Merry, merry and happy, happy

Friends, we are leaving tomorrow for a glorious ten days in New England.  We'll be visiting our families in Connecticut, heading to the Berkshires in Massachusetts, skiing in Vermont, checking out Portland, Maine for a couple of nights, and finally (finally!) heading down to Block Island to ring in the new year. Poor New Hampshire -- it's the only state not represented.  Maybe we can arrange something...

I hope it is relaxing and restful and really, really fun.  Wishing you all the happiest of holidays.  See you on January 4!

The fabulous house we'll stay at in Block Island!  Eeks!  So excited.

Comfort and Christmas spirit loving brought you by Garrison Keillor

Going to Bed
by George Bilgere

I check the locks on the front door
     and the side door,
make sure the windows are closed
     and the heat dialed down.
I switch off the computer,
     turn off the living room lights.

I let in the cats.

     Reverently, I unplug the Christmas tree,
leaving Christ and the little animals
     in the dark.

The last thing I do
     is step out to the back yard
for a quick look at the Milky Way.

     The stars are halogen-blue.
The constellations, whose names
     I have long since forgotten,
look down anonymously,
     and the whole galaxy
is cartwheeling in silence through the night.

     Everything seems to be okay.

"Going to Bed" by George Bilgere, from Haywire. Read the Writer's Almanac here.

No big deal

My sister is back from her semester in Italy.  These are a few photos from her "Europe in a Nutshell" album.  She got all the photography genes, clearly. 

The top one is of the pretty Christmas lights in Florence, then Interlaken, Switzerland.  I'll leave you to your own devices to ponder the last two. 

By the way (btw?), if you want to be cool, all the kids are saying NBD. No big deal.  Says my little sister.  Just FYI.  (Oh, I know, I'm so funny -- acronym jokes never get old!)

At the same time, no less

I had tea yesterday afternoon with a sweet friend.  We chatted about all the usual stuff, like holiday plans and parties, the guys in our lives, and work. 

I always find this friend to be so wonderful when it comes to work discussions. (Aside: I've read quite a few articles that say women need certain kinds of friends to fill very specific roles as they get older -- the one good at career advice, the good listener, the tough-love giver, and so on.  Do you think that's true?  I think I do...). 

Anyways!  She is lovely to talk to about work.  I find I'm always thinking about the next step, the next big thing I want to try.  I like to constantly explore new options and do research.  I'm always telling Peter about my (awesome!) ideas to start a little business so that I can work from home (never mind that I have no idea what that little business would be), or leaving our jobs in NYC to travel for a year after our wedding, or buying a house in Portland. 

This friend is so great because she thinks exactly the same way.  It's so comforting to hear that she has these same thoughts and half-baked ideas.  When she says, "I want to run X foundation, and become a professor, and move to North Carolina," I say, "YES!"  Because I don't want those exact things, but I totally understand how she could -- and at the same time, no less.

I think I often baffle Peter with how much my ideas float and scatter about, but I think that's because he takes the things I say so seriously.  Which is lovely in it's own way.  But it's also great to have someone just say, "That is so smart!  You should do that!" and know that they will certainly not hold you to it, or be alarmed in the least if you just ship with your formerly brilliant plan. 

We go together

Photos from 100 Layer Cake and Snippet & Ink

I get this weird feeling whenever I see my name or Peter's attached to someone elses.  Who is this Deirdre character, and what is she doing with Peter?  And Daniel?!  So wrong.  They should get together actually -- Deirdre and Daniel sound like a cute couple.  The Double Ds!  Hmm. 

I have a very similar feeling about my parents, and even my sister's name and mine going together in some kind of cosmic way. 

A few months ago, my mom told me she met with potential clients named Julie and Peter.  I remember asking if they looked like us.  Ahh, no, Julie, they do not.  (Too bad for them!  Ha ha ha.)

P.S. I labelled this New York because New Yorkers are neurotic, and this is perhaps a glaring sign that I am one of them.

Easy stocking ornament

I made this little stocking ornament last night.  I used the pattern for these paper stockings to get the shape right.  Super easy, and really quick.  I think this took about an hour, from tracing the pattern to hanging it on the tree. 

