fabric...glorious fabric!

I have to say this "Practice Wedding" idea is a dream come true. I highly recommend it to anyone - even if they aren't having their real wedding in Israel! That is two opportunities to decorate to your hearts content!

So, lately I've been consumed by fabric. There are just so many yummy designs I can hardly contain myself. I kind of want to cover everything I own right now. I have a sneaky suspicion this could get out of hand in a very scary way!

Luckily Toronto-based on-line fabric store Tonic Living is there to feed my addiction. And at such amazingly affordable prices too! I could sit here all day and just look...as a matter of fact...I think I just did!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Some things I've enjoyed this week:

A funny Dairy Queen sign lol :)
This lovely shot by Nicole
Jordan's cleaning supply post.
Ali's colorful laundry + new posts
Alyson's post about Bill + Fanny
Holly's interview of Ez from Creature Comforts
Seesaw's post about Lizzie Fortunato
and of course the outpouring of love for NieNie, which makes me dig the internet even more.
(more auctions still being posted)

Happy Labor Day! Make sure to do something fun... and not labor too much. We're going away for the weekend... and may even go sailing on a pretty lake. What are your plans?

I'll be back Tuesday.

(image from here)

Luke Best

Flipping through some design books a while back, I came across the lively and fantastic work of Luke Best. I really love his style. He is also part of the hip British collective called, Peepshow. They have a clever conceptual design for their site, and have done some phenomenal work. Go have a peek.

Wedding-y post

I have a confession to make - I read wedding blogs obsessively. It's odd because I never even thought about weddings until my sister got married last year and I planned her wedding for her, which was so much fun that it kind of got me hooked on the whole thing. I'm not getting married anytime soon, and when I do, I am unlikely to have a Martha Stewart approved shindig (current ideas being kicked around in our house are either a taco truck or a huge barbecue, which should give you an idea of what might play out for us) but I do enjoy all the eye candy floating around in the blogosphere.

So how excited was I to see that one of my favorite wedding bloggers finally posted her photos?

That dress makes me want to jump up and down. Head over to Peonies and Polaroids to check out the rest.

In more wedding related news, on Saturday I'll be in the wedding of a dear high school friend, and I'm cutting out early today to make it to the rehearsal. When I get back I'll have a couple of crafty wedding projects to share that I was keeping secret before.

Have a wonderful, long weekend!

Praha is perfect

Grabbed my new J. Crew catalog on the way out the door this morning and was delighted to see that their latest photo shoot was in Prague! You must go to the website and check out the video if you haven't already. It's delicious.

Prague might be my favorite city in the world. I've been three or four times and I would go back in a heartbeat if someone offered me a plane ticket. It's just unbelievably gorgeous, chock full of tiny, perfect museums and beautiful little cafes. Oh, and the beer is insane. I mean, so good that the last time D and I went to Prague we came equipped with spare space in our luggage, bubble wrap and giant ziploc bags just so we could carefully wrap some precious bottles of beer for transport back to the US. Totally worth it, even though I was a little afraid the beer might explode in our bags and leave us with alcohol soaked clothes. (It didn't).

We visited the brewery while we were there, naturally. I notice that it is not featured in the J. Crew video, which I think is a major oversight.



Go check out the J. Crew video! Or go to Prague. You'll love it.

les chaises ... mismatched!

So all three of us Bloomers stumbled upon the same to-die-for wedding pics the other day, proving that as designers, we definitely have consistent taste! On the Martha Stewart Weddings (of course!) site, we found pictures of a most spectacular barn wedding (above). We loovve barn weddings, and can't wait for the day when we have our very own barn venue!
The most special part of these pictures in my opinion? The mismatched chairs! What a great idea - it really adds to the sweet, simplistic and vintage appeal.

Does it seem familiar? Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi did the same thing at their gorgeous wedding! See a pic from Ellen's website below. Mismatched chairs...smells like a new trend to me!!

Spread the word... today is Nie Nie Day!

