Put your hands together for RxSaver by RetailMeNot who #sponsored this post How to Find the Best Prescription Discounts, supporting Through Her Looking Glass. This post includes tracking links. For more information about tracking links and how to opt out, please visit All About Do Not Track prior to clicking any links found in this post. All opinions and content are my own.

If you know me at all, you know I love saving a peso. (Or five.) Recently I came across a fantastic way to save significant money every month on prescription drugs, putting me in charge of what I pay at the pharmacy counter. To Find the Best Prescription Discounts, just plug basic information into the search engine at rxsaver.com or on the app. It’s that easy! Convenient and free, now I use RxSaver.com monthly and save up to 80% off!

As many of you know, Jon and I and our older boys are caregivers for our little guy Hudson who has a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism. It’s hard to put into words just what that entails on a day-to-day basis, but I’ll try.

I’m no stranger to disability. My oldest sister Elisabeth also has Down syndrome. We just celebrated her 52^nd birthday in May. I can’t remember a time when our lives weren’t affected by disability in some way.

Hudson and Liz playing ball at her birthday party a few years ago…

So Hudson’s nine years old, but developmentally he’s around three. He’s still in pull-ups day and night and is non-verbal. He has a speech device so he can pick what he wants for breakfast or which video he wants. But more significant communication is pretty limited. As you can imagine, this can be frustrating, but we all pull together as best we can.

Hudson blowing out the candles for the third time on his birthday. Note he has zero interest in sampling the cupcakes. It’s all about the singing and candles.

Thankfully Hudson is cute as a button and that greatly helps his cause. Most days the blessings far outweigh the challenges, but there are the occasional days when things get pretty crazy.

Hudson is considered a bolt risk, meaning that at any time, he might decide to run. This is pretty common in children with autism. And when he runs, he won’t look back or respond to his name. As you can imagine, that can be beyond scary in a parking lot or near the road. That’s why we hold his hand tightly and keep a handicapped placard at the ready to dangle from the car mirror. It’s especially helpful for getting him into doctor and therapy appointments safely.

So one cold, snowy afternoon last winter, I parked in the handicapped spot right outside his therapy building. We entered through the sliding glass doors and Hudson pushed the elevator button as usual. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned here that Hudson is not disabled when it comes to being naughty. As we waited for the elevator, he stared me down, then poked out his little tongue, threatening to LICK the elevator button. Of all the horrible things. I eyed him sternly and shook my head.

That’s when I heard the accusing voice: “You really shouldn’t park in a handicapped space if you’re not handicapped.”

Really? My jaw dropped as I looked back for that split second. A young mom hauling an infant seat, with an adorable little boy in tow was passing through the lobby behind us. I locked eyes with her. “I’m not handicapped,” I said quietly, “but my son is.” I nodded at the large sign on the wall: “AUTISM THERAPY, SECOND FLOOR”

My eyes were averted for that split second, so I’ll never know whether Hudson licked the elevator button or not that day. Because as I turned back, the elevator doors were meeting in the middle and Hudson was gone. I whirled around, raced for the stairwell and dashed up two at a time, hoping to find him on the second floor.

The good news is that Hudson’s autism makes him a creature of habit. He’d actually pushed the correct floor button and taken the elevator by himself to the second floor. When I found him, he was standing in the hallway by the elevator doors, the picture of innocence. Thank you God. My heart rate began to recede and I brought him to his classroom, then took a deep breath as I retrieved his missing backpack from the elevator. I thought about finding that mom and giving her a piece of mind. But then I thought better of it. The truth is, I need every single remaining gray cell. (!)

Every extinguished candle is cause for great celebration! On birthdays we blow out candles all day long, so tall candles are required!

Life can throw some unexpected punches and surprises. And whether you deal with disability or not, one can never know what a day will hold. Or an hour, for that matter. That’s why I’m SO grateful for anything that saves me time, frustration and money. RxSaver by RetailMeNot is a shortcut that does just that. 

How to Find the Best Prescription Discounts: RxSaver

Just a few weeks ago I was refilling my allergy medicine. I usually pay $43 monthly out of pocket for it. So I downloaded the app on my phone, then plugged in my zip code and the name of my prescription. RxSaver directed me to the pharmacy that I always use, but gave me a coupon that discounted my medicine to $10.01. Yes!!!!

At first I wondered if it could be a mistake. So I called in my prescription as usual, then showed the RxSaver coupon on my phone to the pharmacist. (You can also use the RxSaver site at home and print out a coupon.) Guess what? I saved $33 and you better believe I was ecstatic. (I can do a lot with an extra $33.)

So I really hope you’ll try rxsaver.com for yourself and start saving money too! You don’t need a membership or password or any personal information. (Passwords are the bane of my existence.)

