75th and Sedgwick

2013-01-23T12:55:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

First of all, thank you for being so patient with our prolonged absence since the holidays! It was nice to take a beat and be able to enjoy holiday festivities with friends and family.

On our holiday hiatus we also took some time to consider the future of 75th + Sedgwick. And we've decided that this is the end of the road for our lil' blog. We're closing the doors and moving on to whatever the next adventure holds.

Since October of 2010, we've poured our hearts, stories, passions and photos into this blog and we've received so much in return. You, our readers have thoughtfully come along for the ride, and we can't thank you enough. For your encouragement, ideas and Phone-A-Friends! We have enjoyed so much getting to know you better, learning from you and being inspired by you. We will miss our weekly interactions with you and hope we can continue them in other venues.

When we started 75th + Sedgwick, we were looking to add some creativity to our lives. Our jobs at the time weren't providing it, and we were both feeling the void. We decided to take matters into our own hands and this blog has been a creative adventure we'll never forget. I think we can both partially credit 75th + Sedgwick with our new careers at Apartment Therapy and bossy color. This space and your support has given us the confidence and ambition to follow dreams that we might not have otherwise pursued.

We will miss you but will forever treasure our time here at the corner of 75th and Sedgwick.

xoxo

COLOR ME EMERALD

2012-12-10T20:36:00.000-05:00

Hello Readers!

This post is brought to you by the color emerald green, Pantone 17-5641 to be exact. Emerald is 2013 Color of the Year! Hope you like it because you're about to see a lot of it. I dig it, but will definitely miss Tangerine Tango from 2012... still a few weeks left!

Also want to let you know that we're taking a little holiday hiatus from 75th+Sedgwick. We'll be back in January to discuss more emeraldness, stay tuned!

xo

COZY FACTOR

2012-12-07T12:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, Deweese,

Sounds delish! I want to make more soups and/or things in the crockpot this year. Pinterest recipes overwhelm me, so this is great!

We had none other than Lil' Miss staying with us this past weekend. Before I continue can I just share how adorable she is and how big she is?!

I mean, really. That hat.

Whenever we have little ones in our apt I realize how NOT baby proof our living room is. This is perfectly ok and there is absolutely no reason to baby proof it (I promise, Mom), but it still gets me thinking that instead of just the calming colors, it might be time to refocus the living room for a little more comfort, too. Our overall goal was and still is to create a retreat from the craziness outside of our apartment. The calm colors have done that but I'm starting think that needs to be equally matched by comfort to really achieve this retreat. Ok, so refresher, here's where we are right now:

I mean, you might want to nap there. But there's also a ton of hard edges. So, now take a look at this. So stylish AND soft/cozy!

Image via Emily Henderson, Photographer: Bonnie Tsang

That's a custom slipcover for the bottom of the couch. I love it. Makes the couch one-of-a-kind and creates an interesting tension between the modern lines of the couch and bohemian print. I'm a fan.

I'm really inspired by that room and ever since I saw it I've been thinking about accessories that might up the cozy factor. Here's what I've really liked so far:

No-so cliche leather pouf from Rugs USA

Throw with HUGE pom poms from Anthro. My boss bought this and I fell in love with it. You gotta see it in person.

Round basket to counteract all those straight lines.

That's it! Have a great weekend -- you should curl up under a blanket with some tea. Oh and for some more coziness, I always head to Honey and Jam.

Love,
Blythe

BOOK CLUB MENU PLANNING

2012-12-03T21:56:00.001-05:00

Blythe,

I'm IMPRESSED! Bravo for getting all your shopping done AND signing up for Mint. Hooray! I'm so glad you like it. I love it SO much, and it really helps us live within our means, though December is always a wash!

Pretty funny you wrote about getting ahead of the game on holiday shopping, and I kept delaying writing this post to you! I had the best intentions, truly!

Also funny is that I wanted to write to you about how I too prepared ahead of time for something and it really paid off... but apparently I'm back to my natural state of procrastinating.

This past Friday Jeff and I hosted book club and since we both get off work around 6pm, I knew we wouldn't have time to come home and prepare food before everyone started arriving at 7pm. So in an uncommon wave of advance planning, I decided to make my favorite winter soup the night before. Because Jeff doesn't believe you can just serve people soup for dinner (grown men at least), we also served grilled cheese sandwiches with ham (made on Friday). I can't lie, it was delish and SO easy to prepare ahead of time, I even had time to take a shower before our guests arrived!

More stew than soup, it's uber flavorful and good for ya! Some tips... this recipe (below) makes way more than 4 servings. We served 8 people and still had leftovers for lunch on Saturday. I've also learned to substitute sweet potato for butternut squash because it takes too damn long to peel butternut squash, those ridges! While worth it, I find this recipe to be heavy on prep/chopping, so anything I can do to save some time (I'm not known for my knife skills), I'll do.

Cooking Light Winter Vegetable Soup

Jeff makes the grilled cheese in our house, it's a knack and one I haven't mastered. I asked the baker at our grocery store for a bread recommendation for grilled cheese and she pointed me to a lovely loaf of Pain au Levain. I don't know jack about bread except that I love it, and this definitely fit the bill. We added cheddar, swiss and some black forest ham... done and done!

