cooking : crafts : organization : gardening : thrifting : going green
Northern California has a pretty thriving snail population. The other day I woke up on a rainy morning and there were snails on pretty much every surface of the front porch. I am totally fascinated by them. I suppose I could probably gather them up and have them for dinner, but that just seems wrong. [...]
First it rained, and I thought the way the clouds were resting on the El Cerrito hills was especially pretty. Me and Reggie just hung out and knit for a while. I whipped through the second Hunger Games book. I actually thought it was pretty good. Mike and I enjoyed spring rolls at our favorite [...]
Have you guys seen the Up series? I’ve confessed my love for documentaries before, but the Up series is kind of the ultimate. It’s been following a bunch of British people (of various socio-economic backgrounds) since they were 7 years old. Every 7 years another film is released, and usually most of them participate. It [...]
Growing up, my favorite candies were definitely anything with Reese’s in front of the name, so of course I loved these organic peanut butter cups. They feel a little more special, a little more grownup. And they taste better, too! I’m also loving that Trader Joe’s has such cheap bunches of flowers. I couldn’t resist [...]
For those of you who don’t know, when I was in 9th grade, my best friend Erin moved to Alaska, and I ended up visiting her there three times. I think my love of travel was cemented at the point that we had to travel 3,000 miles to see each other. And not only did [...]
We have some new additions around the house, thanks to Christmas gifts. Mike got this San Francisco poster, which we had custom framed. It’s huge! When you get up close to it you can see all the details are actually words. We also got a new small TV for our bedroom. Our old one was [...]
We got into the full holiday spirit and put up a Christmas tree this weekend. I love having a fresh one — it smells divine. In case you were wondering, yes, a two-door Yaris can hold an entire tree plus two people. Oh yes it can. Anyway, we don’t have a ton of our own [...]
Things that are making me happy this week: Trader Joe’s sparkling waters. These totally satisfy my need to drink something carbonated, since I’m trying to avoid soda. And they’re only $1! Red tomatoes in December! There’s only a few of them, but my plant is still hanging on. The cutest takeout container. I got this [...]
At my craft fair on Sunday I managed to trade for these lovely pairs of earrings from the seller across from me, Boobadeeboo. I just couldn’t resist the ones that look like little sewing scissors! There are all kinds of wonderful miniatures in earring form in her shop, so check it out.
Apart from a few random sightings of Oakland taco trucks, I hadn’t seen any food trucks parked around Berkeley since I moved here, and I knew there must be a collection of them somewhere. Finally, Mike told me that San Francisco’s food truck gathering, called Off the Grid, comes to Berkeley on Wednesday nights. In [...]
Two of my crochet patterns — vintage hanger covers and a colorful granny square pillow — have been published in a new book. You can now order So Pretty! Crochet, by my talented friend Amy Palanjian, at Amazon.com. 
