Watercolor Stationary

Watercolor (or watercolour if you are British) is my favorite medium to use and one of my favorite mediums to admire. I have noticed lately an increased interest in watercolor on Pinterest and design blogs. Modern watercolor paintings are expanding beyond the canvas to invitation, menus and other stationary. Here are some that have caught my eye recently.

Julie Song Ink

How gorgeous is this wedding paper suite by watercolorist Julie Song? Definitely check out the rest of her work on her site. Such a feast for the eyes!

Lucile Prache

I instantly fell in love with the loose brushstrokes of Lucile Prache's watercolor paintings when I spied them on Design Sponge. I love her food-centric pieces. They would be perfect hanging in the kitchen of your favorite cook. She has more work in her Etsy shop.

Yao Cheng Designs

Beautiful correspondence cards from Yao Cheng Design. Visit her Etsy page for more of her work. 

Oana Befort

I love the whimsical watercolor calendar and cards from Romanian illustrator and graphic designer Oana Befort. She has more work on her site.

Happy Menocal

Her name perfectly captures her work! I love the menus artist Happy Menocal recently created for a lunch hosted by Aerin Lauder. She also designs custom crests. Who doesn't need their own crest in bright colors? View her cards, pet portraits and other creations on her site.

For anyone who wants to attempt some watercolor creations of their own, Yao Cheng offers a great "Watercolor Basics" tutorial on the blog The Alison Show.

Have you spotted any beautiful watercolors recently? If so, let me know in the comments. I would love to know about them!

Clean Slate

Happy 2013! I love the start of a new year. I am not really a resolution person but I do like to think of an intention or mantra for the year. This year I am focusing on Letting Go.

My new 2013 Wolf Kahn desk calendar....beautiful!

I hope this will take all sorts of shapes and forms throughout the year, and right now I am focusing on letting go of excess and simplifying. So far this year, I have unsubscribed from so many e-mails and Facebook feeds and done some serious decluttering around my house. I will definitely share some of my organizing projects and tips on The Zoo in future posts.

I have also made a commitment to myself that I will not buy anything new for the month of January (minus essential....and I am really having to challenge at MY definition of essentials) and instead focus on and use all of the things I already own.

I have noticed I am not the only one with this mentality right now. I have seen so many organizing and cleaning pins on Pinterest and a friend shared with me that she is cleaning out 40 bags of clutter in her house for 40 days.

There is something about starting with the physical letting go that seems to clear the path for other more figurative forms of letting go. Are you letting go of anything this year?

What's Cookin' CSA Style?

I have written on The Zoo before about my CSA (community supported agriculter) subscription and how much I have loved the ways it has challenged me to try new foods and new recipes. I let my subscription lapse in August and September (out of laziness), but am back for the final month of October and couldn't be more excited.

This month's assortment of fresh veggies is really intresting since I getting the last of the season's tomatoes and fall pumpkins all in one week. Here are some of my favorite dishes from this week...

Homemade Pumpkin Bread
I was a little intimidated by my small sweet pumpkin, but prepping them to use in a recipe is so incredibly easy and they make the perfect substitute for canned pureed pumpkin!

To prep, cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all of the stringy stuff and seeds (you can save the seeds to roast later). Then put the halves face down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour. Once the pumpkin cools, scoop out the flesh and use as puree. You can freeze what you don't use.

Recipe: Simplyrecipes.com

via simplyrecipes.com

Yummy Tomato Pie
Granted all of the other ingredients in this recipe probably nullify any healthy benefits of the tomatoes, but this is still a favorite at our house! I keep pie shells frozen in the freezer and most of the other ingredients I have on hand at all times so this is a great recipe when I am in a pinch.

This calls for plum tomatoes, but I just use whatever tomatoes I get in my CSA. One of my friends passed along that you can dry out the tomatoes on a paper towel before putting them in the pie shell as a way to keep the bottom from becoming soggy. I haven't tried this yet.

Recipe: Countryliving.com

Panzanella Salad
This last recipe is my take on a panzanella salad, but with fewer ingredients. This is a perfect way to use cherry tomatoes and basil. Again...just a few ingredients so this is simple and easy to throw together.

I roasted the cherry tomatoes based on a Barefoot Contessa Recipe and then tossed with chopped basil, toasted bread cupes and olive oil and kosher salt. All of this is to taste. No specific measurements. Enjoy!

Favorite Things for September

I can't believe September is almost over! I have loved the little taste of fall. Here are a few other things I have loved this month...

