Black & White

To say I love color is an understatement (much to the dismay of my husband), but there is something about these silhouette's and the black and white combo that I love. This would be a beautiful dining room, I imagine that below the prints is beautiful banquette seating, because many dining rooms are made great thanks to banquette seating :)

I wouldn't mind having this room:

Chandeliers

I really love chandeliers. They make any room even better I think. Here is my latest inspiration project that would be a perfect nursery idea:

Next project:

To say I love chalkboards is an understatement. I dream of having a home large enough for a huge ice cream shop style chalkboard in my kitchen. However, I have a new weekend project (in between our trip to Portland, fancy date night & work that is), I'm copying this idea:

First stop: Value Village for some silver dessert trays

Next stop: Fred Meyer for picture frame hooks & a new bottle of Gorilla Glue (already have leftover chalkboard paint & chalk, of course!)

Then: hang my new art (once they dry of course)

Harvest Party: Success

We had a great party last Saturday in our condo building's swanky lounge, and I did something I've never done before with an event: I totally relaxed. No decorations (well, pretty much), no stress about what to make, no last minute runs to the Ballard Market for something forgotten (we did however wander over to the brand new Whole Foods that afternoon, its about a mile from our house, to check it out & of course bought way too much for the party)... it felt great.

What we ended up serving:

Mini pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting & I dusted them with nutmeg. I so badly wanted to purchase a mini cheesecake pan, but have been working on using what I have... for now I"ll keep dropping shameless hints for Christmas.

I was really wanting to use my peppered pumpkin jelly for something, so while at Whole Foods picked up a couple baguettes & an amazing fancy type of Brie, thinly sliced the bread & toasted for a few minutes then added a slice of cheese over hot bread to melt a little bit & a dollop of jelly- delicious & quite a hit.

Daniel's favorite new dip (which he insisted on making once he saw the pretty apples that afternoon): a caramel brown sugar dip for apples, which really is just much easier than making caramel apples.

A few boring gluten free/vegan items (WF did disappoint on the attempt of purchasing a vegan/GF dessert): chips & salsa as well as hummus & crackers

Regular Apple Cider (no trip to the liquor store for Brandy) along with Pumpkin/Apple Cider/Good Earth mixed iced tea... and a great mix of wines and beer. Perfect beverages I think.

Guests also brought a tasty array of treats: three cheese artichoke dip with homemade crostini, stuffed mushrooms, a shrimp platter, and more drinks than necessary... our pantry is packed with wonderful wine & beer (a great feeling I might add).

Over all, it was a total success & we had so much fun (not to mention clean up was a breeze because we didn't have it in our home!). Needless to say, I forgot to take pictures.

Delancey

For my birthday all I really wanted was to eat at Delancey (well, and to go shopping and to get a manicure). Wonderful, wonderful birthday that hasn't ended yet, but the real reason for the post is to talk about possibly the most perfect restaurant we've ever been to. So perfect, that we were dreaming about opening our own restaurant someday...

There is no sign yet up yet, which made it almost magical because you knew exactly where you were going regardless. Amazing decor. Rustic, simple and perfectly thoughtful. I was in love.

Incredible wine list, I tried their recommended sparkling wine that was featured on the coolest chalkboard-sided cabinet ever (Daniel says that he wants one too) & D had some delicious red, but I forget the name of that too. Also, when the pizza came we ordered a Mexican Coca-Cola, which I swear had cinnamon in it.

We ordered their classic pepperoni because, as we discuss often, that you can tell a lot about a restaurant by how they make a staple dish (i.e. spaghetti & meatballs at an Italian place). And friends, it was BY FAR the best pepperoni pizza I have ever tasted. I was much more excited to try their Padron Pizza, made with padron chilies (pictured below) and I can't wait to take my Dad there because he would love it. So very spicy and delicious. My favorite of the evening.

Even though we were stuffed, and I had a perfect box of See's waiting for me at home, I insisted that we order the famous Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookie with Gray Salt. Completely inspiring, and I now am going to attempt the recipe for D's party in honor of his new favorite cookie.

