Clawfoot Denial

I’ve longed for the perfect clawfoot tub for awhile now. Reading multiple design blogs on a daily basis doesn’t help as THEY’RE ALL OVER THE PLACE when I scroll down the pages of eye candy perfection.

I would like two (one for each bathroom), but would of course settle for just one.

I spoke to the contractor my parent’s habitually use this past Friday and everything he said about them was negative. They’re expensive, the claws oftentimes fall off of the vintage ones, you’d have to tile underneath them and all around them on all three walls, the plumbing would have to be rerouted to come from underneath rather from the side like we have it now, and our space may not even be big enough for one to fit correctly.

Shattered were my hopes and dreams.

The possibility of one isn’t COMPLETELY out of the picture…but the dream of having a clawfoot is becoming a little more distant. I think I can accept that we may not have one in our current home…a dream to look forward to in years to come perhaps.

We can still put down beautiful flooring and a rad back splash to pull the room together. I’m accepting the reality…BUT then I saw the below picture. Basically the same tub and tile I was dreaming of…damn you internet! Why won’t you let me grieve?

Full Circle

I’ve come full circle in a sense. As close to coming full circle gets in the situation I’m going to describe to you.

When I was 18 I was in the midst of putting together an art portfolio for getting into art school. You see, I only took ONE art class my entire high school career but then once I was a senior I announced that that I wanted to go to art school. And then I freaked out because I had no work to show for my artistic ability.

Soooo my lovely parentals signed me up for a handful of art classes through the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) so I could accumulate some work. The first one I took was a life drawing class. Ok great, I thought…a still life class. um no.

What it turned out to be was a class where there were four of us that sat and drew the artist’s husband Dave, a man in his late 70s.

At the time I wasn’t well versed in drawing old, naked men. NOW I’M A PRO. I just remember having really sweaty palms and thinking, “Yes, this is about to happen.” But also thinking about how hilarious my friends would think it was…I was going to have the BEST stories to bring to study hall the following Monday.

So yes, I drew Dave and it didn’t turn out too crappy either. I remember his wife telling me I was making him look too fat with some of my lines, but besides that it was good. Oh and I didn’t draw his area either…rather pretended there was some awkward drapery there instead.

Fast forward 8 years a few months ago when I was having lunch with a friend and telling her the above story.

Her response, “Was his name Dave?”

Why yes, yes it was!

Apparently he’s somewhat of an Austin icon and is the most drawn, painted, and sculpted man in Austin. Odds are, if you’ve taken a life drawing class here in the past two decades…you’ve seen Dave’s wee wee.

My friend told me that they were having a “Dave” show that next week and that I should submit my work. So submit my work I did.

(mine is the black and white charcoal one on top)

I was able to find the small, charcoal drawing in a closet at my parent’s house, quickly got it framed, and submitted it to the show within the next 36 hours. It was featured in a small gallery opening at the Dougherty Arts Center in downtown office for the entire month of August.

Seeeeee Full Circle! right?

Plaid Masterpiece

Had to re-post this adorable little ottoman I came across on Design*Sponge.

There has been so much inspiration from the 50s and 60s lately. I blame Mad Men, the fabulous AMC tv show that I can’t get enough of. Even if the premise of the show was boring I’d still probably tune in every now and then to get a quick fix of the mid-century aesthetic that oozes in every frame. However, the show rocks and I’m completely absorbed each and every episode. Peggy is my fav, you?

I got a little something inspired by the 60s last week. It arrived from overstock.com within four days (not bad for only having to pay $1 in shipping) and is currently being tailored. You’ll have to standby to see it…I get to pick it up this coming Saturday!

Delightful Dishware

I’ve never expressed on this blog how much I adore our dishware.

I fell in love with the set we registered for about 6 months before we got married. We of course registered for it and it was the number one item I looked forward to receiving. Of course, it was also the most expensive item we registered for…

Luckily we have some awesome friends and family members who bought the entire set for us and we’ll be eternally grateful! It matches the decor of our home so well and each time I use it, even if it’s just for my morning bowl of cereal, I still appreciate it!

It’s the set above of course…from Crate & Barrel. I recently came across this article on Apartment Therapy of a fellow fan of the set who had her heart broken when the set was discontinued…after she had finally saved up enough money for it. OH THE HEARTBREAK.

