Ode to nothing

It's the last day of February, and that feels infinitely impossible, yet achingly hopeful at the same time. How can this be? How is it that the shortest month of the year also feels like the longest? I want to love you, February, I really do. Your 28 days contain my grandmother's birthday, my birthday, a day dedicated to love, and you even have a long holiday weekend. You're a short one Feb, you should zip by and you should herald spring. But you don't. You've dragged your snowy, polar feet all over my back and I think I'm permanently hunched over from the chill you breathe down my neck.

Let's face it, February, if I'm writing you an ode, then it's an ode to nothing.

See you in March, everyone.

Weekend tidbits

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We had a special dinner with friends to celebrate my birthday at The Writing Room (which recently replaced the Woody Allen favorite, Elaine's) on the upper east side. And then on Sunday I had to physically restrain myself from driving out to IKEA in Brooklyn to see whether they have an Expedit bookshelf in stock. Did you hear they are discontinuing them? How will I ever be able to achieve my dream of an entire Expedit wall? I ventured up to Central Park with the dog to chance a run but ended up mostly stumbling around in the slushy mess that is the Bridle Path.

We also finally redecorated the girls' room - bringing in lots of red and white to give it a more cohesive feeling. The room is so tiny I can't take photos with my DSLR, but here's a little sliver of the room:

interior design

Ok, if I could hop on a plane, I'd head straight to this sauna hut in Sweden.

Daniel of Manhattan Nest finished his office and I'm seriously digging the white painted floors.

food

I'm pretty much a summer vegetarian and a winter omnivore, so I'll give this lamb and coconut curry from Cook Republic a shot before I give up meat entirely in the warmer months.

I can't think of a flavor that intrigues me more than cardamom, it's floral and spicy and it totally brings desserts alive. I bet this cardamom oat crumble from Happyolks is amazing.

Simple, roasted, gorgeous cauliflower. Never, ever gets old.


How was your weekend?

The beautiful details

Sunday walk by the East river

I was at the Guggenheim this weekend, and though it was a fairly quick trip (with young children you have to kind of dip in, and then out immediately) I did linger in one particular gallery to listen to a group of art students discussing a particular Picasso painting. I noticed that the woman in the center of the group was blind, and the other students were describing the lines of the painting to her in aching detail. The details were so beautiful that I had to stop and listen. I traced the lines with my eyes as the earnest student described them to the woman. It's those very details I want to celebrate.

And now let's see who else likes to focus on the details:

interior design

I'm dying to paint a navy blue dresser in our entryway pure white like this gem featured on Apartment Therapy.

Or is blue a trend that I need to keep going with? I loved this blue feature wall on Bright Bazaar and then Centsational Girl put together this roundup of blue rooms in all their glory. Maybe I'll leave that blue dresser as is.

Jenny's piece on the Arizona flea market scene makes me want to hop a plane down to Arizona pronto. PLUS I'd escape this never-ending snowstorm here in NYC.

Should I ever own a home (or apartment) with a fireplace, I'm pinning these ten ideas for an amazing fireplace by This Little Street for ultimate inspiration.

food

I hope no one from work is reading this entry, because I think this poached pear mascarpone tart from Chew Town would be a solid entry for our next company bake-off.

I don't know why I have trouble cooking salmon, as it's a perfectly agreeable fish, but I can never seem to get it right. Perhaps this sous vide salmon with roasted beet sauce from Brian at A Thought for Food might be one to try. Of course you have to have a sous vide water oven, hmmm, maybe i'll just try out the roasted beet sauce of this recipe instead.

I need to share the meyer lemon olive oil bread recipe I just made last night, but in case you need meyer lemons in your life RIGHT NOW, then you should try out this meyer lemon magic custard cake recipe from Diane and Todd at White on Rice Couple. Their recipes never fail!


And now I'm off to revel in this snow day we're having here in the city. Winter is kind of blending into one big snowstorm for me, and all I can do is laugh now - it's just so ridiculous.

