FOR THE LOVE OF WALLPAPER.

If you have read any interior design blogs or picked up the latest shelter magazines, you'll be greeted by gorgeous rooms with...wallpaper. It seems like it's everywhere. Up until very recently, I have only had one feeling towards wallpaper and that was good-bye. When my husband and I purchased our house, of course we noticed the pink swirl wallpaper in the bathroom, the metallic striped wallpaper in the powder room (which ,actually was very cool), the grass cloth in the hallways and staircase (this is original grass cloth, people), and of course the slightly iridescent bird motif in the dining room. What we didn't see was that every other room also had wallpaper. It was either painted over (really?!) or so light that until examining it, you would not have known it was wallpaper. There was also the wallpaper over wallpaper. After months of painstakingly removing almost all of said wallpaper, I didn't think I'd ever want to look at this stuff again. However, I've been giving it a second thought and am considering using it on a small accent wall in the hallway and in my walk-in-closet. 

Hygge & West always has great options - you can go slightly whimsical, totally chic or just plain fun. Here are some of my favorites. 

I love this one for a hallway or larger room. The pattern disappears from a distance so it won't overwhelm the eye. 

My heart is on Nantucket

One of the things I love most about living in New England is the plethora of unique places close by for weekend getaways. Skiing in the winter, hiking in the Fall, beaches in the Summer. There are so many great options but on the very top of my list for years has been Nantucket. My husband has a very demanding job which doesn't afford him many weekends off so we hadn't had the chance to visit. However, with a little lot of nagging, ahem I mean pleasant persistence, he was able to get a few days off last week.

After hearing people talk about what an amazing place Nantucket is I had no doubt I would enjoy it. I just didn't expect I would fall in love with it quite so much. It's like stepping into this picturesque place that I didn't actually believe existed anymore. Pristine beaches, meticulous landscaping, adorable beach homes, I could go on and on. We were lucky that we were able to go in October when the weather was still great but the town was quieter.

I don't expect that there will be another Summer that passes where we don't visit Nantucket. It's the type of place that I want to go with my family each year and completely unplug. My husband and I talked about how we would buy a home shack on the island to retire to. The real estate is said to be some of the most expensive in the country!

We rented a Wrangler which was probably my favorite thing. It's really popular to ride bikes (there are miles and miles of bike paths) and I would definitely do that if I was there for a longer length of time but we wanted to cover as much ground as possible in just a few days. It was also so fun to be able to drive on the beach with the top down! We used Nantucket Affordable Rentals - the process was so simple and they were really nice when I called once several times with questions.

Not all of the restaurants were open because we went mid-week in the slower season but there were still plenty of options. There are a lot of great restaurants to choose from, and we definitely tried as many as possible. We had dinner at Proprietors - the food is served tapas style which is great because we got to try a lot of different dishes. The cocktails were also delicious! Cru was closed most of the time we were there but we were able to have lunch before leaving the island. It's right on the end of a dock with great views, really good food and the decor is just beautiful.  Of course we had to try The Juice Bar (which is really an ice cream shop). The home made cones were so good as was the people-watching while we sat and enjoyed our treats. We took the shuttle to Cisco Brewers which was definitely a fun thing to do. It's super laid back, they have a brewery, winery and distillery all in one place! They also had live music and a raw bar.

We watched the sunset at Madaket. We East Coasters are lucky to get to see beautiful sunrises over the ocean but very rarely do we get to see the sunset. Nantucket gets both! We stopped at Bartlett's Farm and got cheese and snacks and had a picnic on the beach. I wouldn't mind if every evening could end like that! It was so much fun to just drive around and get lost. Our GPS would send us down a road that didn't seem like it was accessible but the Jeep pushed through and I'm glad because we got to see so many beautiful things. We drove around 'Sconset, saw the red and white Sankaty lighthouse and admired our future Golf Club :).

We stayed at The Cottages and Lofts. It was perfect! We had a cottage right on the water and we could walk to town. Apparently it's the only dog friendly hotel on Nantucket - next time we will definitely be bringing Lola, it seems to be a pretty dog friendly island and I think she would enjoy strolling the beach with us!

The shopping of course was great. I didn't torture my husband too much but we did do some exploring. My favorite shop was definitely Bodega. I could easily redo a couple of rooms in my house with everything in their store. We also stopped at Nantucket Chocolatier for some "thanks for watching our crazy puppy" presents for my parents. I mistakenly did not get any chocolate for myself and was quite disappointed once I got home.

It's really a magical place and I can't wait to go back.

I'd love to know where your favorite getaway spot is!

It's Fall! And that means it's time to make applesauce...

I don't know if this happens to you guys, but the minute it starts to smell like Fall, I get the overwhelming urge to start cooking...everything.  And there are just so many delicious things to make with all the Fall produce.  

Apple picking is one of my favorite things to do.  The kids are starting to get really into it, too.  And because they like it, we end up with hundreds of apples, which means I have to scramble to find something to do with all of these tasty little things.  This applesauce recipe is no fail.  And it's beyond delicious.

Recipe:

8 apples, different varieties

1 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

Step One: Take the family somewhere picturesque to gather apples.  Pick a variety; I usually end up with Cortlands, McIntosh and Macouns.

Step Two: Wash, peel and slice eight apples.  

Step Three: Bring to a boil one cup of maple syrup and a half cup of water.  Add one teaspoon of cinnamon and some fresh nutmeg.  Add apples.  Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

Step Four:  Use a handheld mixer and puree the apples to your preferred consistency.

Step Five: Simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes.  I angle the lid so that I don't get applesauce splatterings everywhere, including the ceiling ;)

Step Six:  Enjoy!

Notes:  This recipe is easy to double.  And if you find yourself in a similar situation with hundreds of apples, doubling the recipe knocks out the apples pretty quickly.

If you like apple butter (who doesn't!), take the applesauce and put it in a crock pot on low, uncovered, for anywhere between 6 and 12 hours depending on how thick and sweet you want the butter.  I generally aim for 8 hours.  Serve the apple butter warm with some homemade whipped cream.  There are no words....

Rehab Update

So, I've been meaning to post an update on the coffee table.  You remember which one I'm talking about; it was in desperate need of some TLC.

When I finished, it looked like this:

But I thought it was boring and the color was just a little too light.  So, I dug out some of the French Linen I used for the kitchen cabinets and mixed it with the Paris Grey, then I sanded down the corners for an antique look.  What do you think?