Beautiful Creative Life

Musical Monday: Foster the People

This Los Angeles based indie pop/rock band has captured my attention and a noted spot on my iPod playlists for the summer. 

If you're looking for an upbeat, enjoyable, musically great band: Foster the People will not disappoint. Let's just put it this way, almost all of their summer shows are already completely sold out. (so bummed.)

Download the whole album. Go ahead. If you don't love it right away, it'll grow on you. It's joyful, playful, and full of artful lyric and musicianship with that fun electronic groove. 

Hard to choose, but I think my favorite song is track 6: I Would Do Anything For You

I'll go ahead and say it: "You're welcome." 

Thanks to my friend @MyndeeMo for introducing me to them and by association, perhaps, you too.

DWELL On Design Show Los Angeles

Ooo I'm so excited. I've flipped through interior design magazines since I was a teenager, and it's so fun to have it all in front of you at this great show.

Last year my brother and I went to the Dwell on Design show and really enjoyed it. This year, I'll go with my friend Daniel Packman, of Design Blue, who is one of the most incredible designers I know. I have had the privilege of working with him and appreciate his confidence in my eye and style. I texted him from the show last year and he was seriously jealous...so this year we can geek out on the interior fashions in person.

I love getting new ideas and being surrounded by creative people who care about bringing beauty into this world. So fun! You've been informed...so when I'm tweeting and blogging about it you can't say I didn't tell you. Get your tickets now! It's a great show!

Summer Tunes from Eddie Vedder: Ukulele Songs

There are few artists who have taken the 17 year journey with me from Jr. High into my early-thirties adulthood. Eddie Vedder is one. I can't get enough of his beautiful, earthy, rich, incredible voice. It's uniquely perfect in my opinion.  I've been a Pearl Jam fan since I could listen to KROQ on my walkman afterschool as I'd walk home on the Burbank neighborhood streets. 

Tonight I found a gem. I was looking for something else. I don't even remember what it was now. I found Eddie's newly released album: Ukulele songs. I'm hooked. I can't stop listening. Gorgeous. 

His songwriting is epic. His ukulele simply beautiful to allow all the space in the world to hear his voice croon new and insighful songs about life and love. He's delightful. It's perfect summer music. 

Let's build a sound track for this summer as it begins. Would love you to comment below and share with the group. We want to know what you love. 

What are you listening to? Do you have a summer album or song to suggest? 

Piece by Peace.

Personal interior design takes longer than working for someone who gives you the go ahead to "go for it!" and buy everything at once. At least this is the case in my house, on my budget. I'm excited to show you the next steps of my lovely bedroom. It's coming together and providing me the kind of haven and sanctuary that I could only have dreamed of creating. I love it. Piece by piece, I'm finding it's becoming a great space of peace. 

I just got this canopy bed which I orignally saw at Crate and Barrel. For two reasons I went to Al's Discount Furniture in the valley to see if they could match this beautiful piece. The first was that Crate and Barrel doesn't have a Cal King and that's the size of my pretty new mattress. The second was that I'm a deal shopper....and I figure it's best to go see what you can find! 

My next purchase was to finally buy white shams for my Euro pillows. Only took me 2 years to make this a priority...not sure why. Just fell to the bottom of the list. I also found these beautiful Pottery Barn Organic Woodland Sheets. I'm in love. It's so beautiful for the Spring and summer. 

I found the pretty pink ruffle-y pillow at Home Goods. My happy place is Home Goods. Trust me. It's wonderful.

I'm a fan of white bedding. You can bleach it. You can change your sheets each season and have a whole new look...and I think it just looks fresh and beautiful. I like to change things too often to get too committed to a pattern on my duvet, anyway. 

Next purchase will be lamps and night stands. I know exactly what I want...I'll just have to wait a few months until I feel like a big purchase again. Piece by peace.

 

 

Summer Crumbles and Farmer's Markets

It's that time of year, my favorite fruits have made their way into season. Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, blueberries, strawberries, melons, and all the varieties of each. I cherish fruit stands along my drive home and the Malibu and Calabasas Farmer's Markets. I feel like I'm in heaven. All the colors and options...it just feels endless. 

Last Sunday, in anticipation of a few dinner guests, I went to the Malibu Farmer's Market. I only had about 12 dollars in cash, so it served as a creative limit to see what I could get for that amount. I ended up with a large bag of Apriums (Apricot crossed with a Plum), 2 carrot pies, and a basket of strawberries. I'd later adventure to the grocery store for blueberries and peaches to make the recipe below. 

