crafty fanny

day brighteners

Oy. I woke up this morning feeling slightly fuzzy-headed after one too many glasses of wine at Maggie's birthday party last night (my sweet puppy girl is 1!) and was just not feeling today.

That is, I wasn't feeling today until I discovered two of the most amazing things on the internets:

1. A blog that is dedicated solely to decorating with turquoise. WHAT?! For reals, y'all, what hasn't anyone told me about this before?

(all images via the uh-maze-ing House of Turquoise!)

2. Say it with me: Giraffe. Wall. Decals.

I can't decide if they should go in the kitchen or in my soon-to-be-redone office/studio (leaning toward the studio), but (best part alert!) you can get them in turquoise!!

And just like that I've come full circle.

Big thanks to Christine at Brunch and Apartment Therapy for rocking my day!

Now I have a kitchen to clean.

happy solstice!

I just realized that today is the longest day of the year. I then immediately sent Tim an email requesting backyard cocktails after work. 

I think today is going to be a very good day.

Happy celebrating, my friends! 

PS. Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka is very good. It tastes like sweet tea. It will give you a headache if you treat it as if it IS  sweet tea. Moderation, folks, moderation. Trust me, I know. 

PPS. I have shockingly few photos of cocktails. I'm going to work on this...starting tonight!

what home means to me

Good morning friends!

Today, I am participating in Pin-it-Forward organized by the lovely Victoria of sfgirlbybay. My mission (which I chose to accept) was to create a pinboard over on Pinterest (awesome site, btw) of what home means to me.

Shall we have a looksy and see what I came up with?

(print by Parada Creations found via the lovely Jessica Swift)

First and foremost, it seems that more and more these days, San Francisco and the Bay Area are feeling like home to me. But, honestly, I'm sure that someday France could feel like home too ;)

 

(Poster from Anderson Design Group & Paper Cutting found via Smashing Magazine)

Next up is color. You all KNOW that I'm tossing as much color into this mix as I can. I love everything about this image -- the colors, the books, the flowers, the whimsy! Ah! It's nearly perfect.

 

(Photo via Decor8)

Home also means comfort to me. And does anything else really say comfort like an un-perfectly-made bed? I think I could come home to this every night. And don't you love the duvet?

(Photo via sfgirlbybay)

And, of course, you've gotta have polka dots SOMEWHERE in the mix!!

 

(Photo via Sambellina)

  And giraffes!! You know I've got to have at least one giraffe ;)

 

(Photo via design is mine)

And finally, home is love -- somewhere you can just be with your friends, your family, yourself without feeling like you need anything else in the world at all.

(print by the ever-amazing Robert Ryan)

Thanks much to Victoria for organizing this massive endeavor! And be sure to check out A Modern Day Rapunzel tomorrow to see what home means to her! Many thanks, too, to Urban Mums who passed the baton to me.

Also, if any of you have any interest in checking out Pinterest (ha!) let me know. I have invites that I can send out -- it really is a fantastic program for saving photos and bookmarking things for later. Leave me a comment with you email and I'll send it out!

two things

I have 2 super fun things to share this morning:

1. Maggie graduated from her basic obedience class on Monday! I CANNOT believe that in the six months we've had her, she's gone from this:

to this:

Seriously, y'all, I don't know how people raise children without falling apart every second about how quickly they grow up.

2. May is Time Management Month over at Spring, and I just posted a video with my thoughts on the subject. Check it out and be sure to leave a comment to be entered into the perpetual calendar giveaway!

I love you because...

In keeping with what I wrote about on Tuesday, I'd like to share this little beauty from Seattle Show Posters.  I think it's such a great way to remind people of all the little reasons you love them.

 

I picked up this poster from San Francisco's Renegade Craft Fair and a friend framed it for me using an IKEA Ribba frame. We have it up in our kitchen, and I use it to write love notes to Tim.

Sorry for the horrible picture. And, yes, pull my finger cracks me up. Cause I'm 7.

On getting organized...

I am home from a few days up in the Portland area visiting my VERY pregnant friend and soul sister, Nicole. Now that I'm home and without any trips/retreats/workshops planned in the forseeable future, it's time to get focused and organized on my creative journey to make being creative my full time job! Whoa -- that's right, my job. Won't that be the best job ever?

Step 1 (or really step 1,000, 'cause let's tell the truth: I've been on this journey for a looong time): Get my space organized.

My confession for today (hey! It's Friday!): I am only pretend-good at being organized. I'm the kind of person who works really really hard to get a room put together and then everything looks great...until it's time to actually start a project or do something useful in the space. Then it all falls apart, and I have to start over again. This is a seriously not-fun cycle.

My space is the office/spare bedroom/guest quarters/painting studio in our very small house. This is a space that needs to be easily cleaned and easily used. I know myself and if I have clutter, I won't be able to go, to do, to create. Isn't it interesting how physical clutter can really weigh us down mentally and emotionally?

