shimmer by the pool

all right! time for part two in the hawaiian tropic + stylecaster series. i am a leeeeetle self conscious about posting this one, not only because i am super awkward, but because it's a whole lot of me in a bathing suit. so be gentle.



i have skin that tends to skip "tan" and go straight to "burn," so i always wear sunscreen when i head out into the sun — particularly if i'll be spending a few hours by the pool like i did shooting this video. my figure is a bit more 50s curvy than modern day skinny, so i embrace that with vintage style bathing suits and big floppy hats.

the next - and last, i promise - video is my favorite, because there's a lot fewer shots of me and a lot more food porn. and some recipes!

thank you all so much for the outpouring of kindness over the last week or two. it's hard to say it without just sounding like a hallmark card, but it really does mean a lot and i never ceased to be surprised and incredibly flattered by it all, big time.

have a lovely day!

xo audrey

artichoke onion soup for the soul

hello everyone! i am sitting in my kitchen, typing in the warmest part of my apartment - right by the oven, which is propped open and heated to 400. apparently the pipes in my basement chose this weekend to crap out on me, so my radiators are ice cold; sam and i have decided to stomach an extra large gas bill, rather than shiver in our own apartment.

the past weekend had its highs and lows; i usually have fridays and saturdays off, but had to work this saturday, making for an extra short weekend - most of which i spent in front of a computer, desperately trying to remember photoshop shortcuts as i worked on wedding invitations. i did find the time to make us a good, thick, wintry soup - it was easy and delicious, and perfect for these cold winter nights, so i thought i'd share the recipe.



2 cans of quartered artichoke hearts
1 medium yellow onion
3 cups chicken broth
2 T butter
2 t ground fennel
1 t dried thyme
1/4 c heavy cream
salt
pepper
olive oil for drizzling
parmasean or similar cheese for crisps

so - start the butter melting in a big pot. a soup sized pot. slice the onion into thin strips, then add it to the butter; saute until good and caramelized, stirring as needed. add the artichoke and saute for a few minutes. add enough chicken stock to cover the onion and artichoke and then some. add the spices, then the cream, and salt to taste; either use an immersion blender or a regular one to puree them until you can't anymore. put your oven to 350, and grate the cheese into little piles on a silpat or piece of parchment, and bake the cheese for 10-15 minutes, or until browned. serve the soup with a drizzle of olive oil, a grinding of pepper, and a cheese crisp or two. and a grilled cheese and pastrami, if you're me.

and an appropriately yellow and green outfit for the day!



dress: thrifted
tights: from mi madre
shoes: madewell
hat: from a weird little antique shop outside of atlanta, ga
necklace: jewelry shop near atlanta (a fish, therefore, a gift from sam)

well! my smoke alarm is going off for no reason whatsoever, so i guess it's time to sign off. stay warm, and much love!

xo audrey

sepia

hello everyone! happy friday! mine has been productive in spite of itself. i slept in until about 10:30 this morning, then a couple of friends joined me for breakfast; i made huevos rancheros with avocado, tomato, roasted peppers and onions, mushrooms, black beans, cojita cheese and sour cream. (i go into such detail because we devoured it too quickly, and i totally forgot to take pictures.) they brought a couple bottles of prosecco and a bottle of orange juice, and i slowly tidied up around them as we caught up on our week. after they left i baked some banana bread and cleaned up the rest of the apartment, and did a little DIY project, which i'll show later this weekend.

i made up this banana bread recipe! i'm pretty proud of myself. it turned out pretty good, but i didn't get quite the rise i wanted; i'd lower the oven temperature and maybe add another pinch of baking soda. . . here's the recipe, with those adjustments:



5 overripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/2-3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted butter, not cold, but not soft
1 cup of pecans, slightly toasted and broken up
4 oz white chocolate/white chocolate chips
1/3 cup toasted coconut
raw sugar for sprinkling

whisk the flours with the baking soda, powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon. set aside.

preheat oven to 350.

cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. add the eggs, one at a time, and mix at medium-low speed until totally combined. add vanilla. add bananas and sour cream. take the flour and spices and fold into the banana/sugar/egg mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of milk. just before everything has been combined, add the pecans, chocolate, and coconut. fold those in, then pour into a loaf pan (standard size, about 9 inches) that's been buttered or pammed. sprinkle the top with raw sugar. bake for 45 minutes to an hour, rotating every 15 minutes or so, until a skewer comes out clean (or slightly crumby.) ta-da!


earlier this week, i made another batch of macaroons - yeah, i'm totally hooked. i have plans for some honey-strawberry flavored ones this weekend as well. these ones are coconut-white chocolate, and i topped them with these ridiculous edible gold stars i picked up earlier in the week. they are *so* soft they literally melt in your mouth - i think the shells completely absorbed the pastry cream, which made them extra soft. so good.




yesterday i came home to a wealth of deliveries, pretty amazing considering the pounding of snow brooklyn got yesterday. thigh highs and tights from cynthia rowley on gilt, and this gorgeous hat from hats in the belfry. i was contacted by a gentleman there a couple months again, who offered me a hat if i would review it; i hesitated at first, as i've gotten some similar offers in the past that have mostly fallen through. i requested this one, which reminded me of a hat in this post
that i'd wanted but missed out on. i LOVE it. looks a lot like a vintage hat, but it actually fits me for a change - i love vintage hats and have acquired quite the collection over the years but almost all of them are a tiny bit too small.



hat: hats in the belfry
shirt: geren ford for urban outfitters dress
skirt: thrifted
thigh highs: cynthia rowley (from gilt)
shoes: gift from seychelles
purse: thrifted

okay, i'm off! have a lovely friday night!

xo audrey

hepburn

i have a completely predictable semi-obsession with audrey hepburn. up until about 3 minutes before i popped out of my mom back in the mid-eighties, i was supposed to be named lauren; after watching my mom caterwaul for a few hours, my dad conceded naming rights to my mom, who wanted to call me audrey. thank god. i love my name, and i love my namesake; i'm not one of those fans who has her bedroom wallpapered in breakfast at tiffanys posters or anything, but i'm a huge fan of her movies, her activism, and her style.

someone asked me the other day who i would "be," if i could be someone famous. i said audrey hepburn in love in the afternoon: gary cooper, paris, fabulous clothes, faux escapades.



having to think about this got me looking at photos of audrey, and all of her fabulous hats, and i decided to look into getting some of my own. i've never been a big hat person - i dread hat hair, and for a long time my hair's been too short to show from underneath a hat - but now that it's getting longer, and the sort of hats she wore aren't the sort you take off once you've reached your destination, i'm going to give it a try. everything vintage seems to be coming back into style, but i haven't seen any hats coming back - we'll see if that changes.



all above hats can be found on ebay, except the middle one, which is on its way to me as we speak!

i've been sick the last couple of days and not up to much. . . hopefully that changes this weekend and i have some new things to post.

happy friday!

xo audrey