Holy cow!

THIS IS MY ONE HUNDREDTH POST!!!

Honestly - that is quite unbelievable. I'm usually quite mercurial (fabulous word I learned from Anastasia Krupnik - anyone??), so to stick with something this long is impressive to me.

Here you see the results of last night's mad crafting - my valentine's for Sarah's swap. And she'll be needing some valentine goodness if you've read her blog about yesterday's crazy weather in that part of the world. I'll show you the finished product after the valentines have been transported by Cupid to their assorted new homes. I will say they ended up quite differently than what I planned in the beginning (think pale pink paisley becomes bright red vintage different). Anyway, they are on their way to Sarah - just hope they can get there through all 0f that snow!

To celebrate ye olde hundredth post, I'll do a little giveaway. Since I'll be crafting up a storm all weekend for Becky, and finishing a few decorations for this house, I'll whip up a little extra for one lucky reader. Since only a few people read this all the time, you stand a good chance, now don't you? Leave a comment & I'll draw a name. And Monkey, I have your tamale-related surprise ready to go, too. :)

Thanks for reading - this has been quite a bit of fun so far.

Long Overdue!

I don't think I ever shared a link to my Vintage Heart Swap partner's blog - Becky is a fantastic illustrator & dog-lover & crafter & more! She's one talented chica - stop by & visit her sweet blog. (And check out Miss Maddie!)

Our weekend

Lindsey met me in Savannah for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary - three years, for those of you who like to count such things. Craziness! Anyway, here are a few pictorial highlights. I'll try to come back & write more later.

The lighthouse on Tybee Island - I've seen it several times, but I never bothered to climb it until this trip. It's a bit of a workout getting up there, but absolutely worth it. We were fortunate that the sky was this gorgeous shade of blue (you'll remember that we got married in January because of my obsession with winter light), even though it was about 12 degrees in the wind at the top of the lighthouse. BRRRR.

Here we are attempting a self-portrait in front of the Forsyth Park fountain. You can't see too much fountain - sorry. Our bed & breakfast was at the south end of the park, and really delightful. Had the weather been 10 degrees warmer, the walk through the park would've been fantastic. I think there is a picture of Caro & me in front of this same fountain from our trip to Savannah several years ago.

The sidewalk on the north side of the fountain, headed towards 4 more squares and the river. It reminds me so much of Oak Alley in Louisiana, perhaps because of, um, the oaks. ha.

Finally, you know you're in a classy kind of town when the bus stops look like this. No sketchy MARTA sheds in Savannah! I definitely got some "that lady is crazy" looks while snapping this shot, but it's okay. I'm increasingly accustomed to that look.

Have a great weekend, folks.

Why I cannot move to Maine

even though it's so blissfully gorgeous. That is because it is not really very far below freezing here and I am wearing multiple layers of flannel. Yes, I look ridiculous, but I feel much warmer now.

5 Places I'd Like to Visit.

Continuing the trend from Melissa -

1) Portland, Maine
2) Portland, Oregon
3) San Diego, California
4) Key West, Florida
5) Idaho - any of it, because I think it's the coolest-shaped state. We have friends from Idaho who are very nifty, as well.

I only picked places I haven't been yet, because it was more fun, but there are definitely some places I'd love to REvisit. Maybe Melissa will let me do that in the near future. :)

Sheesh.

Technically, Monkey wins, although the lack of commitment to her answer leaves something to be desired. ;)

They are tamales, and they were fabulous. We also got to enjoy cactus with our tortilla chips! WOW!

Here we have Lindsey with our new butter churn. It needs a bath, and the churning stick is actually a table leg, so we'll be looking for something slightly more authentic, but I *love* it.


Have a great week. If I don't get to post again, it's because I'm going from Macon, to Savannah, to Macon, to Columbus. Phew!

THEY'RE BACK!!!!!

And we were there on the very first reopened day. Now, whoever the first one is to leave me a little blog comment about what that is on the plate will win a small prize. :)

Today was also the day of crockery. We explored some new antique stores in Scottsdale, one run by an older lady who does estate sales & then throws everything that doesn't sell in an old house & calls it a "store," and one run by a gentleman who can't hear a word you say. Needless to say, it was an experience. We snagged a few bargains, and had a good time, though. Crockery shots will be available for your perusal tomorrow.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend.

5 Things.

Here begins a new "thing," courtesy of Melissa & her hysterical self. If you could only eat at 5 restaurants for the rest of your life, what would they be? (Okay, now, this is the part were y'all are all going to start rolling your eyes back in your head, because I've decided these restaurants can be anywhere on the entire planet, or at least the portion I've visited, so as to increase the variety!)

In the interest of fairness, I'm going to accompany these with photos. Let's see if I can make that work:

1) The aforementioned Mi Barrio.







2) Perraudin - in Paris. Partially for sentimental reasons, but also because it's the home of amazing food that changes daily! See - variety!




3) The Obecni Dum - in Prague. Not really a restaurant, but they serve about 40 different kinds of cake, which also change daily. More variety!






