Pool party in October

October is actually one of the pleasant months in Texas, where it's not deathly, pottery-kiln baking hot outside.  While it's not cool enough at night to sleep with the windows open yet, a lot of restaurants and bars throw open their windows and doors during the day and patios start to get very crowded.

It is also the perfect time to use that outdoor living space that you've avoided for the summer months and just lounge by the pool, sipping an iced tea and flipping through magazines.  Perhaps that's why my "homey" blog posts have been focusing on backyards lately.  My real estate hunt this week unearthed these gems, each an oasis of tranquility for different reasons.  If you're trying to reach me this weekend, call my cabana - I'll be getting my tan on.

Thursday is such a tease

Thursday is the skankiest day of the week.  It flirts with Friday, pretends it's Wednesday and takes forever getting over.  This is how I feel about you, Thursday.  So take that! 

PS - I really like yelling faces photographs, I'm not sure why.

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Bootya!

If you haven't noticed across the blogosphere, it's officially fall.  And although fall means many things, like football, cooler temperatures and Halloween / Thanksgiving, it also means fall fashion.  Break out the boots, sweaters and scarves and find your favourite wool hat!  For those of us in the Southern United States, fall won't hit for another month or two but that doesn't mean we can't prepare.  One of my friends in New York has been urging me to buy a dressier pair of tall boots that I can wear on more formal occasions.  It's a bit silly to think that we need to wear boots in Texas because our legs get "cold."  However, boots are fun to change the look around and I'm checking out both formal-looking tall boots and ankle booties.  Which ones do you like?  And what do you think about wearing tall boots to work?

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Blessed

Via etsy

I'm back after a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles to see all practically all of my extended family.  Last week was a brutal work week and timing could not have been worse to make the trip but I am really glad that I went.  My dad's mom began dialysis this summer and has been in and out of the emergency room.  She is finally stabilized (fingers crossed) and, since undergoing dialysis, her spirits and energy levels are much improved.  It wasn't a glamourous LA weekend - there wasn't any shopping or sightseeing.  Not once did I wear anything remotely dressy or put on makeup but sat, crazy hair and all, for a slew of family pictures, capturing the moments that we are still lucky to have.

I have realized that I am incredibly lucky to have family members who are so caring and selfless - my Aunt Lisa stays with my grandma 24-7 in order to constantly monitor her blood pressure and blood sugar and accompanies her to each of her four hour long dialysis sessions.  My cousin Steph spends a few hours every night keeping my grandma company while she watches terrible (and I do mean terrible) Chinese television.  Steph tells my grandma "I love you" every morning and night even though my grandma never says it back (she's too practical for that).  My cousin Angela, although she's bought and moved into her own home over an hour away, drives up every weekend to pay the bills for the house, set my grandma's doctor's appointments, organize all of her medication for the week and clean.  She is basically a tornado of productiveness in her own household as well as in my grandma's.  My grandmother is still a sassy old lady and even though her body is failing, her mind is still sharp as ever.  I think she knows how lucky she is to have all of her family around and caring for her.

I oftentimes get wrapped up in my little world of work and forget the important things in life.  I'm glad for this weekend, even though it was exhausting, and I am blessed and lucky to have the family that I do.

To La La Land we go!

Frenchie and I are off to La La Land for the family reunion / birthday party this weekend!  Even though it's technically the first day of fall, there is nothing fall-like about Texas or California.  Have a great weekend and stay cool / toasty wherever you are!

The great outdoors

Living in an apartment, I don't quite appreciate the sweat equity (or money) that people devote to their outdoor landscaping.  I am not a green thumb and I think the last thing I tried to grow intentionally was a grass from a styrofoam cup that had a magic marker face drawn on it.  The only maintenance that required was trimming the hair occasionally with safety scissors.  This big ol' house on the National Registry is perfectly manicured and I would be content roaming the grounds, taking a dip in the pool and generally feeling rich, I mean, relaxed.  I enjoy the outside the most, which I've shared below but if you want to enter into trippy-Asian-influenced-decor-land, feel free to click the link.

It looks like a 'she' doesn't it?  I know that's silly to put a gender on her

A water feature driveway to the garage?  No way!

No backyard is complete without a pool, spa, gardens and guest house

Boy oh boy

My friends, whom I've blogged about here, found out today at the five-month check up that they are going to have a baby boy in February!  This raised some contention among my co-workers, as there are two firmly divided camps: one who wants to find out the sex of the baby before it's born and one who would like for it to be a surprise.  All you parents out there, did you decide to find out before your baby was born?  And why or why not?

