Well, did I surprise you?! I’ve been working with Cooper House since September on this shiny new version of Design Crush and it’s been tough to keep my mouth shut, but I thought New Year’s Day would be the perfect start for a new and improved site!
You’ll notice a few new additions that should make the site a little more intuitive. My favorites are the Share/Tweet/Pin icons that you’ll find at the bottom of each and every post. We stayed true to the drop down Categories and Archive menus in the sidebar and added icons for About and Press. You can also see we switched back to the white background. The dark grey was a fun experiment, but I’m a minimal girl at heart!
There may be a few glitches during the first day or so until everything gets ironed out, please feel free to let us know if anything isn’t functioning properly for you. I hope you love this new look as much as I do!
My plans for 2013:
• wear more sparkly shoes
• send more cards + letters
• go on more dog walks
• watch more movies
• draw + write more often
• buy more fresh flowers
• make more cocktails
• spend more time with friends
I’m anti-resolution, so this is my lighthearted attempt at keeping myself accountable for 2013 and beyond. Are you a resolution maker? Any good at it?
A few weeks ago I was taking a look through the past year in posts and decided to put together a Top 40 collection for 2012. I had hoped to spread it out over a few days and organize everything a bit, but a family death and extended stay in Pennsylvania over the holidays set me back and I had to lump it all together. Thank you so much for continuing to help make this site such an amazing part of my daily life – here’s to 2013!
Hot Dog – my longest foster at 3 months – was adopted by the most lovely couple.
Roxy had surgery and recovered like a champ!
Piper and I finished buying + wrapping gifts right on schedule. PS: I like dogs.
Automobile Alley in OKC was all dressed up.
Volunteered at an amazing adoption event (again, I like dogs).
My mom adopted a new kitten, Noel!
I made an ass out of myself mid-Target. And was proud.
Received so many pretty cards this year.
Scored this Oklahoma pride tee from Shop Good in a Dirty Santa.
Gifted/own my first turntable since the age of 10.
My favorite part of O’Hare Airport.
Made bobiki for the first time entirely on my own. (Rolling needs work!)
Raided old photos at my Grandma’s house. My Grandpa was such a looker!
And she’s not such a Plain Jane either.
The essence of my childhood.
Three cats on a box and one inside. Because.
Artist Lily Stockman is lovely in every possible way, and now she’s partnered with her business-minded sister Hopie to create Block Shop. The story behind how this Indian textile company came together is truly inspiring and the scarves are nothing less than stunning. Each one is stamped individually with vegetable-based dyes onto Indian silk-cotton blend fabric. It’s virtually impossible to choose a favorite, but if pressed I’d go with the coral arrows. Well done, ladies!
I’m kind of a cookbook junky. Okay not kind of, I am. Winter always puts me in homemaker mode which means lots of time spent in the kitchen, and this past year has seen lots of fantastic cookbooks that I’m still dying to get in my hands. Do you own any of these? Do you love them?
Pachinko Parlor sits on popular 9th Street in Midtown and is sort of an enigma. There’s sushi for the sushi lover and the sushi hater (try the Philly cheesesteak roll or the chicken curry salad roll). There’s noodles and Asian-inspired dishes and even classics. Basically, you’re sure to find something you like no matter who you are.
My friend and I stopped by for dinner on a Thursday night a few weeks ago. Pachinko has an indoor dining room, but they also have a gorgeous outdoor seating area that’s part porch/part patio and makes you feel like you’re eating at someone’s house. Even though it’s December and the evening was in the 50s we decided to brave the outdoors to take advantage of the view and the fire pit.
Pachinko‘s menu is a perfectly curated mix of appetizers, soups and salads, noodles, sushi, entrees, and desserts. They also have a stellar beer and cocktail list that follows suit.
We opted for the mulled wine, a seasonal favorite that gets requested as soon as temps drop below 70 degrees and a perfect fit for this chilly night. It was so good that it deserved two pictures, trust me.
I couldn’t get enough of the tempura fried fresh green beans with sweet chili cream dipping sauce, basically they could have been my enter meal!
For our first course we order the house salad (Which was described by my friend as having a “snappy” citrusy dressing – YUM!) and Udon noodles which was tossed with flakey salmon and a sake cream sauce.
It was sooo difficult to stop eating those noodles, but I had a roll to focus on…
A crab rangoon roll to be precise. See, I told you there were unique food combinations here! It came with a sweet chili dipping sauce and was the size of about two and a half normal sushi rolls. I ate three pieces and was about to pop. (Pssst… the noodles and even the roll were still tasty the next day!)
The presentation of everything was clean and simple, focused on the food. And the sashimi measured up just as well as everything else.
I’m a big fan of Pachinko Parlor and definitely recommend it for a casual lunch or dinner. It’s located in a great part of town so you can wander around shopping and exploring before sitting down to nosh.
Earlier this month I featured one of Studio522‘s designs in our Super Duper Christmas Card Roundup and then went back and explored the shop a little more. I’ve been on the hunt for a clean and modern return address stamp for a few years now, I just can’t ever seem to pull the trigger and buy one. Then I saw this design and knew I’d found The One. (I wish I could show you my stamp here, but my address is on it. Duh.) It has a great sturdy handle so you can get a nice and even press, I can’t wait to try mine out with different colored inks!
Being the bibliophile that I am, I was also really excited to get this coordinating bookplate stamp. I’m looking forward to inking my collection sometime soon. And I’m also looking forward to coming back to Studio522 for a few housewarming gifts!
PS: Use the code DESIGNCRUSH12 for free shipping on your order!
These colorful necklaces (and bracelets) from Peppercotton – the team of Patrick Culpepper and Aurelia Cotton – are created from tube mesh and Swarovski crystals. Brilliant, creative use of materials and just the kind of piece to wear for taking a simple holiday outfit to the next level. (viaHoney Kennedy)
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