PNW Wishlist

Chase and I were originally supposed to go back to the Northwest for Thanksgiving, but now that we have Anderson, plans have changed a little. We’ve decided to stay in Austin for the holiday weekend, and I am pretty excited about it. I’ve never just stayed home for Thanksgiving, and I think it will be a wonderful, relaxing treat to avoid crazy airports and rushed visits that never quite feel like a vacation.

But, since I was totally psyched to be in rainy, cold weather for a long weekend, I still had raincoats and warm clothes on the brain, so I decided to practice my photo editing skills and pull another one of these wishlist boards together.

My Pacific Northwest wishlist:

1. This awesome shirt that was actually inspired by the Northwest and made in Portland, OR.

2. I love, love, love wool socks! Particularly men’s wool socks because they are always bigger and fluffier than any women’s socks on the market.

3. Although not quite a raincoat, I really love the color and light-yet-durable look of this coat. All that’s missing is a hood! (Speaking of raincoats, when did this classic piece of clothing go out of style? In doing online searches, the internet turns up little in respect to honest to goodness rain jackets, with a hood and buttons and rubber and stuff! What’s a girl got to do to find a trendy, practical water-resistant coat?)

4. This local Austinite makes some killer scarves. I am not usually one for color or intricate patterns, but I am loving this scarf.

5. The inevitable Pendleton piece. Is any reference to the Northwest complete without mentioning Pendleton?

6. I love a tall boot, but these short ones look perfect for slipping on and off and avoiding the shoe-removing shuffle that always occurs when one attempts to pull off a boot.

Can’t wait to be back in the Northwest again!

Serious Coffee

Image by Michael A. Muller for Kinfolk

I’ve already posted a bit about my love for coffee, and now that it’s starting to cool down a little around here (a high of only 86 today!) I thought I’d share a few of my favorite places to sit outside with a cup of coffee.

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Before & After: Built-in Shelves

I have some wobbly, built-in shelves that serve the purpose of collecting all the random, homeless items around my apartment.

I really like the shelves, but it’s hard to keep them tidy-looking, especially because they are right by the front door and inevitably attract more and more stuff.

Today I decided instead of half-assly moving a few things off the shelves and into drawers, I’d do a full reorganization.

Before:

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My Birthday Wishes

My birthday is coming soon! Here are some of the things I am in want of!

1. This awesome print.

2. A new tattoo! My wheels are spinning these days, and I think I am dangerously close to adding a 4th to my collection.

3. Here’s to wishing I was back in the Northwest so I can get my hands on a cold brew all summer long.

4. This other beautiful print. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up every morning and have a view of foggy mountains? Even if it’s in a frame, and not through your window…

5. I’ve already worn out one of these box cut tees, and I am thinking of investing in 3 more.

6. This drum stool is everything I want in life rolled into one wonderful, perfectly impractical piece of furniture.

7. I am not really sure if skin toner is a myth or a miracle, but I’d like to try it out, and this one looks just fine to me.

PNW Love

Chase and I went to visit his family in Oregon/Washington last month, and it was simply incredible. We took a weekend trip to the Oregon coast, and I fell in love. Here are some of my favorite photos.

#15 Birthday Menu

This isn’t exactly a project, but seeing how I have already exceeded my initial 50 projects in 52 weeks challenge, we’ll take what we can get, eh?

I didn’t have anything extravagant planned for Chase’s birthday last month, but I still wanted to make it feel special. Everyone loves to wake up on their birthday morning and have a little surprise waiting for them, just to kick off the day. Chase, like many other mid-twenties males (I assume), is not exactly “easy” to buy for and plan for. He likes to be home, he likes to be in familiar places, he doesn’t like flash and dance and sparkles and glitter – which made things challenging.

I had to figure out how to make the familiar feel new and special again, and here is what I came up with: a birthday menu.

Designed like a restaurant menu, I sectioned the day into morning, noon, and night, and chose a couple options for each time of the day. The result is that he got to have a perfectly curated day made just for him, while also avoiding my usual impulses to try to plan a surprise party, or some other heinous activity. Here was the final product, that I printed out and had ready for him in the morning.

Here are some shots from where the day went:

We started at South Congress Cafe for a nice brunch.

And continued on for a green smoothie at Picnik. Usually we go to Picnik for the butter coffee, but we had already hopped up on too much coffee at breakfast, so we opted for smoothies instead.

