Hump Day Home Makeover - Kilim Rugs

First, I’m talking about ditching shampoo, and now these super bohemian rugs… maybe CT is warranted for calling me a hippie... This past weekend, the kilim rugs really caught my eye with their bold colors and patterns at the Brooklyn Flea Market. So much so, that I am still thinking about them 3 days later. 

When a piece of home décor is so bold I sometimes worry that I will get sick of it or that it will dictate a certain style that I will also get sick of. With today being hump day home makeover, I did some digging for some kilim rug inspiration, and think I’m even more obsessed with these rugs than before. And convinced that I have to have one. These rugs definitely make a statement and scream culture, class and spirit to me, but are also surprisingly versatile. My favorite combination is a orangey pink pattern with some dark accents in the print against a dark wood floor. The mix of colors lets the rug pop without overdoing the space. 

sources from left to right 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

SHOP KILIM RUGS

Would You Give Up Your Shampoo?

diy lemon body scrub / apple cider vinegar / baking soda shampoo instructions / plant based hand soap / parsley dark eye circle mask / parsley seed cleansing mask

I am really intrigued by the idea of a natural beauty routine. In the past few months, I’ve noticed that I started picking up natural hand soap with no harmful chemicals or artificial ingredients or dyes. This turned into me picking up natural body wash with the same MO. Then the other day my hair stylist shared a post from a blogger who stopped using shampoo in turn for using natural products. I checked this out and discovered a whole culture of bloggers who are giving up on their pricey shampoos for something they are calling going “no poo”. While I’m not sure I can say that with seriousness, the idea of ditching overpriced shampoos for a box of baking soda and some apple cider vinegar that evidently makes your hair less greasy and shinier for a whopping $5…sign me up. Has anyone tried this?? I love the idea of reducing my footprint (and hair care bill) in easy ways. Last year, I found out how terrible micro-beads in your body wash and face wash are for the environment and promptly changed my soap choices. If you haven’t ditched your micro-bead products, do it. You can replace them with a natural exfoliate like a DIY lemon scrub. 

Have any of you jumped on the at home beauty or naturals bandwagon?

Inspiration Junky

CT and his sister came into town this weekend, and with the weather "feeling like 5 degrees," we went to a lot of delicious restaurants, and watched pretty much a full season of Breaking Bad. We went to The Smile in NoHo that I recently discovered and became obsessed with the quinoa banana muffin. Even though it's not in the cookbook, the chef's recipes made it into this week's 'What's What,' since the food at the restaurant is so good. We also spent a day walking around The Brooklyn Flea (see vintage boho rugs above) and Smorgasborg. As you might have guessed I love the Brooklyn Flea and will be sharing the vendors you shouldn't miss this week, but in the meantime, you should read about this probiotic hot sauce we found at Smorgasborg. How was your weekend?

1. Boho Rug - Brooklyn Flea / 2. Succlents - Adore Floral / 3. Chesterfield Sofa - Macy's / 4. Suzani Lamp - Furbish Studio / 5. Driftwood Candle Holder - Pure Home / 6. Hoop Shelf - Dot & Bo / 7. Handpainted Coffee Mugs / 8. Melia Marden's Cookbook / 9. Overnight Oats Recipe / 10. Sunny Bang Hot Sauce 

5 Wines To Warm Up Your Weekend

New York has been absolutely freezing. Besides the bone chilling cold and dirty snow pushed to this and that side of the road, it's been funny watching how hailing a cab has gone from an open hand in the air to a fist just for that bit of extra warmth. Remind me why I moved away from Atlanta? In light of this cold weather, it seems like the perfect time to share my top 5 wines from this year's Pinot Days. Pinot Noir is hands down my favorite wine, and one that's perfect to pair with a cold weekend and movie night. 

Tasting Notes:

The Banshee was one of the first wines we tasted at the event and one that stuck out to me. It has a mix of cherry fruits and spices like cloves, cinnamon and vanilla. I got an immediate sense that it would be a really great pairing with duck, and wrote this one down for next Christmas's drinking list! I'd suggest this for special occasions too because it's around $50/bottle.

Tasting Notes:

Belle Glos has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. Not only is the bottle really cool with a waxed top (because that's what matters, right!) but it's a perfect blend of fruity and earthy flavors. It's really fruit forward with a heavy jam taste of raspberry and wild blackberry, but still with a bit of earthiness you'll get from a Willamette Valley in Oregon Pinot Noir. It goes for around $44/bottle, but they have a cheaper option, the Belle Glos 'Meiomi' that's about half the price.

Tasting Notes:

This wine stood out to me because it had a really different blend of flavors. It wasn't overtly fruity or earthly. I got the feeling I'd be a great wine to drink with food since it was high in tannin and acidity. We also learned that it's a good wine to set down for a while, and can last about 10 years without going over the hill. Price - around $40/bottle

Tasting Notes

I loved the label on this wine. The back gave us information about how long the wine was aged in the barrel for and how many cases were produced. It also included flavors on the back, which makes it so much easy to decide if you'll like a wine you're buying on the shelf. I really liked this wine even though it's suggested to be best with food. The acidity in the wine makes it a bit more bitter than some of the jammy pinots we tried. We thought this would be great to pair with quail. 

Pali is a different kind of wine maker than the rest. They buy grapes from well-known vineyards along the West Coast from Sonoma to Willamette to produce artisan wine hence the variety you see above, so tasting notes here is a bit hard. Mostly, this wine is very smooth. The bottles with the vertical Pali label are great for a quality bottle of wine to drink for the week without breaking the bank. Fruity and smooth and around $25.

If you try any of these wines or have had them before. Let me know! Hope everyone has a great weekend and stay warm!! 

Corbin

A Weekend in Austin: What To See & What To Eat

Austin has been on my list of cities to visit for a while after hearing rave reviews for its delicious food and hopping music scene. Over the holidays, part of our engagement was a surprise trip to Austin for restauranteering and music.

-- WHERE TO EAT --

Magnolia Cafe
Meal: Breakfast
Address: 1920 S. Congress Avenue
Price Point: $

The concierge recommended Magnolia Cafe when we asked for a local brunch spot. This place was definitely a funky spot with jungle laminated tables and a pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling. There was a wait to sit down and a steady flow of people, and once we had our food we could see why. We ordered the gingerbread pancakes and huevos rancheros. All of the food was delicious, and really affordable.

Uchi 

Meal: Dinner

Address: 801 South Lamar

Price Point: $$$

CT picked Uchi, an Asian Fusion restaurant, after seeing a review from Food & Wine. This was across the river from where we were staying downtown in a cute little bungalow. The food was seriously amazing!! The fish was extremely fresh and their dishes mixed unusual flavors we hadn't had before like tuna and goat cheese, yellow tail and cilantro and hamachi with Thai chili. We loved ordering small plates of sashimi, ceviche and rolls to taste a variety of flavors. I'd highly recommend this place, we loved it! Something else fun they do there is serve your sake in a box with it intentionally overflowing as it's traditionally served. 

La Condesa

Meal: Dinner

Address: 400A W. 2nd

Price Point: $$$

This was another restaurant that came from Food & Wine's list. CT and I are huge Mexican food fans, so this was a bit of a no-brainer. They had delicious drinks - my favorite with mezcal and ginger, a guacamole tasting, and really good tacos. I loved the large mural, installation lighting and over sized fiddle leaf fig trees in their decor too.

Food Trucks

Meal: Lunch

Address: S. 1st St.

Price Point: $

Food trucks are big in Austin. We went to Torchy Tacos in a food truck park for lunch one day and found quality food at a good price. We tried about 6 different tacos, the cheese dip and some Mexican Cola-Cola. Our favorite taco was the Green Chile Pork taco.

-- WHAT TO DO --

Shop in SOCO 
South Congress

The shopping area in SOCO is a mix of vintage and new clothing and antique shops. What was nice about the stores was that the clothing stores sold both guys' and girls' clothing. Our favorite antique store was Uncommon Objects, it was like a vintage Home Goods. We ended up getting two mounted antlers that I can't wait to put up. We also loved the men's store, Stag. 

DO 
 A concert is also a must while you're in Austin. Whether you go to an organized show or just hop in and out of bars on 6th Street. We were blown away by how much live-music there was on 6th Street. 

Hey Blog World, Remember Me?

So a short break for the holidays turned into a blogging hiatus for me thanks to a few things, some more exciting than others...

I went back to Atlanta for Christmas for a whopping 16 days.
I got hit by some insane super bug.
CT and I got engaged!!!
And we took a surprise trip to Austin, TX to see our favorite musician in a NYE concert, Ryan Bingham. Look out for a post about Austin this week!

I just love the New Year. There is something wonderful about having to hit the restart button every 365 days, reflect and make new goals for yourself. Being thirteen days late on the New Year, I have had quite a bit of time to pull together a list of things I want to do in the New Year. Some Decor-Eat related and some not.

In no particular order...here are my New Year's resolutions.

- Invest in a DSLR camera 
I'm currently deciding between a Nikon D3200 and a Canon Rebel T3i, any advice??

- Take a photography and cooking class

- Choose a cause and give to it

- Buy an item for my home that makes me uncomfortable
I saw this idea in Lonny, and loved it. Last year, I bought a risqué Leigh Viner print. It's definitely edgier than what I would normally buy, but it ended up being one of my favorite prints on my gallery wall.

- Get back into yoga

- Eat some kind of veggies at every meal & drink more water

- Develop a skin care routine

- Send timely birthday and holiday presents

- Call long distance friends more often

- Clean my closet and donate to Goodwill

- Plan a trip and start saving


What are you challenging yourself to this year?