Cozy Throws, a weekend must!

Being Friday and almost the weekend, what better to post about then cozy throws.

When all you want to do is be lazy on the couch all day, a cozy throw is a must!

Below, I posted some of the coziest throws around.

Pick yourself up one of these, a netflix movie and a bag of microwave popcorn and your all set!

Chunky Tassel Throw

Italian Wool & Alpaca Knit Throw

Herringbone Wool Throws

Cozy Cable-Knit Throw

Mohair Whipstitch Throw

Luxe Faux Fur Throw

Happy Friday! 

Parker, cozying up with his favorite Pottery Barn throws.

Birthday Dinner

It was my brother in laws birthday on Monday so we had him and his girlfriend over last night for a home cooked birthday dinner.

Now that the weather is getting cooler and we are at the end of September, I wanted to cook things that are in season for Fall.

I started the meal off with my favorite Fall salad. 

Mesculin with Roasted Butternut Squash, Crasins, Walnuts and Gorgonzola Cheese.

This recipe is so simple and so delicious. 

Ingredients

5oz Mesculin Lettuce

Cubed Butternut Squash

1/2 Cup Walnuts

1/2 Cup Crasins

1/2 Cup Gorgonzola Cheese

Extra Light Olive Oil

For the Dressing

1/2 cup Extra Light Olive Oil

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon Honey

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

1/2 of Lemon

Salt

Pepper

1/2 Shallot, minced

Cube the Butternut Squash into 2 inch pieces. Toss with Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper and Roast on a baking sheet in the over on 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. (until the squash is soft and the edges are starting to brown) Take out and let cool.

In a bowl toss mesculin, walnuts, crasins and crumbeled gorgonzola cheese. Toss roasted squash on top once it has cooled.

For the dressing, mince 1/2 of shallot & whisk all of the above ingredients together in a bowl. 

Pour over salad right before serving.

For the main dish I decided on 

Crispy Breaded Shrimp over Cannellini Beans and Arugula.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

5 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

1 pound peeled and devined medium shrimp

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 19-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed

6 cups arugula

1/2 cup white wine

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl mix the bread crumbs, rosemary, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Add shrimp and toss to coat. Transfer shrimp and any excess crumbs to a baking sheet. Bake until shrimp are cooked through and tops get crispy, about 12 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a skillet with garlic, for a few minutes. Make sure garlic doesn't burn! Add the beans, 1/2 cup white wine and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Add in arugula and toss together. (The heat from the pan will cook the arugula.)

Remove from heat and line bottom of a bowl with bean and arugula mixture.

Place shrimp on top and sprinkle any remaining crumbs on top.

recipe via Real Simple

And for a side I tried a Crispy Potato Roast.

All you'll need are 6 russet potatoes, a 9-inch round baking pan, olive oil, 4 tablespoons butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme and a shallot.

I used a mandolin for this, which made it a lot quicker, but if you don't have one, just slice the potatoes very thin.

Preheat oven to 400.

Once all the potatoes are sliced, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Grease the bottom of the pan with some olive oil or melted butter. 

Arrange the potatoes in a tight circle.

Slice a shallot and wedge shallots throughout the circle. Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper on top and sprinkle thyme. 

Melt butter and brush on top of the potatoes.

Place in oven for 1 1/4 hours. Take out halfway through and brush a little more butter on top. 

Put the oven on broil for the last 3 minutes just to get the tops crispy.

Pull out and sprinkle a little salt on top.  

Happy Birthday Brad!

Rustic Chic

    Check out my ideas for a Rustic Chic Event on Fabulous Living!

Honeycrisp Apple Sangria

Although Sangria is usually associated with Summer, I found a great Honeycrisp Apple Sangria recipe, which would be perfect for this time of year...

A Fall twist on the typical fruity cocktail.

The below sangria recipe mixes fragrant flavors of ginger, cloves and cinnamon.

For a finishing touch, add cinnamon sugar to the rim of the glass.

                                         Honeycrisp Apple Sangria

yield: 5 - 6 CUPS

prep time: 20 MINUTES + OVERNIGHT SITTING

cook time: 0 MINUTES

total time:30 MINUTES + OVERNIGHT SITTING

INGREDIENTS:

2 honeycrisp apples
One 750-milliliter bottle Chardonnay
1/2 cup peach schnapps
1/4 cup orange blossom honey
2 oranges- 1 quartered
1 lemon - quartered
1 lime - quartered
2 cinnamon sticks
2 quarter-size slices of fresh ginger
3 whole cloves
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Ice
Club soda

Source:  Food and Wine Magazine

DIRECTIONS:

Peel, core and chop one of the apples. In a bowl, combine the Chardonnay, schnapps and honey. Add the quartered orange, lemon, lime, cinnamon sticks, chopped apple, ginger and cloves and refrigerate overnight. (If you don't want to wait that long at least give it 4 hours)

Strain the sangria into a pitcher. Peel, core and finely chop the remaining apple. Peel, section and chop the remaining orange. Mix the apple and orange in a bowl.

On a small plate, blend the sugar and cinnamon. Moisten the rims of wine glasses and dip in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Fill the glasses with ice. Pour in the sangria until three-quarters full. Top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a spoonful of the chopped apple and orange.

Playing with frosting

With the bad thunderstorms on Saturday night, I needed an activity to keep busy. What better to do then play around with frosting in the kitchen.

A recent Food Network Magazine had a tutorial on how to make all different colored frosting. 

I decided to make three different colored cupcakes...Bubble Gum, Mint Chip & Concord Grape.

I bought 2 boxes of plain white cake mix. 

I added a few drops of red food coloring to the cake mix to give it a pretty peachy color.

I created three different colors by using 1 cup of store bought white frosting and adding the following to each cup:

For Bubblegum: 26 drops of red food coloring 

For Mint Chip: 3 blue, 3 green drops of food coloring

For Concord Grape: 10 blue, 12 red drops of food coloring

(I halved the magazine's food coloring amount for this one because I thought the purple was too dark)

I let the cupcakes cool before frosting them, and then went to town.

They tasted delicious and looked almost too pretty to eat.

Now I just need to find people to give them to so I don't eat all of them myself!

The Finished Product

For adorable cupcake liners check out The Kitchen Pantry on Etsy!

Styling is in the Details

Tabletop Accessories really pull a room together and make it look "styled". 

Whether it's something as simple as a cute pair of bookends on shelf, a pair of jacks sitting on top of a stack of books, or an abstract sculpture, little nick nacks put the finishing touches on a room.

The question is, where to find these accessories...

Below, I shared some great and inexpensive ways to add a little pizazz to your room.

Adding a few of these pieces will make your room look straight out of an Elle Decor shoot!

Sur Sculpture

Aluminum Jacks

Swirl Sculptures

Oval Brass Sculpture

Horn Magnifier

Urchin Objects

Wire Cube Set

Gold Wishbone

Armillary Globe

Sea Urchin Bowl

Morton Skull

Coffee Table Books

Every coffee table needs some interesting books to sit on top of it. 

A coffee table without books is like a hot fudge sundae without the cherry on top... it's unfinished!

Pick books that appeal to you and your interests. 

Fashion, Design, Food, Travel...

Sky's the limit here.

Some of my favorites

Vogue Living

 Houses Gardens People

Hamish Bowles

Alexander McQueen

Savage Beauty (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Andrew Bolton

Inspired Styles

Assouline

Paris in Color

Nichole Robertson

HUE

Kelly Wearstler

Louis Vuitton

The Birth of Modern Luxury

Paul-Gerard Pasolos

Taschen's New York

Angelika Taschen

The Gospel According to COCO Chanel

Karen Karbo

Fall is in the air

Hard to really believe Fall is in the air considering today is 86 and muggy. But before we know it the crisp chill of September will be upon us, causing us to hunt down our jackets & scarfs from the closet. 
Bye Bye sandals and Rose, hello boots and hot cocoa.

Fall happens to be my favorite season. I love when the temperature is just cool enough that you have to wear a light jacket or scarf, but not so cold that you have to bundle. 

The leaves changing color, the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin candles burning, making a fire on a chilly night while drinking red wine and cozying up with a blanket...

Of course another great thing about changing seasons is changing your wardrobe. By Labor Day I am so sick of wearing the same long dresses and sandals, I can't wait to pack them all away and say c'est la vie till next Summer.
I'm ready to break out a chunky knit scarf, jeans and my Frye boots!

Easy Homemade Hot Chocolate
Add 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of half-and-half to a small saucepan.
Warm the milk mixture over medium-low heat, then add a cup of good semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Stir it around, making sure it doesn’t get too hot.
If it’s too chocolatey for you, splash in 1/2 cup to a cup more milk. If it’s not quite sweet enough for you, add about 1 teaspoon of sugar and even a little vanilla extract.
Top with lots of yummy whip cream!

enjoy!