Happy Friday!

 

Happy Friday everyone!  Here's a little iphone round up of what's been going on this past week and weekend.  My friends threw me the sweetest baby shower in Atlanta last weekend and I managed to squeeze myself into a cute Anthropologie Dress.  The shower was full of big pink hydrangeas and beautiful peonies to celebrate our little girl.  My friend hand made the pink garland on the mantel out of flowers!  (More on that later because it was really beautiful and cool!)  We made major progress in the kitchen - dry wall and electrical are up!  and we finally selected our exact countertop slab - a leathered Carrera marble.  Last night was Book Club at Heath's and Andy made delicious homemade flatbread pizzas and grilled peaches for us ladies.  Very yummy!

A few things I enjoyed this week...

I wish I was invited to this beautiful wedding in England.  The bride is beaming, and I LOVE the gorgeous mass of baby's breath bouquets the bridesmaids carried.  Very chic.

This pasta looks simple and delicious, plus I love reading about Smitten Kitchen's Roman Vacation.

LOVE this table setting seen on Vogue's Instagram page.  I haven't read or seen The Great Gatsby, but I already know I want someone to throw a Gatsbyish party and invite me!

Love this touching post by Jenny at Dinner A Love Story. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend!  I'm planning on sleeping in and enjoying being home.  JD and I are going to try to make major progress on the baby's nursery.  The summer is flying by and right now a crib is all that is in place! :)

~Mary Keller

Swimsuit Coverups

Ahhh how did summer get here so fast? Where did spring go?

I guess it doesn't really matter at this point - what matters is are we ready for it? I'm still on the fence. Next week i'm headed to Charleston to visit a good friend and celebrate the fourth and while i'm fine wearing my old standby black swimsuit i'm thinking it may be time to spruce up what i'm sporting over it. I like to buy multi-use items in general for my closet but i really like to in this area. I sadly only make it to the beach a hand full of times a year so I don't find that owning pieces specific for swimming is practical. I try to find a dress or romper that can double as a coverup or some casual shorts that can be thrown on with a tee, that way know i'll get to wear them more often.

Also if you're like me and like to play beach games and swim the chlorine, sand and salt water just kill the color and elastic on swimwear over time so i'm always on the look out for a bargain. I've included some other options too in case you aren't quite as rough on yours (i.e. you like to sit and read like MK)! I bought this when I was out in Austin with the intention of wearing it on and off the beach and i've already worn it both ways. You can see it on the beach here, I love how easily is transitions!

What coverup will you be wearing at the beach this summer?

Update - Top row images: Joie, Zara, Roberta Roller Rabbit via Piperlime, Club Monaco, both eyelet and tribal maxi via Target,
Bottom row images: Forever 21, Madewell, BB Dakota, Target, Trina Turk, Zara

A Summer Charcuterie Spread

JD and I just helped throw an engagement party for some favorite friends of ours, and one of our hors d'oeuvres was a small charcuterie plate.  Heath and I both LOVE charcuterie plates.  Getting a bottle of wine, a charcuterie plate and dessert is definitely one of my favorite dates!  The warmer weather had me and Heath thinking of a ways to create Summer Charcuterie Plate, something a little lighter than we may traditionally put together.

Heath and I headed to Trader Jos and Dean & Deluca one evening to create our spread.  These two stops should have everything you need, and they help keep the cost in line.  From Trader Joes, get one or two more mild cheese, nuts and a few pieces of fruit.  We picked summer fruits of berries and apricots to lighten things up.  Trader Joes has great prices on cheeses so it's always most cost effective to get the bulk of your cheese plate here.  Try their spiced Marcona Almonds.  They're an additive cocktail snack!