Tastespotting

It was a hit... or everyone was lying. But I liked it and whole heartedly recommend. Our guests brought some amazing apps and treats, too. I'll have to get those recipes to share as well. Jeff and I are still enjoying some spicy peanut brittle!

You'll also appreciate that as I was ironing napkins on Thursday night, Jeff said "Let's just use paper napkins, you don't have to iron all those". My response: "Jeff, I blogged about it, our readers are expecting cloth napkins, we can't go back now!"

xoxo,

PS... GO CARDS!

PPS... We read The Devil in the White City for book club. We all agreed it was an interesting story, mixed reviews on style. I thought it was fascinating and also loved Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts.

SIMPLIFY.

2012-11-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

Deweese!

Your table setting is gorgeous!! Congratulations on a Thanksgiving VERY well done. I'm so impressed and also thrilled you got to use your china.

The big news in our house is that Nick and I just finished our holiday shopping. Yup, that's right. No last minute stressin' over here! It feels great and was actually easy and fun. Almost my entire family has a birthday in November, December, or January, so these times can be a little hectic in terms of gift giving. But I've got it down to a science!

The first thing we do is update our shared google spreadsheet that shows us what we got for everyone last year. We also use this to create a budget. It might seem kinda crazy/geeky, but all it takes is the sinking feeling of one forgotten birthday to let the nerd factor disappear and to forever rely heavily on the power of a spreadsheet.

This year, we didn't just budget on the spreadsheet...we also budgeted via mint.com! That's right, Deweese, Nick and I took your advice and recently signed up. It's awesome! Thanks for pointing us to this site. (Readers: learn more about mint right here).

Feeling organized, we pulled out the credit card. Without giving anything away, we did a lot of shopping online. Earlier this year, Nick and I signed up for Amazon Prime (aka that thing where you pay $80/year for free Amazon shipping on Prime products...which ends up being most products we want to buy). The "free" shipping allows us to buy gifts when it's convenient without always worrying about combining everything under one shipment or waiting for free shipping deals. I also had many things shipped directly to our parents' houses.

Finally, wrapping! I know some people find wrapping silly...but the minor crafter in me LOVES it. I seriously look forward to the one night a year where I watch a holiday movie, pull out all the wrapping, sit on the floor and wrap all the presents. I can't explain why I love this so much but I do.

This year I purchased a HUGE roll of craft paper and some baker's twine. I'm going to use regular white card stock to make gift tags in the shape of snowflakes. Pretty simple and affordable!

One trick that works for me is to wrap things in boxes and without any bows. This allows me to wrap ahead of time and pack them by stacking them together. The boxes look fresh under the tree no matter how long they had to travel to get there! Here's an example of what I did in a previous year:

Simple, packable, and finished upon arrival. No tissue paper to fluff up or bow to retie.

So, what are your gift giving tricks? Also, click the link to read about Deweese's oh-so inspiring small business holiday pledge last year!

Good tidings,
Blythe

PS: Mint or Amazon Prime did not sponsor this post or any post on 75th + Sedgwick! I just actually really like these tools. And when you really like them, it can be hard to not sound like a commercial!

DRESS THE TABLE FOR TURKEY: FOLLOW UP

2012-11-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

Hello Blythe!

What a magical time to be in NYC. I remember you taking me to see the store windows and being so impressed. I take it your not going to Rockefeller Center to watch the tree lighting tonight?

So glad you had a good Thanksgiving! Nice to go to Florida in November. I loved visiting my brother in Tampa for Thanksgiving a few times... the weather! We had a great time here in DC. The turkey on the pie btw is a from a cookie cutter my Mother-in-Law brought with her, she's pretty clever.

Remember when I wrote you about dressing the table for Thanksgiving? I ended up not spending that much time preparing, I knew I could take it to the extreme and really go overboard, so I didn't even think about it until a few days before. My Mom and Jeff's Mom helped me pick some things out at World Market, we got some flowers and used some large votive candles we already had and that was it!

I was really in love with this photo from the previous post, so that's what I tried to immulate. Though, while I love tall tappered candles, I prefer a lower setting, so you can see everyone's face at a big table.

And here's our version...

From World Market we purchased a large spring green table cloth, orange ramekins (we filled with candles from Ikea) and gold etched votives similar to the picture below. We added bunches of orange tulips to wine glasses that we already had and I threw on some scented pine cones I picked up at Whole Foods. We also used our wedding china for the first time which was just as amazing as I imaged. So fancy! Unfortunately I didn't take any good shots with all the candles lit!

This is Jeff's first turkey (25 lbs). It was amazing, he did a terrific job!

Remember the shower we threw for my cousin Anna? This is her little one Abby!

Baby Abby with her new cousin, Baby Luke! My cousin Lil' Q on the left, and her Mom, my Aunt Bridgette, on the right.

The whole gang!

Gobble gobble,

CHRISTMAS IN NYC

2012-11-26T08:11:00.001-05:00

Hi Deweese!

Hope you (and everyone else) had a great Thanksgiving! Several people asked me about that turkey you added to your pie. Was it a cookie cutter? So cute!

