Romantic Hippie

Everyday dalliances into the world of cookery, gardening, hosting and pretty things. Lover of flan, fresh flowers and the creative tendencies in all of us.

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Broiled duck breast with balsamic glaze, whipped cauliflower, green beans. #dinner

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The return of the bacon, caramelized onion, & cheddar scone. 1 boxed scone mix, 1 cup cooked & chopped bacon, caramelized onion, & shredded cheddar each. Fold in and bake following the box directions.

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Colcannon & black-eyed peas for good luck & pheasant because Ben is a good shot. #dinner

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Oranges + fresh-cut rosemary. A simple look that smells amazing.

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Touches of Fall

We've finally made the transition from Halloween to Fall and Thanksgiving decor around the house. I thought I'd share a few details with you all if you'd like. I tried to find a cozy balance between natural elements, gold and pops of cranberry.

A little vignette of pomegranates, bourbon, pine cones, gold & crystal.

A simple mantle of birch, orange and neutral candles with white branches. Please notice the tiny hand-print on the mirror which belongs to one of the little ones I love most so I haven't cleaned it just yet. 

Close-up details of a wreath I recently made. More to come this week!

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#GOTV

If you follow me on twitter you've probably seen me tweeting with the hashtag #GOTV a lot lately. What does that mean? It stands for Get Out The Vote. Today, I really hope you all do you part by making it out to the polls to cast your votes for those that represent you every other day of the year when you aren't bombarded by campaign commercials and phone calls. I know the ads and mailings can be annoying but think about it this way; Some people in other countries would consider that a great problem to have. If you're an Indiana voter, you can look up your polling location here. If you're out of state, try your Secretary of State's office or county clerk's website. So get out there and take in all that our representative democracy has to offer. Happy voting! P.S. That graphic up above is from a group of which I am so proud. The 51% Club took major initiative to make sure that women's voices across our state were heard and I was so jazzed that my family's submission to their "When women vote" campaign made it into their awesome graphic (top right!)!

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Trick or Treat: A cocktail party

This year, Ben and I decided to have some friends over to celebrate Halloween. We didn't want to put too much pressure on anyone to A) have to come over on the actual holiday and miss their trick-or-treaters or B) feel like they had to dress up. So, we ended up celebrating the night before and most people just wore black. We had a great time with friends and family. Here are a few photos f the details from the evening: Read more »

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Halloween 2012: Playing dress-up

Ben and I had a great time dressing up this year for the weekend before Halloween. It's Ben's favorite holiday so we generally go all out yet leave the costume decisions until the last minute. Determined to be a little more proactive this year, we not only settled on costumes early, but tried to make most of what we purchased wearable in more everyday settings.

I went as Catwoman sporting some leggings, a stretchy track jacket and some Dark Knight Rises accessories from the Warner Bros. website. I really enjoyed Ann Hathoway as Catwoman partly because her style was so sharp so I thought I'd try it out. Also,  I was also able to wear my black leather jacket to keep warm and still look in character which made walking from place to place a little more comfortable.

This year, Ben went as Yukon Cornelius from the claymation holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. For this he wore jeans, a denim shirt, his hiking boots, and a sock-cap. The only thing we really had to figure out was the beard, which I must say, turned out pretty awesome. We checked out a few costume stores but couldn't find anything red or cartoonish enough so I got to work making it myself. I just happened to have a bunch of this red yarn, wire and cardboard (actually the top of a case of Yeungling) so that's what I used to put it together. I was able to weave the yarn over the wire for the mustache and then loop a bunch of yarn over a piece of cardboard for the beard. Then, I tied them together with more yard and then frayed the beard pieces. The funniest part was trimming it up once Ben had it on. I felt like a hairstylist and was pretty nervous because I have a really terrible track record when it comes to cutting his hair. (Another story for another time. Let's just say there was wine involved and Ben's hair was straight-up messed for days until a professional took over.)

Here's how it turned out! Pretty hilarious, eh? Anyone else dress up this weekend?

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Total Basset Case

Happy Friday, everyone! Just wanted to pop by and let you know that today I'm posting over at Total Basset Case (TBC) in a feature called Floyd's Friends. TBC is the creation of one of my very best friends, Sarah, who shares many of her tips as an interior designer and lots of fun stories and pictures about their lovable basset, Floyd.

I really appreciate the opportunity to post over at TBC today and share a little bit about life with these two:

See you there! P.S. You should totally follow Sarah on Twitter (@totalbassetcase), Facebook, and Instagram!

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When all else fails, polenta

So you have a fridge full of leftovers and don't have a lot of time to put into making a meal but don't feel like eating the same thing over and over again. I totally get it. We've all been there. There is one staple I keep in my pantry to help out with this problem that I think you should know about. Read more »

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Tailgate Lessons

This past weekend was one of my favorite of the year, Butler's Homecoming! It's one of those weekends that I always look forward to because for a couple days friends near and far get to relive a little bit of our time in college. Unlike previous years, Butler played an evening game which gave us a little more time to prepare/sleep in which really paid off. As a group, we decided it was the best tailgate yet and upon some reflection, here are the top 5 reasons I think it went so smoothly. #5- Get on board with your school's planned opportunities. The last few years we tried to find a tailgate spot on our own, after promising each other we would get up early enough and be ready to go. The result- we were always super late and unprepared. This year, we bought a spot provided by the Alumni Board which included a tent, covered table, and a sign with your name of choice. All we had to do was bring the party.

