Favorites Lately

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Clothing & Accessories, Cooking, Flowers, Recipes, Sweets, Unique Finds

Here are a few of my new favorites as of late:

These Shoes – if/when they go on sale, I think I am going for the Red, too! These are some of the most comfortable shoes I have owned in a long time.

Ina’s Chicken Stew & Biscuits - I’d skip the pearl onions and feel free to cheat and use frozen biscuits :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (I froze off little individual scoops of dough so now they are ready any time I am!)

Grapefruit Brulee

Mysterious Blooming Branches from HEB Grocery – anyone able to identify them? The blooms are purple.

Saw this beautiful marble table/island at BHLDN last week and had to snap a photo for future reference.

That’s all!

Black Magic Cake

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Cooking, Recipes, Sweets

I made this cake this weekend and it was fabulous!  Honestly, it was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten and definitely the best I have ever made! It is super moist and has a delicious chocolate flavor.

(Don’t worry, I will work on my food photography/presentation as soon as possible!)

Good news is that there weren’t any expensive ingredients in it and mostly includes things you probably already have around, at least if you cook/bake often.  I think the trick is the oil (rather than butter), coffee and buttermilk.  Added bonus is that everything all goes into one bowl…my kind of cake! Here is the recipe:

CAKE

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

2 c sugar

3/4 c cocoa powder

2 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1 t salt

2 eggs

1 c strong black coffee, cooled

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c veggie oil

1 t vanilla extract

CHOCOLATE FROSTING – original recipe tweaked to my liking

1/2 c butter, softened*

2 oz melted unsweetened chocolate, cooled

1 1/2  to 2  c powdered sugar

*If you are using unsalted butter, I would recommend adding a pinch of salt as well (I did and it was perfectly salty sweet).

**Update: I made this cake again last night (5/24) and accidentally left out the vanilla and milk and only used about half of the powdered sugar and the icing was amazing! Recipe here has been updated so reference the link at the beginning of the post if you would like the original icing recipe.

1) Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in large mixing bowl

2) Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla

3) Beat at medium speed for two minutes

4) Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 or two 9 inch cake pans (batter will be very thin)

5) Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes

6) Combine frosting ingredients and spread on cooled cakes

Make this as soon as humanly possible…you won’t regret it! Or, maybe you will after  you eat a whole cake in one sitting : )

Made with Love

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Cooking, Entertaining, Family, Gift Ideas, Sweets

My hardworking husband had to head into work on Sunday afternoon to catch up on a few things and I wanted to send him with a little treat.  Remember when I told you about Garnish?  Well, I placed quite the order with them a few weeks back and have already made quite a dent in my supplies!

My stash came in handy when I packaged up Ryan’s treat.  I used one of their  glassine bags and popped in two freshly baked cookies and stapled it shut (no cutsie ribbon needed for that guy).  Oh, and just to be honest with you…these were scooped from my tub of frozen snickerdoodle cookie dough!

I’d like to think his day at work on the weekend was just a little sweeter : )

Sunshine in a Pot

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Cooking, Flowers, In my Dreams and tagged with

I love lemons.  I think they are lovely and yummy and cook with them often.  I love the color yellow.  All of this probably contributes to my desire to have an indoor lemon tree in my kitchen someday.  Don’t worry, I realize that indoor citrus would probably not produce much fruit and I’m really after the aesthetic contribution it would make : )

Here are a few kitchens that are sporting a little lemon tree of their own. 

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And of course, Martha Stewart has an article on growing citrus indoors that can be found here.  Have a sunny Wednesday!

 

Big Bolsters

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Bedroom, Fabric, Potential Projects

Topic of the day (or the month, since it has been that long since my last post) – Bolster Pillows! I’m constantly seeing so many beautiful interiors and am usually brainstorming on how I can use them in my space, specifically items that we can take with us when we leave and that have the best chance of fitting (physically and aesthetically) in our new home.

There are so many beautiful spaces that have used  bolsters on both sofas and beds. Our sofa is super deep, which makes great lounging for Ryan and me, but makes it a little tricky for certain guests to sit comfortably.  You pretty much have to be snuggled up on the couch to be comfortable, but who doesn’t want to curl up anyway, right? Well, I think big bolsters can help those that like to keep both feet touching the ground more comfortable.

