Just a little inspiration from Orla Kiely’s bedroom, in honor of the fact that she now has a U.S.-based outpost for her online store. Hooray! (Thanks, Holly!)

I’ve had no time to post updates lately because I’ve incredibly busy. Lots planned for this weekend, too! While I’m busy being busy, how about you take a look at these three new-ish blogs that I love:

→ Chez Larsson Benita has been posting photos and describing all of her organizational and storage techniques, and it’s all so inspirational! She makes me want to move everything out of my house and then move it back in again, fully organized. She also makes me want to buy every clear plastic bin that Muji sells, because they are apparently the keys to a better life.

→ Haus Maus Holly from Decor8 has a new second blog, and she’s using it to document the process of setting up a whole new second home for herself and her husband in Germany. Great stuff! I’d never really thought about how much is involved with an international move, especially when furnishing an entire empty apartment is involved.

→ Verhext Tamera just moved into a new house in Oakland, CA, and it already looks beautiful. She has amazing style, so I’m excited to see how everything comes together.

I have a another great friend, Adam, who also lives way too far from me—300 miles away, in Potsdam, New York. Adam and I have lived together, worked together, gone to see Siouxsie and Rufus together, laughed together and cried together…but we have never decorated a house together. And it’s about time we tried!

Four years ago, Adam bought a beautiful sandstone house in Potsdam. It was built 1812, and “wreckorated” 160 years later. The situation is dire—Adam is living with things like shag carpet-printed linoleum. (Did you even have any idea that such a thing existed?!) He’s constantly saying that he wants my help in figuring out what to do with his house, so I figured it would be fun to work on his house from a distance, through photos and a blog. Everything is going to be done on a very tight budget and with a whole lot of DIY!

Adam is going to be documenting progress on healing his home over at his new blog, Fixing Adam’s House. I’m going to be posting there as well, mostly with words of encouragement, ideas for decorating, and inspirational photos. Adam will be doing all of the hard work, but he’d love to get feedback as he moves forward.

I guarantee it’s going to be a massive and uplifting transformation, and I hope you’ll join us!

Last night I got to see my oldest (and prettiest!) friend, Nicole McConville, for the first time in far, far too long. We grew up together (I’ve spared both of us the embarrassment of including any pre-1992 photos in that collage), but now we live 700 miles apart. Despite that distance and despite gaps in contact over the years, our lives have taken very similar paths. I am so lucky to have known Nicole for all this time. She is so special to me; I am so proud of who she’s become.

We went to Blossom for dinner with our matching, geeky husbands. The main courses were really super-delicious, but the desserts and coffee…not so much. It was just a couple of hours of time together, but it was enough to remind me that I really need to make an effort to see this girl more often.

p.s. This is Nicole’s house. Yes, seriously!!

As I alluded to in my last post, we’ll be getting a new family member very soon. Next weekend we are picking up Bruno’s little brother, a 10-week-old black and tan long-haired Chihuahua!

The only photo we have of him is awful, but I can’t stop looking at him. I think Bruno (who is half long-haired Chihuahua) is going to love having a wee furry friend around. Well, after he goes through a bout of horrible jealousy. That’s to be expected.

We’ve been thinking about having another dog for a couple of years, and the time finally seems right for all of us. I can’t wait to get to know this little guy, and for the four of us to bond. I wonder what his name will be…!

Dogs are so special. I honestly don’t know how we lived before Bruno came into our lives.

I drew a photo-realistic portrait of Evan on my thumb.

It was cold and windy outside today, but I wore my new coat anyway. I was freezing, but it was worth it. C’mon, springtime, you can do it!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Yesterday I made pecan sandies using this recipe. They were delicious and totally devoured by us and by our flower-bringing lunch guests. My only caution when making this recipe is to be careful if you’re grinding your pecans in the food processor—keep a close watch on them, as a moment too long and you’ve got pecan butter instead of pecan meal! (Of course, now we also have a little something special and unexpected to spread on toast, but it was fortunate that I had more pecans on-hand.)

I also made grilled vegetable sandwiches with gouda cheese and garlic mayonnaise, and a butternut squash soup with spinach and rice. Yum. The best part is that there are leftovers of everything (except the cookies!) for lunch today.

I’m so flattered that Kathryn at Perfectbound has given me a “you’ve made my day” award, because really, isn’t making someone’s day just about the nicest thing you can do? Kathryn and Julie’s blog is so beautiful—such attention to detail! Thank you.

Now I’m supposed to pass along the award to five blogs that have made my day! This kind of thing always makes me nervous because I can be shy sometimes, but this is all just about showing appreciation, right? So I’ll try.

Jen at My Polariod Blog
Jenn at Jenn Ski Studio
Kelly at Hoping for Happy Accidents
Sandra at Smosch
Tina at Swissmiss

Thanks! You’ve made my day!

Here are the obligatory “rules” that follow these sorts of posts…
The ‘you make my day award’ works like this:
1) Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver
3) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news!

Me, my mother, and Bruno.

Bruno doesn’t mind going in the car when he gets to sit on his Mormor’s lap!

We met this pretty lady, Betty the bulldog, at a store in Beacon.

This morning in our house—the decorations are subtle. No tree this year, just wee Jultomte and Julbok, with some floating silver glass balls in the fireplace. My grandmother’s Christmas plate from 1911 (it hangs in our kitchen all year long, but only today is it appropriate). It still feels like Christmas!

Christmas Eve at my mother’s house was more festive, as is always the case when children are around:

Today we’re off to see Sweeney Todd! Then it’s a much-needed week off for doing anything we want to. (Fingers crossed for lots of snow.) Merry Christmas!

