Humble Abode Tour: Flashback

To say i rearrange my apartment often would be an understatement. I do it every week practically. Its a joyous pastime of recycling, revamping, and reinvigorating.The same item, tired and boring in one room, can be re-awoken in another with different light, furniture and placement. Now, question is, how can i make a career out of this habit?

Above are some snapshots of my bedroom and living room over the past year.

Humble Abode Tour: Bedroom

The afternoon sun is so brilliant this time of year! It hangs low and shines right in my humble Westover Hills apartment. It is some of the only sun i get in this place, since it is a very wooded neighborhood. Needless to say, I cherish the bright rays, and am taking the utmost advantage of it: forcing bulbs on my nightstand and nursing an abandoned orchid and two Boston ferns (radiator) back to life. I can't help but love my bedroom during these rare sunburst moments, so I've taken a few pictures to share the love.

My birthday present paperwhites, thanks to Noel, in bloom on my night stand. They smell intoxicating, and the scent travels all the way to the living room!

The bed cover is a vintage popcorn chenille found in Cville for only $10. In front of the bed lies a vintage clay water pitcher picked up by my grandparents in a Mexican market and a ceramic Chinese style octagonal side table bought at Homegoods for $75.

I've got three rugs in the room, an oriental scored at an online auction for only $58, a vintage Navajo hand-woven rug --another score from my world-traveling Grandparents-- and a modern Turkish Kilim, pulling the red, pinks and oranges from the wall art to the floor.

Across from the bed is the all-important vintage wardrobe, a thrift-store steal at just $61. It contains my collection of vintage and spring/summer dresses, scarves, and shoes. Alternate storage (woven bins, vintage suitcases, picnic baskets) abound in my teeny apartment. It's smart storage: functional and aesthetic.

deck the halls!

Sir Davis, our Douglas Fir Christmas Tree on the lot of
Hanover Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Beaverdam, Virginia.
(Before the blessings and prayers and sacrificial rites.)
We go every year, on the Sunday before Christmas,
and hike a few acres to find the perfect winter companion.
We liked the curly-Q top ala Dr. Seuss. $75 later, he's happy at home.

I'm decking the halls this winter with all things natural:
pinecones, feathers, berries, moss, twigs, herbs, dried fruit,
and evergreen boughs, wreaths and branches in
Fir, Cedar, Cypress, and Magnolia.
It's a veritable winter woodland wonderland in here!
It smells of the woods, herbs, and rotting fruit.

This awesome bush on my boyfriend's property has a whole lotta these blue berries.
We have no idea what it is, but it is simply brimming with them.
I made sure to leave some for the birdies nesting nearby
and trimmed a box-full for wreath making.
With several bunches left over, i slipped them into vintage apothecary jars
and scattered them throughout the house.

A large driftwood plank is adorned with vintage postcards,
and a treasured vintage pic of a young Shirley Temple-esque girl,
sitting on the lap of St. Nick. Blue lights add some festive cheer.

Inside the wooden dish on the crate coffee table is an aromatic collection:

driftwood
dried lemon slices
sage
rosemary
holly
and a pomegranate

Above: Leftover holly and greens find a festive home
snuggled amid the vines of my handmade wreath
and stacked gourds,
still fresh from All Saints Day,
transform into a jolly snowman
with clove eyes and a bamboo skewer nose.

More European Pics

E+T Floor Cushion Press!

Thanks to Kelly over at Tearing Up Houses for giving Ernst and Thistle some props in her latest blog entry about floor cushions (and for giving us a heads up thru etsy!!!) I absolutely love her blog subtitle: "one girl's adventures as a sort-of architect, unlikely landlord, and real estate junkie..."

It's simply amazing how things spread on social networking sights and the internet. These floor cushions were also featured in a spread on Apartment Therapy (check it out!) and I had no idea until i realized we were getting linkage to our storefront from AT (through help of Googleanalytics). I searched our name in google to find the exact article and was flabbergasted/flattered!

Thanks everyone everywhere who likes our goods! If you post a story about us, feature one of our products in your blog, or just mention our name, let us know and we will return the favor!

SUNDAY BRUNCH FOR ONE: Eating Local and In Season.

Oven ready buttermilk biscuits, topped with Duke's Mayonnaise (the only REAL mayo), farm fresh eggs and thick sliced heirloom tomatoes then dashed with salt and pepper. A side of sliced peaches, watermelon and banana nut bread, all purveyed at my local farmer's market. YUM!

NICE, FRANCE 2003

Just having some fun editing some of my recently developed pics from my Solo European Adventure in 2003! I've got an urge to travel. I started thinking of France, not because i desire to go back already (I'd rather hit the other hundreds-of-places-I've-never-been-to-but-would-like-to-visit-before-i-die such as Panama, Croatia, The Grand Canyon, Alaska, India...) but because I just got word from my mother that Grandfather Sturgis has had a desire his whole adult life (spawned by his Aunt who was a nurse abroad during the war) to travel to France with an erudite tour guide historically certified in WWI and now is considering taking it. He wants the guide to take him to all the hot spot WWI sights in France, telling a complete history through the places that war has touched. My family is against him traveling alone (he turns 89 in November) and I am volunteering my services as official gran-daddy sitter. I'm a self-professed history buff who doesn't mind (actually yearns) to learn anything and everything! Plus, wouldn't this be the perfect chance to get to know my grandfather, to have an actual conversation before he no longer exists on this mortal plane? I also forsee a good topic for a book here, or at least a short story...anyone know of any French speaking WWI tour guides that wouldn't mind a conservative Yankee grandfather and idealistic twenty-something as clients? We will pay well.

Here are some of my favorites (post-edit) from Nice:

E+T SALE!!!!

Stay tuned for an Ernst and Thistle SALE!!!!

I am restructuring the business and taking over sole ownership of E+T...Lynalise is busier than ever and moving on to bigger and better things...and I've got some new ideas in the seed stage (possibly pursuing silk screening or an additional vintage/antique finds storefront, etc), but until they come to fruition and sprout, I am having a huge E+T sale on some old goodies that I will no longer be carrying or making...That means it will be your last chance to own these limited edition art pieces, like our Reproduction Treen Clothespins (only 7 left in stock; orig. $32, soon ONLY $25.00) and our copper and brass JOIN OR DIE nameplates (going from $22/$20-$15!).

Come by the storefront and browse until then; see what catches your eye and tickles your fancy.

SALE STARTS SATURDAY AUGUST 1ST!

FIRST HARVEST: a small and simple, but rewarding local salad.

I know it's a little late in the season to enjoy fresh greens from the garden, especially here in the South, but given the fact that my vegetable garden only gets a paltry (and at a maximum) 3 hours of sunlight, I figured the heat of our summer's would be tempered by the cool shade...therefore, my late in-ground planing of mixed greens have just started flourishing.

I picked a small side salad of arugula, spinach, and mesclun to accompany yesterday's farmer's market fresh roasted beets. Cucumbers and roasted red pepper goat cheese (both from the South of the James Farmers Market) and walnuts shared the plate.

Roasted beets are EASY:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Scrub and wash the beets well.

Cut off the excess greens (which are edible). Chop beets into quarters.

No need to peel; skins are easier to remove once roasted.

Toss beets in a generous amount of olive oil and salt.

Place on aluminum foil, cover with another sheet of aluminum foil and enclose or fold over edges. Place foil on baking sheet and bake for 1hour. Let cool and skins can then be removed.

Enjoy immediately or store in fridge for up to 1 week.

My stomach is satisfied.