For those who are unaware, Today is Nie Nie day! Stephanie (from Nie Nie Dialogues) and her husband were in a horrible plane accident where they both received 3rd degree burns and are still in the hospital recovering, leaving their 4 adorable children to be cared for.

Share the love, and bid or donate on various auctions throughout the web today. There is an incredible list here of all sorts of things. Help support a great family that exudes a great deal of happiness and sunshine. Also check out this website for more information on how you can help.

(image by Blue Lilly)

Weeknight pizza

A bowl full of rising dough just makes me happy.



I was a little tired when I got home last night, but the thought of handmade dough sounded comforting. And it's really so much easier than you might think. I don't even break out the mixer for this one (and I am notoriously lazy about handmixing as a rule), just stir it all together with a wooden spoon and then knead it well and leave it to rise in the warmest place I can find.


TJ's sausage, red onions, roasted bell peppers (also from TJs), cheese

These are our standard pizza toppings because I always have this stuff on hand. We both prefer cheeses other than mozzarella. Parrano is our usual standby - it's a little like gouda.



I like a super thin crust, so I roll it out accordingly.



I pre-heat the oven as high as it will go (500F) with the pizza stone inside. Then I pull the pizza stone out, quickly lay out the dough and the toppings and get it back inside the oven as quickly as possible. Make sure you have good oven mitts.

My go to pizza dough recipe is adapted from The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking, which I randomly picked up on sale at some point. It has step by step photos for lots of basic recipes, which I've found helpful.

Pizza Dough (makes enough for 2 thin crust pizzas or 1 thicker crust pizza)

3/4	cup lukewarm water (just barely warm to the touch)
2	tsp yeast
1/2	tsp sugar or honey
2 1/4	cups flour (I use a blend of white and whole wheat)
2	tbsp olive oil

1. Mix the water, yeast and sweetener together and allow to stand for 10 minutes. The mixture should be bubbly by the time you come back to it - if it isn't, your yeast isn't working. This is called proofing and you can skip the step, but I usually at least do a quick check. The yeast needs warmth and a little bit of sugar to be active, but water over 110F will kill it.
   
   
2. While the yeast proofs, measure out your flour, salt and olive oil.
   
   
3. Mix everything together until it forms a dough. I often have to add just a little bit more water at this point, but you don't want to get your dough too wet.
   
   
4. Knead your dough. If you used a mixer for the previous step, you might not have to knead for very long, because the mixer has done some of the work for you. I like to do this by hand, and I usually end up kneading the dough for about 10 minutes. It's a good arm workout. The dough should be nice and smooth when you are done. Form it into a ball and put it back in bowl. Cover loosely with either plastic wrap or a damp kitchen cloth and place it in the warmest place in your house.
   
   
5. Let it rise for 45 minutes or so, or until doubled in size. If it's cold, sometimes my dough barely rises and it still works out. It's pretty forgiving. Roll it out to your desired thickness on a lightly floured surface.

That's it! Make sure your oven (and your pizza stone) is pre-heated and have all the toppings ready when you get your stone out. The pizza doesn't have to cook for very long - maybe 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the heat of your oven and the thinness of your crust.

It takes just a little bit longer than calling out for pizza, and it feels about a million times more satisfying.

Abner Graboff

If you have never heard of Abner Graboff, a famous illustrator who did most of his work in the 50s and 60s, let me acquaint you. His work is brilliant, whimsical, playful, and bold. This little book called, The Noise in the Night by Anne Alexander that he illustrated is a real beauty. I have a few more of his illustrated books, hopefully I will share some of those later too.

ps. I am still continuing to upload them here.

DYMO Label Maker Giveaway

Each season, I like to do simple things to help me get organized, so when DYMO contacted me about a giveaway for a lucky blackeiffel reader's chance to win their very own DYMO Personal Label Maker, I thought and said, "oh... yes!" There is something special about pretty and uniform labels that makes my heart flutter. I use my label maker for everything from labeling cds and files to helping distinguish between my flour and sugar containers. It is a very well used and handy product in our home.

To spread the encouraging word and help others become more motivated about organization, leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite organizational tips to be entered to win. Enter by Monday September 1st at 11:59pm. Please enter only once and no anonymous entries will be counted.

Good Luck and Happy Organizing!

ps. You can also purchase this Label Maker at most major office supply chains including Staples.

The Color of Paradise

Watched this touching foreign film, "The Color of Paradise". It made me grateful for all of my senses including my sight. It was beautifully executed with amazing cinematography, although the storyline was a little sad.

Butternut squash OD

You know how sometimes a recipe that sounds okay in your head just falls flat? Oh, that doesn't happen to you? Well, it does to me. And it did, on Monday. I had a huge excess of butternut squash and I couldn't think of anything to do with it. I'd had a long day at work and cooking sounded therapeutic.

So I peeled it.



And chopped it.



And roasted it.



And mixed it with penne and fresh tomatoes and basil, figuring they would help bring out the summery qualities.



And it was just...meh. A little too sweet, a little too boring, not quite enough pop. I added some balsamic vinegar, which helped give it a bit more balance, but not quite enough.

Sigh. Next time I'll spend the 5 minutes looking for a recipe on Epicurious. This recipe looks amazing, and it would give me an excuse to buy a pasta maker.

Clever wedding announcement

I love, love, clever wedding announcements and invitations. My brother + sister-in-law received this beauty, and passed it along to me. Maybe you can't tell from the scan, but it is beautifully letterpressed, and it is incredibly unique because the groom is a graphic designer. The photograph is by Bryan Niven. Cole Nielsen designed it, see details here.

crew cuts

By golly, their cute Crew Cuts styling gets me every time. I think I say "ahhh... cute" aloud every time I see a new spread. Sick of the mentioning of it? (via Ali Loves Curtis)

Jem: Down to Earth

Hooray! Jem is coming out with a new album, "Down to Earth" on September 16th. It has been four years since her last acclaimed album, "Finally Woken" so, I am happy to see what this Welch singer-songwriter (current L.A. lady) shares with us after her world traveling hiatus.

Dutch Door Press

Dutch Door Press is a letterpress studio of two friends Mara Murphy and Anna Branning which work in a lovely Victorian home studio in San Francisco. Their work is beautiful, with vintage inspired rich and crisp colors, and bold designs. They have a great sensibility that successfully ties all of their work together like none I have ever quite seen. When you see their work, you will happily know it is a 'Dutch Door' design. Their work is carried in a growing number of stores and online retailers and also have their own etsy shop. (Thank you Mara + Anna.)

Why I love my parents' house

(Still catching up from this weekend!)

Dropped by on Sunday and these beauties were sitting on the table.

Homegrown roses, native asters and something else I can't identify

And this munchkin was lounging around looking cute.


Circe, the wire haired fox terrier

And late summer flowers are still popping up everywhere.


Not sure what this is, but it's a safe bet that it's a California native

Just lovely. The funny part is that my mom stresses out because the house won't seem to stay in "company ready" state. Meaning that there are sometimes piles of books and magazines next to the couch, and a bit of dust on the shelves, and someone is usually refinishing a piece of furniture, so there might be some wood waiting to be sanded, and my mom loves changing the wall colors, so there is often a room that is mid paint job.

But here's the thing - my parents are always company ready. If an unexpected guest happens to drop by, their faces light up and you get bear hugs, and they will push aside a stack of projects so you can sit down and talk.

Which really seems so much better. Because I would rather be a company ready person than a person with a company ready house. Wouldn't you? After all, your friends aren't going to don white gloves and do a dust check before they sit down to gossip. And if they do, I would get some new friends, stat.

My Net Diary vs. Calorie King

When my husband and I had treo and blackberry phones we loved using Calorie King as a means of effectively tracking our health progress.

In a nutshell our plan entailed,
1 - finding out what our weight, bmi, and health desires were.
2 - choosing how many calories and nutrients our body needs.
3- using Calorie King's food database to electronically track our progress and consumption.

After we both got new phones, we were bummed to find out that although you can use their online software, Calorie King doesn't jive with the iPhone. We inquired after their intentions, and they wrote back stating that they did not have any current plans to write software for the iPhone platform. Boo.

