What we had for lunch - adding some green

B pretty much refuses to eat anything green other than broccoli or peas. I have been forced to become a little sneaky and do things like this. Sautee a little arugula, add jarred marinara sauce (Newman's Own Marinara, in this case) heat and puree. Served on a snowy afternoon with pasta, peas, and some grated cheddar.

Baby Boy says something cute

Baby Boy watched an X-men cartoon yesterday with his Dad (we were snowed in along with the rest of the North East!) which has led to a new game. Jumping around on the couch and setting things on pretend fire by shooting pretend fireballs out of his hands. He says "SHHHHHHHHOOOOOO! Your Fired!"

Vintage How-To - Playhouse

This project is from a Better Homes and Garden Book from 1977, Outdoor Projects You Can Build. I actually have a huge collection of vintage design books and how to books that I often reference for work. I thought this would also make a great bunk bed project, sort of like the Kid's Room from Studiomama that made the blog rounds last year.



On another note, more of my tech illiteracy, I need to figure out how to increase the quality of my scans.

Cool Idea

I love this idea via the kitchn! I also have one of those oven handles that sits very close to the oven door, so little room to slip my towel behind it. This is a project simple enough that even I can finish it in one go.

What we had for dinner last night

Pizza Toast. This is another left-over/quickie dinner that B really likes, definitely not a new idea (god knows I remember eating this quite a bit when I was a kid!) I started with the photo of the final product, but here is what I had to start with:

A yellow pepper(that I meant to use for a tex-mex take on red beans and cornbread, but haven't gotten around to making this week)
Some baby spinach (from my own salad making ingredients that I never seem to make it through)
3 different kinds of cheese, Romano, sharp cheddar, and jack, with just a tiny bit left of each.
Health Nut Bread from Arnold (My dad always got this for us as kids and both my sister and I love it and crave it. It is yummy and nutty, and full of whole grains, though it does have some sugar in it.)
Newman's Own Organic Pasta Sauce, Tomato and Basil
Frozen Peas (I only buy the Cascadian Farm Organic ones. I thought it was my imagination that they tasted better than the regular ones, but B refuses to eat the regular kind. These really are rounder, brighter, and they hold their "crispness" and "vegginess" when they are prepared.)


Assembling the ingredients is the hardest part of this dinner. I popped the peas and the sauce into a pot and let them heat up for a few minutes over a low flame, just to warm up the sauce and defrost the veggies. While I was doing that I pre-toasted the bread. This is important because if you don't do this it will come out of the toaster oven soggy. I also chopped up about 1 quarter of the pepper and washed the spinach. After the bread was toasted I set my toaster oven to broil, and B and I assembled our pizzas. The real question here, at least in my mind, is whether to put the veggies over or under the cheese...matter of personal preference I guess. For the record I put the veggies on top, except for the peas which were mixed in with the sauce.
I decided to throw some sunflower seeds on the top at the last minute because they were sitting out on the counter and looked good, but they were really too much with the health nut bread. They probably would be good with just a plain whole wheat (or almonds...)
Popped it in the toaster oven, and let it stay in until the cheese started to melt and brown....about 3 or 4 minutes I think.

Simple dinner and easy way to get my B to eat some veggies. Quick too. In fact I think writing this post took me longer than cooking this dinner!

Inspiration: Chalkboard Headboard

kid room, garnet hill
Originally uploaded by shalomama

I must admit that I am fully on board with the chalkboard wall trend. In this apartment I haven't done one, but in my previous apartment I painted a whole room with chalkboard paint, and the apartment before that (almost 10 years ago!) I created a huge 4' x 6' chalkboard in our entry. I loved this idea that I saw a while back in Garnet Hill's catalog. They turned the wall at the head of the bed into a chalkboard...I know this was just a bit of clever styling meant to sell the solar system bedding (which I also love!) but I see it as an even cleverer solution to changing themes in a bedroom for a growing child. If you were an artsy sort of parent you could do a new wall mural every few months (or even just a few times/year, as chalk smearing necessitated) to reflect the changing interests of your young one. A quick bedding swap from time to time, and walla, it's years before your kid outgrows their room!

Collage?

Not sure this is exactly what I want, but at least it gets all images together instead of floating about...was really easy to do with Picasa.

East Village Craigslist

I've been really missing living in Manhattan lately. I started to furnish my imagined East Village abode from Craigslist last night, and today it all seemed to come together with a few additions from Overstock and ebay.


