House Tour: Living Room

Our living room! Sharing this one makes me a little nervous for some reason. I think because for a long time I wasn't totally sold on it myself. This room has been re-arranged four or five times - and we've only lived here for eight months!

The things that I love about the room also posed some problems. Double french doors that lead to our front door, a big mantle with built in shelves, a double open door into the dining room, and five windows! Lots of big things to take into account, and no solid walls to arrange furniture around.

 

I'm sure things will continue to evolve and change, but for now, I'm really happy with it. I love that we easily have seating for six. And my mom and sister will roll their eyes at this, but I also love the amount of pattern I was brave enough to mix in. They're pattern junkies, so this is pretty tame to them, but floral + fish pillows + geometrics is pretty big time for me!

 

While I was snapping pictures, I thought I'd take one of the entryway, too, which is through the french doors next to the couch. 

I've heard this advice before, but taking pictures of your own home is eye-opening. You see things on the screen that you don't notice in real life, like that white cord going across the floor in one corner of the room. I also had a brown paper grocery bag by my mantle for months (!) that held kindling and newspapers for fires. So ugly! Now it's on the hall closet instead. I re-shot the photos where it was visible, in case you're looking for it!

One last thing to mention. This pretend shopping living room post is one my most popular (very relative term here on Fresh Basil!). I think people come to it while searching for information on the Chloe sofa.We haven't had it very long, but I highly recommend it! It isn't huge, which is great for apartments and smaller living rooms. It's gotten a few spills (including baby puke, ew), and everything just wipes right off. I couldn't be happier with it!

Asian-style Wedge Salad

I take a lot of food pictures that never make there way to the blog. Usually they seem sort of obvious and ordinary with a little hindsight. Do you really need to see my quinoa tostadas or fancy grilled cheese, along with a brief explanation? I always tell myself you do not.

But this week I started thinking about the kinds of recipes I'm always on the look out for. These include: grains + veggie main dishes, one-pot meals, and salads. Lot of salads! So in that spirit, I'm sharing this one with you (even though my inner editor is still sort of asking why).

A little back story: In Disney World's Prime Time Cafe, of all places, I had a really good wedge salad. It was the standard BLT variety, with lots of blue cheese dressing (but no tomatoes, ew). Ever since, I've been on Team Wedge Salad. They are so easy to make, really inexpensive, and feel very light and summery.

This one is a slightly different take. It's a wedge with carrots, radishes, chopped cilantro, peanuts, and a peanut scallion dressing. It was good! Here's a loose version of the dressing I made, but you'll probably want to play around with it a bit.

Happy St. Patrick's Day weekend, all!

Peanut Scallion Salad Dressing

You will need:

1 scallion, white and pale green parts only, chopped very well
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
Big squeeze of lime juice (from about a 1/4 of a lime) + some zest, if you wish
Salt and pepper
Water or vegetable oil, as needed

Combine all ingredients but the oil/water in a bowl and mix very well with a fork. This will likely be quite thick, so add in additional oil or water until you have the desired consistency. I added about 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of water for a creamy, thick dressing. Makes enough for two wedge salads!

Striped table runner

I had this project on my list for Crafty February, but as you can see, we are now in the Ides of March (beware!). A little late, what can you do?

This is half a yard of a Waverly fabric (it has some kind of cute-ish name like, "So Stripey!" that's escaping me right now).

I folded the fabric in half the long way and stitched that together inside out, being extra sure my stripes were lined up correctly. I'm not usually like that, but stripes, man. They are tricky! Then I closed off the ends right side out, because pickiness can only last so long.

I wanted to make it double sided because as my mom said, "Runners get gross!" Ha. They do, though. So, nice to be able to flip it over after I Peter inevitably spills some super spicy, bright red hot sauce on my darling new runner.

P.S. Don't mind the gaping hole in my $3.99 TJ's bouquet. A Gerber daisy that formerly inhabited that hole bit the dust shortly before these photos were taken!

Paris Planning: The Apartment

(via Domino)

After weeks of research, we recently booked our apartment rental in Paris! There are so many options, I thought this process would be a breeze. And, if I had wanted to spend a bit more, it would have been.

Unfortunately, I kept thinking about all the wine and cheese I could buy with that money instead! A tiny budget meant lots of studios with futons (not real beds). I mean, I don't require a super long, bright pink bed, but a futon just wouldn't do. Being in my late twenties has made me more snobby about my sleeping arrangements!

