taste test

Steven is at UC Davis participating in a conference called "Tasting Histories".  What is an architect doing at a conference about food?  (I think Steven may have been asking himself that question yesterday, but today things are going really well.)  He's presenting a paper about postwar food and post war architecture, McDonald's and McMansions, the loss of regionally specificity and traditions of craft in food and in architecture and ways those things may be coming back or could.  

At least that's what I think he's talking about, I haven't had a chance to read his paper.

  

the conference is all weekend and his talk is this afternoon so if you're near Davis, head on over.  Schedule here. 

he had a dog named fido

Maira Kalman has a new post up about falling in love with Abraham Lincoln.  

It's delightful. check it out at the nytimes.

everything is amazing right now, and nobody is happy

I've been a bit cranky the past few days because nothing seemed to be working right.  

This video made me laugh and think I have to snap the heck out of it.  

via swissmiss

let them eat cake

I can't wait until someone around here has a birthday so I can make them one of these cakes.  Maybe I'll make it for Steven when he comes home from California.  

from Martha Stewart via thekitchn

for the birds

Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz (who made those snow globes that I love) installed 181 bronze birds in the A, C, E Canal Street station in 2001.  If I had gone to New York as planned I could've gone to see if they are still there. :(

(I seem to have a thing for birds and subways these days!)

more info here.  

a little bird told me

if I were shopping, which I am not, I would buy this photo of a stuffed albino bluejay at the Museum of Natural History in Providence, RI.  I saw it on dsbrennan's etsy shop that Chiara mentioned during her guest blogging on  ofifteen.

maybe i should make an exception for inexpensive art.....

not giving up

Mardi Gras was yesterday so that means Lent starts today and in addition to thinking about giving up not excercizing that made me think of one of my favorite flowers, the Lenten Rose (Hellaborus orentalis).  

They are evergreen, about a foot and a half tall and wide, and bloom very early in spring.  I planted a whole bunch of them in the back yard a couple of years ago and cannot wait until they bloom.  However, I am pretty sure whoever named them "Lenten Rose" lived somewhere that has a shorter winter than Michigan because they show no sign of blooming anytime soon.  

Then again, I heard bids chirping this morning and Lent is 40 days long so you never know.  

no go

I was hoping to figure out a place for the pooches to stay so I could jet off to New York despite the fact that Ollie's illness got him barred from the kennel for a little while.  But it's spring break in Ann Arbor and everyone we know is out of town, so no luck.

I need to meet more people who are not involved with the university.

  

This is how I feel about it.  (that's academy award winning sad face maker, Jackson, who I won't get to see.)

top photo from the nytimes.

bottom photo from molasses candy.

a good sign

It's snowing, again, and I am sick of it, but I saw a little sign of spring today.  Some of the seeds that I planted have started to sprout!  I am going to grow all my vegetables from seed this year and last week planted all the seeds that should be started indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost. (I am being overly optimistic.  we can easily have a frost in late April but I am pretending that we won't.)  Next week I'll plant the seeds that should be started 6-8 weeks ahead, then all the 4-6 weeks, 2-3 weeks etc, and soon enough it'll be spring!

Only a few of the fennel seeds have sprouted so far, but even just that tiny reminder that spring will come makes me really happy.  

subway

I haven't been to Stockholm since I was a kid, and I don't remember riding on the subway, but if or when I ever go there again I will because the stations are so beautiful! 

ok, I probably would have ridden the subway anyway, but I'd be really excited about it because the stations are so beautiful.   

more images and info here.

stuck

I am feeling a little stuck with my work these days.  Thinking about this could help.

snow day

It snowed like crazy today, but the sun came out when it finally stopped and kids were out in the park sledding.  

It reminded me of when we went cross country skiing with Gus and Ollie in Colorado.  They had the most fun ever, running like greyhounds and I am pretty sure Steven had an easier time on the uphill parts because Gus and Ollie pulled him!  

Maybe we should enter them in the Iditarod. 

another upside of a down time

recessions lead to fewer shark attacks.  

but looking for images of sharks leads to more heart attacks for fish phobics like me.  (my heart stopped when I saw this one.  I will never kayak again.)

image from flickr.

bloom

friends of ours are in San Francisco for their honeymoon and apparently the magnolias are blooming there.  

