beat the heat: lemon & mint popsicles!

it's too hot in DC not to have some popsicles in the freezer.  try this easy recipe for a refreshing treat! 


purchase an all-natural, slightly sweetened lemonade.  (you can also make your own by squeezing about 10-12 lemons and adding half a cup of simple syrup.  I find the purchased all-natural varieties turn out better.) pour about four cups into your blender.  Add 1-2 cups of chopped fresh mint (at your discretion), 2-3 cups of ice (or as needed), and blend!  pour into popsicle molds and freeze.  (or you can drink the blended concoction, which is also super tasty and refreshing.)


for a pop of color, you can add sliced strawberries to the molds before they go into the freezer. yum!

napa part deux - inspiring photos

here are a few photos from our trip to the santa cruz and napa areas over the 4th of July weekend.  will framing these be my next diy project?


this is my favorite photo from the whole trip. it captures the afternoon light amazingly well. we probably trespassed to get the picture, but it was so magical, we couldn't resist!


another one of my faves.  you'd never know it was 2011...it feels so vintagey with the fog shrouding the Santa Cruz pier and amusement park.  it was actually bright and sunny behind us.


i love these jumbo orange starfish under the Santa Cruz pier.  they seem to be enjoying themselves...


a bunch of fishing (or maybe lifeguarding?) boats lined up on the pier. how could i say 'no' to those colors?


i saw a photo similar to this one on Pinterest and set out on my photo safari.  fortunately, the cable cars were still there glowing in their candy-coated brilliance!



palm tree + roller coaster = awesome.



mama sea lion + baby sea lions = awesomer.  (love the dark teal color of the water...i need to look into a Benjamin Moore match for that one!)



i left my heart (behind that cute secret door) in San Francisco.

how to coax some napa into your garden

so even four days after a long return from the Bay area to Washington, my mind is still drifting in a hammock under the Napa sun in a fabulously outfitted garden.  if you're like me (an East coaster living on West coast time and dreaming of a Bay area climate), then rest assured you too can create your own idyllic garden with just a few cheap plants and materials.


1. for cryin' out loud, get yourself some bougainvillea.  this stuff grows amazingly fast, needs little water, and looks spectacular in small gardens and especially climbing walls and trellises.  I've never actually seen it in the Mid-Atlantic region, but I hear you can use it in planters and bring it inside in the winter.  eye candy.





2. lavender.  this herby, delicious plant does grow in DC and likes sunny spots.  it grows best in clusters, so multiples planted along a garden wall or fence will be intensely gorgeous and aromatic.  it smells even better when you have a glass of Napa-grown JC Cellars shiraz in your hand.





3. citrus. for valentine's day, Andy gave me a lime tree instead of roses.  we kept it inside until late may, and we got one glorious lime to sprout, which is still holding on for dear life. we're not really sure when it will ripen (if ever), but the plants flowers have a wonderfully happy scent and now provide fragrance to our garden, which competes with some climbing petunias.  in napa, we saw citrus trees just about everywhere. are you craving a 'lemon and mint' julep yet?





4. cafe chairs.  see my post from last time.  i found these glorious Pointoux cafe chairs at Bouchon in Yountville.

5. it wouldn't be napa without vegetable and herb gardens.  The French Laundry in Yountville, a famous  and pricey restaurant with a three-month waiting list, is a perfect example.  they even 'grow' their own chickens (complete with feathery feet) in a luxury coop.  you can get the same effect with potted varieties of basil, parsley, and rosemary.

(that's the luxurious coop on the left.)

bistro chairs inspired by Le Tour de France

four years ago, my husband (then brand-new boyfriend) asked me to watch Le Tour de France with him and his roommates.  i was never into cycling before that (other than my ill-fated mountain biking adventures in high school), so i was reluctant to plop down on the couch for three whole weekends to watch the race.  but within minutes of the first stage of Le Tour 2008, i was hooked.  the sport is so strategic and intriguing.  although each cyclist is racing for himself, he's also racing for the team.  since i appear to be on a france kick this week, may i introduce you to the amazingly versatile and colorful french bistro chair, most famously produced by TK Collections and Poitoux.  wouldn't you want to sit in one of these beauties watching Contador or Evans speed by?








TK chairs were featured in last month's House Beautiful.  I really love the above style and the below armless Parisienne style.

TK lets you customize the weave as well as the color.  These chairs would look fantastic on a petite patio or in a casual eat-in kitchen.  Since they are easy to clean, I could also see them around a table in a kids' craft room.



Glacseat also sells the original french Poitoux line of authentic bistro chairs.



Victoria Hagan room



i found this great little knock-off set (minus the ugly table) at Overstock.com for less than one TK Collection chair -- $524.



Decor n More also has some nice options for less than $200 per chair.  one of my faves is this blue patterned number, the Orlando:

diy friday - happy independence day, america!

here's another easy $5 wreath idea.  grab a bag of these yankee doodle dandy flag picks at a party store, and stick them in the straw wreath form you used last week for that fabulous tropical umbrella dealie.





next week i'll be basking in the glow of the pacific sun in a vineyard somewhere in the napa valley.  stay tuned for inspirations from the left coast!