Boardwalk Empire

I'm obsessed with Boardwalk Empire. 

And in love with Richard Harrow.

The Cider Club Cocktail

A drink I'm working on for our winter menu. It's a take on the classic Clover Club Cocktail but with cranberry instead of raspberry or grenadine. We started by making a cranberry cider reduction as our base and then used gin, sweet vermouth, juice from one lemon wedge and egg white.

I Wish I Had an Extra Thumb...

Channeling Witchy Vibes

Dum Dum Girls - "Lord Knows"

Tranquility

My yard is beautiful right now. We are about to be in peak foliage season in Madison, NH and my yard has this beautiful golden glow to it.

Fort Goose

Rock Wall

Atticus

Josh and I went over to the Fryeburg Fair today, mostly to eat disgustingly delicious food, and walked around for a while, navigating through the painfully slow sea of people. We had some amazing sausage and fried dough and french fries and of course brought home some candy apples. Now I'm relaxing outside having a glass of wine, happy friday.

My Hero

My United States of Whatever

Tavi Gevinson, you rock girl. Seriously, Rookie is such an amazing web zine, I wish it existed when I was 16, although I don't think I could love it any more because it is inspiring and full of useful advice regardless of what age you are, I read it every day. Rookie reminds me so much of my younger self, a blur of The Virgin Suicides, punk rock music, diy style, and girl power all bundled into one angst filled teenage girl. I happened to swing by Tavi's blog this afternoon and saw a photoshoot that she and Petra Collins did for Oyster Magazine called My United States of Whatever.

These are just a couple shots, you can check out the whole shoot here. I'm loving the vintage looks she rocks so well and the late summer days vibe present in the shoot. Tavi, keep doing what you do girl, I'm diggin' it.

The Best Breakfast

Josh's famous Egg in a Basket. Delicious.

This might make me a little bit of a bad person, but...

I absolutely cannot wait to watch this show.

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo

Mini Bar

Behold the glory of our mini bar/ wall of inspiration/ growing bitters collection. I mentioned that our bar was one of the first things we set up in the house, but I recently rearranged it and got it all organized onto this neat wooden tray I found at an antiques store right down the street. I've mentioned that Josh and I love cocktails and experimenting with different ideas behind the bar, we're always finding new blogs and old books to draw inspiration from.

I've been sipping on this really simple drink lately that I haven't named yet, but it's super easy and very delicious. Pour equal parts fresh grapefruit juice and gin (I've been using New Amsterdam, it's delicious and way cheaper than it tastes like), about 2 ounces into a pint glass. Add to that about a 1/2 ounce of thyme simple syrup, I make my own. pour over ice and shake. Double strain into champagne coup and garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme. 

Excuse the poor picture quality, but there you have it. Since thyme is such a lemony earthy herb, it pairs really well with grapefruit to create a nice refreshing yet savory cocktail. 

No, I Said, What Kind of Bird are You?

I finally just saw Moonrise Kingdom and am so so happy. I've been a Wes Anderson fan since Bottle Rocket and have loved every single thing he has done since. For those of you who don't know, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve year olds, Suzy and Sam, who fall in love in the summer of 1964 and make a pact to run away together the following summer. 

Unknown to the young lovers, a brutal storm is brewing off the coast and sets in just as they escape from home. 

I won't say anymore about the plot but I will share my favorite quote;

Lionel: "You're a traitor to our family."

Suzy: "Good, I want to be."

And I'll also say that Suzy Bishop is one of those characters that tugs on my heart strings because I can see myself in her. Her adorable 60's schoolgirl style might be a huge influence on my wardrobe for the next few weeks.

Home!

Hello! Wow, it's been a while since I posted. We're finally all settled into our new house in Madison, NH and we LOVE it. I'll post some pictures of the interior soon. 

It's funny the first two things that Josh and I set up at the house was our bar and our fire pit. Josh got really crafty and made the fire pit so we're able to put our cast iron skill/griddle over part of the fire so we can cook! One of the first nights here we marinated some chicken and we had grilled chicken and roasted corn.

Our Fire Pit

Food! Cocktails!

Yummm

Blackberry Collins

One thing we're really loving about our new house is our goal to eat healthier and buying much more local produce and meat. We've been shopping at Sherman Farm farmers market which has products not only from their farm but a bunch of other local farms all in one place, plus the most delicious chocolate milk you'll ever have. 

We've also been experimenting with new cocktails, one of our favorite past times. We love looking through old cocktail books and trying out old drinks. I'll be updating again soon with some cool cocktails!

Thanks for reading!

Jam

Packing up my room for our move to Madison

Tequila

It's hot out. Like, 100 degrees and humid hot out. Now this may be reminiscent of my early waitressing days at Cafe Noche, but hot weather always makes me crave tequila. When I first saw Espolon at the liquor store I was immediately drawn to the absolutely beautiful labels inspired by 19th century style Dia de los Muertos Catrina figurines.

