It was lovely and crisp here in OKC this weekend, which always puts me in the best mood. I wore my first pair of socks since April, and now these cozy slippers and slipper socks from Wooly Baby are screaming my name! They’re eco-friendly (made from 85% recycled materials), have a suede bottom, and a wool-lined sole. They come in high and low ankle heights and are available for babies, kids, women, and men. Do I hear some holiday gifts being crossed off??
French sculptor Marc Giai-Miniet creates miniature libraries full of the smallest little books and other features. I love how industrial and macabre his sculptures feel, a little like they might be the lairs of someone/something evil and calculating. Did you spy the three bodies above?
Last weekend was the first it truly felt like fall, with plenty of cool temps and even a little rain to top it off. I know almost everyone seems to say it, but fall has truly been my favorite season for my entire life. So of course I had to do a little celebrating by dragging out my crockpot and cooking up some super simple, but very flavorful vegetable stew. (I served it up over a small bed of brown rice, but it’s just as good without.)
Slow-Cooked Vegetable Stew
(loosely adapted from Real Simple)
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, including juice
• 1 can corn, drained
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large sweet potato, diced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 4 small zucchinis
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• brown rice
Combine vegetable broth, tomatoes and juice, corn, garlic, sweet potato, cumin, sea salt, and crushed red pepper in a crockpot. Give it all a good stir and set on low heat for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. Add in zucchini and chickpeas, cooking for one hour longer on low. Serve over brown rice or with some crusty bread. Completely easy, yes?
I’ve seen a lo-ot of modular wine storage systems, they’re popular and we all know it. What I haven’t seen is a minimalist modular wine system that’s been done as well as STACT. The panels come in seven different colors, so you can mix and match and add to the system as your collection grows. The end result can end up looking like an incredible art installation in its own right, all while freeing up precious counter space.
Heeeyyy, Oklahoma City! Saturday, October 26th I’ll be speaking at Confluence, a conference celebrating OKC’s bloggers and digital influencers. Because you know what? We’ve got a lot of them. Confluence was created by David Christopher (an Oklahoman by way of Britain, funnily enough) as a way to bring us all together to meet, mingle, and learn from one another. Such a simple yet brilliant premise that I can’t wait to be a part of. I’ll be talking about growing your online community, but you can check out the whole Confluencelineup of speakers right here. If you’re in the OKC area and want to attend you can register here, use the code earlybird when doing so before October 12th for $10 off. Can’t wait to see you all at the end of the month.
With Halloween being just over a month away costumes and disguises are on everyone’s minds. These colorful and creative woodland creatures masks from Keely O’Brien of (kiss me)go are so good (as is her entire shop). Each mask is a print of an original collage made of sturdy card and cotton twine. Choose from a sweet old owl, a galactic wolf, a gentle black bear, a trickster coyote, and an elegant fox.
Paola Navone’s collection for Crate and Barrel have me daydreaming of the coast. Any coast. Platters full of fresh seafood, bowls brimming with just-picked vegetables, and glasses full of chilled wine. Choose from three distinct looks. The Como Collection, covered in painterly blues and inspired by Morocco, Turkey, and the Mediterranean. The Mallorca Collection, featuring white porcelain and zigzags reminiscent of flower petals and shells. And the Riviera Collection, with hints of turquoise and the look of the 1950s on the French Riviera. I mean really, no matter what you just can’t go wrong.
We’ve been doing some updates, here Peanut the cat gives his approval on a new armchair in the living room. I hung this sweet porcelain horseshoe over my front door for luck. Bebe was awful scruffy (how I like her!) before getting her semi-annual fur cropping. Oklahoma has some of the best sunset I’ve ever seen and brought out her best for the month. I visited Plenty Mercantile for the first time (I’ll be going back. Often.) and picked a few giant sticks of colorful taffy to ogle. Last month I commissioned this beautiful MCM-inspired coffee table and it was delivered last week. We updated the front door with some vinyl house numbers for a fun, graphic look. S’mores candy corn exists. For the record it’s good, but not heavily s’mores-y.
