little gifts from nature.

The wild apple trees were all coming out in blossom and they are just so beautiful and they smell good too!

So I had some fun with my macro lens again.

Appleblossoms in my new French watering can.

/I hope you had some beauty in your life today too!

I am joining in for White Wednesday at Faded Charm today.

Thank you for visiting me,

Carolyn

Did everyone have a wonderful long weekend? We had a lovely and relaxing weekend here in town not doing much of anything in particular. We attended some family gatherings and messed about the house. Sometimes those weekends are the nicest, don't you think?

How about you? Did you do anything exciting, go anywhere fun, or just hang out and relax?

Hello everyone,

It is the end of May already and now we are coming into June my favorite month of the year! Although I love all the seasons everything is so fresh,lush and green in June and you still have all the days of summer ahead to look forward to.

We have had some visitors to the garden already and although it is still early in our garden season there is still much to enjoy.

I hope you didn't notice the daffys need to be deadheaded here.

These photos were taken last week and already the garden has changed. Soon the early peonies and the lilacs will be blooming.

Since it is sunny but windy today- come inside for a cup of tea. Sit here by the window to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. You can watch the hummingbirds flutter from flower to flower outside the window while these little hummers steal a sip of your tea..

The broader picture in evening light.

Enjoy a peek through some Victoria magazines and have a little relaxation while you are here. I look forward to each new Victoria magazine and I hope it will soon become a monthly issue.

Today I am joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage as well as Kathy at A Delightsome Life for their lovely Tuesday parties and also a new tea party at Trisha's Sweetology .

I hope you enjoyed the tea and tour!

Take care,

Carolyn

Birthday Party, The Cake

Oscar's Birthday weekend was great fun. There are so many different elements to the weekend that I thought I'd break them into a few posts as each element is unique and special. This is my last "Baking" post for a long, long time. ;)

Some birthday cakes are fancy, and beautiful. Themed and stylized. But I think there is something perfect about a simple, classic birthday cake. My Mom makes the most delicious cakes from scratch, and one day, I will try to recreate her famous cakes, but for Oscar's birthday his cake was courtesy of a Duncan Hines box. :) I took a chocolate cake, and a vanilla cake and did layers. The icing, being SUPER easy is home made. Simply Icing sugar, Butter, Vanilla flavour and some water.

The icing isn't perfectly put on, but that's what happens when your baby gets scared of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer and wants the cling to you as you ice the cake. It was a bit of a struggle but we did it in the end, together. The cake is 3 layers and topped off with sprinkles. I was going to put some circus toppers on it, but I just fell in love with the simplicity and stopped after the sprinkles. This may be common knowledge but if you want to know the trick to doing layers, there is one simple step.

You need to slice that "hump" off the top of the cake off all of the inside layers. You want to make it as flat as possible, because if you start layering with the humps, your cake is going to wobble and potentially slide off one another when you ice.

Just do that with all of the "inside" pieces but leave the hump on the top one. :)

And there you have it. Our sweet classic cake, for our sweet little boy.

Pots and Pots of Plants

I can remember when I lived in New York state several years ago, Memorial Day weekend was the weekend to plant flowers in all of my containers.

So I thought of all of my northern friends this weekend and wondered if that is what you all were doing.

Here in NC, I am able to plant my containers a little earlier. So I planted mine a few weeks ago.

I love vibrant colors, so most of my flowering plants are reds, purples and yellows.

Did you plant your containers this weekend?

Welcome Home,

Penny

The Cottage Mama - What's New in the Shop?

As most of you know, I am going to be entering the world of children's clothing pattern design. I have been sewing like crazy testing out some of my new designs to see if they are ready to be sent out. But on top of all that I have added some new things to the shop that I wanted to share with you all.

I will be releasing some of these designs as sewing patterns (plus some that you haven't seen) and some of them will just stay as items in my shop and may be released as patterns in the future.

Strawberry Bubble Romper. This is a fun play-suit for an infant/toddler and this strawberry fabric is one of my favorites. The romper is fully lined and ties at the shoulder. Perfect for a little crawler.

Flutter Sleeve Ruffle Peasant Dress. I don't typically offer this style dress, but I wanted to try my hand at this easy-to-wear, casual girls dress. This has been a really big seller in the shop and I am down to the very last yard of this vintage trim.

Purple Swirls Pinafore and Bloomer Set. This outfit is a lot of fun and perfect for a little crawler or toddler. I love the banded bloomer which gives these a little different look than your typical bloomer (they look a little more like a short). The top has a retro-inspired cross-back and is very cool in the summer. The top also looks adorable paired with a long-sleeved shirt and jeans for an easy transition to fall.

Summer Berry Frock. This is a simple knot dress in fabulous bright, eclectic fabric! I like these dresses for my girls because they transition nicely from season to season. For summer I would just add a pair of sandals, but for fall I would pair this with a long-sleeved shirt, tights and boots.

The Sweet Dress. This is one of my favorite designs done in one of my favorite fabrics. The green and blue fabric is feminine without being super-girly and pink. This is a great dress for a toddler on up and is fully-lined and comfy to wear.

Fully Reversible Bubble Romper. Done in the same "sweet" fabric as the dress above, this romper is fully reversible and is two looks in one.

The Sweet Dress and Reversible Bubble Romper are two of my favorite looks for sister outfits.

All-Star Romper. A little something for a baby boy or toddler. This romper is perfect for summer-time play and will keep your little guy nice and cool during the warm summer days. It has a large pocket on the front for collecting "treasure" and the pocket is accented with royal blue piping.

A-Line Mod Shift Jumper. I designed this dress with a little bit older girl in mind, but it could certainly be worn by a toddler. The sophisticated color palette of purple, grey, lime green and pink are perfect for a girl who wants something with a little style, but not too over the top. The dress is fully lined, has two large pockets and closes at the shoulder with fabric covered buttons.

So that's just a little update about some new things going on in the shop. If you are interested in keeping updated with new designs, exclusive sales and happenings with The Cottage Mama, come join us over on Facebook. Click HERE to become a fan of "The Cottage Mama".