Nick and I got home just last night after visiting his Grandma in Florida! Nick's whole family was there to introduce our new nephew to his Grandma -- aka her first great grandchild. What an incredible moment!

The minute we came back we noticed something...Christmas has arrived in NYC. Despite the crowds, I love this time so, so much. It reminds me of coming here as a little girl with my family all dressed up.

Here's a quick list of my favorite things. They aren't very unique, but the Holidays are about coming together, right?

Packs of kids on the subway in mittens and hats just giddy having just seen their first show
Buying a Christmas tree on the sidewalk
Smell of chestnuts roasting on the sidewalk...but NOT the taste (turns out, they are pretty gross)
Visiting Rockefeller Center (just once)
Walking around the shops at Bryant Park
The NYMag Gift Guide
And far away my favorite thing...the windows at Bergdorf.

What are your favorites?

Love,

PS: Happy Cyber Monday!

Gobble Gobble!

2012-11-21T17:20:00.000-05:00

Blythe!

Love your fall photos! Thanks for sharing. I love instagram too, but definitely need to use it more. Thanks for the inspiration. Also, I'll never see a candy corn and not think of you and Dukester :-)

Things here in DC are gettin' festive! My parents and Jeff's parents are in town and we're cooking up a storm (ok, I'm doing the dishes). We also hit up World Market today for some last minute table decor. I hope it turns out!

This is what's happening this very minute...

A little turkey appeared on the apple pie!

And my Mother and Father-in-Law are reading the paper together.

Pretty thankful for just about everything right now.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve,

ODE TO FALL

2012-11-19T07:25:00.001-05:00

Hi Deweese,

Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving? I can't. It really snuck up on me! It feels like time is moving so fast lately and it makes me feel pretty frazzled. I'd like to hold on to fall a little longer, but I know that as soon Thanksgiving comes and goes its all over. I love the fall. The air feels so crisp and clean after summer's haze and it is so wonderful to be outside and not be too hot or too cold. The best.

I had a great fall and I thought one way to hold on to it is to share some of my instagram photos with you. I thought by now I'd be over instagram but I can honestly say it is my favorite social media. I just never get sick of it and love checking it throughout the day! So please indulge me as I attempt to slow down the clock and dream of candy corn, cider, slippers and pie.

Love,

PS: Doesn't this look like the perfect transitional jacket?

PHONE-A-FRIEND: AMANDA NEEDS A NEW BED!

2012-11-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday Readers!

We've got more exciting Phone-A-Friend news for you. Deweese's brother-in-law's girlfriend (we think of her as a sister-in-law) is looking for a new bed. And we agree with her that having a real bed, complete with a head board is oh so adult. Here's her note to us...

Hi ladies!

I have finally reached my breaking point with our awful bedroom decor and am in need of some guidance. I figured, who better to ask then you girls! Tim and I still have a lot of that mixed-matched furniture from when we first moved in together and it has been way too long without a bed frame. So, I have decided to start saving for one! Although our current bedroom furniture will most likely not join Tim and I at our next place (which will hopefully be our first home!); I still want to buy a bed that will. So now, the difficult part... how do we choose a bed that will do the following:

1. Match different styles of furntiture, because who knows what we will end up purchasing for a bedroom set years from now.

2. Be trendy and stylish now and will stay in trend as styles change over the years.

3. Satisfy both my super feminine and shabby chic style and Tim's bold and modern style.

4. Not be limited to only a few color schemes (i.e. wall color, bedding etc.) - Do I go with light or dark, since I will most likely have dark furniture?

My ideal bedroom is to have the bed be the focus point of the room. I want it to look rich and elegant. The thing is, I love so many different styles that it's hard for me to know which one I will decide to go with when Tim and I finally purchase our adult furniture! I enjoy eclectic pieces, however, I am not great at putting pieces from different styles together in a complimenting way.

I have found myself being drawn to larger tufted headboards, the beige colored upholstered frames, dark wood sleigh beds, and although I have not found the right one, I have always loved cast iron beds. I just have no idea which direction to go in! Please help!

Thanks so much!

Amanda

To Amanda, we say: Right On! This is a challenge a lot of us face, and it's not easy! Blending not only your feminine style with Tim's more modern style and also blending your post-college/early 20s furniture with more adult furniture can be wicked hard.

For instance, if Deweese and Jeff didn't live together, she would totally have this bed, probably upholstered in something lovely and floral and pink. But alas, they do live together (for loads of wonderful reasons) and have no bed at all, just a metal frame.

Layla Grace Eloquence Sophia Upholstered Bed Antique White

Keep in mind: It's way okay to mix different styles and finishes in one room. Mix and match you're furniture to have a more collected and authentically "you" look. Buy pieces that make you happy, and they will end up working together. Promise. We know it's easier said than done, but when you're surrounded by pieces you love, instead of pieces you're trying to match, you'll love the result.

However, we DO agree that it's a good idea to stay neutral on the bed for now, especially with upholstery, it's so easy to change bedding and/or wall color and give the room a whole new look. You can even change your bedding with the seasons, we learned that from Dukester!

This may not be your color palette, but it's a nice example of an upholstered bed, blending masculine and feminine. The color palette of browns and reds is super HIM, but the prints and patterns are more delicate and soft, not to mention the curvy headboard: very HER. Notice the miss-matched side tables.

