jonesing to wallpaper & reupholster something...

after stalking galbraith & paul textiles i'm jonesing to wallpaper or reupholster something in one of their insanely gorgeous patterns...i'm obsessed...

fabric...

wallpaper...

winter creativity...

umm, hello, look at the ring around the sun on my ride down, amazing.

confession: i was an epic failure at the girls sewing/knitting extravaganza in little compton over the weekend. i was too busy blabbing my mouth and asking the serious sewers & knitters a million and one questions about their own projects. but i did learn the basics of knitting (thank you amanda!) and regardless, the weekend was perfection...and these are the photos to prove it...

yeah, so this is the morning view from the house, no big deal...

sweaters, scarfs, bags, quilts, pillows...there was so much production & creativity happening. we nicknamed the house the 'sweatshop' for the weekend...

and holy hell, the best breakfast i've had in years. i will never cook bacon the same way now that i know the secret to the perfect piece of bacon. i wish i had photos of the beef bourguignon from the dinner the night before, but i was too busy shoveling it into my mouth...

ok, i lied, i did one little project...homemade valentine's...which weren't super successful since we couldn't stop eating the swedish fish...

thank you sarah, for hosting, you are awesome. and thank you amanda, meggin, stephanie & emily for letting me listen to your stories, watch you create beautiful items, and making my heart feel full and warm on a cold winter weekend ...and for all the talk about crystals too!

pesto stuffed portobellos...

ok, so not to keep harping on veganism, because really, i swear, i am as carnivorous as they come. but i took my mom & stepdad out for my mom's (ahhh, 60th!) birthday dinner last night to a vegan restaurant in somerville, true bistro, (side note, i would have thought an uber liberal/crunchy/hippie/free thinking place like nearby cambridge would have more vegan restaurants, but they don't) and it was SO good. so good, that i would absolutely, 100% eat there again. so good, that i actually stole the menu and gave it to my parents so they could study it and maybe recreate some of it home. so good, i've actually been making some vegan recipes of my own...

i found this vegan pesto stuffed portobello recipe that looked pretty yummy, but just couldn't bring myself so make it 100%, so i faked it a little... umm, i used regular store bought pesto & i used shaved parmesan cheese too (because that vegan 'cheese' just looks plain nasty), and at the end i took off the foil and turned the heat u to 375 to brown the cheese a little on top... and holy hell does it taste good!..

 

currently reading...

i am fairly certain that i am not the only person on the planet who goes around target and other stores that have book titles that look interesting, snapping photos with my iphone, right? i came across these two books and have them on hold for me at my local library. the first is the girl who fell from the sky by heidi durrow...

the second is unsaid: a novel by neil abramson...not going to lie, the picture on the cover of the book sucked me in...

ice luminaries are pretty cool...

today is c-o-l-d. like the kind of cold you can't shake out of your bones cold. that being said, kind of inspires me to do something with this coldness (aside from sitting in a hot steamy shower)...i want to make these diy ice luminaries for my yard...aren't they gorgeous? gabrielle from design mom is so clever, i want to be her...

easy noodles...

image & recipe via the cutting edge of ordinary

craving an easy asian noodle bowl? try this recipe (taken from one of my other favorite bloggers, pioneer woman), easiest thing ever, although i had to guy a few of the different oils (but it's good to have those items stocked anyway). i made two alterations to the recipe; i added extremely thinly sliced slivers of red pepper and i also added a dollop of peanut butter to the sauce.

i also used trader joe's fresh rice noodles in this recipe (which happen to be vegan). if you do use them literally only cook them in boiling water for about 1 minute (disregard their cooking instructions), because they getting gooey & sticky much beyond that. and buy two packages to use...two individual packages come inside, but i ended up using three because the sauce goes a long way...

sewing, sewing, sewing...

i am so looking forward to this weekend. yup, you guessed it, another girls weekend! this one is down in gorgeous little compton, rhode island with a group of my super talented & crafty girlfriends. it's going to be a weekend of sewing, cooking, wine sipping and lots of gossip & laughter. unfortunately i can only stay for one night of festivities, but you can bet i'm going to get my creative groove on with these ladies.

because i have limited time i have to be smart about my crafting plan of attack. i'm the kind of girl whose eyes are bigger than her stomach, i try to attempt top many projects at once. so i've decided to keep it simple, focus on upcoming valentine's day. i'm going to start by making these lavendar filled heart shape ornaments. i've ordered my lavendar from the vermont wildflower farm and have a stash of pink fabrics & ribbon all ready to go. i want them to look like some version of these...

and i might make a few of these, even though they're not sewing projects, they're as cute as can be...

word on the street is that a few of the girls are going to attempt this round bottom fabric storage bucket. umm, obviously I want to make about 100 of these adorable things...but i might watch the experts make them and then attempt them at home, by myself, where i can swear up a storm as i mess up...

i'll keep you posted on what i make and what the other girls make...their stuff is bound to be way more complicated and beautiful than mine. i'll probably do so much talking that i don't get a damn thing accomplished.

do you have a signature scent?...

little known fact about me... i do not have a signature scent. i've always wanted one, i feel like all awesome women should have one, but for some reason i can't commit to just one. that's why i NEVER buy the large bottles of perfume, usually the small or medium ones- it's not because i'm cheap, it's because i'll never get through an entire large bottle before i find a new one to obsess over.

i just bought a new one that i'm lovin' right now, jo malone english pear & freesia...

the ones i wear year round on a rotating basis are fresh & light and work in all seasons...

stella by stella mccartney...

roger & gallet cedrat...

fresh hesperides... 

but in the winter (only) i add into my rotation narciso rodriguez for her...

and in the summer i like to throw in escada taj sunset because it's super sweet smelling and works well in extreme heat... 

fuel me...

my sweet, gorgeous & athletic friend megan was sporting this weird little futuristic band on her wrist this weekend- have you heard of them? uh, they are pretty freakin' awesome. now that i've started running again (i know, stop the phone, a decade hiatus from voluntary running and then all of the sudden i'm back out there- story for another time) i think i should get myself a nike fuel band. this little bad boy tracks your daily activity, whether its walking, running, rolling over in bed, this thing does it all. i think this could be the 'in your face' motivation that i need to really push me in my healthy, happy 2013 endeavor...