Back to Basics. Or not.

The excess of Fashion Week sent me on a tailspin through my closet, purging and getting rid of anything I wouldn't buy again if I saw it in a store. I had thoughts of only wearing the bare essentials: grey dresses, blank pants, simple T-shirts.

But if I'm honest, the only thing that makes fall and winter fun for me is clothes that are a little shinier, sluttier, and more extravagant than the simple dresses of summer. I love fur (faux), sequins, luscious colours, lace and form fitting bodices. Stuff like this.

These shoes are a perfect example. I can't wait to wear them under purple tights, short skirts and lots of bracelets.

Six inch heel, pink sole= oh yes.

I went into Payless to get some cheap flats and I came out with these.

Close, no? Another great find was this gorgeous Christian Dior skirt. I got it for a steal and had it tailored to a better length.

Unfortunately, photographs don't do justice to this wool.

Damn, they don't make them like this anymore.

I was also gifted a top hat as a gag gift. What the givers didn't know is that I think it is awesome and plan on wearing it on days that aren't Halloween (and also probably on Halloween. I want to be Oscar Wilde).


I think it looks great with this simple Ann Taylor dress that can be worn a million ways. If I was feeling really touch-and-go, I'd wear that hat with this ever so slightly tacky outfit I've rediscovered for winter.

And by slightly I mean rather.
Coat: vintage, Dress: Calvin Klein, Belt: Vintage
Shoes: Payless

This outfit has already proved excellent for barely lit rooms, champagne and dancing.

Of course, there's a more elegant side to luxurious clothes. Demure, even. Like these vintage Diane Von Furstenburg satin heels.

They're pristine, so it's hard to know how old they are but I love, love, love them.

Lord.

I also finally found a good winter trench, so I can stop wearing my thin fall ones and freezing when I want a little Holly Golightly in the dead of winter.

I might not be the kind of girl who can live off of the basics. I just need a little something extra to get me through those long winter months. More fun for me.

Bracelet: vintage. Pin: family heirloon, Necklace: Century 21.

Blank slates.

For most people, finding an apartment and moving is a huge pain in the ass. And I don't like hauling and schlepping any more than anyone else, but I secretly kind of love the whole process. It means a blank slate that you slowly make your own. And we got one hell of a blank slate. Three bedrooms, a full bar, and a really, really big kitchen. Sometimes being outside the city has worthwhile perks.

My mom taught me how to move. One room at a time, and start with the bedroom. Make it beautiful.

My grandmother made that necklace holder- it's just a simple branch painted silver with some pegs stuck in it and I love it. The pictures are illustrations from The Lonely Doll that my mom copied and laminated. I love how their simplicity contrasts with the frilly necklaces. Also, I finally found a constructive use for my obsession with straw fedoras. Things you love are the best decorations.

I love shoes.

So, that's the bedroom. Here's our kitchen:


It has a naturally retro vibe, so I got some some old advertisements and hung them up.

How sweet is that clock?

There's also a pantry. Rue is quite fond.

The bathrooms have a similiar aesthetic, but they're still a work in progress.

Aren't we adorable water babies?

The danger in having a chalkboard in the bathroom is that I often give in to the temptation of potty humor. And by often I mean every day. I erased it for the picture but the words, "So was the sex with your mom, poophead" might have been written on there. The Boy is very patient.

Our basement is finished and has a wet bar in it. I maybe like to pretend it's a speakeasy. If Prohibition ever comes back, this will be the place to be. I used retro ads again, but these are a little older.

I think bottles are beautiful by themselves, so I tried to keep it simple.

I went more '70s in the living room- I was going for a kind of kitschy library feeling.

There are three of these awesome tea light holders. They're lanterns made of old Roman slides.

That turtle shell is older than all of us, and has travelled with me through three states and six houses.

My favorite part of the new place might be outside. I have a little garden. All summer I had cucumbers, green beans and lettuce and now it's time for beets, onions, cayenne peppers and swiss chard.

That's our home so far. My study is still a total, total mess. It looks like an insane arts and crafts teacher is squatting there. But I have some great ideas and I'll post as I decorate.

You're No Poet

"Yes, but you're no poet man
You just want everyone looking at you
So I'll show no frown

Because all over town, yes all over this town
There are people who would undermine you if they could
Don't let them in."
-The Kooks

Someone wrote something very nasty about someone I love in an obscure corner of the internet. I don't know who it was and I'm sure they thought neither of us would find it, but we did. And it hurt. But it also made me glad for the love and positivity in my life. This is a little more serious and personal than I like to be, so I'm going to link to a hilarious and awesome music video.



Much better. Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

Weekend

This weekend was fashion shows, music, and German food. I also heard from my friend in Germany, who I miss very much. Check out her blog about her German adventures:

mlreid.blogspot.com

More later.

My namesake

I was named after two strong, wonderful women: Sarah Bernhardt and my grandmother, Sarah D. Hartshorne. Although they were very different, they both held true to their values in the face of incredible obstacles, played it close to the chest, and did wonderful things for the world.

