Hungry Hungry Hump Day

Ruh roh, do y'all know what day it is?!  It's Hump Day people!  (Feeling out of the loop on this one?  "Hump Day" = Wednesday... because Wednesday is the top of the "hump" of the work week, duh! :).  Has this week been flying by for you all like it has been for me?  Well either way, we are now in the home stretch to the weekend, and that has made me... hungry?  (just go with it, LOL).    

Anyway, I'm starting to panic that pumpkin season is going to come and go and I won't have talked about pumpkin-related foods as much as they deserve.  So, guess what?  I'm throwing yet another pumpkin recipe 'atcha!  

PUMPKIN GNOCCHI  

I really like this recipe because, of course, it's freaking yummy!  But also because it feels like you're baking AND cooking - baking style prep work paired with stovetop style cooking = the mark of a well-rounded chef (that's you!)  Also, it's a fun recipe to make because you are literally waiting for your little gnocchis to pop up to the surface of a boiling pot of water, almost as if they are jumping up to say "I'm ready"... Aww, so cute!  Um...

Here's what you need (these measurements should make enought to feed two reasonably hungry people as an entrée): 

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (if canned, make sure to get 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup flour (plus more for your "work surface") 
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup sage leaves
• sea salt (to sprinkle on top at the end) 
• parmesan cheese, grated, as a topping (optional)

Instructions:

1.  Set a large pot of water to boil. In a medium sized bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, salt and nutmeg. Add the flour in several additions, stirring to combine. Continue adding flour until the dough is firm enough to handle, but still somewhat sticky.

2. With floured hands, pinch off about a quarter of the dough. Roll between palms and on floured work surface to make a 1-inch thick rope. Cut the "rope" into 1-inch pieces. Repeat with remaining dough.

3. Drop gnocchi into boiling water and cook until they rise to the surface, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan. Add sage leaves and cook, swirling frequently, until butter browns. Remove from heat.

4. Drain gnocchi on paper towels, then add to brown butter and toss. Serve sprinkled with parmesan and sea salt, if desired.

So... I don't know about you but I'm #salivating.  And I just ate. 

BON APPETIT BABIES!  

Bienvenido a Miami

Ok, no doubt that title is misleading because sadly, I am not headed to Miami and therefore cannot be "welcoming" you (in Spanish or English) to this uber-fun city, most unfortunately... but once I got that jam from the Big Willie Style CD in my head, there was just no stopping it from ending up as the title of this post.  Actually, on the contrary, the impetus for this post comes from me sitting in my bed, watching more TV (and then posting about it)... Which begs the question, is this a design blog or a TV blog??  To date, I have posted about the following shows: 

• Orange is the New Black
• Sons of Anarchy
• Breaking Bad
• Master Chef Junior
  
  and now:
• Magic City

Yikes!  And I will make no promises that this will be the last TV related post on here, either.  You have been warned.

Anyway, in an attempt to meld these two topics and bring this blog back to its intended focus, I will merely graze upon the mention of this saucy (and I should also note, extremely racy) show which is set in Miami during the 1960's (or 1959, to be accurate).  It "aired" on Starz (Starz who?) and has apparently now been cancelled after only two seasons (sad trombone) but regardless, the show's imagery depicts Miami during its glamorous hey-day or at least what you hoped it was in its hey-day.  Which... (sit up and listen up now because we're delving into design) reminds me of that one time, I stayed at the Viceroy Hotel in Miami... and thought I had died and gone to heaven!

The situation was ripe for my awestruck-ness.  My sister and I had caught an insane deal for this "dream hotel for the design-obsessed" on a Jetsetter/Gilt Groupe offer and pretty much re-arranged our whole trip just to be able to stay at the hotel designed by our girl crush, Kelly Wearstler, for just one night.  We had been staying at the Mondrian Hotel in South Beach for the earlier part of our trip (and were pleased with it, just not "wowed").  But the strongest case for why these accommodations were just what the doctor ordered was due to an all around terrible "scooter rental" FIASCO!  To sum it up, we dropped of our rented scooter before heading to the Viceroy (because god-forbid we show up to such a classy establishment with two girls teetering around on a beat-up moped with suitcases in tow) and were met with a suspicious claim that we had caused a bunch of damage to the scooter on its side.. And, as luck would have it, we of course (in the excitement of the trip and the prospect of zipping around South Beach on a scooter) we forgot to take pictures before it was released to us.  Needless to say, the debacle ended with a fiery, Miami-style argument that left us feeling drained and jaded.  Enter: the luxuriously decadent Viceroy Hotel in Miami.  Plush linens, top-of-the-line EVERYTHING and most importantly, a canopy bed.  Signed, sealed, delivered. 

