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Harmony’s Oliver! French Soup

November 13th, 2009

So one of Harmony’s great recipies that I LOVE is her french onion soup! It’s a great go-to recipe when all you have is chicken broth, onions, bread and cheese. It’s an everyday spin on a high-class classic. Made for us whiskey drinkers.

HARMONY’S OLIVER! FRENCH ONION SOUP
“Please sir, can I ‘ave some more??”

SDC10599

Dice 4 onions
Saute onions in 4 tablespoons of butter until golden brown
Drink wine
Put 2 cans of beef broth in a crock pot
Dump in onions
Add 2 cloves of garlic, minced
Add a little squeeze of mustard
Add a tiny dash of the wine you’re drinking
Add 6 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Add 1 tablespoon of flour
Cook 4 hours on high in the crock pot
Add a piece of toast and your favorite white cheese (we love using feta)
Serves 4!

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Tags: cooking, recipe
Posted in Easy Recipes, Home & Art | No Comments »

Persimmon Bread

November 10th, 2009

We had delicious homemade persimmon bread the other night! mmmm….

SDC10587

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Tags: baking, cooking, food
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One step closer to my dream bedroom…

August 24th, 2009

So I’m getting closer to my dream bedroom! My wonderful mother sent me an early housewarming gift the other day… a 5-piece comforter set! It’s the Studio Gavin set and I absolutely love it:

shades of chocolate and sage are finished with an ivory border
clean, sophisticated look that carries throughout all the coordinating pieces

The next thing we need to find is the perfect bed frame!

Cheers

Eric M Chicago

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Tags: bedroom, Decorating, interior design
Posted in Home & Art | No Comments »

The Neverending Move

August 7th, 2009

The end is in sight! Our move date has been postponed (once again) and now our move date is September 1st. Let’s hope this sticks this time! We were originally supposed to move June 1st… got postponed to July 1st… got postponed to August 1st… sigh. Harmony went over there the other day and snapped some shots of the work in progress:

Can you see it? The recessed lighting, the dark cherry floors, the exposed brick… it’s all coming into focus. Slowly. We’ve already picked out the colors for the apartment, and I have been finding some inspiration for decorating my bedroom, my bathroom, and my office. I am trying not to do theme-based rooms, as my roommate has advised me that that’s somewhat tacky, so I am going to mix 3 themes together: Chagall (my favorite painter), Marilyn Monroe (my favorite celebrity), and Chicago (my favorite city). I found some faaaabulous Marilyn prints at one of the booths at Market Days! So excited. Here are some of the prints I have and are trying to collect to decorate with:

Wall Colors: Office, Living Room, My Bedroom, Harmony’s Bedroom

These are the two Marilyn prints I got at Market Days:

I LOVE them. I also have this full magazine, which I would like to frame in its entirety:

In addition, I would love to get these prints:

…among probably about a thousand others.

I’d like to get a few of my favorite Chagall’s, too, which include:

…I think a Marilyn/Chagall duet would be quite nice. :-)

-Eric M Chicago

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Tags: Decorating, interior design, Marc Chagall, Marilyn Monroe, moving
Posted in Home & Art, Inspirational | 1 Comment »

Moving soon!

July 22nd, 2009

So we finally have a set move date! At first we were supposed to move June 1st (and lost that apartment to another couple), then this apartment (which is being built) was supposed to be finished and ready by July 1st. Well, our leasing agent contacted us and told us that we couldn’t move in until August 1st – which was extremely frustrating because we had already started the packing process! When we went in mid-July to see the apartment, all the plumbing and electrical wires were installed, but they had to wait for their final inspection before they could close up the walls, and that hadn’t happened yet. SIGH. So, he called us the other day and let us know that they passed their final inspection (yay!) and they have started the drywalling. SO, our new move date is August 15th, absolutely, for-sure. Huzzah!! The apartment is so beautiful (we saw other, completed units when we signed onto it) and is going to allow me to emulate my dream bedroom! We have exposed brick, European-style cabinets, a dishwasher, laundry in-unit, 2 bathrooms, 2 bedroom, and an office. I can finally have my own office!

Anyway, here’s the colors we picked (will be with exposed-brick accent walls):

(Office, Living Room, My Bedroom, Harmony’s Bedroom)

Paint Samples - New Apartment.jpg

I’m also going to do a Marilyn Monroe themed bathroom, with my Vanity Fair collector’s edition framed!

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Tags: interior design, Magazine Cover, Marilyn Monroe, moving
Posted in General, Home & Art | No Comments »

Free Eric M Chicago Website Background

March 17th, 2009

Hey all! I was playing in Photoshop the other day, making various backgrounds for my Twitter profile, blog, Fafarazzi profile, etc. and learning various techniques for making seamless tiling backgrounds. Here’s one of my favorites that I made, and I’m making it available for you to use as you like! You may want to compress the image yourself before using it; I posted as lossless an image as I could get through jpg. This background image can be used for any standard non-commercial use. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Eric M Chicago

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Tags: Eric M Chicago, free, Graphic Design, Grunge, Orange, Purple, Tiled, Website, Website Background, Yellow
Posted in Graphic Design, Home & Art | No Comments »

Random Inspiration for a Plain Tuesday

March 10th, 2009

I had a rough weekend, and bitched a lot and put a lot of negative energy out into the universe. So, let’s do something to counteract all that negative energy. I just officially ended my work day, so now it’s time to RELAX! woohoo.

