giving the gift of holiday spirit

Now that cyber monday is over, its important to be aware of smart, affordable gifts for one and all. Usually, I just think about all the things that I've wanted to buy all year, for myself and for others.  But now that I have my own home I really love the idea of gifting holiday items. It's fun and jolly!

The first thing I want to mention is the lovely advent calendar, pictured above, that my mum sent for Felix. She got it at the National Gallery in London, and each door opens to a different painting that hangs in the gallery. So sweet! It's nice to have special things you only put out during the holidays. It also makes sense to me that seasonal housewares and decorations make perfect host gifts. Things like this:

nativity nesting dolls $29

felted wool radish ornaments $10 for set of 3

noel, by crabtree and evelyn: the perfect seasonal combination of cedar and spice  (the incense is the best, but they don't even make it anymore)

rim cookie cutter $6.50 for 3

glass oyster ornament $8.99 

striped taper candles--similar here, $24 a pair

the classiest of all christmas albums, about $15 on vinyl

midcentury paper ornaments $8 for set of 2

the most delicious tin of biscuits  

I'm working on some more of these, but it's also coming up on finals week.
In the meantime, here are some gift guides from last christmas past:

the gift of gold
the gift of organization
gifts for the little ones
gifts for the kitchen
gifts for the gentleman 
gifts for the special lady 

valentimes!

Working in a bakery in February, surrounded by pink buttercream and little red sugar cherubs, you have a lot of time to think about Valentine's Day but no time to actually celebrate it. Or at least not in a romantic capacity with your valentine (especially when he works nights!) Lucky for me I have two valentines to choose from--Felix gets more excited about this kind of thing anyway. Decorating cookies probably wasn't the wisest way to celebrate, given amount of confection we've received for the holiday, but Felix was also just gifted these new heart-shaped cookie cutters, and I didn't know what else to do! Anyway, he loved it! I like doing these baking projects with him start to finish so he can see the process: we made the dough on wednesday; cut out and baked the cookies on thursday; and mixed royal icing for decorating on friday! He takes his duties very seriously, and always wants to do everything himself. 

It all came together for a jolly valentines day tea party. Felix wore his halloween kitty ears, to be festive, and we invited a new friend over for cookies, a cuppa, and tarot cards. She even brought us a balloon! Magic! Seriously, having people over for tea is the only way I even know how to interact socially anymore. I never go out, and I never even want to! It's the best! 

no more chametz

According to the wikipedia article on Pesach--or Passover for the gentiles out there, myself included--"observant Jews spend the weeks before... in a flurry of thorough housecleaning." But I'm here to tell you from personal experience that, although there are over sixty nights to go, cleaning is thoroughly underway for the Hassids of Squirrel Hill. In case you don't already know every little thing about it, the whole point is to remove all of the Chametz, or leavened food, from one's possession--that is to say, home, car, office, handbags, clothing, and so on, before Pesach begins. And I mean, all of it. Every single crumb! Now, for those inclined to low-carb/gluten-free lifestyles, this may not seem such a daunting task. But say you have a two year old? Keeping in mind that every cheerio, every crumb of every graham cracker, in every tote bag, high chair and car seat, anything made with one of five forbidden grains, yeast, and water Must Be Removed from your possession by April 14th for fear of kareth (spiritual excision), you can understand why people commence this ritual cleansing so early. Though Halakha has no inherent value in my eyes, my professional affiliation with the local chabad community has got me swept up in the so-called 'flurry' of this tradition; I have no intention of eschewing leavened foods, yet I've latched on to the metaphor of removing "every last crumb" from my home in the course of my spring cleaning. It will, of course, be much easier, when my shiny new hoover arrives in the mail--I never thought I'd be so excited about a vacuum cleaner!

Best Valentimes ever!

be my fauvalentine

I was into hearts and candy pinks this time last year, working in the bakery. But as my focus has switched from pastry to interiors, the kind of romance I'm feeling this valentines day season is more domestic; cheerful yet subdued. Something very like the mood Henri Matisse captured in various still-lifes and portraits during his Fauvist period. Those warm chalky pinks, electric blues, deep greens. It's cozy and relaxed, but with an air of luxury and decadence thanks to the carved furniture and rich textiles, the rooms filled with plants flowers. This is what I'm working towards in my own home. I've already taken the first step, painting my dining room pink. 