Just enter the name of your prescription and zip code, then compare prices and choose the best price/location for you. You save money whether or not you have health insurance. I know you’ll love using this great money saving tip! (You’re welcome.)

Follow RxSaver by RetailMeNot on Facebook for more money saving tips!

The post Favorite Things #8 – How to Find the Best Prescription Discounts appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Hey friends, happy weekend and welcome to today’s Kitchen Reveal party. Wish I’d baked gingersnaps and made party punch for the occasion. We started kitchen remodeling back in February and finally, we’re crossing the finish line.

A few little odds and ends remain, like finishing the trim paint, ceiling touch up, cabinet lighting etc. But nothing major. The last cabinet door was hung on Wednesday, so woohoo!

You may remember what our kitchen looked like before. (This picture was taken in January.)

And then we had a family demolition derby day in February and it looked like this. (All the holes in the wall are where the former backsplash was. The sheetrock had to be CUT out, as we couldn’t pry the tiles off the wall, no matter how hard we tried.)

We sold the cabinets on Craig’s List and almost got scammed in the process. Almost being the operative word. We learned a lot.

And now… it looks like this! It came out very close to how I imagined it would. (Guessing my Jon is just sighing with relief to see these words, lol.)

We ripped out this side counter and cabinets. Then extended the doorframe to the right by just a few inches so it would accommodate a pantry six inches wider. That’s a lot of extra storage space floor to ceiling, and so glad we went that route.

AND HERE’S THE DOUBLE WALL OVEN AND PANTRY!!!! (I’m not excited or anything.)

We went back and forth about getting a single or double wall oven, but I’m so glad we went with the double.

I’ve already used both wall ovens simultaneously a number of times. We were also able to find a much better deal on a double wall oven and separate 36″ gas cooktop, rather than a single wall oven plus a 36″ slide-in range with gas cooktop, which was the alternative. We managed to save several thousand dollars doing it this way and still got the two ovens and a cooktop, just a different configuration.

An awesome pantry feature is the slide out drawers inside, so it’s easy and convenient to find things. Though I do need a step stool to reach the upper cabinet shelves.

The original stainless slide-in range we sold on Craigslist. It was in great shape, but I was itching for a gas cooktop like we had at our previous home. I really prefer cooking with gas. Thankfully we already have a gas line for the furnace and hot water heater, so it was just a matter of diverting it to the new cooktop.

So I’m thrilled with the new gas cooktop. It’s 36″ wide, which is 6″ wider than the previous 30″ slide-in range was. It’s amazing how spacious that extra 6″ on the cooktop makes it feel. Plus an extra burner in the middle. The double wall oven freed up the space below this cooktop for storage drawers underneath for pots and pans.

Note the pot filler above the cooktop, on the back wall to the right. This was very inexpensive, less than a $100, and a no brainer once the sheetrock was already cut out because of the backsplash. You do have to get behind the sheetrock to plumb a pot filler, so it may not be an option for everyone, unless you can get behind your wall to plumb.

I’ve already used the pot filler numerous times, most recently when making a big pot of pea soup with our leftover Easter ham bone, which is actually cooking in the pot above. It was very delicious with homemade johnny cake FYI.

There was an extra three inches of cabinet space underneath the cooktop counter. Our cabinet guy suggested we put in a filler panel, but we’d seen this neat slide-out spice drawer which only takes, drumroll please…. exactly 3″ of space! YES!!!

I’m not necessarily an organized person (I see those smirks) but I’d like to be. And this spice rack is a move in the right direction!

I sold my former KitchenAid stand mixer (from the late 90’s) in a local Facebook yard sale group, and got one a little bigger and more powerful. KitchenAids are a great investment for your kitchen and really hold their value, FYI.

(I found this out when I had more than 25 on-line offers for my old KitchenAid, which was already refurbished when I bought it.)

We chose brushed nickel for most of the fixtures and kept an industrial feel. Some of my favorite features are the pot filler, the faucet, the amazing light over the kitchen sink, handmade by MoonStone Fox, and the pedestal lights suspended over the island.

We also installed a hot water dispenser, so now we can have tea, oatmeal and hot chocolate in an instant without putting on the kettle.

We were able to tie in the breakfast nook on the opposite end of the kitchen, using this scratch and dent kitchen armoire we bought years ago at the Williams Sonoma outlet in SC.

I’ve  always loved the clean look, and chose the shaker white kitchen cabinets based on the armoire lines. (Auntie M, note your Thistle Hill Pottery plate on upper left.  )

Love this pendant fixture. Found it online at Pottery Barn and scooped it up on a one day clearance sale in January. Score! I spend a lot of time working at this table because the lighting is great and the bird feeder isn’t far. I can’t resist a free show!

