Loving the idea of orange...

For my living room.

I am too much of a wimp though and know I would never do it.

I am scared I would get tired of it.

I do love it though (at least right now I do).

Ugh, I can't commit to paint color!

**Sweet!**

I super love these Double Cherry Pops!
Just in time for Valentine's Day!
Find them here.

So Cute!

Photo from marthastewart.com

I love this window decorating idea from Martha Stewart.

I have a huge window in my office that I try to decorate for each season or holiday. I really wanted to make these this year, but I have too much on my plate and don't have the time.

Maybe next year.

Check out the instructions here.

Yummy Biscuits

Just messing around with biscuits to go with the soup and this is what I came up with...they are delicious!

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

In a bowl mix the following:

• 2 1/2 Cups Self-Rising Flour
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Add:

• 1/2 Cup shortening

Mix together with pastry blender until mix resembles coarse crumbs.

Add:

• 1 Cup Nonfat Yogurt

Mix together with wooden spoon until mix pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but still slightly dry and crumbly.

Turn mixture onto pastry board dusted with flour and need 5-6 times. If dough is not coming together (it should be slightly dry still), add 1 Tbls yogurt more.

Press or roll until 1/2 thick and cut into biscuits of your preferred size. I like to just cut them with a knife in either squares or triangles.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on bottom (they will be light on the top).

Alternatively, you may brush the tops with melted butter after 10 minutes and put them back into the oven for 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy!

Fool Proof Crock Pot Split Pea Soup

I have made this a couple times now and thought I should share the recipe.
In a crock pot place the following ingredients in this order:

• 16 oz. dried split peas
• 2 small smoked ham hocks (optional - for those of you who want it)
• 4 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped (with leaves intact)
• 1 celery heart (take it out of the center of the bunch, this is yellowish colored and full of leaves = full of flavor) chopped
• 1/2 Cup chopped onion (sometimes I use leeks or green onion if I have them on hand)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (you can add less if you want, but why would you?)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 tsp. Seasoning Salt (or less, to taste)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp dried parsley - if you have fresh, use 1 1/2 tsp.
• 1 1/2 Quarts (6 cups) of hot water - if you make this soup vegetarian, use half broth, half water.

Cover your crock pot and walk away.

Cook in low 8-10 hours or high 4-6 hours until peas are soft. You can mash the peas up if you want, but I just leave mine (why dirty more tools, right?). If you are making this with the ham hocks, remove them and remove the meat from the bone and add to the soup before serving.

Serves 4-8 depending on if you are making it a meal or a side.

CSA Box

I know it has been a while since I have reported on my CSA box. Well, as of late, I have been loving what arrives in the box each week.
This past week I got the following:

• 2 crowns of broccoli
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 bunch of carrots
• 1 butternut squash*
• 1 bunch of curly kale
• 1 bag of mixed braising greens
• 1 bag of baby spinach
• 3 lemons
• 2 large juicing oranges
• 8 tangelos
• 1 grapefruit

*OK, so I have to tell you that when I brought the box home and placed it on my counter I opened it and the butternut was laying on top and I looked at it and literally went "oh, sorry!" and closed the box. This butternut is the largest most phallic looking thing I have ever seen. It doesn't stop there. When I finally gathered myself, I opened the box again, first with a peak and then all the way. I carefully lifted the butternut out of the box and noticed there was some dirt and it needed to be washed. I placed it in the sink, rinsed it off and grabbed a towel. Well, the drying off of this thing made me feel like I was doing something I shouldn't have been with a butternut so I closed the blinds so the neighbors couldn't see into the kitchen. I am telling you, I couldn't even take a photo of it to show you all. Today may be it's last day though, it may be roasted for dinner or made into soup.

Happy Birthday Lord Byron

Happy Birthday dear Lord Byron. If you can hear me from beyond the grave, please send a love note my way when you get a chance and I will send one in return.

There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal
- Lord Byron

For those of you who know me, I think Lord Byron and I have something in common because I love to laugh, make people laugh and think laughing can add years to your life.

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine. - Lord Byron

Farewell Country Home

I love Country Home magazine and I am sad to report March is their last issue.

No, I do not live in the country and no, I don't own a home but still this magazine is a source of inspiration for my current living space (which I call small-space-country-ethnic-vintage-city-chic, it has a ring to it, no? ha ha). One of the things I love about this magazine is that Matthew Mead is a contributor and in the past has put out some wonderful special issues. He bids farewell to his partnership with the magazine on his site and from what I hear, in the March issue as well. Thank God he has his own site now and I can get daily inspiration looking at his website online.

I grew up looking at my Mom's Country Living Magazine which is also one of my favorites and I will continue to get that, but Country Home is little more hip and fresh in my opinion. I will miss awaiting it's arrival at the end of each month. Coming home to a new issue is always a pleasure and makes for a nice evening.

I guess Tim will no longer be able to make fun of the fact that we live in a swirling metropolis and I subscribe to both Country Home and Country Living.

Thank you Country Home for your years of inspiration and introducing me to Matthew Mead.

What a Day it Was!

What an exciting day in our nations history! Martin Luther King's dream came true!
I don't know about any of you, but I have never felt more patriotic in my life. Today a new leaf was turned over and I believe a new beginning has begun.

I love that Obama said "we" more than "I" in his speech!
"We will walk as one"

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

Obama is in the house and I feel fine!

Slight Addiction

OK, so I have a slight addiction to making books. I made one for Angela (surprise Ang!) over the weekend that I will be mailing out soon. I worked on another one this evening and will be sewing it together tomorrow. This is the last time I will show photos of books, I swear!

