I need this kitchen.

This is the perfect kitchen.

 (House Beautiful photo via Habitually Chic)

Really.

Dark wood cabinets, white subway tile backsplash, marble countertops...bliss.

If I had a kitchen like this, I'd never leave it. It's perfection!

This is not an advertisement.

This weekend was a big weekend. We didn't go out or host a party or anything like that, but it was big nonetheless.

We sorted out the wedding gifts that had been piling up in the corners of the living room and unpacked all of the boxes of dinnerware, glassware and pots and pans.

Ohhh the pots and pans. Calphalon, I love you.

With that set came a colander (which apparently, according to the pamphlet, can double as a fruit bowl. Thanks for the heads-up, Calphalon.) and a dutch oven. They were bonus items. With the dutch oven came a Calphalon spoon and a lovely kitchen towel. I'm sold on the kitchen towels...our Williams-Sonoma ones are not as absorbent.

Future Husband (who I guess will just be Husband after Saturday? hmmm) got to unpack all the boxes. So this:

became this:

You can also see how lovely our kitchen is. I like to think of it as retro chic. Hah.

We eventually got everything put away and piled up our old pots and pans (at the bottom right of the photo) to take to Goodwill (a harrowing experience at best - don't people know how to drive?).

We also cleaned, did laundry, started packing and hung art/photos up. Which was good, because I was starting to believe that the photos would be leaning against the walls in their selected locations forever.

Two red canvases for the guest bathroom...

Two framed photographs by Steven L. Miller Photography. He's a local photographer who travels all over and has a stand at the Courthouse antiques market every Saturday. I would happily fill all of my frames with his work.

I also found out that my dream of adding French style to our apartment (which is, for the most part, pretty classic and a little modern - clean lines, lots of natural colors and white, dark wood, etc.) may come true! We got a Restoration Hardware advert in the mail on Saturday and Future Husband (gasp) actually found things in it that he liked! I was surprised, as he had always seemed a little hesitant when I talked of decorating in a French/Provence style.

He even liked the linen pillow covers with patterns from French burlap sacks, which I have been lusting after since seeing them appear countless times in the design blogs I follow. So we decided we'll get one of these...

 (Photo from Restoration Hardware)

He also liked these chairs, but we don't really have the space in our current apartment. So I guess we just need to buy a house in Provence and then I can decorate to my heart's content.

We should probably work on owning a house in Virginia first. Sigh.

 (Photo from Restoration Hardware)

So it was a productive weekend...and I figured I'd post about apartment endeavours first and then our cooking endeavours...which were also fun this weekend!

xo,
Carrie

Catching up on the last few weeks...

So I have been a horribly delinquent blogger. I haven't really felt like it recently - but until about a week ago, I didn't really feel like doing much of anything! Work has been dreary, it's been cold and winter has been taking its toll.

But thankfully, spring is here! And everything is right with the world. Well, work is still dreary. But at least it's sunny and warm outside!

Wedding plans are humming along. There are still a few things left to do - specifically, centerpieces and table decor. I've picked it all out and sent my flower preferences, but I haven't seen a mock-up yet. It's making my little type A brain go slightly crazy. Other than that, Future Husband and I have been trying to pick out our first dance song. Do we go classic with something like Sinatra, Bennett or Armstrong? Or do we go a little more recent and do something like James Taylor? OR do we go cheeky and funny like the Backstreet Boys? In reality...I know we won't do the Backstreet Boys. But part of me is really tempted to do that.

I got a great email from Andrea Drexelius, the woman behind French Basketeer. I've posted before about her amazing bags - they're handmade in Morocco or Madagascar and are GORGEOUS. I had originally ordered this beautiful mango Cap Ferrat bag (that will be perfect for the honeymoon), but turns out it's out of stock until June or so.

So Andrea graciously offered to swap it out for any of the other bags she carries. But I just had to have the same style bag, so I'm getting it in fuschia instead.

Love love love love it. It'll be perfect for summer! If anyone needs a summer bag, I highly recommend Andrea's bags!

In other news, our new pillows are here! Elizabeth (Lilybethgoodies) on Etsy had some beautiful green damask pillows for sale but I had wanted them in a lumbar shape instead of regular 18x18. She was wonderful and customized the pillows for us and got them to us really quick. And they are beautiful! Now if only Pottery Barn had the 12x24 pillows in stock in Clarendon... Here's Elizabeth's shop on Etsy.

(Photo by Elizabeth)

In kitchen news, we've been baking and cooking up a storm. Among the things that have come out of the kitchen:

1. Pot roast. YUM. Mix a little cream of mushroom soup and some red wine (the more the better) plus a couple other ingredients and you've got yourself a DELICIOUS roast. And great leftovers.