Next, we headed to Dean & Deluca to pick out a few more specialty items.  Surprisingly, if you're smart you can get out of Dean & Deluca without spending a fortune.  A big trick is having the deli counter freshly slice your meat selections.  It may seem less expensive to buy a package of delicious Italian salami, but I'm always shocked how inexpensive it is to pick your favorites from the counter and have them thinly slice a 1/4 lb, 1/3 lb or whatever you need depending on group size.  We ordered 20 very thin slices of a Calabrese Salami, 20 thin slices of a Toscana Salami, and a few large slices of Prosciutto they were only around $3.80 each!  (You don't need huge quantities of these meats for your platter!)  We always pick out one stand out specialty cheese (something better than we'd find at Trader Joes) and good olives.  This evening we went with a Bleu D'Auvergne Cow (a delicious blue to contrast our mild Rosemary Asiago and Double Cream Brie Trader Joe selections) and big bright green "young" olives. 

Add a crisp bottle of white wine plus either crackers or a baguette, and you're set.  Anyone else love Charcuterie spreads as much as us?  Do you add anything fun or switch things up for summer?  Can't go wrong with just the meats, cheeses, a baguette and a bottle of red regardless!

~Mary Keller 

P.S.  Always ask the deli counter to let you try what you're considering.  That's part of the fun at Dean & Deluca is trying things out to decide which two or three you want to select.  Same for picking a specialty cheese.  Ask for a taste, and you can ask them to slice a much thinner wedge to take home than what they traditionally package. 

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday guys! Here's a little round up of what's been happening with us this week as captured by my phone. I found a new dress for MK's baby shower this weekend, and within my price range woop woop! We rode our bikes to dinner last night and had the best time catching up with an old friend who was in town for a short visit. And of course - the first of the tomatoes from our garden. Andy is pretty happy about their blog debut! My mother in law sent us some series to watch and get a little more current since we don't watch much TV. Looking forward to having a lazy sunday with these guys soon. We did A LOT of cooking this week including a flatbread experiment with this homemade dough, homemade bread and homemade hummus (chickpeas soaking above). We're becoming quite the food nerds :(

This weekend MK has a baby shower in Atlanta. I'm driving up Saturday with my mom and grandmother and could not be more excited. My grandmother is so much fun and to say her and my mom are excited about this little girl is an understatement. It's going to be a fun weekend! Here are a few links from around the web that caught my eye...

So refereshing to read Garence Dore's take on personaly style.

Explanation of a key, so simple yet so fascinating.

A round up of "summer sales", whaaat? It's only June but i'll take any sale!

After reading this, Japan just moved up a few notches on my travel list.

Great trick for a thrifted bowl or cup and saucer.

And just in case you missed it, summer beauty tips from Carrie LaMarca.

What are you guys up to this weekend? 

- Heath

So much progress on the renovation!

Guys there has been so much progress on the kitchen renovation!  I'm really surprised how much things have changed over just one week!  We've begun making some of the finish selections.  I was getting a bit nervous about my decision to paint the lower cabinets black, but then Lacquered Life blog posted the kitchen below from Country Living and I fell in love again.

Along with the black lower cabinets, we'll be painting the upper cabinets white.  We've selected Carrera marble on the counter tops and a 3"x 6" Carrera tile as the backsplash.  I've heard nothing but horror stories about using Carrera marble so we're probably crazy!  I just can't find a white granite that looks clean enough, I've always loved Carrera, and similar looking Quartz options are waaay too pricey!  We've selected unlacquered brass hardware, simple knobs for our doors and bin pulls for the drawers.  I'd love to do an unlacquered brass faucet, but the options we're finding are still too pricey!  The faucet shown below is lacquered--why do they triple the price NOT to lacquer the brass?!

 

Below are the latest progress shots:

 The back of the house with the kitchen.  This wall used to have a small window and single door.  We removed the single door and instead will add French doors on the other side.  No more view of our neighbors doing their dishes!

Back of the house with the temporary door.  This temporary door will become our French doors.  Clearly they still have a lot of old electrical items to move!  The view out the French doors will be so much better than the last door location.

Inside the kitchen, the former window has been covered.  The stove will go along this wall.

The new sink will go under this existing window.

The wall that separated the old breakfast room and kitchen is officially gone!  The wall used to be in between these two windows.  It looks so much bigger now.

Looking through the kitchen to where the French doors will eventually be.  The new doors will add so much needed light to this space!

