have a lovely weekend!

{kirsten dunst for band of outsiders spring 2011}

SCAD Alumni weekend is finally here, which means films in Forsyth and the Sidewalk Arts Festival! Unfortunately the only night I was able to go to the films in the park was canceled due to the crazy weather we've been having in the south, but today I'm off to the art fest. I look forward to it every year, the students at SCAD are so talented, I can't wait to see some of the chalk art today.

Tomorrow Jacob and I have off together and I'm hoping to get a project done. We're thinking of building and planting flower boxes or making some soaps out of herbs in our garden, either way I promise to take pictures {no, really I promise this time}.

Some things I saw floating around the web this week:

1.Vertical Garden, and a way to get rid of your shoe organizers.

2. The official Royal Wedding photos, they're just so regal!

3. Last day to buy any 5x5 Paris color series from Little Brown Pen.

4. A denim wedding inspiration. {1,2,3}

5. New Harry Potter trailer!!

Have a lovely weekend!

human spirograph

Do you remember these when we were kids? Well Tony Orrico has really taken it to the next level, becoming the spirograph himself. Aren't they sort of mesmerizing?

wedding hats

My favorite part of the wedding today {aside from her dress} was the amazing display of English wedding hats. It was so excited to see each guest arrive with a different sort of style. These were some of my favorites.

Congratulations Will & Kate!

Can we talk about how amazing that dress was?

harry potter nerds

This is for you. Amy Sly created these clever gems and I'm really sad they're not real.

floral glasses

I'm a Ray Bans girl. I have two pairs and I feel pretty loyal to the brand. However, today when I stumbled across these floral glasses from Super and Liberty London I could feel a bit of my loyalty sliding. How could I possibly say no to anything floral?

on my nightstand

As much as I love books, I sometimes find it hard to find time to read everyday. When I get home from work sometimes I just want to turn off my brain and watch Real Houswives, but I'm trying to be better by reading a new book every week or so. Right now I'm hooked on Tina Fey's Bossypants and it's hilarious. I'm a huge Tina/30 Rock fan so I had high expectations and i have to say they've all been met.

sunday sweets {glorious treats}

After a long vacation last week, I was forced to work all weekend, including Easter. Between working and being exhausted I was able to go to the Iron & Wine show {which was AMAZING} but I was unable to do much else, like bake. So today I have a lovely tutorial for you from the fine people at Glorious Treats. These hydrangea cupcakes are so sweet and perfect for spring. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers, and if it weren't for their high price tags and my fear of somehow killing them, I would probably have my entire front garden filled with them.

Check out the tutorial for these adorable cupcakes. I feel like if I had these cupcakes along with these and these , I could have the most lovely spring tea party. Don't you think?

happy easter!

May it be filled with new spring dresses, candy, ham, and mimosas... lots of mimosas.

the nogg.

Mother of pearl.

As I've mentioned countless times before, we're in the process of redoing out backyard. Jacob has it in his head that once it's finished he wants to have chickens. I have agreed to this on the condition that he builds me a chicken coop worthy of Martha Stewart, complete with white trim and flower boxes. However, I would definitely be willing to settle for this AMAZING design from furniture designer Matthew Hayward. It can fit up to four chickens and is made out of cedar. How cool is this thing?

back to the grind.

After an amazing vacation to San Diego filled with great food, beer, and wonderful new friends, I'm having trouble getting back to reality. Jacob always points out my post vacation blues, but I really can't help it. Going back to work and bills is never easy, especially while fighting the urge to pack everything up and move to California right now.

More details on the trip later.

see you next week!

Jacob and I are off to San Diego tomorrow morning to see one of my oldest friends get married! Honestly any excuse to go to California and I'm there. We're super excited to visit the zoo and some breweries out there. Hopefully we'll have a lot to talk about when I get back. Have a great week!

out of print

A friend of mine took notice of my love for books and their covers and sent me a link to Out of Print. This online shop sells shirts devoted to some of my favorite classics. Now, if only I could purchase all of them today.... hmm.

outdoor buddies

Clearly, when you need help cleaning up the backyard, these are the buddies to call.

sunday sweets {lavender panna cotta}

Before I begin, there's a couple of things I should say about this post. First, my sincere apologies for the lack of photos, and for the less than stellar photo of the outcome. The photo above was taken after one or two {or twelve} beers had been consumed. Thus, the blurry, unbalanced example you have before you.

Second, I know I just did a lavender honey ice cream a couple of months ago and you may be tired of lavender desserts from me. However, might I remind you the name of this blog is Lavender & Honey. You're lucky I don't make every dessert post include lavender {because I could totally do that}, I mean I would eat this stuff every day if I could.

