Brooklyn = A Few Good Finds

Things have been quite hectic trying to get the apartment furnished and together.  While still waiting for some furniture to arrive we have been able to do some fun shopping for home decor and accessories.  Taking a take a trip out to Brooklyn over the lovely sunny weekend proved to be a success when the hubby and I returned with some super cool items to add to the new diggs.  Atlantic Avenue is jammed packed with nifty stores sure to accommodate anyone's taste.  We made a special effort to check out DARR.  This is a unique antique shop.  It is not your typical thrifty vintage store that has piles upon piles of stuff lining the isles.  It has a very neat & organized way of presenting itself.  If I had a bottomless wallet I probably would have walked out with a few more trinkets and definitely a mirror or 2.  The owner is is very knowledgeable about each and every piece in the store.  This place is sure to NOT dissappoint.  

The final take-homes were some beautiful decorative porcelain jars, an ancient Indian bowl and a few tortoise shell pieces to organize accessories.

We placed these Jars on the top of our tall bedroom dresser.  I really love the colors and the contrast of each Jar.

This was perhaps my favorite purchase of the day and maybe my most treasured unique find yet.  We were told that this bowl was used traditionally by Indian women to hold their kumkum or sindoor powder.  They then would use the mirror on the inner part of the lid to apply a bindi dot to their forehead.  So cool!

Tortoise Shell organization.

Another noteworthy destination along Atlantic avenue was GREENHOUSE.  We stumbled upon this place as we were leaving DARR and expecting to head directly back home.  This spot carries only eco-friendly home accessories and furnishings.  If you are a very green person like me, you would definitely appreciate this store and all it's efforts to maintain such high quality and earth-friendly products.  I was drawn to the large variety of fab fabrics as well as several accessories along the walls.  I particularly loved the antique gold jungle animal knick knacks, and I am not typically a knick knack type of person. Our final take-home items were these adorable mix and match linen coasters (gingham, plaid and stripe.)  They are perfect and still manly enough for my husband to like as well :)

Hope you find something cool and unique on your next outing.  Happy Treasure Hunting!

Strawberry Banana Yogurt Muffins

 You know the situation where you have either fruit or veggies in your house and they are on their last day before you have to sadly throw them in the trash.   All you want to do is think of anyway possible to incorporate them into a meal or make a new creation. Well, that was the situation with my bananas.  I have always LOVED the scrumptious taste of banana muffins so I thought hey!  why the heck don't you see strawberry-banana muffins out there very often?  I immediately rushed out to buy some fresh strawberries to go with my withering bananas and I was ready to get this project started.  I wanted to make this recipe somewhat healthy, hmmm well as healthy as it could be and still have flavor.  I will admit it took me a few tries to get this right.  First I followed a recipe using yogurt instead of butter and I changed the white  flour to Buckwheat flour (again trying to be healthy.)  This was a disaster as the gooey overly thick mixture baked into what I can only describe as mini brown turds, sorry its true. No flavor.  Then I did it again with white flour.  Still too thick and not enough flavor.   

Finally I got it right by giving in and adding 1/2 cup RAW sugar, cinnamon and low-fat milk.  The result -  I got More sweetness, moisture and overall flavor.  Oh and still on the healthier side!  

These little suckers are delicious if I do say so myself and I will definitely make them again.  I couldn't resist making them in 2 sizes, regular and mini and I am guilty of sprinkling some powdered sugar on top to make them pretty.  Happy Baking!

Yield: 15 muffins or 60 mini muffins

Ingredients:

2 large RIPE mashed Bananas (or 3 small) - must be ripe for sweetness!

1 cup chopped fresh Strawbwerries

1 cup chopped Walnuts (optional)

2 cups Flour

1/2 cup Sugar (I used RAW)

1/4 cup light Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda 

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon 

3/4 cup plain, vanilla or banana Yogurt (I used Stoneyfield low-fat Banilla)

1/2 cup low-fat Milk

1 Egg lightly beaten

1 teaspoon PURE Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. Spray a muffin tin or silicone tray with cooking spray or line with baking cups. (I used tin for regular muffins and silicone for the minis)

3. In a Large bowl comine all dry ingredients: Flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk all ingredients together until well blended.

4. Add chopped walnuts to dry mixture and stir until nuts are well covered.

5. In a medium bowl combine banana, yogurt, milk,egg, & vanilla extract.  Mix well.

6. Add the Banana mixture to the dry mixture and mix just until all dry ingredients are absorbed.

7. Gently fold in chopped strawberries to the combined mixture.

8. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way. For the mini muffins I filled each cup to the top to create an exaggerated muffin top since they are already so small.

9. Bake muffins until they are slightly golden on top.  About 22-25 minutes.  To perform the toothpick test just insert a toothpick into center of a few muffins.  If it comes out clean then the muffins are ready!

10. ENJOY :)

Vintage Necklace Makeover

There it is in the fourth compartment of this wooden box.  I already missed it somehow in the past when I took this photo for my last Vintage Post.  It is a beauty of a necklace and just what I have been looking for, well except with a few minor changes.   Where did I find it? -  MackeyBlue of course, my fave vintage spot as I have mentioned before.  

I am very picky about jewelry, especially necklaces. I have been on the hunt for a statement necklace for quite some time now.   I always have intentions of buying a statement necklace but never can find one that I feel suits me without being totally crazy or over the top (out of my personal comfort zone).  While I don't really blog about jewelry it was the project that came about that I felt I should share.  This necklace was made to be a double layer piece, however it felt too snug against my neck when wearing it that way.  I thought if I could stretch it out and attach something pretty to the hook on the end then I may just have my dream statement necklace.  AND that is exactly what happened.  I found the perfect Broach!  It's amazing what a little crazy glue can do. Scroll down to see how it turned out ;)

I love the beautiful and colorful details of the beading.

What a gem!

Light Bright Nights

There is nothing quite like twinkling lights at night.  The soft rays of light instantly lift my mood with their whimsical ways of turning any place into an outdoor wonderland.  Over this Labor-day weekend  I had the pleasure of seeing night lights just about every night.  Everything from candles, lanterns, tree-lights, light bulbs and of course the BIG city. They have been at my every turn and I managed to capture most of it on camera to share with you.  All of these bright nights have given me the urge to create my own perfect place to entertain in the spot light (too bad I don't have a back yard of my own just yet.)
I also added some of my favorite photo finds of outdoor lighting  ideas.   Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend :)

Outdoor cafe at dusk

Ceiling at the Gramercy Park Hotel Roof-Top. Super Cool!

Up close View

Roof top @ the Gramercy Park Hotel with some great  girl friends.

Our walk home from the ferry

Now that you have seen all of my photos here are some really great twinkling light ideas that I came across.  I am sure they will prove to be quite influential for my first big backyard or in helping to plan my sister's wedding in the future.  Enjoy and Happy Twinkles :)

This looks like a dream.  photo source

Find these at Ballard Design

photo source

Mason Jar Lanterns.  You can totally make these yourself or buy them at Etsy

These are so cool.  Stockings filled with water balloons that have glow stick liquid inside.  photo source

photo source

photo source

photo source

photo source

photo source

LOVE these!  Find these  at Not on the High street

photo source

photo source

photo source

Nostalgia got the best of me with this one - Lite Bright - photo source