Weekend Round-up!

Happy June weekend, ladies!! I'm feeling the season all around, and love getting gifts of weekly seasonal fresh flowers (thanks love!!). Gladiolus like these would make for a lovely buffet table arrangement by adding height and color to the food layout, don't you think? I'm sure you are all in a recipe/tablescape buzz right about now, getting ready to ring in the summer holiday via dairy deliciousness! Thought I'd take a minute to link some of my favorite things around the web this week...

- The most adorable kids craft/play idea for Shavuot!

- I need to remember this more often...

- My latest article for the Algemeiner: Born this Way?

- New on the Market: modern House Numbers @ Heath.

- Simple + Charming + Convenient DIY for Father's Day gift.

- HOTmilk Maternity/Nursing Bras ridiculously reduced at Zulily!

Some holiday-relative posts you may have missed:

- Cultivate social conversation at the table via big buds/low florals.

- Idyllic Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Also, for those of you who asked for a white cream sauce recipe when I posted this pasta dish, the most important part of any cream sauce is a good Roux for the Béchamel (white cream sauce). I learned this technique within the first few months of marriage (while watching much-too-much Food Network!), and it has come in so incredibly handy so far, and I've used it countless times since then. Here's the best step-by-step directions! I personally use that starter recipe + a cup of grated parmesan cheese and some crushed garlic cloves. From there you can add to what you'd like it to be (mushroom cream sauce, white wine reduction, salmon, pink sauce, florentine etc.) Enjoy!!

In the Garden

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know the tone of yearning in my writing when I dream about owning a home with a yard and a fruitful garden... Well, the next best thing is having a friend who has one! Freida has been immensely enjoying the benefits of the Berkowitz's (remember Zalmy?) backyard and garden these past few months. We head over there every week on Wednesday morning (the day her garden-savvy dad comes out from Huntington Beach to tend the earth and plant and reap) and hang out in the shady haven. She digs and rakes, and scouts for worms in the dirt, munching on garden bounty straight from their vines as she plays. Her garden-guru, Zevi, teaches her how to identify and uproot weeds, keeping the vibrant garden plot clean and cared for. :)

I'm such a strong believer in the importance of teaching children that food comes from a much more valuable place than the market! Watching the fascination on Freida's face when she sees fresh basil (an all-too-familiar kitchen ingredient) growing from the earth (I guess windowsill herb gardens are not nearly cool enough) was completely priceless! She walks around the garden looking at all the tags and asking Zevi which plant is where and which flowers will bloom which vegetables. It's totally adorable, and it makes me so happy to know that she is learning about the earth's resources and also able to begin to understand the concept of making specific "food group" blessings over food.

It's also incredibly peaceful to watch her pick and munch on her own choice of veggies. The sugar snap peas are out of season just now, but for a kid who only ate peas of the frozen variety, she sure consumed her fair share of fresh peas in this garden! Loved knowing all the crunchy consumption was not just fresh garden bounty, but organic, to boot!

It's just so satisfying to know that my ever-curious little person is slowly learning about where food stems from and a bit about how to tend the earth to make it grow there. (Thanks Berkowitz Family!!!!!)

Indian Princess: from Play to Go

I don't know if ya'll (sorry - I'm Scotty-ed out!) remember when I posted about a fantastical collection of childrens goods over at a boutique called Wovenplay, but they had been featuring the most darling feathered headband (keeping with the feather trend!) and I've been waiting for it to hit rock-bottom sale since last spring! It still hasn't made it that far, running somewhere between $54-$44 (here, here, and here), and after creating a little feather headdress for Freida's Indian-Princess Purim costume I thought I'd tweak the headband a bit - so it can function from dress-up play to day-out accessory - before giving it to my little costume loving lady. I went with this Wovenplay inspiration:

And - for about 7 bucks - landed this:

I used a sequined headband (I had bought a pack of 3 for $1 at Forever21), scrapbook gems and craft feathers from an art supply store, a strip of craft felt, and some hot glue to hold it all together. Voilà! :)

Weekend Round-up!

This iLog totally made me smile. What do you know? Lag BaOmer meets 2011! (Humor aside, this wooden iPad charging dock would make for a fabulous Fathers Day gift, don't you think?)

Here are some other links from around the web that I have been meaning to share:

- A shocking and most fantabulous Target collaboration!!!

- Honest Pinocchio - most charming of classroom supplies.

- San Francisco audacity!

- Summer decorating tips from the pros via Anthropologie.

- Most awesome baby moccasins: gilded leather + neons stitching.

- H.D. Buttercup's "Almost-Giving-it-Away Sale"!

- Shout-out of thanks to those creative and childish minds at Classic-Play for the mention!! :)

Also, if you are in the greater Los Angeles area, my supermom of a sister-in-law's (Esther Schwartz) closest-to-homeschooling preschool, Gan Chai, is now open for 2011-2012 registration!! If you want the benefits of homeschooling + the social and developmental achievements of a preschool that will help instill independence and cultivate young jewish pride - visit Gan Chai online for more information. Freida is a die-hard fan! :)

Wishing you all a lovely weekend! Enjoy the food + fire festivities!!

From the Desk of...

I was recently directed toward an old New York Magazine feature called Room to Work. The captured office spaces of famous working folks sparked my interest. It's so imperative to what we do; the space we produce from. I think it is so important to have some space to call your own. Someplace that you can keep it all together - a more 3D version of a daily planner. A personal home office can truly be created from any void space (think: wall, corner, closet, cabinet!). I thought I'd share the joy in my little desk; it went from empty niche to energetic nook in a matter of minutes (with a husband + a hammer). We had an (almost non-existant) niche in the space between the bedrooms in our apartment. A wicker laundry hamper occupied this spot for almost a year, until I finally decided to it was time to upgrade from the dining room table; I needed some serious space of my own, and it would just have to fit in that little walled-up corner! I ordered the Sloan Leaning Desk from Crate and Barrel (the dimensions read a perfect fit), and once installed, the fit made it look like a custom built-in (it's all about the actual space, the circumference). I found the vintage Singer chair in my mother-in-laws garage up-for-grabs (it was her grandma's sewing chair!), and the industrial-style drawers in the alley up our block. I installed a hook from Anthropologie directly into the side of the wooden desk beam - I love having my bag and it's (otherwise missing) contents at hand, and slowly personalized with some (but not too many) desktop objects and colorful journals. I keep the family filing box underneath, and have one drawer dedicated to user guides and manuals, making this a teeny-tiny, one-stop, drop-box office.

Bottom line, you can create an "office" almost anywhere! I especially love working from this desk because of it's location directly outside and facing Freida's room; lending me the ability to give her the impression that I am watching her play. :)

(Credits: Pixie poster. Freida's birthday invites. Beautiful painting of the Rebbe.)

Also, here's a peek at some famous American desks:

JFK

Martha Stewart

Albert Einstein

Tina Fey

Marc Jacobs

Woody Allen

Your home is your own, and your bedroom may be personal, but there is something special to be said for having a little office-zone all your own. These images make me wonder... What about you? Do you think your workspace expresses who you are?