Things Colleen Wants To Do

Lucas Maassen & Sons

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Scale it Back

2012-01-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my awesome Tuesday/Thursday yoga teacher and her scrumptious class playlists, this song has been on repeat all weekend long:

Scale It Back by DJ Shadow featuring Little Dragon on Grooveshark

God it's good. Doesn't the intro sound like T-Boz??

(*)

12 for '12: Purify

2012-01-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Intention #12: purify with plants!
Living practically on top of the BQE gives us a nice, calming lull to fall asleep to at night. It also provides less than optimal air quality and a nasty layer of soot on all the windowsills. But rather than enlist the help of a machine to do some purifying, I'd like to fill our apartment with pots and pots of plants! I want to hang them in the windows, stack them on the 'sills. I want to fill our entire fireplace with all of this redeeming greenery.

If you'd like to do the same, these are just a few of the best air purifying plants...

Weeping Fig

Spider Plant

Snake Plant

Golden Pothos

Bamboo Palm

Areca Palm

Rubber Plant

Here's to a happy, healthy, refreshing new year ahead, friends. XO

(*)

12 for '12: Bizness

2012-01-17T09:00:00.003-05:00

Intention #11: Stay focused on entrepreneurial endeavors; set aggressive but achievable milestones.

It seems soo so easy to be distracted by other ways to spend my free nights and weekends (yoga with amigas, brunching with boo, ebay surfing). But I will make a conscious effort to create, and stick to, a timeline that helps me to push things along (and allows for a little fun).

To my friends who are in the midst of building small businesses (there seem to be so many of you): how do you balance business planning, a full-time job and, uh, life?

(*)

12 for '12: Bettering

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

Intention #10: Be a better friend, daughter, sister and boo to all the loves in my life. I think this might mean picking up the phone more often, making impromptu plans (avoiding 'penciling in' 5 weeks in advance), writing love letters, and spending some time on the west coast (happening! see paragraph #2 of intention #7).

(*)

12 for '12: Crafts pt.III

2012-01-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

Intention #9
Lately I've had this huge urge to take a ceramics class. I would love to make my own mugs, bowls, plates and vases. Do you know of any great studios in Brooklyn/ NYC?

(*)

12 for '12: Get outside

2012-01-12T10:00:00.001-05:00

Intention #8: Hike more. Swim more. Ski more. Bike more.

(*)

P.S. follow me on pinterest

12 for '12: Sleep under the stars

2012-01-10T22:30:00.001-05:00

Intention #7
Travel is always near the tippy top of my to do list for each new year, but this year it's looking like most vacation days will be spent stateside, which I am totally cool with. There are approximately 800 places I would die to visit in the U.S., so I plan to cross at least a couple of them off my list. I'd like to try something off the beaten path in 2012 and sleep out under the stars and among the forest canopies in...a treehouse! You may have noticed that I've been daydreaming of treehouse vacations for years. I think this year my little dream will finally be realized.

Thanks to my boo, sometime this Spring we'll be visiting our City by the Bay, after almost two long years away. My mind is already spinning with visions of favorite people to see, places to visit, and foods to eat (and eat and eat and eat). I'm also thinking this might be the perfect opportunity to burrow into a Human Nest in Big Sur, or climb into a sky-high suite at Post Ranch Inn.

In the midst of my obsessive searching, I also discovered these amazing treehouse hotels in my own home state. Yes ma'am!

Have you ever slept in a treehouse hotel? One of my good friends lived in New Zealand for a year and always raved of these stargazer huts she would stay in - they had large windows above the bed where you could peer out into the night sky...dreamy.

(*)

12 for '12: Crafts pt.II

2012-01-06T12:30:00.002-05:00

Intention #6: Learn to sew. I'm sooo serious about this one. I'm actually taking a class next week and cannot wait to conquer my fear of the big, bad sewing machine. By the end of the year I'd like to have a few projects completed...

*a curtain for our bathroom window
*something supercute for my ever-growing baby niece to wear
*something supercute for me to wear
*tea towels!
*hand-stitched stationary
*an oven mit or two

Do you sew? What have you whipped up lately? I'm on the hunt for inspirational (and easy) projects :)

I'll keep you posted on my progress...

(*)

12 for '12: Mostly plants

2012-01-05T11:35:00.002-05:00

Intention #5: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." I recently read Michael Pollan's Food Rules around the same time that I did my very first 3-day juice cleanse. I felt uhhhmazing at the end of the 3 days - lighter, clear-minded and more energetic than usual.

So, in 2012 I plan to maintain a plant-rich diet including stalks and stalks of...kale! I have a slight obsession with this leafy green. I love adding it to quinoa salads, burritos, pastas, etc. But lately I've been eating kale as a salad green topped with mushrooms, radishes, avocado, olive oil and lemon juice. Try it, it's so good. Know what else is good? Sweet potatoes.

(1, 2)

12 for '12: Crafts pt.I

2012-01-04T11:00:00.001-05:00

Intention #4: Brush up on my hand printing skills. Anyone have fun printed fabric projects to share? I'm thinking of making tea towels and maybe an apron to match. A lady can never have too many aprons.

(*)

12 for '12: Wander

2012-01-03T13:30:00.000-05:00

Intention #3: Explore my city.

(*)

12 for '12: Arts

2012-01-02T10:30:00.002-05:00

Intention #2: See more art. Support more art. Make more art.

(*)

12 for '12: Mindfulness

2012-01-01T17:24:00.012-05:00

Happy, healthy new year, you!

2011 was a good one, with a mountain of moments to be grateful for, but I feel excited to reassess my goals and hopes for the year ahead.

Intention #1: Be more mindful of what I buy and consume, and my personal impact on the environment.

