going gluten-free

so mark and I recently decided we wanted to try and go totally wheat/gluten free. There are many reasons for this, of which I'll probably discuss in a later post... Anyways yesterday was our first day of it and I don't think Mark even noticed a difference... he's in the middle of his midterm studio project, so I've been doing all the cooking and here's what we had:

Breakfast: apple gouda sausages, eggs and orange slices
Lunch: a salad with all the fixings
Dinner: beef enchiladas with organic teff tortillas... SO good!
Snacks: fruit and homemade gluten-free banana, walnut, chocolate chip cookies (made with Pamala's gluten-free baking mix which is awesome by the way)

Off to make some gluten-free oatmeal with apples and cinnamon :)

welcome distractions

there's something about having a paper due and/or needing to study for a midterm that always seems to prompt a peruse through the bookshelf for a reading break that's "just for fun". I often find myself pulled to Annie Dillard when I'm feeling far too left-brained, but tonight I reached for The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. Thought I'd share an excerpt that I had underlined...

The conclusion I have reached is that, above all, dogs are witnesses. They are allowed access to our most private moments. They are there when we think we are alone. Think of what they could tell us. They sit on the laps of presidents. They see acts of love and violence, quarrels and feuds, and the secret play of children. If they could tell us everything they have seen, all of the gaps of our lives would stitch themselves together.

a picture of my lil witness, Aesop

a lil bit of nostalgia

I recently was admiring these adorable vintage storybook tiles from theredthread, and thought it would be fun to make a couple of them myself... maybe as a christmas gift?
Anyways this got me to thinking about my favorite storybooks as a child. And, I remembered one that my little sister literally had memorized and insisted on "reading" to us (over and over again) before she could actually read. It was entitled Patrick Eats His Dinner by Geoffrey Hayes and was a cute story about a little koala or some kind of bear who didn't want to eat his peas so he made up a song, "little green balls of mushy poison.." etc. Mention it to anyone in my family and they'd be able to recite the whole thing, that's how many times we've all read the book (or had it "read" to us).
So anyways, I thought I'd see if I could find it on amazon.com for a couple bucks and make a tile or two for Cailin for christmas... fun gift right? HA! Can you believe that little book is going for $780+ on amazon?!! Apparently its out of print... but seriously?! I'm sure my mom still has a copy of it at home... little does she know she's sitting on a gold mine :)... maybe I could make some good quality photocopies and still make the tiles. Or maybe I'll have to find another kid favorite... jeeze, cailin and her expensive tastes ;)
What's one of your favorite storybooks from childhood? Amelia Bedelia? Flutterby? Frog and Toad?

movie night

with this gloomier fall weather... all I want to do is curl up with a big bowl of homemade popcorn and watch movies. One movie that I've recently watched and loved is Dancer in the Dark. Its one of the most hauntingly beautiful films I've ever seen... honestly

beef... its whats for dinner

so, I recently picked up 40 lbs of frozen organic grass-fed ground beef that I can't wait to make hamburgers, stuffed eggplant, chili, tacos etc. with... we got an awesome deal from wooden bridge farm and all the proceeds went directly to their daughter who is saving up for college. I am obviously going to divvy it up and give some to my sisters and parents, as mark and I probably won't devour all 40 lbs in a couple months time. But, I have to say as someone who used to be vegetarian for years... it feels really good to be able to buy local, organic, humanely raised beef directly from a great family. We are so lucky, in the northwest, to be surrounded by organic farms, home delivery services, farmers markets, and new seasons stores. Anyone have any good ground beef recipes? Anyone want to come over for dinner? Mark makes an AMAZING chili :)photo from flickr

crisis diverted

so... after finding some inexpensive pheasant and peacock feathers at a fabric store, last night I went about making my peacock costume. I also made a mask for my costume which was way easy and cheap... I just used scrapbooking paper, some leftover gemstones I got for Em's bachelorette party decor and some ribbon. I used these awesome masks by ccaspia as inspiration.