Espolon

Blanco

Reposado

The labels hold a lot more than beautiful craftsmanship however, they both tell a fictitious history of Mexican revolution and independence from Spain, honoring the brave men and women who are responsible for Mexico today. The Blanco label depicts Ramon the Rooster and the rebels fighting against tyranny and the caste system imposed by Spain, setting the stage for Mexico's independence. The Reposado label illustrates elements of the ancient Aztec culture infused into the market places of Mexico, to keep the spirit of their ancestors alive. 


Not only are the bottles beautiful, the tequila is really, really good! It's margarita time, cheers!

Fantasy World

This is my favorite picture I have ever taken. When I was a sophomore in college I had the opportunity to take a weekend trip to Washington DC for a mere 50 dollars. DC is one of my favorite places to visit, especially during the Cherry Blossom festival. The happy spring energy juxtaposed with the historical and military monuments is magical, not to mention all the free museums. My boyfriend at the time had acquired a couple packs of expired Polaroid film so we used most of it on the trip. The pictures came out so eerie and beautiful. This shot is of the Washington Monument, but I love the willow tree and the shape of the pond. It evokes such a fantasy land in my mind and I love looking at it. 


What are some of your favorite images? I'd love to see them.

Love

Wes's World

Bill Murray is amazing. That is all.

Art in the Age

I bartend for a living, and up at The White Mountain Hotel we really pride ourselves on having an excellent drink menu using fresh ingredients and combining old and modern recipes to recreate interesting cocktails. To me, the best part about being a bartender is coming up with new cocktails and finding new liquors to experiment with, Josh has a particular flare for creating delicious cocktails. Last winter we discovered Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, a distillery out of Philadelphia. 

Art in the Age

At Art in the Age, liquors are recreating using ancient recipes and post-modern ideas. All liquors are made with herbs, roots, and vegetables and are certified organic.

Root is based on a 1700 era "Root Tea" which was made with sarsaparilla, root bark, and other wild roots and herbs. During the temperance movement, the alcohol was removed from the tea and the new drink was deemed Root Beer.

Snap is based on a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch ginger snap cookie recipe, full of molasses and ginger flavor.

Rhuby takes it's inspiration from agriculturalist John Bartram's love for Rhubarb. The recipe is inspired by Bartram's original garden tea which he created to showcase Rhubarb flavors. 

We've tried Root and Snap and can't wait to try Rhuby. However, my inspiration for this post was the discovery of a fourth liquor, Sage!

Sage

Sage is based on Thomas Jefferson's original Gin recipe. In older times, families often distilled their own liquor using botanicals and herbs from their gardens. 

I'm so excited to try this! You could create so many different cocktails, I'm thinking a Bee's Knees (Sage, honey, lemon juice) but even a simple sage and tonic would be delicious, especially if it was garnished with fresh herbs. When I get my hands on a bottle I'll be sure to experiment and share my concoctions. 

What are some of your favorite cocktails and liquors? I'm always on the lookout for something new!

Foxy Shazam!

If you aren't listening to Foxy Shazam, start now. 

Josh and I won tickets to go see them earlier this month at The State Theatre in Portland, Maine. What a show, these guys rocked, at one point the keyboardist threw his keyboard into the crowd and played it as people held it up for him. A hybrid of Freddie Mercury and some sort of gang of evil circus stuntmen with unbelievable stage presence, if you like big black asses, you'll dig Foxy.

Microbrews in Cans

Josh surprised me the other day with Magic Hat's #9 in a can! It's pretty cool that a lot of microbreweries are putting out tastier beers in cans. 

#9

Moat Mountain

Sierra Nevada

Channeling Sally Draper

Loving the looks from Marie Claire's Summer School shoot.

All Images

Hair Inspiration

Twist & Pin Chignon

Gibson Tuck- No Source

These have been my go-to hair styles for a while now. The twist & pin chignon is from Hair Romance's 30 hairstyles in 30 days, there are a bunch of other styles that are super easy and look great, plus tutorials!

I unfortunately don't have a source for the Gibson Tuck but it's a classic style thats got a vintage vibe and is really simple to do. I couldn't find a good tutorial, so heres what I do. Start with a section of hair behind your ear, twist and pin it back. Take the next section and wrap it around your finger next to the first pin, pin where your finger is. Do this again. Then repeat on the other side of your head. There will be hair left over in the middle, take this hair and just roll it up and pin into place. The finished result should look somewhat like the picture. Mines usually a little messier, but I like it that way.

What are some of your go-to styles? I always love new hair inspiration!

Dish Washin' Jams

Alexis Krauss rules.

Tough Girls

I love tough girls, I love gangs of tough girls, I love attitude. For the past two months I have been looking to these and other images to inspire my day to day looks. 

No Source! Please let me know!

Oyster Magazine 2010

Rookie Mag November 2011

Marie Claire April 2012

Chanel 2010

Sleigh Bell's Alexis Krauss

Consisting mostly of a black H&M cropped sweater, black Gap skinny jeans, and Cole & Haan oxford shoes, these bad girl looks made me feel powerful, like no one could stop me from doing whatever I wanted. I consider myself a tomboy at heart, and am a huge fan of Lizzie Garret's wonderful, Tomboy Style. Theres something empowering in creating personal style, and while personal style definitely has defining aspects, the cool thing about fashion is that it is always changing, and style is malleable and transformable. One can always evolve personal style.