Praia Piquinia

This photo from Christian Chaize via 20 x 200 needs to be mine, like, now.

Over. the. top.

Via @nytimes. This house is possibly the craziest I have ever seen. Unsurprisingly, it's in Vegas.

More is Not Enough

My name is Chelsea, and I have a problem with gallery walls. I want them all over the house. Apparently, this is a common thread between Jake and I since he has the man cave covered in show posters. Two walls of the bedroom are in progress/good enough. Above is my white-framed wall, the adjacent one is beige-toned art.

I feel bad because I see other bloggers meticulously planning gallery walls out, taping paper up before sinking a single nail. I prefer to let mine flow organically and add a new piece whenever I stumble across it. But that's they way I roll, design-wise. No mood boards, no swatches. Just throw it against the wall (sometimes literally) and see what works.

If you Can't Make it to Mexico, Fake it!

Valentine's Day Dinner, 2010. Shrimp and corn quesadilla and avocado salad. Yummy and simple!

My drapes came! Well, they came last week but I had to have Jake help (read: just do) re-hang the hardware higher on the wall because I bought 96" length. 84" would have been too short. i am convincing myself the room looks bigger in order to justify the high cost of the longer length. They still pool a bit on the floor but in what I hope appears to be an I-totally-meant-to-have-my-drapes-drag manner.

The other notable update is the paint. It's now Oyster by Behr. I don't know what manner of hallucinogenic I was ingesting when I went with a boring beigy brown last year. I have generally bad taste in paint colors (save the master bedroom). Note to self: just copy what color you like from the shelter mags, you cannot be trusted in front of the wall of LowesDepot paint chips.

Avocados don't freeze

Ugh. Trader Joe's rare fail this week. I saw they are now carrying frozen avocado halves, which I picked up to use in my avocado salad from Racheal Ray's recipe here. The texture is all wrong. They might be OK in a guacamole but just chopped plain? No thanks. But that's OK, TJ, I still heart you something fierce. And we all make mistakes sometime!

Patterns

So these drapes are making their way into my life. I kinda love them. A splurge for me, for sure, but sometimes you need a couple of *great* items to make a room rather than a bunch of blah junk.

Watch, when I finally get the to the PB outlet in SC in the next few months, they will be there for cheap. Ah, such is life.

Open Up and Say Ah!

Our house, built in 1965, still has some *lovely* original details. Like these louvered slats in the living room.We'll I'm assuming these are original. I seem to recall a phase in the 80s where design elements similar to these enjoyed a revival. We have two sets dividing the dining/living areas and the others are on the wall overlooking the entry way pictured below. After being gifted a reciprocating saw for Christmas (thanks, Harriett) it was time to attack these babies.

Here's the before:

And the after! Doesn't it open up the space so much? Now we have to refinish the top of the 1/2 walls with a little wood filler and paint but that's easy-peasy.

We actually dig that light fixture hanging in the entry way. It's definitely original and one of the elements we want to preserve.

It's raining, it's pouring

This photo is available for download for free over at Oh Brooke! Isn't it dreamy? And appropriate for today's rainy weather here in North Carolina. I've ordered a 5 x 7 matte print of it through Snapfish. Now, where will it go?

Teriyaki Pork and Mango Stir-Fry

This recipe from Rachael Ray's mag is one of my new faves. I generally don't cook a lot of pork other than bacon (yum) so I wanted to try something new.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless pork chops
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 small head napa cabbage, cored and thinly sliced crosswise (about 7 cups)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
• 3 tablespoons store-bought teriyaki sauce
• 2 mangoes, cut into matchsticks
• 2 cups bean sprouts

Directions:

1. On a work surface, place a pork chop between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and, using a meat mallet, pound 1/4 inch thick; repeat with the remaining chops. Slice into 1/4-inch-thick strips. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; add the pork and toss.
   

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Shake off any excess flour from the pork and arrange in a single layer in the skillet. Cook until browned and crisp on one side, about 3 minutes; turn and cook, stirring, until browned all over, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
   

3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the cabbage to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the teriyaki sauce, then toss with the pork and mangoes. Top with the bean sprouts.

Charley Harper

from CharleyHarperPrints.com

When we were in Costa Rica last month, we spent an amazing day hiking through Monteverde Cloud Forest. One of the most biodiverse places on earth, it is truly one of the best places I have ever been.

Browsing the interwebs last night, I found a Charley Harper poster inspired by Monteverde! I was thrilled -- both Jake and I love his work and to find a piece that really spoke to us was parfait! It's winging it's way to me now....to find an affordable frame is my next goal!

Trim

I wanted to give our bedroom a more "finished" look so I decided crown molding would be a good addition. Wood molding was going to be a PIA to deal with so I sought out some more DIY options. SoSimple sells affordable, high-density foam moldings over the interwebs.

Here's a before shot of the room. The paint is a super light pink so it's hard to get a shot that shows the contrast of the trim.

And after...

It looks ok in these shots but we really didn't do the best job of installing it. The house has popcorn ceilings througout (gross) and the trim doesn't lay totally flush on the ceiling so it was hard to line up all the pieces. We also made a couple of small errors in measuring so we have a few seams that are larger than they should be. I am going to get some white wood filler and paint and hopefully the seams won't be as visible.