I love a good before and after

One of my daily reads is Erin Gates' blog "Elements of Style," the companion to her thriving design business in Boston. If only I were in Boston, we would be friends perhaps (I also feel that way about Erika Powell, but I digress... blogs somehow make me feel as though I'm creepy without ever intending to be).

This morning, I had to share her kitchen remodel for a client. I can't tell you what a fan I am of marble and white in a kitchen. And I also have a hard time letting people do anything other than white on a cabinet (painted is always fine, but wood makes me really want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them until they drop the subject).

So get a load of this baby:


I love how clean it is, without losing any amount of prettiness. I think that's a hard combination to pull off so kudos to Erin.

These were the befores, by the way:

Had to post this...

Bringing my big whopping grand total for August to three posts. Shameful.

But regardless, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post on this gem: LuAnn de Lesseps from Real Housewives of New York has published her new digs in NY Social Diary.

To be fair, I couldn't bring myself to read the whole article because I'm not interested in her enough (now if it was Bethenny...), and after seeing the photos, I still wasn't interested in reading it more closely. Maybe I missed something earth-shattering... but probably not.


(get a load of that hearth get-up... yuck)

I passed over the more boring images, but you can see the whole article here. Perhaps others like it, but it's not my cup of tea.

You're on my list.

Caviar dreams, tuna fish budget.

Hearty Oats & Summer Fruit

Let's face it, one of the things that really floats my boat is food. Not only is it something I've had a passion for since way back when, it's something that really makes me feel better -- and I'm not talking about the "eat my feelings" kind of way, I'm talking about how making something to share can make me feel like a better person. Also, there is nothing better than when a recipe either turns out perfectly, or when successfully cooking or baking without a recipe can feel like a complete and utter victory.

So get used it, there might be a lot more food posts. Right now, I'm channeling my creative energy into it rather than a house because it is so much cheaper than tearing down a wall or buying sets of glassware.

Yesterday I brought back one of my favorite breakfasts that has now become my lunch and probably quite soon, my dinner. Oats -- but let me say, these are anything but gluey and sticky. By cooking the oats like pasta for only a minute or so, it makes them much more grain-like. My next endeavor is a savory version of this, with probably mushrooms and other summer/fall veggies.

For the time being, here is how to make a quick breakfast -- everything done in the time it takes to boil water and cook them.

Quick Cook Oats with Summer Fruits

Add as many fruits and nuts as you desire, obviously, but I love combination including strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango, the list can go on. In winter, diced apple and dried cranberries make a great substitution for a lack of fresh fruit.

1/2 c. Old Fashioned/Steel Cut Oats
1 peach in a 1/2 dice
Small handful of nuts, like walnuts or pecans
Brown sugar or agave, to taste

Boil water in a medium size pot. While water is heating, prep fruit and nuts. Add them to your breakfast bowl and top with brown sugar/agave. Once the water has boiled, add the oats and wait for the water to resume boiling. At this point, you should see the oats almost dancing in the water, quickly replaced by the starches from the oats being released and creating foamy water that threatens to boil over -- pour the oats into a fine sieve and once drained, combine with fruits and nuts, about a minute.

For convenience, I usually let the oats cool for a bit in the time it takes me to wash my pot and sieve. For me, it's worth the minute it takes to do the dishes and know I never have to come back to a mess.

Happy Birthday Miggies

...Don't say I never did anything for you.

Thanks for being my one loyal reader.

Herbal Housewarming

I've always thought housewarming gifts were somewhat difficult to give. Knowing how particular I am about what I want in my home, I never want to impose my own taste on someone else if I don't know them super well. So when the opportunity arose to go outside with my gift, it felt right. And, it gives me the opportunity to get in on the action of choosing the perfect herbs for my friends.

This week my boyfriend gets a new roommate: His roommate's girlfriend. She moves up from Arizona to quit the long-distance relationship stuff, and as the by-product, I get more estrogen in the house and shows like "The City" on the DVR. Cooking hasn't been something she's spent a ton of time doing, but with a new climate and people to eat with, I think it's something we will both be doing together in a small apartment kitchen .

