"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"
- Barbara Bush, 3/18/03

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words later








hm, nevermind the later:

my sister claudin is here visiting for a week and we’ve already packed more into the last four days than i usually do in two weeks. of course, no work makes that easy – as do lovely events like the “fabulous fiber fest” (must be said with giant exclamation marks in your voice, it’s so very fun to do) where we ran into julia (who posted a cute pic of claudi and me, and one of me spinning) and marnie, which is always great. i didn’t go crazy but got some lovely fiber (pygora and a grafton batt of merino, plus some exotic fiber from a friend) – and notice the lovely glitter mascara? i like some fun makeup now and then, and glitter always receives a happy ‘yay!’

on sunday caroline, claudi and me went to the hollywood farmer’s market for their annual heirloom tomato festival. claudi, ever the professional/fanatical runner, ran in griffith park later that day while i took shots of the food haul, yum.

more happened since (today was our beverly hills day, with a nice celebrity sighting, etc, tomorrow is all santa monica with hopefully some bike rentals), and claudi has fotos too – plus a trip to the bay area is planned for thurs and friday, and so on and so forth. yay.

happy late august everyone~ ~

comment [7]

posted 22 August 06 & filed under familia!, hungry

a simple breakfast

happy july ~ my computer has crashed five six times today, so i’m going to make it quick. liz has extended the idea of the ‘eat local challenge’ month to dedicating one meal a week to be just local food throughout the summer. of course, i signed up – and you can too, it’s never too late. i just barely made this week’s deadline, with a simple hearty breakfast yesterday morning-ish. everything was local except for the bread and feta. though both were locally made, i doubt the ingredients were local; also, the salt, pepper and olive oil weren’t local. there was a bunch more strawberries before the pictures were taken – they were just too good, i just kept thinking ‘ohhh, just one more..’ ;) what you see here: a minimalist bruschetta, roasted peppers, fluffy omelet, some herbed feta, and three delicious fruits to choose from.

this week has been crazy – the biggest news is that i sold my car on thursday. that orange box next to my meal is an old collection of bus maps i have from several years back when i was riding the buses all the time – a great way to get to know a city fairly well. so, back on the bus i go. i’ve been taking the bus pretty often these past four weeks or so, but now that’s the only option. i’m happy about it and it does feel rather freeing, but i had a lot of nice memories in that car – lots of singing, laughing – and it feels like the first big step towards leaving california. sorry if i seem to always go on about moving, but i’ve been here six years and i never once moved growing up, plus i have a real life here that in some ways i just love, so yeah, it’s a real big deal that i keep wondering and muttering and sighing about.

it’s hotter than i can take with no a/c, so i busted out the fan and am drinking a ton of water. no knitting, no spinning, but it’ll come around soon enough. mostly reading, walking a lot, and thinking hard. some dancing around my apartment too. bye for now ~

p.s. trouble’s such a weirdo – she loves feta! and peanut butter and tomato sauce. i wetted her and mama cat down today several time – their fur was all punked out looking, especially trouble’s. then, with all that water on her, she got to feeling all frisky, started whipping her tail around, and looking like she wanted to race me around the apartment. my cats keep me sane.

comment [6]

posted 2 July 06 & filed under hungry, leaving l.a.

curds and whey

hey there ~ yesterday was a lesson in procrastination – my umpteenth one that nope, i didn’t learn yet again. ah well, still got a ton done. not what was at the top of the list, but whatever. i’m still excited about it all because i made cheese! two kinds! so stoked.

the final product - homemade ricotta! served with nuts, dried fruit, and a sprinkling of local sage honey. delish.

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i only have pics of the ricotta for now, but i also made gjetost – or at least a version of it. i plan on getting some fresh goat’s milk from someplace or another and making some chevre, mmm, and then truly authentic gjetost from the leftover whey.

some links for fellow cheese enthusiasts:

~ the original inspiration, homemade ricotta recipe via becks & posh nosh

~ a simple paneer recipe that’s basically the same thing

~ an article on what cheesemakers can do with all that leftover whey

~ one easy option is to use it in place of water, milk, or even broths in many recipes – like these biscuits, as it packs a lot of nutrition and flavor.

~ the best part of that article was realizing i could make gjetost from whey – and this page, set up by a fellow cheese fanatic, shows the process easily. since i only had half a gallow on whey, that reduced to about a 1/4 cup of actual cheese that i ever so slightly burned :( but it’s so darn close to the real thing, i could care less.

a good fiber post coming up early tomorrow – lots and lots of pics. i’m the process of seaming up my urban aran, though i still need to buy a zipper, and am impatiently waiting for the sleeves of crinkly to dry – cotton takes forever! especially in this weather. here’s to a lovely june weekend ~ ~

p.s. the book in that first pic is Lost Arts: A Celebration of Culinary Traditions by Lynn Alley and is filled with info about making your own vinegars, mustards, cheeses, and more. lovely!

comment [9]

posted 9 June 06 & filed under urban aran

croutons, or making salads friendly

hi there ~ still waiting on some yarn deliveries, plugging away on that shawl o’ mine, and generally keeping up with school and work. as part of the whole eat local challenge, i’ve been cooking and preparing my own meals a lot. at least when i’m not clearing out the pantry of all the instant and frozen meals i’ve squirreled away inadvertently for months now.

anyhow, i really like jae’s posts – she of domesticaffair.com (are you still drinking your lemon water in the morning? i’ve been semi-successful with that, but lately a bit slacking.) and recently she wrote about making friends with salads. yeah. now i’m totally willing to be friends, it’s just that salads aren’t very friendly to me. no fat, no grease, just green and supposedly so yummy and so good for you and blah blah blah. but! i forgot about a friend we have in common: croutons. sigh, now there’s a pefect finger food, a lovely snack, and the greatest combo of crunch and taste. (jae has a nice list of other things that can be added to make salads more palatable, definitely check it out. but in my kitchen, it’s all about the bread.)

deborah madison has a simple recipe for crouton-making in her delicious vegetarian cooking for everyone (which i’ll be forever grateful liz turned me on to) and, since it’s so very basic in the duh-slap-your-forehead kind of way, i’m summarizing here for your stomach’s pleasure. (or rather tongue’s or mouth’s, right? hm.)

you get your basic bread – any type works, i usually use baguettes or really any crusty breads that are just about to go stale. cut them into your favorite crouton size (i like big croutons myself), add a little olive oil to a skillet and toast the bread over medium-high heat “until crisp and golden.” lovely. eat a few. then, move the bread into a little bowl and, using the same skillet, add in some chopped garlic and herbs.

here it get’s all subjective – i like a fair amount of garlic so for about a cup and a half of croutons, i’ll throw in two generous tablespoons of garlic whereas the normal person might prefer just one. then, herb-wise, add any herbs you like. really, it’s just bread – what can go wrong! ;) madison suggests rosemary, thyme, marjoram and, my favorite, sage. you can throw in a mix or just use one herb. you’ll want roughly a 3:1 ratio for herbs to garlic for the first batch – after that, you’ll know how much is too much or not enough, etc. so, just saute the herbs and garlic and then stir in the croutons. add some seasoning – a bit of salt and pepper, a little bit of sherry or red wine vinegar and that’s it. delish delish!

and that is how i ate this lovely little salad. i forgot how nice it is to crunch away and discover that yay, another crouton has been unearthed by the current forkful of salad. yes, i eat my greens so that i can eat my bread. that’s the kind of girl i am. now, i just have to force myself to close the lid of the crouton can since the salad is all gone. mmm.

bon appetito. it’s a gloomy overcast may day here in los angeles ~ hope the sun’s shining where you are.

p.s. gratuitous yarn shot for the fiber folks. that’s 315 yards of double ply superwash mentioned earlier. love it.

comment [4]

posted 9 May 06 & filed under hungry

easy food

1. What’s your definition of local for this challenge?

i’ll follow the 100-mile radius most elc-ers are doing. using a handy-dandy map calculator, i get this:

2. What exemptions will you claim?

anything already in my pantry, including spices and oils. once a week, up to one meal can be non-local. and that doesn’t mean half of one meal and half of another equals one, or any other kinds of silly fractions/ideas. lastly, if i can’t find basic flour or rice that’s local, then i can buy it, always trying to get it from as nearby as possible.

