Spotlight: Home Tour of Robert & Michael

By the time you read this, I will be gone. (Beetlejuice quote alert! Anyone?...) Gone, to Lake Topaz, which I'm assuming has zero internet and cell time.  I guess I shouldn't blog lakeside anyway (oh but if I could...).  So, Happy Friday & today I'm sending you over to Apartment Therapy to see one of the most magnificent home tours I've seen in a long time. Robert & Michael's apartment.  I'm a HUGE fan of mid century modern, an unexpected love that was lingering just beneath the surface, until one day... bam.  So this place is super inspirational, "keep going... keep collecting", it says (yay!) Check out the sneak peeks but head over to Apartment Therapy to see the full slideshow, and to witness what an amazing jobs these boys have done, in their rental mind you... see what I'm sayin? You don't have to own that place to make it magnificent.

Oops! Looks like you dropped your jaw, that's ok so did I. And for damn good reason! This place embodies so many of the goals I have floating around in my head for our home.. I just love the mix of the Mid Century furniture (wood grains! crazy shapes!), with the retro handmade crafts (Macrame! Latch Hook Rugs!), modern touches (Flat screens! Stark white pottery!) and amazing ceramics (get a load of those lamps sister...).  This is the type of mix I'm scouting out. In the meantime I'll be referring to this amazing tour time & time again for inspiration. It really is what I was dreaming of. Ah.......

Ok since it's Friday I give you full permission to stop working and go on this house tour, it's roughly 20 pictures of amazing, and you won't regret it. Go ahead, boss won't mind.  I'm dying to know where they got that circular hanging room divider (above).. I wonder if they made it out of PVC slices. Maybe. Anyone? I should write them.

Have a fantastic weekend, hopefully you're up to no good, it's Summer after all! Make it memorable... 

-Jesse

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Off to Lake Topaz, Nevada

I've got some time off and luckily so does Ralph, so we are off to Lake Topaz, Nevada for some camping fun with his family. I've never been, but here are a few pictures I found (thanks googy!):

This will be a new one for me but I know I'll love it!  Lakeside camping, warm weather, swimming... sounds perfect. So we'll be gone until Sunday July 14th.  For those of you ordering string art tablets, I'll start up as soon as we're back! 

What vacations have you gone on, or are going to this summer? I've seen so many other peoples vacay photos on Facebook, Instagram and various blogs... I love 'em.  I've found living vicariously through other peoples vacations makes the work day go faster, for me at least!

And, we're off! Have a great week....

-Jesse

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Looking back at July 2012

Time goes by so quickly that it's easy to forget how much you really did in the time that has passed.  Looking forward into this month, I randomly thought of going through last July's archives to see what was going on back then, and was surprised to see that not that much time has passed! In my memory these projects seemed like years ago, and yet - it was only one.  Let's take a walk down memory lane... 

So last July my mega project was the first roll top desk makeover:

This seemed like MUCH longer ago! This was also my first time with chalk paint, and I really liked it. Click here for the full post.

Our impromptu vacation was to Clear Lake:

And San Francisco:

I was polishing up the Beach Towel bookshelf, which is a color I'm still totally in love with a year later...reminder to self: must use more beach towel!

I was definitely doing a lot more furniture than I am now.. partly because I had more space for it back then, and also because the house is really dominating the project realm. Oh yea, we were also waiting on a house back then that turned out to be a disaster. Dodged that bullet!

Here was my color wash tutorial for the School Of Restoration series I was doing for The Divine Minimalist:

And my favorite recipe of the summer was this amazing Avocado & Jicama Salad I was in love with, I must have brought it to so many bbq's.. 

This all takes me back.. it's crazy the changes that have happened in our lives in only one year, but I'm also happy to see that it really was only one year.  Do you ever take a breather to look back at your lives a month ago, a year ago, 5 years ago? Whenever you feel like time is moving too quickly, take a moment to realize all the great things you've done, the memories you've made, and the relationships you've built in such a short amount of time.  It only feels like time is flying because we are actually doing so much, so that feeling is a good sign in a way....?

Hope everyone had a great relaxing weekend, every meal of ours seemed to be bbq'd and the days were nice and lazy.  How was your weekend?

-Jesse

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Independence Day

Happy 237th Birthday America! Have a fantastic independence day everyone, be safe & be proud!

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Red White & Blue Salad

We've been trying to cut down on the carb intake these past few months (mainly pasta, rice & bread), and by cut down I mean we pretty much don't eat them.  We'll cheat on the weekends, or if someone has us for dinner, but at home? None. I love carbs, of course - it's just that it became a slippery slope.  What was once a healthy portion of pasta on our plate soon became the two of us splitting a family size bag of egg noodles..smothered in amazing sauce and topped with a loaf of bread. oops.   I'm exaggerating (barely) but it IS time for a little reality check.

So when we go to a BBQ I try to bring something non-carby.  I'm totally going to mow down on the carbs tomorrow fyi, don't you worry, I'm just figuring there would be plenty of pastas, breads, etc. Mmm.. I can't wait! So here's what I'm planning for tomorrow, I think it will be delicious. Perfect blend of sweet to savory:

Source

I thought of it last night, trying to figure out a fun & fresh salad to bring.  This morning I browsed Pinterest for ideas to see if others had done it, and sure enough, roughly one million people had also thought Red Strawberries, White Feta, and Blueberries would be adorable and delicious for fourth of July. Glad I'm on the right track....

But as Pinterest tends to go, almost NONE of the links actually went anywhere they should (biggest pet peeve about Pinterest) but I figured, this is the simplest thing in the world, we don't need a recipe, right? Photos say it all.

Here's my plan, toss these things in a bowl (layering might be cute, in a clear bowl...):

• Mixed Greens, maybe some fresh basil
• Sliced Strawberries (abundant out here right now!)
• Blueberries
• Feta or Crumbled goat, whatever's fresh at the store.
• Candied pecans or walnuts (might keep this on the side to sprinkle, never know who's allergic)
• Balsamic Vinaigrette (might home make, might buy.... )

That's it. One thing I've learned is to BRING the dressing on the SIDE because salads love to get soggy while they wait to be eaten.  Before serve time just toss a little in the salad and coat everything (I mean a LITTLE).  Then leave the dressing out for people to add if they wish.

Here's another idea (with absolutely no link...) and if I had a star cookie cutter on hand, I'd probably do it, it's so easy and cheesy I love it:

So that's probably what I'm going to make. But who knows, sometimes I get to the store and things change directions completely. I'll probably end up coming home and making twice baked potatoes, topped with garlic bread.. and artichoke dip..... haha.  Or tortellini, I've been craving the tortellinis.. 

Happy Fourth of July everyone, have a fantastic holiday & be safe! Fireworks be crazy.

-Jesse

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