Memorial Day Weekend in Pics

Did you all have the best Memorial Day weekend? Sean had to work, so mine was super low-key, but that's kind of ideal. My big project was cleaning out the closets (and I'm not quite done yet), but I still squeezed some outdoor time in. Here's my weekend in pictures.

Sean and I had bbq at County Grill in Hampton, and then went for a quick walk at Buckroe Beach, which is surprisingly nice.

I saw this guy at the Lions Bridge in Newport News on Sunday...

Which was a beautiful day, incidentally.

I also made sea salt honey butter popcorn, which was a revelation...

And tried Eddie Ross's sangria recipe. It was a good one.

Sunday Best v.108

How's your Memorial Day weekend going? We hopped over to Buckroe Beach after eating our favorite pork BBQ on Saturday, but unfortunately, Sean has to work all weekend. I cleaned our guest room closet, which sounds miserable, but it NEEDED to happen. Desperately.

Today I'm thinking I'll carve out some time for sunshine (maybe clean the porch?), but I'm also thinking about going out to get supplies for peach sangria and new flip flops. At some point, popsicle makers might be necessity, because I'm thinking these strawberry and grapefruit Greyhound popsicles have to happen.

• Designers show how to make a bed.
• Self-help advice from a toddler.
• Frustrated journalist cat. Nuff said.
• Pictures of the American West from 150 years ago.
• 24 hours with Karl Lagerfeld.
• Are you familiar with the woman tax. Total b.s.
• Annnnnndddd Anchorman 2.

Today I Like ... White and Wood

From here.

From here.

Originally from Design Sponge.

It's hard to call this a today I like, because it's more like, For years, I've been obsessed with...white + wood. It looks terrible in 80s-style apartment kitchens, but in a minimalist home, it can be so beautiful. The contrast of stark white and warm wood just gets me.

It's also a brilliant way to decorate on a dime. If you can't paint the walls, or want to make a statement on the cheap, it's hard to do better than stick to a simple palette like this.

Get the Look

White & Wood by amberfiona featuring wood jewelry

1. Freeman Storage Unit, $449 from West Elm.
2. Mojave letterpress coasters (technically cork!), $20 from Inhauspress.
3. Wood and stoneware vase, $62.25 at Design Within Reach.
4. Ivory serving utensils, $38 at Leif.
5. Savile chair, $289 at Design Within Reach.
6. Turning pendant, $149 at West Elm.

Wino Wednesday: A Tour of France

Announcing: the Winos are taking a wine tour around the world! We're not leaving Hampton Roads, mind you...but we are going to tackle theme nights of wine and cuisine. Erica tweaked this map to highlight our destinations, starting with France! (Japan, by the way, will be our first sake night!)

 Lauren hosted our visit to France, and created a lovely spread on her ironically French country-themed dining table. She had crudite (veggies tossed with dressing)...

 French bread and nutella...

 Raspberry mousse (with a varietal of mint leaves that taste like chocolate and mint...AHHHH-mazing)...

 Truffles...

 Bacon-wrapped dates...

And smoked salmon with sour cream and guacamole.

 We each popped over to the France section of our local wine shops and grocery stores and ended up with:

• Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages: a bright, fruity, light red that was very drinkable and smooth. An eensy bit spicy. Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape, which is low in tannins. In laymen's terms, that means it's easier to drink and should be consumed when it's young. 
• Barton & Guestier Beaujolais-Villages: I brought this one, and it was good, but I slightly preferred the Louis Jadot. This one was a bit spicier.
• J.V. Fleury GSM: A GSM is short-hand for a wine made with three grapes: grenache, shiraz and mourvedre. It's fruity, but spicy and dryer than the beaujolais. 

 Miss Lauren scrambled to grab a bottle and couldn't find one from France that wasn't too pricey at her grocery store, so she grabbed a California wine that had a fleur de lis on the label. That counts, right? She got De Loach chardonnay. As chardonnays go, this was easy-drinking, not too dry, and that's big words from someone who isn't a big chard fan.

 We also enjoyed this lovely Frenchhouse Vin de Pays D'oc rose. Erica taught us that "vin de pays d'oc" basically means a wine you drink daily ... it implies it's an easygoing, easy-drinking wine that doesn't sacrifice flavor for a lower price point.

And we finished with what I would say is arguably one of the best real-deal champagnes I've had: Mailly Grand Cru Demi Sec. I'm not a fan of extra brut champagnes (I like a little sweeter), so I loved this. Believe me, I was shaking the last drop out of the bottle, much to Erica's chagrin when she went to get another glass.

 We had a fun night hanging out with my bestie, Bailey, and talking about everything from the most incredibly absorbent maxi pads to the glory that will be Magic Mike.

