Snow

This morning started off grey and dreary and then all of a sudden, the air was full of swirling snow. Settling on my hair and shoulders and moving in eddies around me. I love to think of the snow making its way down to Earth, one second there's nothing and the next, you're wiping snowflakes from your eyelashes. Snow, you made my dreary Monday a beautiful one.

But next time you come? Snow me in :)

PS: Is anyone sad about Downton Abbey's episode last night? Those scenes were heartbreaking and I could barely watch. Don't wanna give it away in case you haven't watched yet.

Food

I wanna be snowed in with this olive oil cake from Lingered Upon.

Eggs are deceptive. It seems like it would be easy to cook the perfect egg. Scrambled: I can do no problem, hard-boiled eggs: I own you. But soft-boiled? Not so easy. Ashley at Hither & Thither has just taught me how.

Here I go pushing my coconut fixation on you again, sorry about this, but you'll have to take a look at these lemon coconut bars from Green Kitchen Stories.

 Interior design

Victoria at SF Girl by Bay loves the mid-century butterfly chair. And now, so do I.

I'm (always) in the process of framing photographs to put up in my apartment. And I'm constantly on the hunt for awesome frames. Decorology took the mystery out of framing for me today with this piece on Change of Art.

Fashion/style

Miss Moss does an amazing job matching sweet desserts with sweet fashion. It's the cutest (and most colorful) post ever.

Unruly Things pointed me towards You are My Wild, an incredible weekly photo series of photographers sharing the little details in their children's lives. Inspired to create some of my own series now.

This Little Street is turning 1! To celebrate, she's giving away a $100 Anthropologie gift card. Stand back, people, this one is mine. Go here to enter. (And yes, London sister, you can enter this one too.)


I'm off to North Carolina for work for the next two days. It's in the 60s down there! Wheee!

If you were a fly on my wall

If you were a fly on my wall, you'd see that I've been running around like a mad woman or like a chicken with her head cut off (seriously, who says that?). You see that I'm sad that I'm not here talking with all of you. Cause I want to tell you all about my trip to the Guggenheim last weekend 

                                                                                                                                                       ...and how amazing that was. And I forgot how museums make my heart burst out of my chest. Does anyone else feel this way?

If you were a fly on my wall, I'd wave to you every day.

Hi!

Fashion/style

Best post ever from Garance on the love/hate relationship with skinny jeans.

Jamie photographed some powerful statues during her trip to Florence. I'm in awe of the power radiating from these images.

Need some new ballet flats? Check out Who What Wear's lineup of the best ballet flats under $100.

London friends (and sister), you need to go to this bookstore. Then report back here and tell me all about it :)

Food

Averie showed me a new way to roast my vegetables and PS: it involves coconut oil (my new favorite ingredient).

Have some pastry crust lying around? I do, in my freezer and I'm using it for this pear tarte tartin from Matchbox Kitchen.

Chocolate mousse is a final frontier of sorts for me. I'd like to try these chocolate espresso mousse pots from The Little Loaf.

Mushrooms are the perfect winter food, warm and silky and satisfyingly chewy. Loving this Chinese mushroom soup from Vanilla Bean Blog.

I've never cooked crab before, is that shocking? I've eaten my weight in it plenty of times, but I've never tried cooking crab at home. Ok, Lemons and Anchovies couldn't quite cook a live crab either but she created this incredible dish of dungeness crab with wine, fried meyer lemon slices, and fried capers and I want it!

Maple cardamom granola

What do you do when you're at home sick for two days with the flu?

You make granola, of course.

But not just any granola. A sweet and crunchy treat that shatters against your teeth so pleasingly that you might be mistaken and think you're eating dessert. Granola that makes you forget you're supposed to eat yogurt with it and instead you've filled a whole bowl of it alone and it's goooood.

It's too bad I was sick, otherwise I'd been bagging this stuff up for my friends and tying the bags up with a pretty bow. But sadly for you, I just have to keep it and eat it all myself. With yogurt, if I remember.

Oh, well. Have a great weekend, friends!

Find the recipe here. Note: I adapted it by adding almonds instead of pistachios and I didn't have dried cherries (or any dried fruit for that matter) so there are none.

