In case you haven't heard...

Peppermint Bliss has moved.

The new address is:

www.peppermintbliss.com

Please change your bookmarks, the site has been redesigned and there are a lot of exciting new changes ahead, we hope to see you there soon!

Peppermint Bliss is getting a makeover!

Big News Blissies!

As of this post Peppermint Bliss will be "going dark" for two days while the entire site is overhauled. The current content should stay put, but there won't be any new posts for a bit.

I am also heading back to Chicago to see these people who I miss dearly.

We will be back up and better than ever hopefully by Thursday, however, certain features like "followers" will no longer work as they are specific to Blogger.

SO if you don't want to lose me either bookmark the page

or!

Become a Fan on Facebook

or!

Follow me on Twitter at BaileyQuin

I hope to see all of you back here when we return. The site is going to be infinitely better and easier to navigate, and we are adding a bunch of great new columns as well!

See you soon!

Clifford: Kitchen

I was being a little bit of a bitter Betty in regards to Clifford: The Big Red House while we were stuck in zoning hell, but now that we are free at last I am excited to bring you the plans for our kitchen!

I know these are hard to read, but here are the plans for the first floor. At the top you are looking at the entrance hall and the living room, which is open to the dining room. As you move back in the house down the hallway you pass a bathroom before getting to the kitchen at the back of the house.

Here is a close up of the kicthen layout. Because of the french doors there will be a lot of light which we want to take full advantage of.

Here is an initial drawing of the kitchen elevation looking toward the stove...

And then the ever important view from the kitchen sink...

I have posted this kitchen before. It is one of my alltime favorites, and we will definitely be keeping with this idea in our kitchen (think white cabinets, beveled subway tile) however the white carrera marble counter tops are just not the most practical with as much as I cook, and as much, ahem, red wine we have been known to consume.

But who doesn't love a white kitchen?

They are just so pure and inviting!

So now we are looking into alternative countertops, like these CaesarStone countertops from Ina Garten's kitchen of the year.

Or maybe we could switch it up and do a dark work island and keep the white countertops?

OR call a complete audible and go black with light countertops like Gwyneth!?

THEN I saw Tory Burch's fab apartment in Elle and decided that I too, must have high gloss painted floors in my kitchen.

What about this fun pattern?

Or YELLOW!?

House of Turquoise

Or plain bright blues?

I think regardless the details are really what will pull the space together and make it feel homey.

Christopher Peacock

Sarah Gilbane

And as always, if I haven't properly credited a photo please let me know! I love giving credit where credit is due, but a lot of these images have been in my "favorites" file forever, long before I had illusions of blogosphere notoriety.

REALLY!?!? With Seth and Amy

Why would a designer bother making this in any size other than "0".

Or amazonian freak?

I mean really people? REALLY?

Is this a look we are advocating these days?

Sparkle Plenty, Girlfriend!

New Years is fast approaching my friends.

No, I am not someone who advocates Christmas decorations before Halloween (live in the now, people) but I DO approve of thinking ahead fashionwise.

Sooo, HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Yes, it is that time of year, and I think any one of these fine sparkly pieces would be just fab with a glass of champagne.

Torn by Ronny Kobo

Torn by Ronny Kobo

Herve Leger

Herve Leger

Ashish

Ashish

Look at that BACK!

Ashish

Alice & Olivia

Phillip Lim

Well that takes care of that.

FINALLY,

After months of searching, I have found my wedding dress.

Now that the dress is taken care of I can concentrate on training

toucans to deliver the invitations to guests ala carrier pigeons

As well as purchasing the ever important Golden Goose from

Mr. Wonka.

Don't care how, I want it NOW!!!!

Downtown and a Movie

If you are in Houston head down to Discovery Green tonight for a screening of The Big Lebowski! It is an absolutely gorgeous evening for an outdoor movie. There will be music, trivia and costume contests, and beer all to celebrate the opening of the new Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes.

Click here for more information.

Hope to see you there!

Happy Friday!

More highlights from Taylor Swift being funny. My favorite little* lady is blowin' up!

Congrats on the CMAs!

*She is 5'11", I am 5'2", hmmm

Bad Driving PSA

Twilight parody, my girl does a mean Kristin Stewart impression.

Ellen + my beloved TayTay= pure comedy gold

Is this a sweet dream, or a beautiful nightmare?

I'm going to get personal with you guys here for a second. I have nightmares.

Well not really nightmare(s).

But one, terrifying, recurring nightmare that haunts my dreams on a weekly basis, and has for years now.

It goes a little something like this.

Somehow, someway, I have accidentally made it as a contestant on the popular Bravo show Top Chef. I have the same meager cooking skills I have in real life, I have no clue what I am doing and I am completely out of my league. Every new challenge gives me a near fatal panic attack because I have no.clue.what.is.going.on. The ratings sky rocket as clips of my fumbling around in the kitchen seem to amuse viewers. And somehow, I keep not getting eliminated. I am DYING to leave, I am always on the bottom, but I keep sticking around like a cockroach.

This season, I watched as my nightmare came to life in the form of Robin.

Robin was just hopeless, she was on the bottom of nearly every challenge and incited everything from quiet disdain to all out rage in her fellow competitors.

I mean look at her, she just LOOKS tragic!

Anyway, the madness came to an end last night as Robin was FINALLY sent home. I, personally, think she threw the challenge, but either way she is gone and the real life manifestation of my bad dreams is over.

Thank God.

