Re: Subject: Birthday Dinner

K -

While it looks like no one has commented on your post, both Mary's Little and Lambchop have contacted me regarding your birthday dinner!!  Let's just say they are not too pleased.  The chops look delish, but I cannot say I'm a fan.  My mom never cooked them when I was little because my grandma used to make them for her and she swore they smelled like BO!  On that note, they did look great and as long as Jon was happy, that's what counts!!

The polenta and cake both are on the top of my favorites list.  I have yet to try to make polenta at home though, so I might have to give it a whirl.

Great job in the kitchen!!  Homemakering at it's best!!

PS - What was the restaurant you were interested in trying?  Don't forget I had a short stint in Tally!

Re: Re: Subject: Accent Walls

Miss Kara -

I love that I turn to you for advice, only to be told that wall decor basically scares you!!  :)  However, it's your honesty that keeps this friendship alive and well..  Just like the time you told me my favorite chandelier, the one that I hope to have in my dining room one day, looks like a spider!

Pottery Barn

So, I totally agree that one day I will get sick of whatever I decide to put on the tv wall and therefore I am not going to do anything with wall paper.  I really love that stripped wall with all the pictures, but I am thinking I am going to have to save it for a guest room or maybe the living room.  Hubby has decided he wants to hang the tv on the wall, so that won't leave much room for pictures.  And that pretty much answers one of your questions.  We are going to get a long tv stand, but we want the tv to be visible at all times.  I just need somewhere to store the DVR and DVD player along with the hundreds of DVDs and VHS tapes.  (Please don't ask me why I still own the later.  There is no good excuse!).

Right now I am leaning towards the zig zag wall.  The wall is currently Kilim Beige by Sherwin Williams.

Sherwin Williams - Kilim Beige #6106

I know it might look a little blah on here, but it is a really soft neutral and at this point I would only have to add in white zig zag stripes.  Seems easy enough!  I will let you know how it all goes down.

Here's to the first of many painting projects!!

Cheers,
Melissa

Subject: Birthday Dinner

Smitten Kitchen

Hello dear!

So, I have been meaning to tell you about this a-mazing dinner I made for Jon's birthday earlier this month. I really wanted to take him to try this new restaurant that I thought he would like, but he really wanted me to make him something special and just have a low-key evening at home. Now, that is really sweet of him, but I was really hoping to go out because a) I would not have to clean up afterwards and b) I really wanted to try this restaurant too! Anyway, we ate at home and I made, according to the Birthday Boy, the best meal he's ever eaten. High praise, I know.

At first I was completely uninspired and annoyed that I had to cook so I had no idea what I was going to do. But then I got into the spirit of the challenge and decided that I would do all new recipes that we had never eaten before and I would cook an interesting meat. Now really, any meat is interesting since really all we have is chicken and shrimp and the occasional beef, but I wanted to do something decadent, like shortribs or lamb. (Side note: I love using the word 'decadent' to describe savory items.)

I found a really easy recipe for lamb chops (which I had never made before) with a pistachio tapenade on Smitten Kitchen [Are you familiar with this site? I am ob-sessed.] that made my mouth water the minute I saw the picture and read the ingredients, so I knew that would be the main course. Then in one of my many Barefoot Contessa cookbooks I found a recipe for Rosemary Polenta (recipe available here) that looked scrumptious and for the vegetable I did Ina's Salad with Warm Goat Cheese and cooked up some pancetta to add to the salad because everything is better with bacon.

Oh my gosh - it was incredible. I used rosemary in the tapenade instead of the other herbs, which really united the lamb and the polenta, and the dressing on the salad was perfect with the warm goat cheese. For dessert I made Ina's Beatty's Chocolate Cake, which has always gone over well in our house. To wash it all done I picked up a lovely Pino Noir at the wine shop and it was so light and smooth that it complimented the richness of the lamb perfectly.

It was an all-day affair baking and prepping everything for dinner, but it was so worth it when the food turned out so well and - mostly importantly - the Birthday Boy enjoyed it. The only problem: I've set the bar kind of high for myself for next year!

Happy cooking!
Kara

Re: Subject: Accent Walls

Dear Mrs. Homeowner -

First, I have to admit - I am terrible at wall decor. We lived in our house for nearly three years before I finally decorated a huge, blank wall in our kitchen. I just shut down mentally sometimes because I get overwhelmed by the options and then I don't do anything. Encouraging, I know. I just like to come from a place of honesty :)

Anyway, I love your inspiration and the overall look you are going for. Will your television be out? Like, not tucked into an armoire, but on a piece of furniture so it will always be visible? Since your television is most likely rectangle with straight sides (I mean, right?), I like the idea of doing something kind of eclectic and bringing in some shapes and textures. I really liked the first picture you sent with the striped wall - the grouping of things together (especially the mirror), not the stripes themselves. You could incorporate a mirror, some plates, a shadow box, a wreath, maybe even a few empty window frames if you wanted. You could either do all black & white photos or mix it up and do some colorful paintings too. Maybe just keep the frames all similar so there's some cohesion.