stay tuned for mark's costume... a hawaiian style shirt with a large tiger on the front, fake black oakleys with long pieces of leather that I glued feathers to, black fingerless leather gloves, hand cuffs, a silver badge to be worn on a chain around his neck, cowboy boots (he already had these from last years costume), black jeans (his own), a tribal style bracelet for his bicep, a fake 9mm pistol strapped to his leg, and last and most importantly hairspray and a teasing comb (keep in mind he has long hair) Any ideas what he's going to be?? Oh how I LOVE Halloween!!

costume crisis

so, the feathers for my peacock costume still have yet to come in the mail (even though I ordered them over three weeks ago) thus I'm left scrounging for a costume (as always) for a halloween party that I'm going to this weekend. If I had a little more time... I'd want to get all dolled up in marie antoinette style attire... then I'd have a reason to buy a pair of these...

adorable shoes

or this cute vintage slip dress

But instead I'm left with an entirely blue outfit with a fan attached to the butt (where the feathers were supposed to attach) and no peacock feathers to speak of... So, now what? Grab some drum sticks and go as a member of the blue man group?? Ah, or break down and try to find overpriced peacock feathers at a fabric store around town?? Tried that, and the one store I went to was out due to high demand... apparently the whole peacock idea isn't terribly original :)
The good news: I think mark has some drum sticks :) The bad news: I just looked up a picture of the blue man group and they wear all black with blue painted faces... well white sheet and two holes here I come!

need music to clean the house to?

grab your feather duster... and turn on All is Love, from Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack or really any of the songs from Karen O and The Kids... they'll make anything more fun :)
Yay! it comes out tomorrow!

the invisible man

so I recently stumbled across a picture of Liu Bolin, from Shandong, China and was totally amazed. He manages to camouflage into any surrounding by painting himself. Even more fascinating is that his art is a protest against the actions of the government, who apparently shut down his art studio in 2005 and continues to persecute artists. His photos are about not fitting into modern society...

my idea of a fun friday night

okay so although I am still totally planning on having a tutu making get together (no worries Cass)... I had to give it a try tonight because I needed a gift for my friend, Amanda's, lil girl who's 1st birthday party is tomorrow. Here's how it turned out...I'm actually pretty proud of myself... not only is the tutu adorable, but this whole gift cost me less than $11.00 total!! Two sale items from old navy and the tutu, which cost a whopping $2.96 in tulle and about $0.50 in ribbon. Rad huh?! The tulle is on sale right now at Joann's for $0.74/yard. If anyone doesn't know what to be for Halloween yet, you may just want to incorporate a tutu into your ensemble... I think I might... I really need an excuse to make one for myself :)

who doesn't love a tutu?

so, I've decided to make tutus for my nieces this christmas. Cheap to make, light and easy to ship across the country, and come on every little girl needs a tutu or two :). So, Cassie wanna make one for Brooklynn with me? Come on Emily, I know you want to make one for yourself :) Anyone else? Let me know... it'll be fun!

photo by Jen Gagliardi

terrariums

so, I found two awesome glass containers the other day at goodwill for a little over a buck a piece and am totally going to make a terrarium... I'm going to go looking for moss under the big trees around my house and then probably put a little buddha statue inside or something. My Dad's birthday is coming up so he may be getting a terrarium... seems fitting for an environmental lawyer don't ya think?

mushroom terrarium

and these two from weegreenspot

spontaneous sundays

today was a great day of random findings... after a wonderfully long morning of lying in bed chatting with Mark, I went to a goodwill near our place and found the most beautiful antique lamp for our bedroom, an awesome colorful tin, a really cute teapot, and a pretty flowery blouse. Then Mark and I ventured out for a drive, randomly ending up at the Grotto which was gorgeous in the afternoon sun, and then wandered around on Hawthorne, eating at the Bridgeport ale house and stopping by the Buffalo exchange where we both came across some good finds. I finished the afternoon off with a big pot of tea and studied for my test tomorrow morning. I love lazy weekends :)

RozArt painting

shades of jade

here's a new necklace I just made this afternoon from two different jade gemstones... if I had a harvest moon party to go to tonight this is what I'd wear :) hmm... maybe I'll have to plan something

something sweet...

how cute is this?