Happy Birthday, Husband!

Ok, I have a lot to catch you guys up on, and who KNOWS how long it'll take me to do that, so let's just start with the most recent stuff: this weekend! Sunday was Oliver's birthday, so we decided to put aside most work-related things we knew we should do, and just enjoyed the weekend for the most part. As usual, we were exhausted on Friday night (these 60 hour work weeks make us tired!) so I don't have much to report there, but on Saturday we made a delectable brunch that included a special treat for Oliver: raisin scones and clotted cream (we are privy to The Devon Cream Company's English Clotted Cream). If you haven't slathered a scone with clotted cream and jam, you're missing out. I was introduced to it when I lived in England, and Oliver fell in love when we celebrated mother's day at Lady Mendl's Tea Salon a few years ago. Go have some; one little ounce will fulfill your daily requirement of saturated fat, so you don't have to worry about that! Whew!

Back in December, Oliver's parents gave us some old birdfeeders they weren't using any more and Oliver has been looking forward to refinishing or painting them ever since. This was the weekend! He decided to spruce up the yard with a bright red paint while I sat around in my bikini taking photos.

The birdcages:


Oliver does a light scuffing with sand paper blocks:


After laying out a plastic garbage bag, he got to spraying:


After letting them dry for about thirty minutes, he flipped them and painted the other sides:


We let them dry outside overnight, then filled them up with birdseed this morning before hanging them up:



After another yummy home-made brunch, we made our first visit to the Barton Springs Pool, a three-acre spring-fed pool in Zilker Park, framed by century-old pecan trees. A destination for Austinites and tourists alike, we decided we had to see for ourselves what the hubbub was about. We loved it! The water is clear and COLD (68 degrees year-round), which makes it incredibly refreshing, especially for 100-degree days like we've been having (which, by the way, we are LOVING. For real!). We set up camp near the diving board and watched some pretty impressive moves on breaks from our own dips into the water. We didn't take our own photos, but you can get a feel for it's inherent beauty from these photos:



Not bad, eh? After a couple of hours of sun, we headed home to get ready for a celebratory dinner at Austin's finest (and rare nationally recognized) restaurant, Uchi. We samples all kinds of delectable plates and were thoughtfully treated to a creative dessert in honor of Oliver's birthday. Here we are, feeling very satiated after dinner:

There's the birthday boy looking debonair in his no-socks-with-dress-shoes get up – very sartorialist – with newly-minted birdfeeder in the foreground:

The deck isn't looking all that debonair, but what can you do? We have a deck and that's good enough for us!

Thus ends one of our most luxurious and enjoyable weekends of late!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream

Neglect, a Birthday, and Austin Hot-Spots

Oh, dear readers, I'm the WORST! I've really been neglecting you. Its with good reason, though, I promise. The fun news is that I turn a whopping 32 today! TIME FLIES. I swear, just the other day I was a toddler wearing a birthday hat, stuffing my face with cake without a care in the world.

Ok, you got me; I've never lived without a care in the world

Check out the rad birth announcement my dad wrote up when I was born (note: he is an accomplished tennis player and all-around funny guy):

Favorite line: "Balls…..None." Get it? I'm a girl. 

It's been quite a ride, and I have high hopes for my thirty-second year on this earth. Good things are already happening. For one, Oliver and I got a grill and some deck chairs, so we can dine alfresco and enjoy this amazing Austin weather. Tonight, we are going to try out a new-ish (less than a year old) restaurant in our neighborhood that's said to be pushing the boundaries of Austin's emerging foodie scene, Foreign and Domestic. I hope I can remember to bring the camera and snap some shots to share with you. I've been a Forgetful Franny lately!

Work-wise, things are getting busy busy busy, which is wonderful, but I miss my little slice o'the blogosphere! I have a few posts in the works right now, but none are quite complete, so I thought I'd whet your appetite (and hopefully keep you coming back to me), by giving you a sneak peek into a very special tour we took recently (thanks to the Architecture Enthusiasts of Austin) of a few projects completed by the office of one of Austin's most outstanding architects, Michael Hsu. I have a personal connection with Mr. Hsu's office, about which I will expound when I write full review of these spaces, but here's a little quickie introduction to the work his office does….

We visited Haddington's, a new rustic American tavern on East 6th with outstanding finishes, not to mention yummy food and cocktails):




La Condesa, a hip, contemporary-modern interior Mexican restaurant in the 2nd street district"


Love that custom light fixture, created from off-the-shelf lighting parts!

Malverde, a chic bar located adjacent to and upstairs from La Condesa, Malverde should be bumpin'!


The mossy, "living" wall is a great touch to this space the blurs the barrier between inside and out – a perfect Austin design element!

I have a busy week ahead, but I will do my best keep up with you. Happy Monday, and happy birthday to ME! xoxo

Happy Valentine's Day!

Design by Sarah Coleman

Holidays seem to make us all hungry for sweet treats, don't they? Well, feast your eyes on these delicious images this Valentine's Day.





Images and yumminess by Bakerella


Luxury Love Cake by Sweetapolita

With or without a significant other, we can all enjoy red, pink or gold snacks. Have a great one! xoxo

Merry Christmas!

Via Elements of Style

Good morning! I can't believe 2010 is almost over and Christmas is tomorrow. This has been quite a year and I suspect 2011 has lots of exciting stuff in store. Thank you to everyone for keeping up with us and reading The Studiolo!

Chances are your holiday decorating is complete, but for those of you still pulling together last-minute gatherings and decor, enjoy this Christmas imagery.

Photo courtesy Domino

Great holiday party setup:

Source unknown

I can always count on Bakerella to come up with fun holiday designs for baked goods:


Holiday ornament cards by Baker, letterpressed by Studio on Fire.


Last year's cards are worth looking at, too:

Ornament holiday greeting card by Dingbat Press

Got a party to go to, but no gift to bring? Jonathan Adler could save you with these animal and banana ornaments:

Loving the color-coordintated interior, ornaments and gifts:

Photo courtesy Domino

Photo courtesy Homes and Gardens


Via Country Living

These are great ideas if you don't have much space, but want to have some big Christmas cheer in your home:

Via Martha Stewart


Source unknown


Photo courtesy Country Living


Source unknown


Via Design Sponge

Some fun tree/ornament alternatives:

Papered resin deer by Ruby's Lounge


Custom Christmas wall decor by ATLITW



Source unknown


Photo courtesy Domino, via Apartment Therapy

If you don't have a yard to create a Christmas scene, just bring it on inside!

Photo courtesy Domino

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Flowers and Cookies

Two of my favorite words. My mother claims the first word I uttered as a child was "cookie." I think she's yanking my chain, but what are you gonna do? I can't exactly prove her wrong.

With our big move rapidly approaching, we really need to hunker down and pack. This past weekend was mostly consumed with rounding up boxes and starting to fill them. Pretty boring. But, there were two highlights:

1. FLOWERS
I wasn't completely pleased with the photos I took of our hallway and I want to re-shoot it before we have to dismantle it. On Friday afternoon I picked up a bunch of flowers from a bodega in the West Village and brought them home to dress up the hall a bit for a mini photoshoot. It is fairly common knowledge that I am not an expert flower arranger (taking a floral arrangement class is at the top of my list of things to do) but I threw together a pretty inspired bouquet on Friday afternoon and couldn't help but share it with you all.



Now, I'm no Denise Fasanello, but I'm proud of this creation – my first with some depth and a variety of textures with a monochromatic palette.  The spiky little bursts of flowers are thistle and the sprigs of green are safari sunset. Sadly, I don't know what the white baby's breathe-like sprouts are. They have shots of purple and green among the white, which makes them a little special. Additionally, I added stalks of green leaves.

2. COOKIES
Due to the packing, we didn't do much to celebrate Halloween this year, but, to our surprise, we were the recipients of a spooky cookie delivery on Friday:

Hello, lovelies!

The ginger cookies above are the creations of an extremely talented (and thoughtful) friend who lives in LA with her husband, a former work buddy of Oliver's, and their pitifully unfortunate-looking child:

Photo courtesy Ben Lau
Shame, isn't it, that he's so homely? He's also devoid of personality, which is the saddest part.*

Here's a glimpse of the full batch:

Photo courtesy Ben Lau

DELICIOUS.
Thank you, Ben, Giao and Baron!

*Note: I am being completely sarcastic here. Baron is quite obviously an adorable, charming toddler with a vivid personality.