3. What is your personal goal for the month?

my goal is to eat as locally as i can – aiming high for around 90% local food. additionally, i want to prioritize making a lot of my basic food – like yogurt, bread, cheese (!), growing herbs, and more. i also plan on reading a lot – both articles and blogs online, and books galore (i have a stack of them waiting for me at the library already).

in general, i want to learn more about where my food comes from, how my choices change once i learn that, and how possible is it to eat responsibly and well in one of the biggest cities in the world. also, i want to be inspired by the changes people are making in their food choices, the poltical ramifications of these choices, and what next steps i can take after the challenge is over.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

so, first things first:

after trying to find a good local community supported agriculture (csa) program and finding only one (surprise, surprise. sigh, l.a.) that is a little spotty with their website and has pretty distant pickup locations*, i decided to go with a local organic delivery group. choosing from a few different places was easy – love delivery, particularly after reading this bit

Eight to nine months out of every year at least 80-90% of all our produce comes from within 100 miles of Los Angeles. In the winter season we do have to count on other areas of the world for the variety that we like to offer. Yet still keeping in mind with the seasons involved. If you want to stay strictly local all you need to do is let us know.

i talked with the owner and was informed it’d be hard to make my box entirely local without sacrificing variety. since i’m trying just one sample box for now, i said let’s just see what this box looks like. this is what i got not twenty minutes ago:

1 1/2 lbs broccoli – from salinas, about 300 miles away
1 1/4 lbs zukes
1 1/2 lbs bananas – probably mexico
1 avocado
1 3/4 lbs yellow squash
2 red bartlett pears
2 oranges
2 red delicious apples
1 lb carrots – from new jersey
2 tomatos – from mexico
2 lbs of beets with greens
1 1/4 lbs leeks – from mexico
1 bag of mesclun mix
2 garlic bulbs – from new jersey
1 bag of celery – from pure pacific
1 carnation (nice touch)

although the produce is beautiful and tempting, all organic, and the perfect quantity for the next week or two, i’m thinking some of the other stuff that was unlabeled was probably also not local, though it’s impossible to be sure. it’s disappointing that there’s any non-local stuff in the box – much less practically half the box! -, since i specified and then clarified i wanted only local food. there’s a bunch of farms listed – cal-organic farms, pure pacific, organics unlimited – that i need to research and see how close by they are. .. ok, just researched and in general they’re not close at all and are giant farms. hmph. ah well.

what this means is that though the ease of produce delivery is great, definitely the best choice would really be joining a csa, then going to a farmer’s market, and then, lastly, choosing organic delivery. i’m thinking the farmer’s market this sunday in hollywood will be a much better shot for local food.

(* i should clarify that my main reason for not picking tierra miguel farms is mostly because they’re a little too far and their pickup locations/times don’t work for me this quarter. everything i’ve heard about them sounds excellent, though, so for those a bit closer, this would be a great choice, i think.)

comment [2]

posted 3 May 06 & filed under hungry

so much to do!

