Owl measuring cups

I was delighted to receive these CUTE owl measuring cups for Christmas.  A friend from work knew that I am an accidental collector or owls from some of my previous blog posts.

These have been on my wishlist.  The Pioneer Woman highlighted some pretty measuring cups and spoons from Anthropology and I wanted to find something similar.

These little owls are perfect and I can't wait to use them!

Plant geek: winter containers in Chicago

Our trip to Chicago helped get me in the holiday spirit.  We have had warmer temperatures and no snow to speak of in Kansas.  There is something about cold weather and snow that triggers my psyche that it is time for Christmas.

I tend to feel like my internal clock for holiday prep is off and I like to blame the retail stores for pushing the holiday decorations, gift sets and commercials as close to Halloween as possible.  Of course, every year we get busier and busier which makes it hard to even think about the holidays until they are almost upon us.

We took off for a quick 36 hour trip to Chicago at the end of November.  It was just cold enough to have that lovely brisk feeling, but not so cold that we were uncomfortable.  The city was dressed up beautifully with lights and decorations in so many places.  I found inspiration in the touches of the season - greenery, lights, decorations, and other seasonal items that made it feel like Christmas.  This was just what I needed. 

 The plant geek in me was in love with the containers.  I had to take some pictures to try to remember some of the combinations.  I am a huge fan of the flowering cabbage and the dried grasses featured in the planters in front of the Art Institute.  Last summer, I took a picture of these same planters with this same grass.  You can see the summer version here.

 I had a short list of things I wanted to do while in Chicago and one of them was to see the wreathes on the lions in front of the Art Institute.  Nerdy, I know.  We actually met a really nice couple who agreed to take our photo with one of the lions.  He was wearing a K-State sweatshirt, so we hit it off right away.

 In Millennium Park, there were several different neat arrangements.  I really loved the combination of twigs and branches and the evergreens. 

 I found this arrangement to be just right - elegant and stately.  I wanted to show you the scale with this shot...

 ...and the detail with this shot.

 Love the color and variety in this arrangement.

 It takes a special husband to see a streetscape and ask if it includes the same bark that I had been talking about after visiting Minneapolis.  Yes, it sure is!  Here is where I blogged about the awesome fall containers from that trip.

 This is my favorite!  I really like the topiary and the combination of foliage and accents at the base.  It also has nice drape.  (I can hear my husband laughing at me now..."Nice drape.")

 This is my second runner up.  This arrangement has good height with the sticks.  The pine cones and the red eucalyptus are really striking.

See what I mean?

I am adding to my 2013 goals that I actually install containers for the fall and winter seasons next year.  I usually cover spring and summer and give up after the heat zaps my summer version.  With all of these ideas, I am sure to make it happen.

Chicago adventures: Toni Patisserie and Cafe

 We are of the belief that there is no shortage of exceptional places to eat in Chicago.  When we visit our favorite city, we try to balance our intense desire to go back to tried and true places that we love and to adventure out and discover new places.

On our most recent trip, we had a quick 36 hours to fit in a concert, some shopping, taking in a few seasonal sights, and eating amazing food.  We did pretty well on all accounts, including finding a new culinary treasure for our favorites list.

On Saturday morning, we wanted to find a breakfast spot - something local and unusual.  We took off in The Loop with our sights set on seeing the wreaths on the lions at The Art Institute and finding breakfast along the way.

We are early risers, so we found a lot of places that were still closed.  We looked down a side street and saw this promising looking bakery - Toni Patisserie and Cafe.  It was open, had a nice crowd, and the window display was impressive.  We decided to give it a try.

The place was simply charming.  The menu featured a good selection of breakfast items and the cafe lunch menu looked equally as good.  The bakery items were out of this world - really beautiful and elegant!

I loved the bistro tables and the giant menu chalk boards above the counter. This is a place where I could bring a book and spend all day.

The building itself has character, including a vintage revolving door and beautiful display windows.  In the first photo in this post, you might notice a cool seasonal decorating idea.  The display had medium sized pine cones on candle sticks mixed in with the display of baked goods... I loved this look and want to incorporate in on a holiday table.

Along the wall near our table, there was a photo collage that was very well done.  I loved how the top of the frames in the top row were at the same height, as was the bottom of the bottom row of frames.  I kept wondering how they got everything to line up so well and imagined us trying to get the same results at home.  Mixed in with the framed photos were vintage hand mirrors - a beautiful change of pace from the linear frames. 

And, take a look at that display cake!

 I really loved our table marker - the French alphabet card was cute, casual and classy.

We will certainly add this to our list of stops for our next trip!

Adventures in Kansas City

 Last Sunday we took a quick trip to Kansas City.  We had two things in mind - take in a Broadway show at the Music Hall and enjoy a lunch before the matinee.

The first stop was blanc burgers and bottles on The Plaza.  We had a Groupon (insert teasing from my husband).

We really loved this place.  The menu had so many items that sounded delicious and we had a hard time selecting the burgers we wanted to sample.  We settled on the bison and American Kobe and an order of onion rings.  They have house made pickles - super delicious!

When a table near us got their order, I was so excited to see that their sides were served in mini shopping carts.  Are you kidding me?!  Too cute!

