I’m headed to Florida to spend time with family and root for Northwestern in the Outback Bowl for two weeks so this will probably be my last post of 2009. Hope everyone has a beautiful holiday and I’ll see you in a couple weeks! Am hoping I can do some frolicking in the sun and novel editing…but we’ll see. Enjoy!
ps. where did we land on the whole “twenty ten” vs. “two thousand ten” thing?
Today Two days ago, Goliath turned 5 months old, yay!!!! I thought I’d share a few pictures and videos that I’ve taken in the past couple of weeks.
He loves his tennis bone!
And his giraffe from Aunt Melanie!
He was still getting the hang of “down” here. He got a little confused when we started being more diligent about telling him to get down off the table, so now we say “off” for that.
Please ignore Drew calling Goliath GoGo. It is highly annoying and I try not to encourage him.
Pretty, no? I’m normally not a big fan of stained glass, but these panels by Daniel Maher are so detailed!!
ps. I’m watching Ellen right now and John Mayer is on. I can’t decide whether I like him or not. I kind of don’t like a lot of the messages of his song, but his voice is just so soothing… Hmm.
The next bread I did was marbled rye. I love marbled rye, so I was very excited to make my own and see if it measured up. I went to the store to get the white rye flour…except they didn’t have any. The only thing they had was a stone milled dark rye flour, so that would have to work. I brought it home and took out the first scoop–wow, they weren’t kidding when they said stone milled! I found it to be quite chunky…thought briefly of sifting it but then realized I don’t have a sifter and really, it would be fine. So I proceeded according to the directions (kneading in the stand mixer…my hands needed a break since last time) and made the light and dark rye doughs. Incidentally, the only difference between the two is the addition of cocoa powder or coffee grounds. Naturally I added both. Once they set to proof, I realized the chunkiness of the flour really added a lot of weight, which I’m guessing(?) is why they didn’t rise very much in 90 minutes. I let them go a little longer, and then rolled them into a spiral. Man, I really need to work on my spirals; I just am not happy with them. I’m thinking that if I staggered the pieces of dough as I rolled them, there would be less of the last one getting globbed into a big ball (the part under the upside down U), but we’ll see. Into the oven it went and here’s the result! It is pretty hearty, but I love the flavor, and Drew says it tastes like the bread at Outback, which I’ll take as a compliment because I like their bread. Since he likes it I’ll try and do a little force feeding, with butter or whatever at dinner, etc. We’ll see. ANYway, I think next I have a multigrain bread, so I better finish up these two before I move on to another sandwich bread. Feels good to be back in the challenge again, so hopefully it won’t be a month until I bake the next one. We’ll shoot for a week. 
After a long hiatus, I baked two recipes in one day! The first is this light wheat bread, which turned out quite well. It is only 1/3 whole wheat flour, so it is still very light, and tastes only slightly more hearty than white sandwich bread. It uses the direct method, so I was able to complete this bread in just one day (I have to say–I am very excited when these recipes only take one day…2 days just seems like such a long time to wait!). Actually a very easy bread to make, and I cheated and kneaded it in the KitchenAid, so I practically did no work. So far I’ve had toast with it, but I’m planning to make a sandwich with it a little later, and since Drew is opposed to eating bread, probably some french toast later on. Yum!
For more info on the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, see Nicole’s blog.
Aren’t these credenzas adorable??? I love them both!
[saved so long ago...please contact me if you know where these photos came from and i'll attribute them! thanks!]
Isn’t that a pretty painting? In the words of Noah’s dad from The Notebook, that’s a damn picture, there.
Things are going well. Still no job, but looking and applying like a fiend and training the dog in the meantime (who, incidentally, decided to unlearn the command “down,” which is incredibly frustrating. silly dog!). Also made two loaves of bread today to try and get back on track for the BBA Challenge. Am woefully behind, but hoping I can get a few done before I leave for Christmas vacation, which is coming up so quickly I can’t believe it! We’re going down to Florida for the holidays, which should be lots of fun. Drew is headed up to Cleveland, and will be taking Goliath with him. I just hope his grandpa doesn’t terrorize him. We do spoil him a bit*. But yeah, just found out we’re also going to the Outback Bowl since Northwestern will be playing Auburn. So yay! I love bowl games; we’ve been to at least one for the past two years (Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl and the Eagle Bank Bowl, and Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl) and they’re lots of fun. Alright, off to shower and get dinner ready! Drew gets cranky if we don’t have food early-ish.
*a LOT.
All my favorite interiors over the past month!
LOVE the wall of windows and that light blue door. One of my favorite colors for sure. I’m getting more into yellow gold again.
Pretty kitchen…I really want a low bookshelf for cookbooks and stuff in my kitchen.
Cute bed, love the low platform in an attic bedroom, seems so spacious!
I love this apartment. Pretty blue walls, lots of artwork, lots of color. What’s not to love?I really want to attempt a gallery wall soon. Love that chest, too!
Another gallery wall over the couch in the living room.
Wouldn’t you just love this loft movie area? I’m imagining Drew, Goliath, and I snuggling up at night after dinner to some House or Lie to Me. A much better alternative to those horrendous double chaise couches!
