thirty duo: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Living Room Inspiration

Before I let myself turn another page in the new issue of West Elm, I shall tell you what I'm thinking. Right now, our living room is so:

Our walls are Valspar's Magnet Dapple (it looks a little more blue)

and the ceiling is Silver Leaf

We have floor-length matte gray curtains that have a silver weave. Currently, our main pieces of furniture are

The Marin Bar:

And the Elliot couch and chair:

I will be receiving a beautiful painting that my late grandmother painted. It is BIG. Take this with a grain of salt, as I am terrible at estimations, but I would guess that it is 3 feet by 5 feet. (Which could be 2'x4' or 4'x6') Anyway, it is white and yellow and will be our main piece of art. Cue me, bringin' in some sunshiney yellow.

And here is what I'm thinking:

Pillows. Love.

The Crossings Coffee Table:

I have an older wooden two-tier table as my current nightstand. When I have replacements, I will paint the one I have, maybe disressed white or grey, and then, the icing on the cake would be two of these beauties in yellow:

I'm obsessed. Ready. Set. Save!

images: Valspar Paint, Crate and Barrel, Macy's, Pillows 1 and 2: CB2, Pillow 3: West Elm, Garnet Hill

Monday, January 24, 2011

no more mono - bedroom pillows

I've got pillows on the mind.. like, spice up my room, add some color and pattern comfortable soft necessities. I'm thinking about a couple rooms in particular, our bedroom and the living room. Let's start with the bedroom. It has been largely a monochromatic color scheme, and I'm looking to add a little somethin-somethin. Right now, we have this bed,

light-medium gray-blue (nothing like being noncommital) walls, this comforter from Crate & Barrel, and, rather than, Merimekko overload, we have paired it with dusty blue sheets.

That's pretty much as far as we go in the color spectrum. I love our table lamps, which have a distorted clear glass base and solid white shade. So, here this is where I start thinking about these pillows from CB2

Love them! I'm a little worried that it could be horribly wrong, but.. I love them! So there's that, and the fact that they're on sale for $10 each... and I'm thinking they'll add a needed modern touch ... and, if nothing else matters, orange and blue are totally BFFs on the complimentary color wheel.

So, if you give a girl new pillows, she's going to want new curtains...we know how that goes. If the pillows are the perfection I'm hoping for, I'd add some orange curtains.

From Urban Outfitters, these are my first pick. Unfortunately, they've received some bad reviews, one in particular stating that this color is more of a peach. How much do you trust reviews?

From Target, but I fear they may be a little too dark. I'd much prefer to see them in person. What do you think?

images: Crate & Barrel, CB2, Urban Outfitters, Target

Thursday, January 20, 2011

June Boisseau

My dear grandmother, June Boisseau, passed away last Tuesday: 1/11/11 at 1 am.

It was somewhat expected, yet, of course, very sad.

I had time last week to grieve and begin healing with my family in Texas. Everyone made an effort to wear yellow to her services to honor her favorite color. It was a very beautiful funeral.

I'm looking forward to springtime, when we will lay her to rest. She will be very, very missed.

(Thanks, everyone, for your understanding. It would have been an elephant in the... blog if I didn't address this.)

balloon image: flickr

Monday, January 10, 2011

eat your greens

I've been cooking up a storm lately! This weekend I made Moroccan brisket, stewed prunes, Papa Bear oatmeal (with stewed prunes instead of raisins) and mint chocolate pie.... but tonight. Tonight I made brussel sprouts. And they rocked! Seriously. I kept "snacking" on the leftovers while I put the dishes away. And this is coming from someone who hated them as a kid. I remembered the recipe while at the store, and, as I'm smart phone-less, bought the ingredients from memory. Even though there are only 3, I still missed one. I forgot about the almonds, but I had a can of Blue Diamond Smokehouse flavor at home. I think it may have added to the flavor. Delicous!

Sweet Paul is redeeming himself from the leek debacle. Now I'm off to eat some leftover mint pie and snuggle up to the Bachelor!

image and recipe: Sweet Paul

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Ginger Chicken Soup

I've been feeling a little (a lot) blah so far this week. I believe all of the deliciously cheesy and creamy dishes followed by an array of decadent desserts that I indulged in during the holidays might have a little (a lot) to do with it. Besides that, about 60% of my meals in the past week have been lasagna, which can't be helping matters. Luckily, our freezer currently has about 8 containers of soup just waiting to come out. I made Real Simple's ginger chicken soup in December and it sure is coming in handy now! So delicious and definitely another chicken soup to add to my repertoire. Just as yummy, but the ginger distinguishes this dish from the other chicken soup I've told you about.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

2 32-ounce containers low-sodium chicken broth

2 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 medium turnip, peeled and chopped (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 2- to 1 1/2- pound rotisserie chicken

1/2 cup frozen peas

4 scallions, sliced

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the broth. Stir in the parsnips, carrots, celery, turnip, and ½ teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a fork or your fingers, shred the chicken meat, discarding the skin and bones.
Add the chicken, peas, and scallions to the saucepan and cook until heated through, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with the biscuits, if using.

Bon Appetit!

recipe: Real Simple

Sunday, January 2, 2011

2010, by the month

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I spent the day setting up a wonderful Christmas gift, my new computer!

... and am so excited to be blogging from it. My old computer gave me a good 7 years, but I am so excited to be looking at this pretty new screen and moving along so FAST! What better way to do a 2010 recap?

January 2010 .. Let the cohabitation begin!