I combed through Airbnb, HomeAway and Trip Advisor. Many people seem to have good luck with Airbnb, but I found most of the apartments had kind of dark, sketchy photos. This Trip Advisor rental in a former bakery was tempting, but I didn't love the location. We wanted to be in the 9, 10 or 11th arrondissement, based almost entirely on this old Gourmet article.*

Eventually, in desperation, I took a peak at VRBO. I hadn't looked there earlier because I didn't think they did international bookings. But they do! And they had the most affordable, pretty, real-live-bed apartments. And lots of reviews! Those sway me so much (even though I never leave them, so it's sort of hypocritical, I guess). 

I'll definitely share how it works out after we return!

*Much of our trip planning is based on this old Paris issue of Gourmet. I'm mentioning this only because when planning a vacation, we usually latch on to no more than two or three magazines/articles/books total and call it day. It's too easy to get overwhelmed otherwise! Usually one of the other planning tools is the NY Times 36 hours article, too. Just thought I'd share that little tip :)

Disney World

When I got back from Disney, I was speaking with someone at work who just came back from a trip there a week before me. "How old are your kids?" she asked. "Oh! I don't have any! It was a grown-up vacation." 

Ha!

Disney World doesn't necessarily spring to mind as a great spot for a grown-up family vacation, but it was so awesome. When you're an adult, you have a realistic sense of time, which makes waiting in lines way more pleasant. 50 minute wait? Hey, it's better than being at work!

This is also sort of an obvious revelation, but as adults, we had realistic expectations for the rides. As a kid, every ride holds so much promise, so much awaited fun. And then it's over?

We didn't have any of that let down at the end. Old favorites were fondly revisited (that's It's Small World above), and newer rides seemed so flashy and cool (hello, Aerosmith roller coaster and Test Track!).

Disney is a vacation you can certainly figure out on your own, but here are a few tips and tricks we discovered along the way.

• This wait time app was crazy helpful (and free!). It lets you see how long the wait is at the most popular rides without walking across the park to check. It's maintained by users, so when we remembered, we'd add in our own wait times once we finished rides. Disney makes you want to be helpful person :)
  
• The fireworks show at Magic Kingdom occurs every night, and it was one of the most magical things we did all week. I'm a totally sucker for fireworks, but a light show on the castle? A live Tinker Bell floating over the park? Classic Disney songs playing in time with the fireworks? It doesn't get any better!
  
• Have a sit-down lunch. During previous trips as a kid, I remember us rushing around all day, trying to cram in as much as possible. This time, we would do a few rides in the morning, then stop somewhere for lunch. The price point wasn't significantly higher at the restaurants compared to the kiosks, the food was surprisingly good, and we all got to have a beer in the middle of the day. Yay for being a grown-up!

• Take a few days off from the parks. After much research, we decided to golf at Falcons Fire during our visit. It was a lovely course, fairly reasonable, and the staff were amazingly kind and helpful. We also went into Celebration twice - Disney's version of a New England town. Kind of weird, but, eh. Just go with it! It was really cute, and had a handful of good restaurants (we went here on our last night, and loved it!). As fun as it is to visit the parks, exploring new territory is quite delightful, too.
  
• Lastly, when we were prepping for this trip, I kept mentioning old favorite rides to Peter, like the Tiki Room and the Carousel of Progress. He looked at me like I was nuts! He had never even heard of those rides. We now have a debate going if his family was weird for not going on these, or if mine was weird for loving them so much. Weight in below, if you'd like (though I have a sinking feeling that I was the weird one!). 

Have I convinced you that Disney World is a worthy grown-up vacation destination?! You'll have so much fun, I promise!

Nearly Spring Lamb Stew

Last year around this time, Peter and I went to Al Di La for a dinner to celebrate something or other. All our meals there were lovely, but my dinner that night was perfection - lamb stew.

I know, I know. Lamb stew? Despite what you might be thinking, it was a celebration of early springtime vegetables. Small, tender pieces of lamb with artichokes, peas, asparagus, herbs and lemon. So much lemon! It was rich, but all that acid made it positively addicting.

Last Sunday, I was flipping through Dorie, looking for something to cook up for dinner. It had to be good since I was nursing a touch of sadness that it would be my first Sunday without Downton for company. Roast chicken wasn't going to cut it.

