Unintentional tissue origami

During my last two weeks at work (unbeknownst to me), I was suffering from bad allergies. Sneezing, coughing, and blowing my nose all day, everyday.

In a fit one morning, I blew my nose and tossed my tissues, back-handedly, into the trash. But I missed.

Why hello there, beautiful unintentional tissue origami.

What figure do you see?

An yep, that's right, I took a picture of a "used" tissue on the ground. New. blogging. low.

Pysanky

This is my first pysanka in about 10 years. Traditionally, Ukrainians make these before Easter, which falls on May 5 this year.

I jumped on Pinterest to find inspiration, and decided upon a beautiful design of a traditional poppy for my central theme.

Do you like it?

Liqueur Crush

I have been stalking and have a crush on these two unique liqueurs.

Rhubarb liqueur
I'm obsessed with rhubarb. Watch this cute video on Rhuby, a craft liquor by Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.

via Philly.com

Violet Liqueur
My other obsession this spring are violets. I love the smell, and if you recall, I also posted about my cute spring vignette in 2011, and 2012.

I've found three similar products: 

Creme Yvette, which seems to be the most strongly branded, and reminds me of Chambord for some reason (perhaps the french accent, and elegant website?). Seeminly only available for purchase in Manhattan.

Creme de violette, by Monin, a slightly less expensive option and probably best for my future baking. I've spotted this at my local liquor store.

Violet Liqueur, by The Bitter Truth.



Would you try these craft cocktails with me? Or do you prefer the classics?

How to peel a mango

Recently, I discovered my love for mangoes, and the way I get an allergic reaction on my lip when I eat them. I live on the wild side.

I also have a certain distaste for one-trick utensils in the kitchen. I know I'm not alone in this feeling.

I enjoy mangoes so much that I've flirted with the idea of buying a mango splitter, but it would break  my rule against one-trick utensils.

Then, I discovered a great "tutorial" on how to properly cut a mango with just a knife. I'm sure I found it in one of my Google Reader blogs.

No need for a special implement! I was very excited to find this and wanted to share it. Now you don't have to waste a lot of the fruit by throwing it out, or gnawing on the flesh-covered seed like a small woodland creature.

First-time jelly roll-er

I have been fascinated by jelly rolls for a long time. For their vintage appeal. For the word jelly in the name. For the confusion they create because the pan in which you bake them looks exactly like a cookie sheet.

 In my ongoing quest to test all of the magazine recipe rip-outs that are bulging from my "baking folder," I pulled this beauty back in October. It is a pumpkin jelly roll recipe from Libby, makers of the famous pumpkin puree. After reading the recipe, I realized a jelly roll is just a twist on a basic cake recipe. Same ingredients, just a few different techniques to make it look fancy.

After mixing the batter, you spread it into a jelly roll pan, fitted with parchment (I used my trusty Silpat instead). After baking for a short amount of time, you prep a kitchen towel by sprinkling it with powered sugar (read: make a mess). Then you masterfully flip it out of the pan, onto the kitchen towel, and roll it up tightly and evenly (more difficult than you might think, especially if you are the type of person who has trouble cutting in a straight line) and let it cool.

After you make the filling (basically just cream cheese frosting), unroll the cake.


 

 Then you spread out the filling evenly, leaving an inch border. The tricky, hold-your-breath part comes next.

Roll it up tight and evenly, and quickly wrap it in plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge to let it set. It will firm up and be easier to cut.

In the end, it tasted nice, but wasn't anything special. I fear I'm becoming a bit of a snob because I wouldn't make this recipe again. I could just as easily make pumpkin muffins, cake, or cookies with this flavor profile.  I think I can safely file this with my completed challenges.

And the winner is....

Dwell Studio's Gate Citrine!

 

Of course, this is an iPhone picture taken with our crappy overhead lighting. So you probably can't see the pattern very well. You might like it better here.

And if you're also paying close attention, then you probably realize that this fabric selection was not one of the options that I originally offered in my previous posting. Whoops. Sorry to burst your bubble! But I love these pillows. I found the fabric on Fabric.com. I also snagged some cute gray and white chevron fabric to create a contrasting pillow for the couch. Pictures forthcoming (and earlier than six months this time, promise.)

Decorate Me

I'm on a mission-- a mission to sew new accent pillows for our Cameron couch.

We're quite happy with the couch so far, but have been muddling along with off-matched black and white flower-esque graphical pillows which do not match the rest of our decor, which consist of golds, browns, creams, and grays.

courtesy of Crate and Barrel

Here are the fabric choices for the pillows. Cast your vote by leaving comments below. The fabric that receives the most endorsements will be purchased, sewn, with pictures posted on this blog. Voting closes on Sunday August 12 at 6pm EST.


Helen Summerland Citrine

Gotcha Summerland Yellow

Midwest Modern Optic Blossom Linen

Secret Gate Gold

Hockley Banana

Rossmere Sunshine

North Carolinaaaaa!

...come on and raise up, this one's for you, this ones for who? Us, us, us, us!

In case you are too old or too young to know, these are lyrics to the masterful song by Petey Pablo. Circa 2001 Boston College.  Maaaaany impromptu dance sessions occurred because of this song. It's the song that pops into my head whenever I read, hear, or speak "north carolina." Do you experience anything like that?

Feel left out because you didn't go to college with me and want to hear this amazing musical display? Check out the music video!


Now back on track... last weekend I visited my good friend KL in North Carolina, with whom I went to high school. It was a regular old reunion with her family...2 of her sisters and her mom, who was generous enough to rent a waterfront beach house in the OuterBanks, near Duck and Kitty Hawk.

The early morning haze is burning off, and its starting to warm and lighten up!

 This kind of creeped me out. Doesn't it look like something on one of those religious cult booklets? Or a brochure about palliative care? Or a framed picture in a delivery room? And why does ocean evoke birth and death symbolism for me? These thoughts I will ponder.

 

I'm really glad to have reconnected with her; 

we hope to stay in touch better, and perhaps schedule a visit up to Boston soon!

Wegmans The Musical

My love for this store is well documented, and so you can imagine how hard I laughed with I watched this video. Classic. And even better, the show is put on by a group from a Massachusetts high school,  the latest state conquered by this grocery store chain's domination.

Downtown DC Day 2

I woke early for my final day of touring and sight-seeing. My day started off by walking to the FDR Memorial, followed by a 2 mile stroll to the Botanical Garden.

FDR Memorial

This is a beautiful memorial with several water features and inspirational quotes. 

Highly recommend visiting this in the future if you can.

Botanical Garden

This is my favorite shot.

 I love this idea for a crawling, creeping roses or clementines. 

It's much more elegant than a regular arbor or flat lattice.

These are really popular lately, especially in the design and decorator circles. 

I think they're called Stag ferns or deer ferns. They grow well when mounted on a wall.

I love this seersucker plant! I looks just like my favorite summer fabric! 

I wonder which came first-- the plant or the fabric?  

This reminds me of something from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

 

I can't wait to go back and visit the sites that I didn't find time for!