What was kind of spooky but also a bit magical was the part where, NO ONE ELSE was in the hotel.. And this isn't exactly your quaint boutique hotel, either.  It was a "ghost-hotel" of grand proportions... We were pretty much the only guests... So of course, we embarked upon on our own self-guided tour of everything Kelly Wearstler's designer influence might have graced and then proceeded to be escorted by security down to the front desk for entering into a restricted area -Oops!.  Anyway, despite the lack of humans, the resort was breathtaking from an interior design standpoint.  Kelly Wearstler just knows about hotels.  Period. 

Oh yeah, and then there is the Viceroy spa, which is the most amazing spa ever.  Really.  It was designed by the Philippe Starck is, quite simply, spot-on, in. every. way. 

But enough of my babbling.  Zee fer yerselves: 

And to conclude... This is what you drive up to when you arrive at the hotel: 

Every little detail.  HOLY SCHNIKES! 

Your Secret Weapon for Entertaining in Style

This past weekend I had the honor of attending the wedding of two very dear friends from college that I have known for over 8 years each!  It was a gorgeous wedding and needless to say, things got a little crazy on the dance floor, which was where I spent most of my time, naturally (this should come as no surprise if you know me!).  We also ended up at a hard core biker bar after the wedding venue closed and I am proud to share that the bride and I were a part of a killer performance on stage along with the bar's heavy metal band due to a combination of our epic dance moves and lack of shame ;).  But... that is neither here nor there with regard to today's post.  The reception after the ceremony was replete the popular "dessert table" and my palate can attest that the desserts themselves did not disappoint.  Not even one of them... I know this, because I sampled them all, at least once.  The dessert table trend at weddings is a growing fad that I personally, AM ALL ABOUT!  So much so, that I would like nothing more than to see these "dessert tables" at more of the parties I attend.  To help this desire come to fruition, I want to enlighten all of you potential party-havers to some little tricks/products that can turn a dessert table at your next shindig from an overwhelming thought into a doable reality.  

The first thing that will set your table apart from the "potluck-looking" table where it would appear that people just plopped down their contributions, is a table cloth.  But, if you're wanting to do this thing cute (and I suspect you are)... You should seriously consider a table cloth of the following nature:

Mmm hmm... pretty legit looking, huh?  Do you know what the coolest thing about these celebratory table cloths is though????  I know the chick that makes/designs them!!  (Yep, I just brushed my shoulders off, if you were wondering :)...  My friend, who is also an incredible graphic designer  (which is how I originally met her when she did some amazing graphic design work for a project I was working on a while back), and her business partner, came up with these Tin Parade "Table Banners".  They are also packaged adorably and are affordable.  You can buy them online here.  (Obviously these cool cloths can be used for purposes beyond a "dessert table" - like say, a bar/cocktail table or appetizers/snacks table, or a table for presents... I think you get the picture). 

Some other necessities you may want to add to your beautifully covered table are: Dessert/food name tags.  Check out these sweet mini chalkboard stands:

Buy here

Or my personal favorite.. Hoof and bird claw place card holders (which can also double as name card holders for a dinner party.. but I'm sure you were already cluing into that, you smarty pants!)

Buy here

Buy here

Also... serving dishes.  I am of the popular opinion that displaying your food stuffs on serving ware of varying heights adds interest to your display and increases its "professional" appearance.  Here is an array of serving tray options:

Buy here

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Buy here

This next one has a faux cake cover which is either super cool or kind of weird... I can't decide.  And the octopus cake stand is the raddest thing I have maybe ever seen! 

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

Party-decorations (we will call them "reminders for fun") are important too.  Even though, if you're throwing a party, no doubt people will be having the time of their lives, sometimes you need something for that extra-uptight person that will basically serve as a flashing lighted sign that:  OMG, you are at a party and you should be having fun.  For such people, I recommend the following (to slap some whimsy into their party-going experience):

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

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Ok next... Depending on what type of refreshments you're putting on your table, you will probably need utensils of some sort... So please, do me a favor, and do not sabotage your whole table by making the mistake of throwing ugly generic serving tools into the mix...  But any of the below will suffice just fine:

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

If you are adding beverages to your bevy of offerings, a fancy beverage dispenser will go a long way...

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

Buy here

As will decorative straws through which your guests can drink said beverages:

Buy here

Buy here

If you can just trigger your creative juices to start flowing, I'm confident that a plethora of other really awesome table ideas will begin pouring out your brains but hopefully these few elements are enough to get you started!