My mother is Swedish, which is a wonderful thing foodwise at Christmastime! Last year, my siblings and I each took over a part of the traditional recipes to help her out a bit. I really enjoyed learning how to cook all of the yummy Swedish Christmas dishes I’ve been eating my whole life, and I’m looking forward to doing it again this year.

Here is my mother’s recipe for Janssons frestelse (Jansson’s temptation). So easy, and so unbelievably delicious.

Janssons frestelse (Jansson’s temptation)

2 yellow onions, sliced thinly
3 tbsp butter
6 medium raw potatoes, peeled and cut into small strips (julienne style)
20 Swedish sprats/ansjovis (save the brine)*
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

- Saute onion in 1 tbsp butter until nicely browned
- Butter a baking dish
- Layer potatoes, onions, and anchovies (finish with a layer of potatoes)
- Drizzle 1 tbsp of the brine from the can over the top
- Dot with remaining butter (2 tbsp)
- Pour 3/4 cup of the cream over the top
- Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes, adding the remaining cream (3/4 cup) after 15 minutes

Janssons may be covered and reheated at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes or so and kept warm until serving. Aahh!

*Authentic Swedish ansjovis (available at IKEA and specialty food stores, a common brand name is Abba) are larger and much less salty than the “anchovies” we buy here. They are actually sprats (a different kind of fish), pickled in sugar, salt and spices. If you can’t get to IKEA or find true Swedish ansjovis elsewhere, you can use good quality Italian anchovies. Use the same number—the saltiness makes up for them being smaller. The taste will not be absolutely authentic, but it will still be yummy!

Brown the onions in plenty of butter.

All ready to go in the oven!

Today is Lucia Day and the start of the Christmas season! Fittingly, we received half a foot of fresh snow here in the Hudson Valley today, and I have spent the evening cooking for tomorrow’s potluck lunch in the art department I work for. Here’s the first recipe of the night, Chocolate Sour Cream Cake. This has been my mother’s go-to recipe for many years of birthdays and other celebrations—I wonder how many slices I have eaten over the course of my life! It is so simple and delicious, and goes very nicely with a little whipped cream and a cup of coffee.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

2-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 pound unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 heaping tbsp instant cocoa
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients. Take off and reserve 1/2 cup crumbs for top of cake. Add eggs, sour cream, baking soda, and vanilla and mix well (I find it easiest to use an electric mixer). Pour half of the batter into a well-greased tube (Bundt) pan. Sprinkle instant cocoa on top of batter. Mix chocolate chips in rest of batter, and pour that over the bottom half. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the top of cake. Bake at 350° 1 hour or until the tester comes out dry.

You’ll want to cut yourself a slice when it’s just out of the oven, but try to resist! This cake is really at its peak at room temperature (or even refrigerator-cold the next day). To serve, invert the cake onto a pretty plate—the crumbs will be on the bottom. You can garnish with a bit of powdered sugar if it’s for a fancy occasion, but it will look nice just by itself.

(Moomin books.)

(From this guy.)

It wasn’t until I had framed both of these posters that I realized how well they compliment each other and decided to hang them side by side in my front hallway. The one on the left was designed by my grandfather, Robert Dorfman, nearly 40 years ago. Elisabeth Dunker designed the one on the right just this past year. It made me smile to see them hanging there together when I got home this evening!

My grandfather passed away before I was born, but in addition to the poster I have several of his lovely watercolor paintings hanging in the house, as well as the seaside shadowbox he made for my father when he was a child. I am forever thankful to come from a family of creators; these physical items left behind mean so much to me.

This is the goofiest photo ever! We both look like we just spent a weekend eating buttered croissants and rubbing our heads with balloons.

The original plaster medallions that surround the ceiling light fixtures are still intact in most of the rooms in our house, but the one in the bedroom was removed at some point (or else covered by drywall; it’s one of the few rooms without a plaster ceiling). You can buy polyurethane replacement medallions, but thanks to someone infinitely smarter, more skilled, and more patient than us, we now have a new plaster medallion in place!

He used the underside of a polyurethane medallion as a mold, then carefully and tediously carved out the small details in the hardened plaster. We attached it to the ceiling using Liquid Nails and three long wood screws going into the ceiling joists. A little caulk around the top edge, and it’s done.

I still need to paint the medallion and the lamp canopy so they’re the same color (and to hide the bolts), but here it is in action with the Double Dip pendant lamp from CB2. The imperfections in the plaster really add to the appeal—you’d never know it’s not original to the house!

(Thanks again, B. It really looks great!)

Happy Thanksgiving! We’re all feeling very stuffed, sleepy, and thankful around here right now.

Moomintroll, Snufkin, and Misan had an excellent weekend. We’re all exhausted, though, so the scavenger reports will have to wait until tomorrow. We may still have another pickup to do in Connecticut tonight for some special goodies. Coffee, please!

(The Moomin dolls are my mother’s, not mine—I can’t get her to give them up! Aren’t they wonderful? I’m posting their picture because today is my beautiful mother’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mommy…I miss you!)

In A Quiet Place
The Work of Nicole McConville, Lindsay Pichaske, Alena Hennessy
Satellite Gallery
55 Broadway
Asheville, NC
(828) 505-2225
Exhibit Runs October 26th ­ November 30th, 2007
Opening Reception with the Artists Friday, October 26th 7 pm ­ 10 pm
Satellite Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 6 pm

Nicole McConville http://www.sigilation.com/
Lindsay Pichaske http://www.lindsaypichaske.com/
Alena Hennessy http://www.alenahennessy.com/

I’ve known Nicole for over 20 years, and during that span of that time my respect and admiration for her art has just grown and grown and grown. She’ll have 40 pieces in this show ranging in age and size and materials, and I wish very much that I could be there tomorrow night see them (and her!) in person. Good luck, darling!