Love having my feathered friends nearby. Re: the light fixture above: be warned. It’s a serious dust catcher, but worth it (to me anyway) for the look.

Things we learned:

• We tried not to reinvent the wheel. In other words, the overall layout of the kitchen was already a good design and worked well, so we didn’t mess with it.
• You’ll note there are very few cabinets with doors, mostly pull-out drawers. That’s what’s recommended these days. So much easier to access the prized skillet rolling out a drawer than getting down on your hands and knees, peering into dark cabinet shelves.
• Our subscription to Consumer Reports was helpful, but nowhere near as helpful as just looking things up on Amazon and other sites. Consumer Reports was limited to just the models that they had tested.
• Do your homework ahead of time and always always always compare prices, especially for the bigger ticket items. We compared prices for cabinets and checked out reviews. And we had the quartz countertops quoted at four different shops. It was the fourth one, Granite Plus in Chelmsford, MA we visited that was $1K cheaper, and we got excellent customer service from start to finish.
• There’s a big difference between granite, quartz and quartzite in the countertop world. Granite is a natural stone, less expensive but porous and requires occasional sealing. Quartz is more expensive than granite, man-made, but more durable and virtually maintenance free. And quartzite is natural stone but more expensive than quartz. (Soapstone is beautiful too but out of our budget.) We also considered butcher block, but didn’t want the maintenance.
• We shopped around and shopped around, and Sears was by far the most competitively priced option for the wall ovens and gas cooktop. The customer service however, was a nightmare. Bear that in mind. So frustrating. Sale prices online wouldn’t show up in the online cart, and it ended up being weeks before we finally got everything straightened out with multiple phone calls, talking to people halfway around the world. Sears online and in-store seem to be in competition with each other, making it nearly impossible to resolve anything locally if you have an on-line issue.
• We were committed to doing this project for cash, so we set a budget and stuck with it. While I love how everything turned out, there were many more expensive options and I had to resist splurging. Like a copper hammered range hood for example. Lol. Maybe someday. I did however splurge on a smaller item, the handmade industrial light fixture above the kitchen sink. It was definitely worth the splurge and makes a statement, but wasn’t a huge ticket item.
• So glad we sold everything we could from the old kitchen on-line: stove, cabinets, microwave, etc. That hugely helped reduce our overall cost.
• We were able to avoid replacing the flooring, refrigerator and dishwasher (which was fairly new anyway.) This was a big savings!
• You can pay a lot for Italian subway tile online. It’s lovely, but we didn’t want to spend the pesos there. We got ours inexpensively at Home Depot and used gray grout (rather than white) because it’s easier to keep clean.
• I’m glad we had the cabinets built all the way to the ceiling. It cuts down on dust, and is a cleaner classic look, with great storage in the upper cabinets for things we don’t often use.

What we would have done differently:

• Thankfully, not too much! We did our homework first.
• When the dishwasher is open and the trash drawer on the island is open simultaneously, it’s tight. It works, but we should’ve staggered those better.
• The pot filler should have been installed a little lower, though it works perfectly. I probably would have mounted it one row of subway tile down. It’s tough to figure out where to mount, because you have to plumb it and set the height before you even have countertops or the range top installed. It’s a guessing game. I think we were afraid it might land too low, so ended up overcompensating and mounting it a little high. That’s ok, it still works great, but might be helpful for you to know.
• We would have found a way to make the microwave a built-in, rather than sitting on a shelf. There were many options we looked at, but in retrospect, I think we could have installed it from above, attached underneath a cabinet, as if it were installed over a range. That would have given a cleaner look.

How we saved $:

• Didn’t hire a designer.
• Contracted it ourselves.
• Removed the old cabinets and backsplash ourselves.
• Jon did all the painting.
• Spent time and shopped around for the best prices and value.
• Sold everything we could from our old kitchen to help finance the new one.
• Didn’t get derailed from our budget and splurged on just a few key items: countertops and lighting.
• Amazon was the best for shopping, comparison pricing and on-line reviews. We bought most of the kitchen fixtures, including the stainless range hood on Amazon. Prices were excellent and shipping was free with Amazon prime.
• Kept several existing appliances and the wood flooring.

I’m so glad we kept the kitchen island countertop free of sinks, cooktop, etc. A lot of designs featured built-ins like that. But our kitchen island is invaluable for entertaining with extra seating and space for food. It’s also perfect for rolling out cookies and pie dough. We installed outlets on either end and that works great for mixers/blenders and plugging in my photography lighting.

Jon and I also recently discovered late one night last week that the island makes an awesome laundry folding station when we’re working in tandem on mega laundry.

