Gabrielle Messina Just a Girl

Some Spring Things

 

I can't say I've done too much Easter decorating this year, but the mantle is looking spring- like in it's candy colored hues, so I thought I'd give you a little tour of the spring things going on here at our home. This large bunny I've had for a handful of years. He's from an old candy store that closed down. They used to use him in their window display each year. How I wish shops like that were still a dime a dozen.... This old iron piece I've had in the garage and decided to bring it in and  use it as sort of a fireplace screen for our "flip switch" fireplace. My husband said he would weld some small legs onto it so that it could be the proper height.

 

Andrea sent me this beautiful pink mercury glass egg! Isn't it lovely? And the wrapping too, it was a bit of Spring itself.....  From one Italian girl to another, she knew I'd love this big, beautiful tin, of which the contents have since been eaten! It was filled with biscotti....   With the exception of an Easter tree all decorated on the kitchen island and few faux chocolate bunnies scattered through the house, this little egg display in the corner in our kitchen just about sums up my minimal Easter decor for this year. Have you decorated for Easter?

I should be back very soon. I have a piece of furniture I made over and want to show you.... Happy Spring! 

 

 

Around the House Today

Hello, hello out there. My posts seem to have months separating them, but I'm here today. I shined my sink today and that's reason enough to snap a few pictures of the kitchen, isn't it? My little guy has already destroyed it and it's not looking so pretty....
Among other things on my "house wishlist" are rounded cane backed barstools and a antique chandelier, but there's always something more important for our funds to go. It's smelling pleasent around here thanks to the freshly washed duvet cover drying over the bannister.With three little ones around, we have stools everywhere and when I saw this one, I knew I had to have it. After all, stools will be at every sink for the next few years. It's sort of like a long term investment, without investing all that much....  It was covered in forest green vinyl(lovely, I know) and last night, proved to be the perfect time to reupholster it. A few weeks after I found the previous one, I stumpled upon this one. The man I purchased it from said a local company that manufactured stoves made these as well. That explains why I found more than one without even looking! They are cast iron and made like little tanks.... just ask my big toe. Another reason I love vintage so much. Made well and made in the U.S. of A. Everything today seems to be disposable. This one was covered in red velvet, equally as lovely as the forest green...One last stool was covered last night, this one for the girls' bathroom. I used a hand towel I had on hand as the fabric. Perfect for a bathroom, I think. It's a rather simple stool.... A bad iron piece from the 80's that was in my bathroom as a kid is more like it, but it does the job. It has been in there previously, but someone laid a wet towel on it and the fabric became mildewed by the time I discovered it.  Well, that's all for today folks! Sort of feel like I don't know how to write a blog post anymore, so if the quality was lacking or I rambled too much, forgive me! 

German Fruit and Cream Cake

With the warmer weather approaching, it's nice to have a few recipes on hand where no oven is needed! Who wants a house as hot as it is outside? This is one of my all time favorites for the summer season. I thought I'd share it with you too....

You'll need:

*16 oz. heavy whipping cream

* 1 lb. Ricotta Cheese

* 3/4 cup sugar

*11 oz cream cheese

*1 tsp vanilla

* 3 packages of soft lady fingers

* Fresh fruit

* a spring- lock pan

 

*Combine Ricotta, Cream cheese, vanilla and sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Set aside.

*Beat heavy whipping cream until it turns to whipped cream and then combine with cheese mixture.

*Next, take your lady fingers and "line" the outside rim of the pan along with the bottom(just sort of squish them in there) You should now have a cake bottom and side.

* Put about a third of the cheese mixture in the pan and cover the lady fingers.

*Next, you'll need to make another layer of lady fingers to cover the filling. This is you're middle layer of the cake. 

*Slice strawberries, blueberries, or kiwi and layer them on top of the lady fingers, generously.

*Top with the remainder of cream and cheese mixture and spread smooth.

*Set in fridge for at least 5 hrs. or overnight.

