gracious living Archives - Cynthia Gellis

December 6, 2018November 28, 2018

Friendly Neighborhood Craft Fair

There was a craft fair in the neighborhood a few weeks ago called the Patchwork Show Long Beach Makers Festival at which my artist friend, MaryBeth Leonard, was hosting a booth. I generally try to avoid craft fairs. Mostly because there are too many interesting things that I want to buy. A secondary problem is that I see all sorts of things that I think I could make myself or that trigger a new project idea and then I get overwhelmed with craftprehension.

*Craftprehension – noun; apprehension brought on by too many craft project ideas; also, a word that I just made up

Since MaryBeth was going to be there, I wanted to make a point of showing up so I asked my golf partner if she would be up for a different kind of Sunday walk. Fortunately, M is generally up for most adventures and away we went!

When we got there, we somehow managed to decide to start at the exact opposite end from where MaryBeth’s booth was. As we went up and down all the rows looking for her, we found all sorts of other fun treasures.

Sea princess cake pops:

Because, what good is a cake pop without a mermaid tail, really?

Crayon unicorns:

They had these crayon sets in SO MANY fun shapes

A chic bo-ho sundress:

I kind-of want to be the girl on the sailboat in the picture

I was drawn to the Botanical Bright booth because of the graphic illustrations and t-shirts. My t-shirt drawer is full and really I only ever wear the same few over and over so I’m trying to not buy any more until I can convince myself to get rid of some. I’ve bookmarked this seller’s website for when I do. She also had these beautiful succulent arrangements in geodes that the kittens would be so excited to tear apart, so I abstained from those as well. I did wind up picking up some crystals because you know how I feel about having a little bit of magic in your life. I think she said the silver one gives you superpowers.

Finally, when we were practically at the end of our adventure, we found MaryBeth!

She had a big selection of matted prints from her “A Drawing a Day for a Year” project. But she also had original drawings and paintings. I found just the perfect thing for someone’s Christmas gift and M found something for her beach-themed room.

I fortunately managed to not bring home a bunch of new craft ideas, just a reminder about the succulent projects that I haven’t gotten around to and a sweet little handful of magical rocks.

Success!

November 1, 2018October 31, 2018

Shopping, Etcetera…

Disclaimer: this is not a paid endorsement

There is something to be said for a no-nonsense clothes shopping experience. I have become an almost exclusively online shopper because I just can’t be bothered to go to a store anymore. That being said, there is something wonderful about shopping in-person, you get to discover different things, touch the fabrics, and notice the details of things that you would miss online (I recently ordered and then immediately returned a jacket that I was SURE had ¾ sleeves, it didn’t, the model just had really long arms – oops!).

The main things that I am completely over in terms of in-person shopping are 1) digging through racks to try to find your size in something; and 2) standing in line to make a purchase (really, you expect me to WAIT for the privilege of giving you my money?). It turns out there is a better way…

My friend Liz McCann is one of the most down-to-earth, fancy ladies I know, and she has found a wonderful way to give busy women a convenient, efficient, and personal shopping experience. Now, it helps if you have a big enough house to be able to turn your formal living and dining rooms into a showroom for a week or so four times a year…hey, I told you that she’s fancy.

Liz sells a clothing line called Etcetera. To be honest, it is a little pricy. But the clothes are nicely made, and every piece has some beautiful, surprising details. Each season’s line is organized and coordinated to create various capsule wardrobe options (it is sort-of like Garanimals for grown-ups). When I shop with her, I am usually looking for just one or two pieces special pieces to give my wardrobe a pick-me-up and I always seem to find a treasure.

this embroidered coat would make leggings and a t-shirt acceptable anywhere

Shopping at Liz’s house is fun. You get the whole showroom to yourself and can try everything if you wanted to. Liz will get you to try things that you wouldn’t usually consider. And she will be honest when something just doesn’t work. Even though she has limited sizes in the samples, she knows how the line fits and has never steered me wrong when she’s advised me on what size to order (any of the times that she told me that I need a smaller size).

This is a trouser jean with racing stripes. The windbreaker has this pretty sleeve detail (it’s cuter on, trust me).

The clothes that I’ve bought from Liz are the pieces that I reach for when I needed to look professional, pulled together, and be comfortable. I am also going on the record to admit that I have machine washed all sorts of things that I’ve gotten from her that said to dry clean and none of them came out any worse for it.

Liz currently has fall/winter in house until November 5. If you are feeling the need to shop, shoot her a message at emccann1976@gmail.com and I’m sure she’ll fit you in. You can also ask her to add you to her list and she will let you know when she has the spring collection in house (February 2019 sometime).

October 18, 2018October 17, 2018

Spooky Dinner Party

I’ve made progress on my endeavor to entertain more! The other weekend I had a few ladies over for a little dinner party. A journey of a thousand miles and all that.

Since its October, I wanted to make the table setting festive for the season. Since I don’t trust the kittens to not get into everything, I didn’t want to do any big centerpiece or ANY candles (it hurt my heart to have a dinner party without candles, but it would hurt my heart more if one of my kittens set themselves on fire). Even though it wasn’t much of an elaborate table, it was still festive.

For the menu, I kept it pretty simple. I have come up with a sort of formula that I like for dinner parties: protein, salad, crusty bread and then something nice for dessert. I like to make or at least prep everything that I can ahead of time so that I can relax, drink wine and enjoy visiting with my guests rather than being tied up in the kitchen.