Again, curvy and feminine shape on the headboard, but masculine color palette. So very harmonious. And again, the tables.

Here's our first choice for you, an upholstered wing-back bed from Room + Board. Super sophisticated, but also a little masculine, think wing back chairs in a library or study.

Room & Board Marlo Storage Bed

We also like these wing back versions from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and Restoration Hardware.

And you can't go wrong with a simple square tufted headboard.

MGBW Butler Bed

You can find upholstered headboards in every shape and at every price point. There are loads of fabric options, too. Try Ballard Designs, One Kings Lane and Overstock for a more pocketbook friendly approach. And definitely consider a leather bed. See Blythe's headboard here, with lovely and delicate white accents in the bedding.

You also mentioned liking iron beds, and we have some thoughts on that. When Deweese thinks of iron beds, something like the below usually comes to mind. Which is well, just a little too Cider House Rules for us (Read: Orphanage).

C&B Scholar Bed

And while we love iron canopy beds, they are a bit femmy. Something tells us Tim isn't going to be dreaming of a Pats Super Bowl under this.

Layla Grace Cecile Iron Canopy Bed

But THIS is a great alternative. Nice bold clean lines for Tim, and a lovely canopy bed for you. You have to have a big enough bedroom for this, but it's supah classy.

Room & Board Architecture Bed

A bonus, both upholstered and iron beds will work with any and all wood stains, so you won't be limited as you start to collect more bedroom furniture.

Final tip: Get something you love right now, even if you're afraid you're not going to love it in 10 years. Odds are you're not going to be spending your last days on earth in this bed. We hear this advice a lot from designers and bloggers... it's easy to get bogged down by making sure something lasts style-wise, but make sure you're not a slave to that notion. This is a piece of furniture you're going to spend a LOT of time in, make sure you love it now. Don't spend 10 years kind of liking it, only to replace it anyway.

Keep us posted!

UPDATE! PHONE-A-FRIEND: JULIE'S KITCHEN

2012-11-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!

It is an exciting Wednesday. We have yet another Phone-A-Friend update! Seriously, these just make our day.

This time we heard from Julie. You might remember that Julie was looking for help with her NYC kitchen... specifically the window treatment.

Here are some of the before shots...

And here is the mood board we came up with. Find all of our sources, etc, in the orignal post.

And here is Julie's finished kitchen with custom window treatment!

Wow! Julie, we love it! Congratulations on an awesome job.

Here are her notes:

Hello ladies,

Thank you again for your wonderful kitchen advice. I made a lot of changes, and all the little adjustments make for a lovelier kitchen. Here's a (long-winded) rundown of the changes:

-Our favorite change is the new custom roman shade from The Shade Store, using the Dwell fabric you had suggested for the doorway. We LOVE what it does to the kitchen; the photos of course do not do it justice.

-Using your suggestion of replacing the doorway curtain with one that features complimentary colors, we snagged this one on sale from Anthropologie.

-Another big change was oh-so-easy: furniture rearranging! The room feels much better this way, and it also opened up the big white brick wall. It's the perfect space for displaying some of our gorgeous painted ceramics: one from our Mexican honeymoon, and the rest from our brother-in-law and his family, carried many thousands of miles from Uzbekistan.

-I made a simple swap of the wall-mounted light to a plainer, white lamp. I had the cord shortened to eliminate sloppiness. I love the light you suggested, but hard-wiring is frowned upon in my rental space so I just wasn't willing to fight that particular battle. My husband's reaction: "So you bought the exact same lamp in white." Well, sorta true!

-I also made a some other small changes that eliminated the reds and other random colors that were in the room, tying them all loosely together for a more cohesive, yet not matchy-matchy, look. The (dying) plant was re-potted in a new pot from Etsy. I also swapped out the arrangement of objects on the windowsill and put together all my seashells, rocks, and bits of coral from various trips. The turquoise votive holders were a recent gift, and the gilded shells and sea urchins are from my latest crafting project. I like they way they relate to the whole yellow-plus-blue scheme without being a precise match.

-After a purge of our one tiny closet, the vacuum lives there. This makes me HAPPY.

-Finally, the photos don't quite show it, but a fresh coat of paint on the radiator is one of those little details that perk up the whole space.

We wouldn't have come this far without all your wonderful suggestions, so THANK YOU again! This has inspired me to redo the other rooms as well... post-thesis!

xoJulie

Interested in Phoning-A-Friend? Just email us!

Read though our Phone-A-Friend archive here.

Love,

VETERAN'S DAY

2012-11-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Veteran's Day is one of my favorite holidays, because I get to celebrate one of my favorite people, my brother! Donn has been in the Army for 22 years now, or most of my life. He's a Colonel with the 75th Ranger Regiment and we couldn't be prouder (remember this cake?).

A few weekends ago Jeff and I headed to Fort Benning, GA to meet my parents for a visit with my brother and sister-in-law before my brother deployed to Afghanistan. I realized that while I've spent the last 22 years touring Army posts all over the country, most Americans never really get visit one. So I took some pictures to share with you. I've seen my fair share of posts, and this is one of my favorites.

