August 26, 2013

Picnic Swag-ger

August 26, 2013

So remember, oh, way back here, when I promised y'all that I would post about some picnic stuff that was actually applicable to you all and not just a confession of my strange habits? Well that day has finally come. Last night was the final night of my beloved Sunday night concert/picnic series on the beach and I was oh-so-inspired by all of the fabby picnic bling that the good people of Hermosa Beach brought to the proverbial "table." So I've compiled a little "round up" of what you need to hold a proper and classy picnic:

Steady
Stick Table and Wine Holders | Bamboo Wood Veneer Disposable Plates & Utensils | Dot Napkins | Spicy Orange Striped Rollup Blanket | Say
Cheese Plate and Knife Set | Roll Up Checker Set | Wood Picnic Basket | Red + White Sw… — Steady Stick Table and Wine Holders | Bamboo Wood Veneer Disposable Plates & Utensils | Dot Napkins | Spicy Orange Striped Rollup Blanket | Say Cheese Plate and Knife Set | Roll Up Checker Set | Wood Picnic Basket | Red + White Swizzle Straws | 4 Layer Meal Containers | Solar-Powered Jar Lanterns

Have at it peeps!

And my "Top 6" picnic food ideas, in no particular order (I am of the opinion that a colorful feast is the best kind of feast):

Deviled Eggs
Cherries
Hummus/Pita Chips (preferably "Stacy's Pita Chips")
Mini Petits Toast, Mascarpone Cheese, Raspberry Jam
"Snapea Crisps"
Macarons that look like these:

If you live in the Los Angeles area, these can and SHOULD be purchased at Bottega Louie in downtown LA.

Delicious, beautiful and most importantly, not messy for a picnic!

And what did you all think of my abode? I'm going to interpret from the radio silence that you loved it! :P

Hope you all had nice weekends. I certainly did!

August 23, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

Where The Lion(ess) Sleeps

August 23, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

I think one of my favorite posts among the multitude of interior design blogs I read voraciously is when I see the home of the blogger. It’s kind of an important moment too, right, because you get to see what the blogger’s true style is and if they have any chops.. but also WRONG. Wrong because I feel like rarely do these bloggers have the financial resources or life circumstances to completely bust out a space that captures their capabilities, or at least that’s the case in my case. If you haven’t guessed at what I’m leading up to, it’s this: I’m going to show you some pics of my crib that I “decorated.”

I’m only showing you the living/dining room area of my crib because the rest has not been designed it just is.. I’ve been hesitating to show you all because it’s not “finished” and truth be told, it’s not ever going to be “finished”.. for several reasons:

1. I am a renter

2. I live with roommates (male roommates who could care less – function over form tends to rule the roost over here)

3. I don’t care enough (I’m a bit of a hermit weirdo roommate and spend most of my time in my room)

4. The budget for this space is DRIED UP, ya’ll.

But I needed a topic to post about today and I decided to try and remember my goal when I started this blog… Remember about the perfectionism problem I struggle with, that I told you about here. Well, I’m not going to let perfect be the enemy of good. And trust me, I know…This place is FAR from perfect.. At least my idea of perfect.

So please, consider my disclaimers about budget and rental space limitations before you go getting all judgy on my space. Do we have a deal? Cool.

Ok here she is:

(And yes, I did Instagram these photos to enhance their attractiveness… remember that promise about not judging? :).

I tried really hard to resist the temptation of telling you what I know is wrong with each area but in the end I had to cave. Please forgive me, it’s just my personality.. I KNOW the bar table needs WAY more items on it.. And I know the area above the fireplace is way out of proportion (They elephant head looked way bigger online when I ordered it). And the dining area… I do not need to be told. So with that out of the way, let me explain some stuff. (Also, sidenote: the picture has been hung since this photo was snapped, if that makes you feel any better).

I think it kind of turned out like a Wes Anderson meets safari, which I love. That description actually does describe my style pretty accurately. I bought/obtained all of the furniture while my previous roommates (plural because they were a married couple) who have since moved out :( still had their furnishings in this space. And then I moved to Africa before they vacated. So I had my amazing sister orchestrate the moving in of everything and obsessively went to the internet café in town every day to see if she had sent a photo of it yet. She did good. (Which is no surprise because she is a bonafide interior designer… check her out here).

Most of the pieces have a story. The cowhide rug I found on the ground one day in college. I was walking to class and walked past this house where the tenants had been evicted.. And all their stuff was strewn across the lawn. The “vultures” had been picking through the good stuff for days and it looked as though only cardboard and trash remained. But on my 10th time walking past I noticed a little brown poking out from what looked to be a piece of gray cardboard, so I turned it over and it was this rug! Totally skipped class that day to haul this bad boy back to my abode. That should tell you where my priorities lie.

Any Gossip Girl fans recognize the picture above the sofa? Oh yea, Chuck’s bedroom. Righteous! The print is called “Scout” (click here to see why I have love for that name) and it is by Richard Phillips. It’s actually a cropped print because the actual one was too x-rated/pedophilic for my tastes. And I have decided to let that disclaimer serve as a warning for what this link will take you to. So if you're feeling daring, click here to see the uncropped print.

