favorites of favorites

Our blog has a new design: it is rustic and beautiful to me. I have also promised myself to write more often. Yet, I have no ideas for a post worth reading. Thus, I will share my favorite blogs (mostly food blogs. yes, I love food porn) and other favorite things. Yes, I am pushing you off onto other blogs due to my lack of online communicating skills. Here it goes:

To read:

1. Joy the Baker - one of our favorite food blogs to steal dinner ideas from. Joy, we salute you.
2. Orangette - We loved Molly's book, A Homemade Life and thus love her blog
3. The Scout - one of the very few websites from whom I love to receive emails (subscription recommended)
4. 101 Cookbooks - lovely lovely photography of lovely food. We also have fallen in love with Heidi's cookbooks and her Flickr
5. Smitten Kitchen - best food photography

To browse:

1. Nerd Boyfriend
2. The Selby - most obviously
3. The Devil's Dictionary

other favorites:

1. Favorite trailer of the summer
2. cats - calicos
3. Cute Roulette - may have something to do with #2. just maybe.
4. Most recent movie watched: Never Let Me Go. Depressing, but in a way a good depressing movie should be depressing. Also, Carrie Mulligan is my favorite cutie.

and finally, my new hair cut of the summer:

I have already been called "sir"

O Captain, my Captain

Ah... my deepest apologies in not writing in awhile. The school work has been an over load.

But alas! this weekend I found time to not only watch The Dead Poets Society but also to go to a birthday party.

In my family, we have never truly celebrated birthdays. I suppose we are just introverted people (which may be the cause of our long silences online). But last Friday, I visited a friend's house.

This certain friend, who is absolutely insane (and it's adorable), celebrates not only her birthday but her birthday month. For the past two months she has been counting down in algebra class until this iconic day. When the long awaited moment arrived, she left school in order to get her license. This may not seem odd to some, but to me, 16th birthdays don't inspire much interest. Yes, I am 16 (and have been for awhile) and no, I do not have any interest in driving (besides getting rid of a carpool).

Strangely enough, I do not find her enthusiasm annoying, I find it rather interesting and charming. Her insanity was echoed throughout her house. The outside was very dainty, taller than it was wide, and still displayed two Christmas wreaths. She told me not to enter the front door, because they never answer it. On the way to the attic, I walked up 3 stair cases, none much wider than me, and one painted bright red. As I expected, the entire house was covered in piles of stuff, crap, and dirt. I had more fun walking up the stairs than I did socializing.

Moving on to the next night: I watched The Dead Poets Society, featuring Robin Williams as an inspiring and unorthodox English teacher and controlling parents of teenage boys. After watching each boy break the rules, "seize the day," and follow his every whim (including one suicide), I felt like rebelling myself. Thus, I took hold of the orange juice bottle and took a swig. It felt very nice to break the rules (even if it was never really a rule) so I took a second drink. Then I made myself some chocolate milk and played Iron and Wine on the guitar until my right arm hurt.

That was my rebellious and out of control weekend: a birthday party with tiny stairs and a swig of orange juice from the jug.

Carpe Diem

(which Latin students know is actually suggesting young men seize something else)

specimens in watercolor

gollybard

Holly (the artist behind gollybard) is an amazing creator. She creates watercolor paintings of nature, insects, birds, and much more. She sells her paintings on Etsy and her work has been used in other sellers jewelry work (for example: this rustic lamb and fence magnetic locket by polarity)

Not only does Holly have great talent but a great heart. With every sell from her Heart collection, she donates $5 to So Others Might Eat, a organization in the City of Washington who helps the poor and homeless.

gollybard was also a featured seller on Etsy! Read interview here.

Visit the gollybard blog (one of my new favorites)

Look through the rest of Holly's art in her shop: www.gollybard.etsy.com

yip yip

the etsy shop has been featured on Faberuna! there was much rejoicing

Faberuna is a wonderful website featuring all handmade items and the shops that sell them (and not just Etsy shops). many thanks to the folks at Faberuna

we recomend faberuna to anyone looking to support handmade