• eyes + ears // 1

    I’m going to do a new weekly column! I always find or see or hear images and songs that make me smile or forget about the weeks stresses, and from now on I’ll be sharing them!

    A little humpday gift for your eyes and for your ears.


    click the song title to listen.

    photo by tamar levine / sylvia striplin photo via

  • eating this: lemon mousse

    I can’t really think of a dessert that has more elegant simplicity than this mousse. Plus it’s super easy. So there you go.

    I always like desserts that you can make and plate a day ahead and just pull them out of the fridge to serve guests. This is totally that. Cold desserts rule.

    There is a lot of stirring and if you don’t like eggs and eggy consistency, then you’re totally gonna barf.

    I offered Gideon 20 bucks. He still said no.

    Lemon Mousse (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home)

    4 large eggs
    2/3 cup sugar
    2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
    1 cup heavy cream, well chilled
    *special equipment: fine sieve

    Stir together eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until slightly thickened, about two minutes.

    Raise heat to medium, continue cooking and stirring and cooking and stirring, until thick enough to coat the spoon (about five minutes).

    Strain through the fine sieve, pressing with a flexible spatula, into a metal bowl.

    Cover with wax paper, pressing the paper directly onto the mixture. Refrigerate until well chilled (40-45 minutes).

    Whisk heavy cream in a mixer until soft peaks form, and gently fold into the lemon mixture.

    Cover tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 30 minutes – 2 days before spooning into dessert cups.

    Garnish with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or get really nuts and use some nilla wafers or oreos. NUTS!

     

  • almost makes perfect – the shop

    I am really really really excited to announce that I have opened a shop! A one-stop etsy shop for obsessively curated vintage home goods.

    I’ve been crazily preparing it for about a month now and it’s finally here. And it’s open. I hope you like it! Buy stuff!

    Click on the image to shop. You might also notice there’s a shop button on the sidebar now. So don’t worry – it’ll always be there for you to click!

  • payday wishlist

    one love this preppy sweater for fall from dorothy perkins (if it ever gets cold in la again) / two someday i will spend the money to buy a pouf. maybe. this new kew dhurrie pouf from west elm is super pretty / three really cute “over the moon card” from rifle paper co. (oh my is that a cat?) / four the transport tote in snakeprint from madewell / five stacked chevron earrings from sosie / six dwellstudio throw blanket yes yes please / seven i really want to trade in my current crosley record player for this slightly slimmer and much bluer version

     

  • payday wishlist

    one love this preppy sweater for fall from dorothy perkins (if it ever gets cold in la again) / two someday i will spend the money to buy a pouf. maybe. this new kew dhurrie pouf from west elm is super pretty / three really cute “over the moon card” from rifle paper co. (oh my is that a cat?) / four the transport tote in snakeprint from madewell / five stacked chevron earrings from sosie / six dwellstudio throw blanket yes yes please / seven i really want to trade in my current crosley record player for this slightly slimmer and much bluer version

     

  • ,

    bloody mini pumpkins

    diy mini bloody pumpkins

    i was racking my brain trying to come up with a halloween craft that I hadn’t already seen. there are only so many things you can do with cheesecloth and paint. i bought a bunch of miniature pumpkins and figured i’d wing it. then, in the back of a drawer, I found my puffy paint. my original idea was to paint weird scary limp bizkit faces with the puffy paint but soon realized blood was the easiest and prettiest (in a violent creepy way) to go.

    i loooove horror movies. but when I was too young to see it, I watched hellraiser 3 and there was this scene at a nightclub where pinhead killed everyone but there was this statue on the wall of a woman’s arm squeezing a heart and blood comes out. that scene messed me up. anyway, painting these totally reminded me of that scene!

    bloody pumpkin diydiy-bloody-pumpkins

    step one . paint them white! (unless you buy white pumpkins and save yourself a step.) they don’t have to be perfect and i seriously didn’t bother trying too hard. i did end up doing two light coats on each.

    diy mini bloody pumpkin

    step two . the paint from the top down each crease. vary the lengths and you can round out the ends by going back up a tad with your bottle once you’ve reached the point where you want the drip to stop. let dry for four hours. and you’re done!!!

    they make a really fun weird centerpiece. definitely a conversation piece. you’ll have conversations such as “why are your mini pumpkins bleeding?”

    bloody pumpkins diy

    another pro of this DIY? the cats have not been interested in going near them. hell yeah. you got cats? make these.

  • , ,

    i know what i want for christmas (in october)

    In a deep internet hole, I found these hand stitched needlepoint mules by Paige Andrews the other day and immediately bookmarked them. I want way too many pairs. How cute are these?!

  • payday wishlist

    zara home is now open! i love this silk throw pillow / this faux leather magazine holder from target looks much fancier than it should (at least in the photo) / calf hair chelsea boot from madewell / i know how to cook by ginette mathiot – yet another pretty cookbook i want for my collection / zig zag clutch / very cute kendra scott stud earrings / west elm’s gold flatware. love love love.

  • payday wishlist

    zara home is now open! i love this silk throw pillow / this faux leather magazine holder from target looks much fancier than it should (at least in the photo) / calf hair chelsea boot from madewell / i know how to cook by ginette mathiot – yet another pretty cookbook i want for my collection / zig zag clutch / very cute kendra scott stud earrings / west elm’s gold flatware. love love love.

  • egg salmon and avocado toast

    Having been inspired and in love with this pin, I really wanted to eat this for breakfast this weekend. But unfortunately couldn’t find the source/recipe of it. So I just made it my way, the easy way. (i know i know it’s not as pretty)

    Egg, Salmon, and Avocado Toast

    fresh eggs
    one avocado
    one package of smoked salmon
    good bread
    kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

    Now, I went with old eggs and regular grocery store lox. If I was doing this the right way, I’d go pick up a dozen fresh eggs and some salmon belly lox from Canter’s. And my guests would be like “hey – you fancy.” But instead I went with a package of smoked salmon and my eggs were too old. The whites kept separating.

    Toast, broil, or grill a piece of bread. Liberally spread a ripe avocado all over it. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Top with lox. GENTLY place a poached egg on top  (or you could always just scramble some eggs and top with another piece of bread for a delish sandwich). Grind pepper on top. Devour. Get back in bed.