The new gates as you enter post.

The General's House. Whoa, gorgeous.

Benning is home to the US Army Airborne School.

This is where you learn how to jump out of a plane. My palms sweat when I see these.

Jeff on the ropes. Part of the famous Ranger obstacle course.

When touring post, you may see one of these which always cracks me up.

But in fact, there are a lot of tanks, stationary and mobile.

Fort Benning is pretty big, sometimes you have to stop for fries and a Diet Coke while taking the grand tour.

My brother's office.

Rangers lead the way!

A memorial inside Regimental HQ of the fallen. You may have heard of this particular Ranger.

And if not, read up.

While there is lots of Army green and brown, tanks and courses, Fort Benning is also a complete community where people live, kids go to school and play little league! There are also the loveliest homes. This gorgeous Spanish Mission home is similar to where my brother and sister-in-law live!

The inside of their home is beautiful as well. Here's a display of all the places they've lived with the Army. The little house reads: Home is wherever the Army takes you. They've lived in CA, WA, KS, GA, FL, LA, KY and Korea. Not bad.

And there are restaurants and movie theaters and bowling alleys and a golf course!

And lots of this!

Fort Benning is also home to the new National Infantry Museum. Fascinating stuff.

For Christmas, my parents got my sister-in-law Yongmi, a brick on the walk at the museum.

Immortalized as one helluva Army spouse.

That's the tour! Hope you enjoyed it.

HAPPY VETERAN's DAY!

xo,

AFI GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME - UPDATE #2

2012-11-09T10:04:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday, B!

So excited for your trip to SF. I was last there in 2006 when I met Jeff while he was traveling for work. It was our first trip as a couple and SO fun. I'll have to pull out our pictures and try to remember where we stopped along the way!

I have another update to our challenge to watch the AFI top 100 movies. Man, this is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. Here's where we left off... and we haven't gotten far!

#94 PULP FICTION - 1994
This was a bit of a violent stretch of movies and Pulp Fiction is the leader of the pack. I had seen parts of this movie in high school, but I'm not sure I've ever seen the whole thing in one sitting. My Good Lord. This takes gratuitous violence to another level. I will say, I appreciated the story, it was well told and interesting. Incredible dialog, but typical Quentin Tarantino, the gore was so over-the-top, I had trouble enjoying the rest of the movie!

#93 THE FRENCH CONNECTION - 1971
Jeff and I watched this with my parents when we were visiting Louisville. My Mom remembered seeing it in the theater. The French Connection is a great crime thriller, based on actual events and the first R rated movie to win an Academy Award. I'm not saying you should put it to the top of the list in your netflix queue, but if you run across it on A&E or something, it's worth a watch. And no, Gene Hackman has never had any hair.

#92 GOODFELLAS - 1990
Ok, I have to admit we didn't watch Goodfellas. ONLY because we had both seen it very recently, like within the last six months. It's a great movie and everyone should see it, if only because it's referred to so often in pop culture. The cast is incredible and it was nominated for six Academy Awards. Again, more violence, but it's worth it (that sounds weird).

#91 SOPHIE'S CHOICE - 1982
I want to poke my eyes out just looking at this photo. Jeff and I both thought this movie was terrible and it was totally unexpected. I mean, I LOVE Meryl Streep (who doesn't) and Kevin Kline! What's not to love? What I wasn't expecting was a too long story of domestic abuse, mental health issues, oh... and the Holocaust. I'm not saying every movie has to be uplifting, but there's gotta be something to hang on to! By the second Holocaust flashback I was walking out of the room. Too much. Keep flipping channels if you run across this one on A&E. Resist Meryl's alluring Polish accent!

Super excited to see Lincoln and Skyfall this weekend, what's better than my favorite president and Bond!?

xoxo

SAN FRANCISCO: OPEN CALL FOR RECOMMENDATIONS!

2012-11-07T11:26:00.001-05:00

Hiya D!

A show that comes recommended and stars Connie Britton? Sold.

So, I've got big news! Nick and I are taking a trip this holiday season to San Francisco! I couldn't be more excited. Other than our honeymoon, we've never taken a big trip together just us.

Can you imagine that? So incredible! Gorgeous photo taken by Paul Ferney. Check out the whole thing on Oh Happy Day!

Nick and I knew we wanted to take a trip this year, and over lots of fun conversations we decided on San Francisco. Lots of people have told us we'd love it, so we are really excited!

The only thing is...we need recommendations! Lots of 'em. We'll be there for a while, even over New Year's Eve (!), so we're up for anything!

Here are the things I'd love recommendations for:

Restaurants and bars (duh)
Shopping -- not really to buy, but more to experience some San Francisco shopping districts
Landmarks (I've never been!)
Activities! I've read there's a place where you can make custom fortune cookies!
Day trips. We'd love to see some scenery and are considering a wine country trip
Oh my gosh, you have to go to_________.

Thanks in advance everyone. I will take all of your recommendations to heart. We're go-getters on vacation (with some nice intermixing of long afternoons at coffee shops and bars), so we're up for as much as we can! I've even started a pinterest board.

Couldn't this be the 75th and Sedgwick official car? Taken by instagrammer Nikilips.