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i’m going to be posting a lot this week, i’m thinking. there’s just too much going on. so, for now, a quick recap of my awesome weekend and some links.

i went on a fiber retreat and this is what i brought back:
1) a felt hat (!) that needs some stiffening for the brim, some grosgrain ribbon on the inside as well, and maybe some bias tape on the rim to prettify the edges.*
2) two bobbins full of yarn-to-be-plied using janel’s lovely roving (colorway “leaf peepers”)
3) sunburn – on arms (hello, farmer tan!), nose, and scalp

there was a lot of laughing and talking with some fabulous women, good food, and incredible views. see francesca’s post for pics and such. a great time was had and it all passed way too quickly.

oh and yes, that’s my new hair. brown! with some reds, that you can’t see. and some blondes on the top, always fun. a smorgasboard of color. better pics later.

meow girl just posted about the same thing, though her husband did it a bit more cleverly. i just bought mine, and it’s clay, not real eggshell, but here’s my newly sprouting basil. isn’t it too cute? it inspired me to buy some other herb plants and seeds, though pics for that will have to wait.

now, some links:

~ have you seen stephen colbert’s speech at the white house correspondents’ dinner? it’s great and funny as can be. i love how the camera stopped swinging over to bush to capture his reactions after a bit, ha.

~ i don’t have a microwave, and though at times i miss popcorn-in-45-seconds and all that, in general, i feel happy not to have one in my home. here’s another good reason: check out what this science experiment showed when a little girl watered two plants, one with stove-boilded water, the other with water that was microwaved. shudder.[via path to freedom]

~ make your own salt! wow. [also via ptf]

~ the eat local challenge people started a book club, so especially for those of you who can’t participate belly-wise this month (and believe me, i understand, it’s going to be hard at times for me, i know already!), how about head-wise? (oh the new words i make up. don’t groan!)

i’m busy busy in my knitting – and anxiously awaiting some deliveries, yay. love getting mail. i’m about 60% done with madli shawl – 20 out of 31 repeats done, so with about a repeat a day, i should be done in the next two weeks.

tomorrow i’ll post my answers to the the eat local challenge questionnaire as well as some happy photos of local produce. bye!

(*in the photos, you see the felt hat on a hat form – “gambler” – from hatshapers.com)

comment [6]

posted 2 May 06 & filed under hungry, spinning

getting ready for may

why? it’s the beginning of the eat local challenge! last year it was in august and since i was traveling all over the place, it was super easy to get a bit lazy about it. this year, i’m determined to do a bit more. not that last year wasn’t successful – the challenge definitely raised my awareness of where the food i was eating came from. but, onward and upward, right?

for those of you who haven’t heard of it before, the eat local challenge rises out of these questions:

“What if all of our food decisions for a month were based on what was available in our foodshed? What is it like to eat only what’s in season? What if we all became more aware of where our food really comes from? What if local businesses got the message that people actually care about where their food comes from because of the sheer number of people asking questions about sourcing?” – lifebeginsat30

[for more detailed info, check out eatlocalchallenge.com when it debuts later this week; liz’s excellent post is a great primer too.]

there’s an offical questionnaire i’ll post answers to later, but my general goals this coming month will be:

~ aim for 90% of all food eaten to be locally grown
~ find a good community supported agriculture (csa) farm, or local organic delivery
~ research for the harder-to-find items like local flour, salt, etc
~ go to a farmer’s market each week – there’s so many in l.a. to choose from!
~ read more about the sustainable agriculture/eating local movements, like

some more food for thought (ba-da-bum-bump) from this morning’s research:

~ the hidden costs of food: food mileage. 1, 2 [pdf], 3, 4

~ vandana shiva quotes:

“The suicides of 25,000 farmers in India in a short span of six years are a symptom of the deep crisis in the dominant model of farming and food production. This system is denying the right of food and health to both the one billion who are hungry and the one billion who suffer from obesity.” [link: 1, 2]
“by their very nature economies based on sustenance ensure a high quality of life—when measured in terms of access to good food and water, opportunities for sustainable livelihoods, robust social and cultural identity, and a sense of meaning in people’s lives.” [link: 1, 2]

so. lots of plans coming up food-wise, very exciting. i think i will learn a lot, and i know i’m going to eat delicious stuff. wanna join me? sign on up!