Come to Ballard & try Delancey and come see us while you're at it! Or better yet, take us with you. We'll walk there & enjoy my new favorite restaurant together :)

P.S. All photos are taken from the amazing restaurant owner/inventor's blog... because alas, I did remember my camera this time but forgot to take my own pictures. Don't worry, we're taking Daniel's Dad their next weekend & I'll make sure to take pictures.

Vegan Gluten-Free Apple Pear Crisp...

Apparently, it is possible to eat dessert even if you are a vegan (and you don't have to spend a fortune on a thousand weird ingredients like I imagined I would).

A few of our good friends have decided to go vegan. Why, I have no idea (other than the obvious heath reasons and animal rights reasons that Daniel and I choose to avoid thinking about). But needless to say, I love my friends and love baking & cooking for a crowd. So... vegan gluten free dessert it is.

On Tuesday we had a dinner party with eight of our greatest Seattle friends, and (most) all food there was vegan. Being the nice girl that I am, I asked the host what I could bring... Dessert it was (I was so hoping to be given wine or salad duty).

I have a million apples in my fridge, so I thought it'd be a good start because no one avoids apples that I know of. It was much easier and MUCH more delicious than I was imagining (how can anything without butter taste good?).

Off to the Ballard Market I went to purchase gluten free flour and pears, other than that I had all the ingredients (with major substitutions) & was quite proud of myself because ten minutes later we were out the door walking to our friend's apartment.

Recipe for Vegan Gluten-Free Pecan Apple Pear Crisp (my way below):

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Grease (NOT with butter, friends) any kind oven-proof pan (I use a giant white casserole dish with a lid for proper transporting on our 10 block walk)

Mix together 4 sliced tart apples (good 'ol granny smith worked great) and 4 sliced pears with 1 TB flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF sorghum flour), 1 TB sugar and 1 TB of cinnamon. Then proceed to dump all contents into pretty oven safe dish.

Next, I ground up a ton of pecans in my Cuisinart (if I would have had more time I would have toasted them, so I highly recommend that) to end up equaling 1 1/2 cup ground nuts (hazelnuts would also be wonderful).

In a bowl mix together:

1/2 cup flour (same GF flour used here)
1/2 cup sucant or raw sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 ts. baking powder

1/2 ts. sea salt

1 TB ground cinnamon

1 ts. ground nutmeg

1 ts. ground cloves

1 ts. pure vanilla

1 TB water (recipe called for non-dairy milk, but I didn't want to buy it)

2 1/2 TB canola oil (recipe called for palm oil)

Mix with fork until it looks moist and crumbly, then pour evenly over top of apple/pear mixture

Bake for about 45 minutes & serve hot with fake ice cream (I serve some coconut ice cream alternative which was actually pretty decent, and Hagan-Daaz Vanilla for the non-vegs).

Harvest Party

The great thing about our new condo is the luxury of reserving the swanky "community lounge", which I promptly reserved for a Harvest Party (in honor of the hubby's birthday next week) within days of moving in.

I am so excited, and have been researching what to serve for the past few days. Any ideas friends? While in Friday Harbor we picked up some Peppered Pumpkin jelly (I believe that's what it was called), so I'm dreaming of serving it with some sort of cheese on a crostini or something.

In keeping with tradition, I'll serve Martha's Spiked Apple Pie Cider again, but I'm wondering if I could do a Fall-ish sangria too? With pear, apple etc? I can't seem to find a good recipe, but I'm sure Daniel won't mind taste testing for me.

We're planning for at least 30 people & I'd love to try some new appetizer recipes for the party. One can only do so many cheese & cracker patters... Any ideas? We have quite a few vegans, vegeterians and gluten-free quests coming as well & I'd like them to be able to partake in at least some of it!

Home

Last night, Daniel and I sat in our half-way unpacked living room drinking wine & envisioning our new space. We kept moving furniture around, daydreaming & scheming... so fun.

