THURSDAYS Blog

Beat the Blues with Foolproof Winter Hair

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:44:09 +0000

Beat the Blues with Foolproof Winter Hair

by Megan Kramer

So, you’ve got a case of the winter blues? It happens to all of us. You get ready to go out; your hair is looking great, makeup is done. Then you get ready to walk out the door. You pull on your boots, zipper up your parka, wrap up the scarf, then debate whether to freeze or to be sensible and put on a hat and ruin the hair you were so happy with five minutes ago. You go from feeling hot to feeling like the Michelin Man. Well, here at Thursday’s, we can’t change the weather, but we can help you look cute while battling those blustery conditions. We have a couple of styles for you that are not only easy to re-create on yourself (or your own Thursday girls), but actually look great with a hat; and if you decide to take the hat off, they will still look gorgeous a little messy and roughed up! So whether you are walking to the subway or walking to your car, you can still look fabulous when you arrive!

What you need:

Hair ties

What you do: Fishtail

Hold hair off to one side. Separate it into two equal sectios.
Take a small section from the outside of one of the sections (first section) and join it to the inside of the other section (second section). See image #1.
Take a piece from the outside of the second section and join it to the inside of the first section. See image #2.
Repeat steps until you get to the end of your hair.
Secure with an elastic.
Use fingers to gently loosen the braid and make it a bit messy.

#1 #2

What you do: Bubble Pony

Gather hair into a low side pony-think right below the ear.
Secure with a clear elastic.
Backcomb (tease) the pony right below the elastic until it’s in the shape of a bubble. Smooth it a bit.
Secure with another clear elastic under the bubble.
Gently pull some of the hair between the two elastics to create the right shape.
Repeat steps until you get to the end of the pony.

Hats, ponys, and braids are no longer reserved for bad hair days! Tell Old Man Winter to bring it on-you’re ready for whatever he can throw at you-well, at least your hair is…

xo,

Megan

Weekly Roundup

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:44:45 +0000

Hi everyone!

We hope you've been enjoying our Blue Week! Hopefully those ideas have pushed you away from feelin' the blues and you can spring into March. I think everybody is ready for some consistent beautiful weather. I'm so excited to show you what I've found on the web this week and hope you're planning for a creative weekend as well. I found this recipe for a breakfast braid and I can't wait to tell you all about it! It's so delicious!

Here's to losing the blues and having a lovely weekend of cooking, crafting, and girl time!

xoxo

Mary Clare

This week we posted:

Bustin' Out of Those Winter Blues

Lauren Lowman shows some fabulous ideas with floral arrangemnts that will brighten you up from the winter blues. Take a look!

I'd Be Blue Without Blueberry Muffins

I absolutely adore blueberry muffins. There's nothing like waking up to fresh smell of baked goods at home but what makes that realization better is when they are blueberry muffins! Lucie provides us with a wonderful recipe that is so yummy. I'm craving them now and may need to make these when I go home this weekend!

House of Blues

Need to change up the decor in your house? Sara Lowman has wonderful ideas that are easy DIY interior design fixes. I love all the patterns of blue she's found. I think I finally found an excuse to make those pillows I've been wanting!

Our Favorite Things: Kiddos

This is our first week posting our new weekly feature our favorite things. Every week from now on we'll be bringing you what we're into this week and it just so happens it's kiddos this time! Hope you enjoy!

Back to the Grill with My New DIY Oven Mitt

Stephania brings us a wonderful design and an easy way to create a new oven mitt. Not only that but she brings us a yummy recipe for grilled stuffed poblano peppers. It sounds amazing! Check it out

This week they posted:

Chocolate and Zucchini: Green Bean and Almond Soup

Chocolate and Zucchini has this wonderful green bean and almond soup. For some reason this one stuck out but they have an amazing array of soups. This may be the last soup I post as they have so many chilled soups that look wonderful!

Design Sponge: Style icon: Georgia O'Keeffe

I was once an art major so when Stephania showed me this link I was obsessed! Many of you may know Georgie O'Keeffe who was a wonderful painter. Design Sponge found pieces that were inspired by her. It's so much fun that I think I'll need to hunt for some of these things this weekend.

Martha Stewart: Costume Jewelry Makeover

I always love costume jewelry but get tired of searching for it. Martha Stewart has this great DIY costume jewelry makeover. It's such a simple way to use what you have!