These things

I find myself tongue-tied when it comes to blog posts these days - or is the correct phrase finger-tied? It would seem so easy to just sit down and rattle off a glib sounding paragraph about how my life is these days, and what I've been up to since we last connected. But, my fingers stutter on the keyboard - with all these things I want to say. All in all it's nothing earth shattering, we've been busy, freezing, and waiting for warmer days. I could tell you how beautiful the city has been, even in this arctic weather, but then you already know that.

In any case, it's high time I did a post roundup. So we can at least start there.

interior design

Holly Becker at Decor8 is due with her baby boy any day now, but in the meantime she shares her totally inspiring nursery with us.

Feel like you want to share your own interior project? Head to Decorology if you've got something to submit. I'm thinking about sharing our recently redone girls bedroom (hint: we got bunk beds!).

White floors, always a yes. From Anna at Door Sixteen.

food

I'm kind of fascinated with the thought of food in a jar. Aren't you? This cherry cheesecake recipe from Thistlewood Farms seems to be the perfect place to start.

Goal for this weekend: make this recipe for cheese blintzes from Smitten Kitchen.

I'm all over shrimp at the moment for some reason, and this spicy shrimp pozole with avocado and bacon from The Crepes of Wrath.

hard to define

Paddington Bear for Baby Gap?! I'm all over this.

Leandra at The Manrepeller makes a good case for not drinking coffee anymore.


I have to prepare a book post for you soon, as I find myself reaching for a book more often than the ipad these days. I'm nose deep in an amazing sci-fi series lately and often just barely jump off at my stop on the train before the doors close! And then sometimes, I'll look up and the train will be pulling in to Astor Place. Working my way back up to Union Square from there really isn't fun. Update: I'm taking a break from my sci-fi series to read The Goldfinch. It's all anyone can talk about around here.


Have a great weekend, and happy Korean and Chinese new year!!

Best interior design blogs you're not reading (yet)

It's so cold outside, and my brain can't process the hundreds of posts I normally read. So instead of curating posts today, I thought I'd let you in on a few of my favorite interior design blog reads. These are the ones you should absolutely be adding to your must-read list:


Design for Mankind
Erin has this knack for tackling the toughest topics in life with grace and aplomb, and trips to her site always leave me feeling fulfilled and educated (which you cannot say for a lot of sites). She also recently started Clementine Daily - a lifestyle site for the modern woman.

Pure Style Home
Washington DC-based designer, Lauren Liess somehow runs a successful interior design business, writes a blog, and raises three boys with her husband. And, she has just opened a brick and mortar store in the DC area!

My Scandinavian Home
Escape to the mostly white world of Scandinavian design through this site curated by a London-transplant now living in Sweden. I go here for visual inspiration and always come away relaxed.

A House in the Hills
Sarah Yates provides a little bit of everything on this site, from interiors to food to fashion. Her style is impeccable and her running commentary on her favorite interior design posts from around the web are always enlightening.

Slim Paley
Slim started her blog in 2009 on a dare, and now it's a daily read for so many of us. She takes one topic in design and runs with it and shows you how that trend shows up in multiple places and disciplines. Super cool.

A Bloomsbury Life
Lisa describes herself as a domestic explorer, and I'd totally agree. From in-depth analysis of an LA mansion to her current post on the secret parts of Victorian England, she constantly amazes me with her attention to detail and nose for hidden gems. Plus, Lisa is publishing her first book this fall, and I can't wait!


Okay hope you enjoyed these recommendations! Note: I could have led you to super biggie sites like Little Green Notebook, Decor8, SF Girl By Bay, and Young House Love (and I do love those too) but I thought you'd appreciate some recommendations that you perhaps didn't already read. :)

My window

Turtle Pond

 With young children to put to bed at a somewhat decent hour, we weren't really able to be out and about with other partygoers on New Year's Eve. Instead, we flung our windows wide at the stroke of midnight and screamed "happy new year!" to the city from 25 floors up. I'm pretty sure some revelers on the street may have replied, their answers floating back up to us on the chilly 2014 air. I know I did the same thing when the news confirmed that Obama had been elected - I stuck my head out the window and yelled my joy to the city. I waved at people in the building across the street, thrilled that I was bringing my first child into a world where we finally had an inspiring leader.