Love,

PS: Travel guide for Roma. And part two.
PPS: Day trips in the mid-Atlantic!

WATCH IT: NASHVILLE

2012-11-05T08:26:00.003-05:00

Hey Blythe!

Hope you had a nice and dry weekend! Thanks for sharing your Sandy story with us, what a week!

A few weeks ago I mentioned briefly that I'm enjoying the new show on ABC, Nashville. I need to amend that to say that I'm so totally hooked, it's my new favorite thing. I watch each episode the night it airs which is rare for me, I typically just DVR and watch later. I spend all week humming the catchy tunes and I've seen several of the episodes twice.

If you haven't already, you really gotta start watching. I think you'd love all the original music and you don't really have to be a fan of country music to like it, it's just that good.

Here's just a few videos to get you hooked. It's on Wednesdays... watch it.

xoxo

HURRICANE SANDY

2012-11-02T13:05:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, I had a whole post written up for today but decided instead to just give a quick recap about Sandy here in Manhattan instead. It feels weird to be writing about anything else! I hope that everyone is ok.

Nick and I are SO lucky to have power. We have been working from home all week, as both of our offices are in Soho, which remains without power. Nick's in the living room and I'm camped out in the kitchen:

And shockingly Ernie is sleeping:

Last night we walked into the darkness below 39th street. We tried to take pictures of it but it was totally impossible to capture. Here are some photographs that almost do it justice, but it is actually much darker than that. It's really hard to describe it but it was one the eeriest things I have ever experienced. I'll never forget it! And I spent just a few minutes down there. It was a huge reminder (among many) of how lucky we were/are.

The coverage is heartbreaking and makes my heart race at times. But, there's also been a lot of laughter through the anxiety, too. Here are two clips from Jon Stewart that I have to share. Click on the image of each below to be taken to each video. Between the two of them, you will now know every joke being told in NYC right now:

Also, I found Joanna Goddard's hurricane story so interesting!

Hope everyone is ok!

Love,
Blythe

SPOOKY BLACK WALLS

2012-10-31T13:43:00.001-04:00

Blythe,

Thanks for The Civil Wars suggestion, Jeff and I definitely listened to them over our hurricane-induced four day weekend. What a whopper Sandy was! Glad she's gone, because for a hot minute I wasn't sure she was ever going to leave!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

With all the storm commotion, I actually kinda forgot about Halloween. But I was inspired to share a little something which I think is fitting for a scary holiday... my new obsession: black walls. I literally want to paint every wall black.

BLACK, really? What would posess you? Isn't Kendall Charcoal enough? Well, it was... until I started seeing images like these...

Jenna Lyon's famous master suite, the image that started it all!

My absolute favorite. This is happening in my next home.

I love how everything POPS off the walls.

Super sexy and sophisticated

I think these walls are technically navy, but you get the point.

The feminine print on the wallpaper softens this up a bit. So striking.

Who knew black was so cozy?!

Fab in an entry hall.

So, have I spooked you enough? Are you down with black walls or am I going solo on this?

Boo!

ON REPEAT: THE CIVIL WARS

2012-10-29T12:08:00.005-04:00

HOLA!

Reporting LIVE from Manhattan as FRANKENSTORM approaches!

Nick and I have lots of water, flashlights, and chocolate. I feel prepared.

If you are like me and are at home today, you might feel inspired to try some new music! I plan to have the candles burning, the tea brewing, and The Civil Wars playing (as long we have power!).

Ok, The Civil Wars might not be that new to some people... I think they are actually pretty famous. But they are fairly new to me and I'm digging the sound. Big time!

They are an American folk signing duo. What makes them great is that they are very bare-bones in terms of the their music. It's basically their two voices and a guitar.

Their harmonies are so amazing that it makes the music just as complex despite the minimal instruments. I love it. Their sound is super haunting, which makes them perfect for this time of year!

Their title track Barton Harlow is great. I also love their song "I've Got This Friend" and "20 Years" is also amazingly spooky. You can even download their live album for free.

Check them out! And stay snuggled in, East Coasters!

Love,

PS: Another "On Repeat" recommendation. And another one!

DRESS THE TABLE FOR TURKEY

2012-10-26T14:23:00.001-04:00

Blythe,

Wow! I think Brinie nailed the sofa and not just because of those lovely nail heads. Bravo!

I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I'm already having dreams of Thanksgiving! AND avoiding the fact that Jeff and I still don't have costumes for a party tomorrow night. My DC cousins and I are hosting some of our Kentucky and Massachusetts relatives for Turkey Day this year and I couldn't be more thrilled. It means I don't have to pack a bag for a holiday which is huge AND DC is a ghost town during the holidays which I love. So far we are around 15 adults and 2 of my favorite babies... plus anyone we pick up along the way!

Right now I'm primarily focused on the table dressing... we'll get to the cornbread dressing later. The thing is, I've never really dressed a holiday table and I cannot for the life of me arrange flowers. It's so much harder than it looks! I'd also love to use our china which I love and haven't used yet (see, travelling for holidays). I started looking for some inspiration images online...

I find all of these really appealing, but I'm particularly drawn to the orange and green setting with tall tapered candles (second to last photo). I think it would look great with our metallic china. You can check out my Thanksgiving pinterest board for more inspiration.

