food for thought: cchini soup

Soup season is in full swing here in Colorado, and I couldn't be happier...

This week I made (Zu)Cchini and Rosemary soup. I enjoyed a couple of warm tasty meals and even had enough to share ;* The original recipe came from epicurious.com, but I have tweaked it a bit:

• 1T butter
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 small or medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 3 cans of chicken broth
• 3 oz. dry sherry
• 3 oz. water
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled, sliced
• 3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

Melt butter with oil. Add onion; saute until translucent, about 5 min. Mix in garlic, rosemary and potatoes; saute for a few minutes. Add stock, dry sherry and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 min. Add zucchini; simmer until tender about 15 min. Puree with hand blender or in blender, working in batches. Season with salt, pepper and white pepper.

Ladle into bowls, top with croutons.

Enjoy!

wednesday's interior(s): cozy

We have had a cold wind blowing here in Colorado for the past three days. I unfortunately have a window that does not close properly, so there is a bit of a draft in my home. So today I was drawn to cozy interiors...obviously I associate cozy with flokati shag rugs since one shows up in three out of five of the interiors here. Flokati rugs and texture. In the above photo the warn leather sofa, the rustic teak table and the grass cloth wall, work fabulously with the rug and the glow emanating from the lights, give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Amazing ceiling.

The wall tone in the above photo is a little on the cool side, I would warm it up a bit. I do love the color of the fireplace and the fact that it is a clean focal point, so awesome without a mantel. And that cute sofa is like a comfortable sweater!

This is a nice warm wall color. Another clean fireplace, simple and cozy.

Then there is one of my all time favorite movies with my all time favorite set design. A multitude of textures and the lighting. One of the easiest ways to achieve a cozy interior is the right lighting

Now this is a lair a girl could love...

today's post...

Due to the fact that my computer is infected with a virus, I'm feeling a little vulnerable and irritated to tears.. I will not be posting until my computer is well.

Thanks a lot to the worthless scum who have nothing better to do than create viruses that screw up peoples computers preventing them from working, making a legitimate living, not to mention the money it costs to fix!

And thank you Webroot for NOT protecting my computer!

fab find: galoshes

Galoshes, rain boots, Wellies, or as my rancher dad calls them, irrigation boots...

no matter what you refer to them as, I like to call them indispensable. So easy to slip on to take "Dog Faced Boy" out in the snow or rain, wading through the mud at the horse rescue or just running about in the elements, I couldn't live without em! So when I saw these fantastic ROANOKE CROCO boots at chineselaundry.com, they immediately went to the top of my Fall/Winter "must have" list. Love them!

friday musings: weekend in the country

It is truly a Fall weekend here in Southwestern Colorado...Rain is falling, the leaves have finally changed, the air is brisk, which means...it's perfect weather to wear my poncho!

Have a great weekend!

TC

wednesday's interior: laid back, elegant style

White walls, beautiful windows, floor to ceiling airy cotton scrim draperies, distinctive yet subtle furnishings...Custom, antiqued mirrors flanking the extra long custom made bed. More simple, but oh so elegant, cotton scrim on sliding tracks for a bit of romantic privacy. I have never seen an unmade bed look so fabulous and inviting.

The beautiful "genteel rusticity" of the guest bath, takes one back in time when simplicity was the norm. The norm and fabulous. I would love to be a guest of this home, better yet, I would love this home to be mine! How about you?

Home of Interior Designer Robert McAlpine featured in House & Garden, year unknown.

no images...

Since I am so late posting today, I missed the window to upload images due to maintenance. I could describe "wednesday's interior", but where's the fun in that?

I will post in the morning before heading off to a client.

Have a fabulous evening!

style board: traditional challenge

Nothing is harder for me to do, I literally quiver in my skin when I hear the word traditional... I have a new client whose home has a few traditional touches, not a lot, and the furniture is on the contemporary side, an easy mix. So the style is by no means 100% traditional. I think the "traditional" that I am seeing as a challenge is the white trim, white wainscot and white built in shelves.

I'm starting in the family room which looks similar to the photo above. "K" is definitely wanting to change the color from the soft neutral that it is. She likes greens and blues and has this beautiful set of plates that are a dark delft blue with olives, creams and rusts. My plan is to change the main walls to a medium olive while keeping the trim, wainscot and shelves white. But to decrease the "white wall of shelves", I'm taking another cue from the plates and applying a dark delft blue to the backs of the cubbies.

I will remove a couple of shelves and hang smaller pictures within the cubbies as well as various vases and objects. "K" has a start on accessories, but there are a lot of shelves...gosh, I guess I'll have to go shopping ;)

fab find: Essex Sofa

While I was out and about shopping for a client today, I spotted this fab find in the window at West Elm... The Essex is a splendid sofa priced quite nicely from $1,299 to $1,499, depending on the cover. I especially love the paisley pattern shown above. It's a subtle black and white, not overpowering by any means. It is available in 19 solids (including six velvets!) and six patterns. The West Elm sofa's usually fall on the firmer side, but this little lovely is truly comfy.

friday musings

We are having amazing weather here in Colorado, after a bit of cold earlier in the week, today is in the mid 70's and beautiful. But after a full, busy week... I would love to retreat in the above bedroom with a few months worth of magazines to catch up on what's happening in the world of fashion and interiors.

