.::|TheDish|::.

My Love for Etsy

I can't begin to express my love for Etsy, the one-stop online shop for unique, handmade items. It has been my "go to" for my wedding planning needs, and my experience with both the marketplace and the shop owners has been impeccable.

I purchased my wedding invitations from the Whimsical Prints shop and a woman named Leanna; she stood by me, month after month, question and after question, and change after change, offering up her expertise and experience with wedding invitation design and wording. For example, I came across questions I had never considered before, such as "is 5:30pm the afternoon, or the evening?" and "who comes first, my Mom's name or my Dad's on the return envelope?". I love her design approach, too – simple and using high quality materials that you can then dress up with personal touches if desired; my invites were a total hit among friends and family.

And I wanted something unique for my ring bearer to carry rather than the standard generic pillow – something that tied in the garden theme on my big day. I found Courtney, with her shop Courtney Alison Design, and she is creating a beautiful custom birds nest ring "pillow" (my ribbon is a dark, fuchsia pink). She also offered me one invaluable wedding tip:

Wedding Day Tip: Remember to enjoy the big day. Nothing matters at that point except that you and your new husband enjoy every minute possible.

Ok, that brought tears to my eyes again! And I am most recently working with a woman named Lisa, and her shop The Handmade Boutique, to create a custom guest book using designer fabrics and materials. She is fabulous.

I don't know what I would have have done without Etsy, and the wonderful designers that I have met on the site, as a key, grounded part of my wedding planning madness; perhaps I otherwise would have had stale, traditional wedding accents, like formal white invites with gold script, a generic ring bearer pillow, and a Staples guest book? If you haven't checked Etsy out, be sure to, you can find just about anything; and more likely than not, no one else has that same something.

A Double Rainbow

This past weekend, we headed up to Valatie, NY to visit our good friend, Derek Grout, and attend his annual apple blossom party. You may recall the story behind Derek, but as a refresher, he owns and operates a vodka distillery on his family-owned apple orchard. Well, the weekend was a total blast as expected – bluegrass, BBQ, vodka, and a lot of laughter. And the festivities were kicked-off by the below double rainbow (one is far more vibrant in this photo, look left to see the more faint of the two) that appeared upon our arrival at the farm after an unprecedented intense rainstorm. Ps, it didn't rain for the rest of our visit, however I never found two pots of gold, or even one for that matter.

Happy Mother's Day!

A part of our wedding planning involved gathering old photos from our families; we aren't sure what - if anything - we are going to do with them on our big day, but it was a worthwhile effort nonetheless. I now have a digital archive of priceless photos that may have otherwise been lost or gathered dust in shoboxes and old albums. I particularly enjoy this photo of my parents on their wedding day, and found this an appropriate way to extend my Mother's Day wishes to all of you.

Signs of Summer

This past weekend, we headed home to my parent's, and it was the first day that I really saw some true signs of summer. Thought I'd share:

Eddy Foley Now At Patrice Vinci

As you may recall, my most beloved hair stylist of all time, the great Eddy Foley, has moved salon locations to the Patrice Vinci for Avanti Salon at the lower end of Newbury Street. If you have not yet experienced his masterful craft and unparalleled creativity and precision with scissors, what are you waiting for? He's also an expert colorist, with the keen eye and the admirable honesty to tell you what works for you and doesn't work for you; blond isn’t for everyone, honey. While there was something undeniably charming about the old Trillium salon, located in a quaint brownstone on Gloucester Street and owned by Eddy, Patrice brings a level of sophistication and elegance that, when coupled with the charm and pure laugh-out-loud entertainment of Eddy, makes the superlative setting for your glamor transformation.

Oh, as this photo illustrates, Eddy would hands down win the award for the hottest stylist in Boston (if such an award exists, sign this man up!). And calling all cute boys men, Eddy is single and looking for his ideal match to make a trip to soak up the sun on the pristine beaches of Santorini.

