Favorite Things: In My Apartment

In an effort to incorporate more of my own home's decor and design into this blog, this post is all about some of my favorite things currently out and about in my apartment. Since I've been into decor for a long time, and am the type to feel at home when surrounded by lots of clutter unusual/beautiful things, it was difficult to narrow it down to this little group. So in an effort to keep it interesting (okay actually that was never a thought in my head, it just turned out this way), all things are pre-owned, living, or once living. Yup, it's about to get weird.

We'll start off with something pretty: this Scandinavian floral kilim is the first thing I step onto in the morning as I zombie-walk my way out of bed. It was a very lucky find at an estate sale in NW Portland, and since this purchase I've been convinced that when I go estate saleing I'm in fact a modern day treasure hunter. (Career counselors recommend you revisit the interests you had as a kid, in order to discover your "dream job" as an adult. I remember getting a metal detector for Christmas when I was about 9, and I was stoked. No sarcasm. So this whole thing makes sense.) I'm obsessed with the colors in this rug, and the man who sold it to me said all of the flowers are local to the region it was made. Who knows if that's true, but I'm choosing to believe it. 

 And... guess what that is. Just guess. No, not the sunglasses, the thing that they're sitting in. Yes... it's a bone. An ostrich chest bone. Cool huh!? I blame my mom for raising me to think this is normal. See, this is what happens when you spend your weekends as a kid at your grandparents' farm and one of the most looked-forward to and encouraged activities is "hunting for cow bones" in the brush. Bonus points if you find a skull and it still has all of its teeth. So when my girl scout troop went on a weekend retreat to "the farm," you bet that was one of the activities on the schedule. That's Texas, y'all. Sunglasses from Nordstrom BP and Forever 21, beaded wrap bracelet from Ten Thousand Villages, coins from the bottom of my purse.

This is my little piñata friend (omg I just realized he doesn't have a name! not okay) that I found at a vintage shop here in Portland. "How has he survived all these years?" is my question. I love how he's neon colored, and he's Mexican so, duh, I like him. Plus there's that whole 4th grade birthday party vibe he brings to my apartment - I don't like to take things too seriously with my decor. (See above) Peter Max print from ebay, maracas from the Round Top antique festival, and Design Sponge and Decorate decor books from anywhere you can buy a book.

This vintage set of mirrored fuschia roly-poly tumblers is something I was very happy to stumble upon at the Etsy shop Relevant Vintage. So far I've made all of my friends drink out of the blue Ikea glasses instead, but one day I might let them hold the pink ones. When they're pregnant and drinking mocktails. Silver beaded mat from Pier 1 Imports, the Vintage Cocktails book in the background was a Christmas gift from my sister. 

And this is a gastropod fossil that I bought from a man in Texas who was like, 127 years old, and he said he'd been collecting them from the Red River since he was a little boy. Of course, I got all sentimental on him and ended up buying a few. I love this kinda thing. Rocks, fossils, shells, crystals ... bones apparently. I could totally be a witch. I'm not into taxidermy though - I will make that clear! And... since I'm honest on this blog... I've never been able to get past like, page 10 of Catch-22. I've tried three times and I just can't do it. Way too many unpronounceable characters.

Finally, we end with something living (always best to leave on a good note). This is a staghorn fern that I call Staghorn (I swear I'm creative I just felt weird naming a plant anything that seemed like I actually thought about it), and although he doesn't get a cool name I still show him love by talking to him like he's my pet. Yes, there is a special voice. I purchased him from Pistils Nursery after deciding I needed some kind of houseplant, and since my mom has always had staghorns (except they were in the backyard, massive, and hanging from giant oak trees) I thought I should get one after learning they do okay indoors. Hopefully he'll have a long and happy life. Ignore that ugly, brown area. I googled it and it's totally normal.

What are some of your favorite things in your home?

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Cinco de Mayo in Apt. 302

I had a couple of good friends over to my apartment for a Cinco de Mayo lunch; we feasted on chips and guacamole, shrimp fajitas, and flan for dessert. And we drank a lot of beeritas, my new favorite drink! 

Beeritas: 1 can of frozen limeade, 3 bottles of Pacifico, top off with Sprite. Mix in a glass with tequila and ice! Thanks Melissa for this recipe - it's going to be making an appearance all summer. :)

Lisa and I have been really good friends since we went to college together in San Diego, and now we both live in Oregon!

Frida and Diego were enjoying the party too

The secret to good fajitas? Lime, butter and garlic. Plates, place mats, napkins and carafe from Pier 1 Imports. 

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! 

 Flan with caramel and mint - my all-time favorite dessert!

We ate it all!

What did you do this weekend?

~ Cinco de Mayo Inspiración ~

As you may have noticed in some of my past blog posts, I have a special love for Mexican culture. So you can probably guess, I am very excited about celebrating Cinco de Mayo tomorrow! I'll be posting on Sunday about what I end up getting myself into, but for now, here is some visual inspiración for your own celebration...

