{Apartment Therapy}

{Country Living}

{Ann Sacks}

{Making it Lovely}

{Nate Berkus}

{From the Right Bank}

{Apartment Therapy}

{West Elm}

How do you feel about zig-zag, chevron pattern, and stripes on the floor? Do you love it or hate it? Please discuss.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs Living, 2010 | Permalink | Comments | Add to del.icio.us | StumbleUpon It! Posted in: decor Join us here too! EAD Weddings, ...]]> I have been crushing on patterned floor tiles and graphic stone flooring for some time, but have not determined if I could be swayed into this sort of carpet.

{Apartment Therapy}

{Country Living}

{Ann Sacks}

{Making it Lovely}

{Nate Berkus}

{From the Right Bank}

{Apartment Therapy}

{West Elm}

How do you feel about zig-zag, chevron pattern, and stripes on the floor? Do you love it or hate it? Please discuss.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs Living, 2010 | Permalink | Comments | Add to del.icio.us | StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: decor

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Subscribe to EAD Living via e-mail

You can also find the e-mail subscription link, along with links to subscribe via RSS, add to Google Reader, or follow my Twitter feed in the follow and subscribe section of the sidebar.

I hope you’re having a ...]]> Hi everyone!  I just wanted to let you know that you now have the option to receive EAD Living in your inbox.  Simply click on the link below to subscribe – email is delivered via Feedburner once per day.

Subscribe to EAD Living via e-mail

You can also find the e-mail subscription link, along with links to subscribe via RSS, add to Google Reader, or follow my Twitter feed in the follow and subscribe section of the sidebar.

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,
Ami

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We start off the year with the US Figure Skating Championships.  The men’s championship blew me away.  Although I am an Evan Lysacek fan, Jeremy Abbott has been growing on me.  I adored his short program choreography and his long program simply blew me ...]]> Those of you who have gotten to know me know that I am absolutely a sports freak.  So this time of year is absolutely my favorite, because especially in an Olympic year, I am in sports heaven.

We start off the year with the US Figure Skating Championships.  The men’s championship blew me away.  Although I am an Evan Lysacek fan, Jeremy Abbott has been growing on me.  I adored his short program choreography and his long program simply blew me away (and blew the field away too!).  If you are an Olympics fan, don’t you dare miss the men’s final, because it will simply rock and the US has three legitimate medal contenders!

{photo credit to NBC}

Then, we move on to the Australian Open.  Huge tennis fan here.  Lots of late nights were spent watching the Aussie Open, and I was thrilled to see Serena gut it out and win, although I would have loved Murray to pull through.  Shame Roddick didn’t make it further as well.

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Next up, we have the pièce de résistance, the Winter Olympics.  From Feb 12-28, I will be glued to the television.  The Olympics are, to me, one of the last pure things in the world – seeing athletes come together under a common spirit to strive to perform their best when it counts… it just doesn’t get better than that.  During the Winter Olympics, my husband and I literally watch every single minute we can.  Obviously, as a former figure skater, that is near and dear to my heart, but we love it all, right down to the curling.

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The sports craze doesn’t end there – oh no, it’s far from over and we don’t even get a break.  March is chock-full of Spring Training goodness.  It’s every year during March that I wish I lived in Orlando, so that I could see this each day:

{source}

And of course we are big college basketball fans, so the March madness also descends upon us.  Juggling the two gets tiring, let me tell you!

{source}

Then, finally – FINALLY – baseball season is here and after an excruciatingly long off-season, I can root for my Braves once again.

{source}

So I’m already tired just thinking about the next few months!  But it’s always so so worth the sleep deprivation. 

Are you as much of a sports nut as I am?

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I am a firm believer that dogs should only eat foods that contain ingredients that are natural to them and should not contain any byproducts, antibiotics or hormones (I should preface this entire conversation by saying that Charlie eats FAR healthier than his father and I do!).  Charlie’s favorite treats are chicken strips, and we have always purchased the Vitality chicken strips made by Dogswell.

Recently, ...]]> As you all know, I’m a mommy to the most adorable puppy in the world, Charlie.

I am a firm believer that dogs should only eat foods that contain ingredients that are natural to them and should not contain any byproducts, antibiotics or hormones (I should preface this entire conversation by saying that Charlie eats FAR healthier than his father and I do!).  Charlie’s favorite treats are chicken strips, and we have always purchased the Vitality chicken strips made by Dogswell.

