Hoboken Photography

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Now that I have my super-duper Canon Rebel, I’ve been trying to learn how to properly use it. (Having a pricey professional camera and leaving it on auto is like buying a Viking when you don’t know how to cook.) I’ve always loved photography and I wish it was something I had explored more “professionally” when I was younger, apart from playing around with my point and shoots. Of course, as I mentioned last week, my limited photography skills still produced some great art for my living room!

For the past few months, I’ve been experimenting and taking some classes with Digital Photo Academy. On Saturday, I took a “Composition in the Field” class which I had been looking forward to, because it was held in none other than my home of Hoboken. This city has always been inspiring as an amateur photographer – there is so much history and architecture. Plus, we have a better view of the NYC skyline than any New Yorker!

So here are a few shots from my class, which are also available on my online portfolio!

NJ Transit at Hoboken Station

Hoboken Tickets

Time in Hoboken Station

New York City from the Hoboken Ferry

DIY Wall Art: Personal Picture Displays

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In my previous Rehab post, I gave you a sneak peek at some DIY wall art as displayed in Kiley’s kitchen.

This photo was taken by moi down at the Hoboken waterfront. (This was even before I had my Canon Rebel and took my photo classes – this image is from a point and shoot, with the image turned black and white.) Kiley ~~stole~~ used my image to order a print-to-canvas piece online. Print-to-canvas has gotten pretty popular so you can get them pretty cheap on Groupon or even order from stores like Walmart (just be conscious of the size).

But originally, this photo was taken for my apartment (obviously). I wanted some art that reflected my town, and Hoboken art is harder to come by than the overused NYC skyline posters. So I took this picture, converted it into black and white, added a border and some text, and created my own poster.

“New York City from the Hoboken Waterfront”

Vistaprint had the cheapest printing for a full-sized poster. The frame came from Target ($30) so I ended up with an affordable, custom, personalized wall art for my kitchen that I can tell visitors is truly my own art!

And because I have an obsession with photography, I also took some of my photos and displayed them in my living room. I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of my travels that end up going nowhere other than the “My Pictures” folder on my computer. (You would typically print and frame the picture of yourself in front of the Eiffel Tower … but what about those 20 pictures you took of JUST the Eiffel Tower?)

So rather than purchase other people’s overpriced art, I made my own, utilizing sentimental photos from my travels. The best part – no Photoshop required! I found my favorite photos and used a simple iPhoto filter called “Antique” which fades the colors to look a little aged, but without removing all of the color like in sepia tone.

On the wall above my couch, I arranged all vertically aligned photos, like the above. On the opposite wall, I lined up all of the horizontal pictures.

Simple frames from Walmart and Ikea mounted the images. Now I can look at them and remember my amazing vacations and study abroad trips.

And of course, the best part is to take the credit when people ask about them.

Mother’s Day Brunch & Blueberry Crumb Muffins

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Yesterday we celebrated Mother’s Day with a family brunch. A tradition for our family, it’s nice to come home when the weather is just starting to get warm and the mountains turn green, and have a mimosa with the whole extended family.

We had found these flowers a while ago online and had to order them for Mom. We signed the card “Love Adam, Kiley, Jamie, Lily, Rosie, & Olive” so the florist must have thought my mom was a nut with a ton of kids…but she’s just a crazy dog lady. But they came out so cute!

I guess our whole family is filled with dog people….

Kiley and I made a new recipe – Blueberry Crumb Muffins. Classic blueberry muffins with a crumb topping were the perfect pastry for Mother’s Day brunch!

You need 3 bowls: 2 for the muffins (separate dry and wet ingredients) and 1 for the crumb topping. Once ingredients are combined and well-mixed, spoon the batter into greased muffin tins so each is 3/4 full. Make sure to distribute the blueberries evenly (they can sink to the bottom of the batter).

Add the crumb topping.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (For me, 30 minutes was perfect.)

