~fried chicken & champagne, & the pomegranate bistro~

We have this fabulous little bistro near us that serves the most delicious food.

It's quaint, it's delicious, and I love meeting friends there.

One wall in the restaurant is a big window so you can watch the pastry chefs preparing pie crusts, rolls, and desserts. Lisa Dupar is the owner of this restaurant and has this fabulous cookbook with recipes from the bistro. While I don't own the cookbook yet, my friend Lissa was kind enough to share a recipe for the soup I get every single time I go there.

 I will say, I am not a huge tomato soup fan. 

But I could seriously eat their tomato soup daily, along with their fabulous house salad.

So, although I haven't made it yet, I thought I'd share the recipe with you. 

It looks fairly simple to make, not many ingredients and it looks like it will serve a crowd.

Isn't Lisa a doll?

Ok, without further adieu, here is the recipe for Pomegranate's tomato soup.
{and I don't know why the recipe is so funky, sorry!}

pom tomato soup

bouquet garnish:

6 thyme sprigs

1 rosemary sprig

 to make the garnish:

tie the thyme and rosemary sprigs together with a piece of kitchen string.

Ingredients:

4 oz butter

3 med size fennel bulbs chopped

1 c chopped yellow onions

1/2 c chopped shallots

2 T chop garlic

3 1/2 lbs canned Italian plum tomatoes, with juice, chopped

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1 c heavy cream

salt and pepper

fennel greens for garnish

In a large saucepan over med. heat, melt the butter.  Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and garlic.  Saute until tender.  Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the bouquet garnish and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.  Add the cream and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and let cool.  Discard the bouquet garnish.  Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth, then pass blended soup through a fine strainer.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Enjoy!
xoxo 

~my space at ruffles & rust square & a winner~

These photos were taken about a week ago before my friend Stephanie went in a re-did my space for me.

{thank you Stephanie!}

So, they are not the greatest photos, but it will show you a little bit about what I have in there!

 I love this cabinet, if it doesn't sell, I'm bringing it home! 

 I made this silhouette canvas using the free 8x10 canvas offer

{it is still going on, just click on the link at the top left hand corner of this page}

The bra and pantie pictures sold right away.

 I had a bunch of these cool chippy old windows, so I added lettering to them.

I think these are one of my favorite things in my space.

 And of course, lots of cover~less books and glassware.

 Little bits of color here and there, in my mostly neutral space.

 OK, I lied. 

This is my favorite thing.

It's a full size shabby white bed with headboard, foot board, and side rails, with this beautiful wreath applique on the headboard!

I wish I had a better picture.

 Lots of typography, simply because I like it!

 sold.

 Oh, this shows you the headboard a little better!

 This chalkboard sold, but I have many more in the works! 

 A chippy black shutter that would make an awesome mail sorter/organizer.

I also made this rustic "wedding" sign inspired by all the cool country style weddings I'm seeing all over the Internet.

 More glass bottles and tarnished silver.

 Bundles of fresh French lavender and old spools.

 I was using this chippy old ledge for display, but it is now for sale!

 Grey and black shabby wood frame.

 A few vintage kitchen items and a few black Rosanna cake plates.

 This chalkboard sold as well.....more coming!

I have huge tupperwares full of more goodies to go to the store, including 2 French caned back black chairs with burlap seats!

Check back often, things change daily!

And, the winner of the of the earth jewelry giveaway is:

Carly from the Deckers!

Congratulations!

Please contact of the earth jewelry on etsy to let her know which letter you would like on your necklace!

Have a happy weekend friends!

xoxo

~restoration hardware like wall art, the look for less~

Don't have $450.00 to spend on one of these great pictures?

 Here is how you can get the look for less.

First of all you need a book full of great sketches that suit your liking.

I just picked up a book on Leonardo Da Vinci at the Goodwill outlet for 49 cents and got about 30 pictures out of it. You can also find these on amazon here.

 These are framed in simple barn wood frames you can find at your local craft shop, or if they don't have them, I found a seller on etsy that has a bunch, and they are very inexpensive. 

You can get a matte cut but it will set you back around $10-$15.

If you want to do this project on the cheap, just take your book page/sketch to your local copy center and enlarge it, or shrink it depending on the size of your frame. 

I would do this on a color copier because although they are black and whites, there is a little bit of brown usually and this helps with that "vintage" look.

If you browse the Restoration Hardware site, or go to any of their shops, you will see these types pictures all over the place. 

I was browsing through their catalog today and on almost every page they have these on the walls.

If barn wood is not your thing, you can also scout out thrift shops to find inexpensive antique frames. I like the thin gold frames, and wood ones as well.

So, instead of spending $450.00 per piece, you are looking at more like under $15.00 without a matte, and around $25.00 with a matte.

I'll be back soon to show you what I did with mine!

Happy framing!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway here if you haven't done so already!

xoxo

~things are so much better when they are on sale~

This is a story about how I got in my car yesterday morning and headed to the Restoration Hardware outlet store on a whim.

I really needed to stay home and clean, but shopping sounded like more fun.

I didn't really have anything in mind to buy, but this is all the stuff that ended up in my car.

A pair of Lorraine sconces.....

 5 tarp pillows.....

