explore. create. celebrate.
Hometown Perch is about celebrating where you live. Whether you’ve moved away and back home again (like us), lived in the same place your entire life, or have settled down and made someplace else your hometown perch for good, there is beauty everywhere. So get out there and love where you live.
Click here to meet your hometown girls.
Hometown Perch Photo Shoot from Stacie Marez on Vimeo.
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Sometimes I come across an image that stops me in my tracks. That happened when I came across this:
Suzani Coverlet
When I saw this serene bedroom with a Suzani coverlet I thought “Where have you been all my life?!” Vintage suzanis have now been added to my growing thrift shopping wish-list.
A Suzani is an embroidered tribal textile made in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. There are also beautiful Mexican Suzanis.
image via turkotek
Now that Suszanis are on my radar, I see them everywhere. Like when I picked up the most recent edition of Yakima Magazine and saw one draped over Laurie Kanyer’s couch. Beautiful!
Here are a few others that have caught my eye–
image via Flickr–Romany Soup
image via House Beautiful
image via Elle Decor
And how sweet is this Mexican Suzani for a child’s bedroom?!
image via Table Tonic
To see more beautiful textiles head over to Etsy and enter “Vintage Suzani” into the search bar.
What are you crushing on lately?
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Life has been a little hectic lately and I’m feeling it. The remodel has been dirty, long, tiring (more on this soon when I can think again); work has had a similar feel with a bit of angst tossed in; and I’m out of routine, which for me is a struggle. Three saving graces: those people (you know who you are), my yoga class and funny stuff (not necessarily in that order). Oh, and dogs. Always, always dogs.
An example of something that made me laugh out loud this week:
Why did I laugh? Maybe because I often throw on ratty, old (as in, older than my 10 year old daughter) yoga pants that I love. Maybe because I often start the evening with a little vino. Maybe because I used to co-own a shop, so quirky retail makes me happy.
And maybe because even though I’m 36, the gap between here and 40 is closing rapidly. And who really cares about that? 39 is the new 21, after all.
Two side notes:
I call my humor Pinterest board “The Best Medicine.” I feel like if I can laugh about something, I’m doing o.k.
And ultimately, I am doing o.k. I’ve upgraded my pants, made it to yoga once a week for a while now, and my husband and child still like me and enjoy making fun of me. It’s all good!
To celebrate this and the fact that tomorrow is Friday, a few more funnies:
And, let’s not forget our crucial friend, Grammar:
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I’ve been making this simple sugar scrub with ingredients from my pantry. It’s just 1/8 cup white sugar and 1/8 cup olive oil. I use it in the shower to scrub away the dead, flaky skin. Those of you who have experienced a hot, dry Yakima summer know exactly why that’s necessary.
This scrub is also great to use after you have been using self-tanner for a few days. It gives your skin a healthy looking glow. And no more flakes–at least for the day.
image via her social network
Homemade Sugar Scrub
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We are nearing the end of construction. At some point I’ll do an in-depth review. For now, a glimpse of some details.
Pictured at top is the beautiful water feature Doug has been working on. Though not quite finished, it is lovely and I can hear it from our room–really the perfect way to wake up on a warm May morning.
Another nice thing to wake up to: the skylight right above the bed. The first morning in our new space, I pried my eyes open and looked up to see a little bird peeking over the side.
It took a while to choose paint (with lots of helpful input from sister Joani and Standard Paint), but I’m really happy with what we ended up with. In the bedroom, we chose Benjamin Moore Gray for the wainscoting and White Dove for the rest of the walls and trim:
And in the bathroom, Benjamin Moore Silver Half Dollar with stone trim:
Doug and I made a successful trip to TJ Maxx–finding a pair of glass lamps:
And two Cynthia Rowley chairs. Doug named their function: perfect for sitting in while putting on socks. Indeed.
Much of the house is still a disaster, but we have great hopes of getting things better organized over the weekend.
First priority: Wash the dogs.
They have been reveling in sawdust and the sand from Doug’s patio installation for the last month. And they’ve loved every minute.
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I’ve got a bit of a shoe crush. Problem is, it’s one of those crushes that won’t be satisfied anytime soon because my budget won’t allow it. Have you seen these Swedish Hasbeens?
image via my shopping spy
I will take one in every color please.
Braided Sky High in Black
Peep Toe Super High in Nature
Zip it Emy in Red
There are just too many cute styles and colors. I love them all!
image via Huset
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I recently made two recipes that I had pinned on Pinterest. Both recipes were a huge hit with family and friends.
I made this tasty Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Chopped Salad from my Kitchen Delish board:
image via gimmesomeoven.com
Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Chopped Salad
Salad Ingredients:
Garlic Herb Vinaigrette Ingredients:
To Make The Salad:
Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add chicken. Cook for 3 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside. (Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken.) Remove chicken and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Dice chicken into small pieces.
Add the diced chicken, lettuce, bacon, blue cheese, avocados and tomatoes to a large bowl, and toss until combined. Drizzle or toss with garlic vinaigrette and serve immediately.
To Make The Vinaigrette: Whisk all ingredients together until combined.
I made these beautiful and amazing Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes from my Dessert First board for Kendall’s 10th Birthday. My sweet girl is 10! That’s hard to believe. These cupcakes were the perfect way to celebrate such a special occasion.
image via Bites of Sweetness blog
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Adapted from Annie’s Eats
Yield: about 18-20 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
(You can add more of less sugar depending on the level of sweetness you want. I wanted mine to have more of a lemon taste so I put more lemonade.)
For the frosting:
Procedure
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350o F (the original recipe said 325oF but part of my batch didn’t rise properly and did all sorts of weird bubbly things). Line muffin pans with paper liners or grease. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the lemon zest. Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low-speed until just incorporated. Add in the milk and mix until smooth. Add in the remaining flour mixture and mix on low-speed until just blended. Do not overmix. (If you want to add chunks of strawberries, now would be the time to fold them in).
Divide the batter evenly between the paper liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the lemonade syrup:
Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the lemonade and icing sugar in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a toothpick and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in. (If you don’t want to waste your syrup on the counter top, simply hold the cupcake and pour the syrup over the bowl so the syrup drips back in it to reuse).
For the frosting:
Puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender and strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. You’re going to have to use a rubber spatula or rubber pastry brush to mix the puree and push down otherwise the liquid won’t go through since it’s so thick. Keep going until there are only seeds left (have patience – do a little bit at a time!). Cream the butter and cream cheese in an electric mixer with the paddle on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, then the lemon juice, vanilla and strawberry puree. If you find that you want more strawberries, just make some more puree and add it to the frosting.
Decorate the cupcake with the frosting and garnish with fresh strawberries and a slice of lemon!
At one point I had some “technical” difficulties with the frosting. The combination of a too-small bowl and fast mixer caused centrifugal force to take over. Before I knew it Mandi and I were covered with strawberry, lemon cream cheese frosting. The walls and counters were covered too. But the end result was well worth the mess.
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My good friend, Allison, provides me with endless food inspiration. Every day she walks into my office and says “What’s for dinner?” Usually I have no clue, but she’ll rattle off two or three ideas. By the end of the day, Allison has a plan. She heads to the grocery store and then home to whip up whatever she’s envisioned. I find this amazing, verging on small miracle, because the LAST thing I want to do after work is go to the grocery store (or really anywhere but home, with the exception of my yoga class or the occasional cocktail date). My version of grocery shopping on the weekdays is going home and opening my cupboard/refridge/freezer and hodgepodging something together. Although I love food, I’m just not very innovative during the week. We eat a lot of chicken and salad.
Every once in a while I actually plan out a few meals on the weekend and buy what I need to make them. That’s as good as it gets. And recently, I did just that, using Allison as my guide for two of the meals.
Meal #1: Baked Spaghetti
I know this falls into the “classics” category, but I’ve never made it. Allison gave me instructions: cook your noodles, toss them into a casserole dish, add spaghetti sauce & cheese and bake. I passed this description on to Doug and he whipped up a masterpiece. Here’s what he put together:
Mix it all up and sprinkle the top with cheese. Pop into the oven at 350 until the cheese on top is just how you like it.
If the casserole dish seems boring, try baking in individual ramekins:
Photo courtesy of www.cookingwithmykid.com
Meal #2: Creamy Crockpot Chicken
Allison pinned this recipe from The Larson Lingo blog and I thought it sounded simple and tasty.
Directions:
This was a hit! I made a few changes: using diced tomatoes and not stirring every two hours, as I wasn’t home to do so. It turned out great. Delicious over jasmine rice the first night and perfect on small tortillas when we had leftovers the next.
Here’s to creative friends and planning ahead every now and then!
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You’ve read the headlines—it seems like they come regularly these days—Newtown Massacre, Boston Bombs, College Campus Stabbings and most recently Explosion at Texas Fertilizer Plant. It’s hard to have a sense of peace and safety with so much tragedy playing out in front of us.
We don’t watch the news at our house. I have NPR on in the car when I’m alone or in adult company. Changing the way I take in news has done wonders for my sense of safety and emotional health. It helps me keep things in perspective. It helps me focus on the joy in the world that is ever-present but too often overshadowed by the noise of violence and tragedy. As careful as I am, my kids still hear about these events. Other kids talk. Other adults talk too. And, although I’m not purposely trying to shelter my kids from the “realities” of the world, I want to share the information with them on my terms; based on what they are emotionally ready to handle and by providing only the facts that they need to know. It’s not an easy task in these times. Media makes parenting more difficult because, even if you limit the media that comes into your own home, there are many who don’t. Our kids are exposed to information at lightening speed and much of it is too difficult for them to understand.
I had the pleasure of working with Jim Greenman—I just got lucky and was at the right place at the right time. Jim was one of the “greats” in the field of early learning curriculum and teacher professional development. Jim wrote What Happened to the World? around the time of 9/11 and the book is more relevant today than ever. I wasn’t a mom then but I worked with preschool children and I struggled to answer their tough questions. Although not available at the time, this book has been a great resource for turbulent times post 9/11. I find myself wanting to read through it again to help me as I walk the fine line of not sheltering my 7 & 10-year-old girls but providing them the with the information that they want to know in a way that preserves their sense of innocence and safety. Childhood is far too brief to spend being afraid. Adulthood is too for that matter.
For your use: Australian adaptation
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If you follow me on Instagram you know that I recently scored a pair of new True Religion jeans at my local Goodwill for $30. They fit like a glove! I was beyond excited. I’m a fan of designer denim–there really is a big difference in quality–but our budget is not a fan of designer anything. It’s a bit of a problem actually.
I have been a thrift store shopper for years. There have been a few times that I have found something that I still just love to this day, like the art prints below. When we lived in the Seattle area I browsed a couple of key thrift stores regularly (about twice a week); Goodwill in Bellevue and Children’s Hospital Thrift Store also in Bellevue. The regularity of my visits meant I was pretty quick to find quality things. For three years those two stores allowed me to cloth the entire family and Craigslist finds furnished our house. I rarely bought anything new. Which came in handy since we were struggling with the recession like so many others were.
I have also found things at thrift stores that I regretted not buying. Like a great wicker couch ($50) that would have looked fantastic sitting on my patio with a coat of black or charcoal gray spray paint and some new cushions. I’m still kicking myself for that one.
Thos. Baker Hampton Wicker Sofa
Back to the art prints. I found these Crystal Dawn Davis signed artist proofs at the Children’s Village thrift store. I knew, as soon as I saw them, that they were special. They were wrapped in plastic and cardboard, just thrown up on a shelf. I grabbed them and happily paid $3 for the big one and $2 for the little one. I took them home and immediately looked up the artist. I love her work! I had them professionally framed and matted and they’ve been proudly hanging in our home ever since.
I don’t thrift shop as often as I did in Seattle. Yakima doesn’t have as much of an inventory so it can be disappointing. But I do try to go about once a month. And luckily for me that trip I took on Friday led to some pretty fantastic jeans at a pretty fantastic price. I’m looking forward to estate sale season. That’s another way to find great stuff in Yakima.
Here are my tips for shopping second-hand:
The thrift shop areas that I spend the most time looking through are jeans, furniture and art.
What are your favorite thrift shop finds? Do you have any other tips and tricks?
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We are officially in the demo stage of our remodel. As one generally drawn to order, I’m a bit distracted by all the action: the displaced furniture we’ve fit into odd nooks and crannies, laptops and paperwork generally left in the office and now scattered on every surface throughout the house, and dust. Lots of dust. Oh, and even more dog hair than usual. I think our pups are experiencing anxiety-shedding from all the upset around here.
Yet, there is hope . . . and also excitment. Progress is being made!
Here’s a look at the demo, starting in the office where we (i.e., Doug) ripped out old cabinetry from the 70s (good riddance, indeed!):
Our current bedroom after the carpet was ripped out (Daisy and Drew trying to make sense of all the madness):
Sophie’s bathroom wall that accidentally adopted an almost-mortal wound (soon to be repaired!):
The covered part of our patio, which will soon be joined with our office to create a master bedroom:
A look across the courtyard:
And . . . a few days after the initial demo, the new wall is already going up!
This is where the french doors will go:
And where our new bathtub will live:
Next step: choosing paint & tile!
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| We are two small-town girls who moved to big cities and eventually found ourselves back in our hometown of Yakima, deep in the heart of Central Washington’s wine country. This blog documents our quest to get to know our hometown in a way we didn’t before and recreate some of the things we loved about urban living. |
   
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