Perkins Cove, Ogunquit.
Sunset At The Cove
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On The Road
Outdoor Entertaining Inspiration: Madhouse by Michael Aram
I first learned about Michael Aram's nature-inspired serving and dinnerware while registering for my wedding and concurrently learning a little something unexpected about my fiance: apparently Kendrick has a real thing for cutlery shaped like branches. I didn't think he had any particular thing for cutlery of any kind, period, but no: he really likes Michael Aram pieces.
If you like it as well, you'll also like this news: the designer recently created Madhouse, a collection of paper and melamine tableware and accessories specifically geared at casual outdoor use - excellent for bridal showers, BBQs, and picnics that you'd like to make a little extra-special.
Below, some of my favorite pieces from the line (set out for last weekend's backyard BBQ).
Thrift-Store Success: Crazy Awesome Lamp
On Friday afternoon, my friend Katie and I set off for Hastings-on-Hudson in search of a used furniture store that she'd heard of. After several drive-bys - the place doesn't have any sign indicating its presence save for a posterboard that says, very helpfully, "sale every day" - we finally found it on a practically deserted part of the Saw Mill, lodged in between a truck rental shop and a wholesale gravel supplier and presided over by several very large stuffed white tigers for no apparent reason at all.
I LOVE places like that.
Because if you find something good in a place like that, it's really good.
This is what I found:
How To Fall Back In Love With Your Hair
I’ll be honest: I haven’t always been crazy about my hair. It’s a kind of tricky mix of straight and wavy, has on occasion (the Los Angeles Years) been subjected to so much bleaching that it turned straw-like on the ends, and morphs into an actual lion’s mane the second it comes into contact with even a whisper of humidity. From time to time in the past, I even resorted to fairly extreme measures (including extremely ill-advised clip-on hair extensions and chemical straightening treatments) to try and wrest it into submission.
For years and years, whether or not my hair was healthy wasn’t a topic I gave a ton of thought to. I honestly didn’t think it really mattered; I figured my hair was my hair, and it wasn’t ever going to be anything other than “eh”, and that was that. It was only about a year ago that I started realizing that how my hair feels (and looks) is completely within my control – I just needed to start caring for it, and treating it like what it was: a part of my body. I made a few changes to my routine – using gentle products tailored to my hair type, minimizing heat styling, and generally working with (rather than against) my hair’s natural texture – and my hair started transforming from something that I fought with into something that I embrace…and actually kind of love.
I just cut off about five inches – spring felt like a good time to start from scratch – and my hair feels healthier and lighter now than it has in ages. As a great bonus, it’s worlds easier to style: I took the picture above immediately after using Dove’s Daily Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner* and spending a few minutes in the company of a 1” barrel curling iron – no additional products needed at all. It turns out that it’s true: healthy-looking hair is beautiful hair, period.
Coming With Me To Maine…
Tomorrow morning, we're headed off to Maine for a few days (with stops in Cambridge on the way up and New Haven on the way back).
A few things that are coming with me:
{ Jo Malone's Grapefruit cologne (which smells nice when you spray it on, but amazing after it sits for awhile) and a pair of turquoise earrings ... }
DIY Shabby Chic Mirror
One of my favorite things to buy in thrift stores and at flea markets are mirrors: with a little creativity, you can basically always find a way to work a beautiful mirror into your decor. This sunburst mirror sat on our table as a centerpiece for awhile, but I eventually decided it was in the way and it would make a better addition to our dining room wall.
Except...although I liked the shape, the sort of burnished grey-brown color made it felt dated. I decided that a coat of white paint would give it a nice seaside-cottage feel, and look especially cool against our white wall.
So: Sunday afternoon project.
Daily InstaGlam
Fall Inspiration: A Little Like Madonna
Two autumns ago, I decided to dress up like I was in The Matrix.
This fall, I want to go back.
Black from head to toe.
Piled-on gold accents.
Lemon Angel Food Layer Cake
I am about to blow your mind, because I BAKED SOMETHING and it was GORGEOUS and DIDN'T FALL APART IN THE OVEN and did not taste bad AT ALL.
That's a whole lot of caps and a whole lot of self-congratulation, but really: given my baking history, I'm allowed a little back-patting, I think.
OK, so maybe this recipe was adapted from a "semi-homemade" one courtesy of Sandra Lee (via People), which vastly limited my opportunities to screw up. And maybe I actually did end up screwing it up anyway, just a little bit. I mean, obviously. See, I realized too late that a cake topped with whipped cream might not enjoy hanging out in my kitchen on a hundred-degree day with thousand-percent humidity and no air conditioning (our house is ancient and has small windows and low-voltage sockets and I haven't yet found an air conditioner that works downstairs, and I don't want to talk about it because it is so hot). And there were still about twelve hours to go before I could serve the cake to our guests, and that very pretty plate that you see in these photos does not fit anywhere in our refrigerator. So I tried to sort of slide it onto a smaller plate, and discovered that angel food cakes do not slide; they collapse. Sigh.
Anyway, I fixed the patchy spots with more frosting, propped up the slightly collapsed side with a few lemon slices, and solved the melting-in-my-kitchen problem by magically rearranging our freezer in a way that enabled me to slide in the cake, plate and all. It was actually even better cold (angel food cake also, apparently, does not freeze - perhaps because it's plastic? possible, but let's hope not - so it ended up being just chilled cake with an ice-cream like frosting and frozen lemon slices, yum). Let's look at some photos, because I'm proud.