This night we had lemon butter blue fin tuna, autumn salad with shallot vinaigrette and Martha Stewart’s pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. I was able to have everything prepped ahead of time, so when my guests arrived, I just put the tuna in the oven and threw the salad together and we were good to go.

Tuna in the oven, how could you!? Well, while I love to eat raw and seared tuna, I just don’t feel comfortable serving undercooked fish to guests.

Here are my tips for making delicious cooked tuna in the over: 1) coat the fish with olive oil or butter; 2) cook at very high heat (450 degrees) for not very long (these steaks were pretty thick, so I cooked them for 10 minutes).

The salad was a big hit and my friend asked that I share the recipe. I made the whole thing using the eyeball method, so here is the best that I can do for you as far as measurements go:

Autumn Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

Shallot Vinaigrette:

one small shallot, minced very finely
some (1/3 cup?) apple cider vinegar
some (1 tbsp?) prepared mustard
few pinches of salt
few grinds of pepper
splash or so of olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a small mason jar (something with a trustworthy lid). Shake well to combine (it will emulsify thanks to the mustard, no need to drizzle and whisk). Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the Salad:

½ bag of arugula
½ cups of prepared spaghetti squash (can be roasted and “spaghettied” ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator)
Pomegranate seeds from one medium pomegranate (can be prepared ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator)
½ cup(ish) pistachio nutmeat (I prefer unsalted)

To assemble the salad: Throw squash and arugula in a bowl, toss until combined(ish). Dump dressing on it, toss again. Throw pomegranate and pistachio in, one last light toss. Serve immediately.

I had the coffee maker ready to make a pot of decaf, so once we were done with dinner, all I had to do was press the button (we still make coffee by the pot) and retrieve dessert from the refrigerator. I totally reccommend Martha Stewart’s recipe for pumpkin cheesecake. It was easy to throw together, and it came out great. If you think you want to try it, make it at least one day before you want to serve it (I made mine two days before) because the baking and cooling takes a while and you’re going to want to let it sit in the refrigerator so that the flavors can blend.

After we were suitably wined and dined, I sent everyone home with a nice, big piece of cheesecake so that I wouldn’t eat it all. Time to plan another get-together!

September 27, 2018September 24, 2018

Beach Day

An important standing appointment on my calendar these days is Beach Day Wednesday. There is something wonderful about spending time contemplating the ocean, it really puts everything else in perspective. I particularly enjoy having beach days at this time of year, when there is a hint of fall. In California, you can tell that it’s fall because the quality of the sunlight changes, the hot part of the day shrinks, and the air feels heavier.

When I was in college, we didn’t go back until late September. I came to really appreciate that period from mid-August to late September. It’s been nice to be able to enjoy my favorite time of the year with those quiet beach days again.

Even when you don’t have somewhere that you have to be every day, it’s still important to have a schedule. I still get up and go to the gym first thing pretty much every morning. It helps me get my day going and I feel that I’ve accomplished something. Having my standing beach day appointment gives me a benchmark for my week. Have I made progress on the things that I want to do this week? It also gives me a break from feeling that I need to be doing something. When I’m at the beach, its ok just to be at the beach.

I like to pack a lunch, my chair, and my floppy hat. Then I head down to my usual spot, stick my toes in the sand and watch the world go by. If it seems like it might be a little cool, I will bring a sweatshirt. When I’m done, I head home; it’s not a big, day-long production, just a little break. Beach day doesn’t even necessarily have to be on Wednesday. I don’t mind being flexible but I know that if I didn’t have something blocked out on my calendar, it probably wouldn’t happen at all.

I like to drag along friends who have free time, let me know!

September 13, 2018September 9, 2018

Gracious Living?

When I started conceptualizing this blog, I wanted to come up with catchy titles for each day’s theme. Thursdays were going to be “Gracious Living”. Unfortunately, I was not clever enough to come up with comparable titles for the other days, so we’re just going to go with “Home & Garden”. This day will be my opportunity to share decorating projects, entertaining tips, and kitchen adventures – the things that we all do to enjoy our time at home. Don’t think that you’ll be hearing from an aspiring Martha Stewart. I’m more of a domestic survivalist than a domestic goddess. This is just another area that I try to make a little bit of an effort when I have the opportunity. Whether or not our pumpkin patch turns out, I will tell you all about it.

I’ve only recently gotten back into cooking on a semi-regular basis. My specialty is turning leftovers into tacos/burritos. If left to my own devices, I would probably only eat things wrapped up in a tortilla. When I do attempt cooking from scratch, the results can be interesting. I have a bad habit of not letting the fact that I don’t have all of the ingredients for a particular recipe stop me. What’s worse is that I can’t seem to stop myself from skipping steps or thinking that I don’t need to look at the recipe if I have already made something once (this never ends well).

I love to host little dinner parties and casual get togethers. For one thing, I feel that it’s an obligation to retaining my collections of fancy china and vintage glasses. Aside from a way to rationalize having too much tableware, bringing the right mix of people together for a simple meal and interesting conversation always leaves me with a renewed sense of well-being. I am working on getting back into the habit of hosting some sort of get-together at least every few months instead of only once or twice a year.

Other than the pumpkins which are currently taking over, our vegetable garden has been sadly underutilized. By virtue of being accountable to you, I hope to make a better effort to grow an interesting variety of things that may wind up in my cooking trials. I am also in the process of rebuilding a fairy garden at the roots my wisteria bush. Because isn’t it nice to invite a little magic into your life?

This post concludes my first week of bloging. I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings so far and will stick with me a bit longer.