I love antiques

My mother raised me to love antiques.  While we used to kid her about her love of junk treasures, somewhere along the way, I developed the same affinity for other people's discarded stuff.  On the way home from BFFs wedding in early October, my husband and I were in no hurry to get back to Chicago.  We decided to do a little antiquing in Central Illinois.  

Many of these photographs, as you can imagine, require no editorial:

 This man was waiting to greet us at the door.  No, that mutant-minivan is not our car, either. 

This little beauty is a multi-faceted piece.  It is a nautical themed lamp, complete with posts and rope.  Somewhere, a Red Lobster general manager is cursing the loss of these pieces de resistance.  

 Again, there is no such thing has having too many nautical lamps.  

 Amidst the tiny pot-bellied stove, the nun-ish pot bellied stove, a cheery cat and a solemn Native American, there is a feeling of calm exuded by a wild-haired monk.  Living in harmony for sure. 

 My personal favorite.  Jack Daniels.  If I only had a place to put him.  I suppose I don't really need a grandfather clock.  Maybe I just need Jack. 

 Alien cows.  

Probably from their space ship out front. 

 Husband -- in awe of giant party-hat-wearing soft serve. 

I love our adventures :) 

Fun Fall

 When I haven't been posting lazy photo posts, here's what I've been up to: (in photos, of course)

My beautiful BFF got married.  It was a perfect fall day and went off without a hitch . . . well, with only one hitch - the good kind :) 

AND we celebrated Halloween (my least favorite holiday).  It was made more fun by some amazing friends and fun costumes. 

Other than that, we've been doing lots of working.  

Loves: The Spice House

I love The Spice House.  It is without a doubt one of my favorite places in Chicago.  One of my first Christmas gifts from my husband pre-Chicago, was a gift box with canisters of Chicago neighborhood-themed spices: 
Old World Central Street Seasoning, Old Taylor Street Cheese Sprinkle, Lake Shore Drive Seasoning, Bronzeville Rib Rub. Thus, my love for Spice House was born.  


We actually stopped by there over the weekend and picked up some White Truffle Salt.  AMAZING. 
The website describes the salt this way: The rich, earthy flavor of truffles makes even simple scrambled eggs gourmet, but truffles can be hard to find and prohibitively expensive. This rare salt is made in Perugia, Italy, from fine Guerande sea salt and flakes of pure truffle. It is intensely aromatic - a tiny pinch is enough to flavor your dish. Use sparingly with egg and vegetable dishes, potatoes, risotto, soup, poultry, or fish. Great on french fries! A very upscale classic hotel in Chicago serves popcorn popped in truffle oil and salted with truffle salt that is really delicious.


It's wonderful.  We added it to some Brussels sprouts - which we are obsessed with right now -- and sauteed them with lemon peel and a couple of pinches of the salt.  


Another of my favorites is Gateway to the North Maple Seasoning.  It is versatile enough to go with salmon, chicken, broccoli and even on top of popcorn.  Delicious.  


We've definitely been inspired more than once by all of the spices and baking accouterments at the Spice House.  In fact, I picked up Vanilla Strawberry Sugar for my oatmeal and sugar cookies this weekend, as well.  Yum!  

Great minds...

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Dinner party time!

& Go Irish!!!

This is not your mother's kitchen . . .

Happy weekend!

diy project: salvaged barnwood headboard

It's just like ours!

 

 

 

diy project: salvaged barnwood headboard

via Design*Sponge by Kate Pruitt on 11/2/11

Lately we've been getting more requests for furniture DIY projects. Luckily this awesome tutorial from Sarah Torrence of 508 Restoration & Design for a salvaged barnwood headboard landed in my inbox, and was just too pretty to pass up. Due to their size and the amount of use they receive, headboards can be intimidating, even if the form is fairly straightforward. Sarah had demystified the process and given us a great starter project for anyone looking to give their bedroom a bit of that rustic, organic feel a perfect quick and easy refresh for fall. Thank you so much for sharing, Sarah! —Kate

Read the full how-to after the jump!

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