birthday bliss

we're off to new hampshire for a long birthday weekend. can't wait to fill you on the details of our sweet bed + breakfast, hiking and what will surely be awesome antique shopping

have a fun weekend!

suburbia update: moving day!! (almost)

autumn greetings from suburbia! things are moving right along with our new house. 

stuart has been a painting maniac. he has painted every inch of the main floor and the past week has been making his way upstairs. this is quite a feat as the dinning room was a deep, dark maroon color (now a perfect shade of pink sea salt, same color as this envy worthy room, a mere 6 coats later) and every single window and door frame is flanked by at least 5 inches of molding. madness, i tell you, madness.

in the meantime we are trying to coordinate all of our new, kick-ass (via scratch and dent) appliances being delivered, gas line hook up, cable company, switching electric and water, oil delivery and our new garbage pick up schedule

(side note: getting your own giant garbage cans to bring to the bottom of the driveway felt oddly very grown up. maybe it's because we have a driveway)

the electricity sucking 50's fridge has been laid to rest and i swear it seems all the street lights now glow a little brighter. 

our sweet, old portuguese neighbor brought us a beautiful and huge fresh loaf of bread  the other day, as a little housewarming token. as we were showing him around the clean, freshly painted house and thanking him for the bread, he decided that would be a perfect time to literally block us down in the basement and try to convince us to convert and become jehovah witnesses. he slowly, in broken english, bombarded me with questions on the chapters of the bible and asked me how i pray. while biting my lip to keep from laughing out loud (mostly due to nerves by feeling trapped in my own basement) i shamelessly tried to deflect the questions onto stuart, the non-practicing watered down christian. but it seems the loosely practicing catholic who knows all of her prayers by heart was the better prey. 

...long episode short: stuart is still non-practicing anything and i am toying with the idea of ordering a giant virgin mary for the front yard. 

packing with a toddler is beyond difficult. there is a lot of climbing, missing items and unpacking. as a result, i have labeled more than half our boxes "MISC." my OCD self will be beyond frustrated when it comes to actual moving day and unpacking. my newest idea to help near-future frustrations is buying two different shades of duct tape to close the boxes. green taped boxes are for upstairs and purple is for downstairs. genius, no?!

we're also trying to organize actual moving day(s). we have all of our things from our queens apt in storage 2 counties away. the entire contents from our sparsely decorated 3 bedroom house in wales is in my moms closed in porch (can you say "hoarders") 

then, of course, we have all of the amazing buys of furniture pieces i've been collecting all 7 months from estate sales in my grandmothers garage. in addition we also have all of our current stuff and nia's stuff all over my moms 2,500 sq. ft. house. dispersed evenly, of course. 

not to mention all of the furniture pieces i've been collecting since i was 11 for my future house, waterford and china i bought when i was living abroad, shipped home and now in the basement. there are also plenty of childhood/school boxes from the attic. who saves all of their report cards? me! crazy. why you ask? who wouldn't save ones that note quote: "has demonstrated improved volume control in class". 

moving day 1 of 2 is tomorrow. i'll keep you posted

bathroom makeover

so, as you may or may not know, we JUST closed on our new house. first house. amazing house. charming house.

and although it is bursting with character and has amazing details throughout, we have 1.5 bathrooms that are bare bones and desperately need a makeover.

details: the downstairs bathroom is super small, has no floor, and is complete with just an old, smelly toilet and the tiny-est sink ever. odd pink tiling and bad 80's wallpaper, haf of which is down or ruined and patchy has to go.

we do however have a kick-ass clawfoot tub that we scored months ago that we are building the whole room on. it's gorgeous.

while i'll keep you hanging for actual pictures and a complete makeover recap (we haven't even decided on tiles yet) here are a few images for my ever-growing inspiration file.

fresh raspberry jam

we've been trying to jam-pack (pun intended!) our autumn full of little adventures. yesterday was the first weekend together we've had as a little family in a long time, so we decided to spend the gorgeous day outside raspberry picking.

we filled a little quart container full of ripe red ones, some surprisingly delicious white ones and a bunch of not-quite-ripe pink ones that were the perfect amount of tartness.

this morning i decided to make a yummy + super simple raspberry jam. YUM!

quick + easy jam recipe (from martha stewart)

2 cups hulled raspberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

puree or blend raspberries to desired consistency in food processor.

mix all ingredients and bring to a boil in a small non-stick saucepan.

boil on medium-high for 10 minutes or so (mine took about 12-14 to thicken)

remove from heat and put in container. let cool to room temp and refrigerate. it will last up to 14 days.


