Thursday, July 18, 2013

we've moved!

We moved to a swanky new website! Come see what we've been up to over at thecasapino.com 


We are busy working on our very own fabric line, it's launching soon! And, as always, we've got tons of design inspiration, recipes anyone could make (seriously. if I can cook it, you can too) and updates on Casa Pino's design projects over on our blog.

We just want to make everything pretty and to spread the love, because...

Love is a BIG deal.

xo Mike and Lea

Monday, May 6, 2013

design: container gardening


We had such a great response to my guest bloggers, that I decided to ask them back! All the Anderson girls have a strong creative gene, and Laura is our master gardener. I asked her if she could talk a little bit about container gardens, for those of us who are either short on space or intimidated by doing a whole yard (like me)!

Hi Casa Pino readers, recently I had a good excuse to go to one of my favorite places – the garden store!


Isn’t it just lovely? I could do a whole lot of damage in this store.  Some girls have no control when it comes to shoes or purses, but for me its flowers! It appears that a few of my clay pots got in the middle of my eldest son’s target practice...


And like most of my nice things…total destruction. In all we lost 5 clay pots that day. So, I decided to take one of my little helpers to the garden store with me.


We selected some lovely annuals and picked up some new clay pots.  I garden with a few things in mind:
1) Attracting pollinators.  Bumble Bees are the reason we have most fruits and vegetables.  If you plant it they will come.  Some plants that grow well for me in zone 7 are Lantana, Asters, Marigolds, Mexican Heather and Cosmos.

2) Color.  I love lots of color to contrast my boring cement patio.  Some of my picks this year are Geraniums, Petunias and Persian shield.

3) Amount of sunlight.  My patio faces the Southwest.  So it gets scorched.  I always pick sun-loving, drought-resistant plants.

4) Cooking.  I have a few staple herbs that I like to keep handy.  I have Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Parsley and Cilantro. When it’s time to season my dishes, I just send one of the kids out to clip some from the plants on the patio – yes, my 7 yr old and 3 yr old know which is which!
When you plant a container garden you want to select plants based on their mature size.  In some containers I have a tall plant mixed in with a filler and then a trailing plant.  My favorite trailing plant is Creeping Jenny.


The large container in the back has Rosemary and Thyme.  Creeping Jenny is the chartreuse colored leafy plant in the container in the front. I bought a variety of clay pots sizes and heights.  I stick with plane ole Italian clay pots, nothing fancy.  I let the flowers get all the attention.  A good trick when before filling your container is to place a coffee filter in the bottom.  This allows water to drain but keeps dirt from coming out of the hole in bottom.  Fill the pot half way (make sure you use soil that is formulated for containers - I use the Miracle Grow container blend).  I loosen the roots a little then arrange the plants in the pot.  I usually play with different combinations and move the pots all around till it looks balanced.  Then I fill in with dirt around the plants making sure the original plant dirt pack is covered and there is an inch lip to the top of the pot.


Make sure you water everyday for at least a week, then as needed.  It’s a fast and inexpensive way to get your gardening fix while brightening up your patio.  Get your hands dirty and have fun!
-Laura

Thanks Laura! Don't y'all think her container garden is lovely? I do! I'm inspired to go plant!  I cleaned out the beds this weekend... so now, it's off to the garden center for me. A great one in the Northern Virginia area is Merrifield. They are really helpful and patient with the "special" gardeners!

xo Lea Hart

ps- doesn't their yellow lab, Belle, look cute out in the yard!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

love: a busy rainy day

We are working on something BIG over here... While I'm bust working away, here are some lovely photos of my favorite place to spend a rainy day...
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xo Lea Hart

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

entertain: tourists in DC

We've got some really fun guests coming to visit today! As soon as they get here we are going to grab some coffee at Northside Social. They make one of the best lattes I've ever had and the savory scones are what my cheesy dreams are made of. Then we are off to be tourists in the District!




You can see what we are up to on Instagram!
xo Lea Hart

Monday, April 22, 2013

entertain: Our Wedding: the schedule of events, or what do do in the middle of nowhere!

