Ski Bunnies

A couple of weekends ago, Andrew and I got the chance to head up to Vail and visit my dad. While we were there, we enjoyed some fabulous food, and I enjoyed NOT skiing. Andrew bought his first helmet and got ski boots! He is like a professional now. I snapped a couple of photos of our trip that I want to share... You'll notice Tank and I had a fun time in the snow. I think I was capitalizing on the fact that he is easy to see against the white background.
Stay, stay.......

Taken from Game Creek Bowl, that isn't my house. I wish.

Andrew and Dad head out for some skiing!

Merry Christmas, you'll be hearing more from me soon....

Cookie Exchange Party

I got to go to my first Cookie Exchange Party this week, at my friend Brooke's house! I was especially excited about all of the different cookies that would be there, but stressed about what kind I would make. Andrew's mom offered me her Pizzelle maker for the week, and I was quite happy to try a new recipe. I've always liked the ones she makes, they are so light and tasty. Plus they look really pretty without having to try too hard. I was very pleased with the end result. A co-worker suggested that I try dipping these in chocolate in the future, that seems like a great idea. Now I realize that you need the Pizzelle Press to make these, but if you happen to get your hands on one, I would seize that moment.

Here is the recipe:
Italian Pizzelles
3 eggs
1/2 tsp anise seed (I didn't have this, so I didn't add the seed)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar

Instructions:
Beat eggs and sugar. Add cooked melted butter or margarine, and vanilla and anise. Sift flour and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Batter will be stiff enough to be dropped by a spoon. Batter can be refrigerated to be used at a later time. Makes 30 pizzelles.

And now for the glorious before and after pictures:

Oh, and on another note, another party-goer made Red Velvet Cookies, and they were TO DIE FOR.

Daily Drop Cap

Being a sucker for typography, I drooled as soon as I saw this new site, Daily Drop Cap. Below is a K that I love, and I think it would be great to print on nice paper and framed. I also love this idea to go in a baby's room with their name spelled out, it would look so eclectic!


Source: The Daily Drop Cap

The Master Calendar

As anyone who hangs out with Andrew and I know, we live strictly by what we deem as our MASTER CALENDAR. The master calendar hangs on the fridge, and no plans can be made without it. Since I somehow can't get fully transferred to an electronic calendar (I've tried), we print out a whole year's worth of months. I was extremely excited to see two new ones to print since we normally stay within the range of extremely bland, white calendars... A Print a Day has posted two for free (!) download:

Matryoshka Calendar

Carnivorous Plants Calendar

The Russian Doll calendar is a little too feminine, so the Carnivorous Plants it is! It also goes nicely with my recent love of plants that look like they eat people.

Riding in the Rain

On Monday, I received an especially exciting email in my inbox, from Amy over at Pikaland, a blog I frequent that has whimsical and colorful illustrations. She let me know I had won a print from a recent giveaway she had done on her site! The print is by Jamie Shelman, who has some great drawings. The most difficult part now will be to decide where to put it in the house. I hope Tank doesn't get offended given I don't have an illustrated picture of him.


Thanks, Amy!

A new friend for Black Friday

One of my favorite organizations, the Denver Dumb Friends League, is running a great special on Friday, November 27. They are reducing their adoption fees in half for cats, dogs or small pets with any amount of black fur. Stats say that cats and dogs with black fur are adopted half as often as other pets. In Denver's case, there seems to be an overabundance of black Labs & Australian Cattle Dogs, both highly intelligent and loyal breeds. I'd like to share one of those black Labs, Lucy, that went to a forever home in August, to my friend Christy's house.

Lucy is now living the high life, with lots of play time and a long lost brother named Winston (also a black Lab).


I hope the same fate for many other pets this Black Friday!

Ponte Vecchio Limited Print Addition

I am so excited that we have some new art to put up in our house (a much needed addition since we haven't added art since we moved in two years ago!), a custom Glicee print from my friend Lee. It is a beautiful print of the Ponte Vecchio, a place I was able to spend some time several years ago when I studied Art History abroad in Florence and Rome. Andrew and I had it framed & matted (being a purist, it has a black frame & white mat.) Then we found the perfect spot above the dresser in our bedroom for it. You'll have to excuse my cell phone photos, I was just so anxious to share... (Check out some better photos here)



More art-related posts coming soon...

