A Little Starstruck...

Tonight we went to a They Might Be Giants concert. It was my first, Clint's 4th, and Ryan's 1000th (ok not really, but almost). After the concert (thoroughly enjoyable, despite the cold and damp of the outdoor venue), we stopped in at the Norwich Inn Pub for a beer. I had the Light Humor, a classic Belgian style witbier, which was quite good! I guess I'm finally turning into a beer drinker after all.

So we're chatting, we're laughing, and John Flansburgh from TMBG comes in the bar with his suitcase.... !!!! And asks if they have wifi and has a short conversation with the bartender. The bartender comes over to us (since we'd already told him we'd been to the TMBG concert and had chatted with owner about the concert) and says,

"That might be a giant, right?"

We (mostly one of us) decided we'd hang out and see if he came back. It took a while... but then the other owner came in and said one of the bandmembers wanted a manhattan charged to room XX and he'd be right down. !!

So waiting paid off. Mr Flansburgh is an excellent conversationalist with lots of interesting info about the music industry we'd never even thought of. And we got pictures :)
Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to tell him how much I enjoyed seeing the knitting sock puppets during the show.

What I wore to the concert:
It was an outdoor concert, but a early-fall-warm to start, so I layered. I wore my cedar knit tank (purchased from Smart Bargains, came without the belt, but I wouldn't wear the belt anyway so I don't mind). I really like this top, it's stylish without being fussy, and it's cut to flare a bit so it's great if you're having a fat day (not that I was this particular time!). It's made of a silk blend jersey, so the only downside is you have to hand wash. I'm starting to mind that less and less. Also my Caroline cardigan (purchased from the Endless Summer Sale). I love the enamel buttons on this cardigan, which you can't see in this photo. This is a good, classic cardigan, very easy to wear. My only complaint is the sleeves are massively long.
Not shown was my Lilly fleece from last year's sale. I should get a new one, I wear that thing All The Time. I bought it on a whim, mostly because it was a really good price, but it's definitely one of my most useful purchases. I love things like that!
On my feet were my rose gold McKims, but man I wish I'd worn proper shoes, my feet were freezing by the time we got back to the hotel!
My cropped jeans were not Lilly jeans- I can never find any in my size!

Anniversary Dinner!

Today we celebrated our 2nd anniversary. How times flies, etc etc. We're following the traditional anniversary gifts, so this year was cotton.

Unfortunately, our anniversary fell on a work day (for Clint) and I had choir rehearsal, so we ended up having our nice dinner yesterday. But I did sew all day- with 100% cotton fabric and cotton/poly thread, so that totally counts, right?

So what does the little housewife make for her darling husband on their anniversary? Burgers.

Not just any burgers, no, no. These were burgers we saw on Bobby Flay and were completely captivated by. These are the burger to end all burger. Also, they're lamb. That's kind of celebratory, special-occasion, right?

Greek Patty Melts
Recipe from Bobby Flay's friend Miriam Garron

Parts:
Burgers
Muhammara sauce
Pizza crust
Cheese (we used gouda and chevre, Miriam said kasseri- fat chance I could find that)
Caramelized onions

For the pizza crust, use your own favorite recipe. Bobby and Miriam say to grill it, but I just baked it at 425F for the appropriate amount of time, stopping about 4min before it was done to top half with cheese.

Muhammara Sauce
1lb red bell peppers (3 peppers), charred under the broiler for 10 min, flipped, and another 10 min, then placed in a covered bowl to cool before peeling the charred skin off.
1-2 small hot red peppers, treated the same way (I omitted and added 1/2t chipotle powder)
1 cup walnuts, toasted
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1t cumin
salt to taste
1T maple syrup
1T pomegranate sherry vinegar
1T lemon juice
2t lemon zest

Miriam actually called for 1T pomegranate molasses and 1T sherry vinegar, but I don't have pomegranate molasses. I have tons of maple syrup, and I happened to have pomegranate sherry vinegar, thanks to a gift card to Whole Foods, when I just went and bought interesting things I wouldn't normally splurge on.

Place everything but lemon zest in a food processor and process. Stir in the lemon zest by hand. Salt to taste. Set aside. Easy peasy!

Burgers
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/3cup Greek yogurt (I used fat free sour cream)
2 clove garlic, minced
2t coriander
1/2t salt
1/2 paprika
1/4t allspice
1 and 1/4lb ground lamb (we used bison- Big Y had no lamb!)
Olive oil

Mix everything but the olive oil together with your hands (ewww) and form 4 large, flat patties. Brush both sides with olive oil. Grill over medium-high heat, a few minutes per side, until done.

Now, we very unfortunately forgot the caramelized onions part. These are easy, they just take time. Slice 3 large onions (I like vidalia) into medium-thin slices and cook with a little olive oil over medium heat until they caramelize. These cook low and slow but it's worth it!

Assembly:
Cut the pizza crust into pieces slightly larger than the patties. Each burger gets one side with cheese and one without. Top the burger with the muhammara sauce and a big spoonful of caramelized onions. Enjoy!

New England Hurricanes

We're about an hour from any coastline here (straight south is the Long Island Sound, straight east is cape cod, and southeast is Narragansett Bay), but we spent today preparing and then waiting for Hurricane Irene.

I'm no stranger to hurricanes, growing up in Hartford, CT, but it has been quite a while since we were worried about one. We didn't do all that much: all the outside stuff came in, we cleaned out the garage so my car could fit in it, we filled nalgene bottles with water, got out all flashlights and some candles, found the matches, but after that, we sat back and watched the weather channel. And waited.

And waited.

And then it was cocktail time. What better cocktail to have while waiting for the hurricane, than a hurricane?

New England Hurricane

serves 2

adapted from various websites, including wikipedia

1/2 cup dark rum

1/2 cup light rum

1/2 cup blueberry juice

1oz grenadine

2oz lime juice

Mix the ingredients together, pour over a highball glass (or Lilly Pulitzer tumbler) filled with ice. Enjoy, and hope that you've already battened down the hatches before cocktail time!

What's Baking? August: Celebrate Summer

Our August What's Baking? theme was chosen by Jade from The Mess Pot. Celebrate Summer is baking with things that remind you of summer, or that are in season. So of course I had to choose one of my favorite summer fruits, peaches.

I went to Tougas Farm on Thursday to pick peaches, and I was surprised by how crowded it was! Especially on a Thursday! But perhaps part of it was everyone hurrying to do it before the hurricane comes and destroys what's left. I planned to pick a peck of peaches, because I'm not so thrilled about canning this summer (no reason), but when I got there I picked a half bushel.

I felt I needed to bake something for the hurricane (i.e. something to eat if we lose power), and Clint's not a huge peach fan but I wanted something he might eat, too. Normally it'd be a no-brainer to bake a peach pie (YUM) or cobbler (also YUM), but I just didn't feel like it. So I looked around, and found a recipe for peach upside-down cake. I'd never think to use peaches in this, but they take really well to this recipe. I was also very clever and cooked up more peaches before adding the cake batter so that I had to eat them (well ok, that wasn't so much planning ahead as the pan just happening to be too crowded), and I honestly think I'd do step 1 as a quick dessert over pound cake or ice cream some day. The caramel sauce from the peaches also soaks into the cake nicely and gives it a delicious flavor.

Peach and Cornmeal Upside-down Cake

from What's On My Plate

For the peach topping:

3 peaches, cut into wedges (12 wedges per peach) (I left the skin on)

3T butter

1/4 cup sugar

For the cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1t vanilla

1/2 cup cream (I used fat free 1/2&1/2)

3/4 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1t baking powder

3/4t salt

1t lavender (I skipped, couldn't find my lavender! I know I have some)

Step 1, for the peach topping:

in a 10in cast iron skillet (I used my Le Creuset braiser), melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar over, and stir around a bit and cook for 3min, until it starts to caramelize. Add the peaches and arrange in circles. I actually just dumped the peaches in, it was too hard with the spattering caramel when the cold peaches hit to arrange them, so I dumped them all in and then arranged them with the wooden spoon. Cook until they're soft, about 15min. Remove from heat.

Step 2, for the cake:

Cream together butter and sugar, for about 3 min, til fluffy. Then add eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and cream. Whisk together remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add in 2 batches to the cake batter.

Step 3, for assembly:

Drop spoonfuls of the cake batter over the peaches, then spread around with a spatula. Bake at 350F for... well, the original recipe said 20-22min. It took me about 40. Set the timer for 20 and keep checking.

Let the cake rest about 10 min, then run a knife along the edge, and invert on a serving plate.

Yum!

The New Black Friday

I wasn't planning to post so much about Lilly this week, but it's been a very busy Lillyweek.

As I mentioned before, yesterday was the Endless Summer Sale that I'd been waiting for all year. Compared to last year's sale, this one started out much more smoothly- the site didn't crash, I didn't get my account frozen while trying to log back in during the site crash, ladies didn't post nasty messages about it on the Lilly facebook page (as if the people manning the facebook page are the code monkeys responsible for the site's less-than-stellar construction), and of course, the selection of sale items was incredible.

Enter TDE: The Dreaded Email.

The new site could handle all the shoppers, but the inventory wasn't updated as quickly as we shoppers would have hoped. Last night, many people were plagued with TDE. Even I got TDE. So, more nasty facebook posts and customer service emails and phone calls ensued.

To which I say,

Really? With all the problems we have in this world, global warming, rising fuel prices, and the old standbys, hunger and war, you're losing your head because you didn't get to buy a dress you wanted? I WISH that were my biggest problem.

Yes, I lost some stuff. I lost the Lulu

and the Stephanie

But you know what? They're dresses. Dresses are not absolutely necessary, especially ones you get on sale. They're exciting, definitely. Enjoyable, fun, lovely. But is a lost dress that you weren't charged for any worth really ripping a poor customer service rep a new one? Especially when everyone with a canceled order was given a free $25 off their next purchase?

Apparently I'm in the minority when I think not.

So Lilly Pulitzer, thank you for a very fun sale. Thank you for the new site, with its search by print option, that did not crash yesterday. Thank you for staying up all night the few days before to ensure that it would run smoothly. Most of all, thank you for the items we did get, for such low prices, and for offering such a huge variety.

I'm sad I lost those two dresses, but like I said, not the end of the world. There's still plenty to choose from! This morning I ended up ordering a Jonah in purple, perfect for fall, although I do have doubts about its fit

and I'm really considering a Dolly...

The biggest, most frantic day of the year.

And the most exciting!

No, it's not the last shopping day before Christmas, it's the annual Lilly online end-of-summer sale!

Along with thousands of other Lilly fans across the country (continent? world?), I am (im)patiently waiting for the sale to open. It's a bit chilly today, so I threw on the fleece I bought in last year's sale- as a kind of good luck charm, you might

say.

Signature shops opened their sales at midnight last night, and I browsed all of them! I bought an orange crush Char top from The Pink Pelican, I already have two, so couldn't pass up another at half price, especially when it was only left in my size!

******

Oh my! I went to check lillypulitzer.com and the sale was live. In 10 minutes I found, digitally grabbed and bought:

A Finn in Navy, $188 down to $64

A Lulu, originally $198, down to $49!

A Murfee, originally $98 down to $34!

And a tablecloth for $49!- I didn't even know they made tablecloths!!

Fastest money I ever spent...

None of these items were on my wish list, but I never dreamed that particular Lulu or a Finn would show up at all, and the Murfees started at $34. So this is very exciting! Now back to my normal day...

UPDATE!!

I went back for another round. Well, actually, 2 more rounds, but one is full of presents so I won't share it yet.

Someone on relilly mentioned the incredible steal of the Jillie, which I'd overlooked. A huge bargain?! Must go back!

Jillie, Originally $328, now $39!

Don't laugh, but I got this as a potential maternity dress. Hey, for that price?! I really do think the only way this'll look good is if I'm actually pregnant.

Other great buys I ended up skipping included:

Adalie Wrap Dress for $49

Main Line jeans for $49

Jonah Dress for $49

A Fashion Buffet

You know how when you go to a buffet at a restaurant, you pile up your plate with everything? It all looks so good, you just have to try each dish. And then you can't possibly eat it all, even half of it. That's what fall catalogs are like for me.

A few weeks ago, I went to E.A.Davis in Wellesley, MA. I was on my way to practice carillon at Wellesley College, my alma mater, and I just had to stop at one of my old favorite stores. As luck would have it, they were in the process of unpacking the new fall Lilly! Oh so exciting. I took armfuls of clothing into the dressing room. I tried them all on, and then I took armfuls more. And then I did it all again. I was in there so long, enjoying all the fun new prints and styles, that I completely forgot to feed the parking meter and got a ticket. oops! Luckily Wellesley's parking tickets are surprisingly low in price so it wasn't a huge deal, I mostly just felt stupid and irresponsible.

I tried on a number of dresses, but since I wasn't doing it for blogging purposes and solely for my own enjoyment, I can't remember each style I tried. Don't worry though, I'll go back again and keep better records!

Also, I didn't buy anything (well, anything of the fall line... I did buy a beautiful Shauna Embroidered, a dress I've been literally lusting after since it came out last spring, but I'm now regretting my purchase and am trying to sell it. Let me know if you're interested in a size 10 for $225!). This visit to the new fall styles was strictly for research purposes!

My absolute favorite for Fall 2011 is the Bianca ($268) (also called the Blanca on the same page, so I'm not sure which it really is).

This is a silk jersey, drapey necked, elbow-length sleeve dress with pockets. Pockets! Side note on pockets: when I was choosing bridesmaids' dresses for my wedding, the one we ended up with was an Ann Taylor dress (which I also bought for myself, haha). My girls were happy with it, and when they arrived, my friend M exclaimed over the pockets rather gleefully. And I thought to myself, oh M, seriously? But she's totally right. Pockets on a dress are so handy.

I've tried on the True Navy Dress Rehearsal print in this dress, and I declare that I'll buy it this season. Ideally I'll get it on sale, or when Lilly has a great GWP, but we'll see. It may depend on whether I get a job.

Now, dressing room photos are tricky. Most of the time, a dressing room is simply too small for a full-length photo, you just can't back up far enough. This time, having a big table in there (great for throwing clothes on, however) was the issue.

You can see some of the other goodies I pulled into the room. The Evie dress in pink tomato standing ovation is another lovely dress. ($188)
This version is woven cotton, but they also had a knit version in ring pop. ($188)

For whatever reason, I preferred the fit of the ring pop over standing ovation. Ring pop comes in SML and Standing Ovation in number sizes, and I found I was between sizes in standing ovation, but perfect in ring pop. How odd! Normally I'm between M and L and perfect in a number size. Ring pop will probably be more versatile for my wardrobe requirements, though, I need a lot of day dresses for DAR meetings.

I tried on a variety of knit tops, too. I unfortunately didn't love any of them. The Lexie ($40) is a very standard t shirt, a nice wardrobe staple with a good cut, if you're looking for that. I wasn't.

I love the boatneck t ($48) on the models, but I'm between sizes. Watch out for that! The woman helping me at the store says it's supposed to be a fitted shirt, but the M was extremely tight compared to the picture of the model, and the L was swimming on me. Bummer! I almost though the M was mislabeled as a S, or the L was really an XL.
And did I mention all these new fall styles were fresh out of the box? I was the first person to ever try them on- how often does that happen! It would have been so nice to buy one, like when you buy a new car that has 10 miles on it.

Also pictured on the dressing room table is a really interesting dress from spring (or summer? I can't keep it all straight!). I pulled it off the 40% off rack on a whim, thinking I'd hate it.

Blake, Originally $268, now on sale if you can find it in stock!

I actually liked it! Of course they only had it in a size larger than I'd need, and it still cost over $200, even on sale, but it was surprisingly pretty- and comfortable. I may put this on my to-find list...

Other popular dresses others are pointing me toward include:

The Adalie wrap dress, $158

The Cassie, $98
(but I'd think I'd prefer the Cassie top)

and the Claire, $258, which isn't new for 2011 but is still great for early fall.

I'm also on the hunt for a Blayney in Let's Get Gingky, although if I can't find one, I'll settle for one of the Fall 2011 prints!
I've found in at TJMaxx for $79.99 and recently on clearance for $59, but never in my size! Now that it's on clearance, I'm tempted to buy the wrong size and let my seamstress work her magic on it. It's a silk/cotton jersey, a fabric I'm afraid to work with myself.

Stay tuned for details from my next visit to the Lilly Buffet!