When I first moved in Peter didn’t even own a coffee table. Now, I can’t imagine him without one. We spend a lot of time in front of the coffee table. We eat dinner there almost every night and he works at it constantly, but the first coffee table that I brought over was pretty ugly. Here’s a picture for you to see.
The large size of the old coffee table made it a convenient for doing work, but it was far from aesthetically pleasing. So, a few months ago while strolling down the aisles of Ikea, we bought a new one. I’m so glad that we got it, because unlike the old coffee table, this one tells a story about our relationship.
The coffee table has four compartments, each filled with precious memories from our relationship.
On our one month anniversary–yes, we’re that couple–I gave him the journal shown above. At the time, Peter was living in Houston. Throughout our entire time apart from one another we saved little mementos from things that we did and wrote our memories of those events in this book. Next to the journal are sea shells from our very first trip to the beach. On our way home from Louisiana, we saw a sign for the beach and decided to pull over and take a walk.
After I graduated from college Peter and I spent two months in Europe–that’s actually where we got engaged! We bought these postcards in a dark little alley in Paris and now they’re in the center of our living room.
Above is the first present that Peter ever gave me. The first night we met we talked about Federico Garcia Lorca, so the second time that we saw each other he brought me this book of poetry.
In the left corner is a mold of my engagement ring along with its box. Peter proposed to me with a simple ring that I liked in Paris. When we returned to the States, he and I designed a custom engagement ring. This is the mold that they gave us to approve before making the actual ring.
More great postcards from France!
Another thing we love about this coffee cable is that it has a large shelf underneath. We found four baskets at Target for this area that we now use to store our DVDs.
This is what our DVD storage looked like before. See the beaten up box?
This is what it looks like now:
The new coffee table is a great change that adds a lot of meaning and personality to our living room. What does your coffee table look like?
I’m so jealous. I just read about the Ethan Allen Style Workshops that are visiting every city in United States—except for Austin. OK, I’m exaggerating, but really?! They’re hosting these workshops in six cities in Texas and didn’t pick Austin or San Antonio. I’m a little crushed but if you don’t live in Austin then check here to see if they will be holding one in your city. Professional designers will be offering tips, refreshments, and gift bags–and its all free. All you have to do is RSVP. Do you see why I’m so jealous now? If you can make it then go, take notes, take a lot of pictures, and then report back.
For Halloween this year Peter and I decided to dress as ballerinas. We searched for affordable tutus in adult sizes until finally–thanks to some encouragement from my friends at work–I decided to make one. Someone told me, “You just need it to stay together for one night! Go buy some tulle and staple it!” Peter and I are supposed to be crafty so I knew we could do better than staples! Charged with new found encouragement, I headed to the store and bought six yards of tulle. Follow along to make your own no-sew tutu.
Materials:
- One piece of ribbon long enough to tie around the hips of the tutu wearer
- Six yards of tulle (you can use more or less depending on your desired fluffiness of the tutu and the size of the person that it will outfit.)
- A pair of scissors–we used fabric scissors for good measure
1. Set the ribbon aside and cut the fixed width of the fabric in half. If you’d like a longer tutu, then you might want to leave the fixed width as is.
2. Next, cut the tulle into strips. I varied the width of the strips anywhere between two to four inches to make it more visually interesting. This is not an exact science. You don’t even have to cut in straight lines.
3. When you finish cutting your tulle into strips, tie your ribbon between two chairs or doorknobs. This will help keep the ribbon in a stable.
4. Fold each strip in half, creating a loop at the top. Then, connect each strip to the ribbon by bringing the loose ends of the tulle strip through the loop.
5. Continue tying knots in this fashion until the tutu is filled out enough to wrap around your waist.
You can also use an elastic band instead of using the ribbon. My experience was that the ribbon twisted a lot throughout this process. With a ribbon that doesn’t matter, but if I had used an elastic band, then I may have ended up with a twisted mess. See the picture below to get an idea.
Here is how the tutu turned out. I have to say that I sort of wish that I was five years old again so that it would be socially acceptable to wear it EVERYWHERE!!
My whole costume ended up costing a little under six dollars. I already had some spare ribbon, shoes, tights, and a black leotard, so the only expense was the tulle.
Did anyone else make their own costume? I’d love to hear about how it turned out.
One of my favorite parts of fall is that you have three days of holidays in a row. Once the excitement of Halloween has past you still have two days of Day of the Dead to celebrate. For those of you who live in places that don’t observe Day of the Dead, or El Día de los Muertos, it is a two day holiday that takes place on November 1st and 2nd. The holiday is more widely celebrated in Mexico and Latin America as a time to commemorate friends and family who have passed. It may be called The Day of the Dead but it’s more of a celebration of life and the relationships that people form. Peter and I don’t go all out for Day of the Dead but I love the pressed sugar skulls, bright flowers, and delicious Day of the Dead bread. Yesterday, we drove all over Austin on a quest to buy some of this bread. We found it in two places but my favorite was at La Mexicana Bakery. The bread is honestly my favorite part of this holiday, especially since you can only buy it on two days of the year. In my Google search to find a loaf in Austin I came across a recipe from Chow to make some of your own. Now that we have this, I’m sure that Peter and I will bake it year round.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon anise seed
- 1/2 ounce (2 packets) active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine sugar, salt, anise seed, and yeast in a small mixing bowl. Heat milk, water, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is just melted; do not allow it to boil. Add milk mixture to dry mixture and beat well with a wire whisk.
- Stir in eggs and 1 1/2 cups of the flour and beat well. Add remaining flour, little by little, stirring well with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured wooden board and knead until it is smooth and elastic, and no longer sticky, about 9 to 10 minute . Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and allow it to rise in a warm area until it has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. Cut 3 small (about 1-ounce) balls from each half and mold them into skull-and-bones shapes. Shape large balls of dough into round loaf shapes, and place skull-and-bones on top. Place bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise another hour.
- Brush loaves with egg yolk mixture and bake. Halfway through baking, about 20 minutes, remove loaves from oven and brush again with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. Return to oven and bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about another 20 minutes.
Visit Chow for this great recipe and thousands more! How do you celebrate Day of the Dead?
Image courtesy of Lucinda Hutson.