All along, we kept in mind that a kitchen remodel is one of the best investments you can make in a home. You nearly always get your money back in the long run. And since I’m a food blogger, it was a no brainer for us.

I’ve had friends ask, after seeing the finished kitchen – ‘how in the world did you even know where to start?’ Well, we just went step by step, like everything else, in layers.

Looked at design pics. first to figure out what we liked. Then started with pricing the biggest pieces of the puzzle: the cabinets, appliances, countertops and contractor labor.

Once we found our contractor, we talked through timing, pricing and availability. Once we had those big pieces in place, I started shopping on-line for lighting fixtures, sink, sink fixtures, cabinet hardware, etc. So we went from broad to narrow, and that worked well for us.

We also ordered everything ahead of time and had it here waiting in the garage before the contractor even arrived, with just a few exceptions. This saved time, money, and kept us from wasting the contractor’s time too.

Many thanks to everyone who has been cheering us on during this project, thank you. It’s been fun cataloguing the journey here.

It was quite a marathon, but is already making such a huge difference to work/live in a light and airy, bright kitchen with great storage. We’re thankful and blessed.

Please don’t hesitate to ask questions about the process or share your thoughts. Always love hearing from you.

Wishing you a peaceful, joyful spring weekend doing whatever you love. (I’m potting pansies today.)

XOXO,

allie

The post Real Deal: Kitchen Reveal! Before & After appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend and welcome to Favorite Things #4 , where I share what’s percolating in the remaining gray cells. Today just happens to be my firstborn’s birthday. So happy, happy birthday Jonathan! The big 2-0 is just that… BIG! Remembering that poignant moment so long ago when I first saw that precious baby face. Sniff.

It’s been a good weekend around here and hope it has been at your house too. The sick kids here are on the mend. Charlie’s been competing at the state Destination Imagination competition. The sky is azure. Birds are chirping. I can barely see the dirty little snow patches left in the side yard.

Truth: we had a momentary spring lapse yesterday when it SNOWED two inches. (Thankfully already melted.) But other than that hiccup, spring is definitely springing, even if it hasn’t fully sprung in NH yet.

Here’s what what Hudson and I do on Saturday mornings…

This wooly little lamb Marley thinks he’s a pup! Cute.

FYI, sharing a couple great new finds I recently stumbled across:Loving this GuruNanda Natural Mist diffusing mister. It diffuses essential oils straight up and plugs into the wall or a USB outlet. Right now the fresh scent of lemon grass essential oil is in my entryway. Clean, fresh and springy! All natural and no chemicals, the essential oil bottle screws right onto the mister itself. I’m trying lavendar and rosemary oils next. Genius idea.

And here’s a delicious aroma to lure you out of bed on a lazy Sunday morning: Sugar Dusted Beignet Coffee. Savoring this scrumptious new flavor by Community Coffee. Made with 100% select Arabica coffee beans, get it in 12-ounce bags or single-serve pods. Light and sweet, sipping at my kitchen table like I’m parked in a New Orleans street cafe a thousand miles away…

Book recommendation:  Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope

Amazing read, and true.

“The Nazis murdered their husbands but concentration camp prisoners Priska, Rachel, and Anka would not let evil take their unborn children too—a remarkable true story celebrating three mothers who defied death to give their children life. On the seventieth anniversary of Mauthausen’s liberation from the Nazis by American soldiers, renowned biographer Wendy Holden recounts this extraordinary story of three children united by their mothers’ unbelievable—yet ultimately successful—fight for survival.”

This read is definitely worth your time. Five stars.

Sharing this in honor of my brave, beautiful mom and all the mothers of children with Down syndrome around the globe.

(Hint: grab tissues. I was a faucet.)

I mentioned in my cookie post earlier this week that we’re closing in on finishing the kitchen remodel project. So close! Waiting on just a few more cabinet doors to come in so I can take the snaps.

The project was fun and worth the grief. (I try to be honest here: there was grief involved.)

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough…”  – Melody Beattie

So what are you up to? Wishing you a beautiful weekend, savoring all the little things that make you smile.

XOXO,

Allie

The post Favorite Things #4 appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Hey friends – happy weekend to you! Hope it’s a great one. We continue forward with our kitchen renovations here – and it won’t be long ’til running water, gas cooktop and ovens happen. (Translation: a real meal that doesn’t involve the electric griddle.) Hopefully this coming week, fingers crossed. And no. more. blizzards.

Posting Kitchen Ideas here to give you hints of our kitchen reno if you’re into that kind of thing. Especially if you’ve got a remodel on the horizon or are on the fence about it.

Truth is, I’ve felt like a crazy woman these last few weeks. Yesterday I made a beef stew with the electric griddle and slow cooker balanced on a plywood plank stretched between counter frames. A balancing act. Just call me Pioneer Woman.

