Inspo: Ladylike Modern Luxury

Tamara Robbins Griffith design featuring Ikea Karlstad sofa

Betsey Johnson's Manhattan apartment

Martha Stewart

Betsy Johnson's Manhattan apartment

photo by Tim Walker

architecture by Graeme Bell (gdbarchitecture.com.au)

photo by Lisa Warninger (elizabethdye.blogspot.com)

Union Jack pillow by Kindred Spirit Home on etsy

LA decorator Windsor Smith (www.ruemag.com)

Loft by Fearon Hay Architects (remodelista.com)

80's editorial of L’Officiel (clevernettle.com)

Neapolitan Cake (sweetapolita.com)

stylist for Vogue London, Pipa Holt's London apartment (apartmenttherapy.com)

Vanity Fair (signevilstrup.dk)

photographed by Trevor Tondro

Audrey Hepburn's apartment in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Inspo: Romantic Jewel-Toned Vintage Whimsy

Actress, Christina Hendricks with her wedding party
Hamish Bowle's (European editor of Vogue) Paris Apartment

Photo by Tim Walker

from lonnymag.com

Audrey Hepburn photographed by David Seymour (Paris, France 1956)

Jennifer Marsico's Apartment, Domino Magazine (April 2007)

Vivienne Westwood

Model and Songstress, Karen Elson

Hamish Bowle's (European editor of Vogue) Paris Apartment

nudeedudee's Flickr

Interior by Fifi Mandirac in Paris decor8blog.com

Herve Pierre's NYC home

from House Beautiful Magazine

from colettepatterns.com

from Canadian House & Home

Summer: Dream Shopping List

( Moschino Cheap & Chic Denim One-Shoulder Ruffle Dress)

(Topshop Cluster Cherry Headband)

(ASOS Leather Bright Tooled Satchel)

(Bass Striped Elastic Sandal)

(Easy Spirit Leather Grandma Sandal)

June Update

I haven't updated this since March. It's been a few months and there have definitely been changes occurring in my life. After much debating, I finally chose a school. This fall I'll be attending UC Davis, majoring in Design with a focus in Interior Architecture. I may change it to textiles or fashion. I am so excited to finally finish school and get on with life. Davis was the last city on earth that I would want to be in but it ended up being the best choice for me. Now I have an excuse to buy a vintage cruiser bike.

I have also picked up a new useless skill! For the past couple months I've been taking an upholstery class. I finished a round ottoman so far and now I'm working on a wingback chair. I'm painting the feet black lacquer. My main fabric is going to be a black velvet and the contrast fabric will be a glazed black cotton with large pink roses from 1989. I'm going for a Betsey Johnson look.

(grocery store candy bin)

(me wearing M*A*C lipstick in Quite Cute)

(lipsticks I found after cleaning out my purse)

(cute cutting board)

(My Wingback Chair)

(Glazed Cotton from 1989 for the back and sides of the chair)

(Black Cotton Velvet will be used as the main fabric for the chair)

March Eats: Lazy Double Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Lazy Double Chocolate Chip Cupcakes 

(based on a recipe from the book 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist Butter Recipe )
1 cup sour cream
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 [10 oz.] bag Ghirardelli semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (I used about 2/3 of the bags contents)

1 can chocolate frosting

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, sour cream, butter, eggs & vanilla with a hand mixer. (Do not over mix.)
2. Fold in chocolate chips. (The batter is supposed to be thick so don't worry)
3. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way. (an ice cream scoop is the best tool for this)
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-19 minutes.
5. Place on cooling rack, frost, and enjoy!

(*The butter and chocolate chips can be omitted to cut down on calories but what's the point)

print recipe

I had originally planned on making pina colada cupcakes for my sister-in-laws March 1st birthday but the recipe I found was a dud (I'm still not over it) so I had to come up with a fast and easy back up plan. She's a chocolate lover so I wanted some kind of chocolate flavored cupcake. I found a basic recipe for chocolate cupcakes here and tweaked it a tiny bit to suite my needs. I added the mini chocolate chips and butter. The cupcakes are based on a recipe from Wendy Paul's book, 101 Gourmet cupcakes in 10 minutes. I usually like to make my cakes from scratch but I was really impressed with this recipe and now I for sure need to add this book to my wishlist.

I did not break out one pastry bag because I was, well. .lazy! They aren't beautiful but they were super moist. They almost tasted like a cupcake version of a chocolate costco muffin. I would not lie and I would never waste your time with a recipe that didn't deliver.



   Verdict: Easy, great flavor, and very moist. I will make them again and again. 

March Eats: Goat Cheese

I have been obsessed with fresh goat cheese lately. I had it at a wedding in San Francisco two years ago and it was heaven. I love cheese but there is something about fresh goat cheese that is special. Maybe It's the tangy almost lemony extra something that it can add to the blandest of foods. This month I bought some on a random trader joe's trip and I'm trying to figure out new ways to eat it. When I eat it with crackers I grate some lemon zest and add the tiniest bit of pepper and olive oil. I've mostly been eating it with salad. I'm on the lookout for a goat cheese pasta recipe.

(Trader Joe's Goat Cheese, Walnut & Red Pepper Salad)

Verdict: I enjoyed the salad but I didn't like the dressing because it tasted like pickles. . Yuck! I don't think I'll get it again but I might try and make my own version one of these days because I liked the idea of the salad.

Anyways, while I was trying to figure out different ways I could prepare goat cheese, I came across several recipes where it was breaded and then fried. I used this youtube as a reference for the breading process but I didn't have all the ingredients so mine is not as fancy. My salad is just a basic romaine with apple slices and homemade balsamic vinaigrette with two breaded goat cheese medallions. It was simple and delish!

(That's not grease it's balsamic vinaigrette)

Verdict: I would be crazy not to make it again! I would use more complex ingredients next time though.

Okay enough goat cheese speak let's move on to the cupcakes in the next post!