Friday Love.

Photo by Ricor of Taipei, Taiwan.
(HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!)

Last Holiday Post.

I couldn't let December leave us without posting some pictures from my friend's dreamy home.  As some of you might recall, I featured her yard on RNL a month or so back.  Now, it's her home we can all fawn over.  Using a color palette of bold reds, varying shades of blue, lots of white and touches of ocean green, Joleen's home is both classically "Christmas" but also totally Northwest-old-world-beautiful.  I particularly admire her tendency to blend warm touches of greenery and or wood elements with a more laid back beachy / shabby / retro feel. 

Stockings and pine cones and tools.

San Pellegrino & green glasses on checkerboard.

Corner of mantle.  I think the white thing is a shell.  Great texture, whatever it is, and I like the red bowl it's sitting in.

This bench is a great example of Joleen's talent at blending.  Here she has pretty blue rocks, a basket of shells, a single tulip all looking natural and in place next to the holiday bush.

This is a wonderful still life.  Love the greenery and use of white.

Wood burning stove keeps water warm for a cup of tea.

The tree has retro tiny bright lights & icicles.

A larger look at lots of details.

Salmon is served on a vintage aluminum tray with brown paper.  Classic.

The best for last.  I LOVE this.

New Tumblers.

This pair is my latest thrift love / score.

They are weighty and have a faint blue sheen.   The marking on the bottom says "Jaime Oliver" ... So nice, because each time I use them, I will be reminded of a wonderful meal I ate with friends at a Jaime Oliver restaurant in Oxford, England where we shared a wonderful cheese plate and toasted new love.

Great Drapes.



Photo from style.com.

These pics are from one of Alberta Ferretti's recent shows.  I love the draping.   Love love love.  Makes me want spring bad.

Sonia.



Isn't this such a classic first shot?!

 Hooray! I am so happy little baby Sonia has joined our world.
11:36 AM, December 27, 2010.
Mt Sinai Hospital, NYC.
7 pounds, 8 ounces.

Congrats to Samantha & Ricky!

Girly.

Photo by Mrs. Lilien

Photo by Mrs. Lilien
Love the sparkly ness of the donuts & the girly ness of the stuff on the sheepskin rug. 

Oh Christmas Tree.

Photo by Irene Suchoki.  To see more of her gorgeous work, check out her store on Etsy.
Merry Christmas everyone!



Friday Love.

Endpaper



'Flower vase lit by rays from a table lamp', Vanessa Bell 1934, Allan Walton, V & A

Christmas time list.

Extra large pinecones & lots of pink & one fresh wreath with juniper berries & a perfect beige manicure & ginger cake baking smells & bowls of bright balls & retro blingy birds & white bows & Vuitton tea stained lanterns & rolls of striped paper & strings of stars & two dining table pomegranates & Christmas tree picking & horse or butterfly ornaments & lattes with sisters & sweet men & starchy ribbons & one dirty martini & two vintage santa faces & countless little oranges & a single toy giraffe, oh my.  Life feels twinkly.

Festive French Zebra.

Z is for Zebra.  He looks tre December.

Oh Etta, you're so cool.

Etta James.  The ever classic, ever cool.  (Can't locate photographer's name for credit, or year that this was taken.)

Famous NYC Cinnamon Buns for Christmas morning.

Photo courtesy of Momofuku.com

Cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning are incredibly special.  If you don't have a go-to recipe, maybe this could be it ... This is pastry chef Christina Tosi's totally wonderful version of cinnamon rolls and the dough recipe has quite the following; it actually inspired the cinnamon bun pie served at Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC.

(Yields fourteen buns)

Ingredients

For the dough
2½ tsp. dry active yeast
¾ c. warm water
1½ c. warm milk
6 c. bread flour
2 tbsp. salt
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature

For the filling
1 c. butter, at room temperature
1½ c. light brown sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. salt

For the cream cheese frosting
½ c. butter
1½ c. cream cheese
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp. salt

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water and milk.

2. Knead in dry ingredients. Add butter. Let rise for 45 minutes.

3. After the 45-minute rise, roll out dough into a long rectangle and spread butter over its surface. Sprinkle it with a generous amount of light brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

4. Roll up the rectangle into a long cylinder. Cut into fourteen, 2-inch pieces. Place in a greased 9-by-13-inch pan or two 10-inch pie pans and cover with plastic. Let rise 45 minutes before baking for 12-22 minutes at 375°.

5. To prepare the frosting, mix butter, cream cheese, extract, sugar, and salt thoroughly.

6. While the buns are still warm, spread the frosting generously about the buns and serve immediately.

Reminder.

Be a violent & original present wrapper this week.  In order to achieve this work set before you, you must put your tape & scissors back where they belong after you finish using them.  Yes.

Mood board from Bodie & Foe

A holiday meal with friends.

Last week's highlight was an impromptu mid-week supper hosted by a beautiful mother & daughter duo.  It was a delicious evening; we ate decadent appetizers like "drunken" goat cheese, crab cakes & smoked salmon and drank sparkly white wine while our hostess casually threw lamb chops under the broiler and smashed garlicy potatoes.  My husband perfected a salad & I took pics of the charming holiday details.  The meal was enjoyed in the living room by the fire.  We sat like kings and queens on the floor, circled around a huge glass table bearing candles and water jug and mint sauce and gifts and food ...  it was wonderful.


Close up of crab cakes.



Appetizers and white wine.

Merry Christmas.

Bowl of chestnuts.

Lamb chop prepping.

Salad making.

Lamb chops.

"Dinner table"

Holiday details in kitchen.

Salad of watercress, tomatoes, romaine and avocado.

Thinking about the great meal we're about to enjoy.

Friday Love

Crystal Renn.  Photo by Luis Sanchis

A tour of the Ford family's Charlottesville home.



The sisters are into head pieces.



Another shot of Tulip & Ruby's room.  Their room seems completely old school-East coast-I'm-going-to-private-school .  But I love the ribbon installation.

The office.



The dining table is pretty generic (though I'm a fan of the round shape.)  Also, it's a nice, chic surprise to have a simple white couch in the dining room.  V cool.  I'm also admiring of Mrs. Ford's sweater wrap because I just think it's so darn practical & body conscious when you're being photographed for a national magazine.  Let the children wear the flair (like the dreamy & darling light purple head piece pictured above on little one's head...



The previous owners sold their house only after the current owners persistently stopped by offering to buy.





Fantastic pop of color on the mantel, but I've never liked fancy dog prints.  They're so odd.





What a wonderful worn out stool & my forev fav, open shelving for bowls & plates!



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This is called the library.  Love the chair and cluttery shelves.

 

Great living room.  Not my colors, but it's being itself and I'm a total fan.  Makes me thirsty for a cold, minty drink.



This spread of pics is from Southern Living magazine and was photographed by William Waldron.  The homeowners' aesthetic reminded me of two very different aesthetics: buttoned up Park Ave meets San Diego goof ball divorcee.  I really credit this home for doing something that is totally their own.  There is personality galore, with random animals & the placement of little chairs and bold pops of color, but there is also something neat and tucked in about it.  I thought of my sister and her beachy thrifted finds (as well as a peculiar compulsion to display animal ware...) but the house also reminded me of certain babysitting jobs on the Upper East Side -- homes that were filled with impersonal glass tables and powder blue curtains and tightly made beds.  The children's names are Henry, Ruby and Tulip.