Ugh

I'm down and out today. Just trying to hold it together and praying this sore throat disappears soon. I keep feeling better in fits and starts. I even managed to mop the apartment. Although it was the lazy mop style, you know the one where you mop around the piles of clothes instead of picking them up?

Interior design

Have you guys heard about the awful garbage patch floating out on the surface of the Pacific ocean? I've been reading about it for years and always wondering how it was being dealt with. It's twice the size of Texas!! Erin of Design for Mankind posted about some of the ways we might help the ocean plastic disappear, including making chairs from the garbage!

Here's another amazing farmhouse, this time in Italy, via Remodelista. I'd have trouble keeping it clean, but it's nice to dream.

Food

Craving risotto? Head to Design Crush to get 20 risotto recipes that would knock the chill right out of the day.

Ashley of Not Without Salt discuss her once-a-week morning ritual and it sounds so peaceful. It involves yogurt, and this recipe for homemade yogurt with butter-toasted walnuts and honey would definitely hit the spot.

Mmmm, next time I make hot chocolate I think I'll do it with coconut, as Joanna shared today.


Off to get some rest. Hoping I feel better soon.

Monday

Fashion/style

The award for best review of the Golden Globes fashion goes to Erin Gates for her awesome review of the best and worst dressed on the red carpet. I love her dress suggestions for those starlets who just made a wrong turn.

I sometimes wish I lived in a warmer climate so I could wear outfits like this linen motorcycle jacket and black jeans beauty right now from Sarah at A House in the Hills.

Food

I had my sister here for dinner yesterday and she's following a gluten-free diet. Had I seen this flourless chocolate cake with blackberry sauce recipe posted on With Style & Grace from The Faux Martha a little earlier I would have made it. Sorry, sis!

There's another amazing gluten-free meal option here in Tartlette's cumin crusted rack of lamb with roasted cauliflower.

Here's my pancake recipe for next saturday. They have cacao nibs and coffee syrup! Thanks to The Vanilla Bean blog for the recipe.

I have a head of cauliflower in my fridge just begging to be used. (What? Doesn't everyone just have heads of cauliflower laying around their house?) I'm eying this cauliflower soup with leek from Love and Lemons which is a variation I haven't seen before.


Ok, I put off Girls and Downton Abbey because of the Golden Globes last night, but tonight? Tonight it's on. Hope you're having a wonderful Monday so far!

Links and photos and happy weekend!

If you're heading into the weekend with a cold (we're having a flu epidemic in NY!), check out this post on Design Sponge about beating the common cold and treating yourself well. I know at least one friend who could use this.

And if you're well/lucky enough to potter around your kitchen then consider these tips from The Kitchn on the 10 things that will keep you happier in your kitchen.

Food

I'm roasting a chicken for our Sunday dinner so I liked Maxwell's Viking chicken on Apartment Therapy, it's really nothing new except that Maxwell tosses fruit in with the veggies in the roasting pan and that sounds like fun to me.

This simple salad of fennel, apple, and gruyere from Ashley at Not Without Salt would be gorgeous served with the roast chicken above.

Tell Heather at Sprinkle Bakes what your favorite cookie is and be entered to win a cute Kate Spade clutch.


This weekend is for starting Homeland and catching up with my sister visiting from London. Oh and then I'll kick everyone out the door on Sunday night in time to watch the season 2 premiere of Girls! I hope you all have a beautiful weekend.

Black hole

My new fish eye lens makes me feel like I'm falling down the rabbit hole.

Sometimes when I'm on a search for new material for the blog, I find myself clicking on blog links on someone's page and before I know it, I'm 50 clicks away from the original page and I'm falling down, down, down the rabbit hole.

The internet is a black hole, man.

Fashion/style

Do you guys read Katie Armour's blog? She's the editorial director of Matchbook Magazine. Her blog is full of chic ideas and wonderful snippets of life in Manhattan. And she also has a good eye for blogs herself, she connected me to London-based fashion blogger Carrie at Wish Wish Wish. Sorry, i know I'm pushing you down the rabbit hole again!

Lonny's new year issue is live! There's a home in there belonging to Houston-based antiques dealer, Kay O'Toole that's totally killing it.

