Thursday, December 30, 2010

Our 2010 Christmas Decorations

This was our first married Christmas, so I decided to show IKF just what he got himself into by marrying me, the Queen of Festive.

Channeling the creativity of these cute people, we set about cutting out letters for own caroling garlands, which didn't take as long as I expected... just a couple episodes of Bones and we had ourselves an abundant construction paper alphabet.


















It was perfect - a little effort went a long way. Aaaand it was cheap - construction paper, twine and tape don't cost much.

Some extremely kind friends of my parents also let us pick up a tree at the "young-married-and-broke" discount price, so we actually got to have a live Christmas tree!























I'm so happy with how it all turned out! It was beautiful, inexpensive and IKF is building up a very high tolerance for "useless sparkly things." It was one of the highlights of my Christmas this year to have a little home to decorate and a husband to enjoy it with.


Ladder in the Kitchen

I think me and my 5'2" could get used to something like this.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Pearl Engagement Ring

My friend who got engaged recently wanted a  pearl for her engagement ring rather than a diamond. It's beautiful and perfect for her.























I went the more traditional and very sparkly route. I've been wearing it for almost a year now and it still makes me giggle like a little girl I love it so much.

What sort of ring do you have or want? Do you prefer something classic? Something modern? Or would you skip the stone altogether and go with something plain and petite?

Spectacular

Darcy

The Flatiron
























When I lived in New York my office was on 23rd St, just a block past the Flatiron Building and I walked by it every day. I used to sit in Bryant Park eating my salad from Pax and looking up at it. It will always be a favorite.

The Oldest Joke in the Book

Dress to Flatter

Thumbprint Reindeer

Another adorable idea for a Christmas card that I plan to try when I have enough children to make a herd.

Silent Monks Sing the Hallelujah Chorus

For some reason the Hallelujah Chorus has been a big part of my Christmas this year. Mostly in meaningful ways, but in this case, its just funny!...

Friday, December 24, 2010

Wishing You All A Very Merry Christmas

THIS is our Christmas Card this year. I love the way it turned out. I sent out as many as I could, which wasn't nearly as many as I wanted to. If you didn't get one in the mail, this one is for you...
















I hope this year has been wonderful for you and I wish you all good things in the coming year.

Much love,
Sara (& Ian)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

I like these guys, we would be friends...

Plaid

I want

I want everything in the picture, right down to the gold nail polish.

House Rules
























I love this idea of writing the house rules on a bright wall somewhere. What a way to keep focused on the things that matter and the people we want to be.

{Thanks Carina!}

Blessed

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love."
-- Hamilton Wright Mabi

Make it happen

Pretzel Treats

I feel like I'm the last person to catch on to this idea, but I did try it for a little gathering a few weeks ago and was very happy with the result. There are so many fun flavors of Kisses now that I'd like to keep trying different combinations.

Pretzel Treats

Smallish Pretzels, preferrably window shaped
Assorted Hershey's kisses and hugs - We used mint truffle
Plain M&M's - in appropriately festive colors

1. Preheat your oven to 170. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and toss down as many pretzels as you want/will fit in a single layer... No overlapping. Place a chocolate kiss or hug in the middle of each pretzel (window shaped pretzels work best, but regular pretzel shaped pretzels work too.)

2. Bake in the oven for 4 -6 minutes until the chocolate is soft. Remove from oven a press an M&M in to the top of each kiss. Let sit for a minute or two and then put the cookie sheet in the fridge and allow them to set completely.

3. Toss into a cute bowl on the counter for your next party. Or while you're folding laundry. Or wrapping presents.

*You can sub the kisses for Rolo's and the M&M's for pecans for something more like a turtle.

Tron Legacy

I saw the Tron movie last night.

Loved it.

I wasn't expecting much I guess, but we saw it in 3D and the effects were mind blowing. I really really didn't expect much out of the story or the dialogue, but I was pleasantly suprised.

The whole movie would have been worth it, in fact, just for Michael Sheen's outrageous performance. I has yet again secured his place as one of my favorites.
 




Super Clever Christmas Card

Ten years from now when I actually have children, (fingers crossed?) I'd love to do something like this for our Christmas card.























Isn't it clever and fun?!

