mangia!

my simple sauce recipe is so easy that i don't think it's really a recipe. it is SO GOOD. you can garlic it way up or down. you can add basil at the end. toss in some meatballs. whatevs. all i know is...it's delicious.


i use fresh tomatoes if they are in season, if not, canned whole tomatoes from SAN MARZANO (not a brand...it's their italian origin region) are the way to go. they are so saucy and magnificant.


and, for the record, i must say that you should be adding your pasta to the sauce not sauce to pasta. you can have a little on reserve if you want to top it off...but i bet my gazillions of dollars you will inadvertantly waste sauce. i'm just sayin.

simple sauce
olive oil
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced (for mid to high range garlic lovers like me)
2 cans of whole, peeled tomatoes from san marzano

smash/chop/mill the tomoatoes to your liking. then, in a large sauce pan, heat olive oil (1 or 2 tablespoons) over medium-high and add garlic. cook for about 30 seconds. don't let the garlic turn brown because it becomes bitter and can subsequently ruin the flave of your sauce.

Add the tomatoes and their juice. Bring the sauce to a boil, turn down the heat, season with salt and pepper to tastse. Let it bubble away on low until the desired consistency. The longer you cook it the thicker it becomes. Could take up to 45 mintues depending on how thick you likey. all you need to do is toss it with your pasta and smother it with cheese and MANGIA!

F is for fuck yeah.

Star wars ABCs.....

from Michael Fleming

oh, now isn't that sweet

whilst nup obsessing on style me pretty i was detoured by one of their featured favorites. cupcake social. not fair to be so cute! just not fair. they have really really cute cupcake liners and toppers. and when i say really really cute i mean you will likely experience tons of oooohs and forwarding of links during your visit. it would be fair if i could sit home all day and make cutie cupcakes. my favorites? leaning towards evergreen and bicycle toppers...but i mean you really can't go wrong with a boom box.

i want my blanky

what a delightful surprise this morning moonbeam press! ledger inspired letterpress cards...YAY! frankly, even if it didn't have anything to do with letterpress i would still want to hug it because i love all things lines and graphy. when i was little i secretly fantasized about filling in the check-out card at the library over and over again at home and stamping the due date. write your name in the name section. write a made up name like a combo of a family member's name and a teacher's name. stamp the date in the designated area. oooh. i sure did love that stamper. i had one at home as a toy. WHO PLAYS WITH A DATE STAMP? the same person who likes to fill out bank deposit slips all day for fun. aaaaand the same person who treasured carbon copy forms that could be organized by color once separated (yipee!).

as the world turns

getting dressed for work shouldn't be quantum physics. but there is definitely a science to dressing for the office climate in these warmer michigan months. like the lean pocket my colleagues eat for lunch, this crummy office is hot on the outside with a disappointing, cold yuck lump at the center. and to make it through the day comfortably and confidently, combining the elements is an important part of the equasion.

somewhere in a parallel universe, this is what i'm wearing today. i love the supersoft feeling and visible texture of this painters tee. proof that you can wear a tee without looking like a co-ed. they are SO comfortable. this tweedy sparkly skirt has just the right amount of detail to keep it from being mistaken for something conservative. and these are patent leather peep toes are the perfect orange. all from jcrew. where one of my hero's, Jenna Lyons Mazeau, has really influenced the womens line to be the perfect combination of feminine, modern, and uncomplicated.

i'm so glad those shoes are on sale right now. we belong together.

paper chase

add wallpaper to the list. paper. paper. paper. i love paper. miss print has distracted me this morning. this particular pattern comes in just about all of my favorite color combos. like a junkie to the rock. aaahh wallpaper. i'm on a semi-quest for wallpaper for a lampshade project (the lining, not the outside) that teeters from the middle to the bottom of the to-do list all too often (it resurfaces when i see kick-ass wallpaper then drops back to the bottom when i try to find a resonably priced GIANT lampshade). aaaand i fantasize about wallpaper on accent walls. aaaaand in frames. and inside cabinets. and inside closets. and in the back of bookcases. and cut out as cameos on canvas. so this is good. another resource. a charmer, too.