WOAH is right! Now erase that image from your minds. It’s just feels wrong.

The chairs… Looked like this before I had them recovered.

Yucky! BUT they are famous-ish. They were part of a Storage Wars scenario and the couple that sold them to me bid heavily on the locker because of these unique beauties.. And then sold them to me for a song. ($25 each! Yes, you read that right, $25 each!). I am quite the savvy Craigslist shopper J.

The sofa was my sister’s, which she gifted to me in exchange for me moving her out of her old place while she had to work. Quite a generous gift but also not because that sh*t was a bitch, ya’ll. Moving BLOWS. But really though, I’m very thankful J.

I do have pillows that I am having made that will go on the sofa.

They have this pattern:

There are 2 of them. And they match. They are white and have green trim around them made out of the same fabric as what the chairs are covered in. And they’re pretty sizeable because that sofa is a beast if you can’t tell from the pic. Great for guests to sleep on though :) Hint, hint. I also etched this design onto the old fashioned glasses that are on my bar cart/table.

I went for a campaign style feel. It matched my fascination with Africa and safaris and also has a masculine feel too it which I felt was important due to the gender of my roomies and to tone down that girly picture. It kinda has a slight cigar lounge feel to it as well, don’t you think?

What I really wanted/do still want but am not holding my breath for was a TV cabinet similar to this:

But a cabinet, for storing TV stuffs. Probably not going to happen but wouldn’t it look presh!

And finally, this was what I really WANTED the dining area to feel like..

Maybe I can help that concept grow if I buy the rug from my post yesterday?

So... Thoughts? Advice? Admonishments? Straight-up rebukings?

Actually slash that, enjoy your damn weekends! It’s Friday, what are you doing reading?

August 22, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

No Longer Keeping "Keep" A Secret

August 22, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

I want to preface this post with an advance apology. What I’m about to share with you is likely to lead you down a path towards shopaholism and being close to that point myself, I know just how dark that place can be. But I. Can’t. Stop. If you’re smart, you’ll read this post for the purposes of being in the know about new trends but not actually join this addictive rabbithole of bliss/hell. An “earmuffs” version of reading, if you will. And with that PSA, I will now share with you the brainchild of the pinning format that was only a matter of time… Brace yourselves.

Keep.com is what happens when Pinterest and Amazon have a baby.. Or several babies, because Keep is the youngest and most mischievous of their offspring. Curated shopping with endless possibilities is a recipe for my worst nightmare and I suspect most of yours too.. It’s just like Pinterest in the sense that you can follow people/they can follow you, you can post to various self-created boards, blah blah, the only difference is, there is a little link in the top right-hand corner that says “Buy” and when you click it, you can actually buy that item that you think is just the cat’s pajamas... You can just buy it, just like that! I may be late to the game on this.. But I really don’t think I am, because there’s just no way that everyone is keeping their keep addiction under wraps. They issued the following warning in their welcome email:

“Caution: Keep can be seriously addictive!”

Which I, at first, first found to be annoying and a little pompous but then I realized they might not have been joking.. And they shouldn’t have been.

Let me show you some items I am THIS close to pulling the trigger on… Literally my right index finger was twitching with every “Keep” I made.. And the computer/mouse combo was a modern day Ouija Board leading me towards that “Buy” button:

Free
People Radical Black and White Striped Tunic — Free People Radical Black and White Striped Tunic

Leather
and Chain Wrap Watch — Leather and Chain Wrap Watch

Soneva
Gili by Six Senses in the Maldives — Soneva Gili by Six Senses in the Maldives

If you possess masochistic tendencies and are not going to heed this warning, you should at least “follow me” on Keep.com where I like to “keep it classy.” :)

And just remember, it's Thursday, which is one day before Friday.. So keep on keepin' on!

August 21, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

Sour Beer: Beer For A Sourpuss

August 21, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

I come from a land of beer brewing.. One of America's brewing meccas, in fact... Colorado. Home to craft and large scale breweries alike, including Coors, New Belgium and according to the Wikipedia page, 137 others, 4 of which are the among the top-50 brewing companies in the nation. Denver, Colorado has been coined the "Napa Valley of Beer" and a little place called Aspen was referred to as "a place where the beer flows like wine" in the movie Dumb and Dumber. Now that should tell you something...

Sadly, however, I usually only drink crap beers because my "pocketbook" thanks me and my underdeveloped palate doesn't know the difference... That is until now..

Just where exactly did Pabst win that blue ribbon? — Just *where* exactly did Pabst win that blue ribbon?

Make way for: SOUR BEER. My cousin introduced me to the stuff when she and her bf gave me a bottle as a bday gift and told me to trust her. Initially wary, I knew it was legit when my brewer/beer connoisseur friend gave it an impressed nod of approval. Ya'll, it's the bomb diggity!

The beer is very "crafted" and takes a while to age but the biggest challenge brewers face with it, is convincing people to drink it because of its name. Or people that aren't educated to the soured style. Apparently, vendors of this "crafty" ale are often called up by customers who want to let them know that a bottle of barrel-aged beer they purchased had gone bad because it tasted sour... WRONG! That's how it's supposed to taste, you silly g̶o̶o̶s̶e̶s̶ geese!

