Macaron-i

It was my birthday this week, and over all it was a tasty one! Last year I was in Paris for my birthday eating macarons from Laduree, this year I was at home and the macrons came to me!

I got a big box from Michel Patisserie with 2 or 3 of each flavor they make!

I have to admit I fell in love with these pastries a few years back and am kinda happy that they are getting so much attention over here these days too. I know some people feel kinda iffy about the "mainstreaming of the macaron" with the fear that thousands of poor quality sad macarons will some how spoil the magic. To me however although a frozen Trader Joes macaron won't quite live up to the decadent treat of a hand crafted box of pretty little sweets in exotic flavors, it can chase away the blues on a night at home when you just want a macaron fix.

For any one who hasn't had a rocking good french style macaron Michel Patisserie ship all over the country, you can order through their website.

I love them because they taste great, look beautiful and make my day feel a little more special.

Right now I'm still working towards getting the kitchen finished, but I have a macaron class to go to early August, so I hope I'll be able to make some crazy flavored almond treats from my friends and family (and me!) once everything is finished for the "house warming" party!

Drapes Match the Kitchen

A few weeks back I missed an auction for some crazy awesome 50's wallpaper. At first i was kinda bummed out I had forgotten to bid, but then I remembered that what I really wanted was fabric not wall paper.

The paper has these great googie illustrations of chefs and bakers in those wonderful mid century pastels and brights. I was luck enough to save some of the photos from the auction and have been busy trying to trace the illustrations into Photoshop so that I can have them printed on fabric later for our seat covers and drapes!

The web has a few services out there right now that will turn your digital images into usable fabrics, places like Spoon Flower are a great resource for any one looking to do a retro renovation, and just not able to find the fabrics they want/need. I know I hunted around for a fabric I loved, this one came close from Michael Miller, if it had been turquoise instead of green I'd have snatched that up!

There are some great retro fabrics out there for your home projects, and when the design is no longer put there, you can always DIY! I'll have more on our fabric once it's done!

Light Fantastic

Some people go pretty adventurous with kitchen cabinets, but we're working on a budget which makes Ikea pretty much the natural choice. The fronts we went with are the Nexus Birch. The flat fronts are perfect for a 50's style kitchen, and the color is light enough to take a bold color scheme (turquoise walls and a sparkly red counter top!) One great way that we're hoping to bring some extra vintage flare to the cabinets is with these great fixtures from rejuvenation.com.

I instantly fell in love with the boomerang drawer pulls and the star back plates for the cabinet knobs, so 50's!

The schoolhouse light with the red rings will go over the dining table and should have a nice cheery feel to it?

The site also has some smashing Victorian pieces for cabinets and lighting, my favorite is this crazy over the top bat light! 

Right now we have our floor and the exciting kitchen building part is starting to happen. I can't wait to see and post the finished kitchen.