{ this moment }

{this moment} 

A single photo 

No words

capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

-soulmama

{loving} two classic colors

Navy and green... Two of my favorite colors. Sweet, glossy, sometimes sassy, sometimes preppy & always glistening with sophisticated style... tres chic & I am so loving it! Have a happy weekend everyone.

*Images via Patterson Maker, Windsor Smith Home, Marcus Design Inc.

Roasted pumpkin puree

Smooth and delicious roasted pumpkin puree. Add it to muffins, pies, cookies, soups, use it as baby food, or eat it right out of the jar!

First cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and "guts". Cut into quarters and place on a baking tray with a 1/4 cup water. Foil over top and bake at 425 for 40 minutes, or until soft.

Let cool and scrap out the flesh. You can either leave it like this or puree it a food processor until smooth.
Put in mason jars and freeze! Fresh pumpkin all year round.

{idea notebook} bold and beautiful stripes

Loving big, bold, refined stripes right now! They feel so amazingly modern and uniquely un-contrived. A perfect way to add color to your space but still keep things nicely contained and precisely crisp. Fabulous!

*Photography via Living etc.

Pumpkin Thai Curry

Pumpkin! I made this curry served with vermicelli rice noodles the other night.  I use Thai Kitchen red curry paste for this recipe.I think the overall time to make this meal was about 30 minutes. I didn't use much of the pumpkin for this, so I plan on roasting the rest and using it in muffins and whatnot. More pumpkin posts coming soon....

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion- sliced
2 cloves garlic-minced
2 tbsp Thai Kitchen red curry paste
4 cups pumpkin- peeled and chopped
3 cups water/ veggie stock
1 red pepper- sliced
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
fresh cilantro
vermicelli rice noodles- cooked according to package


In a large pot heat oil, add onions and garlic. Saute on medium heat until soft.
Add paste and stir it around to coat the onions. Add pumpkin and continue to stir.
Pour in water/stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until pumpkin is soft.
Add peppers and coconut milk. Season with sugar and salt.  Serve over noodles garnished with fresh cilantro.

Autumn

Warm soups and stews.

Fuzzy sweaters

Our wood stove

The pumpkin patch

Crisp mornings, and the colors of the leaves.

My birthday!

Halloween

Happy Fall everyone!

{come away with me}

Here's to vintage summers and the quiet call of autumn... Here's to pink cafes with patios growing bare and pastel colored Ferris wheels slowing into slumber. Here's to a palette so sweet it makes you want to disappear for a moment.... and run away to the world. "Come away with me... and I will write you a song" Nora Jones

*Photography via (image2) Patterson Maker, simply hue

Harvesting herbs

In the summer I picked up a lemon balm plant at the end of someones driveway. I planted it in the garden and it grew like crazy! I really love the smell of lemon, and when you rub the leaves it releases an amazing aroma of citrus. I Googled it and found out a bunch of cool stuff about this particular plant. It is related to the mint family, a calming herb and you can dry it and use it in tea. So I thought I would try to dry some and see how it does. I also read that you can make pesto with it too! What herbs do you harvest?

Easy-As-Apple & Plum-Pie

Its apple season and I have an apple tree in my yard!

I made this the other day while we had family visiting... we ate it warm with vanilla soy ice cream. 

Easy-As-Apple & Plum- Pie


1 cup shortening
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold water

Using a pastry cutter blend up the flour and salt into the shortening until it is crumbly and resembles a sand like mixture. Add water and carefully form a ball using a fork. Don't over mix!
Cut the ball of dough in half and lightly flour your surface for rolling.
Roll out dough until fits pie plate (not too thin- not too thick)

5 apples peeled and sliced
8 plums- cored and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp flour

Mix up filling in a bowl and scoop into pie plate. Roll out the other dough half and place on top.
Poke 2 or 3 holes in the top and bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until golden.

{idea notebook} no frame required

Loving the haphazard beauty of this photo installation, especially against such classical furniture. A wonderful blend of controlled elements and beautiful, freedom of movement...

*Photography via Patterson Maker

{idea notebook} statement pieces

Welcome back to the week everyone! Lately I have been thinking about statement pieces in decor. Pieces that make you stop and pause before continuing on through a space. I love a play on proportion and scale. I love daringly grand objects that look undeniably dramatic. I love saturated color and unusual shapes. I love turning ordinary objects like light fixtures or chairs into wonderfully graphic elements or when color is so intense it becomes textural. I love when a statement is so un-traditional, but done just right, that it looks absolutely intended and amazingly perfect.

*Photography via (image 1&2) Jonathan Adler, Kelly Wearstler & Living etc.

{loving} lazy bones bedding

I am loving the sweet ruffles, gentle knots and tattered rosettes of this beautiful bedding. So feminine and lovely... a style reminiscent of charming, vintage pieces, like your Grandmother's old quilt. Adoring the fresh whites, saturated blues and my always favorite shades of pink, did I mention how fantastic the pair of chandeliers are? I love the ease of un-polished perfection...

*Photography via Lazy Bones

Cloth

Cloth Diapering you may say
Is too much for your busy day
But let me tell you why you're wrong
I promise you this won't take long
Did you know there are chemicals
Hiding out in your disposables
Besides who wants to use all that plastic
all that garbage makes me spastic
And cloth is not as gross as you may think
I rarely even have a stink
All you need is a wet bag
and all that mess is not a drag
But 'sposies are easy you make utter
Cloth is too!- did I stutter?
I can diaper in a park
I can diaper in the dark
I can diaper in the car
I can diaper when afar
I can diaper here or there
I can diaper anywhere!
So take those 'sposies, throw them out
Cloth is easy when your about!
Thus my poem comes to an end
Hope you still want to be my friend.

-clothmomma

{inspiration} truly great rooms for the kids

Good morning everyone and welcome back to the week. What do you do when you are decorating for a person who stands at waist level and drinks out of a sippy cup? In short, get truly creative, stretch your wings and use your thinking caps. Try burying yourself inside a few great children's stories or thumb through inspiring illustrations from Eric Carle. You see, kids dream big, they take risks with you and make truly fantastic audiences! Loving these inspiration pics. The rooms are clearly oriented for a child yet the palettes, finesse and detailing is as sophisticated as it comes. Just perfect! Have a wonderful week everyone!

*Photography via Suzanne Kasler (image 1), Elle Decor, Coastal Living (image 8)