a bouquet of dogwood flowers

Finally started making some headway with my Richmond photos! We stayed at the Berkley Hotel, which was charming and within walking distance of lots of yummy restaurants. We especially enjoyed breakfasting at Urban Farmhouse Market across the street (the cider doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches were divine).  On Friday, we had a lovely old school-style dinner at the Tobacco Company, a Richmond institution with a really cool ambiance. On Saturday, we were able to salvage a comically bland meal at a nearby seafood restaurant* with delicious cocktails and desserts at Bistro Bobette, whose owner, incidentally, has a family connection to Lavandou in DC. These photos are from Saturday, when we (I) did some shopping in Carytown and had a leisurely lunch at Secco (loved the cheese selection and roasted chicken sandwich), then wandered around the Fan and took some photos for future home ideas.

**Our own fault. We should have listened to some of your recommendations to try Kuba Kuba, but we got lazy :-( 




 While we were taking photos, we got the feeling we were being watched...



Luckily they were handsome stalkers...







More Richmond photos to come!

ASOS dress
Urban Outfitters belt
vintage loafers
KMRii bag
vintage sunglasses

tobacco worm

Just got back from a wonderfully unplanned and relaxing weekend in Richmond. Sorry if this post is a little short, but I'll have more pictures and trip details to share soon!







Friday was a stark contrast to the fabulous warm weather we had this weekend. Kind of hard to get excited about layering again, but the hat helped.





Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it! Hope you ate a whole bunch of candy!

vintage hat
vintage scarf
Gap leather jacket
American Apparel v-neck
H&M jeans
Saddleback Leather bag
various vintage and gifted bracelets from friends/family
Candela oxfords

orange crush

I apologize for the cheesy title. I should have called this "Fanta" or "Cheez-It" or something. This jacket was one of my scores from Megan's and my successful shopping trip on Saturday. I realized today that I've been steadily stocking up on electric orange clothing items and accessories in recent months, which is odd because I'm not usually an orange person...



Next order of business: we're taking a little trip to Richmond this weekend and I need some recommendations! Where should I eat? Most importantly, where should I shop? It's been a while since I've been to the Commonwealth's capital and I want this visit to count!

Zara blazer
Express t-shirt
can't remember where the belt came from
vintage, thrifted and Madewell bangles
Chanel purse
Miu Miu shoes

use the clues

Pleasantly exhausted after the first productive weekend I can remember in quite a while. In addition to numerous home-related chores, I finally met Megan Nielsen face-to-face for a fruitful shopping trip around Georgetown. We had a wonderful time and I walked away with some extremely versatile work/play pieces. Best shopping buddy ever! I also learned all kinds of important things, like Madewell has an incredible selection of affordable rustic belts and jewelry and there is a magical blog that explains Anthropologie's mystical sale process. Things I never knew before! Shopping enlightenment!







For a large portion of my adolescence, this was basically my uniform: wide-legged pants and a t-shirt (not so much the giant platforms). I guess I was a child of the 90s. I distinctly remember a discussion in my high school French class, where our teacher asked us what was remotely flattering about the baggy pants we were so fond of. "They lengthen your legs! They make your waist look smaller!" I'm actually pretty proud of us for coming up with such intelligent responses, but it's true. There is something to be said for the wide-legged pant look and it doesn't hurt that they're comfy, too...





Gap leather jacket
Threadless t-shirt
Modcloth pants
vintage and various New Mexican bracelets
KMRii bag
Finsk shoes

Butter-Braised Radishes

When B and I first started getting our vegetable deliveries from Harvest Delivered, one of the veggies that had us stumped was radishes. What does one do with radishes besides put them on a salad? Luckily, one of B's clever coworkers had a great recipe from the Washington Post that she shared with us. We tweaked it a little, as we tend to do, depending on what we have on hand, but it's pretty true to form.

For this recipe, you will need:

   1 tablespoon unsalted butter
   1 medium-sized yellow onion, roughly chopped
   6-7 medium to large radishes (for 2 people, feel free to add more as needed), cleaned, green tops removed, stem ends trimmed; small ones left whole, medium ones cut in half, large ones cut into quarters
   Salt
   Freshly ground black pepper
   1 teaspoon honey
   1/2 cup water
   fresh flat leaf parsley

In a pan large enough to hold the radishes without crowding, melt the butter over medium-high heat; allow it to begin to brown but not burn. Add the diced onion and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until the onion softens.

Add the radishes, salt and pepper to taste, the honey and the water, stirring to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes, until tender.

Uncover, increase the heat to high and bring back to a boil; cook for about 4 minutes, until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot or warm.



Original recipe here.

"the outdoor room"

Increasing daylight and warmer nights has me thinking about improving my outdoor living space. These are some of the images I'm daydreaming about lately...



My husband and I are huge porch fanatics (see previous), so you might see a theme here...







What I wouldn't give for a porch swing...

One of the most stylish fire pits I've ever seen.





Designing an outdoor space makes me want to be a kid again (a kid with lots of disposable income). If I were, I would load my imaginary dream yard full of whimsical things like these...

Another dream scene. Wouldn't this be the best summer party idea?

Somehow making an outdoor chandelier work is my ultimate fantasy.

I'm always a sucker for rustic settings...

I'm always on the hunt for more inspiration. What are your favorite outdoor room ideas?

(images via desire to inspire, Marie Claire Maison, Dedon Collections, MyHomeIdeas.com, notmybeautifulhome, various  tumblr channels - let me know if you see something I'm missing here)