product plug

See these binders at home on my bookshelf? They're wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And they're 15% off for a back-to-school sale!

If you're looking for binders that are reasonably priced for what you get and how long they will last, these are it. I use them to store all of my recipes, and they have been doing a great job with it!

Also---if you're interested in a binder filled with my favorite recipes (or my in-the-making muffin book) you should let me know! You just might find one in your mailbox one of these days...

(they're not paying me to say these things, I just love them!)

summer weddings, part three!

Friend to both the bride and groom, I didn't have to choose sides, instead playing horn for their prelude and postlude up in the balcony. The church had the perfect echoy acoustics which make me sound far better than I actually am, but given my propensity to a small panic attack when performing alone it was a welcome confidence boost. Well, that and the request to play things like Throne Room from Star Wars. Why yes, I will. That sounds perfect.

[I'm pretty sure I had the best view in the house]

The bride glowed, and the groom knows he's a lucky man. But they are lucky in each other, I think.

the weddin'

(a post that was mistakenly left behind --today is a beautiful day of a breezy apartment, lots of cooking, and catching up on this blogging thing that I do so love)




I sang "Fishin' in the Dark" with a bunch of girls I hardly knew (thank god country lyrics are predictable and memorable, even when slightly inebriated). And I just found out...that it is a song by ---wait for it---Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Oh my god ridiculous.

Similar to the Ballmer Peak, my brother and I both enjoyed the slamming moves that come with a tidge of the Honeyweiss...although let's be serious, I'm pretty sure I couldn't get to 0.14 if I tried.



I stuck to my grandma's rules of engagement and high-class behavior and stayed in my heels all night, sensibly wearing wedges to avoid the barefeet on a sometimes-slippery from spilled beer dance floor...and we were home by midnight.

And the wedding itself? Wonderful. A gorgeous bride, some heartfelt toasts, a family just getting ready to be started. I hope I'm that lucky someday.

September 2010

[wistful for home]

Inspiration

Actual key rings. As in, rings made of keys. Love it! and let's be real, it totally makes me want to go and steal some of my dad's old Porche keys! (from Kiel Mead)

Oh my. So cute. As if my ovaries weren't already on high alert. Have I mentioned that my 15 year old brother thinks I should join eHarmony? I mean, he's already named my first two children, so I suppose he wants me to get started... (Gunther Link and Zelda Aurora, if you're wondering).

My friend Johanna was featured in Etsy's "Storm's a comin'" roundup of lovliness:


the sculpture is here. Here's what Johanna had to say about her sculpture:

"This sculpture represents the suspension used in a dry dock to lift a ship out of the water. The ironic element lies in the fact that the wood surrounding this metal "eye" is the only remaining piece of the ship. It was discovered off the coast of Portsmouth, NH and has incredibly rich color variations from green to deep gold and red. The metal hardware was sourced from antique markets. "


The Illustrated Guide to a PhD ---which eloquently describes graduate school as a pimple on the world's knowledge, but to great and purposeful effect.

Russia in Color, a century ago -- photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) took a series of photographs with a specialized camera to captures three black and white images in quick succession using blue, red, and green filters. They can then be recombined using filtered light to show almost true-colored photos. From 1909. They're just mind-blowing, frankly.

Beautiful reproduction of Manet's "Bar at the Folies Bergeres" made of Pantone color swatches...incredible! (via Dude Craft)

Things to look forward to:

--The start of 19th grade, or as it's also known around here, one year closer to graduating. I love MIT, but I'm getting---itchy. I know that grad school isn't the right fit, and I sometimes just get frustrated about the fact that it's not.


--I bought a Living Social Deal last month for the New England Dessert Showcase in Boston---redeemable for a gift bag worth $250, plus admission to pretty much all-you-can-eat dessert. All this for $17? I'm in. No matter how bad it is for my waistline (hint: pretty bad).


--The Annual McCormick Barbecue, complete with blue raspberry cotton candy. Yum.


--The Annual Fluff Festival in Somerville. Yup. Marshmallow Fluff. It's gonna be a good day.


--Cooler weather. I love summer. I love fall. I love winter. I love spring. I guess I love seasons in general. But it is too darn hot in McCormick, and I'm so ready to start getting a full night's sleep again, as well as have my air conditioning/high heat-induced dry eye to go away. (yeah, I challenge you to accomplish all of your to-do lists both at work and at home if you feel like ripping your eyes out. It's not the most fun).


--Fall raspberries. Yum.


--Hopefully buying a bike. I know this has taken me far longer than it should have, but that's what happens, I guess. I can't wait to have quicker transportation to the grocery store and other places around town (routes carefully planned via google maps and the familiarity of Boston of other bikers, as Boston drivers are, well, kind of jerks. Yes, there are the hipster bikers riding fixies without a helmet and completely disregarding stop lights to give bikers a bad name, but I'd say there are quite a few more drivers texting than cyclists not paying attention).


--new girls! I've already had a couple of meetings with freshmen, and I can't wait to start baking muffins and having study breaks. I also borrowed my mom's spritz cookie gun (yesssss!) so there will be an awesome spritz cookie-making party in December. I'm excited for that one already.

battening down the hatches

[taken today at 7:20 pm]

Hurricane Earl is coming...the smell of the sea, the fog covering the city, the feeling of inaction before something happens.... It's as if the sky is turning the greenish yellow color of severe thunderstorms in Minnesota--the times when you get the flashlight, find batteries for the radio, listen to Paul Douglas on WCCO...it's odd to be in the quiet before the storm, just still. Time to wait.

off to the cabin!

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a very happy young lady...see you all when I'm not up north!

State Fair!

Minnesota State Fair. I miss you. (rad poster from Allan Peters, a Minnesota graphic designer, via Twig and Thistle)

...I promise I'm still alive

Enough so to mess up my experiments and ruin a week of work. Awesome, as they say. But the good news is, we're building a lab website so I had to go through my picture archives to find some pictures. Including this gem from the State Fair two years ago:


So---this Saturday is all about catching up...to the food in my fridge, the work I have to do, the pictures I still need to organize and post, all that. Until then - enjoy your Friday!

the patented weekend packing guide!

As so many of my fine friends asked where my suitcase was this weekend and just looked at me like I was nuts as I pointed to my bright blue bag and said, "Well, this is it!" --- here's how I was able to make it work.

-Weekender bag (from H&M for $5 two years ago; I loved the color!)

-Envirosax bag that easily rolls up and adds more space just in case there happens to be an unplanned shopping trip, or to carry wine, bread, and cheese to a picnic

-magazines to read while waiting for my plane and then leave in the airport

-toiletries; small bottles since I'm carrying things on to the plane; I brought shampoo, facewash, lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, some extra hair bands, and dental floss.

-Sigg water bottle (the small one); hydration is key on planes and on vacations

-Sunscreen. SPF 55 for my fair Irish face.

-One dress (it's white with green ovals on it and a brown belt)

-One navy blue skirt

-Two shirts (one cotton, one viscose; nice since they don't wrinkle too badly)

-Two camisoles for modesty-based layering

-Gray cardigan

Note on clothes: I usually think about what I'll be doing on a vacation or weekend while I'm gone, and go from there. This weekend had a bit of walking, but no fancy events, so I went for two casual summer shoes; one open toe, one closed toe. From there you think, okay, so what shoes do I have that are comfy and open vs. closed toe? I have had a really hard time finding sandals that fit my unfortunate sausage feet, so flip flops it is. And then most of my flats are not so comfortable for super long 3 miles plus of walking. So--the Toms shoes it is. I can chose brown or black flip flops, and then my Toms are red. So, to figure out things that go with them, I pick one bottom, one dress (since I love dresses) and then two different tops that jive with red shoes. Piece of cake. Things get harder (much harder) when I'm going home for two weeks around Christmas and it's freezing and I have a New Year's party to attend, or a family thing to go to, or I'm going sledding---so I can't always pack this light. But when I do, it's great!

-Flip flops

-Toms shoes; super comfy and perfect for the plane rides and walking to and from the T and the airport, if nothing else...my feet always get cold

-Plastic bag (gallon size) for shoes. This is great since it doesn't get the rest of your stuff dirty from anything on the ground, and it's an extra bag in case they get wet.

-Nude bike shorts (ok so here's the deal. I hate shorts. HATE shorts. Ugh. Which means that I wear skirts and dresses all summer long...which means that I had to come up with a way to be modest enough when sitting on a picnic blanket without flashing half the world. Hence, nude bike shorts. You can also wear normal black ones, but they sometimes show more obviously through the dress)

-Oak leaf hammered silver necklace (from here)


-Green peridot choker from my grandmother

-Wallet (gotta remember that ID!)

-Boarding pass

-a few sheets of blank paper and a pen...just in case you need it for something

-Bottle of tylenol which contains a rudimentary first aid kit. For me, that means a few tylenol, some ibprofen, a couple bandaids. But if you're the person that is lactose intolerant, obviously you'd need to add lactaid...it's very customizable.

-2 granola bars (=emergency rations)

-four cough drops--one for each flight to suck on

-pajama shirt and jersey skirt (lightweight, squishable, and no one cares if your pjs are wrinkly)

-camera with rechargeable batteries

-phone and phone charger

Ta-da! Everything fits, and it weighs less than the bag I normally carry to school with my laptop. Perfect.

Now, if it was winter, this would be a lot harder due to the actual puffiness and/or general size of winter clothes. But you can still plan things the same way. Another issue was a small gift to bring to my hosts...I had planned to fill up my envirosax bag with lots of puppy chow, but the dilation of my eyes got in my way (I was walking around like an impaled cyclops the night before I left, and couldn't really do anything. I couldn't trust myself with the oven, that's for sure).

Ikea, the mini, and meatballs.

[Me and the mini after the Ikea trip that yielded oh-so-much deliciousness and home goods in June. Posted now just because I'm hungry for meatballs. Although, when am I ever not hungry for good meatballs?]