2. Red wine marinated flank steak. Red wine + steak = always a good combination.

3. Donna Hay's sticky black pepper pork (and sticky black pepper chicken - basically the same recipe on chicken). Super easy and all ingredients are easily found in your pantry. 

4. Donna Hay's pork with horseradish cream sauce. Really delicious summery sauce that you could use for anything...Future Husband used leftover sauce on his roast beef sandwich with some Nancy's Camembert. 

5. Muddy dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate glaze and raspberry coulis. Soooooo wonderful. I spread a layer of the coulis in between two layers of cake. But instead of making two full layers, I just took my trusty Chef Tony (thanks Dad!) bread knife and sliced the cake horizontally. Very proud of myself! That's the first time I'd done that. And I'm just getting started. With the help of Bakerella, Noshings, TastyKitchen and a few new kitchen tools (like muffin tins, cookie sheets, spatulas, and maybe a new bowl for the mixer), this is the summer of baking!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying spring!

xo,

Carrie

Things I'm Coveting Right Now...

I know, I know. You're not supposed to covet anything. With that said, here we go...

1. My new West Elm vases. Simple, white, clean lines...right up my alley (and thankfully up Future Husband's too). They were on sale online (AND had free shipping to boot) so we got 3 of them. Well, one of them is an icy blue. The color was too pretty to resist. We got the "egg" (the little egg-shaped one in the bottom left of the photo) in white and the blue. And then we got the one directly to the right of it that's more of a traditional vase shape. To round out the white vase trio, I think we'll get the jug - the one behind the two we already purchased.

(West Elm image)

2. Google Reader. What's better than one site that can deliver all of your favorite blogs' posts??? I can't get enough. It's like I'm on apartment decorating crack. I'm sure it'll only get worse when Future Husband and I actually buy a townhouse or house house. Then we'll throw paint, light fixtures, appliances (oh, how I ache for a subzero freezer and giant washer and dryer) and all that into the mix. But Google Reader is seriously amazing. Only down side? I don't get to stumble upon other wonderful blogs quite as much while perusing my current favorites.

3. Decor de Provence's house. Nothing is more heavenly than a beautiful home filled with all shades of greens and blues and anywhere in between. And in such an understated, harmonious way. Normally when someone picks a color to decorate with, you see a giant turquoise wall or bright rug. Instead, Decor de Provence brought it into her house with tile, chairs in the kitchen, a chest in the entryway...it's perfect. My ideal way to bring such beautiful colors into a home. Decor de Provence, want to come decorate my apartment? Go to her blog or to House of Turquoise, which posted pictures of Desiree's lovely lovely home.

4. Blogs - from everywhere. Design*Sponge, Decor8, DC by Design, My Notting Hill, Absolutely Beautiful Things, Belgian Pearls, Decor de Provence, Architect Design, Cote de Texas, Pretty Lovely Things, Bakerella, Mommy Wants Vodka, The Bowie Bride, The Hard G, One Hungry Chef...the list goes on and on. I would link them all but I'm feeling lazy right now. Could be the Maker's neat that I'm drinking right now since Future Husband and I got let out of work early due to the impending apocalyptic snow storm.

5. Ever since Cote de Texas did a French Basketeer rolling basket giveaway (which I was woefully too late for), I have SERIOUSLY been jonesing for one of the French bags made by the same company. Here's Cote de Texas' post on the basket. And here is a picture of the bag I have been hemming and hawing about purchasing for the last couple weeks.

(French Basketeer image)

How wonderful would it be to take to the farmers' market on Saturday mornings, run errands with and just use as a great accessory??? Sigh. The reason I'm resisting the urge to whip out my credit card is because it's been pulled out quite a lot for the new apartment and is feeling a bit abused. So I'll refrain from purchasing that beautiful bag...maybe until the honeymoon. Or until tomorrow (because now it's on my mind again).

Happy Friday to all and, if you're on the eastern side of the US, stay home and stay warm! The snowpocalypse has begun!

Carrie :)

New apartment

FYI - I'll have pictures of the empty apartment on Sunday so all of you design gurus can help me accessorize the place. We've got a lot of stuff already, but I'd love help figuring out ways to personalize the apartment. Almost everything is neutral, so I think it needs a little splash of color. If Future Husband had it his way, everything would be white. But I think the apartment needs a little more than that. :)

Here's the floor plan, courtesy of the Archstone Courthouse building web site:

The balcony on the right extends a LOT farther...just doesn't show on the floorplan. We're open to ideas!