2012 – Page 6 – Casa de Berry

2012, boys

Icing on the Cake

July 20, 2012July 20, 2012by casadeberryLeave a Comment

The boys and I are continuing our cupcake adventures with a visit to Icing on the Cake, a local shop in Los Gatos — my friend G is a fan and we met up a couple of days ago to sample some goodies.

The shop is adorable, it has not only cupcakes, cookies, cakes, etc. but so many bowls, cupcake stands, paper straws, aprons, party accessories, and more, that I was surprised at my own willpower because I seriously wanted to blow the month’s grocery money right there and then.

My youngest checked out the cupcakes but then headed over to his favorite section – cookies!

He ended up getting a chocolate chip behemoth that he shared with his big brother. Big bro, in turn, shared his vanilla cupcake with my little man. My husband got a carrot cupcake and I got my chocolate fix. I have to say that I liked this chocolate cupcake a lot better than the ones I got at our two previous cupcake outings (Sprinkles and Kara’s). This cupcake was very, very chocolaty, there wasn’t an obscene amount of frosting so I could enjoy the cake itself, which is what I like the most.

We hung out with G and her adorable daughter for a few minutes and then the boys and I had to go grocery shopping (see? good thing I didn’t spend all that money 😀 )

2012, decor, dining room, kitchen

Pretties in the dining room

July 16, 2012July 5, 2012by casadeberry1 Comment

My love affair with Paper Source is never ending. Their Cavallini paper is my favorite “cheap art” and it has graced numerous frames throughout the house. This time, our newly-painted dining room got some pretty prints to jazz it up.

My beloved Eiffel Tower anchors a corner next to the sliding doors.

Above one of the hutches, two vintage-looking prints become a focal point:

Our kitchen and dining room are very rustic and very, very far from modern, so I thought these prints, with their old-fashioned images and desserts from yesteryear, would fit in very well. Hope you like this little update!

2012, craft

Stepping Stones

July 16, 2012July 31, 2012by casadeberry6 Comments

My family and I have been making some stepping stones for our backyard — some of them with leaves pressed into the wet cement as embellishment.

This lavender one is my favorite!

My oldest made this T-Rex stone:

We had a ton of glass stones (vase fillers) so I used up a few on a monogram:

Here, after a few days:

With round glass beads, I made a fleur-de-lis motif. I can’t draw freehand to save my life so I found a picture I liked, traced the outline and then cut it out, laid it gently on the wet cement, and outlined it with the glass stones.

When the cement had solidified a little but still had some give, I stamped in our last name and the current year:

I am very happy with the finished look of the stones, and we’ll be making some more before summer is over — hope you all have a wonderful week!

2012, French

Le breakfast

July 13, 2012July 12, 2012by casadeberry2 Comments

Tomorrow is Bastille Day, a.k.a. France’s National Day — celebrating the storming of the Bastille, one of the major events of the French Revolution. There will be parades and celebrations, not only in France but in many countries, and various cities in the United States.

I will be enjoying one of these – a lovely, delicate macaron au chocolat, not made by moi, as my baking skills are rudimentary at best, but from good old Trader Joe’s. I saw a box of six the other day and decided I would try it.

It is quite the indulgence — lovely chocolate ganache sandwiched between two shiny, smooth meringue cookies. Along with a cafe au lait, it will make for a perfectly appropriate breakfast.

Laduree, the famous French pastry shop, makes a mouth-watering assortment of Macarons, and I promise to try every flavor every time I am in Paris. Well, maybe not the licorice.

The little Eiffel Tower on the left is a door stop from World Market. Anyone else still call it Cost Plus?

The gorgeous prints in the background are by the talented Georgianna Lane.

July starts and ends with national celebrations I observe, with Bastille Day in the middle – Vive La France!

2012, boys

A visit to the Oakland Zoo

July 11, 2012July 10, 2012by casadeberry2 Comments

This past Sunday, my husband and I took our boys to the Oakland Zoo.

It’s been a favorite since the other large local zoo disappointed my oldest by not having elephants.

The zebras were some of the boys’ favorites 😀

But my youngest’s absolute favorite was this one elephant. He was super sweet and came over to our side, hung out for a few minutes, and then went back for some food.

One of my favorite details was this high-relief trail of ants, set on one of the little pathways.

This meerkat was a total poser 😀 turning this way and that, making sure we captured all his good angles.

These rabbits were adorable!!!

My youngest liked this leaping lemur – both my boys loved Zoboomafoo!

We had a great time on the Sky Ride, our oldest and I rode behind my husband and our youngest.

My oldest does some yoga poses atop a wary frog.

The last ride was the zoo train, and then we headed home after a great time.

It was a really nice day in Oakland, a lovely breeze kept things from being too warm and the employees walking around were very nice and helpful, stepping in to tell the boys about whatever animal they were looking at, etc.

I hope your Wednesday is a wonderful one!

2012, boys

Adventures in Cupcake Tasting

July 9, 2012July 9, 2012by casadeberry2 Comments

Last week I took my boys to a cupcake shop — my oldest got a trip to Sprinkles for his birthday back in February, so this time we went to Kara’s Cupcakes in Santana Row.

The boys wanted one type of cupcake and the array of flavors could not dissuade them from their choice.

They each got the Sweet Vanilla mini cupcakes.

I chose some other flavors for me and my husband.

Sweet chocolate for me, yum yum.

Red velvet on the left for me as well, and Kara’s Karrot for my hubster.

By the way . . .

Is anyone planning to see the new Total Recall? 😀 If you got the reference, you’re awesome. And about my age.

2012, dad

Away for the week . . .

July 2, 2012July 1, 2012by casadeberryLeave a Comment

This week is a rough one for me.

My beloved dad had his third, and fatal, heart attack on July 3, 2010. Three days later, it was left to me to make the call on turning off the machines that were keeping his body alive despite the massive damage his brain had sustained during the more than 30 minutes that he was without oxygen following the heart attack.

I will celebrate the Fourth of July with my family and friends, and at times life will seem to be normal, but these days will be heavy ones. I wish you all a good week, a happy holiday, and I will see you again next week.

2012, friends, nails, turquoise

Unexpected

July 1, 2012July 1, 2012by casadeberryLeave a Comment

I don’t get salon manicures. I think the last one I got was for my wedding, or maybe soon after. With all the crafting, Lego blocks I have to separate, and the gardening, it’s really not worth it. Usually, I will just paint my own so when it’s chipped a day later, I don’t really mind.

On Saturday, our friend J came over to watch UFC fights with my husband. His darling wife, my friend M, came over later and suggested we escape the testosterone by getting our nails done nearby. I figured it had been long enough and that way I could chat with my friend.

Since I’ve been hearing all about the Shellac from various friends and online, I decided to give it a try. It’s still too early to decide if it was worth it but I sure love the color I got, Hotski to Tchotchke.

It is so sparkly and pretty! The perfect color for this turquoise addict ;D and lovely for summer.