1. Pretty Rifle Paper Notebooks
2. Super Soft Bordeaux Tee found at Anthropologie
3. Hilarious movie...Sleepwalk with Me. Worth seeing just for the first few lines of the movie alone!
4. Whimsical Lulu de Kwiatkowski paintings
5. Yummy Tuscan Vegetable Soup

Wardrobe to Covet: Celeste and Jesse Forever

Over the long weekend I saw Celeste and Jesse Forever staring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. I definitely recommend this movie. It is funny and sweet and a little heartbreaking.

One of my favorite things about the movie is Rashida Jones' wardrobe. She wears a lot of black in the movie (probably why I loved her wardrobe) but each outfit is made really interesting by mixing different materials...silk, snake skin, basic leather, wool, etc. I have often read that layering different textures is one way to make an all white or neutral room not boring and the same can be said for a black outfit!

Unfortunately, there are no stills available of Celeste's wardrobe so here are some outfits inspired by her character.

Celeste and Jesse Forever Wardrobe by laurendcarr featuring flat front black pants

Band of Outsiders asymmetrical dress / Chloé layering tank / Band of Outsiders double breasted blazer, $610 / Band of Outsiders bomber jacket / Band of Outsiders mini skirt / Emilio Pucci flat front black pants / Jimmy Choo black pumps / Marc Jacobs retro sunglasses / Vintage eyewear

It looks like Rashida Jones loved the layered black look so much she wore it to one of the screenings.

Did you see any good movies over the Labor Day weekend?

Covering Kitchen Windows

There is a secret battle going on in our house. One of the first things I do in the morning is raise the blinds on the window above my kitchen sink to let the sunlight in. If my husband walks through the kitchen, the first thing he does is lower the blinds. It can go back and forth like this all day!

When the blinds are open, we get a nice amount of sunlight in our kitchen plus I love the view. The one problem is the window faces the street, so fully raising the blinds presents some privacy issues.

A midway compromise

Because I do seem to spend a lot of time looking out this window washing fruits and veggies and doing other kitchen tasks, I would really like to frame the view a little better and find a way to let light in while protecting privacy. 

I have narrowed the options for new window treatment down to three categories:

Cafe Curtains
I like the way cafe curtains let in light while also offering privacy and look great closed or open. A pattern would also add a nice contrast to the mostly white in my kitchen. Sometimes cafe curtains can be a little too country kitchen for my taste, so if I do go with this option I will need to pick the right fabric, curtain style and curtain rod and rings.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

 Interior Shutters
I love interior shutters, especially plantation shutters. They are timeless and work with any style interior. Shutters offer a nice, clean line which seems so right in a kitchen. Plus, in my experience keeping them clean is fairly easy.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Bamboo Blinds
So bamboo blinds wouldn't allow more light or more privacy than my current blinds, but I do prefer their soft color to my dark wood blinds. Plus, I keep finding myself drawn to kitchens with bamboo blinds. It is a nice way to break up a lot of white in a kitchen.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

How do you cover the windows in your kitchen? Pros and cons??

California Cool; Style

This summer has felt a bit like a whirlwind of travel which I always enjoy, especially when it involves great places like Southern California.

I love how laid back and casual Southern California is without sacrificing great style. I was so inspired by the SoCal gals on my two trips and have tried to bring a little bit of California Cool to my wardrobe this summer.

I have searched far and wide on the internet for a cotton Mexican dress which reminds me so much of my childhood. I finally found the perfect pink, hits-just-below-the-knees dress in Old Town in San Diego. I have lived in it this summer!

via wherethesidewalkbegins.blogspot.com

My other favorite California purchase which I have also worn like crazy this summer- a pair of kelly green Current/Elliott jeans. I am such a black and white wardrobe person, but it seems whenever I purchase something in a great color like these jeans I wear it with everything!

via shopbop

Cut off jean shorts, an open weave sweater over a simple tank with minimal jewelry and great sandles just seems like the quentisential outfit to throw on after a day at beach when you are headed to one of the many incredible restaurants that line the beach up and down the coast.

California Cool by laurendcarr featuring a grey sweater

Grey sweater
sheinside.com

Agent Ninetynine cotton shirt
$21 - generalpants.com.au

J Brand cutoff shorts
net-a-porter.com

Clare Vivier clutch handbag
shopbop.com

Carolina Bucci gold earrings
$1,660 - harrods.com

I came this close to purchasing a pair of soft yellow cut off shorts which is so not my normal style...I own one pair of shorts to my name. That is what I love about traveling, though, it gets me out of my normal routine and makes me consider new things!