 Lauren donned the Chanel logo to get her Francophile on...

 And I wore my trusty striped shirt. My efforts at Bardot hair = failure (my god, my hair cannot hold a tease for more than an hour).

We even enjoyed an outdoor fire...before the lightning storm picked up and scared us back inside.

It was a great kick-off to our journey around the world. Next up: New Zealand!

I Spy: Longfellow, Pewter and Teak

 Lookie who finally got her butt back out treasure-hunting! I hopped over to my favorite spot, the Williamsburg Antique Mall (as if my heart had room for another) and literally found all of this stuff in one aisle! Wanna see what I found?

First up, I saw this pretty pewter tray ($13.50) and dome ($18) that I kinda really wanted but I just don't have the room. Pewter is so timeless; with a selection of cheeses, it immediately makes your table look like a Flemish still life painting.

 This 1960s cobalt blue drapey dress has NEVER BEEN WORN. It was $65, and a 1960s size 14 (which is probably closer to today's 11/12).

This pretty silver box caught my eye. The inside is lined with red velvet, and the tag (as you can see) says it's a reproduction of a late-18th century tea box. I thought it would be a great spot to stash earrings, spare change, bobby pins, q-tips or even a candy stash. This pretty box was $38.

Sometimes I'm drawn to the quirky, and I was all about this set of bronze Henry Wadsworth Longfellow bookends, for $35. Random, but I kinda love that. Great English major fun!

 I also randomly loved this seller's collection of antique and vintage Washington and Williamsburg souvenirs. I think it would be kind of fun to have some of the old Williamsburg teacups.

 This is my most-coveted item I saw: a teak mid-century side table that is SO close in color and design to our other one. It's a Danish teak table made by Vejle Stole Mobelfabrik, and was $95. (ugh, I really might have to go back for this....)

 Gold flatware is making a big comeback right now, especially when paired with super-simple rustic tables. This set was $100, which is pretty damn great for a full set with a case.

 You'd think gemstones would hold their value, but these large chunks of amethyst and citrine could be yours for an average of $15. They look great on bookshelves, as paperweights, as bookends or just objets d'art.

 I was digging these old oak file cabinets with casters. They would really zhush up a home office, but could also work as side tables in any room. They could actually be great for extra towel storage in a bathroom, or a place to stash toilet reading material.

And last but not least, they had two of these super 70s polished wood lamps for $25. Call me crazy, but I thought they were kind of interesting...they reminded me of something Emily Henderson would use in a fabulously surprising space. I picture them paired with a lacquered white dresser.

Stockley Art + BBQ in Portsmouth

I love the first great weekend of the summertime season, when the festivals are flaring up and you spend most of the day walking around the best parts of your town/region. This weekend was jam-packed with events in Hampton Roads, and we spent Saturday going to two of my annual favorites: the Stockley Gardens Art Festival and Portsmouth Service League's Beer, Band & BBQ fundraiser.

We started the day at Stockley Gardens, which is an amazingly beautiful neighborhood in Norfolk full of fascinating architecture alongside a lovely canal. We had a quick snack: ribbon chips, my fair food favorite. I seriously look forward to summer for these things.

 Many of my favorite pieces were the same from last year. But I spotted a couple new favorites. The emotional, evocative landscapes of Paul Nikitchenko. I would love to paint just like that.

 I also fell in love with the watercolored etchings of F. Brown Steele. I'm a sucker for poppies.

 After the festival, we walked back to my friend's apartment in the Freemason District, by way of The Hague, which is about the loveliest walk you can have on a warm day with a breeze.

This is my favorite house on the block...terracotta roof, ivy climbing the stucco walls and leaded glass, to boot. Handsome as hell!

 Admiring the Hague from a footbridge.

 Once we met up with our friends, we took a ferry (what cheap fun! $3 round-trip) to Portsmouth, where Ashleigh's service league was hosting its event.

 Erica and I, rocking the naturally pale skin!

A $25 ticket gets you all the beer and bbq you can eat, and believe you me, we got our money's worth.

Mmmmmm BBQ. This is made by Beach Bully BBQ, the preferred vendor.

At the end of the night, we took the ferry back, and it was just beautiful. On weekends like this, I am full of love for where we've ended up.

P.S. You can see more of my pictures from the weekend on my instagram.

Sunday Best v.107

It finally feels like summertime, and that has me fantasizing about summer parties. I can't wait to have a backyard someday, but in the meantime, I have my eye on Anna Bond's gorgeous collaboration with BHLDN on this sweet tablecloth, $78. I don't even have a rectangular table, but such small obstacles can be overcome, right? lol

I had a great weekend, which I'll tell you more about tomorrow, but for now, here are some of my favorite links from the past week.

