I love astronomy – I mean, obviously – and want to incorporate dreamy galaxy pictures into my home decor without it looking like a 1970s-inspired little boys’ room (not that there’s something wrong with that!).

I have found very few ideas around the web, so maybe I will just post a couple and see if I can bounce some ideas off everyone else. If not, I will have to write a desperate email to Apartment Therapy for astro-help!

This marvelous wall-sized mural poster I found on AllPosters seems like it would be an awesome mural to adorn my bedroom ceiling.

The only other ideas I could think of were placemats, window films, wrapping paper, or screen-printed or Spoonflower-d and made into throw pillows.

Anybody else have any ideas of how to incorporate astronomy into a (semi) adult decor?

The Nice ‘n’ Simple, the Fruitcake and the Indoor S’more.

This is one of the easiest desserts because all you have to do is melt butter, melt marshmallows, toss in cereal, mix and spoon onto a sheet. Done. But you probably want measurements and stuff like that, so here they are:

3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 10 ounce bag of marshmallows (I used mini-marshmallows – 4 cups equals a 10-ounce bag of regular marshmallows)
6 cups rice krispies (use golden grahams, or trix, or whichever flavors you want)

Melt butter over low heat. USE LOW HEAT. DO NOT BURN BUTTER. Sorry for the caps, I kind of wrote this with the intention that I would reread it if I needed a reminder, too. I guess this is from a taste perspective. If you like that crispy, burnt butter taste, by all means, crank up your stovetop a tad higher and let it sit a little longer. Personally, I like cereal taste when making cereal bars (note: I don’t make butter bars, so don’t ask for any).

Add marshmallows stirring until melted completely. Add cereal and toss to coat thoroughly. Using a spatula (I used a rubber one), press into a 13 x 9 pan coated with cooking spray or parchment paper. Cut into 24 squares when cool.

We got it into our heads to make cereal bars when we went to the Grilled Cheese Invitational in LA, there was a vendor who also made cereal bars that were pretty heavenly. It opened our eyes to a whole world of cereal bar possibilities.

The cheerio Nice ‘n’ Simple bar is as its name desribes, simple like the original rice krispie treat. The Fruitcake is a definite trix-y dessert treat. And the Indoor S’more, depending on how much of each cereal (golden grahams and cocoa krispies) you mix in, is almost better than a real s’more!

I have only one request: send me some!!

What kind of combo would you make?

went to ASU Mercado, hung out with smart, awesome people involved in the arts and ate lunch enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather,

fashioned a decorative wall kite from an old shirt,

made a headphone holder from an old learner’s permit using this technique (I may spray paint it, but look at my crazy blonde hair!)

…and began collecting goodies for a fun, outdoor project,

(Ron Swanson loves Li’l Sebastian.)

and said goodbye to Li’l Sebastian, on my favorite show, Parks and Rec.

p.s. I love the above shirt.

Anything of note on your end?

First Row: Vixens Empire card that has a fantastic checklist your mom can look at breathe a sigh with each check-mark you made. The Hot Mama card is part of Real Simple’s wonderful collection of slideshows for Mother’s Day Gift Guides.

Second Row: Able and Game has a great selection of Mother’s (and Father’s, remember that one for later!) Day cards, some of them perfect for all my friends who are now “mums.” I LOVE this New Yorker comic so much that I might make it into a card for my sister.

Third Row: Jordan Ferney had an excellent envelope surprise idea that you could use not only for Mother’s Day, but birthdays as well. 16 Things Mom’s Really Want for Mother’s Day post on Babble

You can also check out:

• frolic-blog’s guide to making a french, hand tied, papered bouquet. Turn a store-bought bouquet into something personal and a work of art!
• it doesn’t have to be served in bed, but crepes are a mom favorite! We will be making some for my mom, complete with bacon, fruit and tons of Grand Marnier!
• One of my old Mother’s Day guides, complete with a list of awesome moms. I had to go back and check to see, and yes, I still agree with all of them, especially Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor.

What are your plans for Mother’s Day?

FAVICON FRENZY!