*Add sliced fruit or berries to the top just before serving!

 

 

 

My Vice

 Nutella and strawberries.... Nature has it's own superfoods, but surely, Nutella has to be man's superfood. My favorite power snack/vice in life. Today, I opted for a pretty plate and napkin, but let's be honest, between you and me, I usually just hover over the jar of Nutella and a big bowl of strawberries. Sometimes, if my kids are around, I put the jar in the sink so they think I'm just scarfing down the sweet red berries. I know I'm caught when they come in the kitchen with their step stools to get a good look over and into the kitchen sink....  Most people tend to use it on toast, bread or even French toast.... I like to use it in cookies as well, but by far, even better than a big dollop on your finger is a strawberry smothered in it's chocolaty, hazelnut goodness....

Just try it and thank me later! Off to the gym! HA!

Party Time!

   Hello, ladies! I thought it might be high time for me to get to posting about my girls' 7th and 5th birthday party! We had a tiny intimate affair, this year. The girls picked a few of their closest friends from school and invited them for an afternoon of girlie fun! As you can see form the above picture, my littlest lady loved her doll and named her Miss Angela on the spot.The night before the party, I set the able with a few paper dolls and a vintage handmade table cloth my mother- in- law gave me.On the cabinet in the corner, I stacked some hatboxes from my bedroom and craft room along with a vintage train case and tacked some paper doily bunting to the ceiling.I made a little clothes line with a sweet selection paper doll attire to festoon the cake.   And individual vases of petite roses at each place setting.I pulled the buffet table from out of my craft room and set it up in the kitchen, once again. Of course, another paper doll.Here's the cake I made the morning of the party. Strawberry buttercream icing, as per requested! And the little clothes line atop! A party isn't complete without cupcakes, now is it?A day filled with smiles galore.

Supper Club

 Months ago, while doing some antiquing, I stumbled upon the most beautiful table I think I've ever seen. Just as soon as I laid my eyes upon it, I could picture family dinners around it and in fact, I know this may make me sound a bit on the strange side, but I pictured family dinners around it years and years from now. Dinners that included grandchildren. In fact, I think it was the picture I fell in love with. I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance from my brother, my grandmother and my mother. We've been making an effort to set aside a night once a week(ideally)  and have dinner together... our own little supper club.  Back to the day at the antique shop, after calling my husband into the store, he agreed that we should have the table. It's residing in our dining room now and we've shared many a meals on it already. I had planned to live with our other table for a lifetime, but then this one came along and things changed.... We were able to sell the old set on Craig's List and not have to put out a penny for the new one. I love when things work out like that!!  It's a piece of furniture that gets plenty of wear and tear, use and abuse in the house. The chairs are old ones that I mentioned in this post. I've had them reupholstered since then and like the picture above shows, they've already seen their share of spills... this one was just some water.   The table was supposed to be filled with lots and lots of little kids today for my girls' birthday party, but I had to send out a group email to their parents letting them know that my brood is very much under the weather and we'd have to postpone the party for a few weeks. Well, I better go check up on them. All three sleeping.... of course this only happens when their sick. We're spending a quiet Sunday at home and hopefully, if the kids are up to eating tonight, we'll sit down and have some chicken pot- pie. 

Another Snow Day...

   Snow day today.... again.  These paper flowers on my window sill are making me smile a bit, although I feel rather out of sorts and off kilter today... They make me wish for spring, instead, I've got snow.....  More snow...  I baked a cake.  I like to bake cakes and eat them too. The kids like to bake cakes and eat them too.  They wanted to celebrate the snow day.... I lit the candles for them, but did not partake in the celebration of another snow day.... Pardon me, but I hope you can understand.  I did however, have a slice of cake....   I think I'll put a movie in the VHS player to entertain them. Because I am done. They like The Parent Trap with Haley Mills. It's my movie from when I was little. I've heard way too much bickering today and am going to implement a mandatory quiet time during the movie..... Anyone else so over SNOW DAYS?

because they're not already excited....