Oh and if you do have a party, know that I AM expecting an invite.  Please and thank you! ;) 

Friday Finds: Fashun'

Today I am doing another "Friday Finds" because frankly, I just couldn't hold it in!  I keep finding all of these absolutely adorable items but can't afford to buy them all, so I'm hoping that if I share them with you guys, collectively all of these delicious pieces will be purchased and then owned by people I care about... I really do care about each and every one of you!  I mean it, if you're reading my blog, I am overwhelmingly grateful and do care about you!  But ok, enough of the sap, let's get to the good stuff!

As the weather changes, nothing makes me more tolerant of the dropping temperatures than the promise of cute jackets (I will be the first to admit I have a "jacket problem").  But with this tease of winter stopping by and then leaving again without saying good bye, it's got me all kinds of confused about how to arrange my closet... Actually, confused is not so much the problem as is the overcrowding, but don't tell anyone I said that.

So here's a little compilation of a "breadthy" collection of items to tell these schizophrenic weather patterns to shove it!  (Perhaps I'm just bitter because I woke up a few days ago after having inadvertently having checked the weather for Chicago the night before, whilst in Colorado, right before dozing off in a half-sleep induced state and walked outside the next morning to a frightening snow/hail storm in shorts and t-shirt.  It was highly shocking and extremely disappointing, to say the least!).  So, take a look at my revenge:

Clockwise from left to right: Free People Embellished Leather Biker Jacket | Emerald Green Malachite iPhone Case | Nautical Anchor Mohair Sweater | Red White Blue Merida Pencil Skirt | Brown Leather Fold Over Shoulder Bag | Elegant Bowknot White Blazer | Polka Dot Fold Over Clutch | White Blazer With Black Collar | Catherine Malandrino Avalon Leather Dress | Shelby Tortoiseshell Watch | Montaigne Red Trench Coat | Paisley Black and White Summer Dress | Rachel Zoe Barrel Multi Finger Ring

Let's take back the reins on this whole weather thing, shall we!?  Or wait, did we ever have the power?  Ok, nevermind... Just have a good weekend! 

Long Neck Sally

In honor of the upcoming Throwback Thursday (#tbt) tomorrow, which only happens once every seven days, I thought would pay tribute to this rare occurence by re-posting the very first photo I ever posted on this 'ol bloggity blog (I say old because this photo was "posted" just shy of 4 months ago... Can you believe it?!  That's over 2 yrs old in dog years... And probably like 14 in blog years (if you take into account how long the internet and blogs have been around)... but, I digress...  Moving back to our topic of the day:  The TBT photo in question:

This photo has garnered quite the commotion since its "release" and this time, instead of just teasing you with the story possibilities of how this fictitious seeming backdrop came to be, like last time, today I am going to give you the full deets.  I want to just clear up any notions you might have before we go any further about me holding out on the full scoop for malicious motives.  If you have been following my blog since its inception, you will know that, I began divulging personally-related matters on a public forum (see: The Keeley Kraft blog) just after returning from Africa, where I had been living for four months.. Specifically Uganda (I know, I know.. Africa is a whole continent!), with a healthy dose of exquisite traveling afterwards, to... completely contradict my living situation in from the three months prior, among other things.  To explain my holding out, I have been struggling with how to discuss the earlier parts of my "Africa" journey on this blog in an upbeat and relevant way... But since I still haven't figured out how to do that.. the broad topic will remain tabled.  However, there's no good reason not to just focus on the "pretty" for now...

So, grab your popcorn or tea (I like to imagine my readers as tea-drinkers.. it just seems so civilized and sophisticated.. not to mention fitting for this post in particular :).   

As I mentioned in my first post (read it here), it had been a "half-a-lifetime" dream of mine to stay at Giraffe Manor at one point in my life.  In all honesty, I expected it to probably happen on my honeymoon but was naturally, over-the-'moon" (literally and figuratively ;) when the fortuitous opportunity presented itself earlier than expected.  I personally love giraffes A LOT.  Out of all exotic animals, especially those with fake-looking coats (as I like to refer to them), giraffes seem to be the most elegant and unique, in my opinion.  Aside from looking ridic-ly stunning, their necks are out-of-this-world... well almost :).  And, they can be extremely friendly when placated with food.  (And a bit aggressive when merely teased with food, FYI) .  