Recently, my mom and I were having a conversation about pet treats and food, and she let me know that Dogswell had switched to having their treads produced in China.  I was horrified.  There are all sorts of FDA warnings about dog foods and treats made in China (you can google to find lots of articles about this, here is one). I looked on the back of Charlie’s bag of chicken strips and, sure enough, there was a teeny-tiny-need-a-magnifying-glass-to-see-it “Made in China” at the bottom.  Into the trash they went and off on the hunt we went for a brand of chicken strips not made in China.  We found none.  Seriously.  Lots of treats made in the US, lots of ones he likes, but none that are his favorite kind of treat.

So we decided to take matters into our own hands.  We went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a food dehydrator and to Whole Foods for chicken breast pre-cut into tenders, and not only was it relatively inexpensive (around $40 for the dehydrator and $3-4 for a 1/2 pound of chicken) but Charlie L-O-V-E-S the dehydrated jerky.  As in, every time I open the fridge he goes nuts because he thinks he’s getting jerky.  :)  And, I know what I’m feeding him is completely natural and healthy and it’s really no trouble to make.  Simply bake the chicken as you would if you were eating it, then pop it into the dehydrator for about 6-8 hours until it’s hard enough to break in two.  Store in fridge.  Done.

So the moral of the story is, watch the products you are feeding your pup.  I felt insanely guilty when I realized I hadn’t been inspecting every single bag of treats that I purchased!

Any good healthy-treat recommendations for Charlie to supplement his jerky addiction?

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Posted in: pets

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Dulce de leche has been on my radar for a long time (plus it’s all the rage right now), but I’ve always been hesitant to go through the high-risk process of making it at home. It involves boiling a ...]]> I was perusing my recipe index the other day and decided that the cupcake section was too chocolate-heavy. Not that there’s anything wrong with chocolate, but I’m an equal-opportunity cupcake lover. So off I went to find a non-chocolate, non-fruity cupcake flavor.

Dulce de leche has been on my radar for a long time (plus it’s all the rage right now), but I’ve always been hesitant to go through the high-risk process of making it at home. It involves boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk, bad news for accident-prone little me.

So I decided to spend the extra dollar and buy a can at my local Latino grocery store (I later spotted it in the ethnic foods section at Safeway if you’re not lucky enough to live near a Latino grocer). That dollar was completely worth it. Rich, moist brown-sugary cake, topped with a rich dulce de leche buttercream and drizzled with a bit of straight-up melted dulce de leche. These are equally worthy of a special occasion or a work lunch on a random Tuesday. ¡Buen provecho!

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes
Printable Recipe
Adapted from justJENN Recipes
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan or insert paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugars and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla until combined. Alternate the flour mixture with the milk until you get a smooth batter. Spoon into the muffin pan wells equally, about 2/3 full.

4. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a testter comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Adapted from Joy the Baker

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup dulce de leche

Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer. Add cream, salt, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate. Frost cooled cupcakes using a knife or a pastry bag and tip.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs Living, 2010 | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us | StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: cooking and food, dessert, recipes

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I am delighted to hear that Oprah talked about Food, inc. on her show this week. I mean really, with a voice like that behind the slowfood movement… perhaps the U.S. consumers will perk up and listen? Oprah is responsible for bringing many lot’s of topics to the forefront of our minds. Who didn’t read the Kite Runner? Did anyone pay attention to Rachael Ray before Oprah endorsed her? Heck, even to some extent Oprah introduced us to Obama, didn’t ...]]>

I am delighted to hear that Oprah talked about Food, inc. on her show this week. I mean really, with a voice like that behind the slowfood movement… perhaps the U.S. consumers will perk up and listen? Oprah is responsible for bringing many lot’s of topics to the forefront of our minds. Who didn’t read the Kite Runner? Did anyone pay attention to Rachael Ray before Oprah endorsed her? Heck, even to some extent Oprah introduced us to Obama, didn’t she?

On the heels of the post I wrote last week, I must say that I am delighted to hear that others are thinking about the same subject. (Thank you Oprah!) Perhaps we are on the cusp of making real change in the way that the American government subsidizes farming and how American’s (and let’s face it mom’s who do the grocery shopping) are thinking about the food that they eat.

On another note… do you remember why I have not been cooking lately? Well, I finally pulled the trigger. I ordered myself a Le Crueset French Oven! It’s the first of three pans I will order to stock our kitchen. I figured this was the most versatile of the three. Heck, I can do everything from boil eggs to bake a cake in it! After much hunting for the very best price on the internet, I realized there are a lot of stores who mark up the price to give you the perception of a deal when they sell it to you for less. So instead, I went to Sur La Table who recently released an exclusive color that I adore. It’s called Cassis. Pretty, no?

Here’s a question: Did you watch Oprah’s show about Food, inc. and the slowfood movement? Did it change how you think about the food you eat?

