Don't mind me

It's a funny feeling. The house is calm. I am home. The brother McKennas are out. The snow is gone (but, boys & girls, it is RAINING out right now as if making up for lost time holy cow). Suspended as we are between the holidays and the new year, I am remarkably short on profound thoughts.

Yes, yes, I do have the rather typical resolution-type notions like detoxing myself for the next three months. And, to add a new spin on it this year, I'm actually entertaining the idea of going vegetarian (Jess & Scott, you are my roll models!). We'll see. I said, we'll see. For now I am satisfying my healthy-eating-habit inklings by purchasing bulk whole wheat flour & pasta. It's a start, right?

No, right now my ponderings are mostly on rather silly things: cats, quilts, recipes, books. And so that's what I'm going to share with you today!

Here we go.

First on the list are my adorable kitties. Misha (pictured top right), or Meech as we fondly call her, is a grumpy old girl with lots of boundaries. We have a wonderful working relationship with her and love her very much. It's just sometimes, well, we find ourselves tiptoeing around her. But that's OK! Maybe its how we like it, because we always know where she stands. She's our girl.

Then there's Greyson, and yes I am sending out to the universe full paragraphs about my pets. Greyson, I find, has been very lovable right from the start. Happy-go-lucky, full of life, you will most likely observe him either racing around the apartment, knocking everything over in his path and causing massive destruction, or fast asleep, recharging for the next round. But occasionally there are these very, very sweet moments when he will crawl on your lap and wrap his arms around your neck. Or sit on the back of the couch and rest his cheek against yours. Or, as shown in one of the photos, curl up with you & the laptop on the table, where he's not supposed to be but you can't help yourself so you let him stay. And always, always, he is purring. Pur Boy is one of his nicknames. Behold their cuteness (pic above), folks.

Switching tracks, quickly jump over to Purl Bee to admire their beautiful wedding wheel quilt. I want one but worry my sewing skills are not precise enough to pull off that point in the center of the circle. She says she and a friend made it in one day and I am very impressed.

What's next? Oh yes. Recipes. Allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite food blogs: Smitten Kitchen. Ours is a relationship of give and take. She posts beautiful recipes and I take take take. For instance, here's what's on our menu just this week alone:
- Chickpea Salad with Capers and Roasted Red Peppers
- Feta Salsa
- Pizza with Broccoli Raab, Roasted Onions and Olives
- Braised Short Ribs with Potato Purée, Swiss Chard and Horseradish Cream (I'm thinking for New Years)
- Gramercy Tavern’s Gingerbread (also for New Years)

I'm not joking. Doesn't this stuff look good? As if she really knows her business?

Finally, a few books to share with you. But listing them here means I'm sharing a part of myself with you that most people don't know about. Yes, I am obsessed with Emergency Preparedness and take it very seriously. I'm not [too] ashamed of this. It never hurts to be prepared, right? Anyhoo, there are several books I am coveting right now. Here they are:
- Just in Case by Kathy Harrison
- Country Wisdom & Know-How by the Editors of Storey Publishing's Country Wisdom Boards
- The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
- Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living by Annie Berthold-Bond (while this does not directly relate to emergency prep, it offers very valuable information of how to clean your home & yourself with healthier, home-made products - love it)

And I think that's a wrap for now. I'm off to enjoy this limbo time.

A quick check-in

Hello! Its been a while since I showed my face around here. This past week has been full of wonderful distractions like the near-unprecedented 12 inches of snow (!), the arrival of a house guest, and the celebration of Ryan's actual birthday, which took place yesterday.

Friends have been flooding our house & phones since Kenna's arrival. Every day we get to see an old familiar face with this popular guy in 'da house.

Ryan's birthday was superb. I got to leave work at noon because of the snow. The boys met me at the MAX stop, we had lunch at Grand Central, and walked over to the movie theater to witness the new James Bond loveliness. Afterwords we stopped in at the GAP where I purchased a fabulous hat on sale (similar to this one) and then had a wintry walk home. For dinner last night we met some friends at Dove Vivi. We all fell in love with our waitress, who is very sweet and very pregnant and gave us cake for the birthday boy. Delish.

And snow. Oh, the snow! 12 inches of magic is what it is.

Now I have two glorious weeks off of work. As long as Kenna is here we will have social engagements every day. And hopefully more walks in the snow. And good food abundant.

I'll end my ramble here. Except to say that I intend to come back very soon to share photos of the cats (sorry, but yes), my new hat, our snowy wonderland, the two brothers in action, and a very clever gift I recently received.

Happy holidays friends!

Top three beers of 2008

But first...

the birthday boy

the art of beer tasting is an exact science

beer maids for the night - the tips weren't so good

this is what Greyson does when we have company

So last night we had a party in honor of Ryan's 3oth. It was a gathering of the beer tasting variety and what a good time it was.

There was, of course, beer. Lots and lots of it. I think we had 13 brews, ranging from the predictable (Red Hook IPA) to the unexpected (did you know beer can taste like smoked salmon? Honestly). And then there was the backwash pitcher, which reporters from the field noted was not as bad as one might expect.

There were also the people. All of them our favorites, some of them new friends. Others old.

Then there was the The Happy Holiday Hearth - A Virtual Fireplace for all Occassions. It warmed the place up until it fried our DVD player. That was the end of that.

We served food. I'm talking honey roasted ham with rolls, havarti cheese, and grainy mustard. There was also baked brie. And vegetables, because even just the sight of vegetables makes one feel healthier instantly. And snackie snacks. And cake.

I used this site here, which links to others, to get us rolling on the planning process. We basically ate first, and then tasted one beer at a time, blindly, and voted on it before moving on to the next sample. If we did this again I would simplify the multiple score cards we used into a single-page spreadsheet for each person. That would help with the tallying process.

And finally, I present to you the best beers of 2008, or at least of December 13, 2008:
First place: Sam Adams Winter Lager (Ryan's selection)
Second place: Deschutes, The Abyss
Third place: Deschutes, Green Lakes

Now here's a story for ya

So, last weekend I went to a cookie exchange at Amalia's. It was fun. I took one type of cookie and came home with many others. Like magic (or, like butta?).

How do I know Amalia, you ask?

Well. In sixth grade, I had a best friend (M.M.). That year (1992?) M.M. had her birthday party at the local In & Out Burger in Las Vegas, where we're all from. My mom and I showed up, and there was Amalia and her mom, along with several other groupings of 6th grade girls and their moms. That's where we met.

Then, in high school, there was Amalia again. Despite not having attended the same schools previously, we were both attendees of Durango High. Yay, btw, for high school, the most miserable experience of one's adolescent life. Am I right?

Anyway, we both wanted to be architects. After high school I went to Boston and she went to Oregon and that was that.

Until, that is, eight years later. Fresh out of graduate school, I showed up to work on my first day. In Portland, Oregon. I was given an office tour (first things first) and what do you know, who was the very first person I was introduced to? Amalia! Instantly we recognized each other from our glory days in Las Vegas. My, what a coincidence!

And, indeed, it is. Today, several years into the job, I sit right next to Amalia and get to chat with her every single day. And now, as adults, when we have parties we invite each other. Just like we did in sixth grade.

Can't...Stop...Being Inspired!

I love this time of year. Ryan's birthday (ahem...30th birthday, mind you) is this month, and a few days later we have Christmas. I happen to be married to a man who loves all things Christmas related, including but not limited to the tree, the treats, the ginger bread house (yes), the decorations, the advent calender, Peacock Lane, the solstice, the stockings, the music, the Christmas scarf (yes he requested one. yes I made it. yes he wears it.). The list goes on. And on. And on. Ours is a happy house during the month of December.

This weekend we'll be celebrating his birthday, adding the final touches to holiday decorating and shopping, and anticipating a birthday surprise surely to blow his socks off.

In the mean time, I leave you with a few more crafty delights. I really just can't get enough of this goodness, and will most likely be adding to the list up to the eleventh hour (or twelfth day?).

Behold the beauty:
- I LOVE these felted cupcakes so much I can't stand it. I see a collection of them as a birthday-themed mobile of sorts. Is that bad?
- Speaking of felt, wish I had a tot to cut these cute figures out for...
- More birds from the Purl Bee. Because I like 'em is all
- Real Danish Butter Cookies (wrapped in a little tin for gifting?)
- This list of boxing up goodness for giving

Oh, and one last thing. Did you know Portland, Oregon is expecting snow over the weekend? You can add that to the list of Ryan's favorite holiday "accessories."

Crafty blog love

*I've found a few more delights to add to the list below of crafty wonder.



There's a lot of creativity out there, and I'm constantly being inspired to make something I see, buy something I see, or request nicely that I be a part of what I see. Here's a preview of what I'm loving right now:

- free 2009 calendar over at Mibo
- free bird pattern for cute stuffed ornaments
- decorative holiday trees here, here, *here & *here - you can do it!
- advent calendars here & here
- free gratitude wrap pattern - I could see filling one with beautiful stationary, a journal, an address book, stamps, and a pretty pen for a gift
- free holiday greeting postcards
- *Finnish paper star how-to

Happy December all.

Gifts from your kitchen

Sunset's online magazine has a great collection of home-made foodie gift ideas. The salted chocolate-pecan toffee and peppermint-stick cocoa sound pretty good to me.

We also have a friend who's been known to make beautiful jars of flavored olive oil and give those away. I need to get in on that this year...

Favorite Christmas movies

In no particular order:

01 Love Actually
02 A Christmas Story
03 White Christmas
04 While You Were Sleeping
05 Home Alone
06 It's a Wonderful Life
07 Harry Potter
08 The Santa Clause
09 A Charlie Brown Christmas
10 The Night Before Christmas
11 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
12 How About You
13 Four Christmases
14 Joyeux Noël

Am I missing any classics? You'll notice we're a bit less discriminating with this list than we were with the last one. What can you do?