As we already know that he(!) is going to be arriving, I've taken the liberty at doing some 'window' shopping for the perfect little boy welcome presents.  I'm going to be such an awesome auntie, I can already tell

This little dino onesie is so snarky

Because sometimes mom & dad just need a break

Every baby deserves to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, especially an antimicrobial silver spoon

Jungle mobile for the cheeky little monkey



Pimp out his little head with a Gucci fedora

Momma's already decorated his room but this one is fantastic

Barney the lion sweater

Baby TOMS for the socially responsible child

Read and Wear: The Magicians

Sometimes you just have to see what the fuss is all about.  When it comes to books, I typically don't follow that mantra.  I never fell under the spell of the Twilight series and usually I abstain from 'popular' book club novels that have all of the discussion questions listed in the back.  However, I couldn't resist the draw of The Magicians, after all the hype around Lev Grossman's sequel to the book The Magician King.  Grown up Harry Potter, you say, with a splash of Narnia?  Count me in!

If you haven't heard/read already, The Magicians is about Quentin Coldwater, an abnormally smart yet abnormally awkward and insecure teenager living in New York who suddenly finds himself admitted into a magical college.  Throughout the course of the novel, Quentin discovers that magic and life, are not always as easy and forgiving as books make it out to be and there is a dark side to everything, including yourself.  I won't give it all away, but this is not a redo of Harry Potter - although there are some similarities.

Part of a magician's wardrobe in the novel is a school uniform, but as the magicians emerge into the real world, they can magically dress themselves in whatever they would like.  Below is my interpretation of a Fall Magic outfit.  Somehow, magic for me is translated into flowy and hopefully bewitching*!

*Sorry, it's too late/early to be punny

  

Saturday's chicken and wine



Via pinterest

I like cooking.  I should caveat this statement by saying I don't cook every night but typically only one night a week (Sunday).  I'm not sure what got into me this weekend but I decided to try a coq au vin recipe.  I rarely cook French food (does an omelette count as French food?) and this dish has more than 10 ingredients, so it was a test in my culinary prowess.  Surprisingly, after buying bunches of fresh herbs and spending lots of time chopping onions and button mushrooms, it was actually turning out alright.  The smell of onions and chicken cooking in bacon fat was permeating the apartment.
That's when we opened up the bottle of red to add to the dish as it bubbled away on the stove.  And then we opened the second bottle of wine to drink while we waited for the chicken to cook.  Needless to say, hours later the apartment was saturated with the smell of onions and stock and we were sprawled out more or less unconscious with food and wine.  Ahh, Saturdays and overeating, I do love you.

If you're curious about the recipe that I used, here it is.  It is quite superb and Elise has never failed me before.

PS: I really do need a dutch oven.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

A weekend wreck

Are y'all ready for the weekend?  I have a wreck of a weekend planned, with work (boo), working out, errands and a lot of shopping for the upcoming family reunion next weekend.  Not to mention, there's college football and a fight on Saturday as well as pro football on Sunday.  The outfit below has been inspired by a certain NFL coach and his habit of cutting sleeves off of sweatshirts.  It is a perfect comfy casual weekend outfit that can go from dropping off dry cleaning, running into the office, to lounging around and watching the game.  What do you have planned for the weekend?  Any glamorous exciting trips?

Reba House

This one is not like the others.  The houses I usually blog about are older homes that have been renovated and updated, with the latest style of flooring, appliances, etc.  This one is a tad bit different.  What's interesting is that even though this house was built more recently than the ones I typically blog about, I feel like it's actually older-looking in style and design, as if time has simply frozen for this home. 

It is simply called The Reba House and was built in the 1960s by Houston architect Arthur Kotch in the mid-century style, popular at the time.  The house stands at 3,371 square feet and has four bedrooms and 3.5 baths, although pictures of the bedroom were not made available.  It's also located in the prestigious River Oaks 'old-money' neighborhood in Houston and going for a cool $1.35mm.  The Reba House has been on the market since last fall, when the price tag was $1.9mm, so perhaps you would be getting a bargain!

Front entrance to the home, something different indeed

Imposing and ornate front door

Living room looking into the study - look at that tile!

1960s living room, which practically looks unaltered.  Was painted brick popular back then?

There's something about this dining room that makes me really like it, perhaps the divider?

