I hope you had a great weekend! Over the weekend, I had the chance to do a bunch of cooking, baking and crafting!
One of the things we made was a banana bread loaf with some bananas that were overripe. The banana bread turned out great, so I wanted to share the recipe we used. I’m a novice baker so this was pretty fool proof!
Yum Yum Banana Bread!
This is adapted from a recipe I found on the Food Network. Original recipe is here.
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray the ends with butter/cooking spray.
Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the buttermilk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears. Fold in chocolate chips, reserve a few for sprinkling on top.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing. The loaf should come out easily with the parchment paper.
Something that every new mom has to go through is buying a nursing bra. It’s one of those tasks that you can’t do prior to delivery since your breast size can change dramatically once your milk comes in.
I don’t have any fit photos to share, but I do have some thoughts on a few popular nursing bras that I tried on in store. I went to my go-to place for buying bras, which is Nordstrom, since I wanted to get fitted. Wearing the correct size is even more imperative since a too small nursing bra can cause painful clogged ducts which could lead to a mastitis infection. You definitely want to avoid that at all costs!
I have heard some ladies that just pull their normal bra up to nurse, but I have no idea how that is even possible! A nursing bra is an absolute essential for me, both for holding in a nursing pad and for being able to comfortable nurse in public.
This is the bra I would recommend to all of my friends. I love that it provides good coverage and lift. I wear the wired version but there is also a non-wired version for ladies who are prone to blocked ducts. The inside of the cups is also lined with a very pretty floral fabric.
The main downside I find with this bra is that because it provides such great coverage (using a lightly padded cup), it isn’t as easy to fold down as a thinner piece of fabric (like the Elle MacPherson bra below). However, for me, coverage is of utmost importance so this was something I could live with.
This one was a close second to the Cake Lingerie bra. I liked the support but I felt that the cups were a little harder to fold down than the ones on the Cake bra.
I didn’t find that this bra provided enough support or coverage under clothing. It really was no better than the Lamaze sleep bra that I use at night. I felt like I couldn’t wear this in public at all. On the plus side, because it is so thin, the cups fold down super easily.
I found that this bra was very similar to the Momamia and so the same problems of coverage and support were present. Additionally I felt like this compressed my chest into a giant uniboob.
The fit on this one wasn’t bad but the fabric just made it look super frumpy. I vastly preferred the Cake bra to this one. Some reviews have also indicated that the fabric stretches over time and doesn’t provide as much support once its been worn for a few times.
I hope this post has been helpful in trying to decide which nursing bra to try on or order! The fitters at Nordstrom are also fabulous so I’d recommend going in store to get fitted for your new size as well.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been obsessed with trying to makeover our living room. When we bought our home a few years ago, we impulsively bought a brown leather couch for the living room. It was not a very well thought out purchase, as we were under a bit of a timeline and Costco Home was closing and having a massive sale. The couch isn’t 100% what I wanted, but it was affordable and fit into our space well.
Our brown leather sectional needs some stylingWhat should we put behind the sofa?
Lately I’ve been trying to figure out what we should put on the walls and how we should style the couch. We have a brown leather couch and a brown leather storage ottoman. Both are fairly baby friendly which is a plus. We have a glass and metal side table (not pictured) and a red chair (also not pictured) off to the side of the couch.
Here were some pillow choices that I was thinking about using.
I actually found this one at my local Fred Meyer store and brought it home to try against the couch. My husband thinks it is “rustic” looking… I’m not sure I agree. I think the red in the pillows ties in nicely with the red chair that we have on the side.
I really like the way this one has several neutral tones in it and I also really like the blue. I’m not sure if it works in our living room though. Maybe if I saw it in person I’d be able to better evaluate it.
I think this one might work since it ties in the red and has a bit of texture since it is a silk weave. This one doesn’t include an insert so I’d need to get a 20″ pillow separately.
I’m also trying to decide if we want to put a large canvas behind the couch or if we should do a gallery wall here. Unfortunately, original art of this scale isn’t in our budget at the moment, so we’ve been looking at prints.
I saw this at Cost Plus World Market one night and thought it would be a great size either above our sofa or above our bed (54″ x 27″). My husband also really liked the colors in the piece so we picked it up on the weekend. It was a little bit comical trying to fit this into our car since we can no longer flip down our backseats, since we had our little one with us.
I was also considering using six of these these silver wall frames over the sofa. The silver frame coordinates well with our silver lamp. I’d put black and white photos of our family in each of them.
Have any advice for me with regards to throw pillow choices or wall decor? I’d love to hear your living room makeover tips and see before/after pictures as well!
After spending so much time, money and effort in shopping for clothing that fits, it is essential to properly care for your wardrobe so that it lasts as long as you want to wear it! It is a terrible feeling to see an unsightly hole in your favorite sweater or have your favorite t-shirt or jeans rip apart. Unfortunately for me, I’ve had all of the above happen to me!