I just love the colors on this one! I am using up some old scrapbook paper I had purchased a while back and actually bought this sheet with Angela in mind (at that time I did not know what I was going to make out of it). I am using up a lot of materials I have been wanting to do things with, so that is good. You know what happens when you use up what you have? You get to buy more! I think I need to start selling these books to fund my addiction! For, now all the materials I have had on hand at home (yes, I have a lot of paper, I know!).

Do you remember this song?

Did you all hear this song when you were a kid? I did and I loved it! I don't even know if I really got it then and knew what it was about, but they played it on the radio for sure.
My friend Manny and I used to sing it together here at work and he is the only other person I know that knows this song.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is a day of celebration!
I am working for a couple hours (we are never closed) and then off to the celebration at the Civic Center. BART is even offering free flash passes to get to the event, they are pretty cool:
This week is going to be pretty exciting, with Martin Luther King Jr. Monday and Inaguration on Tuesday (which we are airing live at work). Change is upon us and it is very inspiring.

I will not post the "I Have a Dream" speech like I have in the past. But instead will post some of my favorite quotes.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. - Martin Luther King Jr.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Amazing...

Saw this on another blog and my jaw dropped!
I love tiny things, but this goes way beyond miniature.

Catching Up

Trying to play a little catch up over here. I have not posted in a while due to the craziness I have been experiencing at work. January is my busiest month of the entire year. Each year, I plan this large awards event/dinner that is happening on the 29th this year so I have been a bit swamped.

For those of you in the Bay Area, can you believe this weather? It is delicious, and a reminder of why I live here. Check it out!

SF Gate: Weather San Francisco, California (94101) Conditions & Forecast

This past weekend I was in Napa and it was nice outside, but I wasn't ware of the warmth coming our way. Sunday Tim and I went to brunch and had to wait for a table and we waited outside in the sun and had to take our jackets off!

Crafting as of late has consisted of making myself (yes, myself) and hankie with Ganesha on it (remover of obstacles, I thought it was funny since you blow your nose to remove obstacles). I made a book for my boss for his Birthday as well. I gave it to him yesterday and he really liked it. Check it out below (it had a Whole Foods Market theme of course and was made with old letterhead, grocery bag and a cut up calendar). I am hoping that I get some interest here at work and will be able to sell some books - already a few people have asked about me making one for them, so we will see.

That is about it for me. Weekend was nice, Tim and I got a rug for our living room, very simple and $40 at Ikea (even better). The one I really wanted was $299 and that was too much right now. The one we got is white, rag and very plain but will tide us over until we can get the other one. It really warms our place up and lessens the echo we have been experiencing since we gutted the living room. BayLee (of course) thinks it is for him, he comes into the living room now and keels over and rolls around on it (very cute).
Have a great Tuesday!

Happy New Year

I started by taking the first few days of the New Year by not posting and taking some time to myself. New Years Eve, Tim and I stayed in. It was nice. We just hung out and took it easy. I am not that much into crowds and craziness anymore so it was nice and cozy to stay home.

Thursday - cleaned house, put little Christmas tree away. Finished cleaning out my many magazines.

Friday - woke up pretty early for a day off and ran errands, bank, post office and grocery store. I took a class at San Francisco Center for the Book - I took it back at the beginning of 2007 as well. The class was called "Personalized Daybook". We created two personalized journals for the New Year. I loved the last one I made, but used it for the first couple months and then it got too heavy for me to carry around. So, now I have one for 6 months and then will start the next. Here are some photos of my books:

Even though I took this class before, it was so nice to take it again and meet new people and hear about the plans they have for their books. I almost always meet interesting people at the classes I take. I especially like the super talented instructor, Carolee. We know some of the same people and I had taken the class before so it was nice to see a friendly face. After class, I helped with the clean up and Carolee showed me the i-Ching and did a little reading for the new year, which was pretty interesting. It would be fun to do it again in 6 months or so and see what it says now that I know how it works. I drove Carolee home and she invited me in for tea and talk, which was so nice. It is nice to know a cool, creative gal here in the city. You can find more about Carolee at her site Pod Post listed under my Paper, Stationary, Etc. section on the left. I have been a fan since my class a couple years ago.

Saturday - Tim and I got up, made coffee and cleaned the house real good and were done by Noon. Our social worker was coming over to update our home study for our adoption so we wanted everything to be shiny and nice in case she needed to poke around. We went and had lunch at Whole Foods Market and then got some snacks to put out when the social worker arrived. Everything went well, the visit was about 2 hours, from 7-9 and very mellow. We lucked out with Pam, our social worker, she is super cool. Tomorrow, I am mailing in some additional paperwork that is needed for USCIS to process our 18 month extension.

Sunday - We slept until 10. I called my folks to check in and then we went to brunch and grocery shopped. The rest of the day has been nice, writing in my journal, catching up on blogging and did a load of laundry.

I am clearing out one of my old blogs - I was writing a blog for a while with a friend, but the posts stopped. Some of them are pretty fun so I will add them to this blog when I have writers block or feel the need to add them - like the one below.

Hope you all have a great New Year and have many plans to make it even better than last year, blah, blah, blah, why does it feel like you have to say that...I don't know. My new year usually starts with my Birthday, so I didn't really set any goals yet, etc. Really, I kind of already know what I need to do.

From the Past

Looking back on an old post from another blog I was writing and LOVE this post.

My Dream Desk Drawer (honestly, I am going to try and copy this)
My Real Desk Drawer (so embarrassing, but maybe that will make me organize it better - I am a Magpie, collector of "things", it is hard for me...I am serious. I will give it a shot, but if it doesn't feel good, I am back to my old ways. I will keep you all updated on my progress. Keep in mind, this is INSIDE the desk where no one can really see except me. Most importantly, I know where everything is.). Now, be honest, doesn't the drawer below look a lot more fun?