We also chose two Mexican sodas from a whole list of options (hence the bottles part of the name).  They even serve my favorite - Izze soda.  This might be our new go-to restaurant in Kansas City.  We want to sample the truffle fries and I have at least two other burgers that are on the top of my list.

 After lunch, we made our way to the theater.  We had a frustrating time getting into the parking garage and I got high praise from my husband for keeping my cool - no horn honking or excessive gripping.  

The show was Les Mis and it was the first time for either of us to see it on stage.  Beautiful.  We had an awesome time and enjoyed every minute.

Seeing the show was a goal since I read Les Mis in high school English class.  After we finished the unit, our English teacher offer to let us have our copy.  We were, for some reason or another, phasing out that book or it was time to replace them.  I remember being one of the only (or the only) student who took the book when it was offered.  This, of course, matches my love of books, free things, and stories that are timeless.  (And, I am a nerd.) I still have my copy and think winter break might be a good time to curl up and get lost in Les Mis again.

Sweet potatoes are always on the menu for Thanksgiving dinner in our home, but truth be told, my recipe has never won any awards.  This year, I was inspired by Trisha Yearwood's recipe for Sweet Potato Souffle.  
We watched her make this on her show on the Food Network, Trisha's Southern Kitchen.

This dish, out of all of the Thanksgiving menu, got rave reviews.  Seriously.  It tastes like a dessert - very yummy and sweet, but different from the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top from my youth.

If sweet potatoes are on your menu for Christmas dinner, give this recipe a try.

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients

Souffle:

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more to grease pan
• 5 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• Pinch of salt

Topping:

• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), softened

Directions

For the souffle: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with butter.

Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork and bake on a foil-covered baking sheet until they are soft, 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes, place the flesh in a large mixing bowl and mash until very smooth. Add the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, milk and salt. Combine well with an electric mixer or hand mixer. Turn the mixture into the baking dish.

For the topping: In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, brown sugar, flour and butter until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture over the sweet potatoes, making an even layer. Bake the casserole until slightly browned, 40 minutes. Let the casserole sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Finally getting organized...jewelry

A couple of weekends ago, I finally had a moment to catch my breath from the fall craziness.  We had more than a couple hour stretch at home and I was determined to finish a multi-part project.  The end game was to get my jewelry more organized.

I tend to wear a few pieces - usually those that I can see easily while I am getting ready.  My former storage was a couple of inadequate organizers on top of my dresser, a few small drawers built into my dresser, and lots and lots of piles on top of my dresser.  It really wasn't working very well.  (Someday I will remember to take a before picture.  Trust me, it wasn't pretty.)

I had this awesome Coca-cola crate in yellow and red that was from my husband's grandma and had been stored in our garage for years.  It looked like it could serve as a set of shelves and with a little work, it cleaned up really well. I put some old watch tins, a favorite vase from our trip to Oregon, some vintage milk glass containers with green lids from a pharmacy near my hometown, and a couple of other favorite knickknacks.  My goal was to get more surface area and to have beautiful things in this space, as it is the first thing I see when I wake up and the last things I see before I fall asleep.

I also had a really sweet set of owl hooks that were a gift from a friend.  These hooks are perfect for my longer necklaces.  I had been waiting for the perfect spot to use this gift and as usual, my desire for perfection stopped me from making any progress.  It all started to come together when I found the three owls in the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" poses - the owls were in the perfect colors.  Together, the owl hooks and the ceramic owls look right at home.

A note on the owls...the accidental collector strikes again.  Years ago, I attended a summer institute for women in higher education.  One of my dear friends and I latched onto the mascot of the host campus - the owl.  The architecture on the buildings had owls incorporated into the detail.  I loved to find a "surprise" owl during my walks and early morning jogs around the campus.  I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the found owls.  Since then, my friend and I exchange owl gifts as a remembrance of how we met and the owl is one of my good luck symbols.

Overall, I think a lot of women struggle with how to organize their jewelry.  The Pioneer Woman had several posts talking about her own search for jewelry organizers.  She blogged about this option and this option and this option.  There are a lot of different solutions available and it's hard to know what might work.  I was especially proud that I didn't buy anything new, except the owls.  Every part of the organizing effort used items we already had at our home and actually put two items that we really liked, but had in storage, into use.

The biggest difference maker in the process was that I cleaned out a bunch of stuff that I didn't wear any longer and moved some special pieces that I didn't wear for everyday to a different location.  It took some time, but I was really glad to sort through everything and think through what to keep, where to keep it, and how to best store it to keep it nice.  It was a good feeling to have a cleaner and nicer looking bedroom.

Now, I have about a dozen other organizational problems to solve - winter break is coming soon!

The accidental collector of saints

 Most people know that I am an accidental collector.  Something captures my attention, and then like items tend to follow, until suddenly I have a collection.

A few months ago, we purchased two hand carved saints at an antique store in Colorado.  I had the chance to stop by the same booth in the same store earlier in the fall and found another carved saint.

This piece has Honduras mahogany, an artist's name, and '77 written on the back.  I would love to know the story!

I think vintage and antique objects capture my heart because of the story and all of the wear and love.  This piece is a great example of art with meaning and an amazing story, if only from my imagination.

The corner of our living room features my little collection of saints.  I find a great deal of comfort in looking at them and imagining them looking over us.