What we didn't plan on doing was moving the office space to our bedroom, which we're almost entirely against having anything non Master Bedroom-y in our room. But the goal is to have comfortable couch seating for more than just us, so into the corner nook of the bedroom it goes. So, my idea is to create some sort of canopy around our bed to block our view of the desk (and change up the feel of the room). The original plan was to buy three iron (iron-ish looking) curtain rods & drill them into the ceiling on three sides of the bed (or maybe only two sides) & hang flowy white sheer drapes from them. But... I may change my mind. I'm going for cool, romantic, whimsical (aren't I always?). Any ideas friends?Our bedroom before (we also ditched the plum color):

Flourless Chocolate Cake

It's about time I post the dessert I make at least twice a month... the incredible Flourless Chocolate Cake. Three of my closest Seattle girlfriends have gluten allergies, and I feel so bad for them when it comes to dessert, because they NEVER get to partake... so, since last fall it's been my mission to find delicious desserts that a) do not contain wheat b) don't have too many of those weird wheat substitutes that cost my entire monthly food budget, and c) that no one would know it was any different than any other dessert. I love this cake, from start to finish it takes less than an hour & looks like you spent way more time than that, which is always nice.

Changes I make:
-I never use a double-broiler for this recipe, I just microwave the chocolate & butter 30 sec. at a time and keep stirring until melted. Works perfectly, and this is what Ina Garten does, do I don't feel too bad about it! Make sure to use a glass or ceramic bowl, not metal, that way you can just wisk in the other ingredients & only get one bowl dirty.

-This recipe is a great base for adding anything to it. Sometime I add a little vanilla, chopped toasted nuts would be great, almond extract is good. Next up: adding hazelnut liqour & making hazelnut whip cream to top it, sounds festive right? Most used combination: sliced fresh strawberries & homemade whip cream.

- I most always top it with a dusting of powder sugar rather than the cocco powder. I found that cocco powder dissovled into the cake before we even ate it, and it wasn't as even or pretty as I wanted. I put a handful of powder sugar into a fine mesh strainer (I use my pasta one) & dust away... Takes about 3 seconds, and looks great.

The recipe originally came from Gorumet magazine (one of my favorites), and I found it on Epicurious.com (an incredible site). Bon Appetit!

I love Seattle fall

Today was perfect weather.

On my lunch break I sat outside in my very favorite dress in the gorgeous sunshine. Slightly blustery, but very warm, as a sign of my very favorite time of the year: Autumn! With so many changes happening on our lives right now, this wonderfully transitional season makes me quite happy. Planning our Harvest Party, Daniel's birthday, day dreaming of the birthday presents I want (mustard yellow Hobo bag, if it exists), wearing tights & boots & scarves and most importantly all things pumpkin. 

I am hopeful. 

This weekend is also going to be perfect, which I must say, I've quite needed due to recent happenings. Date night tonight with Daniel, which I have no idea what he's planned & can't wait until he gets home to find out. Tomorrow is making jam with Charlotte, Corrine & Julia, then girls night... and then, Sunday morning brunch with my girls from college who I haven't seen in well over a month, and finally back to our church home after two weeks of being away. Cannot wait! 

moving etc.

Yesterday, Daniel and I officially decided to move. We love the city so much that we're moving a mere 5 blocks away, to the beautiful Ballard Place Condos. Regardless of the distance of the move, we are very excited & I've already taken pictures to sell on Craigs of all the things we don't plan on taking with us, and gone through my closet twice (still need to walk over to Crossroads with bag upon bags of hopeful money makers) & have become more organized than I have been all year this past week.



When describing the condo to someone they mentioned that it sounds like a step sideways for us, rather than forward. Yes, we are only adding 100 square feet, but it's the new adventure of space planning (drawing our space on CAD tonight) and painting and re-organizing and decorating that makes this all worth it (that, and the stainless steel kitchen aid appliances in my new kitchen).



Now I'm off to decide paint colors & am dying to get away from our bright avocado living room, how can I convince Daniel to go for magenta next?

a deep love for wallpaper

I always have loved wallpaper, especially the citron/emerald/gold flocked floral print that my Grandparents had. I loved feeling the texture of it as a little girl and marveled at how glamorous gold walls seemed. I still have a deep passion for wallpaper, and was reminded of how much I love it while in one of my favorite little card shops in Wallingford. Here are some that have caught my eye lately, and that I've used in recent projects as well.

