by Allison

Magical Polish cemetery

Europe sidewalk

The best part about our European vacation wasn’t the playgrounds, although they were full of rad.  Or the Turkish baths in Budapest, although I’d like to move into one of the changing cabins post haste.  It wasn’t even the bubbly water, or the trains, or the month without a cell phone, even though each and every one of those things were worth the trip.

magical Polish cemetery

The best part about Europe was seeing where my husband grew up, seeing his primary school and where his family lives and where his parents lived during the war.  And part of all that was seeing the cemetery where some of Viktor’s family are buried.

polish cemetery gate

Most of Viktor’s family died in and around World War II and ended up in unmarked graves or concentration camps.  I can count on one hand the number of living relatives on both sides of Viktor’s family combined.  There isn’t  much left but memories and a few photographs, so I was really excited to visit a cemetery and a family grave site.

In Europe, at least in Poland, families take care of the graves.  There’s a chapel in the cemetery and while the priest and some nuns take care … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

What’s in your purse series week 76

This week’s What’s In Your Purse Series purse is courtesy of me, moi, yours truly, me and mine.

I started the purse series in June of 2010 by sharing photos of the contents of my purse, and you guys have been amazing to dump your purses and share the contents along the way for seventy-six weeks.  That’s a ton of purses.

I still have a handful of purses in my arsenal {thank you!} but I thought I’d share what’s in mine this week.  I came home from CES and dumped the contents of my purse onto the kitchen table only to discover an astonishing array of crap.  I honestly have no idea how it all fits in there.

A true Mary Poppins bag if there ever was one.

what's in your purse series chloe purse

I’ve been carrying around this super cute green Chloe purse, which apparently fits a whole boatload of nonsense.  I literally dumped it all out on the table, and since I’m so majorly O.C.D. I had to organize it all by category.  Here we go, from left to right.

what's in my purse series

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

Banana hanger for the kitchen

This week is choc-a-bloc full of how-to’s for you.  First it was how to dye your hair at home, and now I’m going to show you how to make a banana hanger for the kitchen.

It’s like I can’t even help myself anymore.

I know this is the simplest of simple things, but a banana hanger in your kitchen {if you’re one to eat bananas that is} not only saves space, it saves you from the misery of mushy brown bananas.

Nobody wants that.

banana hanger

One day Viktor just up and created a couple of banana hangers in our kitchen, and I’ve never loved him more.

That’s not true at all.  I love him like crazy every day, especially when he makes banana hangers in the kitchen so my daily afternoon snack doesn’t get all nasty on me.

how to make a banana hanger

Here’s where it gets all technical {not really}.  You need:

  • 1 C hook
  • 1 S hook
  • the bottom of a cabinet

banana hanger for your kitchen

A C-hook is exactly what it sounds like, and you can pick one up at any hardware store for a dollar.  An S-hook is the same, a hook that looks like an S that we snagged at IKEA for less than … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

CES 2012 – consumer electronics show

ces 2012

This week I road tripped my way way down to Las Vegas to attend CES 2012, the International Consumer Electronics Show with my good friends Rachael Herrscher and Breanne Mansell, both from Today’s Mama.  All three of us are tech savvy, entrepreneurial women who run businesses in the social media sphere.  At any given time if you were to check our purses you’d probably find at least one iPhone, a DSLR camera, and a laptop or two.  Maybe throw in an iPad for good measure.

Sure when I emptied my purse yesterday I found 12 tubes of lip-gloss, some tampons, a bunch of bobby pins and elastics, and two tubes of mascara but I also found an iPhone and a DSLR Canon camera.  I’m connected to some form of technology every waking minute of the day and sadly that’s not an exaggeration.

CES consumer electronics show

I expected booth babes for the tens of thousands of guys roaming through the CES conference center space over the course of the week, but I was kind of horrified.  It’s not how the booth babes were dressed that freaked me out, but that the booth babes were a general representation of what’s expected of women in … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

Dye your hair at home

My hair started going grey a handful of a years ago.

Actually, I lie. 

I found my first grey hair the night of the Christmas dance my senior year in high school.  There I was primping in the bathroom waiting for my date to show up, when I found a silver hair on my wee baby 17-year-old head.

dye your hair at home

I’m afraid its only been downhill from there.  I’ve spent the intervening years plucking a handful of grey hairs at a time from the crown of my head.  That worked out okay until the grey decided to spread out and make itself at home, at which point I started dyeing my hair with box color every 6 weeks.

