flowers for friday #52

a little something blue.

elle's in town this weekend, we have a friend's nuptials to celebrate!!!

can't wait.

JILL

this is the stuff...

my dreams are made of.

this is the most i've seen in what looks to be someone's home.

holy moly. they need a ladder to reach them all.

(i could see dusting being a nightmare!)

i love how they all go but don't match, with a muted scheme.

this is what i am secretly (but it's not such a secret) striving for.

JILL

from thekitchn

more on my obsession here and here and here.

at last!!

this boy is so cute.

he's so happy to be married!

the bride looks a little smooshed, but i have a feeling this is going to be a treasured photograph for the rest of their lives.

so darn cute.

JILL

right up the middle

xoxo

elle.

righty-tighty or lefty-loosey?

seen this?

can i say i'm in the middle?

i'm not saying i am organized because people who know me would call me a liar... my desk/house tend to be on the cluttered side. i do try to be neat sometimes. does that count? but i like love science. i'm a dorky nerd who studied things like organic chemistry and pathophysiology.

i feel like right brainers are far cooler than i am.

but color is my jam. without it, my toast would just be... toast. and i like laughter and sand beneath my feet and nature and long hippie dresses and painting. creating/making/photographing things is how i keep myself sane.

so....can i say i'm in the middle?

but is that even a good thing, does that mean i don't have brain group to belong to?

lefty v. righty.

what are you?

JILL

alfresco with a kick

this color is outrageous.

i'd certainly enjoy a meal or two under these circumstances.

beautiful color, glass, rough wood, rusting metal with another hit of turquoise.

splendid.

JILL

{image via thefoundblog.com}

a little something...

to get you (or at least me) through monday...

flowers for friday #51

wow. all i can say is stay cool!!! good luck beating the heat this weekend.

xoxo

elle.

via pinterest

smeg

are you watching their new show on hgtv, home by novogratz? the first one wasn't my most fave of theirs but it certainly wasn't a look, or "the usual," most of hgtv is known for. it was sassy. and good!

i like to see different stuff. i like to see creative and they have the creative box checked.

plus, they have to be the coolest parents... with 7 kids.

in the last episode, they used a smeg. a light blue one. they are so retro cute! plus, they aren't stainless steel! everyone has stainless these days... and i love a good stainless appliance, but i'd love myself a colored smeg even more :)

comes in a rainbow. which one would you choose?

in my current kitchen, i'd pick the sky blue one. but who knows... i change my mind on a daily basis.

happpppppy friiiiiiday!

JILL

{via little yellow porch, flickr, judith miller, made by girl, house beautiful, living etc, alkemie blog}

rock hard balls.

nothing dirty...

i'm talking concrete garden spheres!

elle's mom, jane, emailed this blog post to elle and i the other day. it's a garden/home tour of a belgian couple. the whole thing is pretty spectacular. check out more here.

these were just some of my favorite images:

but what really caught my eye, were their concrete garden spheres/sculptures.

aren't they kinda awesome? i've seen them before but i now really like them. and wouldn't mind a few in my own backyard.

 they are for sale here. but i'm not really looking to spend that much on a ball of cement.

so thanks to the internets, i found out how to make them yourself!

thanks to design*sponge. their tutorial is for smaller domes, but i bet you could try really hard and walk around home depot for a bit and come up with a solution for some larger balls. i'm also thinking if you did go along with their tutorial and used old light covers, i bet if you didn't fill the cement all the way to the top, you could eliminate the whole weird disk thing/fixture opening and make a perfect sphere.

if i ever try this myself, i will for sure let you know how it goes. it's going on the list of fun stuff i want to try/make, but just never can find the time to actually DO these things.

JILL

standard issue...

here is a quick easy weeknight recipe that is becoming a standard in our house. it is fresh, light and delicious....

enjoy!!

lemony shrimp with white beans and couscous

ingredients

• 1 10-ounce box couscous (1 1/2 cups)
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 15.5-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

directions

in a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil.

stir in the couscous and ¼ teaspoon salt. cover and let sit off heat for 5 minutes;

 fluff with a fork before serving.

meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

add the garlic and scallions and cook for 30 seconds. add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until they begin to turn pink, about 3 minutes.

stir in the beans, parsley, lemon juice, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. serve with the couscous.

xoxo

elle.

recipe via real simple

poppy

i just pinned this from the sartorialist.

goodness. i cannot stop staring. i wish i had this dress. i don't know who makes it or where it comes from but the breezy-ness had me at hello, especially in this oven we call our weather.

let's not even get into that poppy color.

i can't handle it.

JILL

match made in heaven.

that mushroomy gray with brass. i die.

then add that shade o magenta? perfection.

i could however, leave the blue pillow in another room. you?

JILL

the good life

we had all the makings for a perfect beach night...

now back to reality...

have a great week!!

xoxo

elle.

flowers for friday #50

happy birthday to our little blog.

she turned the big 5-0 this week! and i've enjoyed every moment of it.

2 more weeks and it'll be her first birthday :)

over the hill and yet just a baby, all wrapped in one pretty package.

have a great weekend, everyone.

JILL

bubbly tasting party

i just got caught up on some blogs last night, and this one from coco + kelley caught my eye. i'm dying over their mix of glassware!! read more of my dishes/glassware obsession here and here...

but honestly, the idea of this party with the girls is so much fun. they did a rose wine tasting party (more here), i think i'd switch mine to a bubbly tasting party because that stuff is my jam :)

i know i'd love an invite to a cold champagne tasting party this summer!

to implement this eclectic glassware look, you'll just need to buy lots and lots of mismatched pieces.

this woman on etsy collected a bunch for you already.

 and the more eclectic the better in my opinion. like mixing these etched beauties above with these opalescent beauties below. also on etsy.

and i really like mixing stem with stem-less glassware. here are some simple (i.e. perfect) godis glasses from ikea.

and some even more perfect simple marta glasses from cb2.

and i've been meaning to do this for awhile now, but i'd really really like to buy 20-25 of these simple glasses and etch them with a 'B' for our last name. just to have on hand.

i've never used it, but the blogosphere seems to love this stuff for glass etching purposes:

southern living did it recently, but they did it with numbers. another good idea. you'll never be left wondering which glass is yours ;)

and on an almost totally unrelated note, another project that i've been meaning to try:

this mirror form eddie ross. he bought a cheap mirror from lowes and etched an initial on top.

lovely and easy. 2 words that go together like peas and carrots to me.

maybe this weekend!?

JILL

anyone for seconds?!

today we had a little work field trip to the seconds sale at christopher spitzmiller. it was an exciting day for me...we even got the grand tour of the space! i will share more fun pics later! if you have a chance to go by i highly recommend it, but hurry. they had quite the morning today selling more than they did in the entire sale last year in the first morning!

xoxo

elle.