For The Love of Cooking: Breakfast Braid

I absolutely LOVE breakfast food and doesn't this look devine? It's from For the Love of Cooking and it's such a simple recipe. I can already imagine making this with bacon and other veggies as well. I can't wait to play with this recipe!!

Smitten Kitchen: Lasagna Bolognese

Okay I can't help but love every recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Look at it! Everything is so delicious looking and I love their step by step photographs. Try this yummy recipe for some friends!

Back to the Grill with My New DIY Oven Mitt

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:55:32 +0000

Happy Thursday! This week has been all about getting out of that winter funk with scrummy recipes, gorgeous home decor, and beautiful blue flowers. Luckily mother nature has been playing along with this week's theme by giving us some refreshingly warm weather, so tonight we figured that we should take full advantage and grill. Anyone else taking advantage of this weather?

Tonight we're having Grilled Stuffed Poblano Peppers. Emily introduced me to this recipe last summer and it has become one of my absolute favorites! They are super easy to make and with the grill there is very little cleanup. I suggest serving it with rice or maybe grilled potato slices. For the craft this week, I have a new sewing project to share, DIY Oven Mitts. I free handed the pattern based off one that I already had, but I found a great printable pattern here. It's not exactly perfect, but I can't wait to try it out tonight!

What are you cooking tonight?

xo,

stephania

Grilled Stuffed Poblano Peppers

adapted from Emily Ross

What you need:

10 poblano peppers
1 can black beans
1/2 white onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/8 tsp cumin
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Start the grill. In a medium sized skilled heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add green bell peppers and continue to saute for another two minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Next drain the black beans and put them into a medium sized skilled. Cook over medium heat. Using a fork, gently mash some (not all!) of the black beans, add cumin, and saute for 2 minutes. Add the onion mixture and fresh cilantro and stir to mix and set aside.

Next cut off the stems of the poblano peppers and remove the insides. Stuff the peppers with bean mixture and place them on the grill. Grill for approximately 3 minutes, turn them to the other side and then grill for an additional 3 minutes. Serve with guacamole and sour cream!

DIY Oven Mitt

by Stephania Stanley

What you need:

1/2 yard fabric (I chose to use the same for the inner and outer fabric, but you can definitely mix it up!)
1/4 yard insulated batting
scrap fabric for bottom border and loop
sewing machine & matching thread

What you do:

Using your pattern, cut out two oven mitt shapes for the inner fabric, two for the outer fabric, and two of the insulated batting. Make sure that you flip two of the fabric cutouts so that they match up correctly. Create two separate sandwiches with the inner fabric on the bottom, batting, and then the outer fabric on top. Secure in place with pins.

Secure the sandwich together by sewing a pattern. I chose the traditional grid, but you can do stripes, swirls, flowers, whatever you would like here.

Next you will make the bottom border. Cut two pieces of scrap fabric that are about 1/4" longer than the base of your mitt and about 1" wide. Fold both horizontal edges in so that the edges meet in the middle. Fold and pin the border around the bottom edge of the mitt (making sure that the border is right side out). Repeat with second half of the mitt and border. Sew in place.

Match mitt halves together with the inner fabric facing out and sew in place with about 1/4" seam. Flip the fabric so that it is right side out.

Using ribbon or scrap fabric, create a 1/4" loop by sewing edges in to create the clean edge. Hand sew loop to the inside of the mitt.

Beat the Blues with Foolproof Winter Hair

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:09:00 +0000

Beat the Blues with Foolproof Winter Hair

by Megan Kramer

What you need:

Hair ties

What you do: Fishtail

Hold hair off to one side. Separate it into two equal sectios.
Take a small section from the outside of one of the sections (first section) and join it to the inside of the other section (second section). See image #1.
Take a piece from the outside of the second section and join it to the inside of the first section. See image #2.
Repeat steps until you get to the end of your hair.
Secure with an elastic.
Use fingers to gently loosen the braid and make it a bit messy.

#1 #2

What you do: Bubble Pony

Gather hair into a low side pony-think right below the ear.
Secure with a clear elastic.
Backcomb (tease) the pony right below the elastic until it’s in the shape of a bubble. Smooth it a bit.
Secure with another clear elastic under the bubble.
Gently pull some of the hair between the two elastics to create the right shape.
Repeat steps until you get to the end of the pony.