That same day the big nor’easter hit us hard, and I was bundled up to my eyes refilling the backyard feeder in 18″ of white for my feathered friends. That would be Tundra Woman. Me.

Then my asthma kicked in with all the mudding, spackling, sanding etc. and I had to wear a ridiculous white dust mask around my own house for days. Bird Flu Woman? LOL. (I’ll answer to plain Crazy too.)

Jon and I were in the paint store yesterday picking out the wall color and the guy at the counter mentions the coming storm.

Naive me: What storm?

Him: You didn’t hear? Another nor’easter’s on the way, arriving Monday or Tuesday.

Me: For real? (Jaw drops a mile. Or three.)

And all I can muster back: “So don’t shoot the messenger, right?”

Folks, it’s MARCH. April showers bring… May flowers. So what do March blizzards bring? Give it time. Then mud. M-U-D. In my sparkling white kitchen no less. Funny. (Or not.) The grand prize for March blizzards is mud.

Posting some Kitchen Ideas and pics about the journey today, sharing some of our choices. It’s amazing, there are SO MANY choices out there and it’s dizzying even knowing where to begin.

Pot fillers are a fun new accessory. Install above your stove top for effortless pot and kettle filling.

If you’re thinking about kitchen remodeling, start looking at kitchen ideas in home decorating magazines, online decorating sites and Pinterest.

Shaker white cabinets by Forevermark. (This isn’t our kitchen, but similar cabinets.)

Pore over lots of kitchen pictures to see what you like. Think of kitchens you’ve been in and love – family and friends’ kitchens. Even kitchens you don’t like. (Why don’t you like it?) The tough thing then, is to break down the why. Why do you like a particular look? What reels you in? Is it color? Style? Cabinets? Appliances? Floor? Lighting? And then note the individual components that contribute towards the look and feel you like.

For instance, do you like wood cabinets? Dark or light? Painted? Stained? Or maybe you’re drawn to white? Do you like lots of moldings and bevels? Or simple clean lines. Do you like living with neutrals and muted colors, or color drama?

When I was in my twenties, I loved bold color and lots of it. But as we were looking at homes for sale last year, I found I’m drawn to quieter, more muted color palettes now, with color pops here and there.

My girlfriend J put this fixture in her kitchen (different finish) and I love it! (Photo creds: thanks Moonstone Fox !)

Not sure if it’s my age or styles have changed dramatically. But with this kitchen remodel, I’m going for light and bright, clean, classic lines, neutral colors and an industrial flavor.

My sister has a hot water dispenser and finds it… indispensable! Make tea, hot cocoa or oatmeal at a moment’s notice, no stovetop necessary. Mounts next to the kitchen sink faucet.

And I have to say, as it’s all coming together… I’m loving it! I know this farmhouse/industrial mix was the right choice for us, but everyone has different tastes and house style to work with. So first you have to figure out what works best for your scene.

You can always hire a designer, but if you already know what you like and have experienced contractors to lean on – why not save the pesos and go for it? I think I can. I think I can. The little blue engine, chugging right along.

The web is a great source of design inspiration. And if you happen to have a friend who dabbles in interior design like me, I’m sure they’ll be happy to steer you in the right direction.

In case you missed it, here are my previous posts on our kitchen remodel:

Don’t Get Scammed On Craig’s List Like I (Almost) Did

Kitchen Demolition Derby

My next kitchen-related post will be the kitchen reveal. Can’t wait!

What’s going on in your world? Would love to hear from you. Have a beautiful weekend.

XOXO,

Allie

The post Kitchen Ideas Board appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

This DIY Easter Mini Garden is so sweet and easy to plant.  A mini garden brings days of anticipation and wonder for kids 1-99 as the garden grass sprouts just in time for Easter. This is a great classroom project and brings cheer to a nursing home or sick room.

Easter’s not so far away. For me, Easter brings thoughts of new life and hope…green shoots poking through the ground after a seemingly interminable winter of snow and ice. The anticipation of spring and new growth, welcome after a long winter. The empty tomb in the garden symbolizes hope.

Build it together with your kids, grandchildren or other special kids in your life. Charlie and I planted a DIY Easter Mini Garden several years ago. First we went on a meandering nature walk around the pond, hunting for just the right rock, stones and twigs before planting the garden.

You’ll need about two weeks from planting the grass seed ’til it’s ready. Plant the seed about three weeks before Easter to enjoy it before and after Easter. When the grass is thick and lush, just a few snips with scissors or kitchen shears keeps it in nice shape for Easter.