My mom made a bunch of ornaments when she was first married about 30 years ago.  You can see one in the left hand side of the photo -- that plaid little bunny. Her ornaments don't have the stitching on the outside where the the stuffing goes in. How did she do that?!

Total aside: is this not the best photo I have ever taken?  No idea how I did it.  None.

Fair point

Peter and I got into an awesome discussion last week about the music we'll have at the wedding.  A older gentleman from a band in Boston gave me a call, and he sounded nice, so I could have been 100% ready to book him after chatting for 10 minutes.
  

Peter was like, "Umm...do you think maybe we should hear them first?"

Fair point, fiance. Fair point.  I knew there was a reason I was marrying you. 

The truth is, I could be perfectly happy listening to Tony Bennett on repeat throughout our entire reception.  Peter could not.  Our guests are probably happy to hear that. 

We are thinking more about bands and DJs and iPods.  How to decide?  The only thing I know is that I want moments like the ones above.  I love these photos so much.  The first is from Holly Burns' wedding, of her siblings doing a dance routine to "Baby Got Back" (note to siblings: you should all get on this).  The second is Peter and me at a wedding earlier this fall. 

The last one is my favorite.  I love all the photos from this wedding, but this is the best.  Look at the bride's attitude.  And all her cute friends!  So awesome.  And so fun looking. 

Christmas spirit

Friends: I cheat on Christmas spirit with George Clooney.

And it felt so good.  Highly recommended.  Two thumbs way up in the air for Up in the Air.

(Is it just me, or is the media totally bombarded with weddings and relationships these days?  Just me?  Okay.)

American Airlines, which plays a role in the movie, has a really warm, down-right inspiring holiday video out.  I think you might enjoy it. Click below to watch.  If you are like me, you may cry.  But if you are normal, I have complete faith that you'll be able to hold it together while watching at your desk. 

Happy Holidays from American Airlines

Giving, and staying in

I was going to share one last gift guide today, focusing on giving this holiday season to worthy causes that hold a special place in my heart.  But the problem with me compiling that list is that it will include all the organizations that are near and dear to me -- not to you.  And I feel so confident that you already know who you would want to share an extra $20 with this season, if you are able to. 

So let's just move on, and chat about the weekend for a second.  I am so excited because we are just staying home, and have no plans to speak of.  Well, no plans with other people.  I'm going to:

1. Make cranberry-lime syrup to use in fun drinks for our party.
2. Finish writing my Christmas cards.
3. Attempt to make a gingerbread house from scratch.  Is this hard?  Let's watch Queer Eye Carson and Martha make one!  That will surely make it less intimidating.
4. Wrap up all the presents I've gathered so far, and try to fill in some remaining gaps. 
5. See Up in the Air or Christmas Carol.  Suggestions?!
6. Start reading Personal History by Katharine Graham for the next book club meeting.  I love book club so! 

That's probably more than enough for 36 hours.  Let's hear it for stay-at-home weekends!

Gift Guide: The Fresh Basil Wish List

(Clockwise from top left. Mostly under $50!)

1. Primrose slippers: somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I actually wear hand-me down slippers from my mom.  These are darling. 
2. Brooklyn umbrella: I've been using a very bright, very loud Vera Bradley umbrella for years, and let's just say it's seen better days.
3. Streamline Editor Series luggage: Peter, would you be excited to wheel that awesome pink leather-lined bag?  Yes?  Awesome.  Me too!
3. Italian floral wine glasses: These can added to the long list of things I don't need but really want.  But aren't they adorable? 
4. 2010 Calendar -- Paris: A Love Story: We're planning on going to Paris for at least part of our honeymoon, and this would be such a fun way to get excited. 
5. Flower ear warmer: I have a serious NorthFace hat for skiing, but I hate wearing it because it always falls off when I wear my fury hood. I think this would help solve the laying problem, and besides, it's much, much cuter. 
6. Lunch tote: I'm super into bringing my lunch to work everyday, and one of my New Years resolutions is seriously committing to using fewer plastic bags. 
7. Gourd bird ornaments: Maybe I have a little bird thing going on? Regardless, love these cute ornaments. 
8. The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg: I tend to find recipes very constricting; this book lists all sorts of ingredients and the things that go well with them.
9. Wii Resort: Peter keeps trying to get me to play more Wii Tiger Woods golf, but settling in for 18 holes of virtual golf is sort of intimidating.  Shuffle board sounds way more my speed.

