Living in Style (in New York): Part I

Hi y'all! I'm back from an unofficial hiatus--what with essays, end of year assignments, and GRADUATION(!?) I decided to write once I was officially settled in New York. What a whirlwind it's been! I start work in a little under two weeks, but until then I've been setting up my apartment and decorating my room.

This will be the first in a two- or three-part series about decorating an apartment on a budget in New York, and the lengths I've gone to in order to have my room perfect. The motto that has served me well when searching for the perfect things to create my perfect room: Have unreasonable expectations and never compromise them. What you want does exist, and you will find it if you work hard enough.

Since I just graduated I'm obviously on a very tight budget, which has led me to decorate and furnish my apartment mostly with things from secondhand stores, Marshall's/TJ Maxx, flea markets, and the fabulous Salvation Army on 46th between 10th and 11th. My two favorite second hand stores are both in Chelsea on W 17th and 7th.

 Angel Street Thrift Shop:

Photo credit to Angel Street Thrift Shop

And Housing Works:

Photo credit to Housing Works

Here are several examples of the awesome things to be found at thrift shops:

From Angel Street Thrift, a Bombay curve dresser in mahogany with original fittings, $250

 

 GORGEOUS art deco wardrobe from the 1920s, found at Angel Street Thrift. It's a blessing I bought my dresser (below) before I saw this, otherwise I instantly would have dropped $450 on it.

This is my dresser. Originally a wood sideboard to keep fine silverware and your best heirloom china set, I have converted it to my dresser.The spice cabinet on top isn't part of it, and while it doesn't look it in this picture, it's actually six feet long. A bargain at $175 from Housing Works.

 This is truly special: a remnant of an old Cathedral pew for $60 at Housing Works. As of Wednesday it was still there! My mom could barely stand leaving it behind, but the shipping price to Texas would be absurd. I'd buy it just because it's awesome, but there is nowhere to put it! Sob...

A pretty hanging lantern for $45 from Angel Street Thrift.

 

 A totally cool chandelier-style lamp for $45 from Angel Street Thrift.

This is $55 at Housing Works and is a nice low bedside table or TV stand. It has sliding drawers inside of it and is in great shape.

Also on that street are a few home design stores like West Elm and Canvas, but I am staying away from stores like that. Instead, I'm hitting up flea markets. So far I've been to two. I really like the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market at W 39th and 9th every Saturday and Sunday:

They take their location in "Hell's Kitchen" very seriously

And the GreenFlea Market on the Upper West Side at 77th and Columbus:

Photo credit to Kid-Friendly Family Vacations

And here are some examples of very cool things found at these fleas, as people in the know call them, hahah:

$45 at the GreenFlea for a mirrored vanity tray (or tea set tray). I want something just like this but longer, since my dresser is so long.

The first furniture piece I bought for my apartment at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market--I bought it on the spot without seeing any other chairs. Very comfy and I haven't seen anything like it since; sometimes you just have to take a chance. It was $85 and a total steal, aided by the fact that my mom reupholstered it for free (best Mom ever!). More on that later.

This is a very cool tin which, once cleaned up, would be a great place to store receipts and important papers on your dresser, vanity, or bedside table. $20 at the GreenFlea Market.

This very unique book stand is from the 1950s or so and was $23 (down from $25--woohooh...) and is PERFECT for my Bible. I found it with my friend Andrea at the GreenFlea Market.

 These are very cute, colorful key/purse/umbrella/etc. holders that are handmade for only $7. I found them at the GreenFlea Market and I think my roommate and I are going to go for the light blue one.

This mirror I haggled down to $100 from $185 but decided to leave it, because even though I need one just like it for my dresser top, I simply didn't love it. Still, it's a really nice, large antique mirror at the GreenFlea Market.

Last but not least, I will share what I've found at the Salvation Army. They have a really wide variety of things, and they have yet to fail me when I go look for furniture. As a side note, always clean whatever you buy secondhand because even if it looks clean, it's secretly filthy and carrying all kinds of fun allergens and germs.

This is the TV stand I ultimately bought, because while there was a nice dark one, this one had fewer scratches and the bonus of glass doors. It was $50, and after some cleaning it looks practically new.

 Case in point: this incredible cast iron and marble lamp that is by far the best bargain I've found--$40 including the original shade (not pictured)!!! This lamp is likely an antique, and it would cost many times that brand new. I LOVE the Salvation Army. you can see by comparing the above picture to the below that it cleaned up nicely with soap, water, a brush, and a dishrag. You'll see the whole lamp when I blog about my room.

