Potential Venue

 With pre-purchased tickets in hand, we're attending the 6th Annual Foundry Park Inn & Spa Bridal Open House in Athens this weekend. I'm very ready to meet the 20+ vendors that will be in attendance & sample cuisine options from the Foundry's kitchen. Maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself, but I am already really leaning toward this quaint space for our ceremony & reception. The Hoyt House Pavilion would be perfect for our evening ceremony & the reception could be in the Foundry Ballroom or one of the Galleria spaces. Our out-of-town guests could easily explore downtown Athens by foot instead of dealing with the hassles of a rental car or having to wait for us locals to drive them around everywhere (especially since we may be a little busy with last minute DIY). If everything goes well this weekend then we'll be making an appointment to set a date (woohoo!)

Have a great weekend y'all!

[image: foundry park inn & spa]

Paris as Promised, Part Trois

 

 

Ina's Capellini with Tomatoes & Basil

 

Last week after an evening walk around the neighborhood with Hazel (our chocolate lab), John & I tried this quick & easy meal that I had spotted in the latest issue of House Beautiful. On their site, the caption for this recipe reads, "dinner in 15 minutes -- & you probably already have the ingredients already." Both statements rang true (we only lacked the basil leaves). Plus this recipe serves six, so if you don't alter it then you'll have plenty left over for lunch the next couple days (trust me, it's just as good reheated).

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup good olive oil, plus extra for the pasta pot

2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)

4 pints small cherry (or grape) tomatoes

18 large basil leaves (julienned)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 pound of dried capellini or angel hair pasta (*we used thin spaghetti; half regular & half whole wheat)

1 1/2 cups fresh grated parmesan

Extra chopped basil & parmesan for serving

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Instructions:

[1] Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add two tablespoons of salt & a splash of oil to the pot

[2] Meanwhile, heat the ½ cup of olive oil in a large (12-inch) sauté pan

Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds

Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, two teaspoons salt, the pepper, & red pepper flakes

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for five to seven minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to soften but don't break up

[3] While the tomatoes are cooking, add the pasta to the pot of boiling water & cook for two minutes, or according to the directions on the package

Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water

[4] Place the pasta in a large serving bowl, add the tomatoes & Parmesan, & toss well

Add some of the pasta water if the pasta seems too dry

Serve large bowls of pasta with extra basil sprinkled on top & a big bowl of extra Parmesan on the side

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We're excited to try this recipe again with basil leaves in tow. These gadgets might help us keep some handy.

 Baby Grobal

Herb Snips

Herb Keeper 

[images: 1 house beautiful, 2 velocity art & design, 3 crate & barrel, 4 crate & barrel; recipe: ask the barefoot contessa] 

Message in a [Jar]

 

How adorable is this jar? Cute, no? Just found this & nabbed it right away (especially after my disappointment to find the Digit Spice Jars I wanted are sold out already). My morning-of-the-wedding letter to John will be delivered before the ceremony by my sister in this Refracted Ambiance Jar.

[image: anthropologie]

Paris As Promised, Part Deux

So all of my Paris pictures (except for those taken at the Masion & Objet) are from our first day in Paris which turned out to be a surprise free day. Our flight out of Atlanta was at 3:30pm on Wednesday & we landed in Paris at 6:30am on Thursday morning. It took us about an hour by taxi to travel from the airport to our hotel, the Pullman Hotel Tour Eiffel. By the time we reached the hotel, I was in full on zombie mode & I had already lost one of my Banana Republic Plum Chiffon-Trim Gloves (a sad loss that I have yet to come to terms with considering they are no longer being sold; fingers crossed they have a similar pair next year). After checking into our rooms, we were given about three hours to nap until we were to reconvene around noon to start working. Shortly before we were to meet up, my boss stopped by our room to let us know that we'd have the rest of the day off to get acclimated & ready for an early call time the next morning. At which point we napped a little bit longer before heading out to see the city (could have slept all afternoon & possibly through the night, but didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to explore). Running on about only four hours of sleep means that I was feeling a little rough & therefore cannot be found in a single one of these pictures.

I did, however, document the hot chocolate (it's thick & rich like a melted chocolate bar) & club sandwich that I enjoyed for lunch at the Angelina Paris which is a tearoom that was founded in 1903 (Coco Chanel used to take her five o'clock tea here). They had an endless of amount of mouth watering pastries & sweets as well as packages of their hot chocolate mix to take away with you. If you're in the city, this is a must stop after a visit to the Louvre. Can't wait to go back with John one day for more Parisian adventures. 


More images to come later this week featuring the grounds of the Louvre & Notre Dame.