4) Ingleside Village Pizza - in Macon. Huge selection of imported beer, pizza, and garlic-butter breadsticks. What more do you need? They also have good salads, since I should probably have a vegetable sooner or later in this culinary odyssey.





5) Mandina's & Brocato's - in New Orleans. Really, I could do this post solely based on New Orleans, which maybe I will at a later date. Anyway, classic nice New Orleans food (sausage sandwiches & turtle soup) at Mandina's, then a walk across the street to Brocato's for the best ice cream in the world (closely chased by that of Berthillon on the Ile St. Louis in Paris). And I'll be having the Rum Custard ice cream. I always order that & then try other people's flavors to confirm that I made the right choice. It took these two places forever to open after Katrina, and they're open, a fact that, on the right day, can make me cry.

So there you go. Five places to eat for the rest of my life.

Swap opportunity.

Since I'm already occupied with two Valentine's Swaps, I'm sitting this one out: Sweet Goodness Hanging Valentine Swap. However, if you're interested, you can sign up till Friday.

I'm a big Sweet Goodness fan, and this would be an easy first swap, hint hint. (Of course, join only if you need a new addiction in life.)

Feast of the Ephiphany = Mexican for me. Soon.

On the left, you see our very favorite Mexican restaurant. It is called Mi Barrio (that's to say, My Hood), and it rocks. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the windows are barred & the sides have a lot of graffiti. It's not exactly the most obvious dining choice. However, if you are brave enough to go inside (and it's perfectly safe, by the way) your tummy will be happy. The folks that work there seem to be from about 4 generations of the same family - great grandma is in the kitchen with grandma & mom rolling the tamales & cooking! We've been the only non-Latino people in there before, which is also usually a pretty good sign of quality.

Since the beginning of December or so, it's been closed. :( I kept hoping they were closed for Christmas, but it was starting to look bleak. Tonight, I resorted to the Internet, where I learned that indeed, the entire family packs up & returns to Mexico for the holidays! The restaurant is, naturally, closed till they return. Since today is Epiphany (the 12th day of Christmas for those of you who didn't grow up fake-Catholic), which is a huge deal in Hispanic cultures, I can only assume they'll be headed back to Atlanta shortly.

And I will be headed to Mi Barrio, home of the only cheese quesadilla I've ever had that compares to Mrs. Escavedo's. It's the real deal, friends.

Happy Week!

To clear things up:

#1) Yes, that is a serious ruffle at the bottom of the coat. It does twirl, but only slightly.
#2) That picture is from the Anthropologie website, not yours truly, so its smallness is not meant to offend, annoy, or physically harm anyone.
#3) The coat was a success in today's frosty temps, but the pins were too small, so I'm going to plot something else for the collar.
#4) I will take a bigger picture, of it on me, soon, but don't hold your breath.

In other news, my leftover cup of water was frozen in my car this morning, AND STILL FROZEN when I got into the car in the parking garage to go home! What the heck? That's cold weather, friends.

:)

In the very nick of time...

I needed a medium-weight coat, because the long wool one the Motherina bought me last Christmas is a bit much most of the time (thought it won't be tomorrow, when it's single-digit wind chill as I go to work, baby!), and my jean jackets don't work below 60. Yesterday, this little beauty came to the rescue. It was on sale, but I'll still be wearing it well into the 2010s to make it worthwhile. Who cares, though, when you can flounce around in something this cute? I will love it, even when it's as out of touch as a Members Only jacket. It performed very well on its test-drive today, so it's a keeper. :)

New little pins were purchased for its collar, too, so after their test-drive tomorrow, I might just give you a peek. ;)

Overdue....

As you may recall, the indomitable Jean Knee has been my swap partner since October with the fabulous multi-round Sweet Goodness Secret Sister Swap (or something - can't ever remember the name of it!). Needless to say, she rocks. Just check out the adventures of Mr. Cockadoodledoo if you need proof. hahaha.

I received her December package right before we left for our Christmas travel, so I never got it photographed & posted. Here it is!

That is indeed one of her fabulous paper bag albums, complete with cool recipes.

It was so cool that I dragged it all over the state to show people. If I missed you, I'm sorry. She also sent the reindeer potholder as the container (very creative, I must say) & an ivy leaf holder for the minispatula, which will look perfecto on the kitchen tools tree. Phew. It was an awesome box, which is not surprising, as she's been a rocking partner. :)

In other swappy news, I'm going to sign up for the Vintage Heart Swap over at From My Cherry Heart. Anyone care to join me?

Happy Wednesday.

My mother = Etsy fiend.

My mother apparently took the "buy handmade" pledge, or at least for me. Here are some lovely gifts I received from her, all from Etsy. I wish I knew who the sellers were, but hopefully she'll tell me. Right?

The Welcome, Christmas book is actually a repurposed book made into a journal, with really cool vintage sheet music, color images, & high-quality writing paper. Then, there are vintage hankies, trims, buttons, & thread, as well as a "silk hosiery repair kit." Pretty groovy! Oh, and the icicle hanging from the book is handmade from vintage buttons.

Thanks, mom. ;)