Brocade Home supplied many college projects, lovely pieces:

A local Seattle shop, that is absolutely amazing & supplied the wallpaper for Paper Delights:

Another favorite line from designer Maya Romanoff mainly all natural, sustainable materials:

P.S. I'm working on blogging more, and with more of a purpose... sharing things that inspire me daily, projects I'm working on & general design ideas. I love to hear of any latest restaurants, boutiques or design concepts!

the reason I love my job

(because we do crazy things like this)



P.S. This store is located in Philadelphia, PA which I must admit is slightly cooler than our downtown Seattle location.

back to reality

This weekend Daniel and I got to go home to visit my family in California, where I grew up. Celebrating the 4th at Grandmas, watching fireworks on the roof, 6 Flags, Jelly Belly factory, laying out with the Sis, movies with Mom/Sid, game night with cousins, good food, coffee dates with Ash and Ali... and glorious sunshine.

I am a true California girl at heart, and desperately miss the hot summer days, good produce, my girlfriends and especially my family (and their pool). I dream of a day when we might move back... but for now, I'll try my best to enjoy this lovely 60 degree gray Tuesday afternoon in Seattle. I did after all spend it with Parris Reed, so not all hope is lost :)

Hope to post pictures of our anniversary adventures and 4th of July as soon as I can upload them on my computer!

one entire year

of wedded bliss

Marriage

In 6 days I will have been married to this man for one entire year:

Everyone warned us about the first year, but truthfully... it was incredible! I can't wait for our anniversary celebrations, and for the next 70 years together!

Naming nail polish

Wouldn't it be a wonderful job to dream up nail polish names? Or naming paint colors? Or makeup? I would read magazines all day hoping to be inspired by a catchy phrase... Sister Ally and I have often talked about what a fun job it would be, and today I daydreamed while getting a manicure. How could I not? I was sitting in an adorably sunny country chic room with wall to wall OPI polish. My color of choice came from the new India line, titled "Charmed by a Snake" (I could have done better on the name!)... and is an amazing metallic gold/bronze/latte color that makes my hands appear tanner than they actually are. I loved it so much that I proceeded to purchase it for my very own, to use all summer long. Unique, feminine, complementary to my skin tone and makes my ring look pretty... all the things I love about a great manicure. 

Thank you OPI for being a tried and true polish line, you were with me on Prom night, the first day of college ("Private Jet"), every major college event, at my engagement ("Tropical Punch"), on my wedding day ("Bicycle for Two" and "Shrimp Cocktail" I believe) and when I first discovered a love for navy blue nails ("Russian Navy" remains my favorite after these past years)... and today, on a lovely sunny Friday afternoon so I will have great nails for date night. 

Thrift store love

a. I LOVE thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets & second hand stores

b. I am inspired by making the old new (in light of this, I am registered for a class next weekend to learn how to remodel a kitchen using all reclaimed materials!)

c. Saw this post, and shall copy the idea ASAP (meaning: after Mom leaves town, I finish Charlotte's drapes for the nursery, finish hemming both of Daniel's shorts, finally go grocery shopping... the list is never ending)

d. Here is the link

Before: 

After:

I like Rachel more than I expect to

I've never been a huge Rachel Ray fan, none of her meals seemed all that healthy (as I try to cook, to make room for dessert!)... however, the other day I saw her on Food Network (my favorite channel) & she made an amazing meal of Roasted Garlic & Cherry Tomato pasta.  And I just so happened to have every single ingredient & ended up making it that night for dinner. 

Note: I made these substitutions: 

a. Didn't make the steak, added grilled chicken (marinated in fresh lemon juice, EVOO, garlic & pepper) to make pasta the main course

b. Used whole wheat pasta (for obvious reasons)

c. Also, didn't have arugula so I made a caesar-esque salad 

Overall, my Italian man loved it, his co-workers asked for the recipe & I'll take any chance I can get to roast some garlic. 

Sewing & Bartering

I was recently inspired by an article in last months issue of Real Simple (yes, I have a subscription) on modern bartering. Photography for graphic design. Childcare for haircuts. Massages for Interior Design. I love the idea of trading skills and talents, in true Pilgrim fashion. 

Needless to say, I've been attempting to update my portfolio for an interview and offered what little trade skills I have to a graphic designer friend. Out comes the sewing machine and an offer to make curtains, pillows, wedding favors... anything to get help with computer stuff! 

And now that my pretty sewing machine is out (and on the kitchen table of course), I've stitched some notecards, made one of Daniel's long-sleeve plaid shirts a short sleeve, hemmed two pairs of jeans and am about to make a Onesie for a certain baby-to-be. And absolutely loving it... we'll see how long I'm able to keep the machine on the table before Hubby gets annoyed! 

Margarita Cake

On Wednesday, we had a BBQ with friends and I was on dessert duty (of course). I've been wanting to make this Margarita Cake, and was excited to have an excuse. Turned out great, but used the last of our tequila! Perfect summer cake. 

Addiction to See's

Because I work in downtown Seattle, and because I get bored on hour long lunch breaks... I shop. However, I kept getting in trouble for buying clothes (especially at our store and sister store 3 blocks away, and brother store next door... the discount kills me) I began wandering through other stores of interest. Candy Tyme, Red Mango frozen yogurt and my personal favorite See's Candies. 

I attempt to limit these trips, but daydream about See's quite often (most often during Yoga). And apparently, talk about it as much as I dream about it because the Husband surprised me last week with my very own box. I used to say that the way to my heart is a custom ordered box of See's (not Godiva or Russel Stover or Hershey's or Franz). However, until this past Valentine's Day I hadn't gotten my heart's desire. A one pound box of all my favorites was set on my pillow early in the morning. I was in heaven (and actually began to think that I may like the holiday after all), needless to say I had abstained since Valentine's Day. 

Until last week, on a random Wednesday evening he came home with the key to my heart. And I love him all the more for it. Thank you hubby dear for listening when I describe in pathetic detail all my favorites. 

Just thought I'd share that, and am now off to savor a Milk Chocolate Butterchew. Then off to a cycle class to pretend that I work it off. 

thank you Martha

Here is one of my favorite 5 minute recipes that I make ALL THE TIME, especially when we're having people over & I don't have time to cook. I'll be running out the door to work, and have enough time to assemble this delicious crock pot meal while tea is heating up in microwave. Even faster, and healthier than traditional tacos... even better!

The best part? We can eat the second we walk in the door... which is always appreciated after a long day at work. Or, when friends are coming over I have just enough time to make salsa and a salad... and call it a day :)

Functional Fun

Since the purchase of my wonderful weekly meal planner and seeing my dear friend Dana's awesome To-Do list organizer... I am obsessed with this company & their fun website (expect a great Ecard coming your way!). Check it out, I  know you'll love it too! 

Domesticity and the like

Do you ever feel like, when Mom comes to town, that every drawer must be organized, every DVD alphabetized, all pillows perfectly fluffed knowing that she'll notice? Or is it just me? Last time Mom was in town, she folded the toilet paper into the diamond shape like over the top hotels do (because apparently I forgot to), peered through every kitchen cabinet to see how I organized "my very own kitchen"... I love my Mother dearly. This is a wonderful excuse to finally get organized for myself & take pictures of our home! 

This week has consisted of: endless loads of laundry, all winter clothes safely folded into their gigantic tupperware and into the storage unit, closet perfectly organized to accompany summer dresses & skirts, Ikea runs to purchase more organizational items, a trip to Safeway to rent "the Rug Doctor" carpet cleaner, re-organizing every space in our entire 600sq. ft. city apartment, and finally getting rid of boxes that "could be used for something" but were taking space away from my shoes... which were also organized this week. 

I am, very excited to have my parents come visit. We will walk to the Ballard Market, to church, and most importantly... to our favorite bars & restaurants. Can't wait to show them our life here!

A few purchases made this week, to make Mom proud:  

Capri Blue Volcano Candle (also purchased a smaller blue one for the bathroom)

Voluspa: Ebony & Peach Candle

Adorable weekly meal planner, because I dream of an organized life.

Hello Alexandra Nelson

Hello to my dearest friend Alexandra White! 

I shall start a blog at your prompting. 

And shall post pictures of my home. And my inspiration. And my job. And my city. And of my husband doing husbandly things. And of websites I stalk. And craft projects (current project: baby shower and citron bathroom dresser). And missings of my friends who live far away. 

And I shall attempt to be better at blogging than I am at keeping my camera charged. Or my phone charged... or with me. Or catching the bus. Or keeping my home organized. Or returning phone calls. 

This is why friends are necessary. They help you remember things.