Food

I really really want to get into a more healthy breakfast habit. It's becoming all to easy to chose the pastry at my downstairs cafe rather than something like oatmeal, granola, or even a smoothie. I'd like to try this green apple and spinach smoothie from A Beautiful Mess. Somehow the addition of coconut makes it seem a bit more drinkable to me.

Or perhaps this cardamom maple olive oil granola from Butter Me Up Brooklyn!? To be honest, I'll pretty much throw myself at anything with cardamom in the title.

I love crepes and I love lemon curd. Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere has combined the two into a yummy looking treat.

I'm known for my avid love of cupcakes, and I just realized I haven't made them in ages. Thinking about getting back on the saddle (in the saddle?) with these Irish coffee cupcakes from Jonathan at The Boys Club.

Interior design

Oooh, Jen of I Heart Organizing is hosting home office week on her blog and this one totally caught my eye. I loved every little detail, from the labeled drawers to the clear glass jars to allow colorful accessories to pop on the shelf.

In case you're craving something for your home, C Wonder has a killer sale at the moment; take an extra 50% off already on-sale items with the code "extra50" at checkout. Thanks to Emily at Emily Clark for the scoop! She picked out her favorite C Wonder pillows on sale here.

Perspective

This is a shot of the lights out my window last night. They looked like stars, so I flipped the image upside down :)

Food

Head to over to see Eva at Adventures in Cooking and enter a giveaway of several lovely Abrams books, plus you get a recipe for chocolate chess pie ... and it looks amazing.

The holidays are over and for some reason that means I want to cook pizza again. This Meyer lemon pizza from the creative Jessica at How Sweet it Is is set to rock my world one day this week.

I'd wash that pizza down with this holiday gin and tonic made by international photographer Pauline Boldt on Design Sponge.

Recreate the Downton Abbey dining experience with the help of The New Potato's menu.

Fashion/style

You know you want to know what 5 apps Garance Dore uses. I certainly did.

The January Matchbook issue is live. Read it, enjoy it, be inspired by it.

Did you go to see this Ann Hamilton show at the Armory? I'm sad that I didn't get to see it before it left the city.

Interior design

I love Jess Lively's blog about "designing your life with intention"and today she shares her newly designed home on Design Sponge. It's so gorgeous. From the colorful guest bedroom to the little touches with well-placed art, it's truly a home to aspire to.

Wayfare Magazine is now available as a print magazine. I'm pretty thrilled about that.


And now I'm off, because, hey, I recorded the Bachelor and I need to catch up!

Just some photos to send you into the weekend

I had to do the obligatory roundup of my favorite instagram shots of the week.

Have a lovely weekend! I'll be gearing my mind and body for my SoulCycle experience to begin next week. I'm nervous and excited ... but mostly scared for my muscles.

Finding inspiration

Scene from New Year's Day walk in Central Park

I'm back in the office now, but still dreaming of that scene above. Sometimes I can't believe I'm so lucky to live only a short walk away from my most favorite park in the world. It's a source of constant inspiration to me. I find myself drawn there, camera (or iPhone) in hand, on most weekend days. I'm looking forward to finding more inspiration there and discovering it in new, unexpected places this year.

Fashion/style

Win $300 to spend at Vine, the new environmental site associated with Diapers.com, over at Cup of Jo.

Head to A Beautiful Mess to win yarn and patterns for four separate projects from Premier Yarns.

Kelly at The Glamourai had a pretty incredible year, see her recap here.

Lucy of Australia-based blog, The Design Files, is counting down her favorite Australian homes of 2012 and this gorgeous refurbished community hall is full of sleek wood floors and rough brick walls. It reminds me of the converted warehouse/dorm I lived in as a senior in college.

Do you read literary fashion magazine, Lone Wolf? Am I the only one who doesn't?

Food

Terri and Jenny of Spoon Fork Bacon have partnered with the wonderful blog Turntable Kitchen to curate their January pairings box. If you buy a subscription you get a box with recipes, dry ingredients and a limited edition vinyl sent to your door every month (I think my brother would love this!) Sales were hot for the pairings boxes this month and TK sold out for January, so the only way you can get the January box is to enter the giveaway on Spoon Fork Bacon.