This wall used to have a small window and exterior doors.  Those have been covered and this wall will have our fridge, pantry, desk and oven.  The framing for the pantry is in place!  (Pantries are such a luxury in our neighborhood.  Kitchens are often so small!)

~Mary Keller

Three Summer Make Up Looks to Try!

I'm so excited for today's post!  Today we have a guest post from a good friend, Carrie LaMarca.  Carrie is a friend from college and is a professional make up artist.  After college, work took Carrie to DC and Nashville, but she eventually made the decision to leave her cushy corporate job to move to New York to become a make-up artist!  (Guys that's a scary decision.  It's hard to leave a well paying career and cross your fingers that you can make a living doing what you really love!)  Carrie moved to New York to learn about the world of professional make up, and has since relocated to Miami where her career is thriving!  I'm so excited for her and thrilled that she's going to share tips plus three summer looks with us:

Carrie now works on amazing magazine photoshoots and travels all over doing make up at the professional level!  You can check out her website here.  Carrie, thank you, thank you for sharing these tips with us.  I'm very guilty of sticking to my same make up routine year round so I can't wait to try these out.  I think I'm a Look 3 - Fresh Face, BRIGHT Lips kinda girl!  :)

~Mary Keller

Guest post via Carrie Lamarca; all products available through Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! This week has been a busy one! We don't have much on our agenda this weekend and I'm really looking forward it. After a weekend away a quiet weekend is exactly what we need. I'm hoping to cook a big breakfast, make it to the farmers market and do a little shopping this weekend to bring my wardrobe up to speed since summer has arrived quickly! Where did spring go?

What are you guys up to this weekend?

- Heath

Image via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Kitchen Renovation Progress

I came home from Chicago to find some major kitchen renovation progress!  I guess it has to get worse before it can get better.  A few demolition shots are shown below.  I'm so excited this is finally happening.  Between now and when the renovation is complete, JD and I will be washing our two bowls, two plates and two coffee mugs in the tiny downstairs bath, living off whatever meals I can come up with that do not involve an oven, stove or microwave!  This should be fun!

Old cabinets are completely gone!  Ultimately the new sink will go under the left window, and the right window will be removed and replaced with French doors.

Standing in the old kitchen looking into what used to be the breakfast room.  The drywall is gone and I can already tell how much more open this space will feel with this wall removed. 

Ultimately this door to the outside will be removed and this wall will instead have our pantry, a little desk and built in ovens.

 Layers and layers of old charming wallpapers!

The former breakfast room looking into the kitchen.  A wall used to block this view! 

~Mary Keller



Photo Diary | Quick trip to Chicago



While Heath was taking a quick weekend trip to the beach, I was in Chicago for work.  I forgot how much I love this city.  The weather was perfect spring weather, sunny and not too hot, and flowers were in bloom everywhere.  We pretty much worked non stop while we were there, but I snapped a few pics walking to and from work during the day and dinner during the evenings.

Photo Diary | Quick trip to the beach

I packed nothing but necessities this past weekend for the beach since we were there for less than 48 hours. As a result I have only iPhone photos to show you but they aren't all that bad. It was a nice quiet weekend at the beach with lots of family! My mom has four brothers and one sister and all but one sibling were in attendance with spouses, kids etc. Highlight of my trip (in addition to long overdue visits with family from far away) was seeing my cousin's son. I met him as a baby but was eager to see him again since he is three and a half now and full of personality. I pretty much played with him the entire time - you can see in the photos. I'm sure that is no surprise to most. I absolutely LOVE kids and this little guy was no exception. He is full of energy, laughter, smiles and smart as a whip! Here's what we did this weekend...

Happy Friday!

As you're reading this i'm playing (I use that word lightly) in a golf scramble for work, PLEASE be thinking of my poor team!  Afterwards Andy and I are off to meet my mom's entire family at the beach. I'm looking forward to seeing family that we don't see often enough and really looking forward to a little R&R on the beach.

Do you guys have any big plans for the weekend? Hope you have a nice weekend whatever you're doing.

- Heath

Update - the tournament was cancelled due to the storm, we're still braving the beach though. Hope everyone is safe!