sorta foo foo

i love me some foo dogs! just like owls, birds, gnomes, toadstools-crap! i have too many favorite things- i always do a double take at the sight of em. at any rate, i found these at one kings lane. they have a sale every day or so on usually high-end housewares. even though some of it is still expensive, it's mos def deeply discounted. sales only last a few days. they also have more foof than i typically decorate with but it is still a great great resource. these lotus plates are beautiful (they come in white too!) and reasonable for statement serving pieces.

paloma's nest

there's something about paloma's nest that makes you feel all relaxy and sweet. handcrafty without being craft show crafty. i don't love all the phrases in the produced pieces but something custom would be spectacular. and i do love these tiny monogram bowls.

short fuse

shorts. grrrrrrr. booooooooo. i've seen some cutie pairs but i just don't like how they look on me. they. are. just. not. flattering. some are okay. but i can find a thousand snappy skirts and dresses that are totally casual but still adoreable. and as a rule i feel better in something adoreable vs. okay. i almost feel lazy in okay.

sometimes i come pretty close to getting a pair and forcing them into the rotation. try on a few. get mad at that sick fitting room lighting. go home and have a glass of wine. and feel totally boss is a skirt. or pajamas. shorts schmorts.

so, today i find myself looking at the back view of this shirt and the first thing i notice is how unflattering the SHORTS are. and i question: have i been well fitted all those times afterall! ah ha! they ARE supposed to be ugly and unflattering! the picture tells me so!? WHATEVER. all i know is when i try on shorts and they look anything like this i don't buy them. if i have something around my butt i want it to look nice. not like i had to put on some shorts from the back of the closet at your cottage because i pooped my own. i have a short fuse today.

give a hoot

if this doesn't brighten your day...check your pulse. first of all, it's yellow. second, it's an owl. love it. you can get it from fruit fly pie's etsy shop. handmade to boot. this is the planter but it also comes in piggy bank and lantern style. aw! the lantern is ridiculously cute. go check it out.

glassy lady

all adoreable. all from Fishs Eddy. worth perusing.

wildlife love

all units report.

mmmmm. chewy.

more chipmunk star wars action

we all put up walls....

yep. that pretty much says it.

© Chrissy Alright

je t'aime papier

in the same spirit of "everything is better with bacon"...let's go ahead and say everything is better with graph paper. these note cards from julia juliette would still be adoreable as letterpress alone. add graph paper background. i mean, instant awesomeness.

two days ago, i accosted (from the heart) a colleague demanding the source of her graph paper notebook. it has a charcoal grey linen cover. it's perfect bound. a dreamboat of notebooks. at any rate, either i frightened her or she realized she was taking it for granted because she ripped out her used pages and gave it to me! aw! i was elated. she said i was blushing (which made me feel like a reeeeal a-hole). blushing over paper? oh my word.

to be true though, i am proud to be a paper junkie. note pads. individual sheets. note cards. oh dear, dear letter press. i just can't resist.

yesterday, my hard drive crashed and i lost all my bookmarks. RAWR. files schmiles. i'm devastated about my bookmarks. i was going blast out a list of some great paper finds. wah. until

i replenish my bookmarks (pout), here are some of my favorites. they'll bring a smile to your face if you are human. all from bumble ink. they lean to the green side of production and materials and their cardstock is a substantial weight. all good things.

1. you're my main squeeze

2. sorry. i spaced.

3. does not compute...you are too old.

