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BYOC(hipotle)



I just got finished celebrating Cinco de Mayo at a "Bring Your Own Chipotle" party at my apartment. What a brilliant - and delicious - idea! We ended up with more guacamole than we could eat... which is never really a bad thing.


Happy Cinco de Mayo!

i finally got one!

Back in November, LA's co-blogger Holly posted about this beautiful Kate Spade book that was being published. I immediately fell in LOVE with this book, and asked LA if Holly knew where I could purchase one. Turns out...they weren't for sale! Kate Spade had done it as an internal inspiration piece. Then a couple months later LeeAnne told me the name of the printing company (Graytor Printing) and that it was located in NJ..AND that Holly had gotten one as a gift! Then set in my persistence...

Last week I decided to call the printer and see if I could persuade them into letting me buy one. I spoke with a guy who was so nice and helpful and seemed intrigued that I even knew about the book in the first place. After a quick chat, he said he would be happy to send me one and to send over my contact information to him. I was more than thrilled...and now I have one of these for my very own that I can look at every day!









Aren't these inspiration images so beautiful? They make me want to design something! Thanks LA and Holly for the lead!

ta daaa!

Remember this post a few weeks ago when I mentioned I was doing some work in my kitchen? Well, the work has actually been completed for a few weeks now (since a couple days after I posted that!), and I finally have the pictures to prove it! And, boy do I love these stripes...and our 'wall of random' as Katherine and I like to refer to it.

When Kat and I had our d-day decorating a couple Saturdays ago, we knocked out our whole apartment (er, at least the areas we wanted to cover) in one fell swoop!

Here is a photo of the stripes as they slowly became unveiled...

I have always been pretty terrified to paint stripes in the past, so I started with a smaller and more manageable wall. And let me say: it wasn't that bad! We have high ceilings in my apt (between 9'-10') and I was also intimidated to try painting a wall that high without a decent ladder. But, I did it part by part and used my trusty straight-edge from my studio days and a pencil with a good eraser, and I came out pleasantly surprised with the overall ease of the task! I do believe it looks a lot harder than it is. 



The final view!
Coming next: the living room revamp! Check back soon...



game changer

Thanks to my well-informed roommate, Katherine, I made a life-changing discovery tonight: there is a 16 Handles only a few short blocks from my apartment. It's NY's version of Yogurt Mountain and I felt very obligated to check it out considering my allegiance to Yogurt Mtn. So I did... and it was soooooooo good!

more to come...


The wedding this weekend was an absolute blast! The venue, the Alder Manor, was stunning and so charming, the weather was terrific for an outdoor wedding, and the party could not have been more fun!! I'm still gathering all my pictures together from my camera, iphone, and other friends' cameras... so those will be posted shortly. And, Kyo and Tim...they were the prettiest couple around.

The picture above was taken on a miniature polaroid camera! All the guests were asked to take a photo and place it in the guest book next to where they signed. Isn't that the best idea ever?! Kyo designed the entire wedding, and since she is a window designer at Polo Ralph Lauren, you can imagine how beautiful, creative and detail oriented the entire wedding was...

royal wedding fun

Katherine and I set our alarms for just before 6 am this morning so we could catch the royal wedding ceremony! It was tough to drag myself out of bed at that hour...but it helped that I was going straight to the couch. Then Kat found this video to watch while we were passing time during the "Royal Kiss" countdown. I laugh every time!

prayers and devastation



Thanks for all of the prayers and thoughts for my hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and especially the many friends who have reached out to me about my family. They are all ok and safe, but entirely by the grace of God. The heart of the devastation was very close (and I mean, VERY) to my grandmother's house, and it was miraculously untouched.

I can hardly bear to watch the news and look at the pictures of the rubble. The entire community... gone. Everything that I remembered about T-town is nonexistent now. It's so sad to think that I was just there a month ago, and I had no idea that I would never see it the same again. Your prayers are much needed.

If you're looking for a way to donate, here's one way: American Red Cross Disaster Relief. I'm looking for more ways to donate (there doesn't seem to be a sure way to designate what disaster you're donating too at this site) and will post anything I find. Tuscaloosa needs love, help and prayers!

10 years ago today

This little one was born! I was holding my very first niece for the very first time. It seems like yesterday... Where have those years gone?!

























I called Mayce today to tell her Happy Birthday! We chatted for a nice 25 minutes or so and caught up on 3rd grade and birthday parties and stuff. I reminisced about the day she was born and how her dad brought her into the waiting room to say "It's a Girl!" and how I was the only girl in the ninth grade that had a niece. Then she sighed and said, "I can't believe it's only 3 three years until I'm a teenager. I better enjoy these last years, while I can, of being a child."

Did I mention she's 10 but going on 25?! Happy happy birthday Mayce!!

good news & bad news

I'll start with the bad news first. I used to have a list of the blogs I follow on the right-hand side of my blog. Then they disappeared. And, unfortunately, I didn't keep a mental checklist of what those blogs were...so, some of them are most likely gone forever. There are a few blogs that I really loved and I followed and...now I don't. If you happen to remember what any of the missing blog links are (because, perhaps, you liked following them too?), feel free to leave a comment and help me out! And (even sadder) there are a few friends' blogs I followed, that I also can't remember...Let me know if you remember those too.

The good news! The reason they all disappeared is because I updated my blog with a new url address! You will still be able to access this site from typing in the old url (perrynpettus.blogspot.com) or you can type in the brand-new, simpler address: bigapplepear.com

Happy blog surfing!

dreaming of someplace tropical


ο»ΏSpring weather finally showed up in the Big Apple (a little late to the party, I must say), and I can't help but think of beautiful beaches and tropical weather now. A friend from my old job sent me this picture this morning of her travels abroad. I've left it open on my computer all day for quick viewing access...