A quick little break...

...from the gift guides to just say: friends are really neat, aren't they? 

We had friends over for dinner last night that we've been trying to get together with for a while.  They are both a lot cooler than we are, and hence harder to nail down. 

They brought yummy wine and a beautiful pointsettia. For dinner, I made buttered chicken with extra butter (gluttenous!  delicious!).  I had promised them pumpkin crunch, but then didn't come through.  My sweet friend was disappointed, but tried really hard to hide it.  Neat, see? 

*   *   *

Since we've been back home after Thanksgiving, I've been feeling anxious about the holidays and wedding planning.  I want to do all the holiday activities I enjoy, like shopping for the perfect gift and decorating the house and making cookies with my Mom's old holiday cookie press.  But annoying wedding things are invading.  I'm tired of re-organizing the guest list and addressing save the date cards, when what I really want to be doing is sending Christmas cards out to our friends.

I want to be moving slowly enough to remember this season, and I already feel like all the sparkle and joy are whizzing out the window onto the snow-less sidewalk. 

All this to say, having a few dear friends come by to eat peppermint bark and chat about skiing was a really awesome way to spend an evening.

Gift Guide: For Your Dad Who Can Give You Perfect Directions No Matter Where You Are

(Clockwise from the top left. Mostly under $50!)

1. A to Z Pinot Noir: fantastic light red wine, just a touch more expensive than the bottles he buys himself.

2. Snow shoes: to keep him active during the cold months.

3. Meyer lemon tree: so he can always have a slice for his water glass.

4. Wicked good moccassins: the perfect slipper. Seriously, wicked good.

5. Art of Shaving creme: to make the daily chore a little nicer.

6. Executive memo set: because his chicken scratch hand-writing needs all the help it can get.

7. Red bird feeder: to further confirm your suspition that he is, in fact, getting old -- he loves watching the birds eat every morning.

8. With a Song in My Heart, by John Pizzarelli: for when he gets tired of listening to your Mom's Michael Buble CD.

9. How Soccer Changed the World, by Franklin Foer: a really interesting look at sports and their connection to globalization. Has "Dad book" written all over it.

10. Golf club pull cart: because you know how much it pains him to spend $20 renting the golf cart every time.

Gift Guide: For Your Mom Who Always Listens to You Whine

(Clockwise from top left.)

1. Classic hot chocolate: to make Christmas morning even sweeter.
2. Lolita bubble bath: for a special spa-at-home day.
3. Citrus botanical hard placemats: to hurry Spring along.
4. Custom cooking classes: a gift I've given in the past; very well received!
5. French press: since she's been eyeing your French Press for months.
6. Crazy Love, by Michael Buble: because she still actually listens to CDs.
7. Saipua bouquet: to really hurry Spring along.
8. Rosa scarf: because she misses April Cornell stores way more than anyone should.
9. Hot pink golf balls: Much easier to find in the leaves than those boring white ones.

Gift Guide: For Your Sister with High Expectations

(Clockwise from the top left. Mostly under $50!)

1. Tweed Throw: to spruce up that icky college apartment couch.

2. Short tailored scarf: so that she can hang on to that European chic she developed while abroad.
3. Gold vermeil custom Initial Stamped coin and birthstone or flower necklace chain: delicate and pretty, just like her.
4. Mon amour Paris : Do we need a reason to support Paris?
5. 2010 Calendar: helps her remember your birthday.
6. Get Cooking, by Molly Katzen: to expand her cooking horizons beyond mashed potatoes.
7. The Best of Everything, by Rona Jaffe: to help her prepare for the working world.
8. Hookmaker: keeps the clutter under control.
9. Chirp clock: so she's always on time.

Gift Guide: For that Delightful Guy in Your Life

(Clockwise from the top left. Mostly under $50!)

1. Weekend duffel: for all those wedding planning trips he's dragged on.
2. Nudo Olive Oil: You can also adopt your very own olive tree in Italy from Nudo!

3. Shadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen: comes highly recommended by my Peter.

4. Coffee grinder: so the coffee he brings you every morning in bed is super duper fresh.

5. Sephora Scent Sampler: for the indecisive, new-to-cologne guy.

6. Classic Swiss Army knife: for the all grown-up Eagle Scout.

7. Northface Coolmax Liner Socks: to keep skiing feet nice and warm.

8. Berkshire Mountain Distillery: so the gin & tonics will be in steady flow.

9. Classic cufflinks: for those French-cuff shirts his mother likes to give him.

Decorating

When we got back to New York on Sunday night, I couldn't fight the holiday decorating urge any longer. I put these cute star lights up on the mantle in our bedroom. I turn them on every morning when I'm getting ready. They cast a very flattering glow for putting make up on! And only $1.99 from Ikea!

My paper whites are in bloom. I must not have given them enough gin though, because when I came home last night, they were completely toppled over. Time to start again with new bulbs.

Happy holiday decorating to you!

Magical

There were live camels, sheep and donkeys, more high kicks than you could count, and real fireworks shot off inside Radio City.

It was magical. On the subway home, I impressed Peter with all the song and dance routines I learned from watching the Rockette's.

Team Mount

We went to Ventfort over the holiday weekend because my family really loves touring old houses. This one had the added appeal of being decorated for the holidays, and featured a Berkshires wedding exhibit. Sold!


They filmed most of Cider House Rules at the house, and our irritating tour guide was super into this. He loved sharing "insider info" with us, like an awesome story about how they weren't supposed to film inside the house and then they did anyway.




The wedding exhibit was sort of strange, but we did learn some fun facts. The most interesting was that the tradition of not seeing each other prior to the ceremony was invented in the 1920s in a movie to add drama. But I just spent seven full minutes searching for this on Google, and it cannot be verified, so take that for what you will.

It was fun to see, but I'm team Mount all the way.

Thankful for...

* Coffee in bed* Apple sauce * Down comforters * Paperwhites * Risotto * Skype * Butternut * A3 girls * Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse sale * Pumpkin crunch * Arts and crafts * Priceline * House guests * Holiday celebrations * Floats * Tea breaks * Gennaro * Tanglewood * Living room picnics * Berkshires * This American Life * Book Club * Puppies * Space heaters * Empty express trains * Martha's Vineyard * Girl's weekends * Cashmere * Flannel sheets * Park Slope * DVR * Old movies * Gap Outlet * Peanut butter cookies * HGTV * Mashed potatoes * Food & Wine * Prospect Park * Lunch dates * Farmer's Market * The New Yorker * Gin and Tonic * The wonderful guy who makes me all those Gin and Tonics *

Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving, filled with lots of love and delicious things. See you next week!

Holiday Inn

Growing up, my family watched Holiday Inn almost every Thanksgiving. It stars Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and the very pretty Marjorie Reynolds.



The basic premise is that entertainer Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) is tired of show business, tired of the late nights, tired of the constant travel. He leaves it all behind to open a quiet Inn in Connecticut that will only open on holidays.


There is lots of singing and dancing, beautiful costumes, and, of course, a love story. My family adores it.

* * * * *

I'm thinking a lot about traditions lately. Peter and I have been together for enough years now that we have some of our own. Everything feels very special to me this year, I think because we are in the midst of planning our wedding and becoming a family, in the official sense.
I should stop before I make myself cry at my desk. I've become quite sappy.

Traditions

One Sunday afternoon during my freshman year in college, a wonderful friend came back to the dorm with left-over pumpkin crunch. It had no crust, but a layer of pumpkin custard underneath sweet vanilla topping with pecans mixed in. Lovely hot, cold or at room temperature and so perfectly seasonal, pumpkin crunch soon became my favorite dessert.

I think it's very funny that this wonderful friend doesn't even like pumpkin crunch that much (I don't really hold it against her. She has some very nice other qualities.). But she kindly passed along the recipe her family uses to make it.

I don't have a picture of pumpkin crunch! But this is my Thanksgiving table last year.

My family has adopted it into our own Thanksgiving traditions, and this Thursday, when Peter and I are at his Uncle Jack's house celebrating the holiday, I will introduce it to them. I hope they love it as much as I do.

*A note about this recipe: Pumpkin Crunch isn't going to win any awards for being healthy or making use of local ingredients. Try not to hold that against it. I certainly don't.

Ronald McDonald would probably be excited about the amount of butter in this recipe.

