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.

obession: reed's ginger candy

Made from ginger, sugar and tapioca starch. Amazingly chewy and incredibly gingery.
Get some.

favorite things: alexander mcqueen

Gilt.com has Alexander McQueen on sale today. I still can't come close to affording any of it- and even if I could, where would I wear it? My favorites:





There are some slightly more wear-able pieces (though not more affordable) but I love how fun yet elegant these pieces are. I'm not sure if these are designed by McQueen or by his label posthumously.

favorite things: high design cfls

Environmental awareness+design thinking=Plumen 001 light bulb
Currently only available in Europe, however.

Originally found on Re-Nest. Plumen.com.

favorite things

Kartell + Moschino+ ballet flats + 100% recyclable

Found on DesignMilk. Image from Mocoloco.

quick pic: new jewelry

I've been wearing this necklace nearly every day since I made it last week.
I can't decided if I'll list it or keep it.

sublet clothing

Two years ago I fell in love with a dress. I was in college and definitely could not afford the dress. Over the years, it's popped back into my life thanks to being featured on various blogs and fashion websites. I still want this dress badly, despite being totally unsure where I would wear it. I still check in on my dress sometimes, but I know I'll never own it because despite the sales, it is still way more than I can afford. So I will share it with you!

This company has gorgeous photography.

Love it in khaki!

Sublet Clothing is an amazing company owned by two friends who many ecologically conscious clothing. The dress I love, the Alison dress, is made from organic cotton, bamboo and a bit of spandex. Eco-fabric has layers of complications, but I support companies that I believe are truly trying to push fashion in the right direction.

In stalking them, I found a similiarly styled dress that I may actually love even more. It's on sale here and comes in a stunning blue. I always want to do the design/professor thing and dress in all neutrals but with colors like this how can I!

The draping on both dresses and the black detail at the waist just is so romantic to me. It's sexy and yet casual. I would want to throw this dress on all the time, but instead would keep it in my closet for some special occasion because after all this time I wouldn't want to mess it up!

snowed in recipes

My roommate and I did not really prepare for the past weekend's snowstorm that kept me home all weekend. Wednesday we had a conversation that went like this:

Roomie: What else should I get at the store?
Me: Um... wine. potatoes? more pasta. milk.

Thursday I picked up a few more things but the local Krogers was going crazy so I grabbed random things, couldn't find most of what I wanted and bolted. Friday night roommate was out and I was trying to decide what to make. I had a craving for scalloped potato despite Krogers was out of rosemary. I also really wanted to use my mandoline. Finally! So I used this recipe that was in my Epicurious recipe box with some adaptions. Namely, I added bacon. Potatoes and bacon are two of my favorite things, after all. I estimated reductions to make a single serving, having no idea how to take a recipe in pounds of potatoes and translate that into one potato.

Ingredients
1 medium russet potato
2 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
sea salt & pepper
2 slices bacon, chopped
grated Parmesan cheese
butter (about 1 tablespoon)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place garlic cloves and cilantro in bottom of prepared baking dish. Combine cream, coarse salt, and white pepper in large bowl.

Using V-slicer or mandoline, thinly slice potato into rounds. Immediately add potatoes to bowl with cream mixture, turning to coat potatoes. Arrange potato slices evenly over in baking dish, reserving cream mixture in bowl. Repeat layering with remaining fennel slices, then remaining potato slices. Pour cream mixture in bowl over potatoes in baking dish. Toss any remaining garlic and cilantro on top. Dot with butter cubes.*

Bake scalloped potatoes until almost tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Top with bacon and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Increase oven temperature to 425°F.Bake until potatoes are tender and top is deep golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes.

*I did not dot mine with butter, but doesn't that sound delicious.

It didn't come out just like scalloped potatoes but was crunchy on top and deliciously creamy on the bottom. A solid experiment and one that I'll replicate in the future! Enjoy!

bragging for a moment

I won a free giveaway from PUREnaturalMinerals on Etsy (or PNminerals on Twitter) for four of her fabulous mineral eyeshadows. Picking which ones I wanted was so hard but I chose to go with ones that I normally wouldn't choose and that would be fun to play with. I'm so excited to get them in the mail!

I chose Bling, Nectar, Ember and Wine. I think they'll fun together and I already have several blues and greens that I love.

home improvement makeover

Recently graduated, living off a nonprofit salary and having had 2 days to pick out an apartment in a new city, my new roommate is awesome but the apartment itself is um, lacking...

Work has kept me from doing some of the bigger plans I have- ranging from painting walls to weatherizing windows- but soon after arrival I started on a project that I had been planning even before finding my room. A year ago I bought some beautiful fabric at Joanne's (when my car was broken down in Minnesota) and have used it for a variety of things since.

I wanted to decorate part of my wall with the fabric, but not just as wallpaper. I started out by cutting the top of the fabric down.

And I also cut out birds individually.

I cleaned my wall with just water and a sponge. I sprayed the fabric all over with fabric starch. The instructions I found online recommended using either regular starch or spray starch. For such a large piece of fabric, I wish I had regular starch as it was difficult to saturate the fabric with spray starch. You can see the results below- there were definite difficulties getting a tight bond against the wall. I left some tacks along the very edge to keep the fabric up.

But the results overall- I love them!
The other great thing- the fabric peels off with basically no residue! Just clean the wall with a little water and you are set to go. Fabric is a great choice for those of us who are renting.

My fabric wall decoration has created a cozy corner with my desk where I can craft, though I'm still in need of the various storage supplies to really set up a neat crafting corner. First house project- completed!

quick pic: a few of my favorite things

Fresh ground pepper + perfectly picked out Pantone colors=
two of my favorite things.