Eddy Foley
Patrice Vinci for Avanti Salon
91 Newbury St
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 267-1900
www.patricevinci.com

Ten Tables, Cambridge

Rating: 5 forks


After attending the opening party a couple weeks ago, this past weekend Mike and I eagerly joined a couple friends at the new Ten Tables restaurant in Cambridge, MA. Although I love opening parties, they are typically all about mingling, sipping wine, and strategically positioning yourself in the server’s line of fire to grab that passing appetizer (which, by the way were all spectacular) and not as much about trying out the menu; so we were super excited to give this new hot spot a true test run.

Occupying the former Craigie Street Bistro space, Ten Tables is the sister restaurant of the original Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain and the latest passion of owner, Krista Kranyak. She wanted to create an intimate and relaxed European-inspired bistro and she did just that. According to Krista, “I have a unique affection for dining at a restaurant that makes me feel as if every aspect of the experience has been well thought out with passion and care. I fell in love with small restaurants that made me feel like I was at a dinner party in someone’s home. I took every part of those experiences back to the states with me in hopes of replicating the experience in Boston.”

I couldn’t have said it better, and she undoubtedly succeeded in her mission at this new location. Warm candles (which are actually LED b/c Cambridge has a no-real-candles law) add mood and a romantic ambiance to the otherwise dark, basement level room in a classic Cambridge brownstone. There are in fact 14 tables, not 10, but on Saturday night I am sure they wish they had the room for twice as many. Our dinner reservation was at 9:15pm, and the entrance area was overly-packed with eager diners sipping wine (no hard alcohol is served, and there is no bar) and a line snaked up the staircase to the front door. Seems like the word is out. And although when we first arrived we thought we would never be seated, the wait was only about 20 minutes, and they managed the crowd well as it soon thinned out and all parties were seated.

Krista, and chef/partner David Punch, leveraged the same guiding principals as the JP menu when they created the menu for the new restaurant: use local, organic meat and produce, make it affordable, and change it often. From the appetizer menu, we ordered quite a feast, including; steamed mussels with spinach, saffron cream and garlic crouton ($9); tomato soup & grilled cheese with San Marzano tomatoes, tallegio and caraway ($8); spicy steak tartare, toast points & watercress ($10); and a dozen Wellfleet oysters on the half shell ($24). And from the dinner menu, we ordered a couple each of: handmade Cavatelli with spicy squash, sage and ricotta salata ($17) and sea scallops with farro, roasted beets, Meyer lemon and picholine olives ($23). The food was fresh, bursting with flavor, and truly divine!

I’d highly recommend you make the trip to the other side of the river to give TT a shot, though I would suggest you make a reservation during the week to avoid the weekend rush. Parking is a little tough, and no valet is available, so make sure you give yourself enough time; otherwise take a cab or the Red Line to the Harvard Square stop and it's about a 10 minute walk.

Ten Tables Cambridge
5 Craigie Street Circle
Cambridge, MA 02139
www.tentables.net
617-388-8324

Experimentation with Black & White

I spent the afternoon of the spring-like day yesterday roaming around Boston and shooting in black and white. I truthfully need to read up a little on the proper settings and technique, however here are a few of my favorite shots, and more up on my B&W Flickr set:

How to Diagnose the Rattle in Your Car

Both my mom and I are Volvo owners, so we are very familiar with those little rattles, taps, ticks, etc in our cars; and there is nothing that drives us crazy more! So when I recently started to hear this thumping/tapping noise in my car whenever I pressed on the gas pedal and accelerated at higher speeds, I decided to go online and see what I can find out before heading to the mechanic. Now, you may say that this equates to a hypochondriac going onto WebMD and doing a little self-diagnosis, or someone watching a drug commercial and subsequently going to their physician and telling her that they need the drug they saw on TV, but I do sometimes wonder if a mechanic is taking advantage of me and finding *something* to fix so it couldn't hurt to see if other Volvo owners have experienced the same thing. Well, in the process of doing so, I came across this decision tree for diagnosing ticking noises when the car is running, from ifitjams.com, and it's actually pretty helpful and also pretty funny:

They also have diagrams for when the car won't start, brake problems, and more. I am not sure that it's properly diagnosed my S40 (a possible transmission tick) but it was great for a laugh.