I too had the exact same fear, 6 months before we got married when we registered for it. I told Alex one day, “That’s it…I’m just going to buy it myself because I KNOW it’s going to be discontinued.” Thankfully it was not…until we received each last piece. Phew!

To the woman out there who lost her dream dishware, don’t fret, I’m sure a lovely set will come along soon that will be just as gorgeous. Meanwhile, I’m going home…to spoon with my plates, bowls, mugs, and platters.

I need a Pouffe!

If you asked me yesterday what a Moroccan leather Pouffe was I’d probably give you a twisted look.

However, if you showed me one, I’d be all, “Oh yeah, I’ve been seeing those all over my favorite design blogs and I kind of want one.”

Fast forward to today…I kind of NEED one. Only, they’re pretty expensive…a little more than I’d care to pay for any type of pouffe really.

In any case, it’s now on the list of “Things I want.” I will budget accordingly…

Florence Love Walls

I was introduced to this new blogger through another fabulous blogger and absolutely love her site. The images bring me right back to my days in beautiful Italia. Especially the one shown below.

This I presume is in front of Palazzo Strozzi, as the stones look very similar to the facade of that building. I guess it’s a fairly common practice for lovestruck teens and twenty somethings to gravitate towards these public benches to show themselves and the rest of the world how much they adore eachother.

The below photo is one I took for my final photography project in my Photography I course. It is not in front of Palazzo Strozzi, rather in front of Palazzo Medici near San Lorenzo, a spot I passed daily to get to school. I did a series on the people of Florence and walked around with my camera and snapped a lot of images of locals going about their everyday business. I got some really good ones. Including this one, which kind of breaks my heart as I imagine they’re breaking up…or crying about how the pasta they had for lunch wasn’t al dente.

Frame Frenzy

Friday was a good shopping day for me. Well really it was more like FANTASTIC!

I purposefully hit up Aaron Brothers because they were having their biannual penny sale, buy one frame get the second for a penny. um Amazing!

I walked away with 8 frames of varying sizes (three of them being 18 x 24″) for only $100. I felt a like I had won a mini lottery…a mini frame lottery because I’m a dork.

We have countless art pieces that were just sitting in a closet at home and NOW we can frame the majority of them. Yesterday, with Alex’s help we hung them. It’s so great having my favorite pieces adorn my favorite walls. Some areas of our home even feel like an art gallery because of it…mainly the hallway with its white walls.

I have a few more pieces in mind that must be framed but for now…I’m a happy and content girl!

I’m totally doing this.

Or should I say, “we’re” totally doing this?

Because I don’t touch power tools, and this project would involve one…in a minute way. But still I DON’T TOUCH POWER TOOLS.

My fear of power tools arose freshman year of college when I took my required 3D Foundations art class where you guessed it, we made 3D objects. The class involved a lot of art installations as well as one huge board game that the entire school came together to make. It was really cool. BUT all of this 3D-ness involved utilizing the wood shop. A place I associated with saw dust and blood after our first project in said class was to make our own wooden tool box. I made one successfully and we still use it in our home. huzzah. But the process of getting there kind of sucked.

I was made aware of how powerful and real those saws were when Haans, the wood shop purveyor held out his right hand before grabbing hold of one of the saws. HE HAD FOUR FINGERS. AHHHH. I of course, wanted to keep all mine. And if a person that was trained and skilled using this type of machinery could do that type of damage, god knows what I’d be able to pull off. Or should I say, “cut off.” Ack.

Anyway, wow, so yes…Alex will be helping me with this project. I saw it yesterday on one of my favorite blogs and I love this artful solution for their office. It’s the perfect place to display all of the smaller art we own without having to frame it all. AND when you grow tired of a certain piece being displayed you can simply swap it out for another. Perfection.

Our guest bedroom is in a bit of a transition stage right now. Last Friday we had a paint party and changed the drab white walls to silver drop and deep aubergine. Picture a nice light, warm gray and a deep, earthy purple accent wall. Pictures are coming soon!

The bedding matches the current wall color now perfectly and now all we need are some cool wall graphics and this art project that I can’t wait to finish! A rug would probably be nice too! Oh and a new lamp shade for that sad looking lamp on the night table.

