3 It's my birthday!

Monday, July 11, 2011

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After an awesome weekend in the city, I spent my actual birthday perpetually relaxed and perpetually full. It included: the Monday crossword; brunch with my mom and brother (hummus platter, eggplant shakshuka); the perfect mid-day nap; catching up with friends; an afternoon in Starbucks; a cool glass of white wine on the deck; and dinner with my family, à la mom: gazpacho, pasta primavera with vegan pesto and parmesan, and chocolate strawberry shortcake cupcakes that made everyone a believer in vegan baking. Then I curled up in bed and have been alternating between this book and this book for the past two hours. Food, wine, family, naps, good books: I'm going to bed a happy camper on my birthday.


P.S. My parents got me the Canon SX30IS, which I could not be more excited about.

1 Family, pond, hammock, willow tree

Thursday, June 23, 2011

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That little guy is my cousin, Sawyer. He's pretty much the cutest thing since sliced bread.

The handsome fella with the wiffle bat is my little brother.

Thanks for your advice on cameras, everyone. I'm excited to take the plunge!

3 Nutter butter

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Peanut Butter & Co's Tumblr is a completely genius marketing ploy. Also, just imagine you had a job at a peanut butter sandwich stylist.

All these guys below (and most on the blog) are vegan.

The Fig-Ure It Out: Smooth Operator peanut butter, fig jelly, figs, and caramel kettle corn on whole wheat bread

The Guava Lava: The Heat Is On peanut butter and molten guava jelly on Hawaiian bread, topped with chopped peanuts

The True Blue: White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter with blueberry preserves and fresh blueberries on raisin bread

The Peachy Keen: White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter, peach preserves, sliced peaches and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar on honey oat bread

The Blackout: Black bread with Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter, black cherry preserves, blackberries, and chocolate chips (which we will imagine are vegan chocolate chips)

2 on the radar

Friday, June 17, 2011

things that caught my eye this week:

these "reminders" by photographer erin hanson [via]

this blog, and every single gorgeous photo on it. [have i been hiding under a stupid rock or something?]

Doors and windows in Asia - Indiablue bird
these turquoise accents

these vogue italia covers

Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald
this photo of the fitzgeralds

and, yes, their depiction in this movie

Paris-made brass buttonsvintage landscape photosTea cups are a dime a dozen here but always lovely

these vintage finds [via]

Have a very merry Father's Day weekend!

8 Going veg

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

chocolate puddle cookies; quinoa with currants, dill and zucchini

Within reading the first two chapters of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, I gained an entirely new perspective on how I eat. We all know, the shocking facts about animal cruelty and energy wastefulness are out there, as easy to preach as they are to ignore. But Foer puts it into a moral perspective I'd never considered.

Eating animals has an invisible quality. Thinking about dogs, and their relationship to the animals we eat, is one way of looking askance and making something invisible visible...

Special pickax tools called gaffs are used to pull in large fish once they are within reach. Slamming a gaff into the side, fin, or even the eye of a fish created a bloody but effective handle to help haul it on deck... No reader of this book would tolerate someone swinging a pickax at a dog's face. Nothing could be more obvious or less in need of explanation. Is such concern morally out of place when applied to fish, or are we silly to have such unquestioning corcern about dogs? Is the suffering of a drawn-out death something that is cruel to inflict on any animal that can experience it, or just some animals?"


mixed stone fruit salsa; spring fruit and rosemary oat cobbler

Foer's book was the catalyst for my recent change of heart, but I've been doing lots of research on vegetarianism and veganism and reading pro-vegan books like Skinny Bitch and The Kind Diet. I also signed PETA's 30-day vegan pledge. I like that with vegetarianism or veganism, I'd be reducing my carbon footprint and doing my small part against animal cruelty, but I also have to admit that the promises of weight loss, renewed energy, clearer skin, stronger nails and shinier hair are alluring ones. It's only been a couple of days, so I can't attest for any big changes, but I am loving discovering the vegan blogs out there, like 101 Cookbooks, Civil Eats, Sweet Beat and Green Bean, and Alicia Silverstone's website, The Kind Life.

moroccan couscous with saffron; raddichio pizza with truffle oil

4 on the radar

Friday, June 10, 2011

things that caught my eye this week:


this visit to ladurée (and the fact that they're opening one in new york this summer!)


that jane birkin hairstyle...

...and the modern girls inspired by it

these interiors by simon brown

this closet visit


this iced tea

these flowery photos

Happy Friday, everyone! I've decided to purge myself of the Internet on the weekends, so I'll see you all on Monday :)