Very Classic in style and utterly romantic. The detail on the base (another post to come) is just lovely. 

So those are some examples of what I've found hunting around for Manhattan's buried treasures, and what you can find too with a little elbow grease and determination. More to come later on what I've bought for my room, what it's like to build a pressurized wall, and custom decorating.

Happy decorating!

Jewelry

It's been a while since I've written, but I'm back! Today I'd like to feature my friend Alex's jewelry over at her site Alexandra Jewelry, which is absolutely fabulous and very affordable.

She makes it all herself (including soldering metal, which really impresses me!). Speaking as someone who's seen several of her pieces in person--since she's her own best model--I can tell you that they are visually stunning.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces for sale right now, but you should definitely go browse her site yourself!

GORGEOUS. Saw these on a friend at a final club last weekend in the green and clear version and they looked fantastic!

A quirky symmetrical necklace in gold. I love how the tiny circular chain details set off the diamond-shaped pieces.

Obsessed with this necklace since last summer: it's made of antique chandelier. You can't get any more chic than that!

Happy shopping!

New Shoes

I'm very excited for these shoes which I ordered today for $39.99 from Urban Outfitters! I tried them on in the store but they were too small, and for such a good price, free shipping, and in-store returns, I just couldn't resist picking up this kind of shoe that I've been wanting for a while now.

 The cutout makes these booties versatile enough to let me wear them into summer as opposed to just being a standard fall-winter boot.

 

 I do love the corset-like lacing.

 

 The subtle detail of the divided heel adds a little something to these shoes.

When they come in I'll post up pictures of how they look in person! If you're interested in getting them, you can find them on the Urban Outfitters website here.

On my soapbox

The exoticization of non-white, non-"Western" cultures (the word "Western" is problematic in itself, but that's a whole other post) is not a new thing, either in fashion or in society at large.

 "Tribal print." "African-inspired." "Geisha-style." "Pocahontas." However, it's still wrong, and still frustrating, particularly when it's such a huge stretch as in the quote from Harper's Bazaar that I'll get to in a minute.

It's one thing when a designer says, "My collection was inspired by traditional African prints and motifs." This is problematic in the fact that Africa is not one homogeneous country, but a continent composed of countries, cultures, and ethnic groups as diverse as can be imagined.  Yet, when compared to our own textile tradition in America/the "Western" world, there is an undeniable uniqueness to many geometric prints and motifs that come out of countries in Africa. Even so, I found the following quote from Harper's Bazaar overly reductionist, and unpleasantly reminiscent of Imperialism/Orientalism, and the exoticization of the Other, that which is different.

Perhaps I'm making a big fuss over nothing much, but something about this bothers me, particularly when referencing the accomplishments of a Chinese American:

"It was hard to pin Derek Lam's African reference down, but the undeniable mix of earthy colors and geometric patterns were tribal in theory."

I don't see it. Do you?

This outfit (the one that was paired with the quote) looks very mod to me, as though he played around with geometric forms like squares, circles, and honeycombs. Yes, the colors are earthy. Yes, the patterns are geometric. But if it's "hard to pin" the "African reference down," and you have to force the connection "in theory,"--without naming the theory--then there isn't a connection. 

I have to wonder if Lam's collection would have been labeled "African-inspired" had it come from Michael Kors or Stella McCartney, neither of which venture far for their inspiration. 

/Edit/ I should note that they described other collections as "Out of Africa," too. Yet even then there were problematic statements, such as admitting that one collection wasn't particularly African apart from a "frizzy hair style." That's extremely problematic in itself, but I think the insistence in the aforementioned quote is what really got me bothered.

Too much for words

Syllables...hard...too much...suddenly.

In the Land of Milk and Honey

Hello all! As I write this post I'm currently in the big Starbucks in Harvard Square, feeling eminently cool and snooty, hahah. It's a nice environment if you like white noise around you when you work. I decided to treat myself to coffee since I'm having a relaxed day, and since I successfully managed to end my coffee addiction about two weeks ago. It may seem a little contradictory to treat myself to coffee as a reward for ending addiction to it, but it works for me!

On to the food. Last night my beautiful friend Caitlin and I got "Becky Home Ec-y" (great phrase, thanks Caitlin) and made these Pear and Almond Upside Down Cakes from Baking Bites, a blog I've been following since high school. Really great stuff! And these little "cakelets," as BB calls them, are extraordinary:

 "If we were in the land of milk and honey, these would grow on bushes there."

They're REALLY that good.

There is no way to fully convey to you, dear Eater, how delicious these are. They are magical. Perfect. Succulent. Decadent. Amazing. They are one of the greatest sweets I have ever eaten.  If there was such a thing as a dessert for a brunch party (or really any darned time of day) these would be ideal. Truly, they are a marvel. And so, so, so easy to make! Here's the recipe, with a few edits of my own:

Upside Down Pear and Almond Cakes

Makes 8 cakes

2 tbsp butter, cold and cut into 8 small pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 whole large pear (or two small pears)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup almond meal (finely ground almonds/almond flour)* 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)**

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

*I substituted all purpose flour, so I essentially used 1 cup of flour.

**Because I didn't use almond meal I added in 1/2 tsp of almond extract, not just 1/4 tsp.

I will note that we doubled the batter and got 12, not 16 cakes, but this is because we overfilled the cups. Only fill them halfway; they rise a lot and you'll want flat bottoms. See the steps for more detail on this.

Steps:


1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Line a muffin tin with 8 paper liners (If you don't have them, like me, your cakes will be just fine but you'll lose some of the brown sugar/butter topping. Next time I will be making them with the liners because that stuff is delicious). Place one small piece of butter into each muffin cup. Top each cup with 1 1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar. Place pan in oven for 3 minutes, just until butter melts. Sugar will not be fully melted. Allow pan to cool for a few minutes before proceeding.

3. Taking care to slice around the core of the pear, cut pear into very thin slices no more than 1/8-inch thick.
Lay about 3 slices of pear across the bottom of each muffin cup (enough to cover the base, but it's absolutely fine if you they go up the sides), on top of the butter and brown sugar layer. Set aside while you make cake batter.

4. In a large bowl, combine flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk until well-combined. Add in eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract and whisk until batter is smooth. Add in melted butter and whisk until butter has been completely incorporated. Props to Caitlin for reminding me to double this second use of butter, otherwise they wouldn't have been as moist or yummy!

5. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups on top of the of pear layer. Only fill the cups halfway as they rise a lot (you want flat bottoms because they're upside down cakes--you can see in the picture that we overfilled the cups because they do not lay flat and we only got 12 out of the mix, not 16).

6. Bake for 19-22 minutes, until the cakes spring back when lightly touched (they'll be a light yellow color) and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Brown sugar may be bubbling slightly around the edges of the cake.

So close to heaven you can almost taste the sunlight and the clouds...

7. Take cakes out of the muffin pan and allow to cool on a wire rack in their paper liners. If you do not have liners, just run a knife around the edges of the cupcake to dislodge them. Cakes can be served fresh out of the oven or at room temperature. Invert cakes onto a plate and remove paper to serve.

Et voilà! There you have DELICIOUSAMAZINGZOMGGGGGGG...drool...cakes! Best served piping hot and gooey on top!

If you told me I could never eat anything but these for the rest of my life, I might actually be okay with it. 

Happy eating!!

P.S. I WILL be making these in mini form for the Master's open house in Mather this Thursday. Come 'n get it, y'all!

My Favorite Cookie: Sandtarts

Today I decided to bake my favorite cookie since childhood: sandtarts. It's been a few years since I've made these delicious little cookies chock full 'o goodness, but it was time. Mostly because I was already in an almond mood as I waited for the pears to ripen to make almond and pear upside-down cake (next post!), and sandtarts are so amazingly almond-y.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

What are sandtarts? By another name, they are Mexican wedding cookies. They often have nuts. My family's version which I've been making with my mother for as long as I can remember is better than Mexican wedding cookies and has no nuts, which makes them a safe party treat!

The recipe is extremely simple, and is as follows:

Sandtarts Ingredients

Serves about 35 depending on how large you roll the balls of dough

¾ cups butter

4 tbsp sugar (heaping)

2 cups sifted flour

~2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp cold water

2-3 tbsp almond extract

Cream butter and sugar; add remaining ingredients; mix well.Pinch off  into roughly 1 inch bits of dough and rollinto balls. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before putting confectioner's sugar over the top, otherwise it will just melt the sugar. 

Sift confectioner's sugar over the top or roll cookies in powdered sugar and enjoy!

Here's a picture of the dough:

It's a big bowl, but it doesn't make that much dough so make the balls small to get the most mileage out of it!

Here's a picture of the size of the dough balls. They're actually a bit smaller than 1 inch:

Here's a picture of them (all 38 of them!) when I pulled them out of the oven:

A close-up for the varieties of color and shape. As you can see, they don't really flatten out much.

Final product post-sugaring! As a side note, I used a colander (yes, like a spaghetti colander) to "sift" the sugar over the top. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!

Happy Eating!!