You will need:

15 oz can of pumpkin
12 oz evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups pecans, crushed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix, without pudding
2 sticks butter, melted (!)
POST EDIT: My sweet friend tells me it is supposed to be 2 sticks of margarine, not butter! Use this if you want to be more authetic. And Southern.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, sugar and eggs in a bowl with a fork or whisk until smooth. Pour into a 9x13 inch glass pan (spray first with non-stick coating). Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle pecans over cake mix. Drizzle melted butter on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Making things

1. Check out my paper whites. I told you they grow really fast!

2. I hand sewed this cute little bird last night! I highly recommend this to new sewers looking for a quick project. It took about an hour and a half, start to finish. And that's mostly because I had to read the directions 800 times. Not that they were confusing. I was just paranoid about making a mistake.

Find the instructions here. It would be a great little weekend project. I'm going to try to make some more. And I also have another sewing project in the works! Hopefully I'll be able to share next week.

Purl

Last night I stopped at Purl Soho on my way home from work. It is such a bright, cheery little shop. I wanted to get a little bit of fabric for a project I found, and it was so fun to look through everything they have.


The girls that work there are so helpful and nice. I said some really cool things like, "This is totally the best store ever!" and, "I want to come back EVERY DAY." Not weird at all. They took it all in stride, maybe because they know they work at the best place on Earth.

Anyways, I made my little project last night. Check back later to see it!

House guest

One of my dear friends from college is staying with us for a few days while she goes to a conference in NYC. She is wonderful, obviously, but I didn't realize how much I would love having her around.

Last night, I made a pretty unsuccessful pork shoulder for dinner. I braised it in apple cider with apples, carrots and onion in the crock pot. Something I've done before, but yesterday, it was so bland. And almost greasy. Not the best thing I've ever made, by a long shot. But still, sitting at dinner with Peter and MMJ, chatting about teaching 9th graders Daoism and Thanksgiving plans. It was so lovely.

We made lime jello later on and Peter forced us to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (hate that stupid show!), but still.

And this morning! Getting ready together and drinking coffee and having someone around to tell me that my outfit looked cute! That's one of the things I miss the most about having roommates. It is so great to have an adorable person around that likes clothes and understands what jewelry you should wear with what, and can actually form an opinion when you ask if you should be wearing flats or boots with your outfit.

I really like this house guest thing so far.

Thank You and You're Welcome

"I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph. I am proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life."

Thanks, Kanye West.

On the green

We were able to fit in 9 holes of golf on Sunday morning before heading back to Brooklyn. It was lightly misting, which of course made me feel like a very intrepid sportswoman. Tough, dedicated, and all of that.

We went to Willow Brook in South Windsor, which is an Executive Par 3 course. Beginning golfers, can I give you a quick suggestion? Seek out an Executive Par 3 course! It is so gratifying to see the hole when you are at the tee, and know that it is a manageable distance you can actually hit.


We've played on larger courses before this, and it is really difficult to not get frustrated while you hit and hit and hit the ball, creeping closer to the hole. I can't tell you how obnoxiously pleased I was to drive the ball onto the green a few times. And even to make par on one hole!

Well, I guess I will admit that it involved hand-punching, some cheering, and a lot of fishing for compliments. But that's normal, right?

New Yorker

I love this video from the New Yorker showing how the artist created this week's cover using the Brushes application on an iPhone. Such a lovely cover.

Felting

I absolutely adore these felted pillows.


And the patchwork quilt? Darling. I also kind of want the baby that's lying on top of it, but umm...not for another three to five years (Peter, are you reading this? Just checking!).

Have you guys ever felted anything? I haven't, but it seems easy enough.

We're going to Connecticut this weekend so that we can meet with a wedding photographer (and hopefully play some golf!). I'm totally going to look for some old wool sweaters I can "borrow."

The power of butter

Trattoria Sostanza makes the best buttered chicken in the world. I've already shared this wisdom with everyone I know because I would hate for anyone to miss an opportunity to taste perfection in the form of a chicken breast.

My mom has been trying to re-create this dish at home since we first went to Italy as a family eight years ago. She would make a butter sauce to go on top, fussing around with very fancy clarified European butter, baking bone-in and skin-on chicken at a low temperature.

None of it worked.