My grandmother was beautiful, although I think she didn't know it. Her mother was a renowned beauty, and Sarah felt like an ugly duckling growing up. She raised four sons and welcomed her home to them and their families at any time, at a moment's notice. At the same time, she taught, got her PhD, and was an intellectual giant.

She was not, like Bernhardt, a traditional mother or grandmother. She was always honest with me, even when I was very young. She spoke to me like a person, not a little girl. My father always credits her for making him bookish, as do I.

Here is a video of her making cookies with my cousin and I. This video shows, among other things, how giant and gangly my hands and feet are, and how beautiful my grandmother was.


She will be greatly missed.

Fashion week!

Lord. New York has lost it's mind and I love it. Models tripping around, designers losing their mind and everyone lining up outside the tents and the Waldorf Astoria. Exciting, bizarre times. More later, I promise. I'm going to a bunch of shows over the next few days and hoping for great pictures and champagne.

Labor Day recap

Had a fabulous long weekend in which I desperately clung to the remnants of summer (have not, exactly let go, as of yet).

Sunday night we grilled and ate on our gorgeous little porch:

Am I classy, or what?

I'm going for a French countryside kind of thing here, and I did it on the very cheap. Those chairs were castaways that I scooped up and spray painted red, and that table was from CVS. The candles are grocery store candles, and I think the Catholics use them in church. I just love their bright yellow colour, and they and the Christmas lights actually give off a lot of light.

For dinner we had grilled chicken, roasted rosemary potatoes, and grilled zucchini wraps. The chicken was really simple and easy but so delicious. I rubbed the chicken breasts with lemon and sea salt, then marinated it in fresh parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano, thyme and sage for a few hours wrapped in tin foil. Just throw the tin foil package on the grill (we have a cute little hibachi grill) and wait until it smells done:

The Boy tames The Fire.

The potatoes are easy too: combine olive oil, garlic, rosemary and sea salt in a big bowl. Then add the potatoes (I like the little red ones) and mix until the potatoes are coated with the herb mixture. Then bake at 350 until they're browned at the edges.

These are all super fresh and local.

The most complicated dish of the evening was the little zucchini bundles, but they are so worth the time and effort. I can't find the recipe I used, but I ended up changing it a bit anyways.

Zucchini Bundles

So. Delicious.

Ingredients (makes 4-6 bundles):

1 large zucchini
1 large tomato
1 slice onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
Approx. 4 oz. creamy goat cheese
4-6 basil leaves
Sea salt, to taste

Slice the zucchini, long ways, very thin. This can be tricky, since the thinner the slice the more likely it is to break. Spread a dab of olive oil on each slice. Be very conservative here, since too much oil makes it soggy. If you have a mister, which I do not, one mist to each side is perfect. Then sprinkle them with sea salt. Before you grill the zucchini, assemble the inside of the wraps.

Quarter the tomato. Depending on the size you can try and get six pieces, but make sure each is at least as wide as the zucchini and fairly thick. Put a few drops of oil on each slice, and, if you want, a little bit of fresh ground pepper. Put a dollop of goat cheese on top of each slice. On top of that, put one or two basil leaves. That makes up the inside of the wrap.

Grill the zucchini and the slice of onion until they are crispy and dark. Wrap each one around the tomato slices, and garnish with a piece of the crispy, grilled onion.

The recipe I used said to bake the tomatoes, but I loved how to cool tomato and the creamy cheese mixed with the smoky, hot zucchini. All in all, it came out to quite a feast.

We sat out, talking, drinking wine and poking at the fire (does everyone turn into a caveperson around a fire, or is it just me?) until late.

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and is returning to the daily grind a little renewed. I'll have a post showing off my spoils of the weekend soon.

Tardiness, as a rule.

Ok, so by September 1st, I obviously meant September 6th.

Here's what my summer has been, in a nutshell:

Beautiful swimming holes

I always lived by rivers as a kid, and everyone knew where the best swimming holes were so I was surprised when I moved to the cushy suburbs and everyone gave me blank "I have a pool" stares when I asked. So I found this awesome website. Pretty self explanatory, really, and very helpful.

If I could, I would swim every day, all year long.

I also ate at Casellula in Hell's Kitchen with some old friends.

Best. Cheese. Ever.

The Boy and I decided to take a long staycation this summer. We visited friends, ate good food, went to museums, and just did whatever we felt like. We even went to Six Flags and I faced my huge fear of roller coasters and went on the biggest, scariest one in the country. But I'm not going to post a picture of that. It just wasn't pretty. So here's some of my favorite art from the Met (where I could spend every day for a year and not get bored):

I also got to see my lovely, talented, gorgeous cousin in a Broadway play. Afterwards, we went to the best Japanese restaurant I've ever been to. It is, for some reason, hidden in the basement of a building that has another Japanese restaurant, but it has great authentic Japanese food, and not just sushi.

The atmosphere is gorgeous, and Joanna and I took it very seriously.

We are very solemn people.

So that's been my summer, in a very small nutshell. I also made great strides professionally, and have been decorating my gorgeous new house! Pictures coming soon (I mean it), it's super messy at the moment.

But this long weekend has been all kinds of fall cleaning and a little bit of fall shopping.