I also like the idea of doing something subtle on the actual walls to act as a backdrop. Have you seen this post from Little Green Notebook? I like how the "wallpaper" is obviously there, but it's not so in-your-face that there would be too much going on with the television (especially when it was on) and everything else you put on the wall. This might also be a good option too because if you ever got tired of it (which you inevitably will), you can just paint over it instead of having to peel wallpaper (dreadful).

Okay, I hoped this helped some. I'm so excited for you and can't wait to start seeing some before & after pictures!

Xoxo,
Kara

Subject: Accent Walls

Hiiiiiii - 

Today, I have the first of many house projects to discuss with you.  Our new family room is essentially a big rectangle.  The couch will go under the window wall, which is one of the longer walls, the fireplace is on one of the shorter walls and then the tv wall is on the other longer wall.  I want to say the tv wall is about 8 ft. long, and doesn't touch any other walls in the room.  We are on the hunt for a great tv stand, but that's another story for another day.  For now, we must discuss the actual wall....it is in dire need of some sprucing up.  My mom and I, mostly my mom, have been finding accent wall pictures for inspiration.  When it comes to the overall look of the house, I want the vibe to be industrial chic and feel like Anthropologie when you are inside.  Does that make any sense??  Well, despite whether it does or doesn't, the inspiration for the entire house, color palette and all, is this overpriced, but AMAZING, shower curtain.  (Which has yet to be purchased, but also another story for another day!)

Anthropologie - Flamenco Shower Curtain

 

So, now that you have the visual of the room, my overall inspiration and color palette, what are your thoughts on the following accent walls?  Have you come across any others that you thought would be great?  HELP!  Okay, it's not an emergency, but I have to say this accent wall dilemma sometimes keeps me up at night.  :)

Domino Magazine

Okay, so you know where this is from!  And no, I did not bring a camera with me.  I got it offline.

Apartment Therapy

Centsational Girl

Design Sponge Online via We Love Indie

Decor Pad via Material Girls Blog

Apartment Therapy

HUGS!  Have a fab weekend!
Mel

Re: Subject: Lampshade Project

Sooooo.....small world, kind of sort of.  The blogger who runs Once Wed and the original creative mind behind your lampshade project, Ashley of Dolci Odille, happen to be great friends with one of my most favorite people in the whole wide word....my uber-talented wedding florist and one of my coolest friends, Amy Osaba! 

Now back to the lampshade....AMAZING!  You did such a great job!  I don't know if I'd ever have the patience?!?  I wonder what other items you could use this technique on??  I'm thinking maybe little votive candles??  And I have a fireplace and mantle in the new casa so I may just have to try it out!  Any other thoughts of household items to pom pom?


I'll leave you with this gorgeousness to brighten your Thursday!  Hooray for it almost being Friday!!

xxx,
Melissa 

Flowers by Amy Osaba - Photographs by W. Scott Chester

 

Subject: Lampshade Project

Hello dear! Do you remember how I told you last week I didn't feel like doing anything around the house, but I managed to finish a project that had been hanging over my head since before Suz was born? I'm so excited to share with you...finally.



Here is the before:



It's just a boring old lampshade. I have had it and the lamp since college (I went through a major blue & yellow phase) and now it's on my dresser, which I like because I needed some height on there and the yellow is nice with my bedding/headboard AND I enjoy lamplight more than the overhead light, so this works on so many levels. But the shade was just so eh.

Here is the after:

Do you LOVE? I am obsessed. Seriously. It took so, so much work, but I love the results so it was totally worth it. I just checked my computer, and the date for the 'before' picture was January 9, 2010 - yikes! This project was so tedious and time-consuming, I felt like I was never going to finish.

My inspiration came from this wedding post. I used white muslin and just followed the instructions for creating each little ruffle. I used close to 10 yards of muslin (I kid you not) and there are probably more than 1,000 ruffles on this thing. I only know that because when I was pushing through to finish, I cut out over 300 circles and used all but, like, five for a pretty small area. I put the ruffles really close together to give it a "packed" look and if I hadn't done that I probably could have finished sooner and used less material, but I love the overall effect. You'll notice in the 'before' picture how there were cut-outs along the bottom of the shade. I was able to glue the fabric close enough to the holes that it covered them completely when the fabric puffed out.

Here it is with the lamp on:

I love the way the light shines through. I think this would be so perfect in a nursery or child's room because the light is so soft when it comes through the shade. I think it looks like hundreds of rose petals.

Ahh...it feels SO GOOD to be done with this project. And I love that I was able to take something I already owned and make it into something new. My only cost - besides hours of my life I will never get back and hot-glue burns out the wazoo - was for the muslin, which was pretty cheap. So, yeah - all in all, not bad.

Yay!
Kara