Shabby Straps

How cute are these Shabby Straps, found on Etsy?

I am planning on picking up a few as gifts for my camera-loving friends (they come in appropriate sizes for both point-and-shoot digital cameras, as well as the SLR/DSLR variety), and maybe one for myself!

Got Basil?

If you have an inordinate amount of basil growing in your garden this summer (me! me!), one of the easiest ways to put it to use is to make homemade pesto. My extremely easy recipe is below. I love pesto as a dip, spread, pasta topping, or pizza base. It is good in the fridge or about a week and also freezes well.

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts (I have heard you can also use walnuts)

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, pausing to scrape down sides of container.Process until it forms a thick ,smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well.

Are You Participating Tomorrow??

http://www.takeyourdog.com/

If you're not reading...

Summer is a Verb then you are missing out! (Don't be confused- much of it is tongue in cheek...I think.) -LG

Wedding Wednesday

Anyone have suggestions about where to find pretty low heeled wedding shoes? Unfortunately I am too tall for these beauties from Stuart Weitzman:

Recession Garden Progress

Just a little update on the progress of the garden....

(please excuse the weeds, those were dealt with after the photos!)

Our first vegetable! A lone cherry tomato. There are inklings of peppers and other tomatoes coming in, too.....

Wedding Wednesday (on Thursday)

The Sarah dress from Coren Moore. No, this isn't "the dress", but if I had been having an outdoor wedding there would have been no question. So cute and pretty.

Beach Beverages

Headed to the beach this summer? Check out this feature from Food and Wine on the top Beach Wines - tasty and in beach-safe containers!

Hmmmm

The New York Times reported this weekend that roughly 95% of blogs had been essentially abandoned at the time of a study in 2008. Article can be found here.

Cheap Retail Therapy

Although I certainly haven't abandoned it altogether, my uber-preppy days peaked when I was at UVA and now I try to stay away from anything too...literal. (Although people who have seen my collection of colored twill khakis may be snickering right now.) Anyway. Regardless of all of this, I was very taken by this email when it showed up in The Plan's inbox:The colors are just really pretty. Can be found here. - LG