Creative Decorating

Given that I am still on a succulent craze, I did some research into Audrey II's heritage. Turns out, she is a Haworthia Radula, from South Africa. And even better, as I was doing my research (Mickey still has no formal identification, that will take more time), I came across these fabulous wreaths. Now, I'm not sure how long they would stay looking good, but wow, do they look great in these pictures.

Source

Tank-a-thon

I love this photo Leslie took recently of Tank, it captures his smiley personality perfectly. Sitting inside on a very snowy evening makes me very happy to have Tank & Andrew here keeping me warm!

And because I can't forget all of the other dogs out there without homes this evening, I am always hoping you find a home soon.

"My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet" - Edith Wharton

Hey Mickey!

I've added another to my collection! Meet Mickey, Audrey II's boyfriend.

Why I Love Fresh Air

As a NPR-junkie, one of the shows I usually catch on my way home from work is Fresh Air with Terry Gross. I don't know what it is, but every story is interesting. What I really enjoyed hearing yesterday and today was a two-part series called "The Perils of Overfishing." I like to consider myself fairly educated on our meat and dairy production in the US, but I'll admit I've never been as compelled to learn about fish.

What I discovered over the past couple of days, however, was that there was a lot I was missing out on. The interviewee, Daniel Pauly (a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia), quotes that in the past 50 years "we have reduced the populations of large commercial fish, such as bluefin tuna, cod, and other favorites, by a staggering 90 percent." This figure shocked me.

In the interest of thinking about fish consumption, I was equally as excited to learn that instead of consuming larger fish, like farmed Salmon, which takes 3 pounds of fish that the Salmon eat as food to create 1 pound of salmon, we should be eating the smaller fish, like sardines, anchovies, and herring. This creates, in turn, a more sustainable ocean ecosystem. Here's a great resource on sustainable fish that I will certainly be using from now on, Seafood Watch, which has a free downloadable pocket guide and an iPhone application.

Feed Me, Seymour...

I know I'm the last person to get on the succulent bandwagon, but I got a succulent baby of my very own today! I will have you know, this is a wise succulent, a 30 year old plant! It is now happily sitting on my kitchen counter, in hopes that it will soon grow its own babies I can pass along. Thank you, Leslie!

Meet Audrey II, a la Little Shop of Horrors:
And I will tell you what I learned from Little Shop of Horrors, don't make your plant mad.

Duly noted.

White Denim

I heard an electric song this morning called "I Start To Run" by what might be the coolest name for a band ever, White Denim. In my excitement to hear a new good song, I thought I would share with you some of my recent downloads to help get me through fall (which feels like winter after 20 inches of snow last week)...

"The Walls Are Coming Down" - Fanfarlo
"I And Love And You" - Avett Brothers
"Good Day" - Luce
"World Spins Madly On" - The Weepies
"You should Be Doubly Gratified" - Mike Doughty
"100,000 Fireflies" - The Magnetic Fields
"Little Bribes" - Death Cab For Cutie
"Fireflies" - Owl City
"If I Ever Feel Better" - Phoenix
"Naive" - The Kooks
"L.E.S. Artistes" - Santigold
"Evelyn" - Gregory Alan Isakov
"Go On, Say It" - Blind Pilot
"Galang" - M.I.A.

And since I've shared my fall playlist with you, I would love to know what you've listened to recently, or what band name you wish you had thought of first... (Rainn Wilson, I wish I had thought of "Fail Whale.")

Playing Catch Up

Having lost several days to the flu, I have been playing quite a bit of catch up. So instead of some well thought-out post, I would like to provide this picture instead since it always makes me laugh. I snapped it when my husband and I were in San Diego about 2 years ago.

Billy Goat's Gruff

After being inspired to use fabric panels as wall hangings, I was able to purchase some great new fabric from Ikea, perfect to use as art. Then, as fate would have it, one of my favorite co-crafty friends, Leslie (check her out here: Printed Press) sent me a tutorial, so it was time to get started on my project. The tutorial, found on Bella Dia, was so easy to do, I would be willing to try the "quilted hanging fabric project" highlighted on her site as a faux-headboard.

