Holiday Eats

Since I haven't posted since Thanksgiving, I am kind of behind in finding about all your Holiday Eats.

What was on your table over the Thanksgiving week? Here are a few of the goodies we had.

Brian loves turkey and I love lamb, so we had two main meat dishes this year; we each prepared the protein that we selected to make it just the way we like it.




In addition to this, our menu also included Pumpkin Ricotta Ravioli, Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole and Cranberry Sausage Stuffing.
Now it's your turn, I want to hear about yours!

(PS. I will be posting the two dessert recipes pictured here on the City of Dionne Facebook page.)
(PPS. The winner of the Curate & Love Giveaway is Kate. Congrats!)

A Mini Almond Pistachio Lemon-Cream Cake

I love slicing into a layer-cake and seeing all the pretty work that has gone into creating it.



But I don't like how big and monstrous they are - whenever I make them, they end up being far too much cake for me and Brian to eat without feeling overloaded with sugar. So this time I decided to make a mini layer cake.

A mini Almond Pistachio Lemon-cream Cake.


The great thing about this cake is that it doesn't take us much work as a regular layer cake - I wanted to keep it simple. So it's a great little cake to me if you have a few girlfriends coming over - just enough for 5 or 6 small slices.

If you'd like the recipe, you can find it here on the City Of Dionne Facebook page.

Social Beverages

Beverages can be so social, can't they?



The stirring of a latte as I listen to a friend tell me a story, the dunking of a teabag as we recount our workweek, or the clinking of crystal champagne glasses as a jovial toast is made... beverages, even moreso than food are the quiet participant in most social occasions. Sure, food is a great way to share and get together with friends - but beverages are always part of the story. Sometimes we'll have get-togethers where a ceramic mug of latte is more than enough - the stories exchanged are so rich and detailed that there's no need for anything more than quiet sips, or appreciative slurps from a straw.




I would have to say that lattes are my go-to social drink, while Brian's is beer - especially Shiner.

What's your social beverage of choice?

(PS. My Amelie get-together was featured here at Project Wedding. Hooray!)

Curate & Love Giveaway

Brian and I have been apartment-hunting.
We're looking for a place closer to my work that we both really like, which has been harder to come by than I thought.

I've noticed that the last time we were apartment-hunting, I also was on the hunt for new pieces to decorate. This time it's been much the same. My search this time lead me to Curate And Love.



Curate And Love is owned by the lovely Ivy. Her store is a beautiful collection of vintage pieces - just browsing through it makes me feel like I am at a Vintage Art Gallery. Everything is so carefully put together and flows so well - it's like she's telling a charming story.

She adores nature and living in Portland, OR, she is surrounded by gorgeous scenery. Portland boasts amazing wineries, great restaurants and a great art community, so in addition to natural beauty, it also has a lot of great man-made contributions. She loves capturing all the details of Portland with her camera, and also enjoys history. This helps her stay connected to her lovely vintage findings, and she has been collecting for ten years!




Along with collecting antiques and photography, Ivy enjoys painting and collage, as well as reading.


Ivy is generously giving a reader a lovely piece from her collection. To enter, please visit Ivy's store and give me three words that you think best describe Curate & Love. The winner will receive their choice of the last three items featured in this post. I will announce the winner next week.

An Amelie Party

Amelie is one of my absolute favorite movies. Have you seen it?

If you haven't, you really must. Here are one of my favorite scenes.
I love it so much that I decided to plan a girl's get-together with Amelie as the theme. My friend Ashley kindly let us use her lovely studio - Recollection Vintage - thanks, Ashley!



If you haven't seen the movie, a lot of these decorations might not make any sense to you - but I do highly recommend you see it. It's such a beautiful movie!


Amelie is a French waitress who appreciates the simple things in life. The movie involves remembering your childhood, love, travel and adventure.




I watched a documentary about the making of the film, and the director said that he intentionally used lots of red and green in the film - he wanted it to be saturated with color. So there are lots of scenes in it that are all red or green, and then with pops of blue or yellow. So for this party, I included red tulips and dahlias, green kale, some lotus pods for a touch of brown, and then included some yellow tulips, and some touches of blue and pink.







It was a fun afternoon with some of my favorite people.
Now go watch Amelie if you haven't seen it! :)

Dear Friday

To my dear, lovely, Friday...

Tomorrow is the weekend, so thank you for being the last day of my work week.



The weekend is the time where the toughest decision I need to make is if I want to relax or play.
It's when I can sit back for as long as I want with a nice coffee or I can run around shopping at Farmer's Markets until I'm ready to sleep.




It's when I can play goofy games with my darling husband and have a big breakfast that I may or may not regret afterwards.

So thank you Friday for being the day before I get to relax or play!

(Which do you prefer to do over the weekend? Is your ideal weekend one of relaxation and rest, or is it more about playing and being action-packed with fun activities?)