Since I've moved back from SLO, it seems as though my weekends have been non-stop! Its Sunday night and I'm pretty beat as I've tried to cram as much stuff as I could into 2 days. Tomorrow starts a new week and am pretty excited as I'm going to continue my hunt for items to decorate my house with.


The rest of the weekend was fun! We played a round of golf at our nearby executive course and I whooped the mister. Normally, I'm a few strokes behind but I was ahead by about 10. I even hit my first birdie! I'm excited to get back out tomorrow to hit some balls and keep this good golf juju going! I'm also learning how to cook and made ginger and broccoli beef which came out uh-MAZING! I paired my meal with this Crispin cider that had Belgian hops and maple syrup. I thought it would be sickeningly sweet but was pleasantly surprised that it had a mild flavor.

I woke up this morning and it was chilly. It felt like the seasons were just starting to change. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I love the heat! I love Summer! I love wearing shorts and burning my legs on my leather seats! Alas, in no time, we will be wearing boots and jeans and squishy, comfy sweaters and jackets. Ok ok... so fall won't be that bad after all. :)

While we are savoring the last moments of summer. I wanted to share with you a delicious sangria recipe I found on...yes, Pinterest! This recipe is different in that it uses champagne (or Prosecco) and not a red wine. I find red wine sangrias to be less flavorful. One with champers though... oh hell yes!

First, add 2 jiggers of orange liqueur or Grand Marnier to a cup of sugar to a glass jar. Also, have a chilled bottle (or 2) of champagne ready to go.

Then, cut up fruit and add it to the mixture and stir thoroughly. You can even mash the fruit a little so the juice will macerate.

Place the concoction in the refrigerator for no less than 45 minutes. When your guests arrive, open up a bottle of champagne and pour! Depending on how many people I have, I'll add another botttle. With 1 bottle of champagne added, it serves 4 wine glasses.


Have a fabulous weekend!

-Melissa

The other day, I was browsing in a used furniture store and came across this guy...


He one minor blemish on him and for only $16, I couldn't resist! Have you ever had one of those moments when you're just browsing and you find "IT" and you just know that's the one? That was one of those moments! I love the lines on the mirror. It just makes it even more Hollywood Regency looking!

Even the hubs was intrigued by it. He then asked how many celebrities in the 70's  partied with this tray... (oh my). We both took turns styling the tray and this is what we came up with

He chose:
A simple decanter with his favorite whiskey and a souvenir glass from his favorite beer event.

She chose:
Flowers and a textured container

Two totally different looks with 1 tray. How do you style yours?


Cheers!
-Melissa

I've been searching on Craigslist lately for all things brass and glass. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a set of faux bamboo inspired "brass" nesting tables within my price range. They were about an hour away so I jumped in the car and headed out to get them! They had been spray painted over in white so I knew I'd have to strip the paint to get to the "brass"... or brass-plating as I now know. I know that a solid brass piece would cost a pretty penny so brass-plated furniture would be my next choice.

Here they are "as-is" when I bought them



I met @west23rdstvintage (aka Kristy) while browsing her awesome Craigslist finds on Instagram (check out her IG, she finds the BEST stuff!) who told me of Citristrip, a gel-based paint stripper. My hubby went to our local hardware store and came back with this...




I was slightly skeptical as I looked at the bottle. This stuff is going to take off paint?! It was gooey, smelled really nice and didn't look menacing at all like paint stripper should look.
Boy was I WRONG.
I painted the orange goo onto the first table and by the time I got each leg covered, the paint on the first three legs started to bubble and pucker. Since this was my first time at the rodeo, I had a small scraper and was unequipped to deal with the aftermath that was the shedding paint off the brass.


The next day, I bought the after wash that Citristrip sells. Once again, I was inequipped and used a thick pair of rubber gardening gloves which lead to a minor chemical burn on my left thumb. After my project, we were having guests over and I thought I had dyed my thumb red from all of the cherries I'd chopped to go into a sangria (that post is definitely coming soon!)!!! Nope. I'd successfully peeled off a couple of layers of skin. I dressed it daily with Aquaphor and a festive band-aid and it has successfully healed after a week. LESSON LEARNED: WEAR THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT!


After my thumb fiasco, I tried to polish them since the brass was worn in a few spots. Did you know that ketchup can polish brass? Thanks to Google, I also learned that Coca-Cola and lemon juice can also do the same. The citric acid eats at the tarnish.



After realizing that this would take forever and the tarnish is actually rust in some places, I'd decided to spray paint them. And the finished product...




HOORAY!!! My first furniture restore! I have had this striped box/basket that I bought from The Container Store and since I'm incorporating stripes into this room, I thought this would be a good place to store throw blankets.

More to come... :)

-Melissa

I've tried my fair share of recipes on Pinterest and none have turned out as good as these gluten-free doughnuts! I made these for the second time this week just to be sure that they really are amazing and they just keep getting better and better! Prairie Hive's recipe is definitely a hit in my house. I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour ($8.99/box) whereas she used a Williams-Sonoma brand (Cup for Cup at $20). The doughnuts turn out cakey but a light and airy cakey consistency, kind of like a pancake! Add the glaze to it and you'll no longer have to go to Krispy Kreme. The dough itself only uses 1/3 cup of sugar and the glaze uses 1 cup of powdered sugar. Not too terribly sweet and I imagine you can even reduce the amount of sugar in the glaze.

Here is the recipe:

Makes 6 donuts, so I doubled this recipe for my dozen

• 1 cup GF all purpose flour (I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Vanilla glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FINALLY! I can blog about a piece of furniture now sitting in my living room! The hubby and I drove 2 hours into a little forest town to pick up this gem for only $30! Craigslist has done me right lately... I believe the most expensive thing I've purchased so far were the nesting tables for $55. For $30, I'd drive 2 hours for it. Crazy? I think not!

How far would you drive for a deal?

Here are some shots of my first piece of fancy furniture!


 
As you can see, "The Draper Room" is still a blank canvas. I plan on painting something on canvas and hanging it up above the couch. Our couches (there is another to the left) are from Scandinavian Designs and they are SO COMFY! I do love that there is so much light in this room!

I took this picture wrong but this shelf is my favorite shelf. Its the smallest piece of glass and I think this is where I'll put flowers weekly.


Is anyone else out there decorating (or re-decorating) their homes? What theme are you going with?

My blog (and first love) was originally about fashion but it has evolved. While I've been staring at Eames chairs and lusting over tufted benches and brass and glass lately, my mouth fell open when I saw these babies.

Kate Spade has a way of adding exquisite, masculine touches to her feminine line. I would absolutely add this to my work wardrobe or pair it with a printed dress on the weekends!

You can find the lovely Galley Flat here and comes in three different colors!

Enjoy!
Melissa