No one ever complains about the taste itself though because it is just oh-so tasty! The "gueuze" sour ale style has a taste very similar to champagne or fresh lemonade. So for those with champagne tastes on a beer budget, you are now in luck!

I kind of like that it has this misleading name though because it almost makes it like a secret treat. Only those in the know get to experience the reward of the flavor. Wink, wink, now you're in on the secret. You're welcome.

The "reward of the flavor" is not without risk, however. For brewers, experimenting with sour beer is RISKY BUSINESS! Brewers often wait as long as three YEARS to see whether the cloudy liquids resting in oak ripen into shades of gold or raspberry and develop the ideal tart, tangy flavors, or become undrinkable, ravaged by aggressive yeasts ("aggressive yeasts" - sounds frightening). It can be an expensive gamble of which many brewers only take on for the sheer challenge of it. Oh the novelty!

Here are some favorites among sour beer lovers, that I narrowed down based on whether I thought their label was pretty. Don't hate me for my method of choosing alcohol :)

Oude Gueuze Tilquin.. Ya.. Good luck telling the person at the store you want that one.. — Oude Gueuze Tilquin.. *Ya.. Good luck telling the person at the store you want that one..*

Apparently this beer is very sour.  You have been warned. — Apparently this beer is very sour. *You have been warned.*

If you're looking for some food pairing ideas, click here for a full guide on which foods to pair with these tangy brews:

And if you're really feeling fancy, sour beer fruit sorbets are reportedly quite divine. See the recipe here:

Aight. Peace out, puckerfishies!

August 20, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

A Room Where The Sun DO Shine...

August 20, 2013

Keeley McCarthy

… As opposed to a room where the sun don’t shine? Ya, you can take that as you will.. :).

So now that we’ve gotten that crude humor out of the way (every good article needs a touch of inappropriateness, don't you agree?) can I tell you something strange about myself? I don’t really like natural light inside… It really freaked my mom out when I was growing up that I wanted to get blinds that would block out most of the sun from coming into my room and also wanted everything in my bedroom to be red (IN A CLASSY WAY!).. Neither ever happened, and it was "blamed" on budget issues, but if you ask me, it sounds more like a convenient excuse than a real reason... The whole not liking light thing had my mom worried in that way that moms do though (needlessly) as I suspect she wondered if was into some kind of vampirish voodoo.

This would have been my dream room back then.  Not terrible by any means, right? — This would have been my dream room back then. Not terrible by any means, right?

This obviously has ample light but.. will you look at that "window seat/hammock"?  #diversiontactics — This obviously has ample light but.. will you look at that "window seat/hammock"? #diversiontactics

I’m growing out of it slowly, and am moving away from my red-mania fetish in my decorating preferences although I am currently living in a bedroom situation that is completely devoid of natural light due to a headboard covering the only window in the room and I can't say I'm particularly unhappy about it. Long story. For another time.

Anyway, I found this picture of a sunroom a few years ago and to this day, it has remained one of my favorite rooms in the entire world (among the ones I’ve seen, of course).

Ok obviously minus the Hawaiian print accents from 1999.

In thinking about why I like this room so much, I will divulge probably the most ludicrous thing that has been said on this blog to date: It reminds me of "Spice World" (the Spice Girls original movie).. which still makes me happy? Is that scary? Scary Spice? Lolzz

So, finding good photos for this post was hard (I feel like I say that a lot, sorry) but the reason being for this, is that the type of room I’m trying to show you eager readers is often described using several different qualifiers: A sunroom, a conservatory, or an atrium. (I’ve decided not to open the door to greenhouses in this post as that would just be overwhelming). I also tried to keep it mostly to residential examples, with a few worthy exceptions.

Halfway through my journey of gathering photos, however, I learned that there actually IS a difference between these names. An article broke down the differences, of which I will "enlighten" (get it?) you to below:

SUNROOM

A term used more in the U.S. and Canada
More of an extension of your living space, a sunroom is included in the house architecture, has a roof, and is essentially like any other room except for the fact that it has a lot of windows
A sunroom can be heated in colder seasons and cooled during warmer seasons, allowing it to be used year round
Usually built along the side or in back of the house

CONSERVATORY

A term used more in the U.K.
Has a completely glass roof and glass walls, giving inhabitants a complete view of their surroundings. It is suggested that a conservatory face South so it receives as much natural light as possible
Can only be used during mild weather seasons due to lack of heating/cooling capabilities. Conservatories are also easily prone to dirt and grime from the elements and hard to clean
Typically surrounded by greenery

So there you have it! Although, I decided, in spite of this information, to keep all of my findings in anyway and make this post just a breadbasket collection of all things sunroom, atrium, and conservatory. Deal with it. AND, I've decided to make a little quiz to further engage you/see if you're actually reading all of the nonsense that I write. (The answers, as decided by me, will be given for each room below, characterized by an S or a C denoting whether the room is a Sunroom or Conservatory.. Because that wasn't self-explanatory at all.. :)