Portland: Ink and Peat

I've been a fan of the blog Housemartin for years. It's just a great resource for beautiful flower inspiration, housewares and things happening in the Portland area. It was great to be able to visit their brick and mortar store, Ink and Peat.




As expected the shop has tons of great housewares that, in a lot of cases, I've only seen on etsy. I loved their blankets and wanted to curl up with these wooly cozy numbers.

And this chandelier!

The owner had it made using vintage style bulbs from Hippo Hardware, a Portland fave. It's a little like the classic from Jean Pelle but has more of a laisser faire quality to it.





Ink and Peat also carry fresh flowers and make custom floral designs. They're in the NE, find them here and check out their blog, Housemartin.

Tiramisu for Two

Over the weekend I decided to make a quick Tiramisu (more or less with this recipe) in little coffee cups. I like making individually portioned desserts because somehow it makes them feel really special.

Tiramisu is one of those desserts that seems like it would be complicated but is actually pretty simple as long as you have some kind of mixer (I use a Kitchenaid Stand mixer).

I'm also dying to make some of David Lebovitz's desserts. Have you read the Sweet Life in Paris yet? It is so good.

Bulgarini Gelato

In the most out of the way, totally hidden strip mall in Altadena is the best gelato I've ever had (and I've been to Italy). The owner of Bulgarini is Italian and shuts the store for months at a time while he's gone researching flavors and bringing back key ingredients like Italian Espresso or Pistachios. It's worth the trek for those of you further away. Lucky for me I'm just a couple of miles away!

I got three flavors last time: Pistachio, Coffee and Chocolate.

As the sign says, it's crazy good.

During the winter, Bulgarini Gelato is only open on weekends, FYI.

Dark Bedroom + Curtains!

I spent a good amount of time over the last two days getting the curtains done for the bedroom and it's finally starting to come together and at least is a serene place to rest my weary unpacking eyes!





The walls in the bedroom are a dark grey (Kendall Charcoal From Benjamin Moore in the flat Aura Finish) and the curtains are just from Ikea. I wanted to keep the bedroom dark and simple (see my inspiration right here).




I'd like to get a rug to put towards the bottom of the bed and we still haven't figured out night stands (um, yeah, that's a moving box I'm using). I love that we get so much sun in here during the day and that we can see the neighbor's orange tree from bed!


UPDATE: Here's a before picture (oops, forgot it the first time)!

Beautiful Peonies

Somehow, I missed this gorgeous print by Gregory Krum on 20x200 last year. I'm a sucker for half dead peonies and this photograph is just so delicate and amazing. Plus, it's only $20 for an 8x11.

Erin and Chris's Fantastic Fixer Upper

If you haven't seen this house tour from a while back, be sure to check out Erin and Chris's Fantastic Fishtown Fixer Upper. It's a treasure trove of inspiration. Mainly I love how they scavenged or built most of what's in the house but it doesn't look like a flea market, it looks modern, comfortable and full of individual style.

Here's the link.

Sunset Trip Archives

Speaking of Sunset, have you guys cruised all of their Western Trip Destinations? I get lost all the time dreaming about the gorgeous places they feature. This year I've been dying to get more travel in, so I'm bookmarking some of my favorites. Among them Fall California Trips including a trip up the 395 to the Eastern Sierra (pictured). This is one of my favorite drives and in the right season camping near lone pine is absolutely magical. I'm also really raring to go to some of the National Parks I haven't seen yet.

Here are some other favorites. I'm planning to sit down with a calendar and plan in some trips so the year doesn't escape me!

9 Great Fall Trips in the NorthWest

Plan A National Park Tour including Golden Season in Yosemite (which I caught last year, spectacular!)

Palm Springs: Rent a House, Not a Hotel Room. I also did this last year and it was awesome.

6 Winter Escapes that look serene and gorgeous.

Portland Pistils Nursery

I didn't expect to find so much garden inspiration in Portland but the city is literally teeming with little boutiques, nurseries and beautiful gardens. I'll need to go back in the summer to experience their world famous rose gardens. Pistils Nursery in the NE is a tiny place chock full of interesting terrariums, indoor plants and, in the back, they raise chickens and have a whole selection (of largely dormant) plants. It was a sweet place that definitely inspired me to bring more plants inside, ater all, if they can grow inside in the middle of a winter in Portland then surely I can grow more in sunny Socal.










