It’s the flock that’s sweeping the nation. All the cool kids are doing it, even my mom and she is indeed a cool kid. Remember that ridiculous white flocking that reined supreme in the early 80s on your grandmother’s Christmas tree? Well, it’s back baby and big time. To scroll through my Instagram roll or my Pinterest page, it almost seems like a race amongst designers and interior bloggers alike to get these things flocked, trimmed and photographed just as fast as they can. Ready, Flock, Go! They are everywhere and I have to say, I love them. It’s a White Christmas indeed.
Photos: Janis Nicolay, Jamie Lauren, Primitive and Proper, Eddie Ross, The Doctor’s Closet
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, dear readers. We’re currently en route back from a weeklong holiday vacay with the fam in Texas. It was restful and fantastic and really great to unplug for the week. I hope you all have had a fabulous holiday vacation and are gearing up for New Year’s. What a wonderful year it’s been, I feel very lucky and grateful. Here’s to taking some time to celebrate the year and ring in the next.
What I’m Drinking:
Lots and lots of bubbly! ‘Tis the season, right? I’m digging pink bubbles at the moment so I’ve got my heart set on a delicious Languedoc pink sparkler that I recently sipped with my friend Anna in NYC- a NV Paul de Coste Brut Rosé. The Languedoc always makes me happy, it’s fresh and minty- full of that great garrigue herbiness and zesty- just right for a New Year’s celebration. The Langedoc is a bit of an unsung hero, I’ve never been disappointed by it and it’s tres affordable. Pink bubbles from the Languedoc= divine. I love this Austrian bubbly too, inexpensive and really good. Those Austrians rarely disappoint when it comes to their vino.
A Few Things:
Great interview with the legendary Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
A New Year’s réveillon? Anything that is defined as a long meal with lots of bubbly and good conversation is something I’m down for. I like it.
What a pretty and colorful holiday table! I love the pomegranate seeds and brie!
If you find yourself in need of a jolt of inspiration, check out my friend Amy Dickerson’s instagram account. A professional photographer whose posts will slay you.
Happy New Year to you all and Cin Cin! Welcome 2014.
On a recent action-packed trip to NYC (no work and all play- hooray), I managed to squeeze in a little pre-Christmas party prep with one of my best girls, Meghan Frank. It was the first time I had visited her in her fab Park Slope abode with her hubby and we had such fun catching up and prepping for her annual birthchristmukkah party. Her birthday is around the holidays- Happy Birthday Meg!- so she always throws a big blowout. I couldn’t stay for the party (sniff) but making these pretzel treats with her was maybe just as fun.
Meghan’s become quite the domestic and I was super impressed with her homemade New York cheesecake cupcakes as well as her ambition to make these little salty sweets. All of this from a girl who is a full time, hard-hitting television journalist- seriously folks. These pretzel rods are so easy to make and pretty too, that I had to share. This is one that the kids would love (and clearly the adults too).
Here’s What You Need:
2 Bags of Pretzel Rods
3 bars of good quality dark or milk (or both) chocolate
Sprinkles
Pistachio Pieces
Sea Salt
Coconut Flakes
Here’s What You Do:
1. Break your chocolate bars into pieces
2. Place in a saucepan and slowly melt over low-medium heat (or just microwave in a bowl)
3. Dip each rod into the melted chocolate using a spoon to smooth out the chocolate
4. Decorate with whatever topping and decorations you like (some we just sprinkled with sea salt- yum!)
5. Et Voilà- just lay on parchment paper until dry.
Enjoy! Do you have any favorite holiday treats that you love to make? Do tell.
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks… well, you know how it goes. I gave myself 20 minutes to soak up the holiday cheer on NYC’s 5th Avenue yesterday. Midtown is a bit bonkers this time of year so I don’t like to spend lots of time on that part of the island, but I always have to at least step foot on the Avenue with all that holiday glow.