I think I’ll send along some inspirational photos, videos, and other things I like, just for the fucking hell of it. Here’s an inspiring photo from my best friend/roommate’s home design blog: Harmony’s Nook

Looking for fun, quirky and sarcastic FREE e-cards to send out to your friends? Like this one:

Someecards.com: They’ve got a smartass e-card for every possible occasion (especially the bad ones)!

More of a science geek? Well, visit FourteenLOL to see a video tutorial for a science project where you can make water form crystal balls when it comes into contact with air! Watch Waterballs

Enjoy these few treats of the internet.. I’ll check back in later.
Peace

Eric M Chicago

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Tags: life, someecards
Posted in General, Home & Art, Inspirational, Wasting Time | No Comments »

My Marilyn

April 10th, 2008

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This is my Marilyn Monroe shrine. I just finished reading my favorite book, again: The Assassination of Marilyn Monroe by Donald H. Wolfe. Great, GREAT book. I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures of the legend and create a place I can always go to see my favorite sides of Marilyn.

Goodbye, Norma Jeane. We love you.

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Tags: Assassination, Marilyn, Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane
Posted in Home & Art, Inspirational | No Comments »

My Favorite Painters

March 1st, 2008

Marc Chagall (7 July 1887 – 28 March 1985) was a Belarusian-French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin who was born in Belarus, at that time part of the Russian Empire. He is associated with the modern movements after impressionism. (Thanks, Wikipedia) ;)

I love Chagall’s work. When people ask me who my favorite artist is I always have the same answer: Marc Chagall. It’s his use of color that fascinates me. For some reason when I look at his paintings I almost always seem to notice a color I’ve never seen before. Now THAT’S a rockstar. I particularly love his work with blues and the cooler side of the spectrum.

Gregory Williams is someone that I just recently came across. His paintings struck me instantaneously because of their dramatic colors and compelling blend of organic, natural lines with strict, geometric lines. I think these are some wonderful landscapes that have been made SO interesting to look at! I find his work a nice complement to Chagall. He is a very popular contemporary artist whose work has been heralded as “simultaneously calming and kinetic, reminding us of nature’s enormous emotional range.” Couldn’t put it better myself.

“I love the stillness and tranquility of the early morning, just as the day is beginning. It simultaneously provides me with peacefulness and inspiration.”

– Gregory Williams

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Tags: art, artists, color, Gregory Williams, Marc Chagall, painting
Posted in Home & Art | 2 Comments »

How To Watch TV Without A TV

February 29th, 2008

If you are like me, you don’t own a television set and you need to get a job. Scrapping that TV set of yours can save space in your home and give the universe one less way to waste your time. However, sometimes you just need to watch yourself some TV. And of course, you can always watch your favorite shows online – such as Lost, Brothers & Sisters, Pushing Daisies, Jericho, ANTM, Project Runway (okay so these are all my favorite shows, but they are GREAT). Here are some great places to catch full-length episodes:

ABC – This is the best place to watch TV online. It’s streaming, you have your choice of 3 sizes (including fullscreen), minimal commercial breaks, and they even have STREAMING HD!

CBS – I only catch Jericho on this site. Skeet Ulrich, really?? That’s beside the point. They have a decent player, but it’s only one size (boo). Good quality, tho!

NBC – I only watch Heroes on this site, but I like my viewing experience here. Good quality video and the ability to easily navigate within episodes (good for people like me who don’t pay attention very well and have to re-watch parts of a show 4 times to know what the hell is going on).

CWTV – This is where I watch America’s Next Top Model, but I usually catch it on youtube WAY before this site is able to put up the current episode. It takes them like a week to get an episode up. BOO.

Youtube – Well, it’s youtube. What can I say? It’s grand. This is where I watch ANTM and Project Runway. I just wish the overall video quality was better because I have a hard time judging the model photos and the designer clothes.

But Eric M Chicago, what if you just can’t wait an extra day to see Lost or Extreme Home Makeover?

Well now hoss, that’s something I’ve been checking out lately. So far I have found two sites that stream live network TV. The only kind-of drawback: It’s coming out of Utah, so for people like me in Chicago I have a 3-hour delay. But you know what? If that means I have to watch Lost at 11pm instead of 8pm I’m okay with it. Check these streams out:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE ABC

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE NBC

So don’t worry about saving your money for a TV set – These are some great ways to watch TV without a TV!

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Tags: free, internet tv, online, online tv, streaming, television
Posted in Home & Art, Wasting Time | 3 Comments »

Archive for the ‘Home & Art’ Category

Harmony’s Oliver! French Soup

Persimmon Bread

One step closer to my dream bedroom…

The Neverending Move

Moving soon!

Free Eric M Chicago Website Background

Random Inspiration for a Plain Tuesday

My Marilyn

My Favorite Painters

How To Watch TV Without A TV

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