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

Sweet, moist, and fruity – the perfect blueberry muffin.

Blueberry Crumbs Muffins

Adapted from Food & Wine

Makes 18 muffins.

Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Crumb Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line 18 muffin cups with paper or foil liners or spray 2 muffin tins with cooking spray.

Muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and canola oil and beat with an electric mixer at low speed until combined. Beat in the whole milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and beat at low speed until the batter is smooth. Stir in the blueberries.

Crumb Topping: Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the flour with the brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the melted butter, then pinch the mixture until it forms pea-size clumps.

Spoon the batter into 18 of the cups, filling them about three-quarters full. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of each one and bake for about 30 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving or store in airtight container.

Ikea Hack: GRANAS Dining Set

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Today’s Rehab Wednesday is an Ikea hack – taking a budget-friendly Ikea product and turning it into something that looks like a million bucks.

When Kiley moved in and started to decorate, she was on a budget when it came to furniture. So, she purchased the Ikea GRANAS Table and chairs for $99.99. Here’s what they look like when purchased:

Ikea Granas Table and Chairs – BEFORE

At first, she painted the wicker seat base with leftover paint from her cabinets so that they matched the kitchen. But, with a little extra time and inspiration, she decided to make them more functional and added a custom upholstered cushion.

The first step was adding some plywood (cut to size) to the chairs as a platform to replace the existing wicker seats. The plywood was painted dark (with some leftover cabinet paint) so that it blends in, then screwed to the chair frame. Next, some cheap chair cushions from Ikea were reupholstered in custom fabric (Mood, NYC).

Since the set only came with two chairs, she added a bench against the wall for extra seating. The bench (Overstock, $110) was reupholstered with the same fabric to match the chairs. (When reupholstering, it’s helpful to try and choose a bench or chair with a cushion that is easy to remove like the one on this bench.)

To reupholster cushions, cut the fabric in a square (or rectangle) with a few inches extra on all sides. Spread out on a flat surface or the floor and start on a straight side pulling the fabric tight as you fasten in place with a staple gun. When you get to the corners, fold the fabric in small pleats and staple with the staple gun, pulling fabric tight as you go. Trim off excess fabric and re-attatch to your frame.

ta da!

Ikea Hack – GRANAS Dining Set – AFTER

With some added table accessories, the set is almost unrecognizable as a budget Ikea dining set.

Large bowl centerpiece (HomeGoods) with potpourri; State cutting board – with a carved heart over Hoboken of course (Etsy)

What Happened in Vegas

Ok, I’m recovered. I think. I’m almost caught up on sleep and I’m able to look at a drink without being repulsed. They say that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. But I’m a blogger so I’m naturally an over-sharer, so I think I’ll give you guys a glimpse.

We stayed at one of the nicest (in my opinion) hotels, The Cosmopolitan. When I visited Vegas in high school (a much different experience), it hadn’t even been built yet (opened in 2010). The Cosmo lived up to the crazy commercials of bunnies in the elevator – just the right amount of wrong. I didn’t see any bunnies, but we did find a Stonehenge of dog sculptures which we all vowed to meet by if we got lost. (Don’t worry, no one got lost.)

Meet by the dogs!

The first stop was hitting up Bamboo pool, getting some Miami Vices (and many other tropical drinks), and meeting some fellow vacationers.

Bamboo Pool – The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas

Then, we headed back to get all dressed up like we were back in college. We went to one of the best Italian restaurants in Vegas – Lavo at the Venetian – where I had spaghetti with Kobe meatballs and ricotta. It was so good I nearly cried when I was too full to finish it.

Then, for first night, we went all out. Thanks to a friendly promoter, we stopped by Tryst in the Wynn and skipped the line with free drinks for the ladies. Then moved on to another free entry (it really sucks to be a guy in Vegas) at Xs, also in the Wynn. Being in a group of six girls in Vegas is wonderful and it was pretty easy to have an awesome first night…for free.

Saturday was the pool party at Marquee, the club in our hotel. And, to make it extra special, Avicii – best DJ in the world – was there. Avicii is a big deal. But Avicii at a pool party in Vegas where I was able to get about four feet from him … unbelievable.

Avicii at Marquee, photographed by me!

The girls pool partying with Avicii

Saturday night we headed out to do it all again, with a fancy dinner at Tao in the Venetian. We had every intention of having a full night of partying Vegas-style but we were clearly exhausted from our vacation, only on day two. Wow, Vegas takes a lot out of you. But by happy accident I left my credit card at Tao which forced us to walk the Strip the next day and explore the amazing hotels of Las Vegas.

Me & Dee exploring the Strip.

Another happy accident (well, not so happy for Ashley) was that we ended up getting FREE day beds at the pool on Sunday…. as a result of Ashley nearly losing a finger while rearranging lounge chairs which had a dangerous nail protruding out of the bottom. Terrified we would be suing, the hotel staff gave us some royal treatment.

Free day beds!

And for our last big night we had dinner in the hotel at a Mexican Chinese place (or was it a Chinese Mexican place?) which ended up being really good.

That is salted pear foam on my margarita.

Then we went to the brand new club we had been hearing about all weekend: Hakkasan at MGM Grand. To me, the place had an identity crisis – too many stairs, too much incense, and a confusing layout. But it wasn’t until the cab to the airport the next day that we learned the story. As told by our cabbie: apparently a rich guy visited Xs (where we went the first night) and was an hour and a half late so they had given his table away. Angry and annoyed, he opened his own club, Hakkasan, to put Xs out of business, hiring all of their DJs in the process. My theory: with the amount of stairs in Hakkasan, lack of lights, and girls in too-high heels, in about a month someone will trip and break their ankle, sue the place, and put Hakkasan out of business. We shall see how the story ends… but in the meantime, we still had a good time on our last night in Sin City.

The last night.

Oh Las Vegas, the city where prostitution, weddings on a whim, and open containers are no big deal. It was a fun four days but I am so glad to be home. Maybe I’ll be back, but not for a long, long time.

Rehab Thursday: Accessorizing a Kitchen

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Ok, I’m cheating. Rehab Wednesday is Rehab Thursday this week. But cut me a break, I’m still recovering from Vegas. I’m still building up the energy to write my Vegas post, so stay tuned. In the meantime, let’s get back to some J’ai La Vie home reno projects!

Last week, I gave you a peek at Kiley’s kitchen makeover. You don’t have to do a complete gut to update a kitchen into a functional, modern, and personal space.

But after the paint dries and all the screws are tightened, it’s important to accessorize. And that’s a never-ending project for a homeowner.

To save more counter space, we had a great find from Ikea with the Grundtal foldable dish rack ($27), lace metal pot ($3.99) & rail ($10). Sequin trim hand towels from Homegoods.

A blank horizontal wall is asking for some art. A simple wall decal looks like it was meant for the space: Bon Appetit from Etsy.

An old wooden wall shelf is fixed up with a coat of paint and some added hooks becoming both an accessory and functional storage for decorative coffee mugs (found at HomeGoods). The picture on canvas up top is original photography by moi (more on that to come in later posts).

Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiches

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As promised, I’m sharing what I made with leftovers from my Spinach and Strawerry Salad. I love to use up ingredients from a recipe, and this one wasn’t too challenging because I had two ingredients that I could eat every day if I had to – spinach and goat cheese.

Also, a reminder – my oven was broken. So this was as an added to challenge for what to do with my leftover spinach and goat cheese.

Personal quiches were staple in my diet when I studied in France. It’s also how I learned to love goat cheese because it was in everything I ate.

So the result of my leftovers: crustless personal spinach and goat cheese quiche …. made in the toaster oven.

Sautee spinach and place on the bottom of mini pie tins. (If you don’t have small tins, try a muffin pan.)