Just a few snaps of the holiday spirit- the Cartier building (my favorite- that bow!), the snowflake on 57th, the rink at Rockefeller, the windows at Saks, the toy soldier on guard outside the St. Regis, and a spiky gold ornament at Gucci. Good clean Christmas-y fun.
1. A return stamp in the shape of the sender’s home state. I absolutely love this. It won’t make it in time to be stuffed in a stocking, but a print out of this stamp will do just fine. Home State Personalized Return Stamp, $65
2. I don’t know if a Nutcracker is really a necessity these days, but this one’s pretty great looking. Normann Copenhagen Nutcracker, $56
3. I love a giant initial. Monogram Sweater, $30 (take 20% off with LASTCHANCE)
4. Because with the advent of the smartphone, everybody’s a photographer- myself included. These little lenses will up their photography game. iPhone Shutterbug Lenses, $49
5. A giant horseshoe magnet strong enough to hold your dish towel and still look cute on your fridge. Horseshoe Magnet, $14
6. What lady doesn’t want a great little lucite tray to display her jewelry? The better to see it with, my dear. Muji Lucite Tray, $28
7. Metallic loafers? Yes please. To be worn with everything all season long. Gold Metallic Loafers, $45 (take 40% off with GAPXMAS)
8. Provisions 52, the market brainchild of Food 52, has loads of great gifts for the cook in your life. I am partial to these little beauties: $260 Pistachio French Steak Knives, $160
A few last minute ideas for the wino in your life- what we really want. Forget the fancy decanters- real winos know we can just use a well-shaped flower vase- and don’t even think about buying us one of those ridiculous Jurassic-sized wine openers, wine keys only please.
1. A dated wine stopper, so we know exactly how long that bottle’s been in the fridge. $60
3. A stylish wine tote. Double bottle please. Not only do we never show up empty-handed, but we usually can’t choose between bottles. Two is always better than one. $19
5. Grower champagne. Any self-respecting wino will flip over a great bottle. Some of my favorite growers include Eric Rodez, Vilmart & Cie, Guy Charlemagne, Egly-Ourliet and Pierre Moncuit. Pony up to your favorite wine shop and ask your local merchant for a good recommendation. If you trust them and they know their stuff, they’ll deliver. Pricing varies but you can get a great bottle for around $40.
6. Shatterproof wine glasses. The proper way to picnic (or bbq). Wine tastes better from a proper glass, there may be no hard evidence to prove me right on this front, but we all know it’s true. Solo cups just don’t cut it and who wants to haul around a bunch of glassware anyway. GoVino makes the best and most stylish shatterproof stemless-ware around, with a thumb notch to boot. $12.95
7. A vintage champagne bucket. For the old school wino who prefers their bubbly served up from a French 20th-century chiller. My personal favorite- you cannot go wrong with this gift. $60
8. A stylish and functional wine key. Those overgrown rabbit ears are for hobbyists. Real winos use the tried and true wine key to pop their corks. Whitney Adams has given the key a stylish update with a gold dip. $18
9. A grape varietal chart. Because real winos never stop brushing up on their grapes. $25
A few last minute ideas for the gal who loves her baubles. It’s always nice to find a sparkly surprise in your stocking, isn’t it!
1. Signature Necklace by Brevity
-for the gal who loves an uber-personalized gift, this one won’t make it in time for Christmas but it’s worth the wait
2. Birds of Paradise Necklace by Lizzie Fortunato
-not for the faint of heart, this one’s great if you’ve got the bucks and your lady really has somewhere to go
3. Green Studs by Kate Spade
-sparkly and versatile, I wore the light pink version to the White House
4. Rosey Earrings by Moorea Seal
-statement studs on the cheap
I’m a sucker for letters. I love the look of a singular letter and thought it would be a great way to personalize my Christmas presents this year. I really like the way these pretty presents turned out. This is a Kelly-proof DIY which means it’s easy, painless and fun- a must for me these days.