We planted a Jane Magnolia in the front yard last year.  I can't wait until it blooms.  

photo from flickr

punny

this is pretty much the dumbest thing, but it cracks me up!  

sick as a dog

Ollie has kennel cough which is kind of like the flu for dogs. After we got back from the vet he hid under the furniture whimpering and hacking until Gus got up on our bed (spoiled dogs) and snuggled up with him.  now they're both passed out.  

The vet said he should be back running around in a couple days, but we are supposed to go to New York and even though they'd take great care of him, and he should be feeling much better if not 100% by the time we're supposed to drop him off, our kennel won't take him when he's sick.  

Anyone want to spend a weekend in Ann Arbor helping Gus care for a snuggly, sad, sweet, sick little puppy?

black and white

Redoing our bathroom is always in the back of my mind (which is where it will stay for the foreseeable future) so I look at (obsess about) fittings and fixtures.  

I don't know if I'd never seen a black and white cast iron tub or if I just never noticed them, (I am pretty sure if someone had suggested the idea I would have thought they were nuts) but I saw these in apartment therapy's gallery of pretty bathrooms and I think I love them!  

  

draped

I hate the shades that came with our house (they're beige, and not in a good way) but have lived with them because I just can't bring myself to buy different ones because they are so ridiculously expensive! (and these days I am not shopping.)

Still, I had been ogling these from Restoration Hardware, until my mom told me the story of her making fully lined, french pleat, floor to ceiling curtains in the tiny New York apartment we lived in when I was a baby. (I think the curtains were taller than the apartment was wide.)  

Did my mom attend 6 years of art school?  did she ever take a fibers class?  did her husband (my dad) buy her a fancy sewing machine that came with free lessons about how to use it? 

No.  

(my mom's sewing machine was and is an old Singer that has all metal parts, weighs about 75 pounds and works like a dream, and she was pretty crafty in her day but still, fully lined, french pleat curtains? that's impressive.) 

so, I have no excuse and I'm going to make curtains.  There I said it, and will eventually have to blog about it, I suppose.  I'm going to make (probably not lined, certainly not pleated) curtains.  The whole idea makes me a little nervous, but I am excited to about adding a nice detail, like this pretty zigzag stitch.  

president's day

Happy President's day!

CSPAN got historians to rank all past presidents (Best=Lincoln.  Worst=Buchanan).

whole list here.

This video was made during the campaign, but she got it right!

birds of a feather

this video of starlings in Great Britain is amazing.  (the really amazing part starts about 3 minutes in)

I love you more than

About a month ago, I posted something about Paperwhite Studios "I love you more than ______" project.  They've got dozens and dozens up now, some hilarious ("I love you more than pants"), some sad ("I love you more than your wife loves you"). 

Check them out here and have a Happy Valentine's day!!!

updated

Just as traditional anniversary presents have been updated (we still go by the old ones because they are much more fun) Jason Logan thinks the meaning of flowers should be too. 

check out his drawings of modern floriography (new favorite word) at the nytimes, especially if you are planning on getting some flowers for your sweetie for Valentine's day.  

this little piggy

I love these chicken wire pigs by Benedetta Ubaldini being shown at fatgalerie.

maybe I'll jet off to Paris to see them.

be mine

looking for the perfect thing to say to your sweetie on Valentine's day?  Try the Poetry Foundation's poetry tool.  You can search by catagory or occasion, poet or period.  They've got poems for every event, from St Patrick's Day to Kwanza, and 149 just for for Valentine's day.  

image from Life.

think pink

I haven't told Steven yet, and I am not sure how he'll feel about it, but I am thinking of painting our guest room pink.  

(not this pink, I just like this photo from Aya Brackett)

a nice, pale, salmony pink.  it's just so soothing.  

photos from domino (sigh) via katy elliot

lady's first

7 years ago, when I was shopping for a wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses (a process i hated) my mom and I stumbled into a non bridal boutique called Ikram, and decided to take a break.  I can honestly say, that day and every other day I went there were the nicest shopping experiences of my life.  Sure, they had shirts that cost more money than most people make in a year (that were so beautiful you wanted to cry) but they also had dresses priced like they were made by jcrew (that were just as lovely as the expensive ones!).   

Regardless of what I looked at, was interested in, or bought (or didn't), they treated me like a queen.    

I ended up getting bridesmaid's dresses and gifts there, and other things I still have and love.