~ close up image~

they are the ones in the back.

 The top framed flashcard print, I purchased mainly for the frame.....

 and a petal pink linen ruffle edge duvet cover.

 I love the edges, they are intentionally left raw and are frayed. 

I'm probably going to bring the duvet into the shop as my daughter told me she doesn't want pink anymore. 

{can you hear me crying?}

It was like going to Target.

You walk in to buy toilet paper and you walk out with toys, clothes, food, and picture frames. 

And if you have kids like mine, at least 4 things from the dollar spot, a hot dog, a Slurpee, Pokemon cards and nail polish.

The end.

xoxo

{p.s. of the earth jewelry giveaway is still going on}

{p.s.s. I almost forgot, I got this too!}

~the best strata~

Over the holiday weekend my good friend and neighbor made this strata that was seriously to die for! The recipe is from epicurious and will be a crowd pleaser for sure! 

Enjoy!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway below!

xoxo

~of the earth jewelry giveaway~

How would you like a chance to win this Verdigris Bird with Copper Initial Necklace?

You can customize it with your own initial!

Here is how you can win.

Please leave a separate comment for each.

1~visit etsy to see everything in Randee's shop, and then leave me a comment telling me which items {s} you like.

2~"like" their facebook page.

This giveaway will end on Thursday the 28th, so get your comments in before then!

xoxo

~a contact paper miracle~

Do you recall this post? 

One of my readers just emailed me along with a picture of what she did with 7 rolls of the dollar tree contact paper and a craigslist dresser.

Can you believe this?

She said on the way home from picking it up, one of the drawers blew out on the freeway.

 They went back and searched endlessly for it with no luck.

Her father made her a new drawer and she finished off the fronts as well as the insides with the drawer liner/contact paper.

Total spent on the paper~$7.00~

Now that my friends is genius!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter holiday!

xoxo

~shabby chic girls~

Good afternoon friends!

We are having a rare sunny day here in the pacific northwest, so this post will be short and sweet!

{and also because I still haven't figured out my new computer through and through}

Have you all seen this blog?

It's like a breath of fresh air!

I love how in her family room she pairs slipcovers with worn dark leather.

And I'm loving the old worn rugs with that crisp white sofa.

Another gorgeous rug in this fabulous entry.

This has me thinking about changing out my bedding to white for the Spring/Summer months.

Target has a simply shabby chic set on sale......

Yes indeed. 

This weather has me wanting to do some major Spring cleaning.

A few fresh flowers and some luscious white sheets~ahhh.

xoxo

~see the similarities?~

Well, I'm back, and it was tough being computer-less!

We got a mac now, so I feel like a school kid having to learn all the new things.

Do you remember when I made this sign?

 Look what I just found while browsing the Pottery Barn catalog.

~Holy cow~

What are your thoughts on this?

I guess great minds think alike, ha-ha!

xoxo

Broken computer

Hi everyone. Well, our computer died and and it's gonna be 2-4 days until our new one is ready. I'll be back in a few! If you have emailed me, please be patient, I'll try to get back to everyone, but it takes me a little longer to type on my I phone! See you soon!

~and we have a winner!~

First of all I want to say thank you to all who entered this giveaway.

I also wanted to send a special shout out to Maria for such a generous gift.

Now, I know some of you are going to be disappointed to not see your name as the winner, but, you have to remember, I have many many more giveaways planned, so there is always another chance!

{talk about a run on sentence!}

So, without further adieu, the winner of the dreamy whites giveaway is.....

the writer of the blog

fete et fleur

Congratulations!

Please email me with your shipping information.

{photo by Maria from her blog: Dreamy Whites}

On another note, a friend and I have been planning a little trip in June.

I'm going to call it a "dreamy" girls getaway.....

Can you guess where we are going?

I can't believe I get to hang out with Maria and stay in her beautiful home.

I just may never leave.

Here's to a great weekend!

xoxo



~I want to throw my money at this store~

I walked into World Market the other day and was not expecting to see so many great finds!

I could spend some serious money here.

Some of these pieces remind me of Restoration Hardware, only a whole heck of a lot cheaper!

Aiden 3 shelf console.

$329.99

Jackson metal tub chair

$89.99

Jackson Rectangular Table with Metal Base

$249.99 

The aiden etagere

$259.99

Campaign desk

$229.99

the twist swivel stool

$89.00

Are you as in love as I am?

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway, so if you haven't done so already, head here to leave me a comment.

I will be choosing a winner tomorrow .

Have a great Thursday friends!

xoxo

~ship shape~

I love it when I have great success at thrift stores.

Today was one of those days.

I scored not only 1, but 2 things I am super excited about!

The first one is this painting on canvas.

Check out all the detail.

 I love the colors and  I love the subject matter.

 The back reads:

Clipper ship

"flying cloud"

rounding Cape Horn.

If anyone knows anything about this piece, I'd love to hear.

It is signed W. Harris.

 I also found this large heavy vintage lamp. I don't know if it is alabaster or marble, but I love it and I have the perfect spot for it as well!

What do you think of my Tuesday finds?

You still have 2 more days to enter the dreamy whites giveaway.

Click here to enter.

xoxo