Here’s What You Need:
1. A cute roll of metallic wrapping paper (I picked up these faux bois and polka dot numbers at Target)
2. A colorful pop of ribbon and maybe a black and white striped one too (found at Paper Source)
3. Stencil set (Paper Source)
4. Oil pastel crayons (Paper Source)
5. Self-adhesive label paper, you can buy this pre-cut in pretty shapes or just plain sheets that you can cut. I went for the natural brown paper, looks great against the metallic wrapping paper. (Paper Source)
6. Scissors and tape.
Here’s What You Do:
1. Wrap your present
2. Stencil the first or last initial or the recipient’s name on a sheet of label paper.
3. Cut out the stenciled label if you don’t have pre-cut labels.
4. Stick the stenciled label on your gift.
5. Tie a pretty ribbon around it.
6. Ta-to-the-Da! You may have a hard time giving this one up and seeing it ripped to shreds, but they’ll love it.
As promised, here are my thoughts on the Volver ’11 Single Vineyard Tempranillo that I partook of over the weekend.
Good. Honestly and solidly good, and especially good for a $12 bottle of wine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this wine and in fact there’s a lot that’s quite right about it. Perfect with any hearty winter dish, it’s dusty and hot (but not too hot) just like the region it’s grown in, La Mancha, Spain- yes that La Mancha of Don Quixote lore. Sipping this dusty, dark berry-filled wine makes you feel like you’re out on the Spanish plains waving your sword at those iconic windmills Quixote-style, or at least it did me.
I tasted the ’11 and really liked it, but I would imagine the ’10 might even be nicer with a bit of age on it to simmer down the wiliness of this Quixotic red.
Happy Weekend dear readers. It’s Santa Lucia Day! Cue my annual viewing of one of the most fantastic and hilarious holiday movies ever- The Ref, of course. Have you seen it? If you haven’t, you will not believe it’s taken you so long to see this little masterpiece. It’s seriously unbelievably funny with a killer cast- Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis and Denis Leary, not to mention the hilarious Christine Baranski (“slipper socks… medium”- my favorite line of the movie). The script is flawless. If you don’t mind a little profanity and uncomfortable family gatherings in your holiday movies (just the way I like ‘em), you’ll love it.
What are you all up to this festive weekend? There will be brunching, imbibing, playing (never too much play for those bebes) and general merriment around these parts, and maybe some rest too if I can manage to squeeze that in. We’re taking the bebes to Sesame Street Live tomorrow- woohoo- they love that Elmo so we’ll see what they think. I’m hoping to finally get my Christmas cards out, we’ll see how that goes- doubtful.
What I’m Drinking This Weekend:
I’m popping open a bottle of ’11 Volver tempranillo. I’m kind of in a Spanish mood these days, maybe because I’ve been talking to my friend Alana, of the fab Analogue Guides, who currently lives in Barcelona. Volver was recommended by another wino pal. It’s red, it’s rich, it’s hearty, it’s single vineyard, it’s $12 and it shares the same name as the great Almódovar film- ok, I’ll give it a shot. I’ll let you know what I think on Monday. I’m planning on making this City Bakery Pretzel Chicken as an experiment in whether or not the kiddos and the adults can dine on the same dish- maybe not the most perfect match with the Volver, but the mustard-baked chicken promises to be a hearty so we’ll so how it pairs.
A Few Things:
This makes my friggin’ day! Faith in humanity restored.
.A rare Redford interview and it’s 40 minutes long with the incomparable Terry Gross. Awesome.
Maureen Corrigan’s Best Books of 2013. If only I had the time or energy to read more than one page a day. Filed away.
Former showgirl, forever travel junkie, sometime sommelier, and mom to twin bebes. This little blog is a mixed bag of tasting notes, travels, tales of motherhood, and current musings. Thank you for stopping by. Cin Cin! (photo by Amy Dickerson for Anthology Magazine)
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