Now that those topics are out of the way, I must tell you that this is delicious. On top is a blackberry and blueberry sauce and it paired really nicely with the delicate lavender custard. My only regret about this recipe is that it made six, and there just so happened to be six of us eating them, so no leftovers. BIG MISTAKE, because all I can think about is eating just one more of these.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender, or 6 fresh lavender flower heads
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup honey, or to taste
Pinch of salt

For the compote:

2 cups mixed blueberries and blackberries {they can be frozen, but maybe add a couple of fresh ones for a garnish}

3 tablespoons water

1/4 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the Panna Cotta:

1. Put the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, gently heat 1 cup of cream just until tiny bubbles appear around the edges. Do not boil.
3. Remove the cream from the heat and stir in the lavender. Steep for 5 minutes. Begin tasting the cream. When it is pleasantly flavored with lavender—this could require 1 to 5 minutes of additional steeping—pour the mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl. If you can still see particles of lavender in the cream, rinse the strainer and strain the mixture again.
4. Return the cream to the stove. Stir in the other cup of cream and 2 tablespoons of milk, and gently warm the mixture over medium low heat. When bubbles appear around the edges, stir in the honey and salt until they dissolve. Taste for sweetness--you can add a little more honey if you like. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin mixture until it dissolves.
5. Pour the mixture into six ramekins, or a large muffin pan. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours {preferably four hours}.

For the Compote:

Combine all ingredients into a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until they reduce and thicken. Remove from heat, strain, and serve warm.

Enjoy!

backyard round-up

The weather has been so lovely lately that Jacob and I try to be outside every chance we get. We've been spending a lot of time getting the backyard cleaned up before the crazy summer heat sets in. I probably could have spent another 2 days finding things for this roundup and it could have been much larger, but I had to stop myself at some point. Hopefully at least half of these things will make it into our backyard.

1. Solar-Powered Lighting; 2. Tunisian Basket Weave Carafe and Glasses; 3. Montego Square Double Sun Bed; 4. Green Moss Birdhouse; 5. Owl Watering Can; 6. Working Class Studio Outdoor Pillows; 7. Storm Lantern; 8. French Bistro Set; 9. Waikiki Umbrella; 10. Hickory Coaster Set; 11. Window Box Herb Pot; 12. Garden Pushcart; 13. Blooming Outdoor Rug; 14. Antique Silverware Garden Markers

new beastie boys

This whole video is ridiculous, but my favorite part is the 2 second guest appearance from GOB. I mean "Come ON!"

more {heart stopping} books

If you're growing tired of my constant obsession with book covers, well then I suggest you find a new blog to follow.

Was that too harsh? Please don't leave, books are fun, I promise. Take these for example. New Barnes & Noble Classics designed by Jessica Hische. I love Jessica's lettering, but this time she may have outdone herself. These are breathtaking, heart stopping, freaking amazing. I must own them.

Dear Jacob,

Remember how we were talking about building more bookcases? Well... perhaps we should get on that.

spring legs

Lately, I find myself only wanting to wear dresses or skirts. It has to do with the weather and the overwhelming desire to feel girly amongst the flowery, springy atmosphere. However, as a fair skinned lady I worry about my white legs blinding the eyes of onlookers. This is where tights come in. I've always loved the look of peep toe wedges with tights and a short skirt, but these looks from asos have really taken it to the next level. They're so girly and sexy, I need all of them now.

{1,2,3,4}

garden greens {rainbow swiss chard}

Greens were never something I was that interested in before moving to the south. We always had veggies and salads at dinner, but the idea of collards, mustard greens or chard didn't really exist in my house. Now I can't get enough. I love the bitterness of them and Swiss Chard happens to be my favorite, plus it's really really pretty. We planted some in the garden and they brighten it up so much. I do, however, get a little sad when I have to cut off the hot pink stem for cooking, Jacob looks at me like I'm crazy.

sunday sweets {poached rhubarb with elderflower sabayon}

Ok, I know this isn't one of the usual decadent chocolate desserts, but I was craving something a little bit lighter this week, something more "springy." I saw this in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living and it just looked so pretty, I had to try it. My photos are not as pretty as Martha's, but it's kind of hard to make rhubarb look bad, the color is just so lovely.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this, but I really enjoyed it. The rhubarb is tart, but the sabayon is sweet and creamy, so they go really nicely together. Perfect for when it's hot out and you want a nice, light dessert.

Ingredients:

3 cups water

2 cups plus 2 tbs sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped, pod reserved

1 strip {2 inches} lemon zest

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

4 large egg yolks

3 tbs elderflower liqueur

1. Prepare an ice water bath. Bring water, 2 cups sugar, the vanilla seeds and pod, and lemon zest to a boil in a wide, shallow saucepan. Stir. Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add rhubarb, and simmer gently until just tender, about 3 minutes {if your rhubarb is really thick it may take longer, you want them soft but not soggy}. Transfer to a bowl set in ice water bath. Let cool completely. Divide among 4 bowls.

2. Whisk together remaining 2 tbs sugar, the egg yolks, and the elderflower liqueur in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until sabayon is tripled in volume, frothy, and warm to the touch, 6-8 minutes. Serve immediately over rhubarb.

Enjoy!

happy weekend!

Three reasons this photo is awesome:

1. She's wearing a Misfits shirt.

2. She's on a skateboard.

3. She's Chloë Sevigny, duh.

Have a great weekend!