Choosing the right herbs is a little difficult because you have to get the right mix of things that will come in handy, but also aren't too boring. In the pots for this housewarming are Sweet Basil, Thai Basil, Greek Oregano, Curly Parsley (they were out of Italian, a real bummer), BBQ Rosemary and mature Mint (in its own pot). I wish I had chives in the mix, but maybe after we test their heartiness we can add another pot of additional plants.

Ask me what I did today?

I dare you. I bet my answer is either a lot like yours, or not at all.

If you happened to have spent your day in line for the iPhone 4, well then, I guess we are soul mates. Today, however, the only people close to me were a bunch of nerds who I learned a whole lot about over the course of 7.5 hours. Yes, 7.5 hours.

There are times when I wish I was a quitter (Lisa, let me save you the trouble -- except for that time I quit working for you) because if I was, I would have told that line to eff off and somehow figured out how to get my phone without standing there for the entire day. But, being that I have a stubborn streak and an intense devotion to iPhones, there I was, for better or worse.

I don't know how I somehow got kicked to the "reserve" option on AT&T last week instead of the "ship to me and have it arrive a day early with no effort at all" option, but I was unlucky. And to make matters worst, my boyfriend was one of the lucky ones, so there was no way in hell I was going to let him lord that phone over me for days, weeks, or (gasp) months. Oh no, sir.

So all of the above means it was just me and some nerds for a day. I was one of the only girls in the line and as the only girl, I almost felt like it was my duty to tell the Apple programmer that he had BO and the Microsoft-y that he had a bad case of dandruff, but in the spirit of new technology, I embraced our differences and let them fly their freak flag... high.

And then, at 2:55pm, after hours together, they cheered me off as I was ushered in to the store. Together we waited, apart we bask in iPhone 4 glory.

(And sadly, my photos from the day were lost in the upgrade, but trust, there were some doozies.)

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

Today has just been one of those days where I feel like I will go to sleep tonight regretting how I spent the day. Don't get me wrong, procrastinating with 9 by Design and various other OnDemand selections felt good at the time, but then you look back on it with regret. It's the to-do list's arch enemy, the equivalent of eating a bag of Cheetos -- so good at the time and then as soon as it's over, you know you did a bad, bad thing.

I did manage to walk to the bank today and also check email, where I found these lovely little $50 dollar items from Daily Candy.

The first is a linen shirt from Nordstrom that I won't be able to buy, because unfortunately, the title is too correct, my boyfriend really does have a shirt like this and the embarrasment of showing up someplace wearing the same thing is enough to make me skip it, even though I really do want it. In all honesty, I might end up getting it and then live a life forever spent phoning ahead to check that we aren't dressed like twins.

Chambray shorts from Gap, that honestly, I can't see looking good on real people, but the concept I love. And sometimes, loving something in theory is just as good as the real thing.

Lastly, in unrelated news, days are numbered for Martin + Osa, so stop by and pick up some of the best tanks I've found lately for cheap. God, I'll be sad to see them go. It's just not right.

Just Right, Right?

That's not too big of a pour, right? I think it's just the glass that is deceiving but it definitely put a good dent in the bottle.

Regardless, it is past 5:00 and totally necessary after a hard day's work. Thank you to France for a wonderful $9 bottle (that today only serves 3).

Yes, I get GOOP

This week's GOOP (Gwyneth Paltrow's personal hotlist) is actually kind of interesting. Don't get me wrong, I love the newsletters full of clothes and I even love the cooking segments, but I tend to snooze right through the editions dealing with the emotions. I have even read the weird ones on cleanses, but as soon as I see some type of doctor writing about feelings, I tend to hit "delete."

Not this one! This one is all about the good ol' material things and I love it! While shooting a movie in Nashville, GP found herself needing a house fit for the Paltrow-Martins in just 10 days. Enter Annette Joseph. She is actually a producer/photo stylist, but get a load of what she was able to accomplish in a mere week and a half. The befores are unreal. Then again, it wouldn't be hard to get things done if you could drop the line "This is for Gwyneth Paltrow!"

Before:


10 Days Later:






What I also love is that a lot of the apartment actually came from everyday places. Jump through to the newsletter to see more sources, but this is a taste of it: