winter brights salad

Though the weather here keeps flirting with spring, mother nature hasn't seemed to make a full commitment to it yet. At the farmer's market yesterday, the sun was shining and I was craving a crisp spring salad. Unfortunately, it looked like most of the early spring vegetables hadn't quite made their debut yet. 

I was determined to find something crunchy and  refreshing though. I didn't think I could take another week of my usual winter rotation of kale, kale, chard, kale, broccoli, and more kale.

dexter's muttmover

The weather is starting to feel like Spring here in sunny California (sorry East Coasters!). Today was perfect bike-riding weather, so we took Dexter with us to the farmer's market in his new dog backpack! Even though he's giving me the stink-eye in this photo, I think he enjoys riding around in it. 

The backpack is designed to carry dogs, so it's much more secure and comfortable than other bags we've put him in over the years. My favorite feature is the mesh sides. They can either be unzipped so he can stick his head out, or zipped up when he needs to go into "stealth mode". When the sides are zipped up, it's hard tell there is a dog in the backpack unless you look closely. This comes in handy when we need to sneak him in places he's not supposed to go (shh- don't tell the people at the farmer's market!). 

You can get one for your favorite little mutt from Timbuk2. 

a floor of flowers

When we first moved in to this apartment, we had a hard time figuring out how arrange the furniture in the living room. It's a relatively small apartment and there is no dining room, so the long, narrow living room needed to fit both a sitting and an eating area. 

After some re-arranging, we finally figured out a furniture configuration that worked, but the space still felt unfinished. We needed a way to visually differentiate the sitting area from the dining area. We needed a rug!

hot egg yummy

Hard-boiled eggs are often thought of as lunch food. They're good for sandwiches and topping salads, but they can also be a delicious alternative to scrambled or over-easy eggs for breakfast. They are super convenient for a quick breakfast on weekdays. If you boil them in advance, you can store them in the fridge and have them ready to heat and eat in less time than it takes to make oatmeal!

I thought I'd share a way I've been eating hard boiled eggs since I was a kid. I never really had a name for it until one day when my college roommate questioned what I was eating. It was one of those moments where you stop and look at yourself and realize maybe you're doing something weird. I tried to explain, "You know, you take a hot egg, mash it up...and its, uh...yummy". And thus, hot egg yummy was born. 

I'll include a recipe below, but it hardly even needs one. It's really just three simple steps:

Step One: boil eggs

Step 2: mash eggs with some butter

Step 3: spread on toast and enjoy!

--

Hot Egg Yummy

Serves 1

Ingredients:

-2 hard-boiled eggs

-1/2 tablespoon butter (more or less depending on your love of butter)

-Salt and pepper to taste

-2 slices toast

The first, and most important, step to a good hot egg yummy is boiling the eggs. The genius food columnist Russ Parsons has a foolproof method for perfectly hard-boiled eggs every time. Basically, you put a single layer of eggs in a pot and fill with enough cool water to cover the eggs by at least an inch. Then, bring the water and eggs to a boil without covering the pot. Once the water just begins to boil, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the water until its cool enough to touch, about 15 minutes. So simple -and no over-cooked greenish yolks!

Once you have your eggs boiled, peel them and place in a bowl. Use a small knife or fork to roughly chop the egg into bits. Then add a few slivers of butter, and stir until butter is melted. The butter acts as a sort of glue to help bind the egg bits together, so don't be skimpy with it. If your eggs get cold, or you are using pre-boiled eggs from the fridge, you can pop the egg and butter mixture in the microwave. Just be sure to heat in short bursts so the eggs don't explode- about 20 seconds should be plenty. Once everything is hot, season with salt and pepper and you've got your yummy! 

I won't stop you from eating it right from the bowl, but I think its best spread on toast. I highly recommend toasted cinnamon raisin bread.

fashion film

Viva Vena (the "friendlier to your bank account" line from Vena Cava) released a hilarious satirical promo video this week. It's a pretty great send up of fashion advertising (even though, technically, it is an advertisement).

Check it out on Vimeo. 

[photo courtesy of Vena Cava]

a banner for every occasion

I bought this "whatever" banner awhile ago, and was excited to put it to use recently for a friend's nautical-themed party. It was a big hit, and I can't wait to find an excuse to string up more banners!

The kit includes plenty of letters, numbers, hearts, and stars to spell out just about anything you can come up with (their suggestion of "you're fired" made me laugh). As an added bonus, the kit comes with the cutest teeny tiny brads for attaching all the letters together. 

Chronicle books also makes several great kits for making your own garlands. My favorite, of course, is the one featuring illustrations from Rifle Paper Co:

I might have to start throwing more parties so I can justify more garlands!


[Cake photo by Michael Pieracci. Rifle banner photo via Chronicle books]

not just for showering

In this post-holiday season of sales! sales! and more sales! I've noticed a plethora of deals on shower curtains. For some reason, cloth shower curtains seem to frequently go on sale for drastically reduced prices. I tend to keep an eye out for them, as they have many uses beyond the bathroom. 

When it comes down to it, a cloth shower curtain is really just a large piece of fabric. They usually measure 72" square, which is two very wide yards of fabric (when you buy fabric by the yard, its usually no wider than 54"). An added bonus is the great prints you can find. I often have a hard time finding cute prints at fabric stores, especially in any fabrics heavier than a shirting weight.

Here are a few great prints I've found (and all on sale!):

[clockwise from top left: Aqua Banner, Aqua Triangles, Yellow Ikat, Grey Ferns]

The simplest alternative use for a shower curtain is to just use it as a curtain in another room of your home. With some stylish hardware (don't even think of using those plastic rings from the shower!) no one will guess it was meant to hang over a bathtub. I just ordered the aqua banner curtain above, and I'm planning to use it in place of a closet door in my tiny bedroom.

With minimal sewing skills, you can turn a curtain into a tablecloth or beach blanket. Just trim off the top few inches (where the shower rings would go) and then hem the cut edge. Those with more skills can transform a curtain into throw pillows, slipcovers, a dog bed...the possibilities are endless!

Here are a few more shower curtain deals:

[Black & White Floral, Small Blue & Black Floral, Purple Chevron, Zigzag Corsage]

[Top image via West Elm]