Hats, ponys, and braids are no longer reserved for bad hair days! Tell Old Man Winter to bring it on-you’re ready for whatever he can throw at you-well, at least your hair is…

xo,

Megan

Our Favorite Things: Kiddos

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:37:57 +0000

I suppose if I had to pinpoint my favorite subject to photograph, it would have to be kids. I find the bulk of my inspiration from browsing various photo websites and kid fashion photography. As I was looking for our second edition of Our Favorite Things yesterday, I not only found a gorgeous kid fashion lookbook but also the perfect items to highlight for today's post.

I don't think there is any way that you could possibly feel those winter blues if your baby girl (or niece!) was walking around town in these adorable pieces.

Photo: Kidcase

Photo: Acorn Toy Shop

Photo: Kidcase

If only I could get them in my size!

xo,

Stephania

House of Blues

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:15:27 +0000

Now that we're almost done with February I am definitely getting that itch to hop on a plane and head south. There is only so long that one should go with transparent coloring and I've just about reached my limit! Our Bustin' Out of Those Winter Blues week could not have come at a more perfect time.

Today we have the very talented interior designer, Miss Sara Lowman to share a few decor ideas to help you get out of that winter funk.

Enjoy!

Stephania

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House of Blues

by Sara Lowman

Spring is around the corner, and if you’re like me you might be feeling the need to freshen up your interior with more than just a little spring cleaning. While neutral palettes are tasteful and soothing, we sometimes fall into a trap of playing it a little too safe. For me, blue is a great choice when you’re trying to ease your way into the world of color. If your room is feeling a little blah, try introducing a few colorful accents. Here are a few of my favorites:

I love this toile flatware from Nina Campbell. Paired with some simple white plates, they’ll add just the right touch of whimsy.

Textiles are also a great way to introduce blue into your décor. Pillows and blankets are small purchases that don’t require too much commitment. I’m obsessed with the indigo fabrics from Les Indiennes, and their pillow covers are ready-made and available for purchase from their online store!

Is your kitchen feeling a little bland? Backsplashes are great opportunities to add some color and pattern without overdoing it. I fell in love with the tile in this kitchen by Tom Scheerer.

Blue rugs also make beautiful accent pieces, and they’re a great way to start building a scheme for a room. Madeline Weinrib has a great selection of boldly colored graphic rugs. The Blue Mandala shown here adds just the right pop of color to bring this room to life.

Use blue as an element of surprise. The interior of this desk is a gorgeous distressed blue.

In much the same way, color helps enhance visual interest on the back wall of cabinets or bookshelves. The aqua background in the cabinet below draws your focus to the beautiful collection inside.

Feeling emboldened? Here are some beautiful rooms to inspire you to dive in.

This high-gloss dark blue room has chic written all over it.

More of a Romantic? Tom Scheerer does it again with this rustic light blue room.

Who said blue was for boys? Blue can create a serene and elegant room for even the most ladylike gals.

From paint to pillows, blue packs a powerful punch to bring your interiors to life. Hopefully, the images here inspire you to find a little blue in you! Good luck!

I'd Be Blue Without Blueberry Muffins

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:44:00 +0000

Hello everyone! This week at Thursdays we are celebrating blue week. Blue happens to be my favorite color a lot of my favorite things are blue such as the ocean, blue stripes, jeans, the sky, and sapphires. So it is my pleasure to share with all of you a delicious blueberry muffin recipe with a divine streusel topping. While I am sitting in my room at school looking out and seeing a beautiful clear winter sky I can't help but think that this week is perfect for blue week.

I hope you all can enjoy this recipe and have a wonderful week!

lucie

I'm Blue Without Blueberry Muffins

adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Sunday Nite Dinner

What you need:

For the Muffins:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cups flour (I used gluten free flour the C4C brand from Williams Sonoma*)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cups blueberries (use fresh or frozen, I prefer Maine wild blueberries because they are smaller)

* the C4C brand includes xanthum gum, if your using your own blend of gluten free flour then be sure to add 1 teaspoon of xanthum gum.

For the streusel topping

1/2 cup flour (again I used gluten free)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. For the topping combine in a small bowl the flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Add the butter pieces and combine the mixture with a fork until the topping resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Then add the egg and beat well, followed by the yogurt and lemon zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries (if using fresh blueberries toss them with some flour to keep them from falling to the bottom of the muffins).

Scoop the batter into the muffin tins filling each one 3/4 the way full (remember it is a thicker batter so dont be alarmed if it resembles a cookie dough its okay) and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Serve with some butter if you'd like and enjoy!!

