Wednesday, September 30, 2009

2010


I know, its hard (not to mention slightly scary) to think about the new year, but check out the 2010 wall art calendar from Paper Source. I love that you can reuse the pretty pages to make boxes and file folders once the month is over. If you don't have space for the wall calendar, check out the letterpress one for a desktop.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Loretta's Bruschetta

Villa Bordoni

Loretta's Bruschetta

Loretta


On our recent trip to Tuscany we were lucky enough to take a cooking class on traditional Tuscan cuisine. The wonderful country house style hotel we stayed in,
Villa Bordoni, was set in a hillside (on a dirt road) of the Greve in Chianti region with a working farmhouse next door. Our class was taught in the farmhouse kitchen by the matron of the house, Loretta Somigli, and the Villa owner, David Gardner. One of the first dishes we made was a fantastic bruschetta, very simple and oh so delicious!
Note: they make their own olive oil at Villa Bordoni and are not afraid to use it! When its says drizzle in the recipe, its a very generous "drizzle".

Loretta’s Bruschetta al Pomodoro

Ingredients:

Mature Tomatoes (Soft, Red and Sweet)

Crusty Tuscan Bread (or Ciabatta)

Young Basil Leaves (the small ones)

Whole Peeled Garlic

Salt

Villa Bordoni EVOO or The Best Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil You Can Find

Directions:

Griddle or Toast the crusty Tuscan Bread.

Cut the peeled garlic cloves in half and with the open clove, smear the garlic juices over the abrasive toasted bread.

Roughly chop the mature tomatoes and place in bowl. Salt and mix to allow tomato juices to drain to bottom of bowl. When there is ample juice collecting in bottom, tomatoes are ready.

Add the hand shredded basil leaves.

Drizzle in olive oil.

Salt to taste and allow the tomatoes to soak in the oil and basil to give its fragrance to the mixture before spooning it over bread.

Drizzle olive oil over finished bruschetta.



Thursday, September 24, 2009

Dress Crush


I have a crush on this dress. With opaque tights and heels or tights and flats, I think it could go either way. Maybe with a cosy cardi on top? Or a cropped leather jacket to give it some edge?


Peach is the new Pink?



Once Wed had a lovely peachy southern photo shoot up this week. The floral is elegant and more than a touch feminine in shades of peaches and green and looks great on the rustic wood table. They used garden roses, fever few, rosemary, star of bethlehem, tulips, and begonia leaves. I don't have that fabulous rustic table so I think if I was to use this color scheme for a dinner party of mixed company I'd just switch the table runner from lacy to something like this, for a more natural and neutral, slightly less frilly feel. I like the subtle difference that the peach tones bring, very refreshing.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wild Things





I can't wait for this movie to come out on October 16th!! We decided today that we are going to dress up as Max (my husband) and a Wild Thing (myself) for Halloween. I need to get working on that. Potential easy out for Max here. Will let you know how this project progresses.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Table Number Tie In



We were at a friend's beautiful wedding in Dallas, TX this past weekend. In addition to the gorgeous setting of the McCasland Sunken Garden at the Dallas Arboretum for the ceremony, the Bride and Groom added some great personal touches to their wedding.



My favorite of these was that at every table there was a photo of each the Bride and Groom at the age of their table number. We were at table 9. Such a cute idea!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Felt Breakfast


Why not start the week off right with a felt breakfast?! Toaster, bagel, cream cheese, pastry, waffle, syrup and butter come in a kit that you put together yourself. Its hilariously cute.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Back to School


Seeing all of the kids in our neighborhood head back to school has made me nostalgic for the good old days. Remember how exciting shopping for school supplies was? Ok, maybe I am a big dork, but I loved it! The school year always had so much potential when the pens and pencils were brand new. I think I need to go out and find a cute plaid mini, schoolboy blazer, and knee high socks while I feel inspired. I would definitely pack my lunch in a snack taxi, probably this one.

*image via martha

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A Well Wrapped Package



I love presents and the whole ceremony of wrapping what's inside to build the excitement of giving and receiving. A well wrapped outside can be a present in itself. Utterly Engaged, my new fave wedding resource, did a DIY tutorial of putting together a perfect package. Love!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

U2 360 Tour Soldier Field


We were lucky enough to get amazing seats for the U2 tour opener at Soldier Field on Saturday (thanks Missy!) and it was quite a show. Bono repeatedly referred to the staging as a "spaceship" which was the only way to describe it. It was definitely a spectacle, but it came off as cool and the 360 degree stage let the whole audience see what was happening in a stadium that holds over 60,000 people. My favorite part came almost halfway when the entire stadium sang along to I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and a cover of Stand by Me by Ben E. King. Chills. The set ended with an encore that included With or Without You and a giant disco ball that sent glittering lights over the whole audience. Chills again.

Set List
1 Breathe
2 No Line on the Horizon
3 Get On Your Boots
4 Magnificent
5 Beautiful Day/Blackbird (Beatles snippet)
6 Elevation
7 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/Stand By Me (Ben E. King snippet)
8 Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
9 Unknown Caller
10 The Unforgettable Fire
11 City Of Blinding Lights
12 Vertigo
13 I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
14 Sunday Bloody Sunday/Oliver's Army (Elvis Costello snippet)
15 Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16 MLK
17 Walk On/You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
18 Where The Streets Have No Name
Encore
19 One
20 Bad/40 (snippet)

Second encore
21 Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
22 With Or Without You
23 Moment of Surrender

Photo via U2

Monday, September 14, 2009

Relationship Timeline


Love this save the date which was created by the bride and groom (who happen to be designers and illustrators). 100 Layer Cake has more of the fantastic goodies they created for their wedding.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Friday Flowers


This Friday's flowers are the bridesmaids bouquets from our wedding a couple of weeks ago. Jonathan, formerly of A Perfect Event, did such a great job with them, they are exactly what I asked for but even prettier than I imagined. Plenty of texture, variation of shapes and tones of green accented by lovely pink orchids. Ahhh, still obsessing over how much I love them!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Anthro wedding





I love this wedding posted on Once Wed. The tables are so romantic and vintag-y-sweet with details like kitchen glasses as candle holders and picture frames as table numbers, both from Anthropologie. Her flowers are dahlias, antique hydrangeas, spray roses, peonies and cabbage roses. Lovely!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Fall LBD's





Ah fall, the season for the LBD. Some choice lovelies for your viewing pleasure. The wonderful thing about LBD's is that you really only need one, but you can never have too many. Top to bottom: Nanette Lapore, LaRok, Joie, Jill Stuart.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Vintage labels


I love these vintage labels, stickers stamps and more from Paper Valise that Green Wedding Shoes posted last week. I would love to use them as gift tags at the holidays! Or potentially incorporate them into fun place cards for a party.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Postman



I'm back! Trip to Italy was really fun, gorgeous scenery everywhere, plus amazing food and delicious wines. Lots of yummy wines. One of our favorite things on this trip was emailing postcards with our own photos from our iPhone using the Postman app.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

French Cake Stands


I wish I had come across these
gorgeous cake stands before my wedding because I would absolutely have bought one to use for our cake! As it is I may need a small one for my house...