Yumi and Laurie Blog

I am giving the official heads up…Restaurant week in New York is scheduled for October 18^th through the 25^th which means it could be happening in your city right NOW.  There is no time better then the present to make those rezzies at places you have been dying to try.  This is not necessarily the week to find and try the hole in the wall places we all know and love, but instead to immerse yourself in the riches of multiple course dining and possibly wine pairings.

I have had the opportunity to live in many cities and I know that New York is not the only city to host such a fabulous event, so I thought I would take the guess work out of it for you and send you a few places you can find information for your local cities.

Los Angeles with its vast array of restaurant selections has a fabulous list of participants.  This website alone will make your mouth water.  One recommendation: Susan Feniger’s Street.  To check out a great review of this restaurant see Dana’s Bites as she is absolutely in LOVE with this resto.  Another to try if you are in the mood for Mexican (and traditional Mexican at that) is Loteria Grill in Hollywood.  My understanding is that Chef Jimmy Shaw has thoroughly delighted Los Angeles-based eaters yet again with this new incarnation of his much beloved food stand. 

Washington DC has steadily become one of the new up-and-coming food kingdoms.  It is now home to not only Jose Andres but also to Wolfgang Puck who has newly opened The Source Restaurant, a three level affair located in the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue.

These few recommendations are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the exciting food and wine options that are out there in your city.  To check the dates and participating restaurants in your area you can do a Google search for 2009 Restaurant Week or check your AOL City Guide.  Please be sure to give us feedback as we travel quite a bit and we love to try new restaurants in each city we visit…leave your comments below. 

 Bon Appétit!!!!

If you haven’t already seen it, get up and RUN to the movie theater and see the movie Julie & Julia.  First, I absolutely LOVED both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in this movie…they definitely get my vote for an Academy Award.  Meryl Streep played Julia Child to a tee, with her walk, the way she spoke and that laugh…it was pretty spot-on.  The movie itself really makes you feel alive and not only that, it really makes you want to get out and start doing exactly what it is you love to do in life. 

But the food….mmmm…from the very first dish they made on screen my mouth was watering, I found myself having a hard time concentrating on the rest of the movie as the dishes looked marvelous.  But one of them in particular really grabbed a hold of me….The Bruschetta.   Watching them bite into those big juicy tomatos and the juice running down their chins with the large piece of crusty bread made me almost faint with hunger.  I have had Bruschetta before both from the store and at restaurants…but in all honesty, it tasted just like salsa to me.

SO, of course, I decided to venture out and make it from scratch.   I went to a market called Fresh Market and bought all the Heirloom tomatoes I could get my hands on.  I ended up with a mixed variety of small yellow, red, and green ones (these looked so interesting I had to taste them on my way home in the car and they were wonderfully sweet, I felt as if I were eating a piece of candy), and then I also got big plump yellow tomatoes as well as beef steak tomatoes, fresh basil, and the finest Pecorino cheese I could find. 

As I mixed the tomatoes and saw the wonderful array of colors I just knew it was going to be good.  I gently toasted the bread in the pan with olive oil and then dressed the pieces like an artist.  I felt like I was in the movie Like Water for Chocolate as I added as much love into this dish as I could muster up.  I slowly and precisely grated the cheese on top of each one and tenderly placed them on a long white platter to show off their colors.  I was so proud of how well it turned out that I had to take a picture of it!

I decided it would pair well with a sparkling wine so I pulled out a special bottle of Champagne from my collection and as everyone sunk their teeth in, there was complete and utter silence….

That’s a pretty good indication of a successful dish if I do say so myself!  Give it a try.   So simple, but so good.  

I have a REALLY good one for you today.  If you watch The Rachel Zoe Project this one will really get you going.  Check it out… 

TGIF!!!  We love Autumn Fridays because it usually means there is a festival of some sort going on during the weekend; and if we are lucky there will be TWO, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Festivals are a great way to get out and enjoy the newly crisp weather and to partake in some of the best food one can find…the bonus being that is locally grown, baked, pressed, or brewed.  Not only that, it is a great way to spark the creativity fuse.  There are usually various local vendors hawking their handmade goods along with local artists and artisans.  