What do you think? What has your experience with dressing tables been? Any pointers from our readers? I'm a novice on a mission, all advice is welcome!

Gobble Gobble,

UPDATE! PHONE-A-FRIEND: BRINIE'S SOFA

2012-10-24T09:48:00.001-04:00

Hi Deweese,

Your photos are stunning!! I love the one of the mums especially. Looks like a gorgeous weekend.

I too had an adventurous weekend! Nick and I were up in Boston visiting lots of friends. Between growing up in Southern NH and randomly having a lot of New England friends from college, Boston can feel like the campaign trail...in a good way! It was wonderful to laugh with old friends and get to see their adorable babies.

Speaking of old friends, everyone remember our dear old friend Brinie and her chipotle burrito-inspired sofa?! If not, you gotta read her story here. It's a little long but its HILARIOUS!

In case you missed it, here was her old couch!

And here is her brand new SOFA!

Isn't she a beauty? It also helps that she sits in their brand new apartment with gorgeous windows! They decided on the Boston Interiors Vaughn sleeper sofa. Here are Brinie's notes on how they chose it:

We knew we wanted a sleeper sofa; we knew we didn't want to spend $2500 on it!
Boston interiors is local so we could go check out the couch before buying.
We liked the three cushions...
We also liked that it has some Eco friendly fill (allegedly)!

To Brinie we say: BRAVO! Love, love this sofa. And you guys, I slept on the pull out mattress and it was actually comfortable. I'm not lying. I could have left that part out. I didn't feel any bars in my back whatsoever!

Here are some more detail shots:

Awesome, right? Congrats Brinie and Rob! And thanks for Phoneing-A-Friend! To all you Phone-A-Frienders, send us your updates! Even if you went with something completely different. We're dying to see!

Finally, as an added bonus... I just had to share one adorable lil' extra. Brinie's daughter Georgia:

Now how sweet is SHE?!

Love,

Shenandoah and Three Fox Vineyards

2012-10-22T10:55:00.000-04:00

Blythe,

I'm so glad you recommended Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I saw a preview a while ago, but then totally forgot about it. Can't wait to watch it, and good to know it's on Netflix!

Jeff and I have had two of the loveliest fall weekends lately and I need to bore you with the photos. Two weekends ago we went hiking out in Shenandoah National Park with our friends the BBacks. CBack got a great suggestion from a colleague to hike the Little Devils Stairs trail which was actually pretty rigorous and totally beautiful. Fortunately we stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way, so our bellies were nice and fortified. After the hike (and my quads cooled down a little) we headed up into the park to Skyline Drive to take in all the fall glory. It's truly incredible that you can be so close to DC and feel so far removed. Good for the soul.

Butterfly on the trail

View from Skyline Drive

This past weekend, Jeff's parents were in town and after visiting the newest addition to our family, Baby Luke!, we headed west again, this time to visit a Virginia winery. Virginia has really started to make a name for itself in wine world (ok, it has a ways to go in my mind), but Jeff and I had never been out to this nearby wine country. On the recommendation of a friend, we drove 50 miles out to Three Fox Vineyards. After a nice tasting, we walked around a bit in the beautiful sunshine and admired the bucolic (my favorite word) setting.

God I love MUMS!

Hammocks down by the stream. Obvi.

Jeff and his Dad played a friendly game of cornhole.

Little fire pits scattered all over to keep our fingers warm. Also lots of marshmellow roasting!

The Quigleys

The other Quigleys

Picnic table on the hill. Apparently this is a popular spot to get engaged. Duh.

View from top of hill. Those are cows in the distance!

I have a million more pics to share, but these were some of my favorites. Next time you're in town, we'll have to head out here. If not for the wine (I mean, it was fine) for the scenery!

Hope you had a great weekend!

xoxo,

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI

2012-10-19T08:11:00.002-04:00

Deweese,

HA! Ya gotta love that Sarah Silverman one! Hilarious.

So, have you seen this documentary?

You have to watch it! And bonus: it is on Netflix Instant Queue!

Nick and I stayed in this past Saturday. We dragged the comforter from our bed out to the couch and watched movies. I'd heard a lot about Jiro Dreams of Sushi, but had no idea how beautiful it was. I highly recommend this documentary to anyone, even if you don't love documentaries. There are subtitles, but that's the only warning I'll give. Just watch! The textures will have you captivated and Jiro will make you laugh out loud and also feel completely irritated. It's fun!

Here's the trailer if those images don't grab you enough already.

Happy Friday!

PS: The photo of Jiro is via this site.
The sushi shot is via this site.

CAMPAIGN FATIGUE

2012-10-17T10:16:00.000-04:00

Blythe,

I'm totally digging Amanda's blog. Thanks for sharing! In fact, I was with Lil' Q Monday night and she was quoting from Peek-A-Booze!

Every year around this time when the leaves are turning and we can finally sleep with the windows open, I start to get this hankering to knock on strangers doors and remind them to vote. That feeling quickly passes, but after 7 years in politics, fall always reminds me of yard signs and Get-Out-The-Vote. Though all of the negative ads and annoying calls can really wear you down, I do LOVE all of the hysterical videos that come out each year (well, the even years anyway).