Jenny of Dinner A Love Story wants us to participate in a 7 days 7 meals challenge, and I'm so in. We suffer from the "ohletmejustgrabsomerandomveggiesandaneggfromthefridgefordinner" syndrome in our household and if a meal isn't planned out the day before (or usually on my lunch break) it just doesn't happen. So head over to Dinner A Love Story and let's do this one together.

Adrianna at A Cozy Kitchen got a puppy, more specifically an adorable corgi named Amelia. The photos are killing me.

Diane and Todd of White on Rice Couple never fail to inspire me with their beautifully put together videos.

It's the beginning of a new year, so of course you're probably feeling like you should eat healthier. Try this posole in broth recipe with beans and scallions from 101 Cookbooks.

I'm beyond excited to read Jennie's book when it comes out this spring, and while I'm waiting I'll read about her life with her two girls at In Jennie's Kitchen and make this chocolate clementine spice cake.

Interior design

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a piece of furniture in your bedroom that always reminded you of a wonderful holiday or special time with your partner? That's exactly what Ashley of Hither and Thither has done. While spending a month in Bali with her husband, they picked up a gigantic piece of hardwood that they planned to use as a headboard. It just arrived to their home in California, and you simply have to check out what they've done with the bedroom. It's stunning!

I'm pretty excited that one of my favorite sites, Young House Love, are debuting their very own lighting line with lighting company Shades of Light! The lights are all $99 and under and I'm thinking their farmhouse pendant in bright yellow would look incredible in my kitchen.


That's it, see you soon!

Favorite things - 2012

Photos above from our walk in Central Park on New Year's Day

We spend the latter part of the year gearing up for these December holidays, and then they blow by us in an instant, leaving a trail of pine needles and wrapping paper in their wake. And suddenly, we're in the inexorable grasp of a new year. The traditional place for beginnings and endings. I did a lot of thinking in my time away from the office. Thinking about what a year it was for me, in my job, and my family. And thinking about how this new little blog is faring in the big world out there. I'm still finding my footing, people, I hope you can bear with me as I do so.

Here were some of my favorite things in 2012.

Favorite reads of 2012:

I have to start off my favorite book list with My Berlin Kitchen, written by the lovely Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef blog, this food memoir about a life lived while criss-crossing two continents is a must-read. Dinner a Love Story is another cookbook that you can curl up in bed with - plus the down-to-earth Jenny makes me feel less guilty about not churning out three course meals on a weeknight.
Decorate Workshop, Habitually Chic, and Young House Love were my favorite reads for my home and office spaces and Grace Coddington's memoir, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and Gone Girl are jockeying for top spot on my kindle for the morning commute (I will admit that I have Grace's memoir in actual book format too - it's just so pretty looking!).

Favorite home finds of 2012:

Art was the name of the game for 2012, and I managed to gather a few great pieces for our apartment. My favorite site is 20x200: where you can find surprisingly affordable art in a beautifully curated setting - I took advantage of their low prices and snagged something from the Jane Mount Ideal Bookshelf series and I'm thinking about this NASA piece showing Europe and Asia from space. I also love Society 6, where I got several pieces, and still have my eye on this water piece. I spent a lot of time on One Kings Lane (there are some good new years sales on there now!) and getting inspiration from shops like West Elm and Anthropologie.

Favorite hobbies of 2012:

Creatively 2012 was a wonderful year for me. From starting this blog here, to exploring new photography skills (I took online classes at Bella Pop), to Pinterest, to Instagram, finding interesting ways to challenge myself creatively was so much fun. I cannot wait to find more to do in 2013.

Favorite tv shows of 2012:

Ooooh, this was a hard category to narrow down, but if I had to, here would be my favorites of 2012. Newbies: Girls, Veep, and Newsroom. Older faves: Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, and Breaking Bad. I can't even bring myself to add reality shows to this list (but there are some shameful ones in there).

I'm sure I forgot some, feel free to remind me.

Shows to start in 2013: Walking Dead, Homeland, and Being Human. I know, I know, it's ridiculous that I'm not watching Homeland. I'll get on that soon, I promise!

And of course, Happy New Year to you guys! Have you made any resolutions? I can't wait to see what 2013 brings.