hope you and yours have an excellent weekend ~
andrea

comment [5]

posted 21 April 06 & filed under hungry

definitely a theme


the pattern shows the irregular plying, but i still totally dig this scarf


a new food mill for delcious soups & more


gifted tomato powder – this little jar holds 18 lbs of tomatos, wow. homemade ketchup is in the horizon.


last but not least, remember this bear? exactly.

p.s. check out the dumpster. i could read it for hours.

comment [9]

posted 13 February 06 & filed under cherry scarf, hungry

missing l.a.

for years now, i’ve been planning on leaving l.a. once i get my masters, and move somewhere closer to my family in maryland. not to maryland – i’ve never wanted to live in maryland, every since i was pretty young, don’t know why – but somewhere close-ish so i could drive or fly there for weekend get-togethers, birthdays, school plays, and the everyday things like that. however, as the date gets nearer – graduation will be in mid-june and i imagine i’ll leave by autum at the latest – it gets harder to really start planning on leaving l.a., not being here in this city that i never gave a thought to, never thinking i’d live in at all, much less almost six years now.

i’ve been such a hermit, in some ways, since starting school – on the weekends, given choice, i usually prefer to putter around my kitchen or sit and read and nap. so it’s kinda funny to realize i’d miss the city itself. new yorkers are famous for being really loyal to their city, talking about the rhythm of it as if it were alive. being the country girl, i always scoffed and thought cities were convenient but superficial and all kinds of other snobby thoughts. .. anyhow, i’ll miss l.a., it’s rhythm, the atmosphere, the familiar look and feel of it, totally unique and un-mistakable.

so, in an effort to come to grips and really get a hold on what i plan to do – i’m a master at escapism! – i’m stealing an idea from heidi and starting a ‘things i like/don’t like about l.a.’ list. once i figure out where i’m going, i’ll post a similar list for wherever that may be.

sheesh, i sound so moody. don’t worry, i’ve just been feeling all emotional the last few days – stupid commericals get me teary, and all that junk. it’s all good though, everyone should have a nice cry now and then, nothing wrong with that.

these lists aren’t in order by priority or anything, and please, if you know l.a., add your own in the comments, i’m sure i’ll forget things.

first off: i’ll miss these trees. don’t know what they’re called but the minute i saw them it was love at first sight (i’m a believer!). the booklover in me immediately sees paper and gasps, the russian major sees a type of birch and sighs happily, and the fantasy fan sees a tree whose bark feels like very soft cork and is delighted. hmm, that last bit might seem weird. ;) (though i can’t say i’ve quite given up on the idea of dryads, either.) anyhow, i love love these trees. there’s a row of them on my walk to class and i always give them an affectionate pat as i walk by.

also, just because i’m proud, here’s a pic of some bread i made – last week’s banana bread, that’s still quite fresh and delish for breakfast (yes, i’m eating breakfast, chicas!) and then two loaves of heavenly lemony bread. made with cottage cheese, they’re light yet satisfying. though they could’ve risen a tad bit more, i’m ever so proud of them. they’re also given affectionate pats whenever i walk by. ha!

happy monday ~

p.s. by the way, have you heard about whipup? looks good so far, though somewhat mysterious too. nice combo, there. [via soule mama]

comment [14]

posted 30 January 06 & filed under hungry, leaving l.a.

things that make me cheery

hello world. a simple list for a friday:

1) good food, like the stuff i’ve been cooking the last few days: roasted red pepper spread, potato soup, and butternut squash gratin with onions and sage. tonight i’m making candied yams and tomorrow an eggplant caviar i basically lived on when i lived in moscow, delish.

2) good music, like the great cd mix tanya sent me (along with an adorable knit flower pin, two artsy postcards up on my fridge already, and some sock yarn that i’m determined to knit into comfy slouchy socks, yay!). my favorites so far would be: well, i recently got into south park and so trey parker’s “montage” is hilarious; amerie’s “one thing” was in my head while i was in italy, so it’s great to finally be able to put a name to the tune!; be your own pet’s “electric shake” is totally rocking and i love it. dangerous to drive to, though. ;) i gotta say my fav is “angela”, the theme from taxi – i’m a sucker for seventies music, especially with organs and slow grooves.