Materials:

• large terra cotta pot saucer (12″ worked well) for base
• small terra cotta pot (3 1/2″ worked well) for tomb
• Soil
• Small, flat stones
• Grass seed (rye works well)
• Rock (the size of the mouth of the “tomb”)
• Twigs and raffia to make crosses

Directions:

• Place the small terra cotta pot on its’ side in the the saucer.
• Fill the big terra cotta saucer with soil to the lip, anchoring the small pot (the empty tomb.)
• Mound dirt over the small terra cotta pot, leaving the mouth open. (Will need wet dirt to make it “stick”)
• Place the stones into the soil in front of the tomb.
• Mist the soil well, so it’s ready to receive grass seed, then press grass seed thickly all over the soil.
• Place the rock in front of the tomb.
• Use raffia or string to tie together twigs to make rustic crosses, add them to the garden.
• Mist the grass seed several times daily and watch for your garden to sprout!
• Water daily.

Hide a few speckled eggs in the grass Easter morning!

Related post: DIY Spring Monogram Wreath

The post DIY Easter Mini Garden appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

This little shop has stolen my heart. Hand-painted silk scarves, pottery, paintings, hand-made cards and eclectic artisan gifts in a rustic, serene setting. If you’re local, you must visit Barn In Bloom!

I’ve had several delightful chats with owner and creative, Sarah. (Be sure to check hours first: open Wed. – Sat. only.) Savor homemade soups and artisan breads next door at Buckley’s Bakery and Cafe.

Tattle tale on me: I left my sunroof open on a 74° February day last week. Not recommended here in NH. It snowed 5″ the next day. YASSS! I was shocked to discover my fronts seats and console filled with the white stuff late the next day, had to grab a shovel. Reminds me of that other time when I forgot something else pretty important.

But spring is not so far away. (A girl can dream!) Here’s the personalized doormat I have and love.

Pure sweetness!

Scrumptious and unusual: a slice of fresh rosemary olive oil cake I shared with a friend here. Worth the splurge. This unique little cafe featuring farm to table and Mediterranean cuisine has a free online recipe club . (I signed on the dotted line and so can you.)

“Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.” -Frank A. Clark

It’s school vacation week here in NH and all continues to be chaotic with our kitchen remodel. A fun adventure none-the-less. Loved hearing about your kitchen renovations in the comments last week, thank you! And look forward to sharing the “after” pictures of ours here. Whenever “after” finally arrives. (Patience is a virtue, so I’m told.)

Enjoying a cup of this in the quiet this morning.

It’s stormy here on the East coast this weekend, stay safe!

XOXO,

allie

The post Favorite Things #3 appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Hope you’re having a great weekend and welcome to the chaos! (Like you needed more, right?) Chaos with a capital C. I’ve mentioned we’re in kitchen remodeling mode around here. We’ve been selling off our current kitchen piece by piece on Craig’s List and the stove went Friday. Buh bye.

My dining room table…

So how do you feed a mess of boys and write a food blog without a stove and countertops? Great question. And I’m about to find out! LOL. I’m sure it will take creativity. (I’m all ears for ideas – TIA!)

The good news is a local friend knew our plight and offered the propane fueled stove top they used during their recent kitchen remodel. Plus we borrowed a six foot table and put that in the middle where the island was. So it’ll be camp style cooking for a while, which is certainly better than a fire pit out back I’m thinking.

So we’re getting ready to install our new kitchen. The contractors arrive tomorrow to start wiring, connecting the gas line and repairing sheet rock. Jon has carefully ripped out all the old kitchen cabinets and tile backsplash and they’ve been clogging up the garage. Yesterday the cabinets departed (as I cheered!) with a Craig’s List buyer. The new ones arrive tomorrow. Timing is everything, yes?

Today I’m sharing some random pics and thoughts, and in a few weeks when we’re finished I’ll share more. It’ll be a fun kitchen reveal and the truth is… I can’t wait to see how it turns out myself!

Before….

I’ve had some ask why we’re doing a remodel since the kitchen is functional. Yes, it’s functional. I, however, am not a utilitarian girl. Form over function. Big surprise. (And why not form AND function anyway?) I’m a lover of beauty with a B.A. in interior design who enjoys hunting down a good deal and transforming old and outdated to fresh and new. I’ve dreamed for a long time of designing a kitchen from the top down, and finally after a lot of research – it’s time!

My kitchen as of today…. (!) Wish me luck.

When we lived in the south in the 90’s, we bought a fixer-upper house by silent auction. The entire house needed attention, but especially the kitchen. As newlyweds, and no kiddos yet, we didn’t plan on being in the house longterm. So we installed inexpensive appliances, painted the cabinets white, added new MDF cabinet doors and hardware, and replaced the laminate flooring.

