grow garden grow

(the tiniest cucumber)


(wee berries)


(beans! I've been eating these guys everyday)


(pea pods!)

Sorry for the spotty posting, folks. Promise to be back soon! Like a champ this time!

ode to my nan

(Isabelle in her navy blue velour suit)

My nan passed away last week. It was awful to see her spend the last few days of her life suffering so I was glad that her funeral became a celebration of her 92 years instead. We told great stories. Like, how she used to scare us as kids with horrifying (and made up) animal stories and as a result, my cousin is still afraid of cows. Or how much she loved to read, especially murder mysteries. How much she loved Jeopardy (and how good she was at it). How she used to go all out on holidays and wear color coordinated outfits with tons of accessories (think Fourth of July with knee high striped socks, mardi gras beads, blue sweater, white keds, red shorts). How she loved to crochet and bake. How she let me eat cans of mandarin oranges from her stockpile that lined the walls down to her basement. How she kept a beautiful garden and canned wonderful foods. How she named the chipmunks in her yard (Charlie, in case you're wondering). How much she loved tea and sweets*. How she despised alcohol but smoked like crazy. How she loved to dance. How she used to model shoes for Stride Rite with her adorable size 4 feet.

Thanks for everything, Nana. Hope wherever you are, you're sassing someone (and if they're being fresh, giving them a pinch).

*Just like Isabelle's PB cookies

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

preheat to 350. mix ingredients + roll into balls. wet a fork + create a crisscross pattern on the cookie (this is crucial for that 'grandma cookie' look). bake 10-12. enjoy!

hello again

(image from here)


Sorry for the blog absence all. Things have been a little crazy here. Two people in my husband's family have passed away recently and then my grandmother passed away as well as a beloved student at the school I work at. I also met a long lost relative who had been out of touch with the family for 20+ years. So things have been fraught with emotion to say the least. I promise to be back in the swing of things soon, commenting on your blogs, talking about food I like, posting about music stories. Hope all is well with you + happy Friday.

dreamy

So last night my dream was pretty epic. It involved walking down the highway at various points. During those times, I saw people standing on these poles with bandaged hands panhandling with signs. Somehow I knew these people and I knew they were scam artists? Also, there was a crazy band playing on the other side of the highway and I saw an old friend playing with the band. I wanted to hug him to say hello (after their performance of course) but he was really sweaty. Also for some reason he had become super muscle-y and was wearing one of those work out tank tops. Not as crazy as this but you get the idea (p.s. anyone seen this guy's TLC special? Its scary AND gross!). So anyways, I also remember I had to drop off my dad at the train station and we drove to this amazing farm with lots of animals. For starters, they had fuzzy baby ponies. FUZZY BABY PONIES!?! Can you even handle that?


(like this but even fuzzier! like a baby chick)

Then, as we drive down this dirt road to the train station (I'm sure it was an excellent train station being down a dirt road and all) we saw tons of beautiful birds and I kept thinking, 'Wow I should tell my mom about this place'. So I did and then me mom and I went to a bunch of different Targets where she went food shopping and then we were looking for a special item no one had. I feel like it was drugs? Also, half of the store sold strange faux stone and marble museum statues and heads. They were 'aged' and missing pieces, as if they were actual discovered artifacts. There I saw someone's old boyfriend, who I hadn't thought of in years, buying his girlfriend a marble cat head to display her hats on. I kept thinking,'how many hats? Is she going to stack them all on this one cat head?' Because clearly, that's what I should be concerned with in this situation.

And this is why I shouldn't eat so many cookies before bed.

I think I'll go home and mull this over

So a couple years back, before Ryan and I started dating, I went to Poland. I had just broken up with my ex boyfriend and it felt like a fresh start. I was going to do architectural studies of synagogues with a class I was taking. I would have probably never chose Poland as a destination in my personal list of places to travel but I loved it and would recommend it to anyone. The people were amazing, the food was delicious and the sites we visited were lovely (a lot of sad history but very important nonetheless). I have lots of memories of drinking too much vodka, laughing too hard, sleeping on beds made of straw, staying over at a place which was decorated with large posters of cats, hearing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' alot, eating lots of tomato and onion salads. We traveled all over the country, mostly by bus. I can still picture of our gigantic bus making its way up narrow and windy dirt roads (that all seemed to slope upwards) and then all of us applauding at our bus driver's skill, since we made it there alive. On these long bus rides, that's where the music comes into play. I remember I had brought my hot pink cd case that fit about 25 cds and my cd player (oh lord, I'm dating myself here). My cd player was bright yellow and my headphones were big (and not trendy big, big like 'I-borrowed-these-from-my-dad' big). I don't recall all the music I brought with me but I know I brought Smoking Popes, Mirah and The Shins. Oh The Shins. They could have been called 'Welcome-to-Indie-Rock-Lisa-This-is-All-You'll-Be-Listening-To-For-Quite-Sometime'. The beginning of Caring is Creepy will always remind me of sitting on a bus, watching out the window. I can almost feel the bumpy roads when the intro starts. And that my friends, is the place where I got to ride a giant rooster (they sold rooster shaped bread at a bakery nearby, I know there was a meaning behind it but I'm not sure of it now).

winner of giveaway #2!

and the winner of giveaway number 2 is....

(dramatic pause)

Lyn!!!!

Step right up and get your prize! Actually, shoot me an email with your address so I can send you out your winnings! My email is orangeimpossible* at yahoo dot com.

Check back tomorrow for a post with a little more substance. Here's a hint about what's in store:


(yes that is me riding that rooster backwards)


* its an email address that I picked at random from my ipod. I had no idea I would keep it for so long. Anyhoo, I can't find any links to this particular song but its a song from the band Congratulations on Your Decision to Become a Pilot. I did however find a link to their myspace page here.

a winner + a new mix!

and the winner is...

(dramatic pause)

Bret!

(pause for applause)

who said (and by said I mean typed):

Hi! You're one of the blogs I follow just by typing in the url and it auto-completes and then I just visit your blog every day. Old school, I know. Well, sort of school. I'm not sure how old auto-complete is.

ANYWAY I love this bag http://www.etsy.com/listing/72172200/zippered-pouch-shay-large even though I'm sure even sure it's a cosmetic bag? If I win, I'll either give it to my fiancee, or heck, I'll use it as a new toilettry bag or even as a travel bag for my guitar picks and capos.

Hooray! I totally liked her Facebook page too. I also liked it in real life.

Excellent! I just checked and your site autocompletes here too! I just sent your info over to the other Lisa and she will be in touch!

and...

Today's mix is a collection of songs on my mind lately. I'll list the reasons why for the full effect!



Paranoid Android (cover)- Weezer (great cover/heard on the radio the other day)
Life Goes On- Noah and the Whale (radio)
Flame- Sebadoh (thinking of my music friend my high school/think I will do a post on this)
Letter from an Occupant- New Pornographers ( great summer music/had cd on repeat)
You are a Tourist- Death Cab for Cutie (new cd!)
Silver Lining- Rilo Kiley (wanted to listen to/ cd is skipping/boo)
No One Else- Weezer (probably bad mix etiquette/whatever/listened to this cd in lieu of RK)



Create a playlist at MixPod.com

For more Mixtape Master madness, peep the playlists on these blogs:

Hi-Fi Weddings Tylre. Ten Thou Bride Fashion Under 100 Jo, Rooting One Cat Per Person another damn life Savoir Weddings Fancy Notion Dead Flowers Casa De Kaloi Bunnies’n’Beagles My San Francisco Budget Wedding Existing Between Reality and Dreams Smile in Motion

Be a Mixtape Master. Email Angie or Ashley to get in on it