{Spotted on Black*Eiffel}

Eggplant Parmesan

I haven't posted a recipe in awhile for this simple reason - I haven't really been cooking. Well, I haven't really been cooking food. I've been baking plenty of treats, and I'll share those too, but they don't tend to meet any of my criteria for cheap, fast and healthy... HOWEVER, there are some lingering "real food" recipes that got us through the fall that I can't believe I haven't posted. So I'm going to do that...... wait for it...... now.

My favorite discovery of the season was my new and improved version of eggplant parmesan. It has *sneaky vegetables and it's almost impossible to mess it up.

Eggplant Parmesan

-Approx. one large eggplant for every 3 people, depending on how hungry they are
- 1/2 c. egg beaters or 3 egg whites mixed with a Tbsp of water
-1/2 - 3/4 c. bread crumbs - seasoned or unseasoned (you can add a tsp each of basil and oregano to spice it up some more)
-1/2 c. parmesan cheese - grated or shredded, we're not picky
-One large yellow onion
-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
-One jar red sauce, we've been using Bertolli's Italian Sausage version and its delicious

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Spray two cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the egg mixture into a shallow dish. In another separate shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs and parmesan. Slice the eggplant into rounds - thinner for crispier, thicker for heartier.

2. Dredge the eggplant rounds in the egg mixture, give 'em a little shake to get off the drips, then coat them in the parmesan bread crumb mixture all over and lay them on the cookie sheet. I am usually able to fit them 3x3, so 9 slices on each sheet.

3. Bake for 10 mins at 400, then pull out the oven rack and your tongs and flip each piece over and put it back in for another 10-15 mins until you feel like the outsides are sufficiently crispy. If your oven fails to heat evenly like mine, this is also a good time to switch the two cookie sheets from top rack to bottom and vice versa.

4. Meanwhile, dice your onion and throw it in a large skillet on high and add the ground beef. I like a lot of onion because I feel like it brings out a really good flavor in the meat, you may prefer less. Once the beef is browned and the onions are soft, add the red sauce and reduce the heat to medium. Heat through, stirring frequently, until little bubbles break on the surface and your sauce starts to look like boiling lava (you know you've thought that too!). And don't forget to keep an eye on your eggplant.

5. Once the eggplant is done, remove from oven and serve topped with sauce and garnished with more parmesan. OPTIONAL additional step is to layer the eggplant in a baking dish with the sauce and some mozzarella. I choose not to do this, but if you wish to add this step Google will you with the how to. I think the original recipe came from here.

This goes great with a big ol' ceasar salad and some garlic bread. Voila!

















*Sneaky vegetables are when you add vegetables in such a way that you don't actually feel like you're eating vegetables! I enjoy the fresh, raw taste of a salad on occasion, but let's be honest, who wants to eat salad for every meal? Heidi Klum. And that's it. I since I'm not Heidi Klum, my solution is sneaky vegetables.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap

I came across this song on the radio a week ago and I have hardly stopped listening to it since. It has that mellow quality that reminds me of Coldplay but with a quicker tempo and baseline that are definitely channeling U2 off of their Joshua Tree album.

Soooooo good.

Felt Christmas Cards

Melanie made the absolutely most adorable Christmas cards out of felt... (I especially love the Fa La La's.)























... Causing me to ask the question, "Why didn't I think of that?" Causing myself to respond, "Because you wouldn't have had time to make 50 felt cards by hand and your Christmas cards were adorable anyway." To which I responded, "You make an excellent point."

A toast

A Creative Life

Plentiful Pink Cargo

Missing Unicorn

Yep.

Christmas in New York

... There's nothing like it.

Fendi...

Barney's...















The Winter Garden...























Rockefeller Center...


















6th Avenue...


Monday, December 20, 2010

Soak it up

Blonde Wave

This makes me want blonde hair.
















I am obnoxiously indecisive about my hair. Luckily, my budget has made this choice for me and my current color is au natural.

Red Braid

















This makes me want red hair again.

Over the Rainbow

Decorated Loft

I love this space and I love what they've done with it.

Military Jackets

Uber Chic

This outfit is styled perfectly.

{thank you Sartorialist}

I'll take the one with skis, you can have the snow shoes...














{via bibbity boppity boo}

Snow Dog - Ha!

A Digital Christmas



Today's contribution is brought to you by my dad.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Love these dresses

I would wear both of these outfits.





















I love them so much I would wear only these outfits and just alternate back and forth. Gosh I'm such a sucker for black and white.

Dapper Lou

If you have any interest at all in men's fashion, check out DapperLou.com. Those boys can dress.