Cute as a Button and Fun Bento Boxes

I have twin 6 year old girls who share a room as well as a four year old who has her own room. I am ALWAYS looking for fun ways to decorate their rooms. I especially like looking for shared space ideas for my twin girls. As they get older, privacy will become more and more of an issue. I really love these shared spaces!!

As you know I am all about colour too. I love it anywhere in my home. Look at this cute teen room! Actually, I could live in this room and I am thirty-something or other-ish.... : )

More cute rooms...

Take a look at these cool rooms! What boy wouldn't love this one!

I really like this one too, how fun!

Are you cuted out yet? How about a cute snack to go with your cute room?! A great way to exercise portion control and make food look appealing to your child is to use Japanese-style bento boxes.
Really, you can use any divided container you have in your cupboard. I like this super-cute colorful one...

How adorable is this bunny box? This one doesn't even have dividers, they just put the food in it in a cute way!

You could put absolutely anything in a bento box. Any type of sliced fruit or vegetable with some dip. Maybe a sandwich - use your cookie cutters to make them extra cute and appealing. Veggie chips with some hummus, the sky's the limit and it's so much fun. Let your child pack their own bento box and they are more likely to eat what they packed! Let them take their box up to their cute rooms with their best buddies and let the healthy snacking begin. So fun!

~ Kids room photos from HGTV.com

Napa Valley Cottage life and Fresh Chopped Salad

Napa Valley is a place I would love to visit. Tour the gorgeous vineyards, sample wonderful wines and stay in beautiful bed and breakfasts. These are photos from a cottage in Napa Valley - my kind of cottage! I could live in this shower all summer...

I love the photo above, a touch of roughness. Beautiful. I could picture making this salad in that kitchen. My mom brought it over one summer evening a couple of weeks ago, it was so delicious!!!! So refreshing for summer. You can serve it over tortilla chips or just eat it as a salad like we did. Enjoy your cottage if you have one. If not, make this salad and enjoy your own personal summer surroundings. Bon appetit!

¼ cup olive oil ½ tsp. minced jalapeno

2 ears of corn, husked 2 cups diced sweet peppers

3 small tortillas cut into ¼ inch strips 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice 2 cups canned black beans….rinsed and drained

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro 1 avocado..pitted and diced

1 tsp. brown sugar 2 celery ribs, diced

1 tsp. chopped garlic

Place tortillas on baking pan and bake until tortillas are crispy and golden brown.

Cook corn on the cob and cool and then cut corn kernels from the cobs and set aside.

Dice peppers, slice tomatoes and chop cilantro.

Put peppers, tomatoes, black beans and corn in large bowl plus celery if using.

In blender, combine olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, sugar, garlic and jalepeno and puree until smooth to make vinaigrette.

Toss veggies with the vinaigrette. Add avocado and gentlyl toss again. Serve garnished with tortilla chips.

ENJOY!!!!!

~photos from House Beautiful, recipe from my mom, Linda