A is for Alabaster

Alabaster was an unexpected inspiration for me. Two of my closest friends recently brought me back this alabaster box from their voyage to Egypt.

Alabaster can be traced back to ancient times. In Egypt, it was used to worship sun gods. In Biblical times, putting something in an alabaster box or jar was a sign of honor and esteem. It is found in calcite or gypsum form, and today is used in ornamental decor, architecture, and carvings. What kind of treasures are you putting in your (metaphorical or real) alabaster box?

Other 'A' contenders and inspirations: antiques, art deco, arbors

A to Z

Recently I was browsing the archives at psimadethis (tipped off by the lovely abigail) and found this great list of decorating/life inspirations. In the spirit of lists, which I make obsessively, and my love of the alphabet as a teacher, I decided to make my own list of inspirations for each letter. The initial goal was to post a letter daily and be done in January. Ha. It's now a Twenty-Ten project. I'll post a couple of letters a month. Enjoy. And see the great list @psimadethis here.

chairwhore

blog featuring only chairs = love, yes?

found here

3 Things

So I don't cook super often. I enjoy it at times, but don't often feel inspired to make full meals - I'm pretty good at putting together little snacks and yummy things to nosh on. I've decided, however, that I should have a few signature dishes.

I absolutely love crab cakes. Good crab cakes that really melt in your mouth are so hard to find. This would be a big endeavor, judging from the recipes I've googled. Lots of subtle flavors and tricky to get the texture/doneness just right. Still undecided as to whether I'll attempt these.

Lasagna - love a good lasagna. However too many recipes turn out with emphazise pasty, too-thick noodles, soggy sauce, and plain ground beef. I need to find a more sophisticated recipe.



I love enchiladas, both the more healthy recipes and the greasy ones at Mexican restaurants. I have an okay recipe for chicken enchiladas that I need to refine a bit.

Twenty-Ten: I become gourmet.

so much to say

Okay, Twenty-Ten (that sounds much better than saying two thousand ten). A new decade. A couple of days before New Years I reminisced with a friend about the year 2000 and how quickly things have gone since then. I graduated from high school that year. I also went overseas for the first time and went away to college (quite far from home, as opposed to most people at my high school) where I didn't know anyone. Apologies for the cheesy cliche, but I truly felt like I had my whole life ahead of me and anything could happen. While 10 years has flown faster than I ever could have imagined, I fortunately feel the same way about the next 10 years. The transition from college to the adult world isn't easy, but I've learned so much along the way and I'm so blessed with a great family, friends, and a job that I love and can grow with as a career. Not a lot of people can say that in their 20s and I'm so grateful. I'm also grateful for new hobbies and interests I've found along the way, such as photography and decorating.

So the sad news is that my hard drive died over Christmas. My laptop was new in May, so this was a bit frustrating. I transferred everything onto it when I got it and backed up on an external hard drive, so I didn't lose totally everything. My music and most of my Word documents are fine. What I did lose is all my pictures from the summer. That was sad. I have some in an album in facebook and some on flickr, but there are hundreds more, just mundane things but special to me, that are lost. While there's no one to blame but me, I didn't anticipate a 7 month old hard drive dying out, so it was a bit upsetting. Now I need to get things from my external hard drive onto this new one and start organizing things again....

Here's to bigger and better blogging in 2010! I'm going to be starting an A-Z list of different things that inspire me...hopefully up in the next few days. I'm also going to try and be more consistent with my photography, something that fell by the wayside this fall. Cheers and Happy New Year!

Broken Computer

equals minimal blogging. On Christmas Eve my laptop decided not to start, which is so sad because I've taken some great pics of my dog and the winter wonderland that is Michigan right now. I also got a new tripod for Christmas which will be great for better pictures, but I can't upload them. So I have to bum my mom and brother's laptops for now. Stay tuned - I'm planning a great A-Z series on some of my favorite things for 2010. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, twenty ten here we come.