Bustin' Out of Those Winter Blues

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:26:49 +0000

Happy President's Day! Today we are kicking off our Bustin' Out of Those Winter Blues week. Over the next five days we will be bringing you anything and everything a Thursdays girl needs to get out of any cold weather, pale skin, why didn't I choose Cali over NY after school cold-weather-funk.

Today we have Lauren here to share her ideas on how to get started.

Enjoy!

Stephania

***************************************************************************************************************************

How To With Blue

by Lauren Lowman

Many of us think of winter as a time to hibernate and are saddened by the loss of what I call seasonal freedom. I say fight the blues with blue this year. I found a few of my favorite blue plants and flowers that lifted my spirits toward the hopes of Spring. Blue can represent many things. What are your favorite blue things? Try incorporating them into the space around you to add a bit of color and refresh your “winterfied” surroundings. I have listed below a few floral arrangements and plants that really help to lift my spirits when I am feeling low.

Combination of white roses, blue hydrangea, blue iris, white snapdragons, and a bit of wax flower.

These mixtures of blues remind us that there is no need to have sadness associated with blue! For all of you panicking that you don’t want just blue around, calm down, you can add something like this beautiful Stargazer lily into the mix, and it brightens it up even more. If this doesn’t get you in the mood for spring’s arrival, I don’t know what will.

If you aren’t into arranging your own flowers, you can always opt for the plant route. It will last a bit longer and still give you a great effect of that soothing blue tone this season.

Botanical Garden Featuring Blue African Violet

Another Variety of A Blue African Violet

These violet plants are fairly inexpensive and are a great way to blend the color blue into your space. These are nice because you can root the leaves in water. You can create new plants for other areas in the house or give as gifts to friends! They need very little care and produce gorgeous blossoms.

For those of you that like a more simplistic look, I recommend going with a few single stems of blue hydrangea. I have shown a simple look below using a blue vase as the blue symbol. It’s time to celebrate having the blues!

White Calla Lilies in a Blue Vase

Weekly Roundup!

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:59:20 +0000

Hello everyone! It is my pleasure to round up this week at Thursdays for you. It has been a great week filled with both Valentines Day love as well as great recipes and crafts as always. I spent my Valentines Day with my boyfriend cooking up a storm and it was so much fun. I hadn't ever cooked a Valentines Day meal and let me say that I now think that making a dinner together is not only more budget friendly but also a blast. We spent $30 on groceries and cooked steaks with asparagus and corn salsa something that could have easily cost double that in the restaurant.

Well now it is time to go into a chocolate detox, (thanks for the bag of hersheys kisses dad) since I have spent all week throughly gorging myself.

Anyway I hope that everyone has had a marvelous love filled week and am looking forward to a beautiful February weekend!

lucie

This week we posted:

Fall in Love with Your Nails

Megan shared with us an adorable Valentines Day manicure which can be easily adapted for other holidays, think about it green with a clover for St. Patrick's Day or red, white, and blue with a fire work for the 4th of July.

Valentines Day: Peanut Butter Nutella Pound Cake

In my house peanut butter needs to be hidden in the back of the cupboard because it tends to disappear quickly by the spoonful. We haven't had nutella in the house for as long as I can remember because it disappears faster than peanut butter. Thank you Mary Clare for giving me a reason to combine them so deliciously!

Candied Rose Petals

Shoko shares with us a recipe for candied rose petals a great and unique Valentines Day treat!

Our Favorite Things

I am so excited about this new weekly post! As Stephania explained it is going to be full of things that we would love to have, wear, eat, or bring to our next Thursday Night Dinner. This week we featured some hilarious Dirty Bandits calenders!

Glue Gun Mafia: Spreading the Valentines Day Love

A wonderful look into the Glue Gun Mafia in Louisville making some wonderfully unique Valentines!

Friday Feature: Adrianna Adarme of A Cozy Kitchen

I love Adrianna's blog "A Cozy Kitchen" it is one of my favorites and one that I visit almost everyday. So I am so happy that Thursdays is doing a feature on her so that all of you can love her blog as much as I do!

This week they posted:

Spoon Fork Bacon: Japanese Crackers with Edamame Dip

I found this blog pretty recently and let me say that once I read the name I was hooked. Bacon is my favorite food after all. Anyway edamame humus has become was one my new favorite obsessions and give my issues with gluten the idea of making my own rice crackers sounds so fun! I cant wait to try this out.

