movie inspiration - sabrina (1995)

"Once upon a time, on the north shore of Long Island, not far from New York, there was a very, very large mansion, almost a castle, where there lived a family by the name of Larrabee. There were servants inside the mansion, and servants outside the mansion; boatmen to tend the boats, and six crews of gardeners: two for the solarium, the rest for the grounds, and a tree surgeon on retainer. There were specialists for the indoor tennis courts, and the outdoor tennis courts, the outdoor swimming pool, and the indoor swimming pool. And over the garage there lived a chauffeur by the name of Fairchild, imported from England years ago, together with a Rolls Royce; and a daughter, named Sabrina." (Opening credits, Sabrina, 1995)

Last weekend, I stumbled across the 1995 remake of one of Audrey Hepburn's classics, Sabrina (1954). If you haven't seen it, I'll give a quick synopsis. The daughter of the chauffer to a wealthy Long Island family is infatuated with the family's youngest playboy son. In an attempt to get over him, she takes a job at Vogue in Paris, and while miserable at first, ends up finding herself. She returns home, more grown up and sure of herself, only to suddenly attract the notice of the younger son, who doesn't recognize her. The only problem is, the younger son is currently engaged. Not only that, but with the engagement comes a very large merger which will make the family's company a very large amount of money. Will all be for not? Enter the older son, sent in to do damage control. If he can whisk Sabrina away, all with be back on track. Or maybe he just might fall in love himself and ruin everything.

It's a classic love story. And it's well done. But the real reason I want to share it is because it's just the most beautiful movie to watch, set wise. We're always swooning over anything Nancy Meyers touches, and I thought, I have to share this one. I know you'll love it just as much as I did! 

One thing that struck me when I was watching it was how, despite being a remake, they made it feel so much older. And that's why I think it's so amazing that, having now carefully re-watched through the scenes, with just a few minor tweaks, it could be something so currently in style. It's a movie for the grandmillenial if there ever was one. and I think you'll wholeheartedly agree.

First, it's set on Long Island, in a grand old mansion. It's gorgeous.

The chauffeur, and his daughter, live in the apartment above the garage. Having chosen to become a chauffeur to allow himself more time to read, his apartment is completely quaint. Stacks of books litter every surface and the green sofa and tartan drapes add just a touch of masculinity.

There's a sort of upstairs downstairs aspect to the story as well, as it follows both the wealthy Larrabee family, and includes glimpses into the lives of their servants. This allows for a few scenes in the kitchen which is just beyond. I just love the old pine table (these scenes remind me of Downton Abbey!) as well as the antique work bench. The cabinets with the lead windows and the bracket details are timeless. And I just love the stone tops with the large wooden boards for working on. Not shown is a huge antique stove that appears for about three seconds, but I sat and stared at for a few minutes because that whole little scene is just so perfect.

Then there are the few hallway scenes in which we get a glimpse into the mansion, and I think you'll agree, with a few tweaks it's easily something you'd find in the pages of Veranda. The large tapestry and the hints of blue and white... 

I love that the vintage Jag is green.

Then, as if the views of Long Island aren't enough, she leaves for Paris, and we follow her around as she finds herself. There are a few classic cafe scenes, and a few other glimpses of the beautiful city.

The fact that she's working as an assistant at Vogue just makes it all the more perfect.

Then there are the party scenes. The Larrabees are known for the parties. While the party scenes are dreamy, even the glimpses of the preparations are satisfying to watch (like the quick peak at the pails of peonies and roses and vibernum - or the birthday gift Linus pulls out tied with green velvet ribbon!)

The parties are lovely - the blue and white striped tents, the twinkle lights, the champagne, the white tuxes and ball gowns, the orchestra, all on the estate.

The morning after is even gorgeous!

So we have long island, and scenes in Paris, and then a quick jaunt to Martha's Vineyard by private plane to view the family's cottage.

There are two "dates" that Sabrina and Linus share that are also perfect. The first, a clambake on the beach by candlelight while on Martha's Vineyard, and the second, an intimate Moroccan dinner on the floor. They spend the evening getting to know each other, eating with their hands and falling in love.

And while the age difference is maybe not quite as apparent in this remake, it's definitely there. Sabrina has just sort of discovered herself as a woman, likely in her early twenties, whereas Linus is the very successful, greying businessman. But then he takes his glasses off, and he's always wearing a bowtie, and you just kind of forget.

If you love watching movies that are just as wonderful to watch for the sets as they are for their storyline, I definitely recommended this version of Sabrina. It may not be as good as the original, but in my opinion, the sets alone make it a new favourite.