You can find out more info on the Pistils Nursery site and Sunset where they did a whole article on the nursery and their Urban Homesteading.

Portland Stumptown Coffee

Portland was amazing. I'll be posting about my finds over the next week, but suffice it to say, that town knows how to eat. Mix that with cold weather and grey days and I'm in heaven. I loved local roaster Stumptown Coffee. Sure it's hip and all the locations are super cool, but it's just a really really good cup of coffee and it felt more relaxed than either Intelligentsia or Blue Bottle. Plus, no jitters!






I drank it every day and was tempted to buy a bag to brew at home. But I opted not to, so that it would remain a special treat when I visit Portland.

Going To Portland Plus Links

A quick update before I leave for Portland for the weekend to visit friends (let me know if you have recommendations!):

I'm still surrounded by boxes, though we're making progress. I'm replacing the pendant above the dining room table by myself today and have a couple hundred projects on deck.

So that I can close some of the tabs on my computer, here are links I've kept open because they make me so happy:


Gorgeous black kitchen from moline on flickr


This incredibly vibrant yet sophisticated living room from h4ndz on flickr.


Rebecca just moved here from Paris and she's selling her flat there. Who's with me?


I'm in the mood for some bread and maybe when I get back from Portland I'll try my hand at this no knead stuff.


It is my goal in life to make things look as beautiful as this cheese spread from Sunday Suppers

Have a great weekend everyone!

Grey Paint

I did a post over on AT on Grey Paint colors and a lot of people chimed in with their favorites. Kind of wish I had done that before I painted things 3 times. Anyway, it's a great resource for some good greys.

(Image is from Max and Gen's House Tour)

First Days in The New House

So, we're in the new house! The move was epic. Literally 8 hours. We have a lot of stuff and there were a couple of glitches, but phew, most everything is here (with the exception of food since the fridge isn't working).



Here's the rainy view from the upstairs office. I'll be working from the dining room until I find a desk I want to use up there. I just love this view of the magnolia tree outside, it feels like you're in a tree house.


Here's where I am, sitting at the Herman Miller Dining Table I'm borrowing from my dad (if you can believe it, he has no use for it at the moment). We still need to swap out the lamp above the table and there's a credenza that will probably go underneath those windows, then lamps, curtains, etc.

The grey worked out in the end (though, it's just a teeny bit purpley in certain light. But anyway, it's good enough (I'm learning to not let perfect be the enemy of the good). For those that track these things the color is Ben Moore Stone Harbor.

Oh and please don't mind that hanging curtain rod. I guess the last tenants accidentally took the braces?

And since we're all friends here, I will share a picture of the kitchen as of this morning. It actually looked better the day we moved in, but since then we figured out that the fridge doesn't work and that kind of...threw everything off. Look at how confused Hazel looks.


We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I'm going to take it easy today, it's been exhausting!

How was everyone's weekend?

Black Kitchen!

I went by the house today to take some measurements and all I can say is thank god all the colors are looking right, finally. This is the only peak you're getting for the moment, but that's my new black kitchen and it is totally badass.

For those that track these things, the color is racoon fur (I swear, I couldn't make that up) and it's Ben Moore. It's definitely black but with just the slightest hint of navy in there.

Happy Weekend Everyone, I'll be back next week with some updates.

P.S. I added a new category over there on the right in the talking about section. It's 'new house' and if you click it you can see all the posts about this new house adventure I'm embarking on!

(The Day Before) Moving day.

We're down to the wire, movers come tomorrow morning. Today I'm doing dumb stuff like throwing out the dead flowers, remembering to leave out some clean underwear and socks and I'm buying a microwave, curtains, shower curtain, curtain rod and supplies for some of the diy's I'm planning. I was also planning on working on the revamp of my photo site but I think that will have to wait! Stay tuned for pictures and thanks for all the support and tips on the paint debacle.

Speaking of grey: I'm also helping E design his new office space which we painted grey yesterday and, of course, that one turned out just fine. I'm thinking of stealing a container of it to paint in our house!