3) lots of sleep, i.e. what i’ve been getting since quitting my job a month ago. it’s a good sign when you never regret your decision for even a moment, huh?

3) happy plans, like sometime in february i’m off to san francisco to just look at wheels, then in late march, i’ll be d.c. attending a a cool conference that’s right up my ally (computers in libraries!) also, in april i’ll be going to a spinning retreat with my guild, already put the money down, and will be sure to have a blassst. awesome. all three events mean meeting up with online buddies, so that’s even cooler.

4) and, the foolproof way to get cheery in a moment, cute overload. i love love that site, the pictures are adorable, the commentary is hilarious, and it just builds, one post after another. my absolute fav is this one.. the caption reads “Au Natural. He’s totally smiling too. Can’t you picture him sliding off the couch in slo-mo?” ha!

happy friday and have a delicious weekend ~

comment [4]

posted 20 January 06 & filed under hungry

tortillas!

it started raining last night and it’s still all drip and splash outside my windows – i’m a moody girl, so i love moody weather, it just calms me right down.

i thought i’d post some happy pictures of my first meal last night with my very own homemade tortillas – they were delicious!

it's very easy to make the dough - just mix 2 cups of tortilla flour (really fine cornmeal, i used maseca) with a little over 1 cup of water, mix, and then separate into 16 balls. (here there are 15 tortillas-in-the-making, the 16th one rolled on to the floor ;) ...)

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you can find tortilla presses in all different sizes (and cheap!) you could theoretically make the masa (tortilla flour) yourself, but it seems like a pretty intensive effort.

it really was amazing how different the tortillas tasted. i have this favorite local spot i love to get soft tacos from and i always assumed they had some delicious secret salsa or the combination of the limes and beans were doing it or something but the taste was always phenomenal. now i know where it’s really coming from – and i can re-create it myself whenever i want. heaven!

and for much prettier pictures and more tempting descriptions, read tigers & strawberries delicious accounts of tortilla making. i bookmarked the post and just kept reading it whenever i was hungry, it’s that good.

i hope it keeps raining – it’s cheering me up. in knitting news, i finished the petit chou hipsters and am about half way through the top. so far so good. hope everyone is doing well – i’m off to eat some tacos ;)

p.s. check this out – those italians are crazy! though now that i think about it, i would like to hike up a 20 foot bunny.. i sound looney, but click the link, you’ll see what i mean. [via absintheknits]

comment [6]

posted 20 September 05 & filed under hungry

eat local challenge

hey there ~ can you believe it’s august already? wow.

about the ‘eat local august challenge’ i mentioned earlier..

major obstacle: time. i decided i’ll be doing the challenge until the 18th and then it’s basically out of my hands. from the 18th till the 21st, i’ll be in new orleans for a work conference, hence i’ll be eating out, needing to schmooze and all that (ugh, i’m a really bad schmoozer, unless i click with someone, and well, then it’s not schmoozing, is it?) from the 21st to the 30th i’ll be home with my family in maryland – and that means a lot of eating out too.

however, that also means a lot of cooking and food shopping, though, which opens up some choices, even if it isn’t my kitchen. my dad has a new mini-orchard going on and from what i hear my little sisters are up to their ears in cherries and are canning them like crazy, etc. also, maryland is corn-land if nothing else – fresh corn on the cob, yum.

so, here’s my plan:

1. What’s your definition of local for this challenge?
i’m going with the general answer: local means within a hundred mile radius of los angeles.

2. What exemptions will you claim?

i might add more here – hopefully not too many.