(All photos are from the movie, Sabrina which is currently available on Amazon Prime.)

open shelves in the kitchen

One of the projects on our list of things to finish on the house was to build open shelves in our kitchen. Because we repurposed the two existing cabinets that were in the home before we purchased it, we don't have a great deal of cupboard space. I don't mind, as I enjoy arranging my dishes and serving ware on display.  Finding the right style of shelf however, proved more difficult than I imagined it would be, as I couldn't quite find the style I was looking for. I wanted a substantial bracket that had a pretty silhouette to it, and I wanted shelves that were extra deep. The 12" depth allows me to not only stack wider pieces, like dinner plates and cake stands, it also allows me to layer pieces in front of each other, which I find visually makes the shelves much more interesting to look at.

We had our carpenter build a bracket that I had sketched, and cut large pine boards to our custom dimensions. The original design was inspired by Tessa of Nine & Sixteen. Though for anyone asking, I have seen very similar ones, also available to order extra deep, from Home Depot online. Whenever I'm styling shelves, as with so many other things, it takes a bit of tweaking and adjusting before I feel like I've found what I'm happy with. And of course, in time, it will change again, especially as the seasons change. I enjoy the few pieces of brown transferware and a couple pumpkins for autumn, but they'll likely change again come Christmas.

I think a good shelf style includes variety, but also uniform and balance. Mixing heights and depths is aesthetically pleasing. I try to mix a variety of shades of white, from more creamier dishes to cooler white ironstone. And because most are white, I like to add pieces that have pretty details like ornate handles and pretty patterns. I don't even mind a few pieces that are damaged, as usually having them turned a certain way can conceal that damage. Both of these pieces on the bottom right are significantly damaged, but you can't tell.

I also like adding texture, like these rattan highball glasses and my bamboo flatware.

The shelves are quite high, so high in fact that I need a chair to reach the top shelf at nearly 8' high. But the items on the top shelf aren't ones I use often, so I only need to reach to clean them occasionally. The height is also perfect as the ceiling in this part of the kitchen is vaulted and 18' high, so the higher mounted shelves help draw your eye upwards. The also balance the large, mounted cabinet on the opposite side of the kitchen. Having a lot of height to work with also meant that I could space them slightly higher apart. This is perfect for being able to stack items one on top of another, and also, to be able to stand larger old platters behind things.

I will eventually add a small strip along the back to keep the platters from slipping, but they were out. For now, thought they don't move, I made sure to put enough weight in front in the event they did slide forward accidentally.

Here you can see the profile of the bracket. Originally we were going to do a solid bracket, but given the extra depth, and the weight of the dishes, we decided to do a bracket in this design as it's a lot more strong.

I will remove the pumpkins this week. It's funny, I didn't realize until I was editing these photos that the one pumpkin has started rotting from the inside! You can't tell as clearly in person as you can in a bright photo.

While most of these are antique pieces, some of you have messaged for sources,

so I've listed what I can below.

White Dish Set - Antique White by Mikasa

Footed White Bowl and Cake Plate (on top shelf) - Martha Stewart for Macy's

Vintage Bamboo Cutlery - @baltimorevernacular

Rattan High Ball Glasses - Monika Hibbs Home

sunset at peggy's cove

The first time we saw Peggy's Cove it was late March. It was grey and you couldn't tell if it was rain or  icy spray being whipped off the water. The waves crashing into the rocks at the base of the lighthouse could be seen over the tops of the hills as you drove into the cove, even before you even saw the water swirling white and fierce. We couldn't actually get in to see it because it was barricaded off for Covid, but even at a distance, it was still something to behold.

Now that things have reopened (with precautions), we decided to drive the lighthouse route again and see it up close. We arrived just before the sun started setting, and unlike our first visit, the water was unusually calm. It isn't until you're standing on the rocks that you can fully grasp their scale. These giant boulders seem to have been hurled up from the ocean and thrown on top of one another like mere pebbles. The boys ran wildly all over, climbing and jumping around, laughing and trying to outdo each other until the sun disappeared and it was time to make our way home.

As we made one last loop around, the sky was brilliant orange and pink, the pools of calm water in the inlets reflecting the sunset perfectly.

It's a beautiful place.

Legend says that on a stormy October night, sometime in the mid-1800's, a schooner ran hard aground. With the powerful waves and the sleet and the fog, all aboard were lost, save one young woman who managed to swim ashore. Her name was Margaret, or "Peggy" to those who knew her. She never left the area, and eventually married a local man. Having quite the tale, she became well known, and over time, people began to refer to it as Peggy's Cove.

baked pumpkin french toast

Sunday mornings, in our home, are slow mornings. They're for sipping coffee while flipping pancakes and whisking eggs and crisping bacon - a big breakfast to sit down and enjoy together before heading to church. There are some Sunday mornings however, when I don't have time to sit and spend an hour at the stove (or don't feel like it!). This is the perfect breakfast for that kind of Sunday morning. The kind where you'll be spending a great deal of time getting Thanksgiving dinner ready, and the thought of doing another big meals is just a bit overwhelming. Or maybe you have guests, and you want something special to serve, but would still like to sit and visit over coffee? Being able to make this the night before means that by the time your coffee has finished brewing, the oven has already preheated and you've popped it in!