T to B: Drink a Margarita (via), Wear a Pretty Dress (via), Throw a Fiesta (source unknown), Decorate with Blankets (via), Eat some Chips & Guacamole (via), Set out some Flowers (via), Dance to Mariachi Music (via) DIY some Papel Picado (via)

If you celebrate Cinco de Mayo like I do, what are you going to do tomorrow?!

The Comeback Kid: fondue parties

Last week, before my flight home from California, I stocked up on girlie magazines at the airport instead of splurging on an onboard cocktail, and while flipping through a classier of the collection, Elle, I came across an article about an Indian-themed dinner party thrown by designer Rebecca Minkoff to celebrate the launch of her new eyewear collection. And the girl knows how to throw a good dinner party! I want to copy her. I am inspired, so I decided to cut up my magazine, dig through my closet for the computer cord to my scanner, and blog about it.

Elle Magazine, March 2012

Her party left me wanting to have one of my own because a) it looked hella fun, b) the decor was very pretty and unique, and c) there was fondue.

Who has fondue parties? My parents in the 70's.

Such a great idea. 

But before I get to my favorite attraction (cheese! cheese! cheese! chocolate! chocolate! chocolate!), I want to share the details of the party as a whole.

Clockwise: Party guests sporting the new eyewear collection, including one of my fave people, Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller; model Coco Rocha eating a meatball; and white chocolate fondue!!

Amazing.

Obsessed with those blue ikat plates, the napkin placement, and the floral arrangements. Oh and are those yellow cup things candles? Those too.

As much as I love everything about this dinner party, I know trying to accomplish something similar would be totally out of my budget. Taxes are due scarily soon and I've never been one of those lucky people who actually gets money back - quite the opposite. So, what I'm going to take away from this is my favorite part from the very beginning... I'm going to have some friends over for a little fondue party. Cheese! Cheese! Cheese! Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! And a very simple fondue party, with focus on good food, good wine, good friends and good times. Yes, this is a very cheesy conclusion, pun intended.

And, if, like me, you can't handle reading about fondue and then not having some, here are some recipes off the web and a little fondue shopping guide:

The Recipes

                         

Savory:    

                    

Classic cheese fondue                                          

Beer cheese fondue                                              

Hot oil fondue (seafood)                                       

Hot oil fondue (tempura)                                       

Sweet:

Dark chocolate fondue

White chocolate fondue

Caramel fondue

Peanut butter fondue 

The Shopping Guide

Vintage Orange Enamelware Fondue Set on Etsy $48

Swissmar 10-pc. Noirmont Fondue at Target $100

Sur La Table Stainless Steel Fondue $90

Le Creuset Fondue at Sur La Table $180

Williams Sonoma Ruffoni Copper Fondue Pot $370

And I'm sorry to say, but by the time you've read this post it's very possible I have already bought that adorable fondue set from Etsy. But don't worry, there are many others almost as cool as that one. :)

draper style

One of the blog subjects I have neglected for a long time is "entertaining." I live in a small studio apartment, so it would be kind of weird to have a full-on party, but since I literally live across the street from the Rose Garden (an arena where the Portland Trailblazers play <3 <3 <3 and major musical acts perform; I have never seen it so nuts as it was for Michael Jackson's Immortal tour) it makes sense that friends will be coming over before such events. Actually they've already come over, but we could say I sucked at entertaining them. A glass of tap water is just so lame!

When I first moved in, I was really excited about setting up my former console table as a bar table (subconsciously inspired by Don Draper I'm pretty sure), which I did do, sort of. As of now, it holds a wine rack with three bottles of wine, 6 mismatched hand-me-down wine glasses, 4 hand-me-down martini glasses, 2 random champagne flutes, a decanter, and a vintage cocktails book, which is definitely the coolest thing on the table. At least I don't have all of my random souvenir shot glasses displayed - now that would be really bad.

In order to spruce up my entertaining game, I've decided that I want to get rid of all the accidental, boring glasses and find some unique vintage ones instead. So I did a little looking on Etsy and became really excited about what I found. I can't decide if I want to go for the mid-century gold and clear glass style, or the bold, colored glass style. I think I'll sit on this one for a bit...

Here is what I found:

1960s amber chalice cups/wine glasses via

1970s Colony Park Lane blue wine glasses via

1970s brown glass wine goblets via

1950s Indiana Whitehall olive green tumblers via

1920s cobalt blue cocktail glasses (actually fruit cups but whatevs, it works) via 

1960s plum mini pedestal goblets via

1960s Culver Old Fashioned glasses with gold (22 ct)  fruit pattern via

1960s Culver Valencia Old Fashioned glasses via

1960s "Early Americana" tumblers via

Culver mid-century cocktail glasses via

1960s gold rimmed highball glasses via

1960s Hausproud roly poly tumblers via

1950s atomic roly poly tumblers via (quite possibly my favorite)

They're gonna be big in 2011, just wait...

