If you’ve been pulling up a chair at our table every Friday, you are familiar with our Fancy Friday Link Party.  Fancy Fridays have been days where we stretch our creative wings and write about things we find fancy.  Honestly, we tried to get really creative.  We might have themed a Fancy Friday~Black and White and posted black and white pictures that represented a poem we wrote about a life lived in the black and white. Or it may have been Fancy Friday~Blogs We LOVE where we shared a few blogs that just made us smile.

We asked you to join us, think outside the box and share in the carnival fun.

We were supposed to post that calendar of “themes” ahead of time…supposed to.

We realized we may have made Fancy Friday too complicated…taking away from the Fancy.

So, for 2012 we’ve decided to give Fancy Friday a facelift!

Click your heels together and Meet…Fancy Friday Five!

Every Friday, we will host the Fancy Friday Five link party, where you can link up and share with us Five things that you found Fancy that week.

Just Five Fancy things.

They can be Five of the same things…Five Fancy cake recipes, Five Favorite blog posts, Five Favorite songs, Five Favorite quotes.

OR

You can share Five random things that you found Fancy…a poem, a conversation, a craft, a recipe and a ribbon.

EASY PEASY!

So, please mark your calendar, alert your google to ding you…Fridays are about to get…

Fanc-i-ER!

We will get started next week.  We can’t wait to see what makes it on your Fancy Friday Five list.

Holiday Makeup Trends~Winter 2011

As makeup artists we get our inspiration for creating looks from what is on the runway 2x a year. Fall and spring are the seasons where fashion and makeup trends are presented. My goal is to take what’s on the runway and create looks that are easy and quick to apply. It is not hard to accomplish a tailored look with the correct instructions.

This Holiday season “clean skin” is in as expressed in Alexandar McQueen’s collection. The Bold lip is back on Gucci’s Runway and the 60′s graphic eye is running rampant on the catwalks of Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier. Celebrities like Natalie Portman and Jennifer Connelly are showing off their natural tailored brows and leaving the “thin” behind.

Here is a basic but beautiful look for Holiday 2011.

We will start with the skin, as it is the largest organ of your body and should be taken care of. Make sure you consult your esthetician on the best regimen for your skin type and condition. After that, follow with the proper foundation .

Don’t be afraid of foundation, the proper formulation will NOT clog your pores (if you wash it off at night). If your skin is oily or dry, or simply combination, there is a foundation out there for you. This will be the most expensive product out of the few others that are necessary to create this holiday look. If you’re buying mineral oil filled, drugstore foundation, you are doing your skin an injustice.

A few foundations that are effective and easy to apply are

Makeup forever “Invisible Cover” HD foundation ($40.00). This is an oil free formula but still great for dry skin types. This foundation can be applied with fingers and creates a fabulous coverage without a concealer. Acneic, hyper pigmentation and large pores are a great candidate for this foundation.

If you prefer a powder foundation, I would recommend MAC “Studio Fix” ($26.50)
applied with a sponge for full coverage or with a large poder brush for lighter coverage. Please do not forget to wash your sponge weekly with your face wash. You can also purchase a single sponge from MAC to replace yours when it can no longer be cleaned effectively.

For those with flawless skin (minor and occasional breakouts, even skin tone and forgiving pores) you can use a tinted moisturizer. My favorite on the market would be Stila Tinted Moisturizer ($34.00.) It is pigmented enough to provide a light coverage to ensure an even color and dewy finish. Embrace the glow as it is in style and forget the moisturizer as it already contains one, as well as an SPF of 20.

On to the eyes…

Tailored eyebrows are important all the time, but this year they are being emphasized, as the makeup for this season is simple and concise. Find a good brow artist. Your best option is an esthetician that will shape your brows with a tweezer only. And second, the age old Indian technique of threading. Please do your research as a bad brow artist can ruin your brows for good.

“Mod Socialite Look”

Start off by applying a flawless foundation and a strong brow.

The eyes will be matted out with foundation and then a light peach shade will be applied all over.

Now don’t be scared when I say “wing liner.” You can go anywhere from Elizabeth Taylor to Amy Winehouse. Whatever floats YOUR boat, but don’t skip this step, it’s part of the look.  This look can only be accomplished with a liquid or gel liner. If a slanted brush and gel liner feel comfortable for you then use a Stila
“Smudge Pot” ($20.00) in black and apply from the inner eye as close to the lash line as possible and thicken as you approach the end of your eye. WING up towards the area where your brow ends. Use a Q-Tip to make the wing precise by “cutting” the end into the size and angle you desire.

Use the same concept with a liquid liner. I recommend a brush end not a felt tip, like Sephora’s black “Long Lasting Liner” originally $10.00, on sale right now online, for $3.00.

The blush can be any shade of light pinky /peach applied on the apple of the cheeks blending upward at an angle toward the ear. Blend out well, as you do not want to deposit too much color on the cheeks for this particular look

I like Benefit’s blush in “Georgia Peach”. $28.00

For the lips, simple…simple…simple!

All you need is a neutral peach lip gloss. No liner necessary and make sure to take the lip gloss in your purse to reapply.

I recommend Mac tinted lip gloss in “Evolution Revolution”. $14.50

These steps may seem intimidating, but they are not! Print these instructions out, take yourself to Sephora and/or MAC, or order online and have a great time. Don’t hesitate to ask questions to the makeup artists in any store. And don’t forget Sephora has an amazing return policy, if it doesn’t work for you or even if you don’t like it, you
can return it without a receipt at any time. (Half full or not.)

Final Instruction: Feel beautiful and self confident this Holiday season!

Brielle is a licensed esthetician and makeup artist with a passion for improving trouble skin and creating and applying makeup looks for the natural woman as well as the high fashion industry. Brielle graduated from Von Lee Intrnational School of Esthetics in 2005 and has been using and improving her skill for 6 years.

Please look out for the next Holiday Makeup Look, “The Siren.”

Thanksgiving Feast is a favorite meal at our table. Every year, my husband and I sit down and plan out our menu.  There are certain dishes that are always featured, like roasted root vegetables, but there are inevitably new additions to the menu.

I remember as a kid the retro Thanksgiving menu my grandmother laid out.  I think I might add Ambrosia salad on this year just for kicks.  But, maybe I’ll use a modern twist on this dish.

Our turkey glaze and preparation changes year to year. One year, Devon smoked the turkey on the grill. I remember that year, because it was the same year we waited until our whole family was seated to share with them the news we were expecting our second son.  I have to admit, the smells were a bit overpowering that year.

One year, we made a 30 lb. turkey in honor of “the baby“ we had in Italy.

Thanksgiving Menu 2008

Last year, we added Parker House rolls to the menu.  I’m not really sure why we’ve never added them before! They were flaky and buttery and melt-in-your-mouth, good.

Parker House Rolls~Thanksgiving 2010 Menu

This year we are still gathering recipes, old and new (and sharing some with the A Holiday Haven Thanksgiving party too!) We’d love to hear from you! What is on your Thanksgiving Menu this year?  Do you have a traditional, every year type menu or do you change it up?

“Pie is a symbol of something bigger than Mom and her way with desserts.” ~ Pasquale Le Draqulec

Not So Humble Pie~Treacle Tart

“There are pies on a carousel, have a slice.” ~ Cake (the band)

Tasty Kitchen~Pie Crust Tutorial

“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness” ~Jane Austen

Joy the Baker~Apple Tarte Tatin

“One little thing can revive a guy/ and that is a homemade rhubarb pie/ Serve it up nice and hot/ maybe things aren’t as bad as you thought.” ~ A Prairie Home Companion

She Wears Many Hats~Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

“What kind of Thanksgiving dinner is this? Where’s the turkey, Chuck? Don’t you know anything about Thanksgiving dinners? Where’s the mashed potatoes? Where’s the cranberry sauce? Where’s the pumpkin pie?” ~ Peppermint Patty

Dangerously Delicious Pies~Order Here

Do you have favorite “go-to” pie recipes? Link up here and share with us!

My favorites were the sour cherry balls on the right and ju ju nickles.  When I was young we would bike up to Widman’s Candy to have a fountain drink like lime cokes and cherry cokes.  Sometimes we would get a malted milk.  We’d linger in the back reading the comics.  Sometimes there would be a rowdy table of boys that would shoot spitballs at us with the paper straws.

When we take a visit back to the small town where I grew up we often bring our kids to pick out some candy.  It’s makes me happy to see my kids doing pondering the long glass case with the colorful trays of candies on display.  My dad is standing at the counter to the right of the door waiting in the same place he has waited for over 40 years, leaning on the counter chatting with someone.

It always takes awhile to decide.  The colors and the smells of warm caramel and melted chocolate warm the air.  It’s hard to take it all in and narrow your decisions.

Mr. Widman still has about the same amount of controlled patience as I remember waiting for us all to decide.  Can you imagine a lifetime of measuring small brown bags of candy out for each customer?  And, then all the changes and indecision?

I wonder if he remembers us all lounging in the tall white wooden booths, our heavy boots dripping with slush, and our frosted and melting caps and mittens under the table as our frozen hands spilled out our bounty of treats.  Or, does he recall our bikes staggered, falling and crowding up the sidewalk in front?  Or our flushed cheeks from a hot summer afternoon as we  leaned in too far over the soda counter fountain spying to see what was hidden behind it.

Much of it is as I remember ~the smells ~the colors~the meeting place.  The same man behind the counter.

Wiman’s Candy Shop in my hometown turned 100 years old this past January 2011.  I don’t know how much past 100 it will linger.  I see bits and pieces are missing ~ the old wooden booths are gone from the back.  This time back I snapped some pictures with my family for some memories.  When I think of candy – nothing is more fancy in my memory than – Widman’s.

Please leave a comment ~ we’d love to hear if you had a favorite childhood, candy shop or candy memory!  Did you like licorice, chocolate or sour cherry balls like me?  Or ~ add your post around the theme of Candy ~ recipes or inspiration!

“falling leaves hide the path so quietly” ~ John Bailey Autumn Haiku

I grew up in northern Minnesota where the fields run straight and the dirt is dark black.  My family has driven up from Minneapolis to spend a long weekend in northern Minnesota farm country to visit my parents.  I thought the woods my parents walk in would be a perfect place to be inspired for this weeks theme ~ Falling.   These are the same woods where I walked and played in when I was in elementary school.  I feel I know them inside and out.  I know them in the autumn, summer and winter.  I have seen the leaves here over many years ~ Falling.

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” ~ Henry Beston Northern Farm

“The milkweed pods are breaking, and the bits of silken down float off upon the autumn breeze across the meadows brown.”  ~ Cecil Cavendish The Milkweed

It was a perfect day to walk in the woods.

What inspires you?

This fall I’ve been reading books like Moccasin Trail, By the Great Horn Spoon and Across the Aprils to my kids.  We are learning about the early pioneers and what they did to survive.  I don’t know why, but their stories and travels remind me of fall.  Maybe it’s the log cabins, roaming buffalo or majestic elk.

By artist Dolan Geiman

Print by Kari Herer found at Anthology Magazine

Celebrating fine artisans who work their craft from raw products with focus, precision and a desire to shape and create something beautiful…reminds me of fall.

Julia Krantz Whale Lounge Chair

Peg and Awl small handmade book necklaces

(Just a quick note, if you click on the above pic, Peg and Awl are hosting a Giveaway through the weekend.  They will giveaway of one of these little treasures.)

The Pioneers knew all about farm to table food…not just farm to table, but tilling, to planting, to farm, to harvesting, to preparing to table…food.  Once they sat down to share a meal, they had earned the right to give thanks.  Farm to table, pioneer style, reminds me of fall…of giving Thanks.

Warm Salad of Roasted Beets, Lentils and Balsamic Onions from Stone Soup

Farmhouse Feast

 What stories, memories, people, food…do you associate with fall?

We are going to start by me asking Kristin, what should we be asking?
Chris Ann is pouring herself a glass of wine, I’m sitting on the phone and listening to her struggle to open the bottle.  I remember when I taught her in Italy how to open a bottle..which was great, thanks for ruining my record of having other people do the dirty work for me.  let’s see if she can do it. ….ah done.  and it’s the good bottle left in the house…great…I poured my glass from the box...waiting….it sounds open, waiting for first sip.

I think we may have found a new genre, live-co-blogging in google docs
Ok, here is my question Kristin…what should my question be?

