Tory Love

Are there any items that you've lusted after, and every time you see someone else with it, you get a pang of jealousy?  Well for me it's the Tory Burch black clutch with gold medallion detail.  I've agonized over it in the store more times than I'd like to admit, but I am too practical to spend over $300 on a bag meant for partying.

Imagine my surprise and glee when one of our sales partners invited my team to a private shopping event at Tory Burch's store downtown.  I think I pretty much died and went to heaven.

Doors closed early at 5:00 last night to host our private party there - flutes of champagne in hand, we browsed the store like royalty.  It was actually pretty surreal to be in there with a sales person dedicated to finding me pieces.    I tried on shoes, blouses, sunglasses, and several darling dresses, but I knew in my heart what I was leaving with.... the black clutch.  The photo above is of part of their handbag display.  Love love loveeeee!

Onto my favorite part... the decor...

Can we talk about how well styled these stores are??  I WISH my house could be this fabulous!  I was too embarrassed to actually ask the staff to take a photo of us, but I did get out my iPhone to snap a few covert pictures of the displays.  I felt like I was walking around inside a pretty jewelry box - it was just fabulous from the graphic diamond rugs, to the vibrant colors, and amazing orchid arrangements.

This display in particular was one of my favorites.  The X leg benches were perfect next to the gilt trim table with it's super shiny lacquer top.

Anyway, here she is... my new little baby :-)  Isn't she amazing??

Pumpkin Doughnuts

I am fairly certain that after the amount of eating I've been doing for work (elaborate dinners, lunches out, cupcakes, cheese platters, and gallons of wine in the last week) that the last thing I need is a Pumpkin Doughnut, but after finding this recipe, I've become convinced that I need to make these tonight.

Try to tell me that these don't look life changing...

Yes... life changing indeed.

My first thought was, I don't have this special pan for them... what about muffins, but as I read through the recipe, they specifically said, don't try this as muffins.  Whelp, looks like a trip to Williams Sonoma might be in my future to pick up one of these...

As a side note, these are baked - not deep fried - so the recipe actually looks really easy!  Start by pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees.  You'll need:

  - 1/2 cup vegetable oil

  - 3 large eggs

  - 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

  - 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin)

  - 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus a heaping 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger

  - 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

  - 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Put all these ingrediants into a large mixing bowl, and beat everything together until it's smooth.

Add 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, stirring just until smooth.

Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans, and fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full.  Bake the doughnuts for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. If you’re using self-rising flour, bake for the longer amount of time.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, loosen their edges, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

While the doughnuts are still warm (but no longer fragile), gently shake them in a bag with cinnamon-sugar. Or better yet, pumpkin-spice sugar, made by combining the aforementioned pumpkin pie spice (or substitute) with granulated or extra-fine sugar.

You are welcome in advance. How AMAZING do these look?!

The Shops at Target

Is anyone else as excited as I am for the new shops at Target?!  They have partnered with four AWESOME local shops in a major way... New York's Odin and Kirna Zabete, Boston's Patch NYC, and San Francisco's The Curiosity Shoppe.  My favorites are Patch and the Curiosity Shoppe, mainly becuase they have the cutest, funkiest little accessories for the home.

Patch NYC's collection is full of pieces with a woodsy vibe (think fuzzy wool blankets, and woodland creature figurines), and for extremely affordable prices, you can prepare for hibernation with new lamps, pillows, dishes, and throw blankets.

I think the owl lamp and owl bookends are endlessly charming - I also love the woodpecker lamp!  As darling as these would be paired up in a sophisticated child's bedroom, I also think they'd be really cool in an office, hallway, or entryway.

      

Their woodsy pillow collection is pretty awesome too.  I actually think the stag pillow would be great for the holidays since this little guy looks quite a bit like a certain red nosed reindeer (without the red nose)

                           

And for any fox lovers out there (aka my sister's friend Rebecca), they have an array of fox themed goods from lamps to candle holders, to sweet little dishes

           

The Curiosity Shoppe has a lot of great things for entertaining, from fun straws, and drink mixers, to photo booth props, cheese platters, and gift wrap!  They had really cute dishes, cake stands, and even journals!  Looking through the collection, it dawned on me that this is the perfect one-stop-shop for a funky bride on a budget.  Am I right or am I right?! (Tip: I'm right)

How cute are these props for a photo booth, and these old timey straws??  They remind me of mini barber poles!  Isn't there something about fake mustaches that are so fun?!