3. What is your personal goal for the month?
starting august 1st.. err august 3rd (ahem), i’m going to try and have a large portion of the food i eat be grown locally. by large portion i mean over 50% – though some days i hope to do much better than that. in general, i hope to see how easy, and hard, it is to eat locally – both time-wise, money-wise, and other-wise – and with that knowledge, be able to realistically plan on how to extend this challenge to the rest of my time in los angeles. this is basically a trial run, in other words, but with support, which makes it a whole lot more fun.

one caveat: this is sooo not about purity, about holier-than-thou, about extreme anything or absolutes of any kind. i’m not into that, nor can i sustain that.

in getting ready for this, i’ve come to realize this challenge is a continuation of a long-held, however unrealized – until the last few years, at least – idea. basically, as others have written, i want to wean myself off corporate dependency.

that dependency comes in lots of different shapes and affects all parts of my life. to a certain extent in this culture, especially living in l.a., it’s unavoidable. but the dream of independence, of self-sufficiency, of craft and knowledge, is old, instilled when young and nurtured by so many relationships since then.

starting from when i was little and my mom refused to buy us plastic halloween costumes and instead handmade us costumes (remind me to post a pic of me in my own she-ra getup, it’s awesome.) or when i’d visit my grandparents’ farm and see on the wall the box filled with a handful of soybeans, corn, and beans, labeled “our first harvest”.

then, learning to love checking books out of the library rather than just hoarding my own (though there’s nothing wrong with a personal library – believe me, i’ve got one! but the greediness of the 12 year old who wanted a copy of every book she read? not a pretty sight.) learning i prefered homemade pasta to store-bought. shoot, learning that i generally preferred homemade any-kind-of-food to store-bought.

so, i see this as just another step. i already don’t eat at most fast food chains (being vegetarian makes that easy-peasy), i try and buy organic when possible (trader joe’s makes that easy too), i try and avoid refined sugar (darn ketchup). i’ll be visiting local farmer’s markets, trying out a home delivery service, and hopefully cooking up delicious new recipes – i went a little crazy the other day and put a ton of great-sounding vegetarian cookbooks on hold at the library. yay!

*happily, i’m almost done with my pantry stash. all that’s left are canned pineapples (years and years old), a ton of dried beans, instant mashed potatoes, and cereal. ay, what a list, huh? ;)

[images from the smooch]

comment [4]

posted 3 August 05 & filed under hungry, politics

published!

such a sleepy thursday, yawwwn. ok, i’m up, i’m up, i swear.

the new spring issue of you grow girl is out with the theme ‘beginner’. appropriately, my two reviews are there, one for mcgee & stuckey’s: the boutiful container and the other on sarah stein’s noah’s garden: restoring the ecology of our own backyards. both are very good, especially stein’s for just pure daydreaming reasons if nothing else.

i’ve been accepted into the r.a.o.k. ring! very exciting —and though i was very relieved to see my knitting stash is not so large as some (phew), it’s still a little too big for my comfort level, so i’ll be de-stashing soon (at least at little bit… obviously, i’m still trying to convince myself.) also, some knitting books i have i’m just not crazy about and i know others would appreciate them more. for the books, however, i was thinking i’d offer them to any of the ladies that read this here journal first, if you want them. trades are happily welcomed – for yarn, mags (old copies of interweave’s knits or, especially!, old rebeccas, rowan, or phildar mags! it’s so exciting to even just think about trades, hee.), or anything otherwise, but if not, and i really like you ;), i’ll just send a book trade-free.

up for grabs:

i watched finding neverland last night—everyone i had talked to who had seen it told me they cried watching it, so i resisted. i felt either two things would happen: a) i’d cry, and i don’t like crying when it’s about movies, or b) i wouldn’t and instead would want to roll my eyes in annoyance at the cloying artificialness of the supposed crying scene. no surprise, i’m sure, that option a happened – buckets in fact. embarassing, but there it is.

sometime today or tomorrow i’m officially switching over to my new hosting people (textdrive.com!) so if this site is down, don’t be alarmed ;), it’ll all be up and running by sunday at the latest.

ooh! the new knitty is up! my favorite are the cute beach bags...

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posted 7 April 05 & filed under hungry

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