hello: July 2011

Midnight in Paris

>> Sunday, July 31, 2011 – Paris, travels

I'm sure you're like .... Paris talk, again? Well, yeah why not. Just watched Midnight in Paris & Crazy, Stupid, Love at the theatre and really liked both! So in the movie, Owen Wilson loves to walk the streets of Paris at night ... it's like his thing in the entire movie. After watching the movie, it made me want to dig through my Paris videos to find you this one. Whenever we visit, we totally love walking the streets of Paris at night too because you get to take in scenes like this:

Here's the thing about Paris ... Some people really love it and some really just don't care for it. If they don't, it's things like snobby Parisians, terrible customer service, or it's dirty. But if you really take the time to soak it in, like really really take the time to try to appreciate the people & their culture, then it becomes so very magical. It does something to you and you want to keep going back, or like the movie (spoiler alert!!!) you just never go back home.

Anyway, back to reality. As far as Houston goes, it's been a really fun & good weekend, one where on a Sunday you feel like it's a Saturday. That's when you know it's good because you don't have that dreadful it's - almost - Monday feeling.

Houston is growing on me???

Alexa Chung

>> Friday, July 29, 2011 – Alexa Chung, Inspirations

So I have definitely been MIA here, but hopefully I'll get back into posting more often. I'll start it with a cheat post. This one will just have tons of pictures.

Alexa Chung......SIGH. She is amazing. What doesn't she do right? Would I want to be her? Umm ... Maybe. Probably! I'm definitely inspired by her.

Random shots:

ribbonspearlsandprettygirls:

aacissej:effyeahalexachung

Counting down the days until her second F/W collaboration with Madewell gets released!

TGGGGGGGGGIF. These five day work weeks are killing me.

How to: DIY Bread

>> Sunday, July 17, 2011 – Food, How To's

In the spirit of DIY, why not a DIY artisan bread? If I can do it, you can. My favorite bread is crusty on the outside and soft & airy with holes inside. Spread some creamy European Butter on it and you're good to go. Recipe below!

And if you're into pizza (who isn't!), use the same dough, slap some passata, mozzerella, & basil together and you get pizzzza from Italiaaa (that's my Italian accent, btw).

To get the very best pizza possible, buy the best ingredients you can afford. The guy at the store said buffalo mozzarella is arguably the best mozzarella in the world ... so I snatched it up, and o.m.g. you should too. It's amazing. The basil pictured below was grown organically in Sam's aunt's backyard. Can't wait to have my very own garden! minus the bugs ... I could do without the bugs.

Basic Recipe:

To 100 parts flour, add 1.5 parts salt and 1 part instant yeast. Whisk those together. Add 70 parts water, and stir to combine. Cover, then let rise overnight. Transfer to the fridge, let ferment for three days, then turn dough out on to a well-floured surface. Shape dough, sprinkle with flour, and cover with a floured cloth. Let it rise for at least two hours and up to 4 at room temperature. Slah, then bake in a preheated 450°F Dutch Oven for 15 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid, and continue baking until it hits around 209°F, 30 minutes or so. Let it cool.

More on it here.

Good thing it is now dinnertime.

Store Update: Tees are Ready!

>> Saturday, July 9, 2011 – shopchristinasun, store update

Feels like I have been waiting for my Alternative Apparel tees to come in for eternity, but they have come in and I have been busy hand printing those sketches on. If you pre-ordered a tee, it's now ready! If you would like one, I would love to make you one. Click!