12.23.2013

Chez V Mini Home Tour - Inside

Let's take the Chez V mini holiday at home party inside.  Welcome to Chez V.  Grab yourself a bevy of choice and make yourself at home.   Really, I wish I could entertain you in real life, as few things bring me more joy than opening my home and table to others.  So this virtual peek will have to suffice.  Just imagine music, aromas from the kitchen, and copious amounts of adult beverages intermingled with laughter and perhaps even some inappropriate topics, all of which devolves into an impromptu kitchen dance party and you’ve just about got the real deal.











































Happiest of holidays to all of you, my dear friends!

All photos and styling by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V

12.20.2013

A Mini Holiday Home Tour of Chez V

Seasons Greetings, my friends.  This holiday season has been something.  A lot of good stuff interspersed with plenty of chaotic stress in pulling everything together.  I’ll get there.  As most of my Insta friends know, I have been decking the halls ‘round here.  I plan on taking you on a mini holiday at home tour of Chez V over the next few days.  Today we shall begin with the outside.



 


One of the most asked about features at Chez V is the Christmas Tree Porch Canopy of which I have been feeding sneak peeks on IG.  Well, people, here it is in all its glory.  I have done this twice before, and it never gets any easier.  Total pain in the ass territory but oh so worth it.  Click here for last year’s incarnation along with the story behind it.
































Pretending that we have escaped to Narnia, we don ours furs and often enjoy a light meal under the green, twinkling canopy even in the cold as the canopy tends to draw onlookers.  Because who doesn’t love an impromptu party during the holidays?!  If you have any questions regarding where, why, how, or when winetime is, feel free to ask in the comments.  I try to respond to all comments, as long as you are not a ‘no-reply’ status.

Cheers to you & yours!

kisses,  mrs. V

12.04.2013

Happy Birthday to Me



So yesterday was my birthday.  Blah blah blah.  Having entered that stage of my life where it is no longer polite to inquire about a woman’s age, I will not bore you with the details of my age.  Suffice it to say, that my idea of birthday luxury was a day to myself spent making stuff and starting on my holiday trimmings.
 
A decade ago I would have been gladly dancing on tables somewhere.  A few decades ago, I would have been adamant about the separation of church and state otherwise known as #Don’tYouDareLumpMyDecemberBirthdayintoChristmasorIWillCutYou. Ironically, yesterday, rather than shopping or getting my nails did or considering an Irish Car Bomb at noon, I happily chose to putter around the house, working on holiday orders, decorating the house for Christmas, and listening to Rikshaw Design’s pandora station. Admittedly, there were moments yesterday, like when a live Jack Johnson song came on, that I yearned for those care free days of day drinking and seeing live music, but they were fleeting and I was really just overjoyed to have the house all to myself to start on the tree.
 


















As to the trimmings for the big tree, of course I raided my pink and gold stash as my IG peeps saw last night.  Follow me.  Duh.  Perfect Christmas colors in my book.  Duh.  It was a perfect birthday day.  While I still have some rabbits to pull out of my Santa hat, I am digging this little start.

All photos and layouts by me.

kisses,  mrs. V

11.29.2013

The Food Chronicles - Maple Pumpkin Pie with Salted Pecan Brittle



Wishing you and yours a very lovely holiday weekend.  One of the highlights yesterday, aside from spending the day with my dearests and frigid impromptu late night sparklers was this maple pumpkin pie with salted pecan brittle.  For serious.  It is the cover pie on the November 2013 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  I would link to the recipe but after too many clicks and fruitless searches on BHG.com, I gave up.







Decided to make it yesterday morning on a whim and I am so glad that I eschewed our normal pumpkin pie for this.  The maple flavor in place of the typical trio of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves is aces and makes it dessert-worthy of the entire holiday season, not just Turkey Day.  Find yourself a copy of the November issue and try it.  You won’t be disappointed.  The sea salted pecan brittle alone is crazy good and I hate brittle.

All photos and layouts by me

kisses,  mrs.