Now only the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin, Jen, and Eli remain.

Wait, Eli?

What the hell is an Eli?

Have you been on the show the whole time, you sneaky monkey?

I never noticed you before.

Huh, well done.

My Favorite Things: Guilt Free Mac n' Cheese

My friend Cassie posted a pretty amazing recipe for a grown up mac n' cheese the other day on her blog, and it really got me jonesin' for the mac. This is a problem since I am on strict self inflicted orders to refrain from such indulgences these days in an attempt to shed some of the weight I gained as a cripple. Luckily, I have this little beauty of a recipe to scratch the itch without having to feel super guilty about it afterwards.

Ladies and Gentlemen (are there gentlemen reading this!?)

I bring you my Healthy Mac n' Cheese

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Pasta- I prefer something like a shell or elbow to hold up to the sauce, but whatever you like will do

1 cup frozen butternut squash puree thawed- you can get this in the frozen food aisle, but get the puree rather than the cubes

1 cup soy milk

1 cup good parmigiano reggiano grated

1 cup low fat cheddar (or another yellow cheese) grated plus 3 tablespoons extra

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp Chalula hot sauce- I actually put in more like 1 tablespoon but I like things a bit spicey-er

Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350, boil a pot of water to cook pasta shells, and put a large sauté pan on low heat.

2. Heat thawed butternut squash puree in the saute pan, add soy milk, parmesan and the cup of cheddar cheese stirring together until combined into a creamy sauce. Meanwhile cook pasta until al dente.

3. Add salt, pepper, mustard, worcestershire, chalula off heat to taste.

4. Combine cheesey sauce and pasta, make sure the pasta is really coated, and put into a baking dish. Sprinkle additional 3 tbspns of cheddar on top and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese on top is melty and delish.

This is one of my favorite recipes, it is much healthier than most mac n cheeses without the cream and with less cheese, but you really don't miss it because of the butternut squash puree. Even if you hate vegetables or aren't a particularly healthy eater, you will like this. I served it once to a strict anti-vegetarian and he loved it and had no idea it had squash in it at all!

Enjoy!

Puppies Behind Bars

In honor of our veterans, I encourage you all to head over to Puppies Behind Bars and make a donation to this amazing program.

The program has prison inmates train puppies to be guide dogs for

wounded veterans. The cost of training these dogs is usually prohibitive, $25,000, and the need for these dogs is high as they are particularly

well suited for the PTSD that so many of our veterans suffer from.

Good gets better as the experience of training the puppies has shown to be rehabilitative for the prisoners as well.

Those that owe the most society giving back to those who society owes

the most too.

I love America.

Empire State of Mind...

I'm feeling especially patriotic today, the sheer awesomeness of our military does that to me sometimes.

Another awesome thing?

The USS New York.

If you want to understand the true spirit of the United States I can think of few better examples than taking the tragedy of the September 11 attacks and literally turning it into something that will help strengthen our nation.

For more on the USS New York and its journey to pay its respects to the Twin Towers from which it was forged, go here.

Happy Veterans Day!

There are few things that fill me with a greater sense of pride than the honor of living in a country with a military like ours. There are no words to describe the gratitude I feel in my heart for the men and women who serve in the United States Military, so instead I will leave you with the following videos.

If you don't weep like a wee little baby then you may want to go to the doctor to make sure that you do, in fact, have a beating heart sustaining you.

I am not ashamed to admit this is what I looked like watching them:

And yes I am wearing a shirt you sicko. It's 80 degrees in Houston, a tank top is appropriate.

More videos here.

Happy Birthday Martha!

A few weeks ago Martha Stewart Weddings had a gathering to celebrate their 15th year anniversary.

I say "gathering" because I wasn't there.

Otherwise it would be a party.

My lovely wedding dress designer, Amsale was there.

As was Preston Bailey!

At the PLAZA no less. It is like they intentionally were torturing me.

*can you tell I am an only child?*

They had adorable tastey treats.

Yum.

And beautiful flowers.

And overall, it seemed like a pretty wonderful event, fitting for a pretty wonderful publication!

For more pictures and info on the event head the Martha Stewart Weddings

Color Me Happy

This is a pretty cool idea for the non-OCD parent.

Dear Australia,

Love,

John Mayer

Cosigned by Me

A funky ladylike abode: Nanette Lepore's NYC Home

With shelter magazines dropping like flies these days (RIP Met Home) I have started delving deep into my binders I have kept for years with tears from my favorite home spreads for inspiration. Like this article from Elle Decor awhile back featuring designer Nanette Lepore's New York Apartment.

I have said it before and I will say it again, there is a way to do white and make it look warm and interesting.

The different finishes and textures in these spaces keep it fresh, not sterile...

I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I have to admit, Met Home seemed to be featuring a lot of uber modern hospital room esque designs lately...

I love how the color palette is subtle but still offers continuity with the pops of green in each room.

And I LOVE this red kitchen! What a fun surprise!

I had filed this room as part of the same spread, but I still don't quite believe this is the same apartment, I love both looks, and I especially love that Lepore's vision and talents are not limited to working within a white palette. If I had a study I would do something very similar, really go for it with the wood panelling. And I love the quirkiness of the chandelier and Eva Peron portrait above the fireplace.

Lepore's Bedroom

What I especially remember from this spread originally: Her FABulous closet.

And adorable little girls room...

Not to mention this jewel of a patio?

I think I could handle NYC in an oasis like this.