It was a cut and dry, simple kitchen update. And it helped us get top dollar when we put our house on the market in 2003 to move back to New England. With the cost of housing up here, we needed every penny. There’s no doubt about it, updating a kitchen adds significant worth and value to a home. Check out which home remodel projects add the most value to your home.

When we moved to New Hampshire in 2004, we rented for a while, then bought a sweet little ’40’s cape with a somewhat updated kitchen. The cabinets were custom, built by a local NH shop, Crown Point Cabinetry. I loved those cherry cabinets.

There was also a pantry built off the kitchen, an eclectic little jut-out from the back of the house with great storage. (You can see the pantry door to the right in the pic. below.)

The negative of that kitchen was the green laminate countertops, which also darkened (and dated) the kitchen. But I loved that kitchen. The old, original wooden floors discovered by the previous owners underneath the laminate flooring contributed to the character.

Because we were short on space and bedrooms, we finally made the difficult decision to put our cape on the market FSBO last spring. The housing market was pretty crazy at the time. When flighty buyers pulled out from buying our cape at the last second, we lost a beautiful home we had a contract on. I won’t lie, it was pretty heartbreaking.

The kitchen in the house we lost was light, airy and beautifully appointed. (Above.) The lighting was perfect for my blog photographs. I lost a few tears when we lost the contract on that house. Read: buckets. My sweet Jon promised we’d find another beautiful house.

And if it didn’t have a pretty kitchen like the one we lost (above), he said we’d remodel it. So that’s what brings us to our kitchen remodel. (And hoping he’s not regretting that promise now!)

We moved into our new-to-us house in July of last summer and have been living here for eight months now. I highly recommend living in a space for a while before starting any major remodeling project. Living in the space helps you figure out whether or not it works well for you and your family, work (esp. if you work at home like me) and entertaining needs. Helps you know what you like and what you don’t. And what needs to change.

The kitchen in our new house is adequate, but needs updating. The oak cabinets are builder grade from ’96. Some of the roll-out drawers didn’t. roll. out. LOL. There’s a small pantry 18″ wide for our family of six. The cabinets weren’t in terrible shape, but there just weren’t enough of them to store all the dishes, pots and pans. The ceilings are tall, over nine feet, but the cabinets only went up about 2/3 of the way to the ceiling, wasting space. The tile backsplash above the countertops were neutral, but dated, as were the laminate kitchen counters.

The kitchen sink was dented, with shallow bowls. And don’t even get me started on the faucet sprayer. The button was permanently stuck on spray, nailing you in the face whenever the faucet turned on. Think (ice cold) wake up call first thing in the morning before coffee. Eek. (I finally got wise and rubber-banded a plastic bag over the sprayer.) I’m not sorry to say goodbye to that unpleasant Gestapo greeting.

So for these reasons and many more, we’re excited to begin. I’m looking forward to a lighter, brighter look and feel in our new kitchen. I’ll post a kitchen idea board so stay tuned if you like that kind of thing.

Remodeling is a lot like wallpapering. It has to get worse before it gets better. You gotta strip down the old before you can prepare surfaces and get rolling with the new.

Have a great weekend and hope things are more peaceful at your house. (That you’re not cooking on a kitchen camp stove like me!)

XOXO,

Allie

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Happy weekend and a few of my faves!

I KNIT THIS CRAZY SCARF! And enjoyed every minute. (And love wearing it too.)  Story here. (Always a story.) If you want directions, let me know. Very simple.

And just when we’d almost lost faith in humanity,  THIS!  (Grab your tissue box.)

This daddy serenading his baby girl – priceless.

Had tons of fun making these w/Charlie for Valentine’s Day. (And loved hearing from some of you who made them too!)  Hummed Three Blind Mice all day…

Reading: Your Creative Career: Turn Your Passion into a Fulfilling and Financially Rewarding Lifestyle by Anna Sabino.

Paddington 2 – fun for the kids and grands. In theaters now.

My cousin sent out this funny excerpt on the craziness of parenting to my extended family this past week. Cracks me up.

It was a different time. And can you identify?!?! (Me too.) As a 70’s kid, I remember our family ditching chocolate for carob for a short time. Gulp. And sneaking my mom’s Ayds caramel appetite suppressants (hidden in the drawer behind the kitchen chimney) for a sweet treat. Sigh. And sampling a chicken bouillon cube. Once was enough. And yuck. (It was the shiny gold paper that reeled me in.)

Retirement Plan cocktail Jon and I enjoyed pre-Valentine’s Day at this fun eatery in downtown Manchvegas last week. (Nope, no retirement plans anytime soon.)

Here’s a light fixture I just found for our kitchen reno. This is getting fun.

And just one more week ’til our kitchen remodel officially begins. Here. We. Go. I’ll keep you posted. (Literally!)