Winter Wonderland

I've been in Michigan for almost a week now, which is hard to believe. It's been about 15-20 degrees each day, and its so pretty that I'm actually inspired to pick up my camera, which I haven't done for months. The best thing about vacation is that I wake up in my pajamas, shower if I feel like it, then put on more pajamas, save the days when I have a dentist or haircut appointment. Full disclosure: I wore pajama pants to the post office today to send my packages, and paid an arm and a leg to ensure their arrival by Christmas.

5 Things You Should Know About Me Today

1. I am terrible at cracking eggs. I almost always get a little piece of shell in the bowl.

2. I really dislike it when girls make kissy faces in pictures.

3. I was the spelling bee winner in my 6th grade language arts class. My winning word was 'accessories'.

4. I once fell into a bush while playing putt-putt.

5. I have to finish my Christmas shopping today.

That is all. Aren't I interesting?

trying to feel limber. hotch potch abc cards.

meet my new beagle, Cadet.

I've always considered myself a dog liker, not dog lover. We always had a dog growing up in my family, but there was a definite distinction between people and pets in my home. Lots of love, but no riding around in the car with us, sleeping on our beds or couches, or total spoiling.

And I haven't ever really wanted a dog of my own. But before Thanksgiving my mom mentioned that a coworker of hers just had a baby with his wife and newborn+dog = badness for them. Those intuitive mamas always know what's right for us before we do. Somehow my arm got twisted and I was visiting her for a "trial look" at Thanksgiving. One look and I was hooked. A couple of days later she was at my mom's house making herself at home. I'm taking her back to Saint Louis in January.

And let me tell you, she is the cutest, smartest, peppiest, most badass dog ever. I swore I wouldn't be one of those people who lets their dogs jump on furniture and takes them around everywhere, but I think I'm caving.

shady lady

(hellololla)

I had lenses put into the vintage sunglass frames I found on etsy. They look so cute. Alas, my camera is in Michigan. I leave to go there in 4 days. Can't. hardly. wait.

The Evolution of the Hipster

This is pretty much the funniest thing I've seen all year. Highlights:

2005 - The Fauxhemian

2002 - The Ashton

See the whole decade- Paste Magazine

I could go Christmas shopping for others

Or I could buy a ridiculously awesome hat, vintage glasses, and a print on etsy. Gifts for moi.

happy belated Thanksgiving.

I spent a collective 21 (rainy) hours in the car, was in Michigan for 4 days, ate a lot of junk, made homemade gravy from turkey drippings, watched Home Alone 1 and 2, took a long hike on the sand dunes with my family, and tried to figure out Christmas shopping. I also took zero pictures and left my camera at my mom's house. I'm off in 11 days until 2010. Private school teaching has its rewards. This exciting week includes paying bills, planning some Navidad activities for my students, a little shopping, looking around on Etsy, and generally trying not to be too ansty. Ho ho ho.

leatha

this outfit is AMAZING. I need to go thrifting and find a leather jacket, stat.

the sartorialist in paris

Robert Frank

Photo exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until January 2010. A German Jewish immigrant, Frank spent 2 years traveling in America in the mid 50s and took over 700 rolls of film. He was arrested in Arkansas for being unshaven and having New York plates.

article here

jump for my love

I enjoy jumping. I enjoy art museums. So this blog is genius.

But there are not enough photos there. I clearly need to head to the nearest art museum, stat.

kid design

Once upon a time when I was 9, my family built a lovely house in a lovely suburb. I was allowed to pick the carpet color for my room (hardwood hadn't quite made the resurgence/resale value that it has today). Being awesome, I picked dark emerald green. And soon had an emerald green valance to match. Seafoam green bedding and walls arrived in middle school. Sweet. The only thing that saved it was my grandma's awesome antique sleigh bed and dresser that I inherited, although they probably looked out of place. Somewhere in high school my budding designer kicked in and I became interested in antiquing, furniture, and generally not having an all-green room.

What I would do now if I could redesign my childhood room....

via

neglect

Sorry blog. Been busy breaking into places. Report cards due soon. Will return soon. yada yada.

spooky a go-go

happy halloween.