After that sad news, my husband kept searching for viable solutions and most often would come up with nada. That was until a few days ago -- we are now happy to say hello to My Net Diary. I believe it has only been out a few days for the iPhone, but I used it yesterday and it is quite a remarkable little program. It has a large food database as well as the ability to input exercise, water intake, custom foods as well as nifty little tracking charts. Yay!

With the gazillion dollar health and fitness industry, there are lots of excellent ways to track your health progress, we have just found that this way works for us. Basically this method is all about knowing and tracking what you consume -- calories in and calories out.

In summary, if you use a palm based phone CalorieKing is a great solution. For the iPhone, MyNetDiary is the only comparable solution we have found. If you don't have either of those types of phones or a phone at all, both of these companies also have online memberships.

What makes you feel healthy and fit? Is there a goal and tracking solution that works best for you? I would really love to hear about it.

(image from Real Simple)

White honeycomb tile

We just got an estimate, and are going to have our bathrooms floors refinished with white honeycomb tiles. I am looking forward to seeing how it will turn out.

(image source unknown)

Yum

We finally made it over here. We got lucky and managed to get a table on Saturday night despite not having made reservations. Somehow we walked in at just the right moment.


Pizzeria mozza

I'm happy to say it lived up to the hype. Squash blossom and burrata pizza was awesome. We ordered the simplest appetizer on the menu - big hunks of toasted bread brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and garlic. Absolutely perfect. As D pointed out "Why would you come to Nancy Silverton's restaurant and not get bread?" I couldn't agree more, even though I did somehow manage to breathe in a hunk of sea salt (umm... trying to swallow without chewing, maybe?), which did not agree with my lungs.

Thank you Michele Katen

Last week, it was wonderful to peek into the world of guest blogger, Michele Katen. Don't you love the way her artistic mind thinks? Thank you Michele for sharing with us your insightful views on the arts and architecture. Be sure to see her website, and check back -- I am sure we are bound to see more lovely original and modern artwork coming from her brush.

Joslyn's Home

Oh my, I love blogging friends -- and it is so fun to peek into their homes too. Go see Joslyn's gorgeous home (from Simple Lovely) over at Design Sponge today. More photos here too.

Snow & Graham

One of my favorite letterpress companies, Snow & Graham has their website up and running! I have been waiting for a bit -- excited they are back online. Go check it out! (via poppytalk + somewhere in middle america)

Bye-Bye Beijing

How many of you watched the closing ceremonies last night? There were parts that were unbelievably amazing!!

(image from here)

As for advertising, there were lots of good ones airing this year. My favorite campaign was the 'Go World' Ads for Visa by TBWA\ Chiat \Day. I like how they coordinated through color tone and voice, and successfully displayed what the Olympics are all about.

Small Magazine Autumn

Hopefully, everyone knows by now that Small Magazine is full of amazing content.
Here are a few things they are up to this autumn season issue.



1 : Lovely paper cut outs by Jayme McGowan that you can also buy at her etsy via odette new york)
2: Remember Jen Gotch's call for accessories for this shoot? Look how gorgeous it turned out!

Fabric and Thread -- by Michele Katen

I just came across these two artists who use fabric and thread to make statements about their lives. The theme of domesticity is apparent in these handmade pieces by Joetta Maue. Her art statement says,"I use my daily life as the main subject of my work with the idea of the work being honest, even painfully so, coming from my desire to be true to my emotions, insecurities, strengths, and intelligence without fear of ridicule or censure from a patriarchal society." I think her work is very emotional and pushes the boundaries of art-making.

Here are some examples of Joetta's work.



Martha Sue is a San Francisco artist who also uses sewing to express some of her ideas. A quote from her website states that her "deviant vision of botany illustrates relationships and issues within the plant kingdom, but is equally imbued with insights into human emotion and interaction." Her work reminds me of a bizarre but wonderful dream. I can't help but think of Alice in Wonderland when I look at it.

Here are some pieces by Martha Sue.