So in the interest of keeping this short and sweet, every town and every state has a local guide website or “AOL Citysearch” page that can be searched for this type of event.  If you haven’t already, pick up the newspaper and head straight to the Weekend section and see what’s cooking.  Then all you need to do is put on your walking shoes and head out to one of those festivals….you never know what you may find!  Have a wonderful weekend!  

These beautiful, off-white eco-friendly bean bags are surprisingly stylish (a far cry from those bean bag chairs of yesteryear complete with animal prints and crazy colors).  The fabric is a combination of paper, yarn and cotton which makes it dust resistant and anti-static.  So unlike the bean bags you remember, there is no need to worry about those little Styrofoam pellets escaping the bag and sticking to everything in sight.  The bags come in two sizes, small (My) and Large (Roo) and they seem to have a bit more sturdiness to them. Flash forward to our new office with the EcoTimber Brazilian Cherry Wood floors…

What a fabulous place to host our meetings; creating that Zen feeling that we all aspire to, kick-off-the-shoes-bring-your- cup-of-java-over-and-stretch-out kind of meeting.  Just looking at this photo alone the process of creativity begins; the calming deep breaths and that feeling of meditation that go with it.  Ah, to have such a peaceful workspace is something every business should strive for.  Inspiring!

HGTV, one of our favorite channels, is always so inspiring.  We find great new ways to Redecorate, Reuse and Recycle.  Today as they renovated a woman’s home office, we were stopped in our tracks to hear of a new type of flooring.  Now this may have been out for a while but we are just getting the word on it and it sounds great…EcoTimber. 

More than beautiful flooring in wood or bamboo, the company has been dedicated to forest protection and healthy homes for more then a decade.  They have teak, wood, bamboo, walnut, Brazilian cherry (my personal fave), and many others.  The flooring comes in a variety of colors and styles and it is most certainly a DIY project.  We love nothing more then to come across something that is sustainable AND user friendly. 

Check out their website at http://www.Ecotimber.com.  Only problem is, they are not sold everywhere so you may have to special order.  Hmm…now it’s got us thinking about all of the different ways we may be able to do our office floors over…and get new furniture…and office accessories…office supplies…

A girl can dream, right??

When I was younger my mother would go to the card store and pick out a card for me.  She would write it at the store and then on her way home stop at the post office and mail it to our house.  I learned at a young age that receiving a letter in the mail box, tearing open the envelope and pulling the card out of its protection could make EVERYTHING better; even more so then warm chocolate chip cookies and milk. 

I thank God I acquired this gene from my mother.  I can spend hours in a card shop or a paper store searching for that perfect card.  It has become a guilty pleasure, so I don’t usually walk out with just one card I usually walk out with a brown bag filled with them.  I never know who they are for or when they will be sent but I always have them on hand. Funny thing is, the universe sees to it that the perfect occasion will arise and one of those beloved cards (to which I keep in a special box reserved for stationary) will serve its purpose. 

Unfortunately my closest friends are geographically undesirable so I have a good purpose to keep a card collection.  I have to admit I have not been very good at sending anything lately; however, I am becoming more organized with my addresses so “ladies watch out the storm of cards is a comin’.”  I love when my cards are received; it is so unexpected that I can just picture in my mind the smile that spreads across the recipients face as they open the envelope. Receiving a card is almost as good as receiving a flower delivery because with the technological age, very rarely do we receive anything that isn’t a text message, email message or some sort of alert from one of our many devices. 

So I encourage you to send a card, on a random day not just our typical holidays of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Valentines Day, but today, just because.  September is a time for new beginnings.

For some great stationary shopping our favorite places are:

Kate’s Paperie:

http://www.Katespaperie.com

The Paper Source:

http://www.Paper-Source.com

Sycamore Street Press

http://www.sycamorestreetpress.com

Jack Cards

http://www.jackcards.com

Ella Studio

http://www.ella-studio.com

Not sure what is really happening in this clip, or why these two girls are running into this gym onto moving treadmills, but it’s funny nonetheless.  Enjoy… 

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We woke up this September 11^th morning in New York, to a somber day of pouring rain; the turn of the seasons and the start of fall have begun to take place.  For the past few days we have had some unseasonable temperatures, where the air turns crisp at night and the sun starts to set a little earlier. 

We love this time of year in the northeast, where it is still warm enough during the day to wear skirts with a long sleeved top and at night jeans and a sweatshirt.  This is the best time to be on the beach, the kids are back in school, the beaches are peaceful, and the sand has a chill to it when you sink your bare feet in.  Coming home from work at 5 or 6 pm lends enough time to unwind before the sun sets and dinner needs to be prepared.  It is the perfect time of day at the beach and our favorite, a good book a glass of wine and a chair parked right at the waters edge, nothing could be better for the soul.  This is where my blanQuette comes in handy, as the chill comes off the water I wrap it around my legs and cuddle up, listening to the waves and the early evening crickets. 

When it does come time to head home, I shake the sand from my blanQuette, fold it up tight in hopes to seal in the scent of the salty air so later when I spread it out on my bed to sleep, I take in the scent of the beach and relax into restful nights sleep. 

If you haven’t already had the cool temperatures creep in on you, you still have time to prepare.  Start your fall off by treating yourself to a piece that will give you that homey feeling.  We are having a summer clearance sale on all of our merchandise, take a peek http://www.yumiandlaurie.com 

It is officially fall, and that means time for a revamp in the home office; creating that perfect workspace will aid in continuous inspiration for the workday.  We tend to underestimate the power of what a facelift to our space can do to us mentally.   While you are at it you just may decide to do the entire house.  Below five tips on how to update your space to make going into the shorter work days seem less daunting: 

1. Take those dusty file cabinets out and paint them a wonderful color.   For this season we love the pear green shades, golden yellows, and the warm reds that remind us of fall apple picking.  Even better use an eco-friendly paint such as Ecos organic paint: http://www.Ecospaint.com  or Fresh Aire Choice Paint: http://www.FreshaireChoicePaint.com
2. Reorganize the book shelf: Either by color of books or by subject.  Make it fun…turn books horizontally, being sure to keep the heavier books on the bottom and stack.  Add photos to the stacks; add a vase or fun clock.  I recently did this to my work space and I have to say I feel so much lighter…before I felt like I was in a stuffy library. Here, a blog post that inspired my reorganization, and because I am a color machine.http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/01/25/organizing-bookshelves-by-color/
3. To go along with Tip # 2, if you are feeling really inspired, make those fun book covers we used to create when we were children.  It is fall after all, and school is starting.  Use colorful material that you found at a yard sale or scraps of wallpaper lying around the house.  Almost anything can be turned into a book cover just keep it Green and keep it with the theme. 

4. The most important piece is the desk, where the majority of the time is spent.  Remove all the clutter…if the desk needs a facelift paint it one of those fabulous colors we touched on in Tip #1.  Take some old mason jars, or pint glasses or even some old china that may be cracked or chipped, fill them with your supplies. Make creative labels or fill them with colored marbles.   Find something that relaxes you, something you enjoy to aide in the release of stress and incorporate that into the layout of your desk.  I added feathers, they are soft to touch and look pretty. 

5. Don’t forget the walls.  Now, we all know that painting the interior of the office may not be feasible nor time conservative.  So to replace paint get some inexpensive picture frames in all sizes and shapes.    Pick out inspiring pictures, clips from magazines or travel books of places you have been or places you want to go, designs or people that inspire you. Hang them all over the walls so when you feel like work is getting the best of you, remember it is work that helps you achieve those great things in the photos!

Good luck transforming your workspace.  Not only will you love the end result, but you’ll have SUCH a feeling of accomplishment after the fact.  Oh…and don’t forget to grab your Y&L blanQuette to throw over your desk chair for the prefect eco-friendly finishing touch!