Anyway, I’ll try to document the process along the way. I usually just like taking “After” shots, basically because I never think to take a “Before” picture. And in this case I did too, it’s just that Alex randomly took pictures of our entire house months ago…so voila. Behold, the “Before” pictures…iccckkkk!

the day I blushed with foodie pride

Saturday Alex and I took my mom out for a birthday lunch to Mother’s Cafe & Garden in Hyde Park. A place I’d been meaning to try for the past few years. I knew it had to be pretty good since it was a meat lover that recommended this vegetarian only restaurant to me.

So Saturday I got my chance. My mom and Alex both enjoyed artichoke and mole enchiladas while I had their mushroom, black olive, and spinach quiche with a yummy limeade.

The ambience was great, quirky and peaceful and the food was quality. I’ll be back.

Across the street we spotted Antonelli’s Cheese Shop which we’d both read about in Austin Monthly and decided to check it out. It’s an adorable yet sophisticated shop with great owners that really know their product. The service was impeccable and we were able to sample whichever cheese, salami, chocolate, honey, etc. that we pleased. After many oohs and ahhs Alex and I decided on a sharp cheddar from England and raw Tupelo honey. The two paired great together and I knew it would be a hit at home with some rice crackers and vino.

On the way out we sampled some incredible chocolate made in the St. Louis area with only the highest quality of ingredients. I forget the brand, d’oh. Upon trying their milk chocolate variety I exclaimed to the owner:

“Was this made with goat’s milk?”

She responded with a puzzled look because it was made with cow’s milk…however, upon reading the ingredients was informed that goat milk powder was also added.

Schwing! Let’s just say that eyebrows were raised while she uttered, “You have an impeccable palette!”

It kind of felt awesome. I can’t say that palette is educated in the wine area but dammit I know my chocolate!

P.S. Alex never believes me when I say I can taste goat’s milk or cheese for that matter. Says it doesn’t taste any different to him than cow’s milk or cheese. Which I think is crazy talk…having him standing right there during my victory made it that much sweeter :-)

Dear Giada,

You’re awesome.

Love,
Eryn

My love affair with my favorite celebrity chef continues. I saw the following two recipes on two different Giada At Home episodes and knew I had to try them both.

We’ll start with the dessert item, because I’m wacky like that. I mean it was the first of the two recipes I saw on her show anyway. These blueberry marscapone turnovers (which I lovingly refer to as my mini pies) were divine. Especially straight out of the oven with some vanilla ice cream and nutella drizzled on top. I MEAN SHUT UP. nom.

you can WATCH how to make these here. Unfortunately, I can’t find the written recipe.

The second recipe was for stuffed peppers. I tried making these back in high school. And while I remember the filling being tasty I was disappointed with how undercooked the peppers were. Back then I didn’t have Giada to hold my hand and tell me to fill the pan 3/4 of the way up with either hot water or hot chicken/veggie broth in order for the peppers to get CRAZY tender. And oh my garsh were they tender. FALL APART TENDER. They tasted so divine, and the golden layer of cheese on top was perfect. For the recipe go here.

Now I didn’t follow either recipe to the letter. It’s just not my style. I think Giada would respect this as I like to put my own personal touch on culinary delights.

For the blueberry marscapone mini pies I didn’t use egg wash to bind them, rather plain ole water. And for health and mostly clean up reasons I decided not to fry them. Baking them was far easier and makes them even more like mini pies…instead of fried pies (OMG FRIED PIE. WHERE?)

And for the stuffed peppers I made my own stuffing of garlic couscous, fresh wilted spinach, sauteed onions and bell pepper (used from the tops of the bell peppers that I cut off), artichoke hearts, fresh from the garden tomatoes, and sharp cheddar. OH and don’t skip the basil sauce for topping, it really made them sing (sweet nothings to me). Tip, I used the rest of the marscapone from the mini pies instead of creme fraiche in the basil sauce. How very resourceful of me.

Both items were served for a dinner party we had that night. It was also the same night that Alex found a runaway dog right before the guests arrived. Good thing Giada taught me to prepare the food way ahead of time and put it in the oven when guests arrive :-)