Top with beaten eggs (2 eggs per mini quiche), goat cheese, salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until top starts to brown. (You can also cook in your toaster oven!)

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

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While I recover and travel home from Vegas, I couldn’t leave you hanging. So, I have a quick recipe for you. While on a not-so-strict salad diet before my trip, wanted to get a little summery with a Spinach and Strawberry Salad. I’m obsessed with Panera’s Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, and I’ve tried some similar recipes from my favorite bloggers.

So last week, I kicked off the warm-ish weather with my own healthy salad.

The ingredients were pretty easy to throw together:

Spinach
Strawberries
Walnuts
Goat Cheese
Rotisserie Chicken (White meat)
Raspberry Poppyseed Dressing (Kraft)

I cut up the white meat, added it to the spinach with some strawberries, topped with walnut and crumbled goat cheese. Tossed to perfection with some raspberry poppy seed dressing (the first dressing I PURCHASED in a while) and this was a sweet introduction to summer.

And my theory is that no ingredients should go to waste. What did I do with the leftover spinach and goat cheese? There are plenty of options, but I’ll tell ya tomorrow.

Jai Vivas La Vie in Las Vegas

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That’s probably a combination of three different languages, but the gist is …. I’m goin’ to VEGAS! If you are reading this, I am probably on a flight to Sin City.

The girls and I are ~~trying to revive~~ celebrating our youth on the sun-drenched strip of Las “meadows”.

We’re staying in the hotel that lives by the right kind of wrong - The Cosmopolitan. My goal for the weekend, apart from surviving the lifestyle, is to come back tan, refreshed, and full of good stories, none of which are regrettable.

In the meantime, I give you the exact opposite of my entrance to Vegas…

Rehab Wednesday: Kitchen Mini Makeover

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Last week, we kicked off our new “Rehab Wednesday” home renovation series with the importance of paint and lighting. Today’s makeover takes this advice into account and shows off Kiley’s updated kitchen.

When you don’t have the money for a full kitchen renovation (which can be the most expensive update to your home) a little paint and new hardware can go a long way.

Kiley’s Kitchen – BEFORE

Originally, the kitchen had old white cabinets, plastic knobs, and an oven that didn’t work. (Every time she tried to turn it on the smoke alarm went off, so this was clearly a safety hazard.)

The other side of the kitchen had similar outdated white cabinetry and the same ugly beige laminate countertops.

Kiley’s Kitchen – BEFORE

The first step, before even moving in, was a fresh coat of paint on the cabinets. To compliment the new light grey walls, the bottom cabinets were painted a darker grey (Benjamin Moore Englewood Cliffs) and in contrast, the top cabinets got a fresh coat of Bright White.

All hardware was updated to be more modern and clean with simple brushed nickel knobs.

Eventually, when she was ready to invest a little more, the old wall oven and countertop stove was cut out and replaced with a single unit stainless steel stove/oven and mounted microwave (both Frigidaire). This also freed up space for the new fridge (LG), where the wall oven used to be.

Kiley’s Kitchen – AFTER

The countertops were a DIY challenge. When you don’t have the money for new cabinets and granite countertops, there is an easy alternative: granite paint. Yes, Kiley loves paint, and when she discovered that you could paint on the granite look she ordered the kit and gave it a try. And while I made fun of her while she sponged on the 3 coats of paint, I have to admit … they’re pretty snazzy. And now six months later they are still holding up well.

Painted Countertops – Giani Granite in Sicilian Sand

Since counter space is still minimal in this condo kitchen, there aren’t too many options without doing a major overhaul. Not to mention the lack of wine storage… So, Kiley ordered a standing wine rack and painted it to match the bottom cabinets and then had a custom butcher block counter made to sit on top, with an extra extended piece to wrap around the other side of the wall. The addition gave valuable extra storage and a few feet of counter space which makes a huge difference when you cook like we do (and drink wine like we do).