So, here's my question to you, readers: What do you do with all that stuff that you keep around for "someday?" Specifically: magazines. I have so many back issues of Martha Stewart, beloved Domino and Blueprint, and ReadyMade. I really hate the idea of parting with them, but are they just clutter?

Do you have a method for organizing and storing magazines? Especially when space and storage is at a premium? Any creative ideas for dealing with all the paper?

what's your sign?

How awesome would it be to have these Jonathan Adler Zodiac pillows on my couch (first spotted via I Heart You)? Super awesome, that's how awesome! 

I think I need these on our sofa to ensure that Tim and I are fully represented in our home!

For the record, Tim's the Libra, and I'm the Scorpio. I think we balance each other well. Or, really, he balances me well!

knocked up?

Hi friends!

Are any of you preggers? And looking for that perfect crib for your perfect nursery?

Cause if you are, will you pretty please get one of these GOR-GE-OUS lovelies so you can hand it down to me in a few years when I'm ready for a little one of my very own and you're so done with the crib thing?

I promise to be the very best auntie ever!

Thanks and XO,
~fanny

(Photos from desire to inspire, via Urban Grace Interiors)

wednesday's inspiration: julie & julia

We watched Julie & Julia on new year's eve. What an amazing film. If you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat. Julia Child's story was such an inspiration to me! And Meryl Streep? Superb. And Stanley Tucci? Superb! And the two of them together. OMG, superb!

The movie also made me want to run right out and pick up my own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. At least until I remembered my new year's resolution. No new cookbooks until I use the ones I have? Crap.

Tim's father got me Nigella Lawson's How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food for Christmas, and in the spirit of Julie & Julia, I made the following deal with myself: I can buy the Julia Child book only after I made ALL the recipes in the Nigella book. Bring it.

So far I've made two recipes from the book: Linguine with Clams on NY Eve and Eggplant Involtini for a friend's birthday. Both were lovely.

Cooking clams is incredibly easy, but the dish seemed super fancy at the same time. Didn't it turn out beautifully?

2 down, 348 to go!

nutella! a whole jar!

Yes, you read that correctly. This is the post wherein I talk about baking a cake made with an entire jar of nutella. And yes, it was as good as you think it would be.

We had hazelnuts in our fridge that were leftover from a Thanksgiving stuffing recipe and a jar of nutella burning a hole in my cabinet (we buy it at Costco), so in the spirit of not buying new groceries until I use what we have, I decided to whip up Nigella Lawson's Torta Alla Gianduia (Chocolate Torte with Hazelnuts), from her book How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Yu-um, what a treat!

Photo from recipezaar. I forgot to take a picture. Bad blogger!

If you're looking to make a cake that will impress folks, this is the one. It's lovely, even when it doesn't completely puff up and looks a bit sunken like mine did.

A few things to note if you're going to make it:

• Be sure to use softened butter, not melted butter. I forgot to take mine out of the freezer in time and I think the meltedness of the butter definitely contributed to the un-puffiness of the cake.
• This is a flourless cake (great for gluten allergies!) that uses a ground hazelnut meal in lieu of flour. I think that the hazelnuts should have been peeled before grinding, a step that I did not do but will next time. That might have also weighed it down.
• I did, however, peel the hazelnuts used on top of the cake. After a short internet search, I found that Julia Child's (!) method of peeling hazelnuts to be the best:
  

  Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda to 2 cups boiling water. Add the nuts and boil for about 3 minutes. Slip a test nut into a bowl of ice water. If the skin doesn’t come off easily, boil the nuts a little longer. When a test skin rubs right off, add the rest of the nuts to the ice water and peel with incredible ease. Dry the nuts or let them dry on their own and toast them in the oven. (HA! "dry the nuts" teehee)
  

And, my final tip: I had a difficult time getting the frosting to thicken up. Next time, I might try whipping the cream slightly before folding in the melted chocolate. Or I might just try to beat it in my KitchenAid instead of by hand.

Tim had no complaints about the extra, somewhat-runny frosting.

Viola, Nigella Lawson's Torta alla Gianduia:

for the cake:

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
• 14 ounces nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico or rum or water (I used water)
• 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts, scant
• 4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted

for the icing:

• 4 ounces hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico or rum or water (I used water)
• 4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Prepare a 9-inch springform pan: grease and line with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and nutella, then add Frangelico (or water), egg yolks, and ground hazelnuts. Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a dollop of egg white before gently folding in the rest of the egg whites a third at a time. Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 40 minutes or until the sides come away from the pan and then cool on the rack.

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until the aroma wafts up and they begin to brown. Transfer to a plate and let cool (V. Important!).

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, add the cream, liquer or water, and chopped chocolate and heat gently. Once the chocolate is melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency for icing just the top of the cake.

Ice the top of the cake and then dot heavily with roasted hazelnuts.

(Recipe from recipezaar, taken from How to Be a Domestic Goddess.)