make headlines mugs

After a few days of scouring the internet for the perfect vessel for my morning cup of coffee, I stumbled across this mug from Kate Spade's Make Headlines series.  There are four mugs in the series:  Be Jeweled, Travel Bright, Rain or Shine, and Make Mischief (the one I have).  Each one is made from Lenox porcelain and is microwave and dishwasher safe.  Quel fab for you or a gift for your work bestie.

Make Headlines mugs, $20, Bloomingdales

cynthia rowley band-aids

Ever feel like your bandages just aren't fashion-forward enough for your fancy self?  Well, you're in luck!  Cynthia Rowley has designed Band-Aids to help heal the most fabulous of ouchies.  Pair this with your Jonathan Adler condom caddy, and you'll have the most stylish medicine cabinet on the block.

Band-Aids, CynthiaRowley.com,  $5

wine for a wedding

I've talked about my hesitation to shop off-registry, but some gifts just need to be given.  Take this Wine for a Wedding box, for instance.  You can purchase the boxes with wines, or you can just buy the boxes and fill them with your own wines.  The boxes start at $55 and the wine trios start at $55, too (so $110 for the whole thing).  If you don't think the couple can wait until their one year anniversary to open up one of your gifted bottles, they also have boxes that start with "open on your honeymoon."

a cup of coffee

I've gotten into the habit of having a cup of coffee every day at work.  Since I'm sure this is a bad habit, I might as well mask it with a cute cup.  (Denial is the first step.)  I wouldn't mind starting my day with any of these.

1.  Market Street Pink Mug, $19, Kate Spade
2.  Carnaby Scale Mug, $18, Jonathan Adler
3.  Unikko Mug, $22, Marimekko

cheese boards

I received a cheese board as a housewarming gift and I can't wait to use it.  Sometimes my friends just get me, you know?  (My boyfriend thought it was a tile.)

Here are some tips on how to assemble and serve a cheese platter:

1.  Arrange your cheeses clockwise, in order from mildest to strongest, leaving enough room between each for easy cutting.  For example, you could have a creamy brie at 12:00, a mild goat cheese at 3:00, a sharp cheddar at 6:00, and a stilton at 9:00.

2.  Try to have a cheese knife for each kind of cheese -- spreaders for the soft, shavers and sharp knives for the harder cheeses.  I like these from Sur La Table.

3.  Offer an assortment of crackers, fruits, and spreads to accompany your cheese board.  I like water crackers, grapes, honey, and fig preserves.

4.  Feel free to serve any kind of wine you'd like.  You can do wine pairings, but I find that people are particular about their wine and their cheese, and not the pairings between the two.

5.  Serve your cheeses at room temperature.  I know this sounds kind of weird, but it's how you get the best flavor.

off-registry bridal shower gifts

When it comes to bridal showers, I always play it safe buy something off the bridal registry...but sometimes I just want to be bad and shop *gasp* off registry.  If I ever dare to shop off registry, here are some things I like to buy.  These are also great for non-naughty (nice?) bachelorette party gifts.

A customized hanger for the special day.  Cute and practical. $18, etsy

Miss Now Mrs is an easy way to change your name after saying "I do.", $30, missnowmrs.com

Luggage tag.  I've always wanted this, so I'm hoping when my day comes, someone will buy this (and the matching passport holder) for me. $75, Tiffany & Co.

A ring holder.  If you're going to buy crystal, you can never go wrong with Waterford, but this Kate Spade one is especially lovely.  $40, Macys.

mini apple crumbles

A dear friend gifted a set of Le Creuset mini-cocottes to me for our housewarming.  I couldn't wait to use them, so I made personal apple crumbles.  Here's my recipe:

Ingredients
For each apple crumble, you will need:

• 1 medium apple, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 tsp of brown sugar for apples, plus 2 tablespoons for crumble
• 1 tablespoon of cold butter
• 2 tablespoons of quick cooking oats
• 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon for apples, plus 1/8 teaspoon for crumble
• vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

• In a small bowl, sprinkle the apples with 1 tsp of brown sugar and 1/8 tsp of cinnamon.  Stir to coat.
• Place the apples in your mini-cocottes or ramekins
• In another bowl, mix the flour, and brown sugar together
• Cut in the cold butter with two forks, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs
• Add the oats and cinnamon to the mixture and sprinkle it over the apples
• Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until the apples are tender  (The apples will shrink, so feel free to pile up the apples and crumble topping.)

Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

etiquette tip

Etiquette is a set of rules that can only be observed, not enforced.  Because of this, it's one of the easiest ways to be fancy.  I'll share some of the rules I try to observe, just to spread the fanciness.

If you're the closest to the bread basket, take a piece and put it on your bread plate.  Then offer a piece to the person on your left.  After that person has taken (or declined) the bread, pass it to the person on your right.  If there's a communal butter dish, take some from the dish and put it on your bread plate and use this as your own little butter stash.  Don't butter your entire roll.  Tear off and butter each piece of bread before you eat it.

a housewarming party

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I hosted a housewarming party.  We just wanted to get our old friends together to celebrate our new place.  Here's how we did it:


1.  Invitations
We sent a Paperless Post invitation to our guests.  This picture was taken on moving day, at the moment I realized our new apartment didn't have enough storage.

Paperless Post is my preferred e-invitation website because not only do the invitations look like actual stationery, but it doesn't allow a "maybe" response and guests can't see the guest list.  "Maybe" responses are the worst and guests should attend because they want to attend, not because someone else is attending.

2.  Decorations
I knew I wanted to craft something for the party, so I made this welcome banner using scrapbooking paper and ribbon and hung it on our mantle.  I also made food labels since a few of our guests had dietary restrictions.  French cheeses with their names on flags are so chic.

3.  Favors
I baked a few dozen cookies, put them in little bags, and tied them with yellow ribbon and a "thanks for visiting" note.  Favors aren't usually given at housewarming parties, but I liked the idea of sending our friends home with something homemade at the end of the night.


We hope everyone had a great time at the party.  My boyfriend and I feasted on party leftovers for days, and are looking forward to drinking all of the bottles of wine we received.  That's the thing about hosting.  It might be super stressful, but at least people bring you wine.


Fuzzy pictures courtesy of my iPhone 3Gs.

change of address cards

When my boyfriend and I moved in together, I knew two things:

1.  I was going to try really hard to hide my secret single behaviors
2.  I wanted to send change of address cards

I've always loved the idea of a change of address card, even though I've never actually received one.  It's just so classy and official, and it's also a nice way to announce your cohabitation and provide an address where friends and family can send birthday cards (possibly filled with cash or gift cards).

Here are some of the cards I loved:

Airmail Stripes, $30 for 20 cards, tinyprints

Moving Key, $31 for 20 cards, Wedding Paper Divas

Important note, $42 for 20 cards, tinyprints

Official Change of address, $60 for 20 cards, Papersheep Press.  

In the end, I couldn't decide on which one I wanted so I used these as inspiration, then designed and printed my own.  I hand-addressed and stamped a skeleton key on the envelopes to give them a homemade look.  The total cost for the printing, rubber stamps, envelopes, and postage was around $30 and I got exactly what I wanted.  Not too shabby.