After a little trial and error I found the right brand and color for me: Clairol Nice n’ Easy dark brown.  Now I buy two boxes at a time whenever it’s on sale and dye my hair in the comfort of my own bathroom, and today I’m going to tell you how to dye your hair at home with all the little tricks I’ve learned the hard way.

Here’s what you need to dye your hair at home:

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

What’s in your purse series week 75

This week’s What’s in Your Purse Series is from Alma, my trustee graphic designer.

If you love this series and want more of it, submit your purse. Take two photos of your purse {NICE, CLEAR, NOT-BLURRY ONES} one of the outside, one of the inside, along with a listing of the contents to:

allison AT petitelefant DOT com

what's in your purse series

In Alma’s {edited} words her purse is full of:

“crap, crap, crap”

I love it.… >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

Vegan couscous and dates dinner recipe

For a variety of reasons, I’ve recently gone vegan.  Gluten free too.  It’s been a long time coming and so far I feel amazing, even though I’m still trying to figure out what on earth I can eat.

vegan couscous and date dinner recipe

Up to this point its been a lot of protein bars and fruit shakes, but I’m having fun trying new vegan dishes here and there.  Wait until you try this new recipe I made over the weekend: vegan couscous chickpea and date tagine; even my picky-pants kids loved it.  You’ll die, you’ll swoon, your mouth will explode with happy, you’ll become world famous for your vegan couscous and dates.

It’s insane.

vegan dinner

I’d never heard the word ‘tagine’ before I made this recipe, but tagine {pronounced: ta-zheen} basically means a cuisine made in a special earthenware pot, typically in Northern Africa; Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya.  It’s a dish with a mixture of sweet and spicy served over couscous.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Here’s the skinny:

Chickpea and Date Tagine with Couscous

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 cups cooked

    • … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

DIY home made hair mask

Would you like to know what?

I’ll tell you what.

Winter is hard on your hair, like really really hard on it.  All that running to and fro in the cold air really makes a girl’s hair feel sad and dry.

But I’ve got your back always, always.  I’ve put together a little DIY home made hair mask to spruce up your limp tresses.  Remember V05 hot oil?  This is kind of like that, only free and totally natural and not 1985.

DIY homemade hair mask

Get ready for it, it’s 2 ingredients long.  No need to break the bank just yet.

DIY home made hair mask:

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Can you believe that nonsense?  Two ingredients.  Boom.

DIY home made hair mask

STEP 1: Spoon 1 tablespoon of honey into a small bowl and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Pop the hair mask into the microwave for about 30 seconds, and then mix it up as well as you can.

Honey and olive oil, well they’re not besties, but try to make them get as friendly and mix-y as you can.  You want the hair mask to be as warm/hot as you can take it, so keep microwaving it if it … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.

by Allison

Exploring Budapest, Hungary

Since I’m done blathering on about the holidays, it’s time to start talking travel on Fridays again.  I’ve missed revisiting my travels, and I realized yesterday I still haven’t blogged about most of our trip to Europe.  There’s a lot to share, so here we go!

train travel

After a few weeks in Poland {which I’ll get to eventually, there’s SO much interesting stuff to tell you about there} we headed off to explore a few countries to the south: Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Austria.  We only had a week to travel so we didn’t want to waste time in airports, even though flying between European countries is about the price of Chinese take out.  We wanted to really see the countries we were traveling through, and it’s been on my life list to take a sleeper train across Europe since I was a little girl, so rail it was.

budapest, hungary

We stayed  in a cheap little hotel in the middle of Budapest, which was about four times the size of our digs in Warsaw.  We spent the entire first day sleeping and relaxing in our own individual beds {luxury!} before heading out to explore the city.  {I want to add a … >> find out more…

Allison

I'm Allison, founder and editor of Petit Elefant. I run the gamut from granola to glamour and love everything in between. I think the beach is always a good idea, as is Diet Dr. Pepper; on ice. Sometimes I put out the fires and sometimes I start them. Sometimes I really do have it all together. Sometimes my children say otherwise. We just like to keep it real around here.