Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
A Place to Hang Your Stockings and Other Holiday Objects
Mantels are fantastic for creating a tasteful focal point for apartments and small spaces. The Home Depot has a few on sale, just in time for holiday entertaining. See the New Jersey blog for more details.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Are you in the market for a sock depository (no, not suppository, silly)? Or perhaps a curio for your votive candle collection? Then mosey on over to New Jersey.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
BYOB- Bring Your Own Bark
Can't enjoy the outdoors in the city? Why not try bringing it indoors. Sort of.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
You Heard it Here First...
...unless, of course, you heard it from somewhere else. But the Tortoiseshell craze is gathering steam. Might make your wine look bad, but you'll look very chic while drinking.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Paper Dolls for Urban Sophisticates?
Yes, it is entirely possible to display a sort of doll without coming off as insane, fussy or stodgy. See here.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Bring Out the Champagne...
It's an eventful week here at Domestically Inclined. A lovely mention in domino magazine, and the grand debut of Domestically Inclined-New Jersey. The content is similar (includes both well-known and local sources), only the territory is much larger. It's a big assignment, but we've got plenty of time.
It's an eventful week here at Domestically Inclined. A lovely mention in domino magazine, and the grand debut of Domestically Inclined-New Jersey. The content is similar (includes both well-known and local sources), only the territory is much larger. It's a big assignment, but we've got plenty of time.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Utensil Liberation
The arrival of unseasonably lovely weather has driven all but myself to the outdoors. I've unceremoniously acquired seasonal allergies with the quickness normally reserved for acquiring the latest Marc Jacobs. Graced with a massive headache, I soothed my broken soul with a proper dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup.
And then there was a regrettably Carrie Bradshaw-like thought: Are bowls really necessary for the single, metropolitan girl? Or dinner plates? Or tablespoons?
I'm not sure if it's a habit from the days of dorm living, or because my dishwasher can't accomodate most bowls, but I eat all liquid-based foods from a teacup (soup) or mug (cereal). It's not very glamorous at all, but its an eccentric habit that I'm not sure I'd like to give up. Mugs and teacups allow for instant portion control (really, how much tomato soup does one single person need to ingest), solves the etiquette problem of slurping and seems to be much tidier than eating from a bowl. If you subscribe to the teacup-is-better philosophy, then you also have eliminated the need for tablespoons, which are rather clumsy anyway and are the main reasons for slurping.
I also am enamored with using salad, or dessert plates as dinner plates. If you can't cook, this makes a little bit of good food seem plentiful, and gives you an automatic excuse for not having a full-course dinner party, automatically resulting in a stress-free occasion.
Most kitchen-in-a-box sets favor dinner plates and tablespoons over their more graceful and practical cousins. If you're planning to move in to a new place, or are trying to simplify your life, do yourself a favor and break from the Big Dinnerware reflex. The Gnome Mugs from Sur La Table (The Promenade at Sagemore, Marlton) are a bit pricey, but stylishly stand up to daily wear-and-tear. They're worth the price alone for the whimsical names (a gnome named Lucien!) and will enhance your mornings greatly. The coordinating salad-sized Gnome plates are so charming that guests will forget that "jerk chicken" you're serving is supposed to be merely "roasted." Glass mugs, also from Sur La Table, are the best choice for keeping cold items cold and hot items hot, much longer than standard porcelain, stoneware or plastic. A fancier option is the Midnight Magic Daylily cup and saucer from Manor Home (210 S. 17th St.).
Of course, there is the lingering problem of flatware. I've searched high and low for non-silver everyday stuff in the area that doesn't come in a standard 5-piece place-setting. If you want to permanently solve the problem of having excessive tablespoons and salad forks, your option is to buy some fancy-pants silverware. Having silverware, while high-maintenance, is enormously life-enhancing. Besides, there's that old rule that if you spend a great deal of money, you are no longer 'nuts' but 'lovably eccentric.' Head over to Tiffany's (1414 Walnut St.), and revel in the overdone splendor of the English King silverware, or the more Casual Friday Bamboo set. While you're there, pick up some Monkey straws to keep chocolate milk from staining your tablecloth.
The arrival of unseasonably lovely weather has driven all but myself to the outdoors. I've unceremoniously acquired seasonal allergies with the quickness normally reserved for acquiring the latest Marc Jacobs. Graced with a massive headache, I soothed my broken soul with a proper dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup.
And then there was a regrettably Carrie Bradshaw-like thought: Are bowls really necessary for the single, metropolitan girl? Or dinner plates? Or tablespoons?
I'm not sure if it's a habit from the days of dorm living, or because my dishwasher can't accomodate most bowls, but I eat all liquid-based foods from a teacup (soup) or mug (cereal). It's not very glamorous at all, but its an eccentric habit that I'm not sure I'd like to give up. Mugs and teacups allow for instant portion control (really, how much tomato soup does one single person need to ingest), solves the etiquette problem of slurping and seems to be much tidier than eating from a bowl. If you subscribe to the teacup-is-better philosophy, then you also have eliminated the need for tablespoons, which are rather clumsy anyway and are the main reasons for slurping.
I also am enamored with using salad, or dessert plates as dinner plates. If you can't cook, this makes a little bit of good food seem plentiful, and gives you an automatic excuse for not having a full-course dinner party, automatically resulting in a stress-free occasion.
Most kitchen-in-a-box sets favor dinner plates and tablespoons over their more graceful and practical cousins. If you're planning to move in to a new place, or are trying to simplify your life, do yourself a favor and break from the Big Dinnerware reflex. The Gnome Mugs from Sur La Table (The Promenade at Sagemore, Marlton) are a bit pricey, but stylishly stand up to daily wear-and-tear. They're worth the price alone for the whimsical names (a gnome named Lucien!) and will enhance your mornings greatly. The coordinating salad-sized Gnome plates are so charming that guests will forget that "jerk chicken" you're serving is supposed to be merely "roasted." Glass mugs, also from Sur La Table, are the best choice for keeping cold items cold and hot items hot, much longer than standard porcelain, stoneware or plastic. A fancier option is the Midnight Magic Daylily cup and saucer from Manor Home (210 S. 17th St.).
Of course, there is the lingering problem of flatware. I've searched high and low for non-silver everyday stuff in the area that doesn't come in a standard 5-piece place-setting. If you want to permanently solve the problem of having excessive tablespoons and salad forks, your option is to buy some fancy-pants silverware. Having silverware, while high-maintenance, is enormously life-enhancing. Besides, there's that old rule that if you spend a great deal of money, you are no longer 'nuts' but 'lovably eccentric.' Head over to Tiffany's (1414 Walnut St.), and revel in the overdone splendor of the English King silverware, or the more Casual Friday Bamboo set. While you're there, pick up some Monkey straws to keep chocolate milk from staining your tablecloth.
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