*needless to say, i've been eating toast all day.

zuo quark chandelier

we officially closed on our new house yesterday. so naturally, i decided to buy things for it.

our zuo quark chandelier just arrived this afternoon. i'm beyond excited to put it up in the dining room (mind you, the dining room isn't even done being painted and has no other furniture)

what do you think? love it, no?

oh, and don't be fooled. we would never pay full price for it. it just happened to be on one kings lane last week for a ridiculously good price. i couldn't pass it up.

happy friday!

hope you relax + enjoy the sunshine

cinnamon buttermilk cake

don't you hate when you buy ingredients for a recipe and only end up using the tiniest bit and having loads left over? that said, we had a bunch of buttermilk in the fridge that was almost two weeks old, so i knew it would be on its way out soon.

instead of reverting to my classic buttermilk scone recipe, i decided to bake a buttermilk cake, lacing it with plenty of cinnamon.

cinnamon buttermilk cake a la evans

2 C. all purpose flour (i've used self rising before and came out just as great)
1 TBSP (heaping) cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick salted butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 C. buttermilk

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. beat butter and sugar on medium/high until fluffy. beat in eggs, one at a time. add buttermilk. gradually add dry mixture to create batter until well blended.

pour into greased + floured pan. (i used 9" round)

bake for 35-40 minutes. ENJOY!

wild over wild flowers

i'm somewhat obsessed with wild flowers. plus, they are just so quintessentially late summer time, no? so we went on a fun mini adventure yesterday to a pick-your-own wild flower farm.

there were dozens of varieties to choose from. rows and rows of bright + gorgeous colors. sunflowers taller than me. lots of sweet bees buzzing around. it was a perfect afternoon.

we picked over two buckets full for a mere $20 + $2 to keep the bucket to carry them home. suburbia highlight: WAY cheaper than a whole foods bundle. 

our picks of the day

recipe: banana upside down cake

it was a perfect storm; i was in the mood to bake, craving something sweet, looking for a fun activity to do with nia and we had super soft/need-to-use-soon bananas.

whenever i'm feeling adventurous i always go to my trusty epicurious app and type in whatever ingredients we have lying around. a few years ago i (humbly) mastered a pineapple upside down cake, so a banana twist seemed like the best  choice.

banana upside down cake

for bottom:
1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
6 TBSP unsalted butter (room temp)
2 ripe bananas, sliced (although i used super soft/past ripe ones, ripe, firm ones would definitely yield better results)
(although the recipe doesn't call for it, i generously sprinkled the bananas with cinnamon)

for cake:
1 1/2 c. cake flour ( if you don't have cake flour, use 1 1/4 c. all purpose mixed with 1/4 c. corn flour)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed bananas
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. vegetable shortening (i used equal amount of butter instead)
2 eggs (i only used one)
(again, although it doesn't call for it, i added about 2 TBSP of cinnamon to the batter)

preparation:

Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, cream brown sugar and butter in medium bowl until well mixed. Spread brown sugar mixture over bottom of 9-inch square baking dish with 2-inch high sides. Arrange banana slices atop brown sugar mixture, covering completely. Set cake pan aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Mix mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla in another small bowl. Using electric mixer, cream 1 1/4 cups sugar and shortening until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients alternatively with buttermilk mixture, mixing until just combined. Pour batter over bananas in pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly. Turn cake out onto plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

a few things to note:
you could definitely use less sugar, as this was a super sweet cake. also, i think i could have used a bit less butter and sugar for the topping (bottom when you bake) as it was too thick and you really just need enough to cover the sliced bananas for them to caramelize. the top/bottom didn't come out as great as i had hoped, but the actual cake was delicious!

film project

how amazing does this film look? i can't wait to see it (especially since my dear friend camila is producing it)

check it out here at kickstarter

DIY color block chair

i found this sweet little chair at a thrift store the other week. the size was perfect and nia got cozy in it right away (when we were still in the store!) best part about it, it was only $7!

so i took it home and with a little elbow grease, help from martha and sandpaper + foam brushes it came out lookin' pretty sweet!

i first washed the chair, as it was looking pretty grubby. once it was dry i sand papered off the train stencil and gave the rest of the chair a quick sanding so the paint would stick better. 

do you not just love these colors? i had such a hard time choosing even what color scheme to go with. 

i went with granny smith, pool and scallion paint colors and LOVED how they looked together.  it took about 3 coats, but the paint dried pretty fast and the whole project took me about 3 hours (including color debating time)

and nia loves it!

city or not?

just saw this great little guide here via one of my favorites. makes me miss my commute to work (did i really just say that?!)