P.S. That photo was taken last week at beautiful snow-kissed Snoqualmie Pass. I miss the Pacific NW oh so much.

Happy

2011-12-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Hannukah, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Christmas, Happy almost New Year!

Also, so happy to be flying to Seattle today for a week.

See you next year!

(*)

Brown paper packages tied up with string

2011-12-20T09:07:00.001-05:00

Beautiful wrapping ideas for any occasion.

Soft pretzel? Sure why not.

Sebastiaan Bremer

2011-12-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

The paint-splashed photos by Dutch artist Sebastiaan Bremer make me want to strap on my snow shoes and hit the Alps right this second. Aren't they gorgeous?

Gifts for a lovely lady

2011-12-16T11:00:00.001-05:00

1. a soft, cuddly spotted angora sweater (*)

2. a little bling first thing in the morning (*)

3. a warm woolen watermelon beanie (*)

4. The Eye Has to Travel - a tome dedicated to the life and work of Diana Vreeland (*)

5. the perfect, non-techy, touch screen gloves (*)

6. clean, sexy, confident kiehls musk (*)

If I had a pup...

2011-12-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

I'd walk her all around town in blinkthings:

(cute packaging, too)

Ode to the lima bean

2011-12-08T22:10:00.005-05:00

Lima beans don't get enough credit, so I thought I'd show this moon-shaped legume some love. They were a favorite of mine as a wee one, as my parents tell it. I love the image of chubby baby me, propped up in a high chair, clenching lima beans in each fist.

Over Thanksgiving weekend we went on a mini getaway to the Berkshires for some fresh air, lots of art, hiking, and relaxation. It was pretty dreamy. We also ate scrumptious food, the most memorable dish being a Peruvian Lima Bean Ragout with Swiss Chard, Fennel, Tomato and Pecorino at Mezze in Williamstown, MA. It was so, sooo good. And what a smart way to prepare lima beans - they were treated kind of like a pasta in a rich tomato-y sauce.

So in honor of the lovely lima, tonight for din I tried my best to recreate the Mezze dish. Here's how:

Beans
Soak 1.5 cups dried large lima beans, then bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat for about 25 minutes.

Sauce
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 small - medium carrots, diced
6 baby bella mushrooms, diced
1 small shallot, minced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
a few large leaves of kale, chopped
tomato sauce (homemade or store bought)

Saute carrot, zucchini, garlic and shallot in a teaspoon of olive oil at low heat for 5 mins.

Add 1 cup tomato sauce to pan and simmer for a couple minutes.

Add tomatoes, mushrooms and kale (I like to just barely cook these ingredients, but you can add them earlier along with the other veggies too).

When limas are cooked almost all the way through, remove from water and add to the sauce pan to simmer together with sauce for another 10-15 minutes.

Sprinkle with fresh herbs, parmesan, and buon appetito!

(*)

Decembrrrrr

2011-12-06T22:43:00.007-05:00

Ohhh hello, Winter. December may just be one of my favorite months.

There's an electricity in the air, along with a frosty nip.
Parties galore, and cozy time with loved ones to look forward to.
Traditions, and twinkling lights, and pine needles littering the streets.
Hibernation is just around the bend.
New York is a pretty wonderful place to be this time of year.

(*)

James Henkel: Light Work, Nov.11

2011-11-18T07:34:00.004-05:00

Beautiful imagery by James Henkel

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Neopolitan, Nov.11

2011-11-14T10:10:00.000-05:00

I love the splash of pink (and peep of yellow) against the rich brown seating and chevron floors.

Doesn't it remind you of those funny little striped coconut candies?

(*)

Grappling with apples, Nov.11

2011-11-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

Apple picking this year was a full-day extravaganza of hiking, picnicing and playing apple-ball in the orchard. I came home with a bushel of rosy beauties and decided to revisit some tried and true recipes from last year.

I cannot stress enough the dee-lici-ous-ness of this Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust. I always add a little extra cheddar on top during the last few minutes of baking. The more cheddar, the better.

I also tried these Autumn In A Bite cookies again because last year I used homemade caramel sauce in place of caramel candies. This time around I made two versions - with and without caramels. Both turned out great, but a word to the wise: bake them almost twice as long as the recipe calls for. At 10 minutes they were still doughy and the caramels still stiff and sticky. At about 18-20 minutes they were browned and gooey. A pinch of sea salt makes a perfect bite.

What I love about apples is their versatility. They are just as good sweet as they are savory. For dinner one night I improvised on this recipe and made a Roasted Apple-Butternut Squash Pizza. I followed the dough recipe but mixed in some fresh thyme for a little extra oomph. For toppings, I thinly sliced 3 apples and half a butternut squash and mixed these with diced shallots, garlic, thyme, basil, olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. I had to bake this a bit longer than 10 minutes as well, probably closer to 15 minutes. A sprinkle of parmesan on top as it comes from the oven is always a good idea. Buon apetito!

Finally, I got creative one night when I was too tired to really cook, and came up with Grilled Chicken Tacos with Apple-Radish-Shallot Relish. Boo threw some chicken on the barbie. I whipped up garlic-shallot black beans and made a quick relish of diced apples, radishes and shallots marinated in apple cider vinegar. I layered these delish ingredients on a corn tortilla, topped it with sliced avocado and went to taco heaven.

Other Apple recipes that sound amazing:

Rustic Apple French Toast

Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts

Praline-Apple Bread

Caramelized Onion Tarts With Apples

XO

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn, Nov.11

2011-11-05T15:03:00.007-04:00

I forget where I came across this slideshow of the world's best new affordable hotels, but I find myself scrolling through it at least once a week. Thought you might enjoy a little Saturday scrolling, too.

1, 5, 11 and 17 are of particular interest.

P.S. Take a peek at this one, too. (Doe Bay, represent!)