In Which We Unknowingly Rent The Most Beautiful House In All Of Cape Cod

Excuse me while I sound like a bougie asshole, but renting a vacation house is stressful! My 16-year-old self just died a little.

Okay. So we have become people who vacation. If you have rented a house online without previous knowledge of said house, you know what I'm talking about. Usually you get to see a few poorly taken photos, you have no floor plan to go off of, and you know the home owner is only telling you the upshot of renting his or her house and not telling you about the very noisy neighbors or the back-breaking 30 year old "mattress." The risk of there being a difference between the 4 photos you are relying on and the reality when you walk in the door is great. 

I must have looked at 100 listings before I found this house. There were indeed only 4 photographs, none of which showed what I am about to show you, but hinted at it enough that we went for it. The owner explained that she had carefully restored her grandparents' home, she did not renovate it, and we shouldn't expect a dishwasher or cable. This, of course, made it all the more appealing to us.

When we drove up to it late last May we weren't sure what we had gotten ourselves into. Its exterior from the front, at first blush, is not much to write home about. Or, shall we say, it's humble.

But when we walked in we

slowly

           freaked

                         out.

I believe I started hyperventilating and Matthew got stuck on the word, "Geez." Really it's all a blur because I was so overcome with joy and happiness and the sound of angels singing. The place is so lovingly curated and put together; the choices are so perfect; its soul is palpably intact - we couldn't help but feel like the luckiest ducks.

For your viewing pleasure:

No doubt you want to rent this house now. OBVIOUSLY.

Be in touch with me and I will tell you how to get in touch with Jenny.

Also, here is a floor plan:

Meat & Potatoes

Porter Beef Stew

We don't eat a lot of meat around here. Matthew doesn't eat any meat, unless it a very strange evening involving very strange meat products and he randomly decides to eschew his vegetarianism in favor of a social experience he values more. I grew up with an occassional meat meal, few and far between, so I don't feel comfortable cooking it and get freaked out when I think about doing so. It just seems like the hardest thing on earth to do. Zane, who is 6'3" and 17 years old, would eat meat all day if he could of course. Too bad for him.

One of my childhood few-and-far-between meat-meals was a beef stew. I remembered it fondly when I was suddenly forced to learn to cook after opening a cafe (I should tell you that story), so I asked my mom for the recipe. My mom eschews recipes, so what follows is an adaptation of a run-on sentence that sounded like, "Oh you know, some onion, some garlic, some potato...."

This recipe is really forgiving, so strict adherence to the amounts isn't necessary. As long as the beef/potato/carrots are one-to-one and the beer/water/tomato sauce are roughly one-to-one, it'll taste good. Also, you need to like porter beer to like this stew. 

You'll need:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 small onions, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce if you have it. If not, don't bother getting it.

4 cups (2 lbs) chopped stew beef (I cut the chunks into halves or thirds - I like small bites)

4 tablespoons flour

4 cups chopped potato

4 cups chopped carrot

1 24 oz jar of pasta/tomato sauce (plain or garden vegetable - I have been known to use Prego, but you can use whatever your favorite brand is, just don't use 4 Cheeses or Basil or something crazy like that)

1 22 oz bottle of porter beer (you could do stout or coffee porter too)

2 & 1/2 cups water 

salt & pepper to taste

Okay!

Heat oil in a large soup pot on medium. When it's hot, add onions and cook until they're translucent. Add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the soy and worcestershire sauces. Stir and take in all the glorious smells! I love that part.

Coat your beef in the flour (I just put it all in a bowl and mush it around with my hands) and then drop the beef into your onion mixture. Let it sit for a minute. Stir and let sit for another minute. Repeat and repeat. The goal here is to sear all sides of your beef. Once all the beef has turned color and you no longer see any pink, pour a little bit of your beer in to deglaze the bottom of the pot, which should have a good coat of brown sticky flour-beef mess on it. Scrap it off as best you can.

Put your potato, carrot, beer, water, and tomato sauce in the pot. Hopefully, the liquids just cover everything. If not, add 1 part tomato sauce, beer, and water until it just covers everything.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

It's even better and thickens up more the next day, so if you have the time to spare, I highly suggest making this the day before you want to eat it. Like I did today for the Super Bowl tomorrow. Go Pats!

The Cost of Victory

I battle with the cost of designing my interior spaces a lot. It feels impossible to spend money on a rug knowing that I will most likely hate it in 5 years (those things are expensive!). To spend $30 on one curtain seems totally ludicrous. A $25 pillow, are you kidding? So mostly I get my stuff on the side of the road, at thrift stores, and most amazingly, as gifts from friends who know my taste and like making me freak out over the beauty of an object. Apparently, they think hyperventilating is charming.

One of the ways I can talk myself into spending money on a room is to create a total list of improvements I'd like to make and estimate the cost. $60 for curtains? No fucking way. $300 for the bedroom to look perfect? Sounds good! Silly tiny brain, you are so easily tricked! I love you!

So, here I am, starting to take stock of what my rooms cost just for the heck of it. Is that gauche? I don't care! This first one was featured on Design Sponge. I'm pretty sure it's going to be my cheapest room, but we shall see.

The One Room I Haven't Shown You Yet

I have almost no relationship to this room as it is Matthew's office, but that doesn't mean I don't care what it looks like. PLEASE.

When we bought the bungalow this room was a crazy room. Just totally bonkers. While we tamed the color and the ceiling fan, there is nothing to be done about its footprint, which makes space planning super challenging. Since I don't work in there I'm mostly happy to acknowledge its many functions (office, shipping center, yoga room, reading nook, supply storage) and let it be what it is. Sorry for the quality of these photos - I couldn't get myself to take more.

Blue, anyone?This gives me a headache.

Card catalog from Brandeis UniversityRya rug from Distinctive Decor in Brattleboro, VT

Where Matthew livesSweet pillow by my friend Sharon

Remember when Obama was exciting?Chair/Goodwill, Shipping Station/Salvation Army

Thrift store art1950's print/Twice Upon a Time in Brattleboro, VT

McSweeney's!Crazy wall

I don't think I know any men in their 30's who do NOT have a Star Wars figureThrift store finds

Reading Notes shipping centerEverything in its place

I love old wallpaperMatthew's fancy microphone

Hang curtains close to the window!

Me, eating a roseMatthew has a notebook problem

I think I've watered this cactus 4 times in 10 yearsBlack, White, and Brass

Christmas Cookbook 2011