#4- Bring some props. My friend Luke, who is one of the most creative and fun people in the entire world, brought this awesome frame that he spray painted and personalized. It was a huge hit not just for our group, but the people around us. It served as a great conversation starter and made for some amazing photos too!

#3- Grills are not just for hot dogs and burgers. Sure, we grilled our fair share of hot dogs after a long day of drinking but the best thing that came off of the grill that day was the steak and black bean chili Ben made. He made everything before we left and then during the day just put the dutch oven on the grill to keep it warm. It worked perfectly and kept our chili hot until the last bite was gone. We also brought sour cream, shredded cheese and bacon to garnish. #2- Bring enough to share. Seriously. Nothing makes more friends than sharing food and beverages. Spread the happiness. #1- Invest in a Jammy Pack. What's a Jammy Pack? It was the true star of our day next to these guys. Battery operated and quite loud for a set of wearable speakers, this thing is totally worth every penny. My sister, being the genius she is, bought one off of a deal-of-the-day site and it has served us all. She's used it while running 5k's, we used it this weekend, and I can think of about ten other places it would come in handy. A worthy investment indeed. Look how serious I am about it:

What a weekend. Great food and some of the most incredible friends a girl could ask for. Here's to homecomings everywhere! Hope you've enjoyed some tailgates of your own!

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Aung San Suu Kyi in Indiana

Recently, Aung San Suu Kyi made a stop here in my humble state of Indiana to speak to thousands of supporters. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, former political prisoner, and leader of Burma's (officially Myanmar) democracy movement had some inspiring words to share. The quote above struck me as so beautiful and so applicable to many different circles. This time of year tends to have people pitting themselves against one another. That's why I think its always nice to remember that no one is more important than another and we're all in this together.

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Loving lately: Fall

Hope everyone had a great Columbus Day! My mother-in-law came to town and we had lunch with our dear friend Maria and then had a little spa time. It was truly wonderful and a nice chance to stop everything and just relax. The three of us are busybodies to begin with so we sometimes forget to take a step back for ourselves. 

Now that the Columbus Day holiday is over, its back to business. Before fall sneaks away from us, I thought I'd pass on a list of things I'm totally loving lately. 

1. The Wailin' Jenny's Bright Morning Star. Fall weather makes me crave earthy, somewhat broody music so Celtic and American Folk seem to be my go to tunes. 2. Spaghetti Squash. So delicious and so healthy. Cooks up easily and withstands all kinds of sauce pairing! Here's a great prep method. 3. Leaves by Bath and Bodyworks. Truly the scent of fall. 4. Kippers! Never heard of them? Here's is a little bit about them . I absolutely love them with eggs, just the way my dad made them for me growing up. 5. Doc Martin. If eating a ton of Kippers doesn't make me sound like enough of an anglophile, this British TV show should do the trick. It's a little bit like House meets Monk meets another show I can't come up with where someone goes from big city life to the country. Either way, I'm burning through each season at record pace thanks to Netflix. I see it as a compromise as I usually only watch British television/movies based in another time period. And as my best friend Allison likes to say, "Martin Clunes. FTW" So there you have it. A few things I've been into lately. What about you? Any especially fall-like things in your corner of the world?

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Catching up

Since its been a few, I thought I might take some time today to give you all a little pictorial review of what we've been up to over the last couple of months. Overall, we've just been trucking along as usual but there are a few things worth mentioning:

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Grilled Apples

As Fall creeps in, I generally find myself in a weird "in-between" kind of place. The kind of weather that doesn't require tights but you might want to take a jacket with you when you go out. Where Ben can get away with shorts and a sweater. And when both of us are dying to eek out the last few grilled meals without feeling like we're going to freeze.

At this point in time, a lot of great fruits are in season so just like the shorts/sweater combo you don't normally think of, we've been experimenting with some unusual grilled items. My favorite so far has been the apples that Ben grilled for dinner a few nights ago.

They were quite healthy for something that tasted so sweet and only require four ingredients which make them a nice afterthought addition to any meal. Especially when you already have the grill fired up. Oh, and the cinnamon makes them taste nice and fall-like for the WIN. 

Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy!

Read more »

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An overdue return

Heirlooms from this year's garden.

Surprise! I'm back from taking a few unintentional months off of the ol' blog just to keep up with general life-craziness. Nothing earth-shattering really, just a lot of engagements and commitments kind of piling up at once. So much so that when it came to a teensy bit of free time, I chose to spend it with Ben and not on here. Sorry folks, as much as I love my readers and supporters- Ben is the ultimate! In a way, the break was a nice way to take a step back, look at how RH has evolved and decide on where I want to take it. That's the nicest part of this blog for a control-freak like myself. I get to make all the calls. BOOYAH! (See- all the calls. Which means there is no one to contain my excitement and the use of words like that last one) Read more »

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Happy Birthday Julia

Happy 100th birthday to the legendary Julia Child. And God bless NPR for this gem:

Special thanks to Twitter follower @mhermanek for the find!