Revisiting Bellocq

It's been a little over three years since my first visit to the Bellocq Tea Atelier in Greenpoint, but the shop is as much (or more) of a sight for sore eyes as it ever was. Filled with the most beautiful textures and unpredictable light, the atelier still inspires me to whip my camera out. I picked up a new tea strainer and a few herbal blends to satisfy my nightly tea cravings – No. 12 Le Hammeau, No. 28 Mulberry Leaf, and No. 48 Pic du Midi. It's well worth the visit despite the somewhat inconvenient location.

Afternoon treat

I've been wanting to make madeleines for the longest time but just never had a madeleine pan. I don't know what took me so long, because they're pretty fool-proof fast and easy. And a little dangerous because they feel so light, but now I know how much butter and sugar actually goes into them. Yikes.



I used the recipe below, which was published in Issue 2 of Cherry Bombe, and this madeleine pan. One of the best parts about making these is how good your kitchen smells when you're zesting the lemon and then how good it smells when the madeleines are in the oven. Now I just need someone to take this plate away from me!

A grey morning

First, happy belated new year. I have no idea what 2015 has in store, but I'm optimistic and want to do bigger and better. January tends to be slow for me, allowing a good amount of time for more personal work, so I hope to take advantage of that and just kind of recenter myself after a busy Fall.

Though we've been seriously lacking in sunny days these past few weeks, there's a lovely moodiness to these grey days that I wanted to capture this morning. I'm beyond excited to have a dark wall again (it's Behr's Cracked Pepper by the way) and love the effect it has on this room now. I'm currently enjoying Lunch at the Shop by Peter Miller, and while the premise (the idea of making yourself a nice civilized lunch at your workplace) might not be directly applicable to my life since I work at home, I got it for recipe inspiration any way.

I've been throwing on this Acne sweater more times a week than not. It's super thick, petite-friendly with a bit of a cropped look in the front, and has this great side zipper detail. This particular pair of jeans marks my first foray into raw denim – I've been breaking them in since September and am looking forward to giving them their first wash come March or so. The added stretch helps them feel far more comfortable than the APCs I've tried on. Just don't wear them on any light-colored sofas!

I may have also found my new favorite orangish-red nail polish. It's 'Fire' by Dolce & Gabbana and so good. Just a bit more fun than a classic red.

Sweater / Jeans / Flats / Book