Never Alone.

 

"Never Alone"

 By Shirae on Etsy.

Celine Dion names her twins.

The Celine Family out for a walk.

There are no pictures of the new Celine babies, but here is a picture of the fam, minus babies.  I love the names that Celine has picked out for her new boys.  I am startled, actually, by how impressed I am by Ms Dion's newly found skillsz as a namer.  She gave birth earlier this month & is calling the boys "Eddy" & "Nelson".  Eddy is named after a friend of their family, and Nelson is named for Nelson Mandela. These are nice names and they go great together as a set.  Her nine year old is named "Rene Charles".  Like I said, she is a new & improved namer of boys.

Red Haired.

(Photo from nappkin on Flickr.)

                                                                      happy friday night, everyone!!  xxo

Rio Rosa Mosqueta

A few months back, my sister brought me a little love from Cali in the form of some super cheap, rose scented mexican baby oil for the body.  I (obviously) became quite obsessive with the concept & went quickly through my two bottle supply.  Now that my supplier lives in Oregon, far away from the Mexican border & no longer able to procure it for me, I had to poke around online & find a new rose oil fixation.  This one is for the face.  It's quite fancy seeming & seems to be available only in the UK.  I have not yet used it, but as soon as I can touch base with my all-things-lovely-supplier-from-England, I will put it on my night stand & fixate in person.  It seems so yummy.  It's called Rio Rosa Mosqueta and it's made from the seeds of the rosa rubiginosa plant, which grows high up in the Andes.  It's great for rosacea & scars & for girls that want to glow.  Um, HELLO wonderful. 



white chairs in your dining space

White dining room chairs are the height of chic.  There isn't anything kickier/ peppier than walking into an eating situation and getting to sit on a white chair.  It begs for a sit down meal & some tinkly Latin musica playing in the background.  I like the look of all four pictures below; they are all good and not too trendy versions of certain "genres" when creating a look for your home. 

fresh formal

The chairs above seem like they would be super comfortable, especially the ones with arms.  And you could deal with the white fabric by becoming the hostess famous for serving variations on white wine spritzer, no matter the season... ;)  They've got great backs & I love the shapely wood legs and tufted old-fashioned look of the front of them.

romantic

 How fun would it be to do a little girl's five year old party in a room like this one?!  So pretty & sweet. 


country / retro

This "look" feels the most like me.  Too bad I don't live in a place where I could pull off the porch-like set up -- but what nifty chairs!  (Also, I love love that the table isn't very wide -- dinner parties feel so much more intimate with narrow tables.)

modern

This is nicely spare and the chairs / view are wonderful, but the look overall doesn't leave me very inspired to go make something hearty or gooey or homey or kick back in my most serious kick back fashion.

Blustery day & RIP flower dress

Seattle is blustering today.  Really, really blustering.  And that's my nice word for throwing down cold rain from the sky.  I am off to buy ingredients for some apple cider in this bluster, and it made me miss my favorite flower dress.  I could of worn the flower dress with my rain gear (cowboy boots, cardigan, braid, black tights) but I no longer have it in my possession and instead I'm wearing a blue sweatshirt.  RIP flower dress, you and me got along so well.  Special occasion? Flower dress.  Going out on the town? Flower dress.  Going to buy some masking tape & a bag of nails or oranges & anise stars?  Flower dress.  It was that good.  So here is my missed vintage flower dress accompanying me on all kinds of days, along with a hum from Pooh.

Durham, North Carolina
Easter time.

Birthday wknd on North Fork of Long Is.
Mary & I modeling.

"Fish Bowl Night" NYC

From:  Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day
Written by: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Performed by:  Pooh

Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum

Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today

Claremont Apt.
"party"

"vi-shē-ˈswäz"

Vichyssoise is a thick soup made of pureed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock.  It's traditionally served cold, but it can also be eaten hot.  It’s not the most delicious soup you will ever make, but it's fun because it plays dress up, or dress down, and how many other foods are so versatile & feminine?  Some credit a chef at the Ritz Carleton in NYC with creating it, based on memories from his childhood growing up near Vichy, France.  Others think Julia Child was the inspiration for American kitchens to try it out.  Btw, it's on page 39 of her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking if you would like a look.  

  

Allbritton Wedding Vichysoisse
Chef Malinda Hankins
Photo by Ard Louis

To me, it's the ultimate "event" soup because it's a cinch to make and it's fun for your guest to say out loud.  It sets lots of kinds of moods.   At my wedding, vichyssoise was served as the second course, warm, in a simple glass & topped with a light basil oil & inky black & red/pink caviar... it was a bowl of heaven . 

Rachael's Wedding Shower July 15, 2010

At my sister's wedding shower, (which was outside on a hot summer day), we served it cold (with ice cubes!), in gorgeous blue & clear glasses, garnished with little pieces of watercress.  The glasses were set up on a tray that was covered with fresh white linens and dotted with key limes.  It was one of my favorites things served, not because it was the yummiest -- but because it was "just so".  Just so perf.  Just so pretty.  Just so Rachael.   "Just so".  

A fall sweater.

DKNY Fall Collection

Even with the blue sequin stripe thingy, I like this. I think it's random but seems luxurious, flattering & special.  This girl has a great hair color for it & I like the three quarter sleeves.  I couldn't wear any jewelry with it, though.

