Etsy Fave: Old Crow Farm

Love, love, love the vintage farmhouse style from Etsy featured seller Old Crow Farm. In particular, the colorful metal tote boxes are a great way to tuck away odds and ends stylishly, but the industrial rolling cart below would make one very chic bar cart. Happy shopping!

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I am so longing for a beach vacation and this is not helping.

via This is Glamorous

Welcome Food Contributor Shulie Madnick!

I am so incredibly excited to introduce you guys to Shulie Madnick, who'll be sharing some of her amazing recipes with us every few weeks.

I just stumbled across Shulie's blog, Food Wanderings, this week and was completely blown away. She specializes in globally-influenced cuisine (largely rooted in her Indian-Israeli heritage), and much of it made from organic and local ingredients. Oh, and did I mention that she is insanely talented at food styling and photography? When I clicked through to her blog, I spent the first two minutes looking for the high-end cookbook she sourced her photos from -- only to discover it was all original work.

Some more about Shulie, in her own words:

"I was born and raised in Israel to parents of Indian ancestry...and that is where my informal culinary world begins. My mom is gifted with a touch only few are graced with in the kitchen and I am lucky to have her collection of recipes. Throughout the years, my friends encouraged me to write a collection of childhood stories and memories -- webbed with food stories and recipes-- so as a first stepping stone I started my blog.

Another inspiration is my son who, although born and raised in the USA, (his dad hails from Massachusetts), embraces his eclectic Indian/Israeli heritage and, up until recently, refused to let me share what he considers heirloom family recipes. Our mostly organic and local lifestyle began when my son was born 17 years ago. (I still feel I need to grow up though :).

I met my husband, Jonathan, at the tail end of my mandatory Israeli army service and his last semester at Tel Aviv University. One thing led to another, and we ended up in the DC area where he went to graduate school at Georgetown University.

For years I worked in advertising, marketing and sales, and eventually, I became a stay-at-home mom. A few years ago I started an import business of high-end costume jewelry and art on leather collection (belts, bags, etc.) from very gifted artists in Israel. I closed the import business recently and am trying to jump start a food product line, cooking classes and now work as a personal chef. I also hope to publish a cookbook someday.

I am only at the very beginning of this budding business but enjoying blogging to a point of giddiness and silliness (told you I need to grow up!)"

Below, Shulie shares a simple lunch she made from the bounty at last Sunday's Dupont Circle Farmer's Market. I am so envious of her ability to break away from the grocery list, choose what looked best at the market, and put together a wonderful treat without a recipe. More detailed recipes to come in a few weeks!

On a sunny beautiful day at the FRESHFARM Dupont Circle market, I found a vibrant, bountiful market today. With a bag full of organic produce, artisanal breads and cured meats, and a quick in and out of Kramerbooks, my morning was complete.

The guys' lunch today was a sandwich made entirely of the delicious and mostly organic findings at the market. Arugula, mache, two kinds of radishes from Next Step organic farm, Nathan Anda's cured beef pastrami and bresaola, whole grain multi-seed bread from one of the bakeries at the market, a vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon and a touch of salt to brush the bread with and lunch was complete.

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Via Domino

Local Love: Industrial Salvage from Modern 50

Yesterday, I discovered Modern 50, an artist and design collective based out of Sterling, Va. Even though they are based out of Virginia, anyone can purchase their salvaged finds through their website, which is chock full of completely amazing early to mid century industrial, Americana.

Some of my favorite pieces below:

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Source Unknown

Spring Style Inspiration: Tailored Bohemia

Even though -- or perhaps, because -- it's still cold and damp outside, I've been giving a lot of thought to tackling my spring wardrobe. My inner hippie basically wants to run around in sheer organic cotton with unstyled hair, patchouli and flip flops, but despite my office's "tastefully casual" dress code, I don't think tie-dyed, incense-burning earth mother is an appropriate look to rock on K Street.

The solution: a nice, fitted blazer to balance out edgier pieces and the slightly frazzled, wavy hair that I end up with, when it gets too warm to blow dry my hair without risking a power outage and first-degree scalp burns.

For casual work days, I love a blazer paired with jeans or white pants as seen below.


On the weekends, I would wear it with a swingy mini or a flowy bohemian dress.

Images: 1., 2. and 8. For Stars will Rise Again 3. Emerson Made 4. ShopBop 5., 9. and 10. J.Crew 6. The Sartorialist 7. The Singular

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via My Notting Hill

Read This: Long Nights and Log Fires

Winter is finally winding down, so I feel a little weird posting about this cookbook when everyone else is looking to spring. I kept hoping that more photos would be available online (because they certainly don't disappoint), but, alas, all I can show you from this book is the cover.

So even though we're all moving away from hearty winter fare, I can't recommend this book enough. It will be your autumn and winter comfort food bible -- I promise. The book is filled with stick-to-your ribs fare, but also relies heavily on seasonal ingredients for a range of dishes including soups, one-pot wonders, roasts, breakfasts, cocktails and baked goods.

Some standout dishes: Pumpkin soup with honey and sage, slow-cooked onion and cider soup, mini croque-monsieurs, beef en croute, pumpkin and gorgonzola risotto, snowy pine nut cookies...are you drooling yet?

Here is one of the books lighter recipes:

Pasta with Broccoli, Ricotta, and Walnuts

The light texture and creamy flavor of ricotta cheese makes the perfect backdrop to walnuts and broccoli in this deliciously simple and quick pasta dish. Serves 4.

• 2/3 cup shelled walnut halves
• 1 head of broccoli, about 1 lb.
• 3 tablespoons light olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Finely grated peel and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
• 7 oz. fresh ricotta cheese
• 14 oz. spaghetti
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spread the walnuts out on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes shaking the tray occasionally, until they start to brown. To prepare the broccoli, trim off the gnarly part, about 1 inch from the stem end, and discard. Thinly slice the stem until you reach the point where it starts to branch into florets. Slice off the individual florets. Heat the oil in a skillet, add the stems and cook for about 2-3 minutes, turning often, then add the florets and cook for about 5 minutes, until the broccoli has softened. Add the garlic, parsley, grated lemon peel, and walnuts and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the ricotta and lemon juice. Season well and leave in the pan to keep warm.

Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and return to the warm pan with the sauce. Stir gently to combine and serve immediately.

Artist Spotlight: Kirra Jamison

Today, I want to introduce you all to one of the most amazing new talents I've seen in a long time. Kirra Jamison is an Australian artist whose brilliant, kaleidoscopic work is described best here:

"Kirra Jamison cultivates ideas. Initial kernels of intuition germinate into lines, forms and patterns that branch and weave and interlay the picture plane with snatches of narrative. Floating amongst the fragments of decorative motif and patterning, vignettes of everyday experience emerge and inveigle the viewer with abundant possibilities of meaning. Harmonious or chaotic, repeated or disrupted, Jamison's use of patterns and images dismantles cultural boundaries, blurring the divide between high and low art, the East and the West, the past and the present."

Some of my favorite works below:

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Via Holding Court

Retail Love: Loaded Trunk

It's easy to get disenchanted with the "global" look -- how often have we seen traditional crafts practiced over centuries -- amazing works of art you had to buy a plane ticket to get -- turn into mass-produced trends available at any Crate & Barrel?

Yes, the replicas can look pretty, but the specialness is gone. At the same time, there's something to be said for accessibility. That's why I completely adore Loaded Trunk, a wonderful boutique and online shop that purchases beautiful handmade goods from local artisans at a fair price, but saves you the $2000 plane ticket and three-day hike to get to them.

There's a lot to love in this shop, but my favorite things would have to be the magical Mexican bedspreads and the Turkish tinned copper.
(Mexican Bedspreads)

There are also richly dyed Turkish rugs, Indonesian ikat, vibrant Suzani pillows and cool and creepy Indonesian shadow puppets. Shop here.

(Indonesian shadow puppet, Turkish tinned copper, Thai cobra stapler, Yao ceremonial scroll)

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via Domino

Etsy Fave: Bird and Bear

Do you ever come across something that you love, but you can't fully explain why you love it? That's how I feel about these pretty embroidered linens from Etsy seller Bird and Bear. I love the simple sentiments and the wear and tear on the vintage linens, but there's definitely something else that I can't quite put my finger on.

These pieces are definitely on the pricey side, but seeing as each one is an original hand-embroidered piece of art, I think the prices are fair. Too keep it from being too granny-chic I would probably pin them inside a white shadowbox.