I loved this little round table (perfect size for my new (imagined, but lets be realistic) smaller abode...and have always lusted after the eames shell chairs with the wooden eifel base and these knock-offs are on sale at Overstock for $187/pair.


Next up the living area...I still need to find a coffee table but I love this sofa with the vintage industrial rolling cart as a side table and this rug:

I really love this chair, but feel like it needs something a little more subtle (and a little softer)then the hit you in the face green, so I found this vintage french ticking fabric on ebay.

















And of course I couldn't live without books, and everyone needs some extra storage, so these metal shelves from HON (there are 3 available, so perfect to line a wall) fit the bill, but I would add some vintage wallpaper to peep out from the back, maybe this busy, but bright pattern that I keep watching on ebay but never seem to buy:


Finally a few accessories; these antique drafting stools (there are four available) would look great set at different heights with a few ferns on them in a corner or by a window, they also continue the sort of industrial theme I have going in the shelves and tables so far, maybe could even use one of them with a lamp on it for a side table next to the chair:

and finally a mirror to hang over the sofa:

I like this one because it is smoke glass, so a little more subtle than a regular mirror.

That's it for my imaginary move to the East Village...on a side note, I really need to figure out how to lay out a photo collage on the computer so I can put together inspiration boards......

Oh, one more thing, all of these craigslist items are located in the east village (except for the mirror, which is in the west village) so easy pick-up and delivery.

What we had for dinner last night

I have been embracing soup this winter, and one of the easiest things I do is make what I call my left-over vegetable soup.
Just saute about half an onion and a few cloves of garlic in a little bit of olive oil. Add a pinch of salt. I don't know exactly how long I saute for, but usually while I cut up veggies. For this soup I had carrots (about 4, medium sized)and broccoli (a little more than one head), since carrots take a little longer to get soft I threw them in the pan while I chopped up the broccoli. Tossed the broccoli and carrots about until the broccoli was bright green, about two minutes, then added two cups of veggie broth (this makes a thick soup, and you could add as much as 4 cups) Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for about 5 min. (I always just test the veggies by taking some out with a fork and tasting to make sure they are tender, but not overcooked) My son will only eat soup if it is pureed so I keep an immersion blender about, which is perfect for this task. Salt and pepper to taste.

I added some sharp cheddar and a piece of whole-grain toast. Probably could have added a little more protein, white-beans maybe? but B and I enjoyed our warm dinner.

Detail

A little detail of the vintage throw, against the Thomas O'Brien for Target coverlet.

My Bed

Sorry for the off-colors in this image. Been having a hard time getting good shots in the dead of winter with my little point and click...I am longing for the sunlight to come back! Anyhoooo, I like the mix of patterns on my bed. The art over the bed is a street find. I'm not sure if it is the right scale, I might move it, but I like it well enough for now.

Vintage Curtains

I cleaned out my fabric closet yesterday...this is my collection of vintage drapes...I used to have even more but I sold some and gave some away. I swear I'll use these one day.

B and his Dad

Two of the greatest things about living in NYC are The Museum of Natural History, and street hot dogs. Here are my boys enjoying the later while sitting on the steps of the former.

Cache of Los Angeles Vintage Trikes

It seems that now that I have found out where these bikes are from I keep seeing them. Don't know where I found this pic, it has just been sitting on my desktop for a while, but there are two more of Los Angeles vintage designs sitting front and center amongst all of the modern kid's bikes.

Baby Boy's room at Ohdeedoh!

I entered baby boy's room at the big color contest on ohdeedoh, and they actually put it up. I am overly excited by this. Now I want to get to the finals, but my photography is pretty lacking I must say. Oh well.

Sweeeeet trash find

Found this little library table in the trash the other day. I think I am going to do a poor-man's laquer job on it...maybe a bright yellow, or a peacock blue.....hmmmmm. Any suggestions? I want to use it as a bedside table. I can't locate my camera to take a pic of the bedroom right now, but I have the now discontinued Hemnes 4 poster bed in yellow from IKEA:

with the Thomas O'Brien Willow coverlet, in natural, from Target:

Congrats BFF

This is BB and BFF walking down the boardwalk on B's third bday.. Congrats BFF on turning 3 yourself, and on your fresh out of the oven baby brother!