Martha Stewart: Felt Tote Bag

The always crafty Martha Stewart has come up with a good way to stay green by making your own tote bag, it can be a great way to use leftover fabric from other projects!

Mels Kitchen Cafe: Homemade Fortune Cookies

These look like they are very fun to make and also a perfect personalized touch for any dinner party. Wouldn't it be fun to make your own Chinese dinner with homemade fortune cookies!

Design Sponge: Clever Cabinet Makeover

You should see the before because this final product is so cool! I love how Design Sponge does an amazing job of redesigning furniture to give it a whole new look.

Eat Yourself Skinny: Lightened Up Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower

Who doesn't love mac & cheese? Actually who doesn't? I am gluten-free and lactose intolerant and I still love the stuff even though I cant actually eat anything that's in it. I love the blog Eat Yourself Skinny because they take classics and make them healthier and lighter for those of us watching our figures. Cant wait to try this one out with some gluten free pasta!

Friday Feature: Adrianna Adarme of a Cozy Kitchen

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:17:57 +0000

When we stumbled onto A Cozy Kitchen, we knew that we were in for a treat. We immediately noticed the darling design and once we began to scroll down to read and admire the delicious recipes, we were hooked. Adrianna Adarme is the co-creator and now sole writer and has a fantastic sense of humor in her writing and on her take on food. She says on her site, "There’s nothing fancy about the stuff I like to cook and bake–it’s usually just grown-up versions of stuff I ate as a kid."

We knew you guys would love her too, so today we have Adrianna here to share her thoughts on food, kitchen gadgets, and her most recent favorite recipe.

1. Tell us a little bit about A Cozy Kitchen, how did you decide to start food blogging?

A Cozy Kitchen is a place where I share recipes I'm digging and accompany them with stories about my random life-happenings. I started my blog a few years ago when I was working a job that I wasn't too thrilled with. I was bored and uninspired so I'd come home and cook and cook some more. Finally I decided that it'd be fun to share, so that's how ACK was born.

2. We read that breakfast is your favorite meal of day. What is your go-to breakfast?

It totally is! My breakfast life is broken into two worlds: healthy and indulgent. During the week I usually go with the former, so it's, like, a beet/apple/kale juice concoction with a strong cup of coffee. On the weekends, I'm all about fun so I always go with a stack of pancakes. I know pumpkin was so three months ago but I'm still obsessed with pumpkin pancakes right now. I can't stop!

3. If you had to choose one cooking tool that you just could not live without, what would it be?

Oh I dunno. I guess a bowl? What could I make without having a bowl? Probably nothing. So yeah, a bowl!

4. We're all about a fun girls' night in. What are your top three favorite tips/tricks for entertaining?

Top three entertaining tricks: 1. Buy a few things. Don't try and make EVERYTHING. This leads to too much stress. Buy some olives, prosciutto, cornichons, and nuts. No one doesn't like those things. 2. Make your friends make things. It stresses me out when I go to dinner parties or brunches when the host is all frazzled. Break up the work! People want to help and contribute. 3. Ask about everyone's allergies and food preferences. I have all of my friends' food issues memorized. The thought of someone not having food makes me cringe. And P.S.: Always have alcohol. Always.

Spicy Buttery Steamed Mussels (for two!)

by Adrianna Adarme of A Cozy Kitchen

What you need:

1 pound mussels
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons Italian parsley, minced and divided
1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (scale back to 1 teaspoon if your adverse to spicy)
1 cup dry white wine
salt

What you do:

Place the mussels in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Mix in the two tablespoons of flour and allow to stand for 30 minutes. This will allow the mussels to release any sand. Next, drain the mussels and pull the “beards” off. If the mussels are dirty, scrub them, removing any dirt and be sure to discard any that aren’t tightly shut.

In a large saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the shallots and garlic; cook for 3-4 minutes and until translucent. Add 2 tablespoons of Italian parsley, crushed red pepper and white wine. Bring to a simmer, reducing liquid for 5-7 minutes.

Transfer clean mussels to the pot and cover with a lid, steaming them for 2-3 minutes. Holding the lid down, give the pot a shake one or two times; this will make sure the mussels at the bottom don’t burn. You’ll know when the mussels are done when they’re all open, throwing away any that refuse to open. Scoop mussels into two separate bowls, and ladle liquid over each bowl. Serve with bread.

Enjoy!