Love this apple green, bamboo, and white color combo.
Like this color combination too.
Aren’t these skylights to die for??? Must replicate. Sometimes I really do want to be an architect.
I really like those curtains.
Yeah, love this whole room. Just wrap it up and send it my way.
LOVE this kitchen. When I was putting all these together I realized all my kitchen shots were of white cabinets and light gray granite countertops. I guess why mess with a good thing? Also I love those floors. Must remember a white and heather gray checkerboard floor, a bit more chic than white and black, no?
Another view…love the subway tile and the plank wood table.
What a delightful bedroom…I love white.
NEED this bathroom. Big windows, wainscoting, powder blue walls, and a claw foot tub? Ummm, YES.
Is it bad that I’m digging 70s-ish wood beam handrails over metal spindles? I think it is.
Love this dining room set and the wall to wall windows!
See what I mean out white and silver? One of my favorite color combinations right now. It just needs a nice splash of butter yellow walls!
Okay, I kinda like these blue cabinets, too.
Cool studio! I love when adults still incorporate childish elements into their design.
Pretty bedspread.
LOVE this. Salvage wood table, white modern couch and bright, bold throw pillows. Yum.
So chic! Bedrooms absolutely require symmetry. Love the wall treatment (wallpaper?), curtains, tufted headboard and matching bench at the foot of the bed–and of course the white bedding!
Those walls look like the same color as my old living room!!
Kind of like this white and sand kitchen as well. Can’t decide what I think about that backsplash…what do you think?
Fun, clean bedroom. Clearly I need some white sheer curtains for the bedroom.
Love these stairs.
I’ve been all about gigantic fireplaces lately. Really digging this entire wall brick one, though I think I’d paint it white and then the walls a musty apple green with medium gray furniture and light blue patterned pillows.
Mmmmm, kitchens.
Love this little breakfast nook! That window and molding up top makes it look so grand! I just adore window seats. I’d love one with thick tufted cushions.
This is a very masculine look for me, but I really enjoy the deep blue and gold color combo.
Gallery wall in the kitchen! And is that a houndstooth tile floor?!?! STAR STAR STAR
Hmmm, not sure why I starred this originally…isn’t it funny when that happens?
Love the leaded glass window and built-in bookshelf!!!
The rest of the room.
Mmmm, brick walls.
I do like the gray walls and butcher block countertop look as well.
Pretty vanity and clear glass shower…love!
Really pretty bedroom. Really enjoy that white shelf of art above that headboard!
Dark accent wall and pretty plates! Fun!
Kinda crazy wall color…but really enjoy the idea of a fabric bulletin board above the dresser for jewelry, etc.
Hope you enjoyed all of these! I just took out two loaves of bread (light wheat and marble rye) and it smells SO GOOD in here. Blog posts coming, after my ridiculously long hiatus from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge!
[images via Design*Sponge, Apartment Therapy, Craigslist, and House Beautiful]
I’ve been accumulating these for the past month while I was writing away on my novel. Lately I’ve gotten really into stone houses and homes in little alcoves of trees and gardens–hope you enjoy them!
Oh my gosh–I want this house. Love the Tudor design, chimney on the front facade, arched doorway, and leaded glass windows. And of course the beautiful gardens! Seriously, I want to live here (actually located in Maryland–being rented out though, dang).
Pretty salvage wood staircase with wrought iron hand rail.
Love this house…that porch looks so serene! And I like the large dark door in the front. Kind of funky window placement on the second level, but I like it.
Love the columns and semi-circle garden and stone path…I am a real sucker for stone pavers…
So pretty! Love the wide outlines on the windows and the wraparound porch.
Looks kind of squat, but I love the roof and the location underneath the old tree. Those hedges would have to GO though.
I like the placement of this one, and the contrast of the bright red doors against the conservative architecture. And that tree!
Possibly the cutest bungalow of all time. Can you tell I love front porches?
My dream backyard. LOVE the broken stone pavers around mulched areas of plants, and the benches and tables throughout. I’m going for a messy formal garden look.
That’s it! LOTS of interiors coming up!
[all images via Craigslist]
I think most people tend to buy one kind of item when they go shopping: pants, sweaters, t-shirts, workout gear, work attire, jewelry, bags, shoes…for me it is dresses. Whenever I go shopping I am immediately drawn to pretty, flouncy, usually dressy dresses. I find it perfectly reasonable to spend $300 on a nice dress, but balk at spending the same for a shirt and pants. I think it might be an aspirational thing, and if I’m ever rich and famous, I plan to have a wardrobe full of dresses that I wear daily. For now my normal routine is jeans and a t-shirt or sweater, though when I’m working I get to wear all my dressy clothes, which is nice. And all this to say–here are a couple dresses that I have saved!
From Lirola’s etsy shop
I don’t usually go for drop waists, but I love this Adrianna Pepell dress from Nordstrom
Not exactly a dress, but a flouncy jacket from Tulle
And I love these costumes from The Joffrey Ballet
