summer update part 2

Last month, after an embarrassing update, I promised I would have at least three more items crossed off my summer bucket list at the beginning of August.  Since we are now forging into the middle of the month, I felt like I should make good on my promise.  Here's where I stand...

My husband (on the left), making me the perfect s'more.

I am obsessed with s'mores right now.  In fact, did you know that this past Saturday was National S'mores Day?  I actually didn't discover that fun fact until Sunday, but at least my obsession is a timely one.  I've had the chance to enjoy s'mores on several occasions in the last month.  The best was definitely the traditional version, enjoyed around an outdoor fire with family and friends at my mom's house in Western MA.  With Harper on my lap, my obliging husband was the one who actually made my s'mores (yes, I ate two), and he has basically perfected the art.  Thanks to the life-changing powers of Pinterest, I have also learned about and successfully recreated a version of s'mores that doesn't require a camp fire.  Behold, the s'mores bite; I know that s'mores sans fire sounds blasphemous, but these are pretty darn close to the real thing.  If you don't believe me, just try them:

Yet another reason I love Pinterest: s'mores bites

Ingredients:
-6 graham cracker sheets
-6 large marshmallows
-12 Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:
-Break graham cracker sheets in half.
-Cut each marshmallow in half.
-Heat oven to Low Broil.
-Align graham crackers in the center of a cookie sheet about 1/2″ apart from each other.
-Top each graham cracker with a marshmallow with the cut/sticky side down.
-Place marshmallow-topped graham crackers under broiler.  Don't walk away!  Watch them, as they will toast quickly, allow to toast until marshmallows are golden.
-Once golden, immediately remove from oven, and place 1 Hershey's Kiss in the center of each toasted marshmallow and gently press down.  
Yum.

It is indeed possible I have been eating so many s'mores in a desperate attempt to ignore the fact that I'm turning 30 this month.  I've been trying to adjust my attitude though, since the truth of the matter is that aging is a gift that not everyone is able to enjoy.  I haven't actively been planning the party of the century or anything, but I feel like my "perfect 30th birthday" is totally within reach, with my birth month off to a fabulous start.  On Saturday, my lovely sister treated me to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, followed by window shopping, and then an indulgent spa facial.  It feels a little symbolic that I've shed a layer of skin (okay not really--but exfoliation counts) to greet a new decade.  Regardless, sister spa time was a truly incredible birthday gift--and my skin feels amazing.  Also amazing was the watermelon mint cooler I had at lunch, which I am now inspired to recreate at home.

Watermelon Cooler at The Cottage in Wellesley, MA

In fact, home creations just might be the theme of this month.  I have been wanting to redo our bedroom for a while now.  The décor just isn't working for us; it is dark and, despite our best design attempts when we moved in three years ago, just misses the mark.  At the top of my "must have" list is space-saving storage, and to that end, I have been coveting an amazing storage bed from Pottery Barn that is simply not within our budget.  So my handyman husband found the plans online and began construction this weekend; I am nervous but excited to see how it will turn out.  I have given him a pretty tight deadline of two weeks so only time will tell!  Also part of the bedroom redo is a new color scheme palette.  Right now, blue is our central color, but we're trying to move in a softer direction--perhaps a light grey, maybe accented by a pale aqua...  We have nothing set in stone yet, as the bed is taking precedence, but I am looking forward to the finished product.

So here's the official report:

Reread The Great Gatsby (my favorite summer book) 

• Hoping to accomplish this while I'm off work next week...

Finally complete Harper's baby book (she is going on 2, after all)

• Planning to finally order prints tonight!

Make s'mores around an outdoor fire

• Done--and yum!

Redo my bedroom décor

• A work in progress!

Explore a New England beach I haven't been to before

• On the calendar for this weekend with some of my besties--another early birthday celebration!

Finally have a picnic with my amazing cousin before she moves 

• Hopefully this week?

Go for long summer walks (a favorite pastime)

• A walk is not the same thing as walks so clearly I'm still working on this one...  Fortunately for me, the temperatures have been lovely this month so far--so let's leave it at "to be continued."

Do more yoga

• Haven't been back to class yet...  Le sigh.

Eat fiddleheads while they're in season

•  Impossible (poor time management)

Plan my perfect 30th birthday in the absence of Chanel (tick tock!)

• A work in progress...