 

maybe it's just me, but for me...

Just after christmas, Felix and I spent ten days in my old home town, Columbia Missouri. It's always so nice to go back, but it can be very nerve-wracking in its way. The people come and go, controversial apartment complexes are built, burned, and built again, but somehow it always feels exactly the same there, which serves to make me especially aware of the ways in which my life has changed since I moved away. Obviously, having a baby has drastically altered my daily routine, and engendered a shift in my priorities. But I find I've changed in other, subtler ways, that don't necessarily have anything to do with motherhood. Namely, I'm referring to my newfound love of soup. You see, before I had Felix, I hated soup. Truthfully, it has always had something to do with the sounds other people make when they eat it... but I don't know, something about it bothered me, conceptually. But then, when I was pregnant, all of the sudden I wanted soup all of the time. And here we are, three years later, and it's still one of my favorite things to eat. Isn't it crazy to think that it's been three years since I was pregnant? Let's stop talking about it. Anyway, I know I'm about 22,000 years late to this party, and maybe it's just me, but for me, soup is great! I love everything about it! And of course, it's the very best thing to eat this time of year, as it's healthy and sensible, but also warm and comforting; its easy to make but incredibly satisfying; and it makes your whole house smell delicious!

You know what I mean? I'm so glad I feel this way! Thank you, Felix (who ironically won't eat it). Right now, my very favorites (besides ramen, duh) are Potato Leek, Chicken Spaetzle, and Italian Wedding. And speaking of recipes, and also of soup, you know what they say...

image by Heike Weber

"I must have flowers, always always!"

... said my mother recently, and Claude Monet before her. Isnt springtime amazing? It always seems to me like its too good to be true. I feel one hundred percent happier on a daily basis now that theres some flora in the world. How lucky and lovely it is to see flowers, flowers everywhere, whenever you walk outside? We humans must find them so beautiful because we evolved from little furry pollinators--I feel like, Im inherently, biologically drawn to them. I really cant imagine a single thing more beautiful, can you? Its like theyre too much, sometimes, it makes me giddy!  To me, flowering trees are especially remarkable; theyre so unbelievably decadent! But with the end of April approaching, most of them already giving way to leaves, which would be sad, sort of, if it didnt mean summer was right around the corner. Here in Pittsburgh, anyway. And Ive discovered that Bloomfield is aptly named: people do a really good job of keeping their gardens beautiful in our neighborhood! For the most part, they feature lots and lots of candy-colored tulips, which are one of my faves! I only wish we had a garden, too! Though looking at other peoples gardens is free, and easy!

Have you ever seen/read Michael Pollans The Botany of Desire? In it he discusses how flowers (specifically, tulips) have exploited our love of beauty in order to prosper, referencing Hollands golden-age tulipomania as the height of the species exploitation of this human desire. Of course, its ridiculous to imagine spending the equivalent of thousands and thousands of dollars on flower bulbs... but also, looking around the neighborhood on my walks to and from work this week, I can sort of understand their obsession. I really truly cant imagine anything more beautiful! And I believe there are sillier ways to spend ones money. So obsessed with flowers am I of late, I sat Felix down to watch Disneys Alice in Wonderland the other day, specifically for this part:

which backfired horribly, as he now asks me to sing 'the flower song from the funny show' at least five times a day. But I suppose its better than his other most popular requests, the theme songs from Thomas the Tank Engine slash Bob the Builder... not quite as romantic, in my opinion. 

Larry David Smile

When I was watching Curb Your Enthusiasm the other night, I noticed something I never had before, which is that Larry David has maybe the whitest teeth Ive ever seen. Can you tell from this picture? Maybe not... but, in the episode I watched recently, I swear they were so white they looked almost blue. In a good way. It makes sense that he would care about having white teeth, dont you think?