 We're off to Disney World! A magical place even for me. My kids are excited and haven't been able to fall asleep for the past few days.... I have a little tea party awaiting the girls when they get home from school.... just to add to the excitement of it all!   I'm this closeted Disney fan. I've read all the books on Walt and daydream about what it would have been like to visit Disneyland on opening day over sixty years ago.... I lost count at how many times I visited the park... Of course, you're not going to find a Mickey Mouse shower curtain in the bathroom or Mickey and Minnie salt and pepper shakers on my table, but this tea set on the other hand, is the most beautiful set I've ever seen! It blends perfectly in my cabinet with mismatched vintage sets. So much detail! Of course my girls love that Tinkerbell's on it.   Chip's in the same cabinet as well. There you have it, the extent of my Disney Collections.... Now, what to whip up for this little party since there's NO food in the house is the question.....

Nonsense

Hello girls! It seems like I've been gone forever! Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.... which is a good thing when it means enjoying your little family and the lovely season and all it has to offer. We've been to the apple orchard three times already and I've been a baking madwoman. Trying to use some of those crisp apples in any recipes I can think of. I hope you are taking the time out of your busy schedules to enjoy this season too! I know autumn will be gone all to soon and the long winter months will be upon us.... something I don't even want to think of yet! I didn't pull too many decorations out  this year. Just a really simple lineup of glittered pumpkins on the mantle and that's it in the family room.  Let's see, what else... while doing some antiquing, I managed to score some new (old) dining chairs! I'd been wanting to replace our old chairs for ages and finally found ones that suited. I wasn't even looking for them.... isn't that the way things always happen? Four of the six chairs were covered in the prettiest shade of worn blue velvet that I loved. The other two chairs though, must have had their velvet ripped ... So, today I went out to find some new fabric to cover them in.  I was lucky and found the prettiest shade of French blue velvet to recover them in. I was in and out of the store within five minutes. There was a lady there debating over fabrics to cover her chair. She said she was there for hours and how it was unfair I was in and out within five minutes. I told her I knew exactly what I was looking for and when I like something, I just tend to stick with it.... LOL  Right now though, I'm in the process of roughing them up a bit. They were already painted white when I found them and I loved the cane backs. I using an antiquing glaze to give the paint a little bit more depth and texture and then taking butter knife and chipping the edges of the chair.... I know most people wouldn't even notice these little details, let alone understand them. I know you girls totally get it. Well, I guess that's it for now. Thanks for listening to me ramble about nothing at all. 

XO, Gabrielle

Happy To Report

On our way home from our trip, I was thinking about how much I missed our kids and in addition to our kids, I also missed my own bed. Even thought about doing a silly post on my bed! Then, just like that,  I got a bug that left me barricaded in my bedroom alone. Talk about making up for lost time! LOL  I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better! I washed all the bed linens early this morning and cranked open the windows. The bed's been made for the first time in two days and it feels good to be about the house today.   For the past two days, I've been alternating between the bed and the bedroom floor. Happy to report the pillows are back on the bed, where they're supposed to be. I'm just A little stiff and sore from all that lying around. This morning, I was able to make and eat breakfast with my family! Something I take for granted most days. Stuffed French Toast encrusted with cinnamon sugar Corn Flakes and topped with berries. Yum! And those little faces on the kids looked extra cute today. After not seeing them for more than a few minutes in the past two days. Gosh, I've missed those little birds! So happy I'll be able to spend the day with them! After the kids were off to school, I wandered outside to water some things in the garden. I've been wanting to share with you my Wisteria! I'm so excited that it's finally bloomed after being planted for over three years, this is the first year with blooms and it's positively loaded with them!! Too bad they''ll be gone all too soon...   And one of my favorites, Bleeding Heart.... bigger and better than ever this year! Well, I think I hear my little guy waking and I need to get a move on. There's still plenty to do around here to make up from my sick days! Have a beautiful day!