This first image has been a favorite of mine for a long time.  There really isn’t anything that I don’t love about this room, but today, I’m specifically admiring the big bolster that runs the length of the sofa.

Sofa-Length Bolster

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Doesn’t this next bolster make this sofa so inviting? Maybe it is the little cutie in his jammies that just makes it look so cozy.

Fun Striped Bolster

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But for now, I’m thinking of tackling a smaller project and getting a bolster made for our bed.  I feel like this would be fairly easy to commit to right now because the contents of our bedroom will most likely migrate to the guest bedroom when we buy a home.

Here are some things to get the juices flowing…

This fabric and these monograms are so whimsical and playful!

Playful Fabric and Monogram

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Now this is a bolster pillow!

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I think the one in this next image would be a great size, or is at least similar to what I have in mind.

Oversized Bolster

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There is a good chance that I will be using the fabric that I won from Tracery Interiors back around Christmas time.  I’m thinking I may do some sort of welting or flange trim to add a pop of color and help the fabric standout against our linen upholstered headboard and white duvet. Or maybe stay simple with the bolster and have two other more colorful pillows made to go along.  Here is what the fabric looks like.

Who knows what my final choice will be!  As usual, I’ll probably be crippled with indecision and do nothing…but I would really like to break myself of that habit. When friends ask me my opinion on their space, it is always so easy for me to give them a quick response and make decisions easily, but when it comes to my own home, it is another story!

From studying these spaces, if you want major impact, the bigger the bolster the better!! Am I wrong? What do you think?

“Upholstered Legs Give Me The Creeps”

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Furniture, In my Dreams, Potential Projects, Unique Finds

Remember, long ago when I mentioned some rolled back parsons chairs that I found on Craigslist? Well, they are now proudly perched around my nana’s dining table in all their velvet-clad glory!

Let’s take a few steps back, shall we?  When I sent my mother pictures of the chairs to get her opinion on whether or not they could be a decent purchase, this is what she said:

“‘Are those legs upholstered? Upholstered legs give me the creeps”

…me too, mom, me too.

Now that our velvety friends are here to stay, I’m not sure how much longer I can stand them, as they are. It isn’t the velvet, I’m a big fan of velvet! It is that they are this very not-so-cool shade of forest green. I keep telling myself that I don’t want to spend any money on new things or updates while we are in our apartment for two reasons: 1) every dollar I spend is just a little bit longer we will be waiting to purchase our first home and 2) the newly updated or purchased pieces may not actually work in our eventual new space.  I tend to mull over something to the point of crippling indecision and then regret the decision that I finally make…It’s a very unfortunate condition!

Either way, it can’t hurt to plan a little for the future, so here are some of the possibilities I am considering for my chairs:

Slipcovered vs. Upholstered: I like the concept of having a slip cover, especially on a piece of furniture that will almost exclusively be used around food and drinks. When it comes to actual appearances, I think I generally stray away from the less tailored look of a slip cover and prefered the very fitted upholstered chairs.

I think this will be especially true since the rolled back nature of the chairs will probably make it next to impossible to get a tight-fitting slip cover.

Inspiration Photos/Thought Process:

Here are a few concepts that I am considering for my beauties:

Solid Color with Piping

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The contrasting pink piping on the tangerine chair is so playful! I think this is the best comparison to the shape of my chairs that I have found.

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For some reason, the double piping seems more preppy, less feminine and maybe even a little more casual to me than the first, shown in tangerine, from Society Social.

Solid with Band of Accent Color on Skirt

Pattern

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I think the ticking stripe is one of my favorites. For some reason, I have been envisioning a ticking stripe with a yellow piping.  I think that would be so fun and playful, but think it might be too informal for the rolled back. The tangerine and pink piping is pretty playful too though and it seems to work with the rolled back!

I feel like I am walking a tight rope between getting something subtle enough that could for sure work in our future place and going so generic that it is boring! I want them to have some nice custom detail, but don’t want to quickly tire of or grow out of them.