Image via La Mia Vita

Interior Details: Tiny Frames

I majored in interior design in college and even though in my career my focus has been on Corporate Interior Design, friends often ask me for advice on decorating their home.  Giving friends (or anyone really!) decorating advice is SO tricky.  The most beautiful homes are homes that reflect the owner's taste, not their decorator's taste, Pottery Barn or West Elm's taste, or really any new Shelter magazine's taste.  I think details are what make a home special, just as the right accessories and jewelry make jeans and white t-shirt interesting. 

One detail that works well in any home, regardless of the home owner's style, budget or taste are TINY picture frames.  When I poured through old saved images to illustrate how much life tiny picture frames add to a room, examples were surprisingly hard to find.  Mostly because I noticed that in almost all of my saved design images, most were void of picture frames all together.

The image above is of Kate Spade's Manhattan apartment, and in that apartment, Kate Spade does no wrong!  She beautifully pulls off a mass collection of frames, including lots of tiny versions.  But, my favorite way to use tiny picture frames is not necessarily in a grouping like shown above.  I think they add so much charm when tucked in bookshelves between books, tucked on a tiny shelf in a bathroom, or alone on a side table with accessories.  It's difficult to see the tiny frames tucked in places in the examples below, but that's kind of the point.  Tiny frames don't jump in your face when you see a space, you gradually experience them as you spend time in someone's home, which I think makes them that much more interesting.

A few small picture frames with one larger frame.  The look would not be the same if all of the frames were larger is size.  Image of Hanna Seabrook's home on Glitter Guide.



Another lovely corner of Hanna Seabook's home with one singular frame.

A few tiny frames, combined with some larger frames, tucked in a bookcase.

VERY tiny frames on the bedside table, in one of my favorite bedrooms

A handful of small frames on a chest.

 

~ Mary Keller





Top image of Kate Spade's apartment via The Selby; second image via Glitter Guide; third image via Glitter Guide; fourth image via Lonny Magazine; fifth image via Lonny Magazine; bottom image unknown - if you know the source please let me know and I will happily give credit.

My Look, Her Look, Mom's Look

So this month we're styling these black and white patterned pants above. Patterned pants are everywhere right now and are so versatile it's great. They easily transition from work to casual day to day errands to an evening dinner party. I'm particularly loving these because they're on sale right now, you can't beat it!

Clockwise from top left: Rachael Ruddich handbag, Marc by Marc Jacob sunglasses, Zara blouse, Tabitha Simmons for J.Crew sandals and Lauren Hope earrings

With MK expecting I kept her blouse flowy to allow room for the little girl growing in her belly! I absolutely love the feminine color of these sandals and thought there was no better way to lighten up a pair of black crop pants than a billowy top and lavender sandals. MK also tends to wear smaller handbags than me but I have a feeling that may change soon with her little addition no the way, so I loved how structured this bag was while still allowing for lots of baby items to be thrown in.

Clockwise from left: Everlane tee, La Mer Collections watch, T and J Designs necklace, Primary clutch and Zara shoes

I kept my look casual with a plain white tee but dressed it up a bit with that cute highlighter necklace I've been coveting recently. I did add a little something with the heels though. I love a good pair of heels but tend to choose flats for day to day. I love the simplicity of these heels though and how they bring the entire outfit together. I feel like it just works.

Clockwise from left: Brooks Brothers shirt, Ray Ban sunglasses , Annabell Ingall tote, Loren Hope necklace, Breckelle's flats and Arosha Taglia earrings

My mom tends to wear collared shirts a lot and I don't blame her, she looks great in them and they're a classic. You can keep simple articles of clothing like a crisp white shirt fresh by adding color and updated accessories. I love the look of a D'orsay shoe (I wore them in my wedding!) and these blue flats are perfect for wearing to the office and out to dinner afterwards.

How would you style the patterned pants above? I feel like they can work in so many different ways!

- Heath

Recipe Box | Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

When we had friends over this past weekend, we served Ina Garten's Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries.  I cannot say enough how easy and delicious this recipe is!  I had been holding off on trying this recipe because I didn't want to purchase little ramekins.  I finally bought a handful for just $3 each at Crate and Barrel, but this set is super inexpensive from Target.   I bought and used the 10oz size so I can also use them for little chicken pot pies, baked egg dishes, yummy side dishes, tiny berry cobblers, etc.