Inspired to capture that smile, Ive been using a mix of baking soda and peroxide to brush my teeth. You can add some mint toothpaste so it doesnt taste so horrible, if you want to. Im pretty enamored of baking soda right now. You can do anything with it! Truly! Its so much more than just tooth whitener, de-oderant, and exfoliant. For example, you can add baking soda to eggs for a fluffier omelette; to your babys bathwater to soothe diaper rash; to cut flowers container to keep them fresher longer; to the ground around growing tomatoes to make them sweeter, or to keep rabbits away (poor rabbits!) You can also wipe it on your cars windshield to repel rain, or use it to wash the gross guck off of the produce you buy at the supermarket. Obviously, an all-around winner if youre at all concerned about having harmful chemicals in the house... which everyone should be, of course, but especially if you have little ones.

And dont forget--you can use it for baking! And its cheap! I only wish it came in a bigger package!

dreamy image via here

two friendly tips!

 My friend Brittany is lots of things, but one thing she is for sure, is canny. I picked up two quick tips from her lately, and Im going to tell them to you now!

Tip number one: use your boyfriends beard trimmer to remove pills and fluff from your sweaters. Of course! It makes so much sense! My mother in law has a little sweater-pill-robot dingy that you can use to remove them, but I think I was too aggressive, because it put a little hole in one of my sweaters! So you have to be careful. But, this is a good idea, and she says it works very well. 

Tip number two: use baking soda as exfoliant. So I tried this the other day, and its actually the best thing. I usually dont deviate from my standard skincare routine, especially to add new products. But baking soda is so pure and straightforward, its not really a product as such. You just add water and make a little paste. Its easy! And after you try it, theres no going back. At least, not for me. I used a regular, over-the-counter scrub this morning, and it was like washing my face with rocks and shards of glass. Completely horrible. Dont do it! 

High Seas & Face to Face by Beth Hoeckel

friendparty20134eva

Next up, 'Friend Ben' of 'Triangle-A Door.' I hope will be charmed by the magic of Pittsburgh! Did you know? He is arriving any moment now! Felix is already excited and he doesnt even know why! Ive been looking so forward to these friend visits--Ive said it before, but theyre exactly exactly what I need right now. I just wish the weather was nicer for them... but whadyagonado, amirite??

Spring Break forever!

photo by Sanford Speake, I think...

bee-bopping & copy-catting

Remember these jars, designed by Ben Fleiss? They were yet another item on the long list of stuff I see on the internet that, chances are, I will never own. I like how they look so so much, but I must say I never really considered the practical application of those bright rubber-bands. Until, one day, quite by happenstance, I found I had recreated approximated this exact (sort of) thing in my own kitchen, with a speckley stone cylinder (vase? canister?) that I bought at a goodwill, and the leftover rubber-bands from the lettuce and cabbage Id got at the supermarket--which, to my delight, serve a perfectly useful purpose, as you can see:

Now weve got all our spatulas, sharpies, thermometers, and whiskettes conveniently grouped, range-side. Its the perfect thing! I only wish Id bought the other, blue speckly cannister I saw at the red-white-and-blue thrift last week, so I could make another one, maybe for art supplies (though lil caddy has sort of eclipsed my need for that sort of thing for pens and such) and that My kitchen wasnt so dingy. Do you see what I was talking about? Its even worse in real life!

top image via LEIF

Soupy Twist!

Im so excited today, because tonight, Brittany, muh colleague and one of my very favorites of all time, is coming from New York to stay with us for cumulatively, almost two whole days! And shes just in time! A friendly friend visit is exactly what I need at this moment in life. Its the first time well be hosting a non-family visitor, and I hope I know how to show her around properly! I know for sure we will be eating yummy Vietnamese food, and touring the strip district. And I think theres even a trip to the Andy Warhol Museum in the works (except I wont be able to go because I work into the late afternoon on sunday and of course, its closed the day after). But whatever! I might even break one of my (secular) lenten promises and allow myself drink some coffee, in order both to celebrate and to maximize my hang-out time--I go to bed quite early for a twenty-something, these days. 