© Elizabeth Anne Designs Living, 2010 | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us | StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: cooking and food, eco living, healthy

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That’s right, folks! In one month’s time, we’ll be the newest citizens of our nation’s capital, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s a new chapter for us both, and I’m excited and humbled and EXCITED and just plain grinning at the opportunity. ...]]> Remember Next Stop Wonderland? We now have a destination! We’re circling right back to where we began, it turns out… with politics. It goes a little something like this:

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That’s right, folks! In one month’s time, we’ll be the newest citizens of our nation’s capital, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s a new chapter for us both, and I’m excited and humbled and EXCITED and just plain grinning at the opportunity. (Did I mention EXCITED?) To begin an adventure side-by-side with my favorite person in a fantastic city… I’m a lucky, lucky girl.

We found an apartment over the weekend and we have ten days before the moving truck arrives. In other words, someone needs to be packing right about now…

Let the adventures begin!!

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I’m often asked how I manage to stay healthy with all of the baking and cooking I do. To be honest, I haven’t managed very well at all. Like many, weight has always been a big source of insecurity for me, and coupled with the fact that I have never been able to find a way to exercise that I enjoyed, I’ve been feeling ...]]> So I know I’m not the only one out there with a lifelong aversion to exercise… right?

I’m often asked how I manage to stay healthy with all of the baking and cooking I do. To be honest, I haven’t managed very well at all. Like many, weight has always been a big source of insecurity for me, and coupled with the fact that I have never been able to find a way to exercise that I enjoyed, I’ve been feeling pretty down about my health. For years now.

Before I go on, to fully appreciate the rest of this post, you should know that I’m secretly a 7-year-old girl and love all things silly, whimsical, and childish. I mean, come on, my personal blog is called Playing House.

So when I heard recently that there are athletic events and running races at Disney World, I got really excited. Maybe I had finally found something that I was so excited about that it could actually get me up and moving?! I went to their website in search of a 5k race (3.1 miles, a seemingly manageable first race distance), and while I was poking around, came across this: the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. A half marathon? No way. But it’s the inaugural race on their brand new half marathon course, it’s at night, and the finish line is at the annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival. It’s not until October, so it’s just far enough away that maybe, just maybe, it could be possible.

Next thing I knew, my husband and I were training for a half marathon! A half marathon with Disney entertainment at every mile, and a festival celebrating my favorite things to look forward to at the end.

{image source}

Because I’ve never been an athlete, I’m starting with really small baby steps. The Couch to 5k is an interval training program designed for people who have never run before to train for a 5k race, and I’m loving it so far. We have plans to run a 2 mile race in February, a 5k in May, and a 10k in July. I use the iPhone app by Felt Tip Inc., which lets you play your own music and tells you when to walk and when to run.

I can’t believe how much better and more empowered I feel, mentally and physically, in the short time since I started training. If you’d like to read more about my baby steps, I’m writing about my adventures at my new running blog, The Happiest Race on Earth.

What gets you motivated to exercise??

© Elizabeth Anne Designs Living, 2010 | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us | StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: fitness, motivation, running

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Yesterday at the hair salon, I was talking to my stylist about the woes of being a responsible adult. She recently was invited to a friend’s 40th birthday party in Las Vegas but couldn’t attend because she’s saving her money to buy new curtains for her new house. Getting window coverings is certainly not as glamorous or fun as a romp in Sin City but she made the decision that it was more important. That’s a very adult choice, ...]]>
{image source}

Yesterday at the hair salon, I was talking to my stylist about the woes of being a responsible adult. She recently was invited to a friend’s 40th birthday party in Las Vegas but couldn’t attend because she’s saving her money to buy new curtains for her new house. Getting window coverings is certainly not as glamorous or fun as a romp in Sin City but she made the decision that it was more important. That’s a very adult choice, don’t you think?

Sometimes being a responsible adult is not a choice. Case in point: This morning my husband called me in a panic on his way to work. He hit a patch of black ice and slid off the road in our hand-me-down 2003 sedan that does not have anti-lock brakes or 4-wheel drive. I had to drive out to him in our SUV with a shovel to help dig him out of a snow bank. This is the second time this Winter that he’s been in an accident in the sedan. Two years ago during a snowfall I was rear-ended while driving the sedan and now refuse to drive it at all during the Winter. In fact, that’s why we bought our SUV. Now it looks like we might need to invest in another Winter-friendly car.

Unfortunately, the sedan belongs to my sister, so if we want to get something new, we’ll have to give it back to her… no trading it in. We’ll need to pony up a lot of cash if we want to upgrade. But from where will the money come? Well, it will come from being responsible and curtailing our spending on non-essentials. It won’t be fun, but we don’t really have a choice!

When did you have to make the decision to become responsible when you would have rather been carefree?

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