I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm feeling much, much better about my progress this time around.  Things weren't looking good for me for a moment there, but I'm grateful that I actually put my summer goals in writing so that I can truly hold myself accountable.  Thankfully now it's all happening!  Stay tuned for the final report...

 

Another Installment of Fashion At Home: My Husband Is Sometimes Right

It's been a while since we last chatted about fashion at home, but you may remember that this topic is often the source of marital discord and/or compromise in my happy little family. Nonetheless, the result is always a good one, for Dallin and I eventually find a way to blend our decorating wants into a well balanced aesthetic, somewhere along the lines of "traditional with a twist." Having recently moved (once again), we are now (once again) facing the somewhat daunting task of decorating our new home, the place where we hope to stay put for a while--especially now that we have a little one of our own on the way...

That said, given my husband's penchant for interior design and his self-proclaimed "creative vision," we have found ourselves navigating the sometimes turbulent waters of creating a space that simultaneously reflects both our unique and combined tastes, doesn't break the bank, and looks absolutely impeccable without being overtly catalog. Perhaps for this reason, we are still unpacking, long after our May 1 move-in date. However, it apparently took Michelangelo four painstaking years to paint the Sistine Chapel, so sometimes good things come to those who wait.

With our living room nearing completion, we recently shifted our focus to the dining room. After nearly four years of marriage, I'm excited to report that we finally have a dining room, and so it's been exciting for us to venture into this uncharted territory. We were lucky to inherit the fabulous farm-style table that was a fixture in my dining room growing up, and we recently proved ourselves worthy of it, after lugging it home via Uhaul alllll the way back from my family's home in Western Massachusetts (NOT an easy task). However, the chairs were another matter entirely. Understandably, my mother is still using the dining room chairs that my father hand painted for her in the charming Quimper style years ago. So, we were left to our own devices as far as seating--and that's where things got...interesting.

My first thought was to find some rustic wooden chairs and perhaps a matching bench, and I even located a few contenders at Pottery Barn. However, my husband saw things differently, arguing that--if I had my way--our dining room would look like it came straight off the pages of the Pottery Barn catalog, devoid of character and originality. As it turns out, his vision was one of mixed media, pairing our wooden farmhouse table with steel chairs. At first, I balked at this suggestion: metal chairs with a wood table?! But then he actually showed me the chairs he has been obsessed with since practically forever, and I started to see the light. But not for nothing, I have to mention that the chairs in question hailed from the pages of my mother's Sundance catalog--so it seems you can never fully escape all things "catalog." Just saying.

Here's a fun fact: Dallin's beloved steel chairs actually have quite the history! Yes, they may have found their way onto the pages of Sundance, but their story neither starts nor stops there. Rather, it all began once upon a time (in the 1930s, to be precise) when Xavier Pauchard designed the iconic Chaise A as part of a collection of galvanized steel furniture under the Tolix brand. Given its inherent form and function, the Chaise A immediately took off, becoming a ubiquitously favored seating choice--from cafes and bistros to army barracks and hospitals. Then, in the early 1980s, the Tolix A Chair, also known as the Marais AC Chaise, was reissued. Again, it was well-received, this time by both the public and professional designers alike who also valued its chic design and durable structure. Now, you can find this fabulous chair (in its original burnished steel, as well as bright colors like blue, red, or yellow) everywhere from the furniture shops of France, to antique fairs and flea markets across our great nation, and even on the pages of Sundance, Pottery Barn, and Crate and Barrel. Imagine that!

So here's the truth: in this particular case, Dallin couldn't have been more right, or his creative vision more cool. Still, we have never been a couple that does things precisely by the book; believe it or not, we ultimately moved away from the Tolix design, in favor of another galvanized steel chair, whose design was slightly more worn and industrial--an ideal compliment to the deliciously distressed cracked white paint along the lip and legs of our table. The end product?--sheer perfection that is impeccably country chic without even a hint catalog. What else can I say? My husband is sometimes right.

Fun facts about Tolix chairs, thanks to Paris Parfait (http://parisparfait.typepad.com/). Images, in order of appearance: (1) 1934 Dining Chair from Sundance, as shown on the Sundance website (www.sundancecatalog.com); (2) Wynn Ladderback Chairs in french white $229-299 by Pottery Barn, available online (http://www.potterybarn.com/); (3) Another view of the 1934 Dining Chair $245, available from Sundance; (4) Lyle Side Chair $199 by Crate and Barrel, available online (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/); (5) Another view of the Lyle Side Chair, as shown on the Crate and Barrel website.