Today feels like the perfect Fall day. Woke up to temperatures in the low 60s, and the high temp, as predicted by my fave, Rusty Lord, will be near 75 degrees. What a way to usher in Labor Day Weekend!

Do you have big plans for the holiday weekend? I have nothing on my calendar yet, but I’m hoping that will change. I do not want to sit around on my bum for three days, sulking because J isn’t home. This is exactly the reason why I like to make plans in advance — I love having something to look forward to! Blank pages in my calendar make me sad. Do you agree?

On to the list:

A new source for affordable art — plus a giveaway! (via Please Sir)

Emily and I have the same desk. So why doesn’t mine look as stylish as hers? (PS: I want a Ghost chair!)

If I had an extra $1,000, I would buy a Satomi Kawakita ring in a heartbeat. (via Unruly Things)

Briscoe would never do what Uki did.

I need to look for some eggplants at the farmer’s market this weekend.

Oscar has the most adorable handmade denim trousers.

Would you wear two belts at the same time?

Joy’s dining room is a work in progress, but I already love it.

Kate Spade Publishing.

Truthfully, I think J and I are a pretty cool couple.

(image of gorgeous allium flowers via)

No, I’m not talking about the Sicilian delicacy. I’m talking about the paint color by Benjamin Moore. Check out my pick for bedroom paint over on Elizabeth Anne Designs Living.

Anybody want to place a bet that I’ll change my mind again before the paint goes up on the walls?

(bedroom inspiration via House Beautiful)

The one exception is in my bedroom. In that room the young couple from whom we bought the house hung the same Roman shades but in maroon rather than off-white. I have a love/hate relationship with those maroon shades. I loathe the color, but I appreciate how dark they keep my bedroom. They block the sun almost completely, making sleeping in, one of my favorite things to do, oh so easy.

Too easy, perhaps. I am not a morning person and will routinely hit the snooze button 2-3 times before dragging my sleepy self out of bed. At 8:30am. Not necessarily an outrageous time to wake up, but it’s so dark in my room that I could probably sleep straight through til noon and not realize I missed half of the day.

As you know, I’m in the process of redecorating my bedroom, and I’m seriously considering replacing my light-blocking shades with sheer curtains thanks to this bit of wisdom from the September 2010 issue of Whole Living:

Let the natural light be your morning alarm clock. Trade the blackout shades in the bedroom for more translucent ones; it’s a gentler wake-up call. “When your alarm goes off, your first feeling is resistance, which creates stress,” Miller says. “The rest of the world awakes with the sun–why don’t we?”

Are you addicted to the snooze button like I am or are you a morning person? What gets you out of bed?

(image source)

If I had to pick my favorite beauty product, it would definitely not be lipstick. Or lipgloss. My lips are teeny tiny, and I constantly forget to reapply gloss or lipstick after my initial application. I can certainly live without lip coloring.

What I can’t live without, though, is mascara. I’m obsessed. It’s amazing how much brighter your face can look after darkening your eyelashes.

For a million years I used Great Lash mascara by Maybelline in the iconic pink and green tube. Then I moved on to Cover Girl’s Lash Blast and Lash Exact. While all three looked fantastic in the morning, by evening they would dry up and flake. I’d have bits of mascara scattered underneath my eyes. To make matters worse, I got in the terrible habit of picking the clumps and flakes out of my eyelashes while watching TV at night. Inevitable I would pull out several eyelashes while doing so.

Then I heard about tubing mascara. Simply put, tubing mascara forms tiny tubes around each lash that refuse to smudge or flake. Cosmetic consultant Yoram Fishman told O Magazine in 2009 that “most mascaras are oil- or wax-based; they’re essentially paints. [Tubing mascara] formulas are water-based and contain polymers that form a solid film around each lash once the product dries.”

Before splurging on a tube of tubing mascara by Blinc, Too Faced or Stila, I decided to test out L’Oreal Paris Double Extend Mascara, which I picked up on sale at Target. The verdict: LOVE. Love, love, love. No clumps, no flakes, and I’m convinced my already-long eyelashes look even longer. The formula literally lasts all day. It washes away strangely (the little tubes sort of melt off of your lashes) but easily. (They say that water will wash them away, but I found it more effective to use eye make-up remover.)

My question for you: Have you tried tubing mascara yet? What do you think?

Also, what’s your favorite beauty product?

(image source)

Unfortunately, my sister had to leave before she had the chance to teach me how to make homemade hummus. But this weekend, I was craving hummus and pita chips, and, knowing I already had all of the ingredients, I decided to attempt it myself. One caveat: my sister was going to use plain yogurt instead of tahini for a low fat hummus.