What do you think? Any standout favorites?

Apartment Kitchen Updates – Part 2

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Organization

Remember long ago when I wrote about our apartment kitchen updates? Well, I’m sure you have been waiting with bated breath for part 2! Wait no more because here it is…anti-climactic at best.

Basically, I cleared up some space in my pantry so everything could spread out by moving my flour, sugar and brown sugar to the counter. 

Also, I rounded up all of my oft-used cooking tools like oils, salt & pepper, and utensils and put them in a basket next to the stove.

Finally, more for hygienic reasons than anything else, I bought a few cheap-o over-the-sink organization tools to keep my sponge, wash rags, dish soap, etc. from sitting on the sink ledge.  Hanging our paper towels over the sink also frees up precious sink-side counter space that our paper towel holder was unnecessarily hogging! Also, these bare walls over the sink without any sort of tile back splash gross me out, too, so I liked the idea of hiding it a little bit.

Yes, as promised, quite anti-climactic! Especially with my low light, poor quality photos : )  At least this will motivate me to get a prettier blog post up soon so this one isn’t front and center for weeks on end!

Bucket List Addition – Vintage Airstream Camper

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Entertaining, In my Dreams, Potential Projects, Travel, Uncategorized, Unique Finds

OK, when I saw these images on Pinterest, I had to make an addition to my bucket list. Come to think of it, I really don’t even have a bucket list. So, this image was so inspirational, it quickly became the one-and-only item on my bucket list! Allow me to introduce you to my bucket list…

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Buy a vintage airstream trailer – nothing fancy, just one of the 16 footers – and redesign the interior so that it was comfy and cozy with a vintage flair.  Just hook it up to the truck and head West! Or maybe North! Or East!

How great would it be to travel here

here

and here

cuddling up each night in your cozy little home on wheels. I would be eating yummy food, reading, sleeping in and taking in the sights. Half of the fun would be making the airstream over in ways more darling than anyone could imagine and the added challenge of that super small space and making it work in creative ways. No TV. No Internet. Just sunny days and simple living! This is really the only type of camping that I have ever been drawn to.

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This one has gotten quite the slick makeover!

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Here is another camper, this one done by Rachel Horn and probably the most ‘decked-out’ airstream that I’ve seen! This must have been quite a feat, but well worth it, I’m sure!

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Someday!

Happy Birthday to Us

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Cooking, Family, Uncategorized

Ryan and I celebrated our birthday a few weeks ago and had a very special weekend. Our dear friends Paul and Jordan surprised us with a few friends over for dinner and made a feast of a meal! They grilled out chicken and sausage, made two delicious pasta dishes and we also had a wonderful salad and yummy birthday cake!

I cooked a delicious beef tenderloin and made Ryan’s favorite to go along with it, Gorgonzola Cream Sauce …thank you Lord for Ina Garten : )

It is never the same when all of your family lives out-of-town and they aren’t around to help you celebrate, but I am very thankful to have my birthday-sharing husband and precious friends close-by!

Looking forward to celebrating many more together!

Back to School

Posted by Rachel Goetz in Clothing & Accessories, Gift Ideas

Do you remember the excitement of getting a new backpack before returning to school each year?  I thought that was always such an exciting time – new backpack and fresh school supplies!  Well, I feel like I am at that point again.  Since I really don’t want to be the new girl who clumsily drops her notebook, binder and supplies all over the floor on the first week, I think it is only appropriate to have a super stylish bag to neatly contain all of my new gear. 

I have been doing a little online shopping looking for cute back-to-school totes. Here are some of the best options (some more practical and affordable than others):

Steven by Steve Madden 'France' Leather Tote

Rebecca Minkoff 'Striped Diamond' Canvas Tote

Halogen 'Everyday' Tote

Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent Canvas Tote

Tory Burch 'Mini Ella' Nylon Tote

 

Kate Spade 'Dama' Tote

all images via Nordstrom

Considering that I will be in the design world, I think it is slightly important to have a bag that agrees with me, aesthetically.  Any favorites? Any guesses as to which is my favorite? Isn’t it convenient that my birthday is coming up soon?