Here are some of my favorites so far. Definitely NSFW without headphones. Please send more my way!

Obama's Kickstarter Campaign to Solve the Debt - watch more funny videos

Do you have a favorite political parody so far?

Also ticklin' my fancy this morning: Etsy is now offering gift cards! The owners of my favorite shop in DC are featured in a home tour on Refinery29 and I'm super psyched about episode 2 of Nashville tonight. I heart Tammy Taylor!

xoxo,

NEW BLOG ALERT: PEEK-A-BOOZE

2012-10-15T09:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed last week's Phone-A-Friend. Deweese and I have a special place in our hearts for all of our Phone-A-Frienders (see our list of alum here and just email us to join the club!). So when one of them starts a blog it is REALLY exciting!

Here's the scoop...Amanda is an old friend of mine from my DC days and one of our first ever Phone-A-Frienders. If you don't remember her living room, read all about it here. Since then, Amanda and her husband had a baby! This provided Amanda with loads of hilarious material by which to start a blog. I have always hugely admired her hilarious but also very skilled writing abilities, so I knew this would be good! Check it out:

peek-a-booze is all about adding some laughter and honesty to the whole having-a-baby thang. With so many of our readers being new moms (any dads out there?!), I thought it would be great share. Even if you aren't a new mom, you'll probably find this blog really funny. While reading my favorite post so far, Poor Prior Planning, I almost spit out the water I was drinking. Twice.

Click here for little bit more info on Amanda and the blog itself. And here's a picture of Amanda and her seriously adorable son. Which was half of the reason I wanted to write this post... I mean, look that lil' guy!!!

Weeeeeeeeee!

Congratulations, Amanda! Can't wait to read more.

Love,

PS: Did anyone watch the live Space Jump?! GAAAAH! I was covering my eyes the whole time...well the last 9 minutes of it, anyway. ;)

PHONE-A-FRIEND: ANNE'S BEDROOM

2012-10-12T08:23:00.003-04:00

Hello Readers!

It's been a while, but we're back in action with a new Phone-A-Friend! If you're new to the blog, check out our library of Phone-A-Friends here.

Anne (and her partner Meredith) are our dear friends in Maine, you may remember them from this post. They've just moved to a lovely new home in Portland, ME and want to punch up their bedroom. And that's just our style.

Here's what they're lookin' for...

We need your help! As Blythe knows, we just moved into a house we affectionately call the Purple Wonder. Besides the color, it’s a pretty basic 1930s New Englander on the outside, with some Craftsman features inside, which are what really sold it for us. That and the location: it’s close to a cute, dog-friendly beach.

I start with that description because those are two themes that we’re trying to maintain as we set up our bedroom. We want to stay consistent with the Craftsman style and color scheme, but also love the beachy/nautical feel of our neighborhood. Can the two coexist?

We have a few ideas for the room: the one I’m really excited about is having a bed frame made out of old wooden doors from the house that I found in the basement.

Okay, I’ll leave you to it, with one last thought. We cohabitate with two professional shedders and bed hogs: Marley the cat and Hamlin the dog. As gorgeous as white bedding is, it is totally impractical for us. We’re so excited to see what you two come up with. Thanks in advance for your help!!

xoxo

Anne (and Meredith!)

Here are photos from the sale of the house. Important to note, none of the furniture is theirs. We narrowed down their list to a few specifics: paint, rug, bedside tables, bedding and lighting. And of course, we threw in a few extras for good measure.

Because we wanted to keep the Craftsman feel of the house, which includes all that gorgeous wood trim, we started looking for an inspiration photo that had some beach/nautical components (not too themey though!), but plenty of wood accents.

Here's what we came up with...

Photograph by Paul Castello via One King's Lane.

And here are our finds...

Sources:

Paint: With all that beautiful wood trim, we decided to keep the walls really crisp. Benjamin Moore Super White (RMI-02) is just that. Deweese and the bossettes just painted their office Super White and can assure you, it's crisp, not clinical.
Don't forget the accessories. This lovely reclaimed ring box is a great example of bringing more natural elements into the room to reinforce that beachy feel.
Our favorite fiddle leaf fig is a must to bring the outdoors in, and oh so chic!
For the window treatments, we went with a very basic matchstick roman shade. You can find these online and in your local home depot. The Shade Store also has some great options.
We sourced this rug from Indian Dhurries, but there are lots of options online. A big bold white and navy stripe is a must to complete this look.
Ok, so this Gumball lamp is from a children's store, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. It's simple and fun.
Sham: Navy Border Frame Standard Sham from Serena & Lily (white, we couldn't resist!) But a navy one works, too.
Green table like this (sorry, but the one we sourced is no longer available!). It's a little less modern but still gives that lovely color.
Accent pillow to pull in some more green.
Quilt. We like the muted/antique look to this quilt in contrast to the rug. Hopefully this look is pet-friendly!
Wicker stool: We like the idea of doubling this up and placing two at the foot of the bed!

Hope you like it! Pretty please show us what you end up doing?

PS: Anne and Meredith were in an incredible video that we'd like to share. It is important to us to keep this blog mainly about throw pillows, but this was just too special not to share: