Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

A puppy with crazy eyes and a little reminder

I ran to the grocery store last night to pick up a few things (okay, $60 worth of things . . . we hadn't been grocery shopping in a while). Somewhere between unloading bags into my car and saving the frozen pie crusts from falling and putting my cart away, I accidentally left my purse sitting in the basket. Of course the minute I got home I realized it and drove like a crazy person back to the store (praying the whole time, because not only was my wallet in there, but so was my laptop with all my photos and work files).

When I got back to the parking lot, I parked (really badly - some kid gave me a disapproving stare) and ran over to the cart area, but my purse wasn't in any of the carts. I rushed into the store and made my way to the lost and found, where I said, feeling pretty stupid, that I thought I'd left my purse in my cart. They asked for a description and I gave it to them, ending with, "And I really hope it's here because it had a laptop in it." The lady next to me said, "Oh no! But actually people are really honest here. I left my wallet in my cart a couple weeks ago and someone turned it in."

Amazingly, somebody had found my bag and and taken it to the lost and found. I smiled the whole way home. Even with so many bad things in the world, doesn't it give you hope that there are still people who'd find a purse with a laptop and credit cards and cash and not play finders-keepers?

And that's a little gratitude story and reminder that life is still pretty great. For all my readers from the good ole USA, I hope tomorrow is filled with turkey and gravy (my favorite) and pumpkin pie and lots of family and friends (the ultimate reason to be thankful). And for the rest of you . . . just make yourself some pie anyway and top with plenty of whipped cream, trust me.

I finally got my camera out

...and here it is: Finally it's here! I'm sure nobody is more excited about this room than me, because this is what you see right when you walk through the front door (so at least since it's 95% finished, guests might assume the rest of our house is equally done. Which is definitely not true).

Here's the before.

When we bought the house, EVERY SINGLE WALL was tan. And ALL the trim was a slightly darker shade of tan. It was overwhelming and made the entire place feel really dark. The first thing we did was paint the trim in the living room white (which took days, so I feel like this one little statement doesn't accurately convey the seriousness of that endeavor), then paint the walls "Silver Drop" by Behr. I can't recommend it highly enough - it's a light, warm gray without any pink/brown/purple/blue undertones (not sure my photographs convey that, but it's really nice).

I honestly don't remember what the door is painted in - I think I just requested a true black in Behr. I should probably keep better notes.

Most of our nice furniture was purchased at DownEast Home, which carries high-end stuff from places like Pottery Barn and West Elm for deep discounts. Because not everyone has one close by and because inventory varies a lot from store to store, I'm listing the original manufacturer of the furniture in my source list below instead of DownEast.
The big black-and-white prints are just photos printed as 24x36" engineering prints at OfficeMax. Large art is expensive, just FYI. So until we can afford some type of big painting, I like these (and they were only $3 a piece). We stuck them in ultra-cheap and flimsy poster frames from Walmart and it works.
The gold shelf is absolutely not styled to perfection. I actually threw a couple things on before I took these pictures and as you'll probably notice the bottom shelves are completely empty. Oops. Maybe someday I'll finish this, but there's a good chance it might sit un-styled for a year.

Side note: don't you just love that tangerine print? It makes me so happy.
I love this rug (and I apologize for not vacuuming before taking this picture). It's Remi's favorite place to lay and watch me cook dinner, but I spend most of my time chasing him off it because I don't know if I trust that he's fully potty trained yet.

Source List
Wall color || Silver Drop by Behr
Trim || untinted white, Sherwin-Williams
Sofa || Pottery Barn
Coffee Table || West Elm
Chairs || vintage
White vase || Target
Rug || Williams-Sonoma
Lamps || Target
Marble side tables || West Elm
Tangerine print || Alexandra Dzh via Minted
Mayan statue || found on our honeymoon
Poster frames || Walmart
Snake bowl || Target
Dragon pillow || made by me using Ming Dragon by Dwell Studio
Navy brushstroke and blue geometric pillow || Etsy (can't recall the shop - I'll update later)
Agate art || DIY project (instructions here)

And there you have it, a mostly-finished living room. The bedroom is getting close so hopefully I can photograph it in the next week or two. And stand by, because John somehow convinced me that he is designing the basement family room and he's getting started with a few projects tonight. I've been forbidden from going downstairs this weekend, so cross your fingers that it doesn't turn into a giant man cave.

Linked up at Thrifty Decor Chick and Northern Nesting

For everyone who thought Walter Mitty's clementine cake looked amazing

Ever since I saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, I've been dying to try his mom's famous clementine cake. The problem was that when I did a quick google search for a recipe, I discovered that this cake was likely invented for the movie. I found only one recipe that looked similar. Unfortunately it called for ground almonds and clementines that had been boiled for hours and pureed. I don't generally keep almonds around the house and I reserve our almond flour for my macaron experiments, plus I typically don't like to spend hours on desserts so boiling clementines wasn't going to happen. (It did look delicious though, so if you have time, find the recipe here).

I did the next best thing and experimented and created my own recipe based on countless other citrus-y recipes. I hope you enjoy it!

Walter Mitty-Inspired Clementine Cake
For the Cake:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Generous pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil (or vegetable, if you prefer)
2 medium eggs
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)

For the Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup orange juice (see instructions below)

For the Candied Clementines:
3 clementines, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one 8-inch or 9-inch cake round.

Whisk milk, juice, oil, eggs, and orange zest (if desired - I've made the cake both with and without the orange zest and it's delicious both ways; the zest just adds extra orange flavor). Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add wet to dry ingredients; mix until smooth. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the candied clementines. Slice 3 clementines very thin (if they're too thick, the rind won't be pleasant to chew on). Discard the ends. Place in a pot with sugar and water and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and place on waxed paper to dry.

After the cake cools, mix 2 cups powdered sugar with 1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice. I prefer a thick glaze and add a little over a 1/4 cup, but thin is also delicious - just start with a small amount of juice and keep adding until your glaze is the consistency you like. Pour the glaze over the cake and spread evenly with a knife or spatula.

Garnish with the candied clementines. I personally really like the flavor the clementines add, but some people in my family don't like the chewy texture of the peel. You can always remove the sliced clementines before eating or garnish your cake with peeled, uncooked clementine segments (in this case, I'd either refrigerate your cake or eat immediately).

Side note: John loves this glaze and said we need to try it on pancakes. I concur. Maybe clementine pancakes will make an appearance on this blog in the near future.


Linked up at Northern Nesting

Halloween 2015 (and a puppy in a costume just for good measure)

If I had any self-respect and if I was worried about having blog followers and if  I remembered what I promised myself years ago I'd never do, I wouldn't post this picture. BUT I just have to. Because look at that face. And if you can't post pictures of puppies in costumes in your own little corner of the internet, what's the point of life really?