indulge me: SAG awards

Design includes fashion, so here are a few of my favorite looks from the SAG Awards:

[Mila Kunis in Alexander McQueen]

[Don't actually watch Mad Men, but the print on January Jones' dress by is fantastic.
Dress by Carolina Herrera.]

Many of my favorites were actually worn by some of my favorite funny ladies. For some reason, I can't get this picture of Heather Morris to format properly, but doesn't she look lovely?

[Tina Fey. Oscar de la Renta]

[Mindy Kaling in Tadashi Shoji.

And if you are on Twitter and don't follow @mindykaling, you are depriving yourself of multiple daily laughs.]

daily reflections

A few days before Christmas I went to Barnes and Noble with my sister. My present shopping was done but I had a gift certificate and hopes of getting a small notebook to start a daily reflections journal. I had a clear plan for my journal but was surprised to find the perfect little notebook set.




Moleskin is pricey, so I was glad to have my gift certificate to lessen the ouch-factor. But look at the colors! And they are so easy to carry around! There is that random pocket that I don't know what to use it for but it's adorable!

It's set up as a planner with hours, but I've ignored those and written in my own way of tracking what I've accomplished each date. On each page I have written a line for things that that important in my life- delicious food I eat, things I made or read, getting exercise, and how I feel. I told my mom about this idea and she suggested adding what I'm thankful for, an idea I love. (And no, this is not a food diary, I'm only writing down the really delicious food I want to remember.) Many days I only fill out a few of the lines, but I've filled out each day in January and hope to do so every day this year.

A pseudo-peak inside the pages:



Images from Moleskin, reposted here and here.

not your average jello shot

Check out these awesome retro-inspired drinking glasses....

that you can eat.

Brainchild of The Way We See The World, who say "Jelloware re-imagines the concept of drinking, and imparts a new experience in the way it feels, tastes, smells, and moves. The cups are made of agar agar and cast in different flavors, such as lemon-basil, ginger-mint, or rosemary-beet, each specifically designed to compliment a corresponding drink. Jelloware can be nibbled on while drinking and any leftover remnants can be composted."

This certainty isn't going to be the idea that ends the use of disposable cups but I love that it takes an item that we use mostly for simplicity and turns it into a purposeful decision- to be more sustainable, more beautiful, more interesting and more intentional.






You can contribute to their Kickstarter to make this idea more than a prototype. It seems like they are working hard to make this a reality, pitching Absolut vodka companion agar shot glasses.

But the original idea that got me to the The Way We See the World website is just one of many ideas from the four amazing women pictured in the video. Poke around and see their other award winning ideas, such as beauty products made from chicle latex, a natural material from the Yucatan, that previous had no commercial purpose which now contributes to preserving the local area from clear cutting. Four badass ladies with a great sense of style, design-savvy, and ethics.

Originally found via TheKitchn. Images from The Way We See The World.

online recipe box

I recently tweeted about my desire for an online "recipe box" where I could compile recipes from the myriad of websites I visit for easy search and recall. While for a bit I thought I had hit on the Next Big Website, a website I'm quite familiar with was brought to my attention.

I've been a member of Epicurious.com for years and use it to store all the Gourmet/Bon Appetit recipes that I plan to make. I was unaware of the ability to add my own recipes and make them either private or publically available to Epiciurious members. My new hobby while watching television is transfering the 150+ recipes I've bookmarked in my browser to my Epicurious recipe box. Currently I've marked everything private, since they aren't my recipes, but I'll have to also add some of the ones I've developed or that are family recipes to the site.

Now my 'recipes' bookmark is being kept only for bookmarking new websites that are treasure troves of recipes, the many compliation posts I've marked that have dozens of recipes, and detailed tutorials like "how to make gnocchi" while the single recipes are immediately added to Epicurious.

pizza and beer party

Last weekend a group of "foodie" beer-loving friends joined together to have tasting of beer that turned into a combo pizza and beer party. A classic pairing. We made multiple pizzas, mostly vegetarian, and enjoyed both home brewed and purchased bottles of beer. In addition, we sampled Bubble Vodka, a bubblegum vodka that made a pretty good martini when cut with lots of fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice, with orange garnish.

[Pizza toppings...]

[turned into pizza!]


[An assortment of tasting glasses]

[Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw]
The most expensive beer I've ever bought, but also the most delicious. A Belgian Dark Ale that I picked up at Olio, I will have to get one of the smaller sizes they have so I can drink it in my non-beer drinking house. I'll also have to try other Carolus brews.

holiday recap

A few images to hold onto the holiday feeling on the 12th day of Christmas:

[Taking in the festive decorations in Charleston]

[Holiday shopping]

[Snack break.]
From the simply named Cupcake, which succeeds where most cupcake places fail-
the icing is not too sweet and the cake is not too dry.

[The wrapping station- on my grandmother's Ping Pong table.]

[Errr, and my hastily done wrapping..]

[And now... 2011!]

makin' whoopie

Sorry for the lack of posts. Holidays plus several day of being sick have put me behind but I want to share my favorite new recipe from this season- Peppermint Whoopie Pies. They'll be great for Valentine's Day too, especially if you put food dye in the icing. A friend sent me the recipe and we had a baking night at my house.

I didn't do a great job reading the recipe ahead of time, so I used a brown sugar substitute and made my own buttermilk, but the cookies still turned out great.

[Vanilla and Peppermint]

[Just the icing with the peppermint chips was delicious]

[We couldn't quite make them pretty, but we make them delicious]