4. i can't get enough of you

5. i suck

6. you rock

as far as utility paper needs, here are some of my notepad faves:

moleskine makes a really nice graphy book. i have a few but i do feel like they're too formal for my inadvertant, meaningless doodles and blurbs. and toting it around in my bag for everyday scratching is sort of like wearing a dress coat to a tailgate. too fussy. i won't rule it out when in need but i'd like to reserve it for journal-esque entries.

rhodia is better suited for everyday use. they also make vellum pads which are nice if you're designing something and need to layer. there is a thin version perfect for lists too. aaah lists.

binth air, want that

binth is a super talented design collective i've been admiring and admiring and admiring. most of their outputs are printed materials (cards, prints, stationary) but they do have some dandies for the home as well. they had me at octopus cuddle pillow. and of course linnea gits whose prints are delicate AND strong. but the love affair really started to sizzle when i saw these these joker prints. they're also available as playing cards so you CAN get ALL of them. the timeframe as to which i've been contemplating these is frankly embarassing. initially, i couldn't decide which one of four favorites to get. then, i thought, perhaps i should get the deck of cards and frame several. torn torn torn.

in reality, i should be more miserly and simply keep them on the wish list. is this really a priority when i'm saving up for the nups? nope. but dammit, i love them.

frame-tastic

my frosted side says these would look great in ginger & matt's home. my shredded side says it's presumptuous to give a gift of art. since i just dropped these in the mailbox, obviously, the frosted side won. but, the shredded side still had an impact on the final package. i threw in some color options of the same images so she can swap them out if the color is not working. or she can trash those entirely and swap them out for snaps of my favorite munchkins: ione and lucy.



i asked my super talented squeeze to find a butterfly (which always reminds me of gin's wedding) and a dragon (which reminds me of gin's dragon shoes) that would make a good silhouette and test a few colors. voila!

eat it

i definitely have a special place in my heart (stomach?) for dinner that also rocks for lunch the next day. that's one of the reasons i love this soup so much. another beautiful thing about it? you don't have to keep cooking it for a million years until it reaches peak flave and texture. you can eat it immediately. when i bring the leftovers to work, people go ape because it smells SO good. and it's super tastylicious. promise.

if you're feeling energetic, double the meatballs and throw half in the freezer for spag and meatballs.


italian escarole soup
(serves 4, with leftovers)

3/4 lb ground turkey (get the blend vs. the breast)
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
3 eggs
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp. dried)
salt and pepper
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced (i add another tiny clove)
8 cups chicken stock
1 bunch escarole, trimmed and torn into bite-sized pieces (you can't have too much of this, fyi)

combine the ground meat, bread crumbs, 1 egg, 1/4 cup of each cheese, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl. mix thoroughly, then form into 1" balls.

in large skillet, heat 2 tbsp. oil over med-high heat. add meatballs and cook, turning, until browned all over. set aside on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

in a large soup pot, heat remaining oil over med-high heat. add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are tender and garlic is soft, but not browned. add stock and bring to boil. add escarole, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. add meatballs and simmer another 5 minutes.

meanwhile, combine remaining 2 eggs and remaining cheeses in small bowl and stir with a fork to blend gently. slow pour egg mixture into hot soup, stirring constantly. cover and simmer just until egg bits are set, about 1 minute. season to taste with salt and get ready to get your grub on.

heart this

i was cruising meredith host's etsy site a while back and found these clever gems. as i try to map out some playful details for my upcoming nups, i keep coming back to illustrations like these. thinking it might be cool to have an illustration of a heart on a cocktail napkin? pretty sure what draws me to this is the tad of creep. fun creep though. not dark creep.

anyway, meredith host has another site where you get a glimpse of her amazing range. animal heads with chicken feet antlers might be my favorite, but the residue series dinner settings are a close, close second.

oooh. almost forgot. per meredith's bio, she's from royal oak. extra points for representing the D.

i want

honestly, it’s not that i WANT so many things. there are simply so many things i think about HAVING. and what i might do with them if they were mine. where i might put them. how i might wear them. my need is not necessarily to acquire. it's just that there are SO many things that inspire. that ryhme was semi-unintentional. anyway, i'm going to purge my thoughts about them here. and blabber on about some of the nonsense hiding underneath my messes of tresses.