A Little Slice of Heaven. by violet

There is a place in West Seattle, a Mecca to all baked goods.  A small shop that is dedicated to the art of making things from scratch. 

Bakery Nouveau is tucked into the main drag of the Alaska Junction, it' small store front would be easy to walk by if there weren't a line out the door. 

 

The inside is warm and inviting with weathered hardwood floors with glasses cases filled with all kinds of delicious treats – bread, pastries, chocolates and even pizza. 

JP and I have been known to go there on a Saturday or Sunday mornings to get a croissant and latte.  

The croissants are so good that it’s hard to order anything else when you are there. When a spinach and feta croissant is staring back at me from one of those cases, I can’t just leave it there.   

They are probably most famous for the twice-baked almond croissant and for good reason. The inside to an ooey-gooey piece of heaven. 

One rainy Friday night, I stopped by and picked up a mushroom and pancetta pizza.  As you might expect a bakery delivers a pizza with a serious crust.  It turned the act of eating pizza into an event.  It wasn’t sweet but it was decadent. 

I made the mistake of following them on Twitter.  I say mistake because now in the middle of my work day I know the are cooking up something so delicious I can almost smell it 15 miles away. 

Violet in Me Too black flats

the 4th. by orange

I hope you all enjoyed the 4th of July weekend!  This year, the husband and I kept it low key and just hung out with friends at their place in West Seattle.  Towards the end of the night we headed back to our house to check in on our dogs and were amazed to hear the amount of activity going on in our neighborhood.  We live in "unincorporated" King County, where fireworks are legal.  To sum it up - it sounded like our house was under full attack. 

We decided to join in the fun and some of our friends came over to fire off some of the goods purchased at a nearby casino.

Thank you to Violet's J for the pictures.

Oh and I can forget to mention, numerous "bros" were "iced" this 4th of July.  Here is the husband with his 24oz. Smirnoff Ice - ick!  If you haven't heard of "bros icing bros" - check it out here.  Funny stuff.

orange in JCrew Metallic Astria Sandals

perfect winter date night. by orange

The husband and I have been enjoying some winter date nights of late.  Snuggling on the couch with the fire going and watching "Christmas Vacation," heading down to one of the local city centers to watch a Tree Lighting, ordering pizza in and watching "Deck the Halls."  Ok...perhaps we've just been filling up on holiday movies. 

This past weekend, we continued the holiday date theme and went on a winter drive, checking out the various lights around West Seattle while sipping hot chocolate and listening to holiday music.  Now this idea originally came from Violet's J - about three years ago this was one of their creative dates.  My husband was perusing the West Seattle Blog and came across this last week.  He also came across the house in the video below:



And wouldn't you know it...it actually started to SNOW while we were on our drive :).  Perfect date.

reindeer cupcakes & holiday flair. by orange

As mentioned in a previous post, the holidays have arrived and my box of decorations has been lugged out.  I love unpacking seasonal items - it's like an early Christmas.  I only added a few items from Pier 1 Imports and Target to our holiday decor this year.  Below is a bit of what our West Seattle home looks like with its holiday flair on.

holiday forest potpourri (i believe the purchase of potpourri immediately ages me by at least 10yrs...)

holiday pillows!  from Target.  note to Payton: do not chew.  please!

our iron tree from the past two years...this year we might have a real one!

holiday towels!

stockings for Meika & Payton

Now with our house all set, it made perfect sense to pick up these Yummy reindeer cupcakes while I was at the grocery store earlier today.  These could be a fun DIY to bring to a holiday party.... mmmm.

the husband enjoyed, as did I.

wallpaper closet. by orange

tonight was filled with a birthday dinner at yummy Cactus restaurant right on the water in West Seattle. during dinner my friend Shelby mentioned this fun idea: wallpapering a closet. feeling inspired i looked for some wallpaper closet photos - check them out.

i love the mix of wall paper and delicate light fixtures...

i also stumbled across some good closet wallpapering ideas at House Beautiful.