                           

I LOVE the USA cutting board - quirky and cute!  It would also work really well as a cheese platter - what would be REALLY adorable is if you featured different cheeses from different regions like a Humboldt Fog Bleu near San Francisco, or a Wisconsin Cheddar up near the great lakes...

They also are featuring some super cute gift boxes and tags - for anyone (like me) who struggles when trying to wrap a present, these boxes are so pretty, you won't want to cover them up!!  I especially love the yellow one with the wood grain print on the top...

          

 

**As a side note, this is NOT an advertisement for Target, or any of these individual vendors.  I just happen to be obsessed with how awesome they are  :-)

The Hallway is Getting some Love (FINALLY)

There are a few changes taking place in our home right now, and most of them involve a bit of paint.  In this month's issue of House Beautiful, one designer was quoted saying that paint is the cheapest and easiest way to update a room.  I couldn't agree more!!

The first face-lift on the list is our small hallway that leads from the front of our apartment (living room, dining room and kitchen) to the back (bedroom and bathroom).  The hallway isn't long - it's maybe 15 feet, and it's main feature is the large linen closet that takes up most of it.  As you can see from the photo's below - it's less than attractive.

As it stands, the hallway is monochromatic - the walls, ceiling, trim, and linen closet are all currently painted the same color of blah off-white, and with the wood floors and wood console table, it feels dark, drab, and utterly boring.  To make matters worse, the runner we've got in there right now is also brown. The hallway is brown on brown on brown.  It really can't get worse, so my plan is to transform the space with a few cans of paint.

*View from the Dining Room                                                             *View from Bedroom

Brown on Brown on Brown.... so ugly!!

Anyway, the main changes will be to our existing console table that is in serious need of some TLC.  I found it on Craigslist a few years ago for around $20, so since it's not a priceless antique, I am very excited to slap some paint on it.  The table has great lines, but the overly shiny finish makes it look cheap.  It's not good.  

I did a little research into removing lacquer and it sounds like A LOT of work, so instead of bending over backwards to refinish and re-stain this cheap wood console table, I'm going to paint it.  Easy.

*The faux inlay isn't bad... but the shine!!  Oye!                                 *It's like a mirror!!  Woof!

Luckily, the console table has really great lines - it has a pretty carved apron and cabriole legs that give it a French Provincial look, and I think it's going to make a really great makeover.  

The top of the table has a faux herringbone inlay which I had originally planned on painting, but I haven't FULLY committed to covering it up yet.  Perhaps the inlay will look much better once the varnish is gone?  Who knows, but if it still looks god awful, my plan is to distress the wood - aka really ding it up with a hammer and some extra gritty sandpaper.  Once it's distressed I have a dark taupe paint called "Squirrel" that my sister will get a kick out of (side note: she is deathly scared of squirrels, so as soon as I saw that the paint was named "Squirrel" I had to have it)  The plan is to paint the legs and apron first and tackle the top afterwards.

*Look at these great lines! I love the turned legs, the scalloped apron, and detail on the drawers!

This is the console table set up in the garage, ready for it's makeover...

Aside from some paint on the console table, I'll be painting the walls, trim, and linen closet to brighten up the space.  The walls will get a warm creamy color and the trim, doors, and linen closet will be painted a glossy bright white.  I think the color is actually called "Decorators White" so I can pretend I'm some sort of professional.  Ha!

Here is the inspiration board I built around what I hope to achieve:

Finally, that awful brown runner is getting the heave-ho, and my newest purchase from Ballard - the Saybrook Indoor/Outdoor runner - is going in it's place.  I actually got this runner several months ago, but it's been waiting for the rest of the hallway to catch up in terms of aesthetics.  I love the calming colors, and since our dining room (that is adjacent to this hallway) has a lot of the same colors, it will make for a pretty seamless transition from room to room.

I once read that in small spaces, it's good to repeat similar color palates from room to room, as it makes the space feel larger.  We will see if that is true....

Stay tuned for updates!!

Off to Drink Wine like a Greek Goddess

This is view from Ravenswood - a winery that is located in Sonoma who makes one of my FAVORITE red wines.  Their winery is also going to be one of the stops on our wine tour tomorrow.  Oh, did I mention we were going wine tasting? If it were an Olympic event, I'd be a gold medalist... not to brag.

Anyway, I am counting the minutes until we are in our car, heading up to the wine country for some weekend relaxation.

Have a happy, sunny, wonderful weekend!