Using Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything (thanks, Alice!) as a guide, I quickly and easily whipped up hummus in my blender. I simply replaced the required amount of tahini with the same amount of yogurt. I’m not sure if that was the “right” thing to do… my hummus, while tasty, was a bit runny.

Later, while browsing the web, I came across this recipe for hummus with yogurt, which is very similar to the recipe I invented, except I did not add peanut butter (weird!) but did include cumin.

Would I make it again? Probably, but first I would test it out with tahini.

Do you have a favorite hummus recipe?

January Jones’s dress looks too much like a mullet.

(Same with Anna Paquin’s)

Kyra Sedgwick’s hair is too undone.

Keri Russell looks too much like an extra from “Dirty Dancing.”

Likey…

A lovely combination of navy and gold on Jayma Mays.

A lovely hairstyle on Tina Fey… finally!

A lovely dress on Claire Danes… but her overall look is just too shiny.
Her face and body are glowing.

(images via)

]]> http://somewhereinmiddleamerica.com/2010-emmys-fashion-round-up/feed/ 2 http://somewhereinmiddleamerica.com/chocolate-pancakes/ http://somewhereinmiddleamerica.com/chocolate-pancakes/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:28:57 +0000 PJ http://somewhereinmiddleamerica.com/?p=4601

A camp friend of mine started a new blog called Eating With A to document her culinary adventures. Last week, she tested a recipe she found right here for chocolate pancakes, and she had the sweetest words to say about me and my lil’ blog:

My old camp buddy has a website called Somewhere In Middle America where she mainly talks about things that inspire her in life… things going on in her life… and a lot of style! (Check her out, she’s fun to read, plus at her website you will also find a link to her own stationary company and another website she writes for, EAD Living).

Thanks for the shout out, Adrienne! And I hope you will all bookmark her blog to check out what Adrienne’s cooking… and eating!

(image source)

While studying abroad in Sydney, Australia in 2001, I traveled to Alice Springs, where I purchased an original piece of Aboriginal art by Marlene Coombes. I even have a photo of the artist holding her artwork tucked away in my scrapbook. At the time, the warm, muted colors spoke to me, and I felt a connection to its meaning, which, on a basic level, has to do with women sitting around campfires. The indigenous people of Australia tell the most mystical stories through their artwork.

Over the past nine years, my Aboriginal dot painting has hung in various apartments in Boston, DC, NYC and Omaha. But when we moved into our house two years ago, I wasn’t sure where to display it, so it’s been sitting in box in a closet, and I haven’t given it much thought. That is, until I came across these posts by Viv from Ish & Chi and Jen from Made by Girl.

Long story short, Viv was contemplating buying a gorgeous pink-hued canvas by Aboriginal artist Jeannie Mills Pwerl for her living room. When she took the plunge (I imagine her purchase was quite costly, as I believe she was debating between the canvas and a new bicycle), she inspired Jen to track down a Jeannie Mills Pwerl original of her own.

I don’t know how J feels about Aboriginal art, but I would love to own a similar piece by Jeannie Mills Pwerl and would proudly display it in the living room. I can’t get these two pieces off my mind. I’m totally obsessed with their large scale and bright, airy colors.

How do you feel about Aboriginal art?

1. my photo 2. my photo 3. image via Ish & Chi 4. image via Made by Girl

The end of August is finally here! Yippee! Woot Woot!!

Can you tell I’m excited about the September? Why wouldn’t I be? So many exciting things are happening: a visit to NJ, the birth of my friend’s baby, J’s homecoming.

Plus, I’m dying to get a jump start on Fall trends, from menswear for women and military-inspired fashion (Did anybody catch last night’s “Project Runway?” Isn’t Gretchen just awful?) to purple makeup and “greige” nails. What are you looking forward to next season?

Here are some of my favorite finds from around the web this week. If you like them too, please comment below!

I need an intervention: I am addicted to paper planners.

Must have this green apple box for the kitchen. (via Design*Sponge)

Kimberly Ayers‘s style is so me.

Just say no to receipts: There’s BPA on heat-activated paper. (via Design Scouting)

Did Cynthia Rowley sell out?

Bookshelf Porn. Enough said. (via Paper Tastebuds)

Brilliant use of a chalkboard door.

Lox Papers creates amazing collages for each blog post. (via Creature Comforts)

And speaking of “Project Runway”… I already have Tim Gunn’s book; now I need Nina Garcia’s Look Book.

Hope you have a blissful weekend!

(image source)

Isn’t she a beaut?