corners: temporary insanity

This past Monday was Stella's first day of school. Instead of hanging out in the cafeteria for coffee or on the yard after dropping her off, I felt compelled to race home. I felt weird, and definitely not ready. Instead of reconnecting with the parents from last year and meeting the new ones, I went home and ripped apart our apartment. I bought a giant latte on the way and got straight to work. I dismantled the entire contents of our 5 x 5 IKEA Expedit bookcase. I have over a continuous decade of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue magazines in there (1993-2003 and beyond). I've got magazines that aren't in print anymore, like my favorite architecture publication, Architecture. We've got The Surfer's Journal, Artforum, Adbusters, years and years of Dwell and Martha Stewart Living. And of course there's a shit ton of David's vinyl.

And I just decided to pull it all down. And then drag the bookcase twenty feet across our carpeted floor. And then drag our Baldwin Spinet piano twenty feet across our carpeted floor, to where the bookcase was. And then I cleaned everything. And then I put everything back on the shelves, exactly like it had been a few hours before.

It was so subconsciously driven, I'm sure. A spatial purge, a new start for the new school year. A way to tame a lot of pent up anxiety about the new school year. It was quite mental, possibly not in a good way.

After having walked a few miles at a good clip taking Stella to school and picking her up afterwards, Monday left me rendered useless. Unable to wrangle Oliver into his pajamas or cook dinner. David made me a fried egg and Spam with some leftover curried quinoa and a glass of wine. And I was done. I got into bed at 9:00 and crept on some friends' websites, because I was mentally still alert, but my body was utterly spent.

I got to that point on the first day where there was no progress, just spinning of wheels. Always best to try another day when you feel like that. It took me another day to finish up the last details of this little shakeup. Oliver was a champ for the most part, which was great. I'm happy with the change of scenery, and I know the piano will get played more, closer to the natural light (like you suggested, David!).

I don't know if you've ever had one of these cathartic moments. A spontaneous and massive spurt of work. This happened to me about six months ago when I did some work to our kitchen. Just like this time, it was unplanned and disruptive and fruitful. It's sort of nice to take on a big task that you don't spend time anticipating first. If I had put what I did this week on a to-do list I would've spent weeks or months dreading it before I actually got to it. So funny how that works.

Tell me you know what I mean. I'm not a nut, am I?

Oh, don't forget to enter the donut pan giveaway. It closes at noon on Sunday. Have a great weekend! xoxo

To see more "corners" of our place, click here.

what i: forever 42

It's been a long time since I've written a "what i" post, but I was inspired. I took myself out to see some of my beautiful burlesque friends perform with Bombshell Betty last week. I left the house the moment David pulled into the driveway from his weekend away fishing and was feeling cute, which was quite an achievement after three days alone with the kiddos!

I found a black dress at Forever 21 recently that I love. It's loose and breezy, super sexy in the back, half flapper and half disco. It's got this off the shoulder little sheer band that I adore, and a strap across the nape of the neck to keep it all in place. I paired it with crazy-high silver t-strap pumps and was in business. It was freezing that night (what's new?) so I hid it all under a giant black wool coat until I got inside. I love an outfit I don't have to think about after I put it on. That happens so rarely for me! This dress is super comfy. It actually feels good to wear it.

Here's the lowdown on my getup. I do wish I had a full length photo of me in the dress, but you can click the link below to see it. The dress is dirt cheap, you should grab one, if it suits you!

Dress:  Asymmetrical Cutout Dress Forever 21

Shoes: Silver t-strap platform pumps Seal of the Sutro

Nails: Black Cherry Chutney O•P•I

Lashes: Accent lashes no. 301 Ardell

It's most definitely not every day I feel like I did in that dress the other night. Moments like that should be savored, especially as we head into the rushing-out-the-door-to-get-to-school-on-time time of year. They are worth noting!

donut madeleines

This idea was brilliant. It was Stella's. Riffing with a six-year-old is frequently fruitful. Here's how it went down the other day, waiting in line at the coffee shop up the street.

Stella: Can we make brownies today?

Me: No, you're already getting a madeleine.

Stella: Wouldn't it be great if we baked a big pan of madeleines and cut them up like brownies?

Me: Remember our donut brownies?

Stella: DONUT MADELEINES!

Me: You are a genius.

Donuts will always prevail.

So here we are. Probably one of the most donut pan appropriate ideas we've tried yet. They come out of the pan with no effort, they look perfect, they smell perfect, and they taste delicious. The texture is perfect for the donut shape. I'd love to sell these somehow. I know they'd go like hot cakes.

As I've said on other donut pan projects, I'm not reinventing the wheel here. Find a great recipe, and go with it. Here are two to try:

•Joy of Baking madeleine recipe (we used this one)
•101 Cookbooks madeleine recipe (this one uses lemon zest)

Make your batter, keeping the eggs nice and high, refrigerate it if required, and preheat your oven per your recipe. The batter from the Joy of Baking recipe I used is nice and thick after refrigeration, so I needed to use a pastry bag to fill the donut pans. The Joy of Baking recipe yielded a beautiful dozen donut madeleines. They were just fantastic. You'll see!

You can butter and flour your pans if you'd like, but I've given in.

A pastry bag with no tip, just the top ring, is a great way to get the batter into the pans.

Once around is enough.

They will puff up quite a bit during baking.

Bake per your recipe. Look at these babies!

The donut madeleines should flip easily out of the pan. So golden!

Finish cooling on a rack.

 I was so happy to see those familiar air pockets and browned edges. Just like a real madeleine, only rounder!

Luckily for David, I baked these on a Saturday so he could get his hands on several of them. He dripped us some coffee (see how here), and we had a nice little afternoon snack. We managed to save a few to have with breakfast on Sunday, too. These were easy to make, and I will definitely be making these again soon.

And, hey! I'm hosting a donut pan giveaway which ends this Sunday at noon. Click here and leave a quick comment, and it'll put you in the running for two new donut pans, shipped straight from the pan company to you. Then you can make your own madeleines!