Inside the Sweetnicks’ Mailbag
When there are questions in the comment section of posts, or in my e-mail box, I try and answer them right away, but I get distracted easily. It happens to the best of us. Forgive me! So I thought I’d tie up some loose ends and answer some of the recent questions here, and share a little Sweetnicks’ link love to boot. Here we go.
Where did you get the curtains in your living room?
I received that question a few times after I included a picture here, and given how hard it is to find the right curtain, I totally understand. I’m still on the hunt for the right curtains for the office and playroom and, at this point, it might just have to come from making bed sheets into curtains, one of my favorite tricks that my Mom taught me. Ok, so the living room curtains came from Bed, Bath & Beyond. The line is called Paris, and the color is Oyster. I love the pinched pleated top, making them look really rich and lush, without the matching price tag. Because the living room and dining room are next to each other, and open to each other, I wanted to find a curtain that would work in both rooms. I needed a total of ten panels, and once I found the curtains, I collected a handful of Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons so I could use one on each panel. This is the direct link to the curtains online.
Where did you get Madeline’s tutu from her first birthday?
Wow, she looks soooo different in those pictures, doesn’t she?! Baldy! I love that tutu, and right now, it’s hanging in her bedroom. I found it on Etsy. That one I bought from this seller, Trinity’s Tutus; I loved her pictures, and she was very easy to work with, customizing a few things on the tutu for me along the way. If you do a search for tutus on Etsy, there are tons of other great sellers too though - almost too many to choose from; I had a hard time narrowing it down!
How many cookbooks do you have, and what do you do with them when you don’t want them anymore?
I used to have a crazy amount of cookbooks, but every time we move, I try to whittle down the collection a bit more. Hopefully there are no more moves (knock wood!) - I’m staying put! On the last move in August, I thought long and hard about each cookbook I put into a box. I only wanted ones that I loved or really would use. I don’t just want to collect them just to collect them, you know? I’ve got my collection down to four bookcases now, and it’s much more manageable. My clippings, on the other hand, is a work in progress. As far as what I do with them when I don’t want them any more, it runs the gamut. I sell some on eBay, Craig’s List and Cash4Books.net. I also donate a bunch to a local hospital that has a used bookstore, and also to our local Freecycle chapter.
What is your favorite recipe?
Oh my gosh, that’s like picking a favorite child, I couldn’t possibly. And equally important, tastes change. I couldn’t pick a favorite overall. I mean, maybe a favorite recipe in each category. Maybe. The recipes on my OMG list are still pretty much my OMGs, but lately I’ve been trying to make an even bigger effort in making more new recipes than repeating old ones. I still, of course, have a cache of recipes that I do repeat, but also trying to mix it up a bit with new ones as well. When we entertain, I usually have a few tried-and-true recipes and some new ones. A nice mix, that way if the new ones bomb, we’re still covered.
What blogs do you regularly read?
My bookmark list is all over the place. I have a short list of food blogs that I regularly go to, and a much longer list of ones that I pop in on sporadically. When I first started food blogging, there was a large group of us, but it was still small enough that I felt like I knew them all or had visited their blogs. Now, flash forward nearly five years later, there are so many, it’s seriously hard to keep up. But amongst my regular reads list, I also read a bunch of photography blogs (like Ashley Ann and Karen Russell), decorating blogs (like Apartment Therapy and Ohdeedoh), crafting blogs (like Joy’s Hope) and more all-purpose blogs (like Meg’s and Darby’s). Continue reading this entry…