I tried this recipe for Pumpkin French Toast first, and then tweaked it, which I will post below. The first was tasty, but it was for doing one at a time on the stove top. I wanted something I could bake in the oven - in this case, in a 9" cake pan. I also tried it in a 9" x 13" baking dish and it worked well. The trick was good old parchment paper. I simply lined a greased cake pan, fanned all the dipped bread as best as I could, and then baked it. To remove, I simply lifted it out of the pan, peeled away the parchment and quickly set it on a cake plate.

I prefer Brioche when making my French toast, so that's what I used for this. Also, while this is called Pumpkin French Toast, the pumpkin flavour is subtle. It's really more of just a lovely autumn flavoured French toast.

Baked Pumpkin French Toast

Set aside 16 slices of brioche. Roughly a large loaf.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the following together:

5 large eggs

2/3 cup of cream (you could use milk)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (pure, not pie filling)

3 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Quickly soak a few slices of day old brioche and then arrange in buttered and lined dish. Repeat, until all slices have been arranged. It was easiest for me to do about 10 slices around outside, up the sides to make an outer edge. Then, tuck the remaining 6 slices on the inside, between every other outer piece or so, to make a tighter inner circle that is overlapped. Really, this isn't so important, it's just how I preferred it. You could even just line them up in rows in a square baking dish. Pour whatever liquid is remaining evenly over the top.

Cover with tin foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350' for about 35 minutes, or until puffed and no longer soggy. I removed the tinfoil for another 5 minutes or so of baking to crisp up the edges a bit.

Remove after a minute of cooling, and place on a serving plate. Serve warm with syrup and whipped cream. I added a splash of maple bourbon to mine.

The first time I tried it, I added pecans to the top. I enjoyed that, but the boys aren't crazy about them, so I left them off this time.

I liked that we could just cut wedges and add a dollop of cream. It was a really simple thing to put together and an even easier breakfast to serve the next morning - perfect for the holidays!

a saturday in downtown halifax

I had every intention of sharing this day with you a month ago, but somehow, an entire month has passed, and doing so had completely escaped my mind. This was from the beginning of September. We had decided to take the boys for the night into the city. We had some errands to run, so we booked a hotel room, not far from the Public Gardens. We ate pizza in bed and stayed up late watching a movie. Then in the morning, we picked up breakfast and brought it to the gardens. We ate while the boys ran up and down the paths and flung quarters into the fountain. We walked the historic district, then went down to the farmer's market at the port. I even managed to pop into a new (to me) shop downtown while the boys swam back at the hotel before check out. It was a really lovely day. While I love living in a smaller town, I also love that the city isn't too far away - for days just like this. I thought I would share how I love to spend a Saturday in the city.

The Public Gardens are always a favourite. There's something about the quiet in the midst of the bustle of the city.

It's the perfect place to start the day. Grab a coffee and a pastry, and take an hour to wander. Watch the ducks as they nest along the bank of the pond, then head along the alley of trees towards the main gate. When your coffee is finished, wander down Spring Garden Rd, towards the waterfront. When you reach Queen St, pop into 31 Westgate for a quick look around.

Finding this was such a wonderful surprise! There's just so much to admire.

From there, continue to head down Spring Garden Rd. We walked through The Old Burying Grounds and then around the Government House.

Having been founded in 1749, there are so many historic homes and buildings in this area. I love wandering around these blocks.

On Saturdays, down at the Seaport, which is just a few blocks further, there's a farmer's market year 'round. A Saturday market is something I just love.

If you had the rest of the afternoon, I recommend continuing your walk up around Queen Street. There's a great book shop called Schooner Books, not mentioned a couple streets of charming old homes.

Because we don't get to the city very often, we usually head out in the afternoon, as the ride home generally requires a stop at Costco. But there are a few breweries to enjoy in the city, as well as a number of great places to go for dinner. Or, if you're really adventurous, you could make the drive out to see the sunset at Peggy's Cove, which happens to be a very doable 45 minute drive away. 

I'm looking forward to heading back again this winter. Maybe for a little Christmas shopping this time, to see the city all decorated and lit up. But really, every time we head back, we discover something new, and that's what makes our time in the city feel so special.