“Be kind,  for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  — Plato

My heart, along with the rest of the country, is heavy after the senseless loss of so many precious lives in Parkland on Wednesday. Hug your loved ones extra tight today.

XOXO,

Allie

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Nothing quite like a Frosty New England Morning. I remember as a child, wandering the Rhode Island woods behind our home the morning after a freshly fallen snow. Eerily silent, save the sound of the snow crunch underfoot.

All is fresh and clean and new. Each tiny branch dressed as a bride in white.

These photos were taken in my back yard a few weeks ago as the sun rose, sending dappled rays through snow covered branches. It was breathtaking.

I thought you might enjoy these winter wonderland pictures if you love a fresh snowfall too. Especially if you grew up with snow, but live in a warmer climate now. (My extended California family, who appreciate a good VT snow, come to mind.)

I hoped to catch a bright bird at the feeder to share with you. There were blue jays, cardinals and a male house finch with a vibrant scarlet head. But they were skittish, uncooperative and refused to pose for me. Kudos to this sweet junco who was more obliging.

As a child, I stood statuesque for long minutes, under the gnarly old plum tree with the hanging feeder and birdhouse. My mittened hand outstretched, overflowing with seed. And the birds, they came! If you feed them, they will come. It was fascinating – the tiny claws perching. That little darting beak. And all too soon, gone.

Can you find the flag?  (As in, where’s Waldo…)

In my mind, snow is the perfect excuse for cozying up in a comfy chair by the fire. A good book in one hand, a steaming mug of chai in the other.

Snow brings to mind Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Frost was born in San Francisco but spent most of his life in Massachusetts and here in New Hampshire. I was fascinated reading about his difficult life story here. Amazed at the literary beauty he produced in spite of it. (Because of it?)

 

XOXO,

Allie

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Fresh basil is my all-time favorite green herb for snipping into spring and summer dishes. But how to store basil to keep it fresh for longer than a day or two? Learn easy tips to store basil so it lasts for a week or longer!

I love the sweet, peppery taste of garden fresh basil! The basil you see in this picture was grown by a friend.

Seems I’m always needing to ripen things quickly or keep it fresh for just a little bit longer. And like most folks, I try not to throw food away, especially fresh produce like basil.

Just a few weeks ago I was heading out to a party and bringing my famous Lime Avocado Black Bean Dip with feta. I serve it with blue chips and it always goes fast. So I raced out at the eleventh hour to get the avocados, which of course wasn’t the smartest idea.

Murphy’s Law – every avocado in that bin was green and rock hard. So I was stuck. I bought some anyway because I was in a time crunch and figured I could google “how to ripen avocados fast”.

So I had just one day ’til the party. No surprise, there were lots of google opinions about how to ripen an avocado fast. One said to microwave it on low for a short time. (I don’t recommend it – I torched one in less than a minute.) Another suggested storing avocados overnight in a brown paper lunch bag filled with all purpose flour.

I dutifully buried the avocados in flour in the brown lunch bag and waited for my miracle. (It never came.) The next morning the avocados were still bright green and rock hard. On the way to the party I stopped at a different grocery store and was greatly relieved to find a couple of perfectly ripe ones for my dip! (So if you know how to ripen an avocado fast – do tell. I’m all ears. So far my only proven method is to try a different grocery store, lol!)

But today I’m talking about the best way to store fresh basil. Basil is great in light, summer dishes and it’s relatively easy to grow in your garden or in containers on the patio.

So this is the first summer in ages I haven’t had fresh basil growing outside my kitchen door. We just moved and I haven’t had time to get any in the ground. I’ve been unpacking boxes instead. Fun fun. (Trust me, I’d rather be gardening!) So I was very grateful to receive this basil as a gift.

For years I stored basil in the refrigerator. In a short time the leaves would get black spots, wilt and get moldy fast. Then I picked up a few basil storage tips along the way from a gardening friend.

How to Store Basil

• Treat the fresh basil stems like a flower bouquet, snipping the ends on an angle.
• Place in a glass or mason jar filled with fresh water.
• Trim leaves at the base of the stem so they are not submerged.
• Keep the jar out on the counter at room temperature.
• *Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a sandwich bag if you like. But make sure the leaves can still breathe!
• Trim ends and change the water every few days as needed.
• Do not refrigerate.

*The loose plastic wrap or sandwich bag over the basil leaves traps some of the ethylene gases the basil naturally produces and helps to keep it fresh. The basil I experimented with was still fresh and unspotted for nearly two weeks. The stems actually rooted!

My favorite recipe using fresh basil is this Grilled Corn Basil Tomato Salad w/Feta. Irresistible with fresh farm corn!

I also love this Marinated Brie, Basil and Tomato Linguine that makes a great main dish in summer time.

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