Hey y'all last Monday I started to tell y'all all about our wedding. This week its all about our itinerary. Since we knew we would be entertaining a large group of guests for the whole weekend, we wanted come up with a working schedule of events. Most people were arriving on Friday, but a good number of folks came earlier, so we kicked off the wedding weekend extravaganza on Thursday with a casual cookout at the Ranch. This link is from part of our wedding Documentary by Halidou Epics.  The fact that we have a wedding documentary about the whole weekend is the. best. thing... EVER! It's so fun, one of our best friends made it for us. I'm going to share all about that too!  But here is a clip from it. This is a what its like driving up to the ranch. So remote and beyond beautiful.

Pino Wedding 02 - The Drive from Moustapha Halidou on Vimeo.

Super fun and totally not stressful, lots of cold beer, grilled chicken, veggies, and tons of Cousin Willie's crazy hot salsa and chips. We ate gallons of it all weekend long!


Good times and it was one of the few times I got to relax and just hang out! This is what it's usually like at the ranch during the reunions.




You might have noticed the stacks of chairs, tables, and dishes in the background. We rented everything including two huge tents from a rental company about an hour away. When we scheduled the delivery, we just thought we needed to be there to let them in and supervise.... Ummm yeah, we were so wrong!!! Thank goodness so many folks were around. This clip is from the Documentary and it's only of the funniest things I've ever seen. How many engineers does it take to set one of these crazy tents up??? And I loved hearing my NYC friend asking the Motel if they had a fitness center!! haha.... enjoy!

Pino Wedding 03 - Thursday Prep from Moustapha Halidou on Vimeo.

Hilarious!!! And how awesome are all our friends!?! They rock.

So on Friday we encouraged all of our guests to explore around the area during the day. Then off to the No Scum Allowed Saloon for our Rehearsal Dinner!
A bunch of folks went to White Sands, which is soo cool! Its mountains of white sand in the middle of the desert. My family went there on a family vacation years ago.  Looks like Uncle David and Cousin Sara had a blast!



Some of our Trekkie type friends headed over to Roswell, to look for aliens. It's pretty cheesy, but if you are into UFOs and extraterrestrials... it can be fun. 




We created a blog for our wedding guest and listed fun stuff all over New Mexico. There is sooo much to see in New Mexico. We also let everyone know where the best green chili cheeseburgers, are. One of our friends ate one everyday he was here! They are so freaking good.
Another cool spot is Bonito Lake, near Ruidoso, Mike and I went there the year before. The high desert of New Mexico has a very diverse landscape. It looks so green and lush! This year it was off limits because of wild fires. Lots more about the Wildfires later, too! 


Lots of folks just hung around Zozo, there are some fun art galleries, antiques shops, a cute coffee shop, and Roy's Soda Counter, it's famous for ice cream floats! 







Next up Friday night Welcome Party, and the Wedding Day...


xo Lea Hart

ps- How great are the videos? Mous did an amazing  amazing job. We really love having that to look back on. It really shows y'all what it was like out there! I'll post videos about the No Scum and from the Big Day. 







Friday, April 19, 2013

entertain: Daft Punk

On a lighter note today, one of our favorite groups, Daft Punk just released the first single "Get Lucky" off of their new album, Random Access Memory, which is due out next month.



A little back story: After a couple of months of casual dating, I invited Lea to see Daft Punk with me at Coney Island's Keyspan Park. It was at that show that we decided we wanted to date exclusively. It was an amazing show and an amazing night.

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We also walked down the aisle for the first time as a married couple to One More Time blasting, that was great. We really hope to be able to catch them again.

Peace Mike

love: reflecting on the news

It's hard to think about design and entertaining, with all the crazy news about Boston unfolding on the TV as I type. This disturbing news comes on the heels of many other recent events that are separately but equally distressing. In times like these I can only seem to think is that love is a BIG deal.
It is.
Even if everything else in the world is scary and confusing... I know that the right thing to do, and the best thing to do is to love one another. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you LOVE one another." John 13:35
Call or hug the ones you love, it's the only way to fight all the hate that attempts to destroy. I'm loving for these guys, so hopefully, when they get older the world will be a better place.

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I'm praying hard today for Boston, my family, the United States of America, and for LOVE to overcome.
xo Lea Hart