Best of the best dining on Martha's Vineyard

We arrived home from Martha's Vineyard late last night with Hurricane Irene hot on our heels. Timing not so great for our week of vacation but we had five amazing days of sun, biking, the beach and good food. I will post more later about the Best of the Vineyard, but the most pressing news is regarding our favorite restaurant: State Road Restaurant located in West Tisbury. Farm-to-table, low-key casual, but amazing food. 

So much so, that the Obama's, the Governer and Vernon Jordan decided to dine there last Thursday night - the same night as us! Two tables over from us. What luck to see the President up close and in person. Barack and Michelle Obama are so tall and elegant the two of them - and both so handsome. We were in awe. Now I love them both even more.

But back to State Road. Some pics below from their site (we were there too late to take our own pics, but wish I could have snagged one of Barack dining. We were nervous to do so with secret service literally swarming the place). We had 4 courses each with tea at the end. Everything is fresh from the island or the sea around the island. They have an amazing garden you can walk through near the restaurant. They sell their own handmade chocolate bars. They are an earthy, classy, friendly staff too. 

I usually don't like to over promote or over sell anything, but this restaurant is one of the best. Note - if you want to go, make your res weeks or months in advance. You can also check them out or buy their chocolate at www.stateroadrestaurant.com.

Had to show you - The SALTY BUTTERSCOTCH WHISKEY PUDDING with sunflower seed brittle!!

New digs

Hello strangers! How's your summer going?

I'm back from my unannounced 2 month blogging hiatus. 

I feel guilty but let me explain. I posted my house "for sale" pictures and I think I tapered off soon after because we sold! Yay!! Long story short - we sold our house rather quick, found a house soon after that, and then began the herculean effort of finalizing the financial details and packing up a house we've been in for 7 years. Not fun and all consuming when I'd rather be at the beach ofcourse.  So it's been busy and crazy to say the least!

Here are some photos I wanted to share, for two reasons. I thought I'd show you what has kept me away all these months. And I want preview the "before" pictures of the house so I can show you the "after" pictures when I've made some progress on each of the rooms.

We love most of the house -  the fireplaces, the old-world detail and the nice big kitchen (as compared to my previous 'NYC style' galley kitchen). I'm not so crazy about the paint colors in the entire house inside and out (easily fixed), but also the overall heaviness/darkness in the front part of the house (much more of a challenge). The extra bonus of this transition for us is that it has renewed and reminded me how much I love design. It's so much a part of me that I've decided I will not deny it any more darnit!  I will start taking classes again and start painting again.

So, after a long summer of busy work, and alot of work ahead, it's been a fantastic and rewarding change already. 


I'm excited to blog again and can't wait to share everything I've been reading, seeing and learning!

New house - these are the realtor.com visuals before we moved in.

Geninne D Zlatkis

These watercolors are gorgeous by Geninne D. Zlatkis. I found her on Etsy but she has her own website www.geninne.com. I am so enthralled by this work. Each piece is small around 6x6 or 6x8 but each piece is also around $30. A steal.

Aren't these stunning? Love the elephant.

Who wants to buy my house?

It's a sweet little bungalow. Modern and open. Five miles from the beach. Quarter mile from the river that flows into the ocean. It's basically been redesigned from the ground up, every inch of it, with lots of love.  I adore this house and always will, but it's time for a new chapter. 

I'm posting because you just never know who's paying attention! Check it out!

A few weekend things..

My house is on the market again. Been meaning to post the pictures in case anyone wants to buy it...cause you never know. It's a really lovely house. I'll be sad to leave but it's time to go. 

So I'm a wee bit behind but I want to throw out a few mini blogs I've been meaning to post.

First, have you seen the cover of Serena and Lily's catalog for the spring/summer? Here's a sneak peak of it in case you don't get it. Love the cover photo...it's stunning and makes me want to buy all of their linens.

 Love the pink rug and yellow duvet combo.

Also, I recently found a great nail polish remover called Peacekeeper that's virtually non toxic. It really works without the horrible toxic fumes. Finally! Find the whole line of eco products at www.iamapeacekeeper.com

Saving the best for last...as my husband and I work on cleaning up our diet for the spring/summer season with the help of a local Naturopath...we've been trying more healthy cleanse-type recipes. 

Here's a Healthy Rice Crispy Treat recipe I've been making from her cleanse coobook to help with sugar cravings. Mind you, it has a sweetener in it, but it's low glycemic and high in protein.

 

You need: 

3/4 cups of brown rice crispy cereal (gluten free, no sugar kind)

3/4 cup of brown rice syrup

1 cup of almond butter (no sugar kind). 

Directions:

Butter a 9x12 dish.  Heat up syrup and almond butter in a pan on low/medium heat, after it melts together, fold it into the rice crispys in a separate bowl and stir gently. After thoroughly mixed, spread the whole mixture into the pan you just buttered. Let cool for 30 minutes and they are done! So good.  And you can add anything you want - nuts, dried fruit etc. So easy, so fast!

800 square feet

A house in Stockholm under 800 square feet from Dwell.

I love these examples because they prove house design is so much more about using space efficiently, than space for space's sake.

The design of this place is a bit too masculine for my taste (brown overkill for sure), but just imagine everything that's brown to be white and you get the idea quick. Also, check out the bright deep green wall color down below. Fun!

Happy Thursday!

Eccentric Glamour by Simon Doonan