We ate this crumble with our picnic dinner at Sip in Malibu with a glass of Honey Pie Chardonnay blend. It was delicious!! (If I do say so myself)

Peach, Blueberry, Aprium, Vanilla Wafer Crumble

by KV

Bottom Pie Base:

1 Pillsbury pie crust. 

Egg white for brushing

2 Tbsp sugar, for sprinkling

Non-stick cooking spray

Crumble:

1 cup vanilla wafers

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup oats

1/3 cup flour

4 Tbsp of butter

Fruit Filling

1/3 cup Kern's apricot nectar

1/3 cup quick cooking tapioca

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp corn starch

1 Tbsp lemon juice

6 Apriums, cut in slices (Easy sub: Use Apricots)

6 medium Peaches, sliced and some peeled

1 cup blueberries

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Spray a 9 x 9 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line pan with pie crust, brush generously with egg whites and then sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. 

Prepare fruit mixture. Cut up peaches and apriums into slices. I remove some peel from some of the peaches but mostly leave it on for added texture. Add blueberries and set aside. In a separate and larger bowl, mix apricot nectar, tapioca, corn starch, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Add fruit to this mixture and gently toss fruit in this glaze. 

Prepare crumble topping. In a food processor, combine oats, brown sugar, flour and cold butter. Add more flour or oats if the mixture is not "crumbly" enough. Remove from food processor. 

In a bag, crunch up Vanilla Wafers in to small but still chunky pieces. Combine crumble topping and Vanilla wafers. 

Spread fruit into the prepared pie pan and make sure all of the glaze is distributed over the fruit. Spread crumble topping over the top of fruit. Bake in the oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it and bake until it's bubbling and the top is crisped. 

Enjoy warm with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Serves 8.

christmas songs

It's Christmastime, and I have to say, there is just nothing better than a house filled with white lights and cozy music playing in the background. I began decorating the week before Thanksgiving so that I'd have plenty of time to enjoy putting it all up. The tree went up first and then I slowly decorated the whole house with all the right touches. I have bulletin boards covered in wrapping paper waiting for all of the christmas cards I anticipate to arrive soon. I love seeing everyone's beautiful photos and then I keep the pictures on my fridge all year. 

Yesterday I found this amazing arm chair chaise that I'd wanted for years on Craigslist for under half of what it normally costs at the store that sells it. I couldn't believe it. I felt so excited. My brother and dad drove with me last night out to Pasadena to pick it up. They're good men...willing to tre

the whole way there to get a chair for me. It is my birthday and christmas present from my parents. I am writing from it right now. There's something a little more dignified about sitting in it for hours rather than sitting in my bed all that time. I knew I needed a space to write and read...and so here I am enjoying it's comfiness with my grandma's rainbow afghan that either she or my great grandma crocheted with her left over BRIGHT yarn. It's so loud and silly that it makes me happy. I used to take naps under it my whole childhood. When my grandma died, and my mom asked what I wanted right away from the house...I requested the rainbow afghan. With all of my white and grown up taste...it feels like a little splash of tacky is sometimes the humility a room needs. 

On Saturday I spent a few hours putting my christmas playlist together and in order. It's dreamy. You should really check it out. Hmmm maybe I should make an iTunes playlist...but it would cost a lot of money if you downloaded it. :) Here are a few of the artists I've come to love the most when it comes to my Christmas happy place: 

Rosie Thomas

Uncle Daddy (new album! Reallly beautiful...bluegrass/acoustic/amazing vocals/great songs...a piece of musical artwork! Download right away! Trust me!)

James Taylor

Kendall Payne

Sarah McLachlan

Sarah Groves

Amy Grant

and select songs from:

Aimee Mann, Dido, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jars of Clay, Cademon's Call, and Jewel. 

My friends the Daylights just put out a song called "I hope this gets to you" which I'm currently downloading on iTunes. 

Yes, Jewel. You read that right. She does a great job at Christmas albuming.

The order of the Christmas mix is important. I start out gentle...then go upbeat on the 2nd song. I let it be fun for a few songs...then I bring it down a little...then a lot...let it linger in the mellow tunes for 3 or 4 songs...then bring it back up with some fun songs...a block of jingle bells and the Christmas song will do. Then I transition to medium tempo songs...and back and forth...but I don't want anything to be too jarring from one song to the next. There was an art to the mix tape and so you have to know that there is an art to the playlist too.

(update: listening to the Daylights song...it's really fun!)

Enjoy. Christmas music is so great!

