Friday, December 29, 2006

2007 Trends: Terrariums

I ran across this post about terrariums on Design*Sponge. Of course, it takes seeing something more than a few times before it really grabs my attention and I have seen tidbits about terrariums in more than a few design magazines over the past few months and I expect to see more in the coming months. I would guess that terrariums are the new succulents.

If you want to throw together a quick terrarium, try these hurricane candle holders and alabaster bases from West Elm. I saw them in the store during the after Christmas sale and really thought they were meant for plants. They have a vent at the top of the dome that will keep moisture in while allowing the air to circulate.

Glass Hurricanes $49-$69
Alabaster Slab, free but shipping is $12-$24

Kim Family Benefit

An auction of fine art and craft items benefiting the family of James Kim will begin January 3rd on eBay. Get a sneak peak at items, including this fairy take suitcase, on the Kim Family Benefit site. Bidding ends January 7th.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

I hope everyone's holidays were great.

We had the family over and tried to make rack of lamb. The meat came out about 30 minutes late, but was delicious, so I'm calling that a success. It's the kind of success I don't want to attempt to repeat until we get a nicer oven. I do have some new recipes that were real successes, which I plan to post this week. I'm also in the middle of reading The Improvisational Cook, which is marvelous. I'll post a review of that as well as my thoughts on Arabesque. And I promise I'll do all that right after I finish cleaning the house and hitting the after-Christmas sales.