DIY: rainbow blocks

i'm pretty serious about nia being surrounded by plenty of old fashion, wooden + classic toys. i think it just makes for more creative minds. i really wanted to buy one of these boikido sets, but they were just too expensive to justify. 

so i was super excited to try to create our own wild set from the cheaper, yet bland educo ones

  

  (educo) 

 (boikido)

                                                                                 

here are a few of the blocks before. they were pretty boring in person.

i got out a few of my favorite martha paints (you can buy them here in tons of different colors). i had to narrow down my choices in color, so i picked the brightest ones that would coordinate well together on the already existing basic rainbow colors. 

the peppermint glitter paint was perfect for adding shimmery sea spray to my painted wave blocks and just adding a thin, single coat to a few solid blocks was perfect way to jazz them up a touch.

and after many coats, drying time (which was extra long with all this humidity lately) and overtaking the dining table, here was my finished project...

overall i'm pretty happy with the results. i did decide to leave a few of the natural wood color ones plain. if i had all the time in the world i would have experimented more with design ideas and given all the blocks the proper 4+ coats they needed, but i had to keep a curious toddler from the table full of paint, blocks and glitter. c'est la vie. 

air plants

while out on one of our mini adventures i traipsed into a sweet little shop. i spotted a bunch of gorgeous glass containers all scattered along a raw brick wall. in a few lay these little, naked, green plants, just floating in air. the girl behind the counter told me they were air plants; they require no soil, just misting and the occasional dunk in water and happily sit alone or in one of these glass pods. 

how perfect! they sounded so easy which sounds especially great as i am 1) currently trying to dust off my green thumb and 2) are in-between houses. 

i picked a smallish plant, which i was assured would be ready to bloom soon, and a rounded globe. 

the globes really are exceptional pretty as you can tell by the imperfections that they are hand blown and have really fat edges. 

i watered it in the bathroom sink as soon as we got home and it is already brightening up the bedroom. i mean, really, how great are these little guys?!

here's ours 

(other photos from west elm + vivaterra)

chalk board obsession

all my recent house day dreams are just pilling up in my brain. rapidly.

one huge obsession lately is chalkboards. where should we have one in our house, if any? on the back of a door? in nia's room? just a small chalk board in a frame in the kitchen or some cozy corner tucked away?

on a piece of furniture? or an entire wall? 

or do i just stick with the original + classic board easel? 

so much to debate + consider! 

(*photos borrowed from design mom, tinyk, and (one of my fav's) thebooandtheboy)

LOVE! proposal @ cafe mogador

we were out in manhattan yesterday, wandering about, escaping the heat and meeting up with friends in the afternoon. we went out for a beyond delicious dinner at one of my top 3 favorite places in all of NY, cafe mogador. YUM!

as we're sipping our cucumber martinis (also beyond delicious) and reminiscing over our old 5th floor walk-ups with no A/C, the man of a cute couple a table over from us suddenly got down on one knee, the old fashioned way, and proposed. his declaration of love was very quiet, to keep some sort of intimacy of the crowd-filled moment and within seconds the entire restaurant was cheering + clapping. i had goosebumps! it was just so sweet. the girl (said "yes!") was completely taken by surprise and seemed overjoyed.

the couple stayed a bit longer. when they left the restaurant, the entire place filled up with clapping again. they continued along, moseying across east 8th street both with giant smiles.

i couldn't help thinking about the freshly engaged couple; was he stressed before (stuart definitely was) + felt a little wave of relief that she said yes, who would she call first to share the news, where would they think about get married, would they get a bottle of champagne on their way home or go out somewhere after to celebrate some more?

don't you just love hearing about romantic moments? and witnessing it was really wonderful and felt almost magical.

white envy

since i'm becoming sliiiightly obsessed with design ideas, furniture hunting, decorating and all house things in general, i've really been focusing on my "inspiration" folder. as i took a closer look at photos i really love, spaces i envy and color schemes i think we could pull off in our soon-to-be-new home, i'm noticing there is a lot of white; walls, floors, furniture, etc. i just love it!

all the whites take on a different shade all their own depending on what white they are up against. and the white walls really make everything hanging on them or furniture along them really pop.

i'm sure i've mentioned we're going for a general house mood of whites, warm woods, fauna greens, and punches of pastels, so the white walls look is definitely going full steam ahead.

and i'm so excited to try it. we have a lot of fun, great + loud pieces that i think will just add more character and warmth to the whole space. 

(*photos from thesweetestdigs, decor pad, and fancy house road)

wales love + welsh things

because stuart is welsh, i'm always trying to find little things for our home that are from, well, his home, so he doesn't feel too homesick. have you even been to wales? it's gorgeously green, quiet, sheep on every corner (and very rainy)

i would obviously love a huge + gorgeous welsh kitchen cupboard, but since that is next-to-impossible, here are some sweet finds that we may try to incorporate...

the welsh alphabet print so nia can learn allllll of her letters

the perfect razor, hand made in wales, for a welsh gentleman

a vintage map of the south of wales to put on a nice large frame

the sweetest little hand stamped vintage teaspoon for sugar, tea or ice cream. stuart calls nia 'cariad' all of the time. ("cariad" means love)

a beautiful yet simple painting of the welsh countryside. (yup, this is pretty much what it looks like; hilly and tons of green)

or a more whimsical map, perfect to tell you where to go for an adventure