halloween chic

10.30.10

I’m not doing much decorating for Halloween this year, other than our little pumpkin friends. But if I were to do any, it would definitely be on the luxe side of things. I’m loving the look of a black and white Halloween palette, maybe with a little gold thrown in for good measure.

Sources, from top: Felt bat door decor from Country Living. A 15th century depiction of bobbing for apples via Getty Images. Halloween card from Spark Stationery. Wreath via The Bella Life. Bird canape plate from West Elm. Black and white anemone flowers on JL Designs. Cupcakes via Cake Picture Gallery. Spooky tablescape from Better Homes and Gardens, via Little Lovables. Painted pumpkins from Country Living.

So whatever you’re doing to celebrate the holiday, be safe and have a ball! Happy Halloween, my lovelies! xoxo

sally homemaker: butternut squash soup

10.29.10

I don’t know what it is about fall, but it just makes me want to go all June Cleaver on everything. (By the way, can we take a moment to honor the late, great Barbara Billingsley, who so graciously provided us with the June Cleaver icon in the first place? Loveliness personified.) I’ve been baking and roasting and cooking up a storm, and the latest conquest was butternut squash soup.

One of my fave meals in the fall is a grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of soup, and I thought it’d be a good time to do a little something homemade. So I went to the other mother of all homemakers, Martha Stewart, for this easy recipe.

I liked that it didn’t use chicken stock or cream or tons of other bad-for-you stuff (although there is a little butter in it). It was easy-breezy, and made enough to last for the next few days. I didn’t use Martha’s suggested Spicy Pumpkin Seeds as a garnish, but instead used the ones I had made earlier. The substitution was just dandy, and I’m in soup heaven! xoxo

stop motion video: a question

10.28.10

Here she is, folks! Not only is this the crazy way that we came up with of asking our groomsmen and bridesmaids to be in our wedding, but it’s also part of the 30 by 30! I am so stoked about this project, and the best thing about it is that it was made with tons of love for our bestest friends.

Featuring none other than the infamous $15 vintage Smith-Corona typewriter, I give you… A Question.

A Question from Chelsea Costa on Vimeo.

bridesmaids and groomsmen

10.27.10

Mr. Lovely and I are so, so blessed to be surrounded by bunches and bunches of amazing friends. So we had a tricky time when it came down to asking folks to stand up with us as we tie the knot. But, knowing that we want to keep the wedding small (well, small-ish) and simple, we decided to have three bridesmaids and three groomsmen.

We wanted to do something super-special and creative to ask our wedding party to join us, so we racked our brains and came up with this: a card in the mail, which would lead them to a link to a video online, which would be a stop-motion film made by The Lovelies, asking our best buddies to be in the wedding. We had our work cut out for us.

We needed to make sure the stop-motion video idea would work before we went any further, so on our recent trip to California, we set up shop in my sister and brother-in-law’s backyard and tried it out. For a first attempt at stop-motion, it wasn’t too shabby! (Come back tomorrow, and I’ll show it to ya!) Knowing that the video would work, we went ahead with the project.

I found some blank cards with cool patterns on them, and on each card, put the recipient’s first initial, in cut-out black cardstock. Boys got red, and girls got yellow.

We wrote instructions on the inside of the card, and included the web address to the stop-motion video. We included a mini-card, with instructions to read it after they found the video. Then we wrote individual messages to each recipient on the mini-card.

It took some doing, but I’m so glad we took the time to do it this way! Check back for the video tomorrow — there are a couple of surprises. xoxo

pumpkin “carving”

10.25.10

Why the quotes around carving, you ask? Well, we really didn’t technically carve a whole lot of pumpkin this year. Our first one was a little sugar pumpkin, and because it was so tiny, we decided to go a different route and just dress it up a bit…

Anybody recognize the bow tie? The second pumpkin was more etching than carving, because we had something a little bit intricate in mind, but didn’t want to carve our pumpkin to shreds. So here’s the little guy that we ended up with.

Isn’t he cute? We only carved the moon, stars, and the detail around his eyes so when the lights were out, he’d be just like a real little owlie, staring at you in the dark.

I mean, we’re no pumpkin experts, but this is enough to make me happy! Let’s go trick-or-treating. xoxo

fabulous fall

10.23.10

It’s an autumn-tastic weekend here in our little Washington Heights apartment. I’m heading to my Bestie’s apartment later tonight for dinner, and my assignment was to bring something sweet for afterwards. My solution? Some Trader Joe’s pumpkin bread! Yes, it’s a pre-made mix in a box, but the fact that you get to add eggs, oil, water, and pop it in the oven makes ya feel a little more domestic, ya know? And bonus — your house smells amazing for the afternoon.

In related news, I picked up two apartment-friendly (read: small) pumpkins this week, to do a little carving. What should we carve on them? We’re pondering an owl on one and a moustache on another, but we’re open to suggestions! Leave a comment if you have a fab idea.

And finally, I snagged a butternut squash at the market and I’ve got an itch to make a butternut squash soup from scratch. We’ll have to see how that one goes — I have a feeling it’ll either be brilliant or a complete disaster, but nothing in between. Stay tuned for The Great Butternut Squash Extravaganza of 2010.

xoxo

roasted pumpkin seeds

10.23.10

I am of the opinion that half the fun of carving pumpkins is roasting and eating the seeds. Who’s with me? I winged it this time around, making up my own seasoning concoction for the seeds, which actually came out kinda tasty! Here’s what I did.

-Rinse pumpkin seeds and dry excess water with a paper towel, while oven preheats to 300.
-In a bowl or plastic baggie, toss seeds, 2 tbsp. olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic powder, and a sprinkle of curry powder.
-Spread seeds evenly on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with either sea salt or kosher salt.
-Bake for approx. 40 minutes, until seeds are golden-brown. Stir and flip seeds intermittently.
-Enjoy the deliciousness. xoxo