We lunched at Violet Crown Cinema, and caught an afternoon movie.

And then went home to rest and get pretty for a nice seafood dinner at Clark’s. Behold their gold silverware, which I nearly pocketed.

Overall, it was a very indulgent and perfectly crafted day. Chase felt pampered, but not overwhelmed with party obligations. It was wonderful, and I will probably repeat this process every year, and include our ever-growing list of favorite spots in Austin.

Photos edited with the A Beautiful Mess app for iPhone.

A Brief Study on: Coffee

It was not until I moved to Austin that I realized there was such a thing as a good cup of coffee. Coming from Miami, and a Latin family, I was drinking coffee - cafe con leche - since high school. And I was no stranger to a great after-lunch espresso. But when it came to a cup of coffee, I have to admit, I was a frequent patron of, what some may call, the antichrist of coffee - Starbucks. After moving to Boston, I was briefly won over by the watery delightfulness that is Dunkin’ Donuts, because you can’t live in Boston and not be a fan of Dunks. Literally, speaking out against Dunkin’ Donuts in Beantown is not only dangerous, but a direct request to get a beatin’.

So, it was not until I made my way into the deep center of Texas that I happened upon real, genuinely, good coffee. I can proudly say that I’ve found my way from the standard drip coffee machine, to the French press, and now a Chemex. Chase loves coffee, too, and has made it his mission to achieve that perfect cup of coffee with every brew.

Being that we’ve become more aware of the coffee we choose to drink, I felt it would be fun and fitting to add a little coffee station to the kitchen.

I went to Target and picked up a wooden tray (I swear, I found a tray just like the linked one for only $7 in the store, but cannot find the exact one online), a small set of canisters, and then fell down an online rabbit hole searching for the most adorable coffee scoop known to man.

Here are a few wonderful scoops I found during my search.

Clockwise: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

But today, friends, my search has finally ended. Behold the most perfect coffee scoop, in all of its tiny, plump glory. Look at them curves!

I purchased it at one of my favorite stores in Austin: Take Heart. Their online shop is not up just yet, but I believe they are working on getting one started.

In July I will be visiting one of the Meccas of coffee, Portland, Oregon. On my last trip to Portland, I tried vacuum pot coffee for the first time, and I look forward to trying it again.

And, just for fun, here are my favorite places to grab a cup of coffee in Austin: Once Over / Bouldin Creek Cafe / Blue Dhalia Bistro

Kate Spade: 100 Under $100

I recently came across Kate Spade’s 100 Under 100 shop, and it’s dangerously amazing.

Here are a few of my favorite items!

Adding to my kitchen:

#1: I recently did a small kitchen re-do and chose to use light wood and black accents. But I really love these bowls, despite the vibrant colors.

#2: This mug! So yellow, so loud, so… not me. But why do I love it? And why do I feel like I need 4 of them?!

#3: Summer time brings the need for large, glass items that can hold lots and lots of icy cold beverages. I recently made iced green tea with lemon and honey for the first time, and this carafe would be perfect to make it in!

#4: Tiny things. I love tiny things. I also love espresso, and I would love some espresso in these tiny cups.

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#14 Desk: A tutorial on what not to do

Originally, I had grand plans to make a floating desk. I was going to follow the linked tutorial, but modify it by using another piece of the plywood I had from my coffee table. This, as you will read below, was an epic (or at least moderately depressing) fail.

Cost: Roughly $90 (I had not originally planned to have it be so costly; it was due to unforeseen complications.)

Time: 3 hrs +drying time (This is not including IKEA assembly, which can range from 3 minutes to 62 hours, depending on how well you’re able to interpret instructions that have been drawn by a 5-year-old.)

(By the way, I HATE electrical cords. Possibly more than anything in the world. And I consider it a horrific failure on the part of mankind to not have everything be cordless by 2013. I mean, come on!)

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#13 Coffee Table

I am going to ignore the fact that I haven’t posted in 5 months and just get right into it.

Cost: Roughly $75

Time: 1 hour, plus drying time

Coffee table! Although I have not been posting, I have still been crafting! The new apartment is slowly coming together. One of the first things I did was make this super easy coffee table that hardly requires a tutorial, because it’s literally a piece of wood and some legs.

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