Im so excited! Because, shes only the best!

omgicantwait!

on having cats & making friends

Did you read that article in the New York Times by Alex Williams (of A Cup of Joe proxy-fame) about making friends after 30? Im only 27, but Joanna is right, it did hit a nerve. Going to school in the same town in which I grew up, I took for granted the dozens of friends and acquaintances that surrounded me. Then, living in Ohio, I was easily and thankfully incorporated into the coterie of Chases childhood friends, many of whom were also recent parents, that had temporarily regrouped in the area. But here, in Pittsburgh, we're struggling to establish friendship on that level. We have leads at our new jobs, of course, and we've really only been her a couple of months... but sometimes I get nervous! Having a baby makes those casual and spontaneous after-work hang-out sessions trickier to accommodate; going out means calling a babysitter a few days in advance, or actually bringing the baby. Not happening. You cant rush these things, of course. Once the spring comes (oh, the spring!) Im sure we'll be out and about more, at the library and the park and the farmers markets, meeting fellow parents and maybe, if and when I go back to school, other like-minded individuals.  But for now, new in town, stuck inside our house and my own brain, our prospects can seem so bleak! What I would do without the internet, I have no idea; Im so thankful to be able to communicate daily with all of my friends and family--from California to Colorado, England to China! Its such a luxury.  

But the internet is like the universe: infinitely stimulating, but also, cold and impersonal. To combat the loneliness Ive been describing on a more subliminal, physical level, Ive got another ace up my sleeve. I guess its partly that we always had cats when I was growing up, but having these two sweeties come to stay with us has made our 'new house' (as Felix is still calling it, months after the move) feel so much homier. Afternoon naps are indescribably cozier with a kitty at your feet, and though they dont exactly make up for our current (hopefully temporary) lack of friends in the area, it does make me feel less lonely in the evenings after Felix has gone to bed. Really, everythings better when you have a cat--or two!

we need a vacation!

I hate that its always 73 and Sunny on my iphone weather app icon; opening it to get the real forecast is always a disappointment. Why does winter weather make everything so hard? And turn us all into sniveling wet blankets who can only talk about the weather, as if thats all there is. But thats what it feels like, doesnt it?! After approximately a year and a half of living in both seasonal and artificial winter, Ive become obsessed with the weather, with hating the weather--and how terrible, to be obsessed with something officially and notoriously the most boring subject of all time! I feel like, if only it would brighten up I would be so invigorated. A new girl. Ready for anything. Like a normal days work, for example; these days snow and clouds make me want to stay in bed forever. But even after a long and jolly weekend (my work week begins on sunday) and facing a delightfully surprising and completely seasonal warm and sunny forecast today, all I can think of, still, is how Id rather be lounging around at home in my jammies! 

Whats wrong with me???? 

image via wildfox

greens vs blue, and my number one decorating tip

Because we like our apartment so much, and because its so conveniently located, I think we will be here for at least another rental year. In which case, I dont consider it a waste of time or money to invest in painting our now palest, misty blue dining room, whose off-grey walls and off-brown carpet are currently swirling together in a sea of neutral boredom. Inspired by the lack of light it typically receives, and by the West Elm catalogue I recently received, Ive decided the only way to go is to embrace the darkness and created a cozy, cave-like atmosphere--if nothing else because it will make our white table make sense. My first thought, of course, was that navy would be the perfect thing because, I love navy, and it always looks so smart. But I couldnt really decide. Then I had a realization: if youre unsure what color to paint a room, pick the one that looks the best on you, clothing-wise. That way youll always look good at dinner. Its so obvious! Based on my autumnal complexion, and as per my new-years resolution, it seems the best choice would be a deep, warm shade of green. But I have to be careful: too olive, and it will look irrevocably seventies, especially when paired with this most ridiculous lamp-shade:

See? But its almost like I have to choose green, because of the lamp. Although I suppose we could replace it... but that truly seems more trouble than its worth, and anyway I suspect Chase secretly likes it. Hes unwittingly drawn to that seventies, earthen color palette. Why, Ill never know. No, the green must be stately, or it will be a complete disaster. Something like this:

I dont own anything nearly as opulent (or purple) but you get the idea. Aesthetically, it all makes perfect sense--for the house, for me, everything. So why am I still so drawn to the idea of it being navy, to the point that any other color feels like a mistake? Why does blue, like the sky and the ocean, always seem so timeless, while green--forrest, mint, or avocado--so quickly seems dated? Maybe thats exactly the reason: blues, representing the serenely eternal, exist outside the passage of time, while greens evoke both the vibrancy and the mortality of plant life. I really think thats what it is! 

So you can understand my dilemma here, you guys. Tell me what to do, because Im famous for never being able to commit to a decision. Its a problem!

images via here & here

living tidy avec le toddler

 Living with a babychild has the potential to turn your living room into a disaster area, but it also doesnt have to--babysitting, I witnessed the full spectrum of toddler-inhabited communal space. Ive never liked the look, or implication, of a room filled with piles of discarded plastic doodads. Its not like they own the place, after all. But at the same time, I hate the idea of a child not feeling as comfortable or as welcome in the living room as the rest of the family; they cant help that they like to play with plastic doodads all the time, and why should they? Theyre only sweet babies, after all! With Felix, Im determined to find a happy medium, wherein my obsessive compulsion to achieve a clutter-free state and his many childish flights of fancy are mutually inclusive.

So far Ive figured out two ways of aiding this goal, the first being toy-managment or, to borrow a term from my new professional bakery jargon, merchandising. That is to say, most of Felixs toys live in his room, but I incorporate a frequently rotating selection throughout the living room. That way he never gets bored of the things he has around in the common area, and we dont have to keep buying him new junk to pique his playtime interest, but the house still stays relatively toy-free.

Second, and perhaps more crucially, Ive developed a new rule, which is that I allow any two things to be happening at once, toy-wise, on the floor. For example, if Felix was playing with blocks, but then got bored and wanted to play with his trucks, its fine with me (Im working on it being fine with me) that he not immediately tidy up the block mess. If, however, he moves on from trucks to drawing, then something needs to be cleaned up. This way, he (hopefully) doesnt feel constant pressure to put things away, but the house isnt covered in a mess all the time, either. So far its working well... I just wonder how things will progress as he gets older?

Ive also found that Felix is a lot more gung-ho about having a clean house if I let him help me clean it. He loves to help me windex the coffee table, sweep the kitchen, put away the laundry, and return blocks and cars to their respective receptacles. He really is a pure sweetheart, and the tidiest boy in town!

pottering about

Ive been thinking about this and Ive realised that, more than just a pink-ish kitchen, what I really need is a Beatrix Potter kitchen. With printed tea towels and gingham curtains and floral china tea cups and a black woodstove--something compatible with the already sepia-toned situation we have, architecturally (though as a renter, I cant do much about the wood stove). When decorating in real life, you have to think about the space you have. I always think the very best thing would be an all-white kitchen, with wood and copper and blue glass and green plants. But my kitchen isnt clean or modern or large; its linoleum floor is slanting, the fridge is just sitting there in the middle of the room, and as a whole, it isnt particularly well-made. I could never achieve what I wanted there, not matter what. If I went for all white it would just look dingy and horrible. So I think the only thing to do is fill it with as much color as possible, with as many mixed prints as possible, since Im not sure if were allowed to paint even. But I think we are? I want to! Or wallpaper. Call me old fashioned but I love a floral wallpaper. For example, Ive really been admiring the strange floral wallpaper in the shared apt of Noel and Alana in Felicty: Season Two. And then I just watched an episode where they all agree its too ugly to suffer for even the remaining three months of their lease, so they have a party to tear it down. Are they crazy?

Do you know what I would do for that wallpaper? People dont know the magic of mixed prints--theyre not just for your wardrobe, you know. Those guys are all idiots!

images via here & here; screen shots of Felicity, Season 2 Episode 14 taken by me, dummy!