merry christmas

May I suggest that with your Christmas money, you do what I'm going to do...buy some of these sweet prints designed by my friend, Joanna, and one of her long-time friends. Their shop has all kinds of beautiful things in it. I'm a big fan of her, and her art. Their blog is here, so check them out. p.s. I'm getting that gorgeous terrarium print.  

pinterest

dangerous...and awesome...and lets me do crafty things without leaving my computer....if only I could link it to this blog...hmmm, researching.

upcoming project...

After a couple years of searching on and off, I found this little guy on Craigslist:


I asked a few friends for inspiration on what to do with my record cabinet, and got some great suggestions...and discovered Knack Studios through my friend Cassie. Unfortunately for my productivity, I'm now obsessed with Barb from Knack, and how she re-purposes sad looking furniture to be completely amazing. I don't want to steal any of her pics of things I'm thinking about doing to the little cabinet, so I suppose you'll have to wait and be surprised.

Also, this week, we made a quick trip to Chicago, and got to visit CB2 and IKEA. Mecca. I snatched a go-cart desk so that we can move the desktop comp around a bit easier and watch TV in bed like a hotel. Unfortunately, the loft was not included with the purchase of the desk, and the chartreuse file cabinet and chair are not currently available.

cooking achievments

Tomato-Mushroom-Mozzarella Strudel
It's not pretty, but it tasted good. I blended about 1.5 cups of mushrooms with a tomato, then layered it in with walnuts and mozzarella in between cooking-sprayed layers of phyllo, then baked it on 300 til golden. I would have added some oregano and a pinch of salt to the tomato-mushroom blend upon second cooking...



These lovelies are Cowboy Cookies, which I ate growing up, and recently found a Bakerella version. I bake them according to her recipe except I'm a purist, and don't use M&Ms. Just chocolate chips all the way!

the cutest

Can I tell you how glad I am to have a few spare minutes? Over the course of the past couple months, I knew I'd have to back off because of moving, trips, and 60 hour work weeks. But hooray, I'm back, and I found the most awesome bag in NYC this weekend. No, I didn't buy it, but maybe someday.That's right, you can get a messenger bag (or tiny pouch) in the Pantone of your choice.

And let's just do a quick rundown of the killer NYC deals (no tax on clothing, thank you):

Beacon's Closet:
Citizens of Humanity Jeans: $20
Black Frye short boots (that probably need to be re-soled): $20
Uniqlo:
Grey cords: $20
Sample sale (holla):
Orange Blue Cult cords: $25
Brooklyn Flea:
Dress: $10

Yes, I was quite proud of myself. Plus, we ate some very delicious food, and the trip couldn't have been better. Now, to get back on the blogging wagon...

dipping my toe into etsy

I love etsy, who doesn't? After taking a letterpress class this weekend, I'm very excited to start loading my etsy store with all kinds of fun and exciting things.
First up is my letterpress project #2. If I was awesome, I would have laid out the text correctly, but by happy accident, it was backwards, which ended up being sort of humorous. Check it out in etsyland, and while you're at it, think about how I could justify getting this bookshelf that's about to become too popular for me to get it, but I don't care (the IKEA Expedit):

yummy crisp!

Sorry for the lack of posting over the past couple of weeks. We are moving to a new apartment, and have been painting like maniacs. Please excuse the hiatus, and be assured that in another week or so, I will have moved in, and have a beautiful black and white checked kitchen floor that I always dreamed of. To get you through, here's a recipe for a pretty unbelievable Peach-Blueberry Crisp:

BLUEBERRY - PEACH CRISP

CRUST: 3/4 c. flour 1/2 c. brown sugar 1/3 c. rolled oats 1/3 c. butter, melted TOPPING: 2 c. fresh blueberries 1 tbsp. lemon juice 1/4 c. flour 2 c. sliced fresh peaches 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, rolled oats and brown sugar. Pour melted butter over all and stir until crumbly. Press into bottom of 8 inch square pan. In large bowl, combine all of topping ingredients; mix well, spread over crumbs and bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes.

It's from Cooks.com (I'd love to give credit to the author, but there's none listed), which I don't normally use, but this little gem might make me change my mind.