Also, as someone who is busy and doesn’t love doing chores, making clothing presentable and quickly, is high up on my priority list.
Here are a few of my tips and tricks.
Cleaning
Here are my best tips for home washing, since I’m not a “dry clean only” kind of clothing gal!
1. Use a laundry bag for machine washing bras
I know you’re supposed to hand wash bras, but I really don’t have the time or patience! I have several of these small laundry bags to protect my bras. I use the delicate cycle on my machine and they come out in good shape. I line dry my bras on a flat surface — never hanging by the center gore or straps, and never in the dryer!
I buy my laundry bags at a local dollar store called Daiso but you can also find them on Amazon. Look for the ones that have the plastic web as seen in the photo above. I find that those provide the most protection.
2. Turn clothes inside out and line dry to prevent fading
I hate when my dark clothes start to fade and I’ve found that turning them inside out when washing helps prevent fading. Even more than that, line drying them also prevents fading and shrinking. If you use a top loading washer, I would also recommend using a laundry net. The square shaped style works great (seen here). The nets don’t seem to work very well with my front loader so I don’t use the nets anymore.
I hate ironing but for some clothes you have to iron to get a nice flat and crisp looking finish. For other clothes, a steamer is your best friend. For most of my tops, a steamer is a great way to cut down the time it takes to prepare your clothes. It used to take me 5-10 minutes to iron a top and now I can steam it in about 30-60 seconds. I actually own a different steamer that I don’t recommend, as it has lost some of its steaming ability over time (I have the “Tobi” which seems to be discontinued). This SteamFast model has gotten a TON of great reviews on Amazon.
I am so addicted to my steamer that I bought this mini one for travel since my clothes get so wrinkly. It is super tiny (fits in the palm of my hand). It’s also really affordable!
Storage
4. Stuff your handbags with acid free paper
Whenever I put a handbag away in my closet, I always make sure to stuff it with some acid free tissue paper so that it keeps its shape while it is not being used. This prevents sad wrinkle lines from developing on the bags when they bend and remain for weeks or months while they are in storage. I also put my handbags in a cloth bag, either one that came with the bag or I’ll use a reusable shopping bag (like the ones you get from the grocery store).
When its time to use the bag, I leave the acid free paper in the cloth storage bag ready to be used when its time to put the bag away!
5. Store your shoes in their boxes or in clear boxes
I like storing my lesser worn shoes (e.g. special occasion ones) in their boxes or in clear boxes to keep the dust off the shoes. I have seen some people build custom shoe closets (Tiffany @ I Am Style-ish has a great video of how she stores her shoes!) but I don’t have the space for a custom closet so my system of keeping the shoes in their boxes works for me. I put my often worn shoes in a shoe rack by the door.
6. Use cedar wood shoe trees to help with retaining shape and guarding against odors
Cedar wood shoe trees really help with maintaining the shape of a shoe (especially in longer storage) as well as removing and guarding against odor. I have a few pairs of ladies shoe trees that I pop in my regular shoes after I wear them. I also try not to wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row so that they can properly dry and “rest”. I find that this helps keep them newer, for longer!
7. Use hangers that fit your clothing
I am a rather petite woman so that means that my clothing doesn’t fit on standard 17″ hangers very well. However, I’m not so small that my clothing fits on child sized hangers either! I didn’t know until very recently that 14″ and 15″ hangers existed. I found that I had 1-2 hangers that fit my clothing perfectly so I have used those for blazers or a sweater that was rather unforgiving in the shoulders. Jean of ExtraPetite.com recently wrote a post about petite hangers and is hosting a giveaway in conjunction with OnlyHangers.com. I am planning on updating my closet with these smaller sized ones so that I can get rid of the dreaded “shoulder nipples” on all of my clothes.
What are your best practices for taking care of your garments?
Westin Heavenly Bed on sale at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
I’ve seen the Westin Heavenly bed available on sale at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for the last few years. I’ve also slept on the Heavenly bed when I’ve stayed at in a few Westin hotels and it is really quite heavenly!
Personally, I own the W Hotels bed which is supposedly very similar and is also super, duper comfortable!
During Anniversary, Nordstrom sells the bed for 25% off which is a great price for a truly luxurious mattress. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Anniversary sale only lasts until Sunday, August 4th, so if this bed interests you… you’ve got to make a decision fairly quickly on ordering!
Twin:
Mattress and Foundation Set: $1,195 Sale: $896.25
Queen:
Mattress and Foundation Set: $1,495 Sale: $1,121.25
Mattress and Split Foundation Set: $1,595 Sale: $1,196.25
Twin XL:
Mattress and Foundation Set: $1,395 Sale: $1,046.25
King:
Mattress and Foundation Set: $1,795 Sale: $1,346.25
Full:
Mattress and Foundation Set: $1,395 Sale: $1,046.25
California King:
Mattress and Foundation Set: $1,795 Sale: $1,346.25