 

DWELL Design Show Finds

My brother Greg is a really talented artist, and on top of painting some of the most beautiful works, he and I share a love of design. 

Last Saturday we rushed to Downtown LA for a couple of hours at the DWELL design show. We found it to be inspiring and fun to experience. Since I've been working for Design Blue on a place in Westlake, I'm more interested in gathering samples, books, and ideas. Who knew that I would develop a liking for german bathroom hardware? I guess anything can happen. :)

There were furniture vendors (in Greg's opinion, not enough of them), artists, landscaping resources, outdoor furniture, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, eco-friendly prefab homes and sheds (all very cool!), ceramic tile dealers, flooring people...all in the game to win the affection of other designers and lovers of contemporary chic spaces.

Greg and I like to look at art together, but rarely find an artist we like. It seems the more your eye develops, the less satisfied you are with "art."

We found this abstract artist and liked his work. We got to meet him too, which made an even stronger connection. I want to share it with you. His name is Bradford Stewart. I like his work which is layered paint and other mediums to create really unique pieces. 

Here are a few of the sheds and pre-fab homes that were on display there. Pretty fantastic. Maybe someday when I buy a big piece of land with lots of oak trees on it I can put one of these for a writing and art studio or something.

Modern Shed

 

  

Summer Fruit Crumble

Today I went to the Malibu Farmer's Market and bought a bunch of fruit to take home. I have to say, I love the Farmer's Market. There is something so beautiful about interacting with the people and buying food directly from the grower. All of the color, variety, earthiness just make me so happy every time.

Since today is Father's Day I went with the specific intent of buying some fruits to create a fruit crumble for my dad. I went home with my fruit and created this, and it turned out wonderfully. We ate it tonight with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it was very delicious. I highly recommend doing the same. Here is my recipe. I made it up myself. :) 

Kristie's Summer Fruit Crumble

4 cups sliced apricots

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 cup red cherries (pitted and quartered)

1/4 cup yellow cherries (pitted and quartered)

1 large peach, sliced

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar (organic, raw, is what I used)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp Agave Nectar

1/4 cup butter (sliced and softened)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Slice, prepare and combine all fruit. Toss fruit with agave nectar and set to the side. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar and butter blending them together until they make a crumbly mixture. Fill a 9 x 9 inch glass pan with fruit. Cover the fruit in the crumble topping and press down gently to pack it to the top. 

Bake the dessert for 40 minutes. Enjoy with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

 

Mellowfabulous music on the airplane

I played basketball in high school, JV, never awesome, but also not bad. 

I played softball in elementary school, except for a short stint in which I was unusually coordinated (before my body grew at ridiculous rates in 5th grade) in which I played 1st base, I was generally your semi-average outfielder. 

I was in show choir...yes...like Glee...in a fantastic program. One hour was for dancing, the other was for singing every day. Here's the thing...by the time we had to perform it...I had the routines down...but in the mean time...man...I just felt so lame standing there for an hour every day trying to learn this or that hip hop routine or swing dance on risers. Humbling stuff.

I was 20something when I joined Crunch fitness in West Hollywood and I took "Cardio Hip Hop" as a class to work out one night. The others in the class were legit dancers...learning routines quickly and with ease. I, as usual, probably over thought the whole thing, and felt like I was back in front of those awful mirrors in middle and high school trying to be as good at the dance as the girls who'd had a lifetime of dance class. 

Why am I confessing my sins of moderate athletic insecurity here on my art blog? Well, I will tell you this...for all of the things I feel I've been mediocre at, I know that I've got great music taste. So this lovely Friday...let me share with you the playlist that's been so sweet in my ears as I fly over our great country to Detroit to visit my friends for the weekend.

I believe in mixing up old tunes, new ones, and those that are the gems of the last 10 years. You will find this mixture here. Each song is tried and true and did not make it onto a play list casually. :) Enjoy!  I've put together an iMix for you so that if you like any of the songs, you can have them too!. :) 

Candle Hunting

 

"Did you really make a special shopping trip to buy a candle?"

"yes, yes, I did."

"wow. l don't even think I want to start into that one. We'll just leave that alone."

"okay."

But I'm not going to leave it alone. I'm going to tell you about my candle...because candles make a day feel special. I'm really enjoying it on my bedside table in the morning and before bed. It's jar is so pretty too. It's a Volcano candle that I got at Anthropologie.

I find that I buy candles to match my mood in every season...similar to playlists or fashion...I like to change it up.  We'll just call this my summer candle...a very happy summer candle.