Repurposed Wine Bottles



Photo by Kim Fetrow

 I am crushing on these cute cups that I found over on Plastolux. They are made out of cut wine bottles that  were lovingly etched with a sand blaster and some clever templates. Check out the step by step here! They look amazingly easy to do using a cutting kit and etch cream (for those of us without sand blasting access.) Alas, I'm a bit sad that I found these a day too late as we had just tossed a million empty champagne bottles (exaggeration but the mimosas were flowing all morning!) from my bridal shower this weekend. I always hate throwing out pretty bottles and can think of a million uses for these little guys. I am obsessed with the "brush your teeth cup" and can already envision it in the bathroom, while the "chemist" cup would be perfect for cotton balls or Q-tips, or hair ties. You name it! Great idea for votives or vases as well. Oo! At the Plastolux site they also show a set of cups with numbers etched onto them- perfect for you DIY wedding people wanting to combine table numbers and floral arrangements in one elegant flourish! These are probably not the best craft for kids to do, hands on, but they could definitely create their own designs, as well as observe the process. Any ideas on what you would use these for in your own home?

Uh-oh

This post at babble via Frolic is no good at helping me curb my addiction.....bad. bad. bad.

Salt and Fat

          Last weekend we spent Sunday trying out a new restaurant in our neighborhood, Salt and Fat. This Sunday we spent the evening avoiding it. Not because it was bad, but because it was soooo good. I am a bit afraid that this could become a habit of ours, and while the food is delicious and makes our mouths very happy, it will also make our waistlines very sad. Perhaps we became so addicted since we tried a dish aptly named "Crack and Cheese." These were the only two pictures I was able to take of it.....





       As you can see, Daryll approves. What the bowl is missing is the fried potato gnocci, smothered with bechemel sauce and topped with bacon, that it momentarily contained. It was yum. Pretty rich, but not terribly heavy which was surprising. The restaurant has many small plate dishes meant for sharing. They also bring them out one at a time so you can complete one flavor profile before continuing. The next dish we sampled was the "Hanger Steak and Fries." This one really surprised us. The steak was incredibly tender and cooked medium rare. It just melted in your mouth. The fries were perfect, golden brown and salty. We ate it so quick I didn't get a chance to snap a pic. Ooops.

       Last course was the "Fried Chicken."

Fried Chicken at Salt and Fat. It took us a while but we decided that the Ranch sauce was spiked with lemon and Dill.

         Slap your Mama good. The batter was amazing. Salty and spicy without overwhelming the chicken, which by the way had to be the moistest chicken I ever had. (I hate the word moist. Eew. but that's what it was!) Apparently the chef uses a method called "Sous-vide" to maintain the foods flavor and quality while cooking. We quickly realized after this course that we probably picked the heaviest dishes in the joint, but since we were sharing and they were so carefully prepared, we left comfortably full. MMM soo good. It's going to be hard to walk by there now without stopping in for a "snack!" It is very exciting to have a new hip restaurant to go to in our neighborhood.

Weekend Uniform

The original weekend top
Mine is navy and white.

I've got a fever, but no, the only prescription is not more cowbell. I'm pretty sure the only prescription is more Mariner striped tops. I'm so addicted guys, it's getting bad. Like 12 step program bad. I guess the only comfort is that I don't actually buy all the tops I covet, just some. But I feel my resolve beginning to crack. I really want more stripey tops. I've been wearing the one pictured on the left like EVERY weekend since I purchased it (along with the ankle pants I bough from Talbot's as well. Those are also an obsession. P.S. the recent Talbot's spring campaign is very cute! And Julianne Moore is stunning in it.). I rationalized this top since it was a bit different from your typical Mariner fare. I also support my addiction on the premise that these tops are serious staple pieces. A Mariner top, well cut jeans, black flats, trench coat, biker boots- they will be your friends for a long time. Seriously every time I wear these items I instantly feel chic (well minus the biker boots....I am stalking those for my next staple purchase.)
Waa waaaa. Before this post went to press, I recently caved and went a little nuts at H&M by purchasing my new favorite. A RED stripey Mariner top.

 This is the first red one I have purchased, and I've now opened the door to a whole new realm of stripey tops. The possibilities are endless. Please someone affirm my choice in french inspired wear, and don't laugh at me when you see me in the same 2 tops every weekend.

DIY Centerpieces

I finally decided on/put together my DIY wedding centerpieces. We are having our reception in an Irish Tavern complete with stone walls and exposed wood beams..mmm.. and I struggled for ages to figure out what I could do that was romantic, rustic and cost effective without looking cheap. I also hemmed an hawed about posting "spoilers" for my own wedding on this blog, but then figured that no items that I posted could truly spoil a wedding. There are no predictions that can be made until the sum of the parts are witnessed, and in the end that is not the soul of a wedding day anyway. These are just little bits of fluff and prettiness. Bits of cheer to accent the day and maybe somewhere out there another sane bride is looking for affordable bits of fluff for her day too!  I know I spend hours myself googling babys breath centerpieces and finding many that I liked, but did not work for me, or were not fesable to make.
      Since we are getting married in Ireland, I needed to find a shop that was international where I could send and elf with a list, and have everything bought and ready to be assembled when we arrived. Enter my swiss boyfriend IKEA. Don't worry Daryll approves of this relationship. Ikea is there wherever I go in the world, and likes to provide me with pretty things (and meatballs), and I really don't owe him too much at the end of the day. It works out well. Here's how the centerpieces break down for those of you who would like to attempt something similar...

Supplies for each table...
1 Small Burken Jar (.5L)
1 Medium Burken Jar (1L)
Ribbon or twine or rafia of your choice
1 Fenomen set of block candles (5 piece)
1 Tolsby picture frame
20 stems of baby's breath (I paid $10 for mine here in NY just to test out. But it should be cheaper in bulk)
Table numbers from the Wedding Chicks! I love these gals!

Step 1- Prepare babys breath.
I acually approached this as a hand held bouquet. I still need more practice, but since I wasn't using an opaque container I wanted the stems to look pretty. It makes the top a little harder to control (i.e. make into a perfect pouf, but I think the "wildness" of it adds to the romantic look. Starting with one little bunch as the center of the bouquet keep adding stems in an even manner around the perimeter. I used a little more than half for the large arrangement, and created that one first to make sure it was lush enough. you may have to break off a few unruley pieces to keep it generally uniform, but it should be pretty easy.

Step 2- Cut to the appropriate height.
Do not cut the stems until you have assembled the bouquet. I think I may use a clear hairtie to bind the bouquet together. Then, using the height of the jar as your guide, measure how much of the stem you need to cut off to make the arrangement sit correctly. Running the stems under water while you cut I hear helps keep them fresh.

Step 3- Save or Assemble.
Create the smaller bouquet in the same manner. You could save these in buckets of cold water until a little closer to the event,  if doing them the night before. Or you can fill the jars with cool water and add the bouquets right there and then.

Step 4- Ribbon
I just wrapped cream ribbon around the mouth of the jars and tied them in clean knots. I plan on sealing the edge of the ribbon with a candle to prevent fraying. (This only works for Polyester mix fabrics and ribbon).

Step 5- Table numbers
I simply printed these off in Grey ink on regular printer paper and inserted them in the frame. The frame is two sided so it would be very handy if you wanted to put the number on the front and perhaps a menu, or a little welcome note on the back.

Step 6- Arrange on the table any way you like! I plan on having printed pictures and instruction sheets to hand out since D will most likely be setting up these the morning of the wedding with some elves.

At the end of the day, these priced less (for 2 arrangements with candles and a framed table number) than a small arrangement by most dublin florists! I think en masse they will be lovely.

Friday! Woot!

Frida Kahlo. In honor of our Cafe Frida trip. Amazing food, amazing woman.

Ah, another Friday is finally here! Thank God! It is actually one of the first weekend in a long time that the boy and I will both be off work together and there is lots to catch up on since we NEVER see each other. At least we live together or we really wouldn't see each other. Right now we are just getting by on good mornings and goodnights, but hopefully that will continue to improve. Tonight I am going out for dinner and drinks at Cafe Friday with some friends. Tasty! and then out more drinks to celebrate a friends birthday. Fingers crossed, Mr. Man will get off work at a reasonable hour tonight so he can join the festivities too. Saturday/Sunday are big ones. With our big wedding coming up in 12 weeks (AHHHH!) there is a ton to be done. (For those who don't know us, we had a little wedding last summer due to some immigration hurdles and are now planning our big religious wedding in Ireland). So on tap are the following....
Finish afters invitations and mail to Ireland.
Finish favors (Very excited that I just got my Divine Twine last week for these!),
Trial runs for the bride and bridesmaid bouquets so I can plan what flowers to order. Yes we are doing our flowers. In Ireland. The day before. No I am not psycho. I have a plan. And elves.
Touch base with our vendors and lovely attendants, order BM/GM gifts.
Start planning our drink tickets and seating cards.
Hang our new pictures from Ikea (not wedding related, but we need to change it up).
and finally craigslist the airconditioners that have been in our living room since last summer and need to go before the bridal shower in 2 weeks. (Anyone looking for a cheap almost new AC?!)

Ugh, I'm tired already. Any fun plans for you, blogosphere?

Green Goodness: Lunch Time!



From their facebook profile


Green Goodness is still here! I figured it's Patty's day week for another 2 days and almost the beginning of spring (which is another event that makes our brains scream GREEN! or at least mine anyway. Especially living in a frozen urban wasteland) so we might as well wrap this up. Besides, I've been dying to post on my new favorite lunch spot since I found it a week ago. Taim Mobile Food Van. Yes it's a van, or a truck or what have you, and it makes some of the best sandwiches I've ever had! (Check out the full restaurant here). The top of the roof is a lovely shade of lime green, but that's not why I picked it. I picked it because of their Falafal sandwich. Green Falafal at that! You're Welcome. No really, those of you who do not already know about this van should be thanking me. See, every day the line to get one of these sandwiches (or platters, or smoothies) gets longer and longer!  Like epically long. Soooooo long. It was pretty bad today. I waited 30 mins. Food vans or carts are supposed to be quick y'all. I was not annoyed tho, because it is worth the wait and it's always a good thing when you see fair priced, well produced and freshly made food being supported. In fact I'm hoping that this gets a bit out of control and they have the means and demand to open a location in Midtown West or 2 trucks! Or a truck on every corner! That would be nice! Their Green Falafal Sandwich is super fresh. Each one has about 4-5 falafal balls, hummus, Tahini, Israeli Salad and Pickled Cabbage (ask for the spicy sauce on the side too!) and at $5.75 is a little more expensive than traditional carts but a steal considering the quality of ingredients you are getting. So find out where they are headed next. Follow them on twitter, get their early and make sure you don't tell the impatient, hungry devotees in line that I sent you ;)