Ummm, how do you log onto Pinterest?
Wait, I know that answer…you call your bff and say, “Hey did you log into Pinterest for us?”
Except so far, you’ve said, “So, what do our boards look like anyway?”
True but one day, by fluke I got in…how did that happen?
If I tell you the secret I might have to kill you. Ok, it’s all about the little pin at the top of your computer screen.

How do I get the little pin there?  That was like my biggest question.
Hold on, let me google it.

We are going to be an abundance of help to the world, that‘s why we’re here…just to help…
Wait, Sorta Crunchy covered this in her post.
I think she said it better than us…or I mean you….what did she say again?
“As explained by the good folks at Pinterest, use the Pin This bookmarklet. NOTE: I’ve gotten lots of feedback from IE users that it’s difficult to use the Pin This bookmark in Explorer. As a long-time Firefox user, I don’t have any good solutions for you.  Just know if you have problems in IE, you aren’t the only one!”   I had this problem too. On my old computer, when I downloaded this, a cute little thumb tack pin showed up at the top of my nav bar.  On this computer, it’s a picture of a globe…not as inspiring.”
So then what?  You got a pin and you go to town?  How?
Well, you can get lost looking at other boards. Boards, are you inspiration boards, like our Love, Feast, Table, Life and Autumn Inspiration.  If you see a picture you like, hover over the picture and click repin and add the picture to whatever inspiration board (of your own) you want.  Or, if you’re cruisin the internet and find a delicious recipe, or a pair of boots you want to remember, click your pin. It’s that easy. You can do it Chris Ann.

True, I should start…I might be co-dependent with you and Pinterest.  Why should I start, when I have you?
I’m gonna walk you through it right now. *pause* No, seriously, stop laughing…click on the Pinterest link that Sorta Crunchy gave. yayaya…..ok, whatevs…if I have too….lalalala…..bossy!  Ok tell me what to do…..lalala..sipsip!  ok hang on peeps she’s makin me go to Pintarest….(I’m sticking my tongue out at you.) It’s Pint Er est. Whatevs…..ok I’m goin….to pintERest…
Follow link, click on Goodies…drag pin to your bookmarks bar.  It’s that easy.  Now click on red Pinterest words and browse.  ok ..so you just look, browse, click and repin, and repeat…cause you get addicted?  Awesome.  So, ok…the moral of our tale is what?  Pinterest is awesome?
I think it’s this, “Don’t let friends pin alone.” I think it’s friends pin for friends…

*Thanks to Sorta Crunchy for supplying the only content worthy of posting today.
I’m so glad we had this talk.

(Brought to you by Chris Ann & Kristin at the LoveFeast Table…underbelly.)

To get really accurate and helpful guidance visit Megan ~ Sorta Crunchy who wrote a great tutorial you can read  here to get you started.   And, then her follow up with more tips and tricks here.  To follow our Pinterest obsession, click here.

We want to hear from you. Do you pin alone or with a friend?

So never lose an opportunity to urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-see germinates and roots itself” ~Anonymous.

I wondered around junk chipped and used, with an old past life to tell…

and pretty planters and sharp bold colors…

I kept my eye out for pops of Mustard…

I found my inspiration for Mustard and a whole lot more…

here at the Junk Bonanza!

Junk Bonanza ~ September 16 & 17th, 9-5pm, Canterbury Park, Shakopee, MN ~ $8 daily admission.

I remember my Holly Hobbie lunch box. I carried it to school with pride. Every day at lunch, I’d open up my lunch box, with anticipation.  Inside I’d usually find a wrapped up bologna sandwich on Wonder Bread with French’s mustard.

There would probably also be a bruised, red delicious apple, three cookies and a thermos full of juice.  It was a special day when my mom had tucked in a note with one of her hand drawn cartoons, funny poems or if she put green grapes in my lunch, instead of the apple.  I don’t remember ever having mango, avocado or fresh pineapple as a choice.

It’s amazing how few choices we had for lunches, but we did have pretty cool lunchboxes.  Today, my kids have plenty of lunch choices.  This is what my 17 year old made for his lunch.

And this is the lunch I made for his sister.

What are your lunchbox memories?  And what memories are you creating for your kids?