Will you be my Valentine?

Thanks for the boot love yesterday, guys. I am bummed about breaking my shopping hiatus, but I feel good about the boots anyways and all your sweet comments helped.

On to V-day... yesterday I admitted that I love the holiday. It just makes me warm and fuzzy and not in a romantic sort of way. D and I don't do the fancy dinner or the gift giving or really anything at all. It just feels too forced, and we are the sort of people that end up making fun of each other instead. And this year, D is in Dubai studying Bedouin tents for a few weeks (I know, I know, lucky bastard) and he won't even be in town.

We do cards, though, because we love cards and make them for just about every occasion. I have some steep competition here, because D makes awesome cards. Witness this random assortment of cards and note that they are all made with lino cuts that he carved himself.

How insanely cute is that grinning eggplant?

Last year I made him this card. The claw is lino cut (by D actually, for a different project) and I added the red felt heart and the dripping blood. The inscription reads "you've got my heart."



Of course, I also send cards to all my family, every year. They might think it's a little strange, but I think they have fun getting them. This year, wildly excited at the prospect of my first Valentine's day with a sewing machine, I played around with stitches and colored thread.



These are simple flat cards and I used a paper punch to round the corners. I cut out hearts from my trusty outdated science publications and then spray glued them to the cards. I also printed out the lettering and mounted it on cardstock before affixing it to the cards. Then I just played around with stitching in coral and garnet. No two are exactly alike. These babies are in the mail as of this morning.

Am I weird? Do you send Valentine's day cards to friends and family?

Weekend + no shopping update (week 4)

My dears, I have a confession to make. I'm sure you know what's coming. My research last week turned into something a little more serious and I purchased the boots. I have plenty of justifications for myself (I've been wanting a pair just like this since fall, I will wear them for years to come, they are leather, they are made in Spain, the brand name means "poppy flower" in French, they went on sale and the sizes are disappearing at an alarming rate, round toed shoes are my fave and they might go out of style soon and I don't want pointy toed boots because they make my feet hurt) but I will just admit it gracefully and move on.

It was a thoughtful purchase and I am at peace with it, despite the exorbitant price tag. Read: I am squealing with delight inside and hoping against hope that they fit and I don't have to return them because I am madly in love with them already.

If you are trying not to buy anything, then please don't visit the Coclico website. It might actually kill you. Don't believe me? Check out these.

1. Ceres Testa 2. Orthosie Royal 3. 17306 4. Crio

Oh, and the weekend was lovely.



Coming up this week - all Valentine's, all the time. I loooove Valentine's Day, but I realize some of you are skeptical. Just play along with me. I promise that there will be no soft focus shots of roses, no Hallmark poetry, and hopefully nothing else that triggers your gag reflex.

Tagged!

I was tagged by the amazing Mouse, and this one is actually pretty easy, even for lazy people like me.

Pick the fourth photo in the fourth folder on your computer (in my case, Flickr, because that is my back up system) and share it.



Hmmmm. Not very exciting, but it's a pretty image to leave you with on a Friday. It's a California native flower from my mom's garden. I wish I could tell you what it is, but the gardening gene was not passed on, apparently.

I also received a sweet blogging love award from the lovely Miss Aimee of Mostly Mod.


I know that I am supposed to pass these both along, but it's Friday and I just can't choose. My brain is tired. And I love you all. Feel free to participate if you are interested.

P.S. I got busy last night and re-designed the blog, so it looks a little bit different.

P.P.S. Next week is all about Valentine's Day, so I hope you're pumped.

Me, organized

I am a fanatical organizer/list maker. For the last several years, I've been carrying around steno pads in my purse and I have a moment of panic if I find myself without one when a thought comes to me. The downside is that the pages rip out, they are a little oversized and also completely disorganized. I decided I was due for an upgrade, but I didn't want to buy something, and I was hoping for a system that was personalized to me.

So I made one.

The cover is salvaged from an old scientific publication that I have lying around

There are sections for blog ideas, meal ideas, shopping lists, book and movie suggestions, finances (I have a compulsive habit of checking my balances in all my accounts and writing them down at least once per week), and random thoughts.




I drew up the designs in Illustrator (the pages are 4.25 by 5.5 inches, which gets you four pages to a standard sized piece of paper), cut everything out and and then did a simple binding using a 1/8" hole punch and some thick thread. The dividers were spray glued onto some thin cardboard to give them more stability. I could probably have done a better job but I'm too impatient once I get an idea for something. This will work nicely while I think about improvements.

Boots, deconstructed

Three weeks of no shopping and one major closet overhaul, and I have spent some serious time thinking about what my next purchases will be. I'm actually thinking in terms of investments, if that isn't too lofty a word to use. And I have come to some conclusions. Namely, buy very nice things, sparingly, after you've spent lots of time thinking about it.

I also now call my online shopping research, because it sounds much more investment-like. I've decided that my first major purchase will be a pair of leather boots. Ones that I will be able to wear for several years, with pants or skirts, which means they need to be pretty classic.



Free People Clermont boot ($548)
Frye Fiona Tall boot ($348)
Frye Adrienne Button boot ($398)
Coclico Obama boot (prices vary widely between stores, around $400 for this color)

The boot in the left corner is my inspiration boot and I've realized that I gravitate towards boots that have the same qualities. But at $548, I'm worried that it's a little exorbitant, even for an investment. I mean, it's not as if Free People are known for their high quality boots (are they?). If you can get a pair of Frye's for under $400, I'm a bit reluctant to shell out that much. So I have two pairs of Frye boots here (although I think number 2 might not be classic enough, as adorable as I think they are) plus one pair of Coclico's that are almost identical the to Free People boots but cost a bit less.

Here's the thing, the research is fun. And I think I'll be less likely to experience buyer's remorse, because I'll know that this was a carefully thought out decision. I'm not saying I'll give up my sudden shopping sprees, but I think I will be limiting them significantly once this experiment is over. The only issue I'm running into is wondering if these options will still be around in three months when my hiatus is over.

Boot opinions, people?

Carrot - bran muffins

I wish there was a better name for these. Bran muffins just don't sound that appealing. But I promise that these actually taste good, in a very healthy way. I make them pretty often, because they are so nice to have around when I'm running out the door in the morning and don't have time to grab breakfast because I got distracted taking photos instead of getting ready for work. What, that doesn't happen to you?



The secret is lots of shredded carrot. It makes the muffins incredibly moist. They are not very sweet, but that makes them an excellent companion to apricot jam or honey.



Carrot-bran muffins (heavily changed from the Bob's Red Mill package, makes 12)

Ingredients

1	cup wheat bran
1 1/2	cups whole wheat flour
1/4	cup brown sugar
1 1/4	cups skim milk
1	egg
2	tbsp. canola oil
1 1/4	cup carrots, shredded (about 2 large carrots)
1/4	cup raisins
1/4	tsp salt
1	tsp baking soda
1	tsp baking powder
3	tsp cinnamon
3	tsp ginger

Directions

1. Have oven pre-heated to 400 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with liners or baking spray.
   
   
2. Combine all dry ingredients and whisk.
   
   
3. Add raisins and shredded carrots to the dry ingredients and stir well.
   
   
4. In another bowl, whisk together all liquid ingredients.
   
   
5. Mix everything together until the batter is just moist. Don't overmix or the muffins will be tough. The batter will be very thick. Spoon evenly into the muffin cups.
   
   
6. Bake 15 minutes or until muffins rise and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
   

Easy-peasy. You should be able to get these in the oven in under 15 minutes. They are super moist, so they will sort of crumble apart if you eat them when they are hot, but they are so good fresh out of the oven that I can never resist. I highly recommend them as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. They are 130 calories apiece, if you're interested in that sort of information.

Weekend + no shopping update (three weeks)

The weekend involved a little bit of everything. Lucha Va Voom, which was amazing. Baking (recipe coming up later this week). Sewing, some successful, some not so successful. Oh, and lots of delicious sleeping.

I have to admit that last week was a bit difficult on the no shopping front. I felt like the retail world was out to get me. Did you see the Toast sale? Or the Rose and Radish sale? And I didn't even click over to the J. Crew sale, or the twelve million Bluefly sales they kept emailing me about. Here was my imaginary shopping cart at Toast. Note how restrained I was - only three items!

Scarf, shoes, and bag

The bag is a pretty serious temptation, but I have to say that not shopping makes things easier in general. I feel tempted but not conflicted and I don't waste time agonizing over whether or not to buy something. It's very freeing, in a way.

How are my fellow non-shoppers holding up? And did anyone who is shopping indulge in some sales last week? Let me live vicariously through you.