Love this yard.



Back yard





flower picking



potting wedding plants



jo's shoes

my shoes with toes peeping

front yard

rope & chair
front yard



nest & hose
front yard





salad
back yard work station



front yard

Oh how I love this yard. It's thoughtfully put together & quirky & doesn't give itself away in first glance.  And yes, there is a spectacular garden (and home), as well, but that's not what I'm choosing to feature today.  My friends, Joleen & Steve have created a totally original Northwest backdrop.  It's "the spot" to enjoy a pork roast on the grill, toots around with sandals & a magazine when it's hot or warm your hands by the fire pit when you're chilled.  I was over a few days ago and 

a colorful salad had been made with papaya & radishes.  It was just hanging out on the deck, looking all yummy & bright.  Also, flowers got picked for me to take home, planted flower arrangements were being worked on for a family member's wedding & I even had some time to snap some admiring shots of our shoes. 

A good belt is a good thing.

Belt is from Urban Outfitters circa Salt Lake City trip.  Thank you Lizzy :)

My current fave thing is the belt shown above.  It has a vintage look, but all the new fangled technology to keep a girl in. So whether you need a belt to keep your pants on, or if you're just into having a waist, belts are perf. I wore this outfit to be with my sister when she came down from Oregon a few weekends ago.  We didn't really do anything except hang out at my mom's & eat eggs with salsa, but this belt was an excellent & smart part of that low key day. 

Humble Out Baby.

Tonight I'm going home to make lemon infused pasta for my man because we are celebrating 30 months of knowing each other.  I'm not quick enough with math to tell you how many of those we've been married, but it's enough just to say 30 months of knowing Dave's my "other" in the world.  Hoorah.



St Nick's Pub, September 2009
Photo by Janice Winter

We met at at an eensy sized jazz club in Harlem called St. Nick's.  It was my birthday.  How in the world could I have guessed  that I would be making him an elegant angel hair dinner 30 months later on a perfectly fall night in Washington state? 

And as this is a lifestyle blog -- I'll repeat my very favorite thing he has to remind me to do constantly.                 

"humble out"

Yes yes ... so true, right?  Humble out.  I love it.  It's always applicable and it's most definately to thank (99 percent on his end) for getting us through to this 30 month night.

So happy 30 month to us & happy autumn night to you.  If I like the lemon y din, I'll post the recipe later.  xxo

Let's go crawl in bed for the afternoon ...

Room designed by Rachel Ashwell

                                            

"Old-Fashioned" cocktails and the awesome pleasure of using a metal cocktail stick.

Vodka & tonic.  Rum & diet cola.  Corona with lime.  House red.  Besides all being drinks I order when I'm out to dinner (preferably with my pink Lancome Rock Icon lipstick on), these drinks are all alike in another way.

They aren't pretty to order.  Or interesting.  Or, really-when-it-comes-down-to-it, LOVELY.  Yep, I'm saying it.  I want to drink more lovely things.  For all the chicas out there, here me when I say I would like to be a cuter orderer of alcohol.  But not too cute you'll get bored talking to me.  You know what I mean.

And that is where drinking an "old-fashioned" comes in.  It's orderer is saying, "I'm out and about and happy to be here."   It also says:  "drink me, I'm yummy and I've been around since there was even such a thing as a cocktail".  (Old-Fashioned's are officially considered the very first one, circa 1800s...)

Another reason to like it :  it's been known as an "august cocktail".  Pretty.  I thought about the "august" ness of it, and I think it's because you can use real cherries -- not just the bright marachinso kind. 

And talk of cherries reminds me.  There is a different and important pleasure of drinking old-fashioneds when you're not out and about:  It's a perf reason to use your heavy metal cocktail sticks  (and don't even consider telling me you don't have them or won't get them --they're a must have).  Cocktail sticks will lay across your guest's glass to start, creating a great visual and also identifying for it's drinker (I'm a new drink, I'm your drink, enjoy me.)  Then folks can use their cocktail stick as they like.  They can stir it around while thinking about what to say next.  They can put it in their mouth and eat the boozey fruit.  But mostly, they can just enjoy the weight of their real metal cocktail stick and the feel of a cold (short) glass and, mostly, the good fortune of being around you.  And yes that was a run-on sentence because I was hoping for you to feel the fluid fun ness of drinking at home, not worrying about your bar tab or that strange or depressing lady at the next table down.  

I digressed on Old-Fashioned's ... but I'm pretty sure that's what blogs are for. 

So, armed with my Rock Icon lipstick & a re dedication to "lovely" drinking moments and real metal cocktail sticks, I say:  Cheers to you & living cutely.

(  Recipe For an Old-Fashioned  from Wikipedia)

Like the old, but new & in a different city.

WELCOME to a new & old place.  I'm back.  Some of my old posts got accidentally deleted, I moved states, got married to a dear man & have been in hibernation from Right Now Love, just stewing on all my wordy & arty stuff -- saving it all up for right now.  Some of the old posts are linked to the bottom of the blog, some are just gone gone.  This is the original picture from the "old" blog.  I am starting things off with it, just to say, it might be familiar but it's all new, or, even the other way around...  Which ever.