The Panna Cotta part of this recipe is so much simpler than I expected.  It needs to be made the night ahead of serving so it's perfect for a dinner party.  You don't have to mess with cooking or cleaning up the day of your event.  The recipe came together in about 15 minutes.  Recipe is listed below and you probably have almost everything already in your pantry.

Ina Garten's Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

via Barefoot Contessa at Home Cookbook

1 packet unflavored gelatin powder

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups plain milk yogurt (don't use low fat!)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean (can be a bit pricey but worth it!)

3/4 cup sugar

4 pints (8 cups) sliced strawberries

5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tables sugar

• Sprinkle the gelatin with 3 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl and set aside to mix/dissolve.
• In a separate medium bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of cream, yogurt and vanilla extract.  Split the vanilla bean and scrape seeds with the tip of a knife into the bowl.
• Heat the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream and the 3/4 cup of sugar in a small sauce pan on medium heat.  Once this comes to a simmer, pull off the heat and add the dissolved gelatin mixture. 
• Next add hot cream & gelatin mixture to your cold cream and yogurt mixture.
• Stir to combine and evenly pour in 8 (6-8 oz.) ramekins.
• Refrigerate until cold.  Once cooled, cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight.
• To serve, run a small knife around the edge of the ramekins and invert each ramekin onto a dessert plate.  (If you're having trouble, you can also dip the bottom of the ramekin in a little hot water.)  Top with strawberries or your topping of choice!

For the strawberry mixture, just tossed sliced strawberries with approximately 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and surprisingly about 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper.  Let the strawberries sit for about 30 minutes to an hour, then serve alongside the Panna Cotta.

Now that I've tried this recipe, I want to try lots of different Panna Cotta variations.  I think that once you have the basic vanilla bean Panna Cotta recipe down, it will be easy to switch this recipe up.  I think next I want to try this delicious looking coffee version, perfect for after dinner!

Coffee Panna Cotta via Art and Lemons

Early Summer Steak Club

Over the weekend we had friends over Saturday night for Steak Club.  Everyone brought over different bottles of wine and their steaks, and JD and I just made an easy side dish and dessert.  When the weather finally cooled off and the sun went down, it was the perfect evening relaxing outside around the table for hours.



I made JD haul our dining room table out to our front porch.  I used herbs from Trader Joes as an easy centerpiece.  (I don't think it was quite like a table setting you'd see of Ina's, but it's a start!)

We set up a bar on the other side of the porch.  With cocktails we just had simple store bought appetizers - grapes, baked brie, crackers and spiced pecans.  Two friends brought over Rose wines, and everyone loved them with cocktails for a nice change!

Early Summer Steak Club Menu:

Steaks on the Grill with Provencal Butter

Roasted Fennel, Fingerling Potatoes, Haricot Verts and Asparagus with shaved Parmesan

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

  

For the main course, JD cooked everyone's steak on the grill.  We served the steaks alongside lots of Provencal butter in case anyone wanted to doctor up their steaks. 

For the sides, I roasted fennel, potatoes, string beans and asparagus.  For 8 people, I used one fennel blub, 2 lbs of small potatoes, 1 1/2 lbs of string beans and 2 bunches of asparagus.  I chopped up the veggies that morning while I was waiting on my coffee to brew and later on in the day tossed them all with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Cook the potatoes and fennel on 425 for about 25 minutes, then add the asparagus and string beans to the same sheet pan and roast all the veggies for another 15 minutes.  When you pull the veggies out of the oven, shave a little fresh parmesan right on top.  I love this side dish because everything can be prepped and ready in advance.  You only have to toss them in the oven when your guests arrive.  And JD loves this side dish because he only has a sheet pan to clean when the party is over. :)

For dessert I knew I wanted something light because after steaks we would likely all be full!  We tried Ina's Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries and everyone LOVED it!  We'll share the recipe soon because it's one we'll be keeping.