 

Or potentially the stairs.  I haven't seen stairs like that in ages

 

Bright and sunny breakfast room.  I couldn't tell it was a breakfast room until I read the caption for this room



The study, which we saw a peek of earlier.  I think this is my favourite room in the house

 

The backyard - so that's where all the windows went



Read and Wear: The Tiger

During the heat of the summer, I picked up The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Valliant, the true story of a man-eating tiger in Russia and the team of men and dogs hunting it down.  The book plunges you into the taiga of Russia, introducing you to new frigid forests and the creatures and people that inhabit it.  In addition, as many reviewers have noted, Valliant effectively incorporates the history of Russia and China's relationship and how tense the neighbors have been over the last century.  The book is as much a story about the amur tiger as it is about the East Russian people and the continued impact of perestroika.

One of the constant themes throughout the book is the biting, killing cold in Far East Russia, chilling to think about even amidst the burning summer in Texas.  It did, however, call in to mind my favourite aspects of winter - the coziness of a down-filled parka, fuzzy ear warmers, plush wool blanket, thermos of hot cocoa and tromping around light, fluffy snow in some shearling-lined, warm waterproof boots.  What is your favourite part of winter?

These wonderful things

Today is a fun day for me on the blogosphere, as bloggers I know are doing some pretty amazing things.


Rubi Jones, that's her above - isn't she just chic, of She Lets Her Hair Down is a hairstylist based in Paris and recently moved to New York City.  She has been particularly busy this past week, styling 'dos for Fashion Week (!!!), which she has been doing for five seasons now.  Her blog has a collection of wonderful behind-the-scenes pictures of shows this past week, including Band of Outsiders and the feathery-Jason Wu updos.  Despite her hectic schedule, Rubi has been kind enough to advise me on what to do with my 'office hair' conundrum, with her latest post.  Check out her blog for some hair inspiration!

Also, Lisa Fain of Homesick Texan fame has finally released her long-awaited cookbook.  Lisa has never steered me wrong with any of her recipes and not once have any of her dishes not come out deliciously and tasting of the best of Texas.  The Homesick Texan Cookbook will be an instant hostess and holiday gift from me and I urge you to check out some of her recipes.  If her pictures of chicken-fried steak don't sell you on this book, I don't know what will.  I may just buy it for the eye candy.

Off duty - fall edition

Since when did the WSJ become a legitimate lifestyle periodical?  Will it surprise any of you to know that when I get my WSJ in the mornings, I immediately flip to the 'Personal Journal' section?  My parents receive the Weekend Journal and enjoy it immensely (much more than the NYTimes Sunday Edition?  I have yet to ask them that).  Please do check out The Off Duty 50 fall edition and take your time browsing through the articles that accompany each of these lovely items pictured.  I'm currently enjoying the article on 'Bookish Good Looks' extolling the virtues of a good bookshelf.

Nigella Lawson's library via WSJ

Poisoning ourselves

Frenchie and I are breathing toxic fumes right now.  I made sirloin kebabs in the oven tonight and didn't cover them with tinfoil while they were baking.  Needless to say, olive oil and the marinade spewed everywhere during the ten minute cooking process.  So after dinner, we put the oven on 'auto clean' and it's currently burning the crap out of everything that has been stuck to the inside of it over the last two years he's lived here.  We have all of the windows open but I'm pretty sure that is the cause for my headache right now.  In fact, apparently self cleaning ovens are known to kill birds and cats.  This will go down as one of those things I probably should have researched better beforehand.  You're also supposed to stay at home during the entire 2.5 hour process as well, as the oven temperatures can get as high as 500.  So here we are, poisoning ourselves while watching Sunday night football. 

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything unhealthy?

Picture via Pinterest

Friday's grey & yellow

Happy Friday!  Hasn't this felt like a long work week even though Monday was a holiday? 

The blogosphere has been buzzing this week with Fashion's Night Out and fall-related apparel picks and home decor designs (I can't wait for it to be boot season again!).  As it is currently 95 degrees out right now, it doesn't so much feel like fall except that football has started again.  I'll be watching a ton of ESPN this weekend and doing a lot of cheering for my favourite teams and tennis players.

Speaking of favourites, my recently favourite, season-agnostic colour combination is grey, yellow and white.  For me, the combo is soothing, natural and extremely practical as well.  Do you have any recent favourite colour combos?

Fabric & Metal Necklace

Chevron notepad

French ramekins



Dapper Lion's Birthday



Marais wedges



School starting still life



Mr. Clement print



Bee's Knees via Not Without Salt