ice cream sandwich

Nothing says summer like ice cream.  This past week in both the Toronto Star and Toronto Life magazine, I have read ice cream sandwich reviews.  Apparently, ice cream sandwiches are getting some press and recognition in Toronto newspapers.

I love the idea of serving ice cream sandwiches at events.  Not only are they easy to eat (minus drips), they are fulfilling, fun and customizable to your guests likes.  Whether it is choosing an innovative casing like a brioche, brownie,  traditional cookie or wafer, choosing a non-traditional ice cream or customizing the outside a la ice cream sandwich rolled in gummy bears, chocolate chips, pop corn, or caramel, you can have a lot of fun with these desserts.

Here are a couple of ideas I like that I have seen in the blogsphere:

via spicy ice cream "chocolate chili spicy ice cream sandwiches" from David Lebowitz

 

via bon appetit "chocolate dipped ice cream sandwich"

via saucy sprinkles

via tartlette "vanilla bean chocolate ice cream sandwich"

via toronto life "ice cream brioche"

posters

Just under two weeks away until I take possession of my condo and renovation vacation.  Leading up to September 1st, as you know, I’ve been stock piling all sorts of items from tiles, to wood, paint, an entire Ikea kitchen, a couch, some eames chairs and a vitra table.  Next on my list is posters/wall art.  I made the decision to support independent artists/graphic designers and will attempt to decorate my walls only using the work of artists that I find on Etsy/online.   So far, here are some of my choices:

love poster by madebygirl.com

 

the photographer via fotofoto

via the big harumph

frutti di bosco

A colleague of mine at work celebrated a birthday this past week.  As a foodie and an all around general curious person, I asked what type of birthday cake she would be having to mark the celebration with her family.  Rather than your typical chocolate or vanilla answer, I was happy I asked as I learned about a new cake called frutti di bosco.  The Italian tart like frutti di bosco is part cake, filled with Chantilly cream and topped with berries.  It looks amazing. I also learned that frutti di bosco is also used to refer to things that have mixed berries in it aka, frutti di bosco gelato or frutti di bosco cheese cake.  Below is the frutti di bosco my colleage was referring to.   Looks like a great celebratory cake.

via cafe palermo

via cafe trendy

via vinoglocal.it

wire lampshades

I like these wire lampshades:

via skonahem.com

pinwheels

It is so interesting how you find inspirational things.  This post took a couple twists and turns to arrive at decided to talk about pinwheels.  As a kid I remember having a plastic pinwheel made of a shiny green and silver colour.  Ahhh simple entertainment for kids.  The 80s were the good old days!  While I was checking back on the latest and greatest from Amy Atlas, I read about a guest post who crafted an event in fashion brand, lily pulitzer colours, pink and green.  The person who put the kids birthday party together (from blog, kori clark designs) used pinwheels to decorate the table and had them made in the lily pulitzer aesthetic (see picture below).   Thankfully Kori included her sources which lead me to Twirlie Whirlie, a home made paper accessory company that seems to have a unique talent for creating and designing unique pinwheels among other products that you can browse/shop for on their website here.  This is a cool, crafty company.  They make their own pinwheels out of colourful (scrapbook-looking) paper.  Just the thing to add to a wedding or birthday party to make the event extra special.

via twirlie whirlies

via twirlie whirlies

via twirlie whirlie

Lily Pulitzer inspired pinwheel via kori clark designs

drybar: los angeles

You’ve seen these places in every major city. The popularity of blow dry bars started to gain traction about two years ago around the same time the global economy took a nose dive.   The  allure of a blow dry bar is two-fold.  Firstly, the concept is fairly simple. No cuts, no colour, just blow drying hair.  Secondly, it is cheaper to get your hair blow dried at a “blow dry bar” instead of a regular hair dresser (for the most part).  So when people feel the need to cut back and reduce expenses but are still looking for a bit of indulgence, an hour experience at a blow dry bar can be divine. 

One in particular caught my attention.  Drybar in Los Angeles has a great website, blog, and light, contemporary, interior design which I love.  The crew behind Drybar comes loaded with creative talents, bursting at the seams, most from different disciplines outside of hairdressing which is a great way to build a successful business strategy in my opinion. Not only did I want to write a little something on Drybar for its interior design, drybar also hosts events and parties in the salon- think birthday parties, brunches, bachelorettes.  What a fun idea.

via swell city guide

via swell city guide

via your daily thread

via the atkin report

Ikea Wedding

Lo Bjurulf, Swedish stylist with Agent Bauer teamed up with Ikea to create some inspirational wedding scenes. And who says you have to spend a lot of money on a wedding or an event for it to look fabulous?  Below are some of my favourites from the portfolio of wedding scenes.  Each one is more romantic than the next. It’s hard to believe that Ikea products fit so well into a wedding scene.

rainbow cake

It rained early this morning in Toronto.   Thank goodness for rain as the humidity has been stiffling the past two weeks.   As the sun started to come out, I was hoping to see a rainbow cast across the sky.  Instead, I found a great rainbow cake on blog, raspberri cupcake.  Look how delicious it looks!  There is a recipe and description of the cake’s inspiration, cake how-to’s, a cake recipe and best practices on the raspberri cupcake blog if you are interested in giving it a shot.  Now I need to find a good reason to make a rainbow cake. 

via rasberri cupcakes

kitchen italia

Kitchen Italia looks delicious.  They have 100 types of fresh, homemade pasta and check out the design of the place!  The wood is very soothing.  Kitchen Italia is meant to be cheap, plentiful and innovative when it comes to pasta dishes.  Currently there are two outposts in London, one in Westfield and the other in Covent Garden. 

 

via fluid foundation

via a212

via kitchen italia

cupcake in a jar

I have heard of hot chocolate in a jar, chicken soup mix in a jar, even chocolate chip cookie mix in a jar, but not this.   This is a very smart wedding guest gift- a cupcake in a jar!  That is a lot of goodness stuffed into a mason jar.  Who would have thought?  (via rp scissors)