First, I purchased a piece of poster board, as well as double sided poster tape. After applying the double sided tape on the back of the poster board, it was as easy as wrapping a Christmas present (the job usually designated to me by my father when I was younger). The most difficult part was cutting & centering the fabric, but since nothing is permanent in this project, it was easy to move around to your liking. Finally, I hung it with wall putty, just in case I need to move it around. The end product was so satisfying that I'm ready to start my next project.

Any ideas for a neo-crafter?

Glee-ful

Not only do I love Glee because it takes me back to my show choir days in high school, I love it because part of me wishes I was allowed to sing "Golddigger" in choral format. Their mashups from this week's show are fabulous, I was lucky to find the links on Songza:

Boy's Song: It's My Life/Confessions
Girl's Song: Halo/Walking on Sunshine

But even more so than those things, I would really like to have Emma's (Jayma Mays) full wardrobe. Here are some shots of her outfits on Glee that I would like to replicate:




Glee is certainly my new favorite show, until 30Rock comes back next week, of course.

Sewing Inspiration

I would like to share the story of my favorite new addition to my craft room, a vintage Singer sewing machine, from my great-grandmother.

You'll have to understand that I come from a family that are expert sewers. Here's a photo of one of my recent trips home, complete with three sewing machines: mine, my mom's, and my sister's.
We succeeded on that trip creating three fabulous aprons (completed with adult supervision) that I am so proud to hang in my home, and I use as inspiration to think about my next project.
You'll no doubt assume that the bar has been set high for a novice sewer like myself based on my mother's superior sewing skills. After getting the sewing machine, I've been scouring the internet for the best first project. I finally found a good one, on a sewing blog, an iPhone Cozy that will keep my phone safe on walks with Tank. I think I like forming the idea in my head best, so I had a great time picking out fabric at Ikea on a recent trip to California. Two of the fabrics I chose (blue one & black one with small pattern)...

Now all I need is the time (and patience) to complete it! The fallback is that my mom promised we could make one at Christmastime, so I will consider my first attempt a practice round and will be fully ready to perfect the pattern later this year.

Let it go

A good reminder. Thanks to creator: i can read.

Button Bouquet

After following Princess Lasertron's Blog for several months, I have been wanting to do something more with my collection of buttons. The button bouquet seemed like the perfect option! It took me about an hour, but will provide lots of color on my nightstand, and is a perfect way to use a vintage perfume bottle from my Grandma.

Step One:
Collect tools - Needle Nose Pliers, 26 Gauge Floral Wire (I chose silver and I think it might have been good to get a larger gauge, buttons can be heavy!), Buttons, and a Vase.
Step Two:
Collect about 30 of your favorite buttons, and begin placing them how you'd like them to look. This is the best part!
Step Three:
Take the floral wire, cut it to the desired length with the needle nose pliers (I cut mine about 8-10 inches) put the buttons on there in the order you'd like, string through a loop, and twist about an inch of wire right below the base of your "flower." This will secure the buttons and now you can arrange! However you arrange, they end up looking colorful and whimsical, exactly how I had hoped. Now my flower arrangement sits next to my cocker spaniel on my nightstand and is a great way to think of my Grandma! This would be a great housewarming gift, or even baby girl gift as it would be easy to customize the colors of buttons you use. Excited for my next project!

Just look for love in it...

The best place to start is probably the title of my blog, which comes from one of my very favorite songs, "Pig" by Dave Matthews Band. It encompasses lots of things that I believe.

This love will open our world
From the dark side we can see a glow of something bright
Oh, there's much more than we see here
Don't burn the day away

Love, love, love, what more is there?
'Cause we need the light of love in here
Don't beat your head
Dry your eyes
Let the love in there
There're bad times
But that's okay
Just look for love in it

So for the first post of my first blog, I will share some of the things I love:



You'll be sure to hear about Andrew and Tank more in the future, and in the meantime, I hope to share some of my thoughts about how I'd like to add to the beauty.