I am becoming more and more a fan of mid-century residential architecture.  Maybe because I live in the land of Colonials and Capes, but this is my perfect dream.  I love the simplicity.  How the the details of the house are it’s features, not the items in them.   The way the outside is part of the inside.  Its perfect.

This Palm Springs home was auctioned off in May for $19Million and is back on the market due to the deal falling through.  The listed price:  $12.98 Million .  Here is complete slide show from the WSJ Real Estate Section.

I used to hem and haw over the menu for Thanksgiving.  Wanted it to be good food, but also a little unusual.  Due to lack of time and energy this season, I turned to Raff and asked him what he wanted to cook for the big Turkey-day.  His response:  Our theme this year should be “keep it simple”.  I couldn’t agree more.

Here is the menu:

Appetizers:  Antipasto w/provolone, procuitto, salami, artichoke hearts, pickled veggies.

Roasted Turkey via Alton Brown (Raff thinks he is a genus and we’ve been doing this recipe for 3 years now)

Huge bowl of Mashed Potatoes

Stuffing (courtesy of Mary Lou - we don’t do stuffing very well and she is the master)

Green Beans w/Shallots and Pancetta

Roasted Acorn Squash (cut into quarters)

Cranberry Sauce (Recipe on the back of the Ocean Spray Package)

Popovers (if I can handle it - didn’t come out too good last year.  I found out the secret is to pre-heat the pan)

Dessert:  Ricotta Pie (Another Mary Lou favorite that I now can’t live without) & Pecan pie (My first attempt at a pie, we’ll let you know how it goes)

What a gorgeous calendar from PaperSource for 2009.  This is going on my office wall.

Other Months:

A few weekends ago I met Dad out in Stow, MA for lunch at this fabulous Spot,  Nancy’s Airfield Cafe.

My dad is huge aviation buff.  He had his license a while back and knows every plane inside and out.   So it was ideal that we meet at this little gem of a spot in Stow for a light lunch.  Most of their ingrediates are local - I had a wonderful mixed green salad w/goat cheese and topped w/salmon.   And I couldn’t resist the rose wine list they had by the glass offering 7 different wines. Yum!

They have their own herb garden as you walk in the front door w/every possible herb.

The cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner - so if you are even remotely near Stow, you have to go.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for our upcoming vacation to Northern Cali.  (5 weeks and counting…).  I was a bit discouraged when I started planning the Napa portion.  I thoroughly immersed myself in the region of “Napa Valley”. What do you mean I can’t see all 400 wineries in one day?  So after scanning my frequented travel sites, tripadvisor, kayak & orbitz, I had found an “just okay” place that would do in Yountville and uber expensive.  And then I found what appears to be a magically place.  Thanks to sfbythebaygirl for bringing it to my attention.  She wrote a great post about vintage bathing suits and this place. 

Indian Springs in Calistoga is the most ideal place for us.  I’m into wine, but the raff-man is not so much. So what a great way to break up on the wineries.  Geyser waters, mud baths, and shuffleboard…. oh my….

We reserved one of these for 2 nights.

This is my ideal Napa….

this Orla Kiely wallet!  i’ve been completely obsessed with Orla Kiely and her bags, wallets, dresses, etc.  for the past 2 years since i was introduced to her designs.  but $180 for the bags and a little over $90 for wallets - i was priced out.   Until the wonderful blog decor8 offered a 20% of Twig.   What a great place! Twig is owned by Elizabeth Burbage in St. Petersburg, FL - she has Orla Kiely and a number wonderful bags, outfits and accessories from other designers.   the order process was easy, and i’m super excited.  i’ve been living with a wallet that doesn’t close & the zipper is broken. And Twig has the wallet on sale! it doesn’t get any better than this!  Check her store out!

i’m back and posting! the raffman and i are moving to some new digs (temporary) till we find a place to buy, so i’ve been packing and purging. a perfect time of year for it. because the place we are moving into is getting a little renovation of the kitchen (taking out the old porcelain sink), i get to pick the paint color. at first, i was super excited. after all my rentals, never once did i paint a wall. ever. as soon as i headed into the local citypaint, i started to get the sweats. i was thinking of a nice calming blue-grey, but how was i supposed to know that there are 27 different shades of blue-grey? its crazy! now i see why so much blood, sweat and tears go into choosing the “perfect” shade. so i left the store with 700 paint chips in hand and headed to my blogs.

i found a gorgeous color = benjamin moore’s pale stone. i decided to google the color to see if anyone had any pictures out there of the shade and low and behold, i came across the great blog of four beds two baths. she has great taste and a beautiful eye. i get so jazzed when i discover new blogs and look forward to hers.

as far as the paint chips go, its currently between

pale stone

and

Arctic Gray

i know, i know…. there is not a huge difference, but god, it took me 3 days to narrow it down to 2! i’ll let you know how it works out and stay-tuned for shots of the new digs.

there is always an anxious cabin fever in the air at the beginning of March up in these parts. we’ve just endured 4 months of cold, wet weather with no sunlight insight and we are so close to the first buds on the trees that we can taste it. its also that time of year where we are quietly anticipating open day at Fenway (Go Sox!) (although i must say those Celtics are kickin’ but). in need of a little green, i headed over to the 137th annual New England Spring Flower show over at the Bay Side Expo Center.

i knew that this is exactly what the doctor order. there was flora as far as the eye can see and where o’ where to begin? throughout the floor were a number of installations, fantasy displays and award winning plants. one of our favorite installations was a display by the landscape architect Peter R. Sadeck. We could see it from across the room. Surrounded by bamboo sat a peaceful, stylish and serene sitting area amongst the moss, , and xxx. I had the pleasure of meating Peter as I sat in awe and asked if I could just spend the day there. Peter is a landscape architect with over 30 years of experience with landscape design and installation, complete garden restoration and installation of natural ponds and waterfalls.

between the outdoor urban terrace and lavish flower dresses, i are REALLY ready to get our hands dirty this spring. happy spring!

i’m tired, i’m wet from the rain, i’m cranky, i’m sun-deprived and this picture is where i want to be at this exact moment. i wish i was lying in this hammock, reading a good book with my raff-man getting us some coronas. the next best thing for this new england winter girl is a little hot yoga. 7:30 class will be good to help my cold bones. now where is the sun?

the beau and i were reminiscing about how when we were little we both had silhouettes of ourselves up on the walls of our house. i thought it was just what parents did to “capture” there kids profile so young. i remember sitting in front of the projector being shined on my face as this person traced it on black paper and then cut it out and wham. me on the wall. well, come to find out it was always done throughout time. i’ve been seeing so much about silhouettes in the decor magazines and on the blogs.

beachbungalow8 mentions the decor fad here and has some beautiful examples. she even mentions karl johnson who is a master at cutting and takes custom orders on his website. i love beachbungalow8!

absolutely beautiful things has confirmed my feeling that silhouettes are going crazy through the blogsphere. anna spiro is an interior designer from brisbane, australia who has some of the most unbelieveable taste i have every seen. i was drawn to her blog almost a year ago by the wonderful photos and inspirations she shares with us all. she makes me want to buy a ticket around the world just to visit her shop. had I known about her back in 2004 when i went “down under”, i would have asked her if i could work there for the rest of my life. its beautiful!

here are a few on ebay i have my eye on….

we are working on getting our profiles from our mothers at the moment, so when we do i’ll post them up here.  can’t wait to see the one of the beau and his ‘fro.