When I had the Southern-style dinner party last weekend, one of my friends gave me the cutest hostess gift ever: an apron from Anthropologie. I am obsessed. How creative and thoughtful, right? If you come over to my house and I'm wearing it - don't assume I'm baking anything. I may have it on just cuz. It's that awesome. Anyway, I've paraded around in it a bit and come to a conclusion: aprons need to make a major comeback. But in order for them to be relevant to the modern young-person's lifestyle, I think the reasons to wear one should be a little bit more "outside of the box." Because seriously, does Rachael Ray even wear one? So, after some careful thought I've figured it out.

An (adorable) apron would be totally appropriate if:

• You are making anything that relies on a recipe. But that's a no-brainer.

• You are heating up leftovers in the microwave, and stirring is involved.

• You're totally into a guy that's coming over and know that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Guys are visual creatures.

• You are writing out a grocery list and need to get "in the zone."

• You are in charge of making drinks when your friends come over to pre-funk.

• You've had too much to drink while pre-funking, and are at risk of spilling all over your "going-out" outfit. Can't let that happen.

• You're a little too obsessed with Mad Men.

or

• You just feel like it, cuz you don't really like what you're wearing today anyway.

So, would you ever rock an apron?

You know I like my chicken fried...

Back when I was in middle school, pepperoni pizza from the school cafeteria was one hot item. However, this pizza had one major issue: pools of orange, salty grease always floated on top. Some kids grabbed stacks and stacks of napkins and laid them on top of their pizza slices to soak it all up before they took their first bite. Well, not me. I reveled in it. Sick, I realize now.

Growing up in Texas, in a family that enjoys eating well (my dad ate his cornflakes with half & half, not milk) you just kinda have to go BIG. You learn that when you get barbecue, you order a chopped beef sandwich, not the sliced beef, because it's fattier and therefore tastes better. PB&Js are best when made on toasted, and generously buttered, sourdough bread and when you make a late-night trip to Whataburger, you wouldn't be a true Texan if you didn't get it Whatasized. Best of all, my favorite Mexican restaurant serves a cup of melted garlic lime butter with their fajitas - and it's normal to simply dip your taco into it before each bite. I swear. So naturally, my favorite dinner that my mom cooked growing up was crispy fried chicken and gravy.

And that brings me to the point of this post. I wanted to share some of the culinary goodness that I grew up loving so much with some friends, so this past weekend I had a low-key themed dinner party, a "Sunday Best Fried Chicken Dinner." Maybe it’s better described as a get-together, since “party” is kind of a stretch for a Sunday night. Anyway, I wanted all of my Portland friends to enjoy some homemade, good Southern cookin' that would make Paula Deen, and especially my mom, proud.

The menu: Fried chicken tenders, cream gravy, mashed potatoes, yellow squash casserole, biscuits, poppyseed pecan green salad, and chocolate pecan pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Oh, and the classic cheese straw as an appetizer.

To take it a little further in the theme direction I encouraged my friends to dress as southern gentlemen and ladies: large floral prints, pastels, khakis, braided belts, etc.

In an ideal world I would not have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and actually remembered the background Pandora: Johnny Cash, Creedence Clearwater, The Soggy Bottom Boys, etc. I also would have sprung for alcohol and made the Scarlet O'Hara and the Rhett Butler southern cocktails. But I was cheap in this instance and just served iced tea. But I did serve sugar, lemon and fresh mint on the side - that shows some attention to detail, right?

Anyway ... the night went well and everyone enjoyed the food - or at least they said they did. One of the bigger surprise hits was the southern-style yellow squash casserole, where you can find the recipe here.

So basically...I suggest you steal my idea for this dinner party, and take it further and better than i did. Think azalea centerpieces. So southern. Make me proud y'all.

Not Quite Domesticated

I rent and I have two roommates with completely different styles. Party planning doesn't go much further than a clever Facebook invitation and a trip to Costco. And on any given night, I usually cook for one. I really like the idea of entertaining, decorating, and cooking - and doing it well - but my life circumstances (mostly because of my age I've concluded, and, not to be cliche - "the economy") prevent me from going all-out Martha Stewart. I figure that starting, and maintaining (this may or may not be my sixth blog in existence), a blog focused on all things related to style in the home will force me to get creative and do these things in the best way I can. Cuz I'll wanna show off. Exciting right? Thought so. And now it begins...

PS: Yes, you're right: the name of this blog is an homage to Mr. Kanye West ~ "let's go on a livin' spree, they say the best things in life are free ... Welcome to the Good Life." I'm kind of a big fan. I like the crazies.