I just wish I still lived in Chicago so I could shop there.  Maybe I would even run into the First Lady, because that's where she goes (although these days they probably go to her!).  

I always knew Michelle Obama had good taste.  

learn something new every day

did you know that Mr Rogers once had his car stolen?  and that because they considered him to be the world's nicest person, when the thieves figured out whose car it was, they brought it back?  

I didn't, but I am glad I now do.  

I learned that and other things from a Tank Riot podcast, via boing boing.  

I watched and loved a lot of PBS as a kid. (did you know there's a new Electric Company?  Hey you guys!  or that the dvds of the original episodes of Sesame Street were deemed not suitable for children? today's kids are wimps.)

So, it made me really happy when I learned that, years before I was born, Mr. Rogers went to Congress and saved PBS.

and to the Supreme Court to save the VCR.

bag it

I don't remember where I saw it, but I love this room and its patchwork beanbag.  I thought of making one with my new sewing machine but since I barely know how to sew a straight line (I am signing up for classes!) I wasn't sure where to begin.  As if by magic, I stumbled on this patter (pdf) via stardustshoes.

Like everything else in the house, I am sure it will end up a well used dog bed. 

go fly a kite

The other day Steven heard a story on the radio about a wonderful organization, Kitegang.  They "seek to lift the spirits of children having few possessions or possibilities through the simple joy and curiosity brought by the sharing and flying of colorful kites."

Based in Minnesota, this non profit toy company manufactures kites and other toys in refugee camps, rural towns, and urban slums often using recycled materials.  They don't just create toys, but also create jobs in these impoverished communities and use their profits to distribute kites to orphanages and schools that request them.  

more info and really great photos here.

loafing

I am still trying to get good at making bread because good bread is stupidly expensive and Steven bought me this book for Christmas. (really he bought it for himself because he eats way more bread than do.)  

the book tells you to do all kinds of crazy things:  make sure the tempurature of the dough is 81º after you are done kneading it, set up a proofing chamber (that's what's under the bowl.)

 

and spraying the walls of the oven with water every 30 seconds for the first two minutes of baking.

I don't have it completely down yet, but so far the bread is super crusty and delicious, and if I can just make it a little lighter it'll be perfect!!  

gypped

this is Gus and Ollie watching and wondering why the Cairn Terrier was excluded from judging Best in Group at Westminster and feeling like they and their people got gypped.  

(btw, we only watched for about 7 minutes and i am only posting this because I am amazed at how you spell gypped (I plan to use it next time I play scrabble) and because Gus and Ollie are so cute, even from the back, that I post almost every photo I take of them that's in focus.  plus I think it's hilarious when they "watch" tv.)

dog and pony

I read that the Westminster dog show starts tonight and I am wondering  how they can possibly declare a Best of Breed for Cairn Terriers or Best of Group for Terriers in general when Gus and Ollie are not there.  

I won't even talk about Best in Show, because Gus and Ollie are clearly Best in World.

hiatus hiatus

My nephew Colin's 5th birthday is coming up and as I said before I am going to put the spending hiatus on hiatus to get him a present.  (my niece Riley's 1st birthday is coming up too!) 

I'm thinking of getting him one of these cool rubber band powered model airplanes.  

available here.  

duck, duck, goose

It's expensive, I don't really think I'd use it, and I am still on spending hiatus, but this bath brush is so cute that I'd love to see it on the edge of my tub.  

rabbit

Hella Jongerius has designed wall hangings for a Ikea-Unicef program.  The program helps women in India start small sewing businesses and combines their efforts with large scale production by Ikea. 

I kind of wish it was a pillow or something, because I am not one for wall hangings.  

more info on dezeen.  

I LEGO N.Y

Christoph Niemann (who made drawings about Coffee that I loved a few months back) was in Berlin playing with his kids and thinking about New York.

check out the whole thing here at the nytimes, it's delightful.  

save me

I am late to this, but is it true that Polaroid film has been saved?  Seems too good to be true, but I hope it is.  

 

polaroid from my friend Jaime Alvarez.  he's great.  

bottoms up!

Keith sent me this recipe from bon appetit for "The Laureate" a cocktail which kind of like a tequila version of a hot toddy. And the calls for dried hibiscus flowers!  

there are a few ingredients that I think I'll have to go down to Mexican town in Detroit to find but it's so pretty I want to try it!  

do you think I can use the hibiscus flower that bloomed this morning?