Do you ignore the recipes in a book that don't have a photo attached? I'm definitely guilty of this. Though I've looked through this book dozens of times, green-as-spring veal stew caught my eye for the first time. I made all sorts of substitutions, swapping in lamb for veal, kale for spinach, and mint for tarragon, so it turned into something in between the original recipe and the Al Di La dish - fresh and springy and celebration worthy (even without Downton on in the background).

Nearly Spring Lamb Stew

You will need:
2 cups chicken stock
1 lb lamb stew meat
2 carrots, peeled and quartered
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
2 1/2 cups arugula
2 cups chopped kale
1 cup parsley
1/2 cup dill
1/2 cup mint
3/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
2 tablespoons lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add in the lamb meat and boil for one minute. Drain and reserve the meat. In a large dutch oven, combine the stock, carrots, onion, bay leaf and dried herbs. Once that reaches a boil, add in the lamb meat. Return to a boil, then cover tightly and reduce heat to a low simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Then remove the meat, and reserve in a small bowl, covered so that it stays warm.

Remove the vegetables and bay leaf with a slotted spoon and discard them. Add in the greens and herbs to the dutch oven, and cook in the stock for one minute. Pour the greens into a food processor or blender and pulse into smooth. Return to the dutch oven and add in the lamb. Over low heat, gently stir in the sour cream, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Serve over mashed potatoes (or rice or noodles). Toast to spring's speedy arrival.

Polka Dot Easter Tree

Sometime in December, I found a shoe box filled with all my old, decorated eggs for my Easter tree. Now that it's the correct holiday season for them, of course I can't find them anywhere!

No matter. I saw this cute idea for glitter eggs and decided to try some myself. Cute, no? And much easier than dying. I am loving the little polka dot theme going this year, with my pom pom garland in the mix!

Kid Stuff

  (1, 2, 3) 

This winter has been mild and lovely. I can say that without fear of jinxing it now that we're into March! But I guess I love gentle, easy reading while the days are short, even if it's not terribly harsh outside.

These middle reader/young adult novels have been keeping me company the last few months (along with The Hunger Games series!). Can you believe I had never read The Hobbit before? I felt like I found my snacking tribe. I've been enjoying second breakfast and elevenses for years :)

Also, I love finding old covers to books. Anne and Gilbert look dashing here - such darling young marrieds!

March forward

(via jcrew.com)

Happy March, my friends! Did you check your horoscope yet? I am in for a doozy (in a good way!).

We are off to Connecticut to visit our families this weekend, and celebrate my mom's birthday! She's getting one of these - I've got my fingers crossed that she'll be able to figure out how to use it without too much trouble :)

On a totally unrelated fashion note, I saw this outfit in the J Crew catalog earlier this week and decided to recreate it today. It's fun, right? If I was an outfit-posting kind of blogger, I'd surely show you a picture, but since I'm not... just imagine me looking exactly like this model, okay? I cat-walked into my cubicle with smeyes and everything.

Winter Park, Florida

I'm going to write a bit about Orlando soon, but first I thought I'd share some photos from another favorite spot we went to while we were away: Winter Park. It's a darling little town just north of Orlando. We loved it!

We went to lunch at Ravenous Pig. We originally tried to get dinner reservations, but they were all booked up. I'm so glad we were still able to visit! The space is modern but warm. The menu isn't huge, but everything we ate was amazing - Po' boys, shrimp tacos, charcuterie and the grower salad were all devoured.

After lunch, we went over to Rifle Paper Co. It's a tiny shop, with their workshop in the back. I love their products, and it was such a sweet, happy place. I came home with floral coasters, a notepad and some place cards (for the next time we host Thanksgiving!).

Aren't these hearts adorable? My mom bought a 24x18 print of it to hang in her newly redesigned sun room. The shop girl told us that Urban Outfitter is going to be selling the print soon, so be on the look out if you'd like to snag one yourself!

In the later afternoon, we took a lake tour. After being in Disney World for a few days, an hour out on a boat was heaven.

The Spanish Moss hanging down is so lovely. I wish this would grow in New England!

There were huge houses, and a great view of Rollins. I love looking at colleges, even from afar, so that was a fun treat!

Finally, while my mom, sister and I went to visit the local Lilly store, the boys had a drink at Prato. It was wide open to the street, had a lovely, dark bar, and they report that it had an excellent beer list.

If you're in the Orlando area, I highly recommend a visit to cute Winter Park!