I have had my little typewriter favicon for quite some time. I think I used this site, But since I can’t remember, I go by Katie has a fantastic post about why and how to get your own!

had fun spray painting anything I could,

made some baby shower invitations for my sister,

got an allergy cold (my eyes tear up every time I blow my nose – that’s never happened)

and took lots of walks with buddies!

Thanks to angela hardison’s dreamy image (I played around with the tones a little bit), I have already started my summery backyard party inspiration album. This image makes me wish I had a covered patio.

I used Chloe’s tips to find and brew some excellent coffee

Daydreaming about spring picnics, with vivid tablecloths and nails as fresh as Kaylah’s from Dainty Squid

I plastered The Beau’s fruit with sentiments he would enjoy on a day of which he’s not a big fan. Twig and Thistle Idea, found on Say Yes to Hoboken

This was last week, but I made an awesome and healthy smoothie thanks to joy the baker. I left out the kale and it was still great!

Rode to the library and got this book. I can’t wait til I can actually use it!

photo via

Gratefully I was able to get my sewing machine threaded with help from my friend Melissa at honeyscrap. Now is the task of figuring out what to sew first! Pillow? Tote bag?

click on the picture to go to their page and listen!

I finally caved to The Beau and Mr. StaticEcho and listened to the podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me. I am kicking myself I didn’t start listening to them before! At least I have so much backlog to listen to, waiting for each new one. The Beau and I listened to it at dinner the other night and laughed so hard he teared up and my abs hurt!

So, I made some terrific cookies a couple weeks ago. Seems like uneventful news. But these cookies, man – they were the best cookies I have ever produced. I could not believe it. Even The Beau commented about their superior cookie-deliciousness.

So, enough about things you can’t tell for yourself and onto the recipe!

I used David Leibovitz’s recipe on Serious Eats. When I started getting all my dry ingredients together, I did a double take with the amount of salt required. It was less than half of my usual amount. But, I wanted it to be true to the recipe, so I kept the faith and followed it. I am so glad I did.

Here are the ingredients:

Tips and confessions:

One thing he did that I did not was freeze his dough. I am impatient in that when I go to make cookies, I am expecting to eat them in 30 minutes. I don’t have the forethought to do this the day before, but I recommend it. I know it helps keep them all uniform and in turn makes them cook evenly, so if you can wait for gooey cookies, follow the freezing directions.

Chunks, not chips. Better yet, chop your own! It doesn’t take much longer to accomplish, and the taste makes up for the labor. Chunks allow the flavor to spread out, and also chip chocolate is not the best quality. So try some chunks, baby.

• This interesting interview with Peggy Orenstein about her book “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” and how gender roles have (sadly) become more sexily pronounced and how the expectations have become even higher for girls within the last 20 years.

I love asking moms I know parenting questions from things I read like this. Particularly The Beau’s sister, who has an almost 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, both girls. Last week it was about the Tiger Mom. This week it might be about girlification.

• Rainbow Cupcakes from Amanda at hello pretty eyes. She graduated from culinary school, is the head baker at a cupcake shop, and if that isn’t the most awesome thing, she shares her how-to for the most amazing rainbow cupcakes ever! I think some ridiculous cupcake colors are in my future…Phoenix Suns colors! Mardi Gras! Cinco de Mayo!

• This picture for today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is breathtaking. Most of them are truly amazing, but when I opened this one up to really big, it got me all choked up.

• Amanda F. Palmer has released a new album of Australian-centered songs and I was on the fence about it for a while, thinking they wouldn’t be anything to write home about. But jeez lady, let someone else have a little talent here! She makes a song about how much she hates Vegemite (even though her beloved continues to eat it) and surprisingly turns it into much more than a funny song. Good stuff here. And yes, you could pay for $.69 for the whole album, but wouldn’t you rather AFP not have to be a beggar? Wouldn’t you like to get more than $.69 for hours upon hours of work you did out of love?

• Abbey of Aesthetic Outburst has made a goal of 20 valentines before Valentines’ Day (above is day 8) and I while I would be tearing my hair out, she is creating the most thoughtful, marvelous treasures.

• While I know that most people who read this blog aren’t MMA-focused, I had to add this because I was enraptured by it and had to watch it a half dozen times, think about how crazy it was, then watch it again.