For the Love of First Ladies

Andy Warhol's photo of JKO

Many first ladies are known for their iconic style and there have been some incredible fashion moments from these women. For me, when talking about fashionable first ladies, two women really stand out: Michelle Obama and Jackie Kennedy. In honor of President's Day, let's take a look at these remarkable women.

My favorite photo of the Kennedy's shot for Time Magazine

GORGEOUS!!!

I hope you're enjoying your day off if you have one, or if you don't- wishing you a painless Monday. Do you have a favorite first lady?

And Friday I'm in Love

I'm still hopped up on love over here, on a serious Valentine's Day hangover. I have a 3 day weekend coming up and I'm looking forward to seeing friends, relaxing, and doing some prep for my Oscar Party for next weekend. Stay tuned for details! What do you have in store for the weekend?

Have a good one lovies!

Salt's Cure

After not hearing a single bad thing about Salt's Cure (except that it sometimes gets hot in there, which is not a deterrent) for months, it was only a matter of time before I'd check it out. I was surprised to see such a small menu, but figured since it's small, everything just must be very good. That was a safe assumption. The dishes on other tables all looked pretty solid. R wanted the Eggs, Ham, and Cheese which sounded awesome, but because of my self imposed ban on ordering the same thing as my dining partner, I had to come up with another dish. Oatmeal girddle cakes it would be. Deeeeeelicious choices all around! The ham in R's meal was so good and of course, house cured. I've never had an oatmeal griddle cake and it was such a treat- crispy edges, but oatmeally goodness on the inside.

Open Kitchen

Eggs, Ham, and Chese

Oatmeal Griddle Cakes with Apple Cinnamon Butter

As usual, R cleans his plate and mine

Have you gone to Salt's Cure? What did you think?

Lately Loving: Brad + Kate

 I hope you all had such a wonderful Valentine's Day and did something that makes you happy! Speaking of love- my love for Kate Spade runs true and deep. It extends to her line of housewares and playful attitude. Few celebrities scream playful the way Brad Goreski does! Are you watching his show, It's a Brad, Brad World on Bravo? I am!- and while I think Brad is just beyond adorable, I am also completely smitten with his boyfriend Gary Janetti (who reminds me so much of the amazing Austin Scarlett). I love Brad's style and the way he infuses personality into every outfit he touches. I am also very excited about his partnership with Kate Spade as their brand stylist. Take a look at the fun things to come from Brad as he works side by side with Deborah Lloyd this spring.

Image from Kate Spade

Image from Note to Self

I am loving the patterns, colors, and accessories coming our way! What do you think? Have you seen the Florence Broadhurst pattern- do you love it? I am falling all over that wallpaper!

Hipcooks West- Tapas Class

One of the more creative gifts we got for our wedding was a gift certificate to Hipcooks from 2 of our groomsmen. The Hipcooks West studio is only about a mile from our apartment and offers a variety of classes each month. We wanted to chose a class that was focused around something we don't make very often at home with the hopes of getting a few new skills and a new menu to throw into our routine. We settled on a Spanish tapas class. The menu featured garlic shrimp, tortilla espanola, sweet and spicy nuts, marinated olives, a simple salad, empanadas, and lastly, flan!

Beginning of class and flan prep.

Caramelized sugar art to adorn the flan

Pouring flan into ramekins before baking

Husband tossing nuts with brown sugar, butter, and rosemary

le nuts

Sangria- cheers!

Manchego and membrillo

Finished nuts with a sprinkle of tobasco and marinated olives

Preparing our tortilla espanola with potato, chorizo, and onions

Empanada filling with ground beef, currants, raisins,and olives

Stuffing and filling the empanadas

Beautiful finished tortilla

Garlic shrimp

Golden empanadas fresh from the oven

Fresh made hummus with a splash of sesame oil

Dinner time!

Beautiful flan with orange and vanilla bean

We left well fed, learned some new tricks, and feel more comfortable with a genre we hadn't experimented with much. R left craving more flan, what else is new?! 

Have you taken any cooking classes? What did you learn? If you're looking to try one, I'd recommend giving Hipcooks a try, it was absolutely a lot of fun and we enjoyed the company of our fellow students.