But the snow will be falling soon, so I will take advantage of the splendid weather starting with an outdoor happy hour this evening. Finish painting a chair for a client tomorrow since I can still do it outside then throw some salmon on the grill and dine al fresco.

Have a great weekend!

TC

help!!!

I now know why I shop mostly online...Denver is seriously lacking in home furnishings stores!I NEED accessories for a client by next Thursday. While I have time to go shopping, I have very few options. I will hit West Elm (even though it appears Christmas is in the house), HW Home and Crate & Barrel, in Cherry Creek, after that...

So I am asking for help from readers in the Denver area, or who have shopped in the Denver area, where are some good home boutiques?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

style board: Georgia O'Keeffe, "At the Rodeo, New Mexico"

Georgia O'Keeffe, hands down, is my favorite artist. I'm from the Southwest, so I appreciate her paintings from her beloved landscapes of New Mexico. But I also love her cityscape's from her time in New York City, truly amazing. I saw, "At the Rodeo, New Mexico" for the first time after I added yet another O'Keeffe book to my library. Her use of color, intense color, is not for the faint of heart, but she shows how well colors work with each other, even those that we mere mortals wouldn't even think of doing together.

This is style board is just one story taken from this magnificent painting. I imagine this living room having glossy black stained floors and deep velvety grey walls with various other pops of color through accessories. I am loving the faux deer head, a must see on etsy.com. Custom designs and colors also available.

Who or what inspires you?

frustration...

I'm not sure what is going on, but the furniture pics I am trying to use for today's style board, are so not working. I may have to jump ahead to "wednesday's interior"...

Yippeee! I figured out how to get the furniture photos, but my computer is slooooow, my patience has hit the wall. Time to workout.

Back tomorrow.

fab find: rainy day must haves

We are having a chilly, rainy, Fall day here in Colorado. This D&G alpine sweater would be absolutely perfect over a pair of sweater leggings...
curled up on the Shelter sofa from Crate & Barrel in front of a fire watching some Hitchcock while sipping cocoa with Baileys...

well, maybe tonight ;)

out of office...

Spent most of the day shopping with a client, will have something "fab" tomorrow along with a new "style board" designed around one of my favorite Georgia O'Keeffe paintings.

friday musings...

food for thought...+ wednesday's interior(s)

I figured since I was behind a day on posting, I would combine topics. Plus I don't have any particular "food" on the brain, been too busy! Also, food has to be created and eaten somewhere...This kitchen above is one of my favorites, it is from an old ELLE Decor. While I'm not a "pink" person, it is stunning; not to mention unexpected, with the black cabinets. I have always wanted black cabinets for base cabinets and natural pine, distressed, for the wall cabinets.

I am also a fan of concrete counter tops shown in the kitchen below, Better Homes & Gardens August 2004. They are modern and industrial and would look very cool with black cabinets.

So to enjoy the fantastic meal created in the fantastic kitchen, one needs an amazing dining room. These dining rooms are from Cottage Living and Country Home. They both have a great mix of style, rustic-modern-contemporary-fabulous, simply stylish...

Now I'm hungry!

style board: operation coral pillow

I had so much fun with the style boards for the Fall Color Trends 2010, that I have decided to continue, whether with a trend or an attention grabbing item. This week it is an attention grabbing coral pillow...I spotted this pillow on blissliving.com. I love the color and the subtle quilted pattern. Coral looks amazing with grey, but I wanted to warm it up a bit, so when I found the chandi at Horchow. Hello, Tiffany Blue and coral, a no brainer. The gold tones in the shells led to the bamboo table due to it's warm color, texture and overall fabulousness. I threw the brown in for extra depth, okay, because I had to feature the Zinc Bar from jaysonhomeandgarden.com.

This room has a good color range to shift into Spring/Summer. Toss in some more Tiffany Blue, remove the grey velvet drape, and voila!

Does it work for you?

work in progress...

Still working on today's Style Board with this pillow as the inspiration...

fab find: elle decor, what's hot! october 2010

Elle Decor, What's Hot! October 2010 featured three fabulous goodies that I had to share.59" x 79" striped alpaca blankets from dbryantarchie.com. I have an alpaca poncho that is sooo soft and warm, it makes me warm and happy! I can just imagine how wonderful one of these blankets would feel to cuddle up in.

This chair from American Leather is not your typical wing chair. The Cole has such clean, modern lines, it's more of a mid-century mod wing chair. Available in a wide range of colors, I personally am loving the green! americanleather.com

This gilded Pearson's side table is simply glamorous. The lines, the gild, the black glass shelves... it would make a stunning bar table for a small space, pearsoncompany.com.

friday musings

Heading into a busy weekend. So I think I'll channel Kate Moss channeling one my muses Brigitte Bardot... sans the heels!

Have a fabulous weekend,

TC