Kid's room accessories I like

Love this hippo and elephant made from recycled shoes, available at Anthropologie. They are big enough a kid could sit on them, but I wonder if they are sturdy enough.....also a little pricey for a decorative piece for a kid's room. At $298 you might as well save yourself $8 and get the Eames elephant, at least there is an established resale value there.

R.I.P. Eames Chairs

I have owned these chairs for many years, 12 to be exact. I bought them for $100 from an architect I worked with at the time, who lived in Sty Town. My ex and I carried them home six blocks to Alphabet City, on our heads. They are one of the few things I took when we broke up. When I bought the pair the original 1978 orange leather was in perfect shape; but several cats, even more moves, and one baby boy later this is what they look like.
Realizing these were from another part of my life, one that I didn't need anymore, I finally put them up on Craigslist. A lovely young couple came to get them, and I watched them carry them down my stairwell, a chair on each person's head.

Dream House

Look carefully...do you see the house hiding in the back? This is my dream property...a house tucked behind a building and a secret garden. Totally run down and ready for me to give some love to. (it is also one block from the subway!)

Baby Boy's Big Boy Room

Spent most of last weekend working on B's room. Of course still lots of things I would like to do, but here it is, hopefully ready for play and sleep. Had our first playdate in it today and both kids had a good time. The tiger painting isn't actually ours but it is on loan from neighbor until we find just the right thing.

Yellow doors

I love this house I walked by the other day. Love everything about it; the inexpensive materials used so well; the way the light glances off the aluminum sheeting; the thoughtful placement of the windows, just high enough that you can't see in from street level, but I'm sure they flood the house with light, and the corner window on the second floor; the fact that the house is off-set on the lot so that you enter through a bright yellow gate, and then the door to the actual house does not abut the street; the yellow gate! and how well it plays off the grey/metallic aluminum; also I think this is one of those properties, that seems to have been common at one time in the greenpoint/williamsburg area where the original house is set on the back of the lot, and this new modern nicety, seems to have been added, while the original house hides, tucked away sweetly behind the yellow gate and front of modernism. I have in fact been thinking a lot about how you deal with residential properties that face busy streets, and the designer of this place dealt with that beautifully.
I am especially charmed by the hand-painted address:

I will say that I have been obsessed with all things mustard lately, and am in fact working on two projects where I am dealing with yellows. I think that mustard yellow (particularly when combined with grey) is becoming a major trend, and just to prove my point, about five minutes after I passed that house I passed an almost completed reno with another yellow door:

Street Shoes

Have you ever noticed how many shoes are left on the streets of NY. I have pictures of them that I have been collecting pictures of them, here are a few nice tennis shoes hanging out by the mailbox.

Happy New Year

Last week we had an amazing Rosh Hashanha dinner courtesy of BFF's grandparents. Wonderful night for all and the boys delighted in each other's company as always.

First Day of School

Here is B dancing on his way to his first day of school last week. So far he loves it. There are 6 kids total, and they all seem to like one another, and they all love their teacher, Ms. C. I love her too. She teaches B new songs and games, and he comes home filled with news of tree exploring and games that I have never heard of. He has one friend that likes to be Batman, which is good because he likes to be Spiderman, so it all works out for crime-fighting and knocking down the robots.
I also must say that I enjoy the almost 6 hours of uninterrupted time I get to actually do work. I think, in my quest to overly record my child's life and please his grandparents with a steady supply of new pictures, that I am going to attempt to blog his outfit every day (so far he still lets me pick it out most of the time, we will see how long that lasts, lol) on his style blog.

Summer is Gone

This summer was full for us, and I have neglected posting. We went visiting, I went back to work...I may even post some pics of the work I have been doing....but it was delightful, even if our family was soooooo busy I barely slept. However, now it is fall and yesterday was Baby Boy's third birthday. I guess I should start to call him big boy. He is as beautiful as ever, delightful and clever. I can not imagine my life before him...even on our worst days he is a joy to behold. Yesterday we went to the circus on Coney Island and B and his BFF played in the sand and chased each other about. B's aunt gave him his very own camera and he took pictures of the day (though I must say there were a lot of crotch shots, LOL) He said that now he doesn't have to pretend to take pictures.
Today he went to school, just for an hour, as an introduction, but tomorrow, at 9am I drop him off for his first full day. I look forward to packing his lunch and getting him dressed in the outfit we picked out tonight and walking in the crisp fall morning air to drop him off. He is so excited, I predict that he won't even kiss me goodbye at the door. I think I might cry when I leave him.