To give you a brief synopsis on the "manor"it currently serves as a home to a fluctuating number of endangered Rothschild giraffes and operates a breeding program to reintroduce breeding pairs back into the wild in an effort to secure the future of the subspecies.  Yep, awesome.  In 1974, Betty Leslie-Melville, along with her husband Jock (of course that's his name) purchased the manor and 15 surrounding acres of the plot.  

Shortly after purchasing the Manor, the Leslie-Melvilles learned that the only remaining Rothschild giraffes in Kenya were in danger due to a compulsory purchase by the Kenyan government of an 18,000-acre, which was their sole habitat. Inevitably the purchase would result in the land being sub-divided into smallholdings, and the giraffes being slaughtered.

Since the Manor was already home to three wild bull giraffes (nicknamed Tom, Dick and Harry - ADORBS), the Leslie-Melvilles agreed to "re-home" one of the giraffes, and soon the clan began to grow.  In 1983 Rick Anderson, Betty's son from her first marriage, and his wife Bryony, moved into the Manor, and a year later opened the Manor as a small, privately hosted hotel where guests could feed the giraffes.  I am immensely grateful for their ingenuity.

I stayed there with my parents and my sister during which time we were celebrating my dad's birthday and also my parents' 30 year anniversary (SNAPS)... The "manor staff" were as professional and polite as you would expect at a "maaaanor" and went all out to help my family experience the stay of a lifetime.  

We were invited to pre-dinner cocktails in the parlor where we were able to mingle with the several other guests that were also staying at the manor that evening, of which, there were four, in addition to my family.  All together we occupied the six available guest rooms at the manor.  Once dinner was served, we proceeded to the dining room which was candlelit and frankly, breathtaking.  Of course, all of the other dinner guests where interesting (I mean, would you expect anything less based on the way this story is headed) and after lively conversation and a truly phenomenal meal (which was served through a secret pullout window in the dining room where the server retrieved the dishes directly from the kitchen so as not to let them even spare a second to get cold), we were served an incredible carrot cake (my dad's favorite) in honor of his birthday... When I say no detail was spared, I mean, no detail was spared.  Following dinner, we retreated back into the parlor for coffee, tea and cookies (oh yeah)... In order to continue enduring conversations from dinner with the other guests, what else??

Our rooms were decadent but cozy with a fireplace in each room that the staff got going just before we "retired to our rooms."  Obviously there was a bubble bath to be had... and it was.  But the BEST... the absolute BEST PART EVER was that all of the guest rooms are set up to "receive visitors (giraffes)" in the morning as a wake up call... Have. You. Ever. Heard. Of a more amazing wake up call?!  I, have not.  The giraffes did not disappoint.  They roam free on the property so their visit was completely of their own volition.  It was akin to Christmas morning... When I woke up I saw them just upon the outskirts of our room milling about. I ran to the window, thrust it open and stuck my arm out, replete with a handful of "giraffe food" pellets.  In a matter of seconds, they sensed what was up and sauntered as fast as their bowing legs could take them to my window and gobbled the food right up with one slobbery swoop.  

After we had fed the giraffes about 90 times, we were invited down to breakfast to feed the giraffes in a more "intimate setting."  Intimate is merely open to your interpretation.. You can get as close as you want, but only at your own risk! I mean, T.I.A. (This Is Africa) we're talking about, after all.  In the parlor/dining area, the giraffes "stick their necks out" (classic giraffe pun) and in any open window surveying the surrounding area for food.  If you don't have food and you "summon them" by putting your hand out, close to their face, you WILL get bit (I did).  But the euphoria of the circumstance will prevent you from feeling pain in the moment, so really, you can do no wrong. 

My beautiful mother.

ACTUALLY, you are encouraged by the staff/handlers to place a pellet between your lips, stick your butt out, and let the giraffe take the pellet from your mouth.  Yes, it is gross.  But, the adage, "when in Rome" seriously, never felt so appropriate.. So, yes, you get over it.  We were also enjoying mimosas with this experience which helped with any "giraffe jitters" you might find yourself prone to.  

And now, for the true treat of this post... I am going to share with you the most hilarious video my family has ever produced.  (Spoiler alert: My dad gets whiplash from being slapped in the face TWICE by a giraffe while going in for the lip-feed maneuver).  You really only need to watch the first 17 seconds (actually the very first second of the video is the most important) but since I am a YouTube uploader novice, I didn't really know how to cut out the rest of the chatter/laughing that goes on for another minute.  

One more photo gem: the one where one particularly friendly giraffe can't stop photo-bombing our breakfast photo, geez! 

Moral of the story:  Stick your neck out for a friend, you might be pleasantly surprised :).