And of course, none of that was neccesary. When they were there a few weeks ago, my mom was brave and decided to just ask what they did to make the chicken so life-changingly good. The wild answer is that they heat up a lot of butter and cook the chicken in it.

I made it last night in my cast iron skillet. It was absolutely the closest we've ever come to replicating it. One of the most powerful things about the dish is its very strong, rich smell, and I'm happy to say that this achieved that. Oh, the power of butter.

Photo of the original, taken my sister. But I swear, mine looked just like this!

Trattoria Sostanza style buttered chicken or Pollo al burro

You will need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 stick of butter
Salt and pepper

Add the butter to a small-ish cast iron skillet. Melt the butter over a medium-low heat until it is just becoming brown, about 10 minutes. A good tip from Sostanza was that the chicken should be packed into the pan because it gets less dried out that way. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto chicken and add to the skillet. Cook on one side for five minutes, then flip. Repeat, until both sides have been flipped twice (about 20 minutes cooking time total).

Pour all of that brown butter over the chicken. Don't be stingy! You've already decided to make a dinner with a whole stick of butter in it, so don't back down now.

At Sostanza, we always order buttered tortellini to go with it, but last night I served it with swiss chard-mashed potatoes and salad. A slightly lighter combination that was delicious.

Piacere!

Entertaining

Photo from Apartment Therapy

We are throwing a little Christmas party this year, despite my nervousness. I am so excited that a few friends from DC and my sister and her sweet boyfriend will be coming. It's still a long way off (NYC friends: mark your calendar for December 19th!), but I'm starting to look at different menu and entertaining ideas:

• Cranberry Caipirinha - we drank lots of caipirinha's in Brazil. It might be fun to do a holiday version of the drink for the party. Also, I'm kind of a sucker for pink drinks.
• White Crudites with Buttermilk Dip
• Classic Gougères - ever since I read about Molly Wizenberg's cocktail party fantasies in Bon Appetit, I've wanted to have one myself and serve these.
• Classic Cheese Plate
• Mini Meatballs with Yogurt-Dill Sauce
• Spicy, Sweet and Salty Rosemary Nuts
• Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark - these are so pretty, and so delicious.

Oh, I just love the holiday season.

Elf-like

I signed up for the Martha Stewart Christmas Workshop last week, mostly because it sounded awesome.

Today I got an email from Martha with the Christmas Workshop shopping list. It is nine (9!!!) pages long. The list for the first week alone includes: socks, red transfer paper (?), 1/2-ounce squeeze bottle with 0.5-millimeter stainless steel tip, baby wipes, elastic ribbon, glitter glue and so much more.

So, uhh, who's with me? It will be fun, I swear! Maybe!

You can sign up here.

Please?

Kick!

I have wanted to see the Rockette's since we moved to New York (three Christmas seasons ago!).

Dreams come true, my friends! Use this code: EM50SAVE to save 50% off non-peak performances through November 30th!

Because I like to live vicarious through my sister, and thought you might like to as well

Anyone want to guess where she was?

Sauced

Every year, my mom bought paperwhite bulbs to grow in our house during the holiday season. I love this tradition, and do it every year in my own apartment. It's so lovely to actually have something growing this time of year as opposed to dying. Some people don't like the scent they give off, but I think it's very nice and clean.

This is a fun little trick from Margaret at A Way to Garden: add 1 part alcohol to 8 parts water for your paperwhites. This prevents them from growing too tall and flopping over! I'm going to try it this year with my new little bulbs. I wonder if my flowers will like gin as much as I do.

They'll grow incredibly fast -- practically before your eyes. I'll keep you posted!

Quiz me

Back when Domino magazine was alive and well, they had a really cool program on the website where you could save all the decorating images you liked in one spot. Then you could label them things like, "bedroom," "patterns" or "curtains." When that awesome program was shut down along with the rest of the website, I migrated all the images into a folder on my desktop.

I thought that I had a pretty good sense of what my style was before I started collecting, but let me tell you -- it's really eye opening to see everything in one place. You get a really good sense of what your drawn to in terms of color schemes, furniture style and even lay-out.

That being said, it was really fun to take this little Ethan Allen quiz to see how they would describe my style in words. I think it's spot on! At least, this is what I'm aiming for...

What's the verdict on your style?