People say that sometimes you can feel lonely in New York City, even amid the rushing and the pushing, and the hustle and the bustle. But in those celebratory moments, when the city is bursting with communal happiness, you can actually feel the connections in the air, a solid, tangible string of emotion between buildings. On New Year's Day we took a long and very chilly walk in Central Park - reminding me of family walks we took every January 1st, although in a very different setting. It felt like the best way to start the new year, and we arrived home with frozen fingers and pink cheeks, happy to sink onto the couch with a satisfied sigh and a cup of tea.

Opera singer performing in Central Park on New Year's Day

food

Not sure how Molly at Remedial Eating made me swoon over the thought of leeks, but swoon I did.

Donal's post on his Irish Christmas made all of my childhood memories come flooding back. From sausages and rashers for breakfast to the anticipation of the arrival of family members so we could finally start the big Christmas day dinner which was always turkey or goose, it made me long to recreate that here in the city.

Loving this simple and delicious-sounding salted rosemary latte from Megan at Passports & Pancakes.

And if you're more of a tea drinker, then you have to check out these vegan earl grey chocolate shakes from Laura at The First Mess.

interior design

In the midst of this polar vortex we're experiencing I'm dreaming about relaxing in this Aussie beach shack posted by Desire to Inspire.

Ideas for a more efficient kitchen here on BHG Style Spotters - I'm coveting those pull out pantry shelves.

I guess I'm all about the kitchen today (it is one of my 2014 goals to organize that space in a better fashion) and in case you're redoing your kitchen (I have friends who are) take heart from this post from Centsational Girl on kitchen trends that are here to stay.

Stay warm everyone!

End of year and other links

Tree looking over the foggy Hudson river

Hi! 

I hope your holidays have been joyful and warm, and full of love. I've been splitting these past two weeks between NYC and my parents in Pennsylvania, between city and country, between what I know now and what I knew then. December has run away and I can hardly believe I'm looking over the mountaintop at January's cold edge.

I took Latin in high school and college and I always loved how Latin and Roman history are woven into so many facets of our lives today. January was named after the Roman god, Janus, who signified doorways, beginnings, transition, and passage. Knowing this, it's pretty clear why the first month of a new year makes us feel like we are starting a new chapter. My favorite depictions of Janus show him with two faces; one looking backwards towards the past, and one looking forward to the future. I have personal goals, goals for this site, goals for my career, goals for my family, and I just need to take a deep breath and dive into 2014. 

I've only just begun.

interior design

I almost wish Sherry and John of Young House Love would buy a new house every year so I can follow along with their renovations. They've been putting up shelves in the kitchen lately, and I'm loving the wide open brightness they've brought to a previously dark kitchen.

I know the internet is full of post summaries at the moment, but I loved this one on the best bedrooms of 2013 on Apartment Therapy. Looks like serene and calm was the theme of the year.

Living in an apartment, I'm probably always going to have a tiny bathroom. To be honest, I'd rather give the space to a kitchen or bedroom. So if you have the same kind of small space that I have, here are some gorgeous small bathrooms featured on Decorology. Does anyone know if I can drill into marble to put up shelves??

food

Joy shares her favorite childhood thai dish - green chicken curry, it's simple, nourishing, and I bet it smells incredible.

I have rhubarb in my freezer and lemons are always available, so perhaps this flourless rhubarb and lemon cake from My Darling Lemon Thyme will be next on my list.

Just in case you didn't do handmade gifts this year, perhaps a new years gift is in order? How about some handmade syrup from My New Roots. Wouldn't your friends love to drizzle some maple and apricot syrup over their pancakes on a Saturday morning?

And how about a lovely satsuma and pomegranate cake from Tartelette to help you enjoy the abundance of citrus at the moment?

Other fun things

Add a little glitter to your life (and your leather) with this project from Say Yes to Hoboken. 

Slim Paley broke with tradition and celebrated the holidays amongst breathtaking scenery in Patagonia! Sometimes tradition is great, but sometimes you need something else.


Happy new year, everyone!