• As a big-chested lady, I found this article about a new book on the science of boobs fascinating. Might have to add that one to my Kindle!
• What's more calming than a manatee?
• Found via Cup of Jo, a primary schooler's cafeteria food blog.
• Should a quarterback be allowed to set paper airplane records?
• Brands you thought were indies.
• Random feud of the week: Jack White vs. Guinness World Records.
• Sometimes head injuries reveal new talents.
• Epic bad texts after a first date.
• Will Smith reprising our favorite theme song.

Eating in Ireland

Now that we've virtually toured Ireland, I thought I'd share some shots of the fine food I sampled while there.

I went to Ireland knowing the following: I don't actually technically love potatoes, meat pies or breakfast, which is basically everything the country holds near and dear. I love cheese and cheesy things. But I was pleasantly surprised by Irish cuisine, which has apparently expanded leaps and bounds in the last few decades.

The standard Irish menu in a moderately upscale restaurant looked like this: goat cheese salad, scallops, fried scampi, pasta bolognese, lamb, Guiness stew and/or cottage pie.

Disclaimer: Murphy's Law dictated that I managed not to take pictures of my very favorite meals in Ireland, of course. I'll shill for them now: I had an absolutely incredible John Dory fish with tomato-wasabi sauce at a family friend's restaurant in Killarney, called Gaby's.

One of our super simple but surprisingly delightful meals was at Grogan's Pub in Dublin. It's super no-fuss and more a place you go to have a pint than eat, but I was hungry so grilled cheese it was! 

One night in Dublin we ate in our hotel restaurant, and I had a fabulous goat cheese, pear and rocket salad (oops, no pics). But I remembered to take the camera the next night when we ate at a great Italian restaurant called Il Posto. I had rigatoni con salcisice, or rigatoni with roasted sausages in a spicy red pepper sauce.

Sean and I split dessert and to choose, we played Rock, Paper, Scissors. Sean won, so we ended up having an apple-berry crumble with vanilla sauce. The sauce was my favorite part!

On our last night in Dublin, Sean and I popped into a hip little restaurant called Elephant and Castle in the Temple Bar district. Crazy thing I learned about Ireland: the Irish are obsessed with chicken wings. Every table around us had chicken wings! I myself opted for the steak sandwich with jalapeno mayonnaise and goat cheese. Totally will have to do a spin on that at home!

I also loved the restaurant for its moderate-sized "chips." I was pretty over super-thick steak fries by that point.

Cute restaurant, right?

In Belfast, we went to eat and listen to music at Robinson's Pub, where Sean had his favorite meal: bangers and mash, with leeks!

I had classic fish and chips. It was delish....but I mysteriously spent the next day puking, so...I don't know what to think. Let's blame the three pints of Guiness, shall we? (Psst, it really is better in Ireland! Less bitter, more layered flavors.)

The next day, we went to the Titanic Museum and ate in one of the museum bistros, which were SO beautifully decorated. I took this picture as future kitchen inspiration!

I had some dumb tomato salad, which was fine until I took a bite of Sean's AWESOME burger. Irish beef is no joke. It's grass-fed, and as flavorful as Kobe beef, for sure.

The next night, we ate at The Porthole in the Bayview Hotel in Port Ballintrae, where you might remember we saw an incredible sunset!

We had a great appetizer that I'd love to reproduce at home: a selection of breads (including that sundried tomato loaf) with tapenade, olive oil and a cream dip almost like tartar.

I had the honey ginger pork chop with Asian noodles, which was great (and unexpected!)...

And Sean had fried scampi, which tastes like bigger, plumper fried shrimp.

In Killybegs, we ate at The Turntable in the Tara Hotel, overlooking the bay. I had sirloin steak (more Irish beef!) with grilled onions and a bourbon pepper sauce. It was basically like steak au poivre, but with the added bonus and snap of onions.

Sean had this deconstructed Guiness stew with champ, which is mashed potatoes with leeks.

In Galway, we had our most sophisticated meal yet at The Malt House, a restaurant devoted to new twists on locally sourced delicacies. Sean and I split medallions of monkfish, with beetroot and goat cheese arancini (my fave). It was fabulous!

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of our meals after this point, but I had the best BLT of my life  at The Waterfront Restaurant in Rosses Point, and the best salmon of my life at our rented house, cooked by my mother-in-law! She poached it in lemon and butter and topped with rosemary, and I'm thinking I might have to add that to my repertoire.

All in all, I came away with the following impression: the Irish love their Italian food, love American food, but love absolutely nothing more than their stews and potatoes! Also, I'm an Irish butter convert for life. Kerrygold is worth every cent!