DIY Flowers, Take Two

My future mother and father-in-law (the current Mr. and Mrs. Wolf) sent me flowers this week -- so sweet!  The flowers were a large bouquet of purple and yellow tulips.  I love fresh flowers around the house, and this was a great surprise!

Remember how I keep flowers longer through DIY flowers?  Although I'm not a florist (by any stretch of the imagination...) this is the second installment of that...

The flowers stayed in our living room for about a week until I decided to split them up.  My sister came over for dinner and I wanted to gussy up the dining room table.  

Here's where we started:

Then the yellow stayed in the living room:

And the purple got snipped shorter and mixed with some white tulips we already had at home:

From start to finish:

What do you think?  Do you like how I split the flowers up?  What's your favorite flower?

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf

Sunday Brunch

Today my parents and sister and I went to brunch at EJ's on the Upper East Side.  EJ's is super casual and very tasty.  EJ's is a neighborhood favorite -- but especially popular for weekend brunch.

I had a version of huevos rancheros:

A poached egg with black beans, cilantro, cheese and salsa:

My dad had (his favorite!) oatmeal, and my mum and sister shared a bagel with lox and two poached eggs on challah. 

What's your favorite neighborhood brunch spot?

xx,
The Future Mrs. Wolf

From Drab to Fab - The Spray Paint Edition

If you have been reading from the beginning, you are likely familiar with my affinity for a good can of spray paint and my studio.  If you are a new reader, welcome! 

In an effort to spruce up some dark wooden frames we had displayed around our apartment (including one for our menu wall), I took to my studio and got to painting!  

I chose silver for the small frame, and glossy white for the large frame.  Both are Rustoleum and the white contains a primer which is important for good coverage, especially when you are spraying anything dark with light paint.  If you need a spray paint refresher, head right over here.  

Just a casual Friday in my studio:

Here is where we started:

You may remember this finished product from the sea urchin post:

The new silver frame is home to The Pearl Jam 4...aka The PJ4.  If their name is not an indication, they all love Pearl Jam, and have since high school (Boo has been to more Pearl Jam concerts than I have total concerts).  I won't post the photo in case any of them want to remain anonymous, but the group is made up of Boo and three of his best friends from growing up (BFFs/biddies/BBFLs!!) who all happen to have J names.  This, you will find, is wildly common in his friend group.  In fact, each of his 6 groomsmen have J names, and three of them have the same J name!  Six Js and a Boo - perfect!  Well, actually seven Js, if you know what I mean... ;)

This large frame was $5 at a local dollar store:

And now it is the proud recipient of a menu from Perilla which is where we went after deciding on our wedding venue.  Boo thinks this addition to the menu wall is a bit of a stretch.  While it doesn't have the same importance as the day we got engaged, it was a fun dinner with my family.

The menu didn't take up the entire frame space so I wrapped the backing with a piece of silver tissue paper from an engagement gift.  

 Then just close him back up...

Now the empty space between the menu and frame shows silver instead of cardboard.  This technique can also work with burlap or any fabric you like so long as the frame can close.  

Unrelated to menu walls - if you visit Perilla try the farro risotto...it's good! 

Do you need to update some old frames?  What color do you prefer?   

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf 

Life in the Suburbs

I think of myself as a city girl, but I really love the time we spend with my soon-to-be-in-laws in the suburbs of Washington DC.  

Today we did suburban things including but not limited to - 

Sitting by the fire:

...and looking at baby pictures (name that Boo!):

Shopping for butcher blocks:

...and backsplash tile (project to hopefully come soon!)

And talking about our wedding a little lot.  

After our requisite trip to Costco (sorry - no pictures to document that portion of the trip, it was too crowded and we had big screen TVs to look at)...we headed to dinner.  Amongst my favorite things about Boo is that he loves to share agrees to share his meals with me.  Doesn't food always taste better when you share it with someone?  Here's what we had:

Seaweed salad over a bed of cucumber noodles:

Spicy tuna cubes (or in laymen's terms, XL-sized tuna tartar):

And our crowning achievement: a massive sushi plate for splitsies (say that 5 times fast) featuring ikura (salmon roe), crab, octopus, eel, saba (mackerel), tuna sushi, salmon sushi for Boo and salmon sashimi for me - 

Have you ever seen salmon sashimi -  or any other fish for that matter - formed into roses?  Me either. But they were tasty.  Extra ginger, of course. 

After a little more wedding talk, we were craving something sweet, and took a trip to 16 HANDLES.  

You might be thinking.  Is 16 HANDLES on her wedding diet?  Come on...everyone needs to live a little.  Here's what we had:

More fun to be had tomorrow...

Do you live in the city or the suburbs?  What's your favorite suburban activity?

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf