November 29, 2013

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Weekend Jewelry Sale


It's that time of year again! Every year we look forward to offering weekend deals for Black Friday through Cyber Monday to kickoff the holiday shopping season in my Etsy jewelry shop, Contrary.

November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving


We wanted to pop in to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving wherever you may be. Today we're spending time near Prince George, VA with family, friends — and of course food! Basil also wanted to pop in to let you know he's thinking about you too (along with all the turkeys and deer he's been spotting down here by the river)...

November 27, 2013

Brussels Sprouts Harvest & Update

Let's talk about our Brussels sprouts plant! A couple weekends ago I was finally able to harvest the plant we've been growing since mid March. You might recall how little they were back then:


We'd actually planted 2 starter plants in the front urn planters. One withered and died within 2 weeks, while the other grew and thrived through the spring, summer and autumn months. We got more questions this summer from people walking down the sidewalk and wanting to know exactly what we were growing:

November 26, 2013

Rosemary Cuttings: Winter Prep


Last week we showed you how we decorated our early Thanksgiving table with rosemary cuttings. Since we had so many new cuttings on hand after the tablescape shoot, I decided to just let them rest in a glass of water on our windowsill. I'm feeding a growing habit of trying to root herb cuttings if you couldn't tell...

November 25, 2013

Weekend Basics


It's starting to feel like the holidays around here! Both Stephanie and Brandon have the week off from college and we hit the road to pick them up early in the weekend. We left a little early so we could stop in on one of our favorite Antique spots along the way...

November 22, 2013

DIY: Fresh Rosemary Sprig Place Settings

Image by John Robinson

Yesterday we shared some behind-the-scenes shots from the day Tim cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal with Relay Foods back in September. Tim is the star of the show when it comes to planning, cooking and executing a meal. Styling the table is where my creativity kicks in. Today I wanted to share some of the smaller details from the tablescape we staged for this meal, particularly the rosemary sprig place settings.

November 21, 2013

Behind The Scenes: A Very Relay Foods Thanksgiving


Since we're just a week away from Turkey day, we thought it would be fitting to share some of the preparations that have been going on in our kitchen. Back in September, I had the opportunity to help plan and cook the entire Thanksgiving menu for Relay Foods this holiday season. All of the ingredients for the meal came directly from Relay Foods and were sourced locally and organically where possible. Find the full meal, with all recipes and more photos from the day over on the Relay Foods Thanksgiving menu page.

November 20, 2013

How To: DIY Door Snake (Draft Stopper)


We shared earlier this week some of the updates we made around the house to try and conserve energy over the winter. One of the quicker fixes we took on was whipping up a couple door snakes for the two doors in the house with the largest drafts. Door snakes are really just draft stoppers, placed as blockers in front of the bottom of the door where the draft seeps in and out. They get their name from their long, skinny shape — some are even made to look like snakes (how cute are these?).

November 19, 2013

NYC Roundup: November 2013



Week before last, we headed up for our regular working trip to NYC. While it was a quick trip, we enjoyed many of our favorite things to do and places to see, but also had the chance to knock off a couple bucket list items we've had and wanted to share.

First up, Cronuts. Oh, the cronuts. Let us tellllll you about trying to get a cronut...

November 12, 2013

Giveaway: Oso Free Jewellery

Today we are thrilled to be hosting a giveaway for this stunning statement necklace, handcrafted in Mumbai, India by Etsy artist, Arnaz Sunkersett of Oso Free Jewellery:

Now this is what I call a statement piece. The mix of stone, gemstones, ceramic beads and faux leather makes it a solid and edgy piece that could step up any look. Any one of these pieces could add a really nice focal point to your holiday look this year:

November 11, 2013

Weekend Basics


The leaves are falling, the breeze is in the air, and Basil declares we are in the midst of a beautiful autumn! We snagged this shot of him during an early afternoon walk down Monument Avenue Sunday — he just laid down happily in the leaves as if he could just lounge there the rest of the day.

November 7, 2013

Sunglass Warehouse: DIY Holiday Shades Face-off


Tim and I flexed our DIY guns with a little holiday creativity to bring you a fashion face-off and sunglasses giveaway today. Check out each of our projects below and learn how to enter for a chance to win a fashionable $50 to spend on sunglasses from Sunglasses Warehouse at the bottom of this post.

November 6, 2013

Our Dog Treats In American Lifestyle Magazine


Back in early spring we began working with American Lifestyle Magazine to recreate our natural carrot and banana dog treat recipe for their holiday issue. Now that the issue is finally on newsstands, we were so thrilled to see how it turned out and find a project spread of our own across the pages of a print publication! Basil even made a little cameo — can you spot him in the top right image up there?

November 5, 2013

Our New-To-Us Dining Room Rug


The last time we checked in on the dining room, we'd just updated the space with a sideboard but were still on the hunt for a rug to make the space feel a little more tied together. Well, that day has finally come!

November 4, 2013

Weekend Basics

Photo by Hunter Hopcroft

Today we're checking in from NYC — hi y'all! We're working the better part of the week in the city and spent a beautiful (and chilly day) up here yesterday, but that didn't stop us from packing in a few more fall festivities down south before heading up north...

November 2, 2013

Halloween Recap: Indiana Jones & The Skunk


After sharing our pumpkin designs from this year, we thought it would be fun to share a little of the Halloween shenanigans that went on with a little phone pic tour!

November 1, 2013

Our Halloween Pumpkins: A Squirrel & His Nut


It's hard to believe we've already made it to November this year. Even though all the Halloween festivities took place last night, we wanted to share our pumpkins since we did end up getting them carved in the bewitching hour, just in time to light them up for all the little trick or treaters that came our way.
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