Friday flowers

Peachy dahlias, which lasted all of two days but looked lovely.

{dahlias, milk glass}

We were walking home from the market and I was carrying my loot in my hands, sans bag, when I realized I had purchased these dahlias and one (heavenly) mango and I was wearing a peach dress. My produce coordinated with my outfit exactly. An amazing feat for someone who has never been able to properly identify complementary/matching clothes and who was pretty relieved when it seemed like the whole concept of matching was being pitched out the window.*

*It has been, right? I mean, people starting wearing black and brown together and then it just sort of spiraled from there, as far as I can tell. I won't say it was a huge relief, because I'd already given up hope of ever figuring out the matching rules, but it was a nice validation.

Summer sangria

This might be the perfect weeknight summer drink - I hope you won't get the wrong idea when I tell you it reminds me of a wine cooler, except a million times classier.

{peach + mint}

It's fairly light, especially if you cut it with a bit of sparkling water. Perfect for sipping on the balcony on a warm evening (which we would have done, if the weather were willing to cooperate and warm up a bit).

{summer sangria}

Summer sangria (makes about 8 drinks - slightly modified from here)

1 cup loosely packed basil and mint leaves
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups good quality peach juice (TJs has a nice one)
1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
1 liter of sparkling water, if desired

:: Place herbs in a small saucepan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Smash the leaves with the back of a spoon, until they're a bit bruised.

:: Add about half of the peach juice and heat the mixture over medium heat. Bring just to a simmer and then turn off the heat. Allow the mixture to stand for five minutes or so.

:: Pour the mixture through a mesh sieve and into a heatproof pitcher. Add the remaining peach juice and the wine.

:: Chill at least one hour or overnight. Serve with sparkling water to taste (we filled each glass 1/4 full with sparkling water and then added sangria) and garnish with herb sprigs or peach slices, as desired.

Organizing

Saturday morning started out as perfectly as a morning can. I slept in (until 7:30 am, which is about as much as I can handle), made tea and went back to bed and actually managed to read some poetry, an elusive pleasure lately. Mysteries and novels, yes. I fit those in on the bus and at the gym and while the Tour de France plays in the background and often while I stir something on the stove. Novels are great for multitasking. Poetry requires a bit more of you, more presence, more thought, more quiet.

But this isn't about poetry. Because after I read some poetry I realized that breakfast would be a logical next step and while I was trying to decide what to make (we were lacking milk and bread and many other breakfast things) I got distracted by the glass jars I'd purchased ages ago at the thrift store. Shouldn't they be filled already? So I filled them.

{organizing}

And the cupboard immediately looked so much better, cleared of a few boxes and bags. I had to keep going. At this point D came home from his bike ride and asked if I wanted to get lunch and I realized hours had passed and that I hadn't had breakfast yet.

{cupboards}

Sadly, I don't have a beautiful cupboard full of glass jars (yet) but I labeled all my plastic Ikea bins with a Sharpie. I'm sure it would have been more elegant to print out beautiful little labels for them, but the pen was handier. And if you're worrying that I've now irreversibly committed my containers to their contents, I'll let you in on a little secret - Sharpie is not totally permanent. On glass or plastic, a bit of isopropanol will wipe it right off. Isopropanol is the most common form of rubbing alcohol, so you might have some in your cupboard (but check and make sure - some rubbing alcohol is ethanol, which has no effect on marker). Obviously, if you have something you really love, check to make sure the alcohol will take the marker off before you start scribbling all over it.

In my dream life, everything is stored neatly in these Anchor Hocking Emma jars. I can't tell you how many times I've considered purchasing them, but I can't quite bring myself to do it because I already have something that works. So I just stare at them sometimes.

{anchor hocking emma jars - image from manufacturer}

I've almost talked myself into it. I mean, they're pretty great, right? Square bottoms, glass lids, come in different sizes (10 oz, 20 oz, 32 oz). I just hate buying something new to replace a system that is already functional. I'll report back on whether my willpower continues to hold out.

Cutest eggs ever

The street food festival was amazing, and as it wound down, and the sky got darker, we were standing in line for some Thai spareribs and the booth next door started handing out little boxes of quail eggs. Quail eggs!

{quail eggs}

They are so teeny tiny and perfect. I'm in love.

{quail egg, ruler}

I have one dozen. What to do with them? Can such a tiny thing be poached (because I now poach eggs multiple times a week)? Scrambling them seems criminal. I'm torn - very excited to use them and already a little sad knowing that once I do they'll be gone and I won't be able to stare at them anymore. I mean, I can get more, obviously. But I'd hate to get jaded. Quail eggs that are gifted, out of the blue, seem more magical than ones that I track down online and then purchase at the farmer's market.

The weekend, briefly

A simple lunch.

{lunch}

The most amazing milkshakes I've ever had (at the LA street food festival). The toasted marshmallow shake had just the right note of actual campfire and the texture was perfect (I do not like milkshakes that are like sucking a soft serve ice cream through a straw - you need some milk, and some texture).

{ice cream truck}

A sweet baby shower.

{baby shower, tissue}

Some quality time with my herbs, which are loving their new balcony (more sun).

{balcony herbs}

Friday flowers

Light transforms everything. This ...

{lavender, afternoon light}

was just 45 minutes after this ... 

{lavender} 

The magical golden hour never ceases to amaze me.

P.S. Don't forget to set your DVR before Sunday .... 

Cleaning the work room

I haven't really shown you many pictures of our (now not very) new apartment - we sort of got to that point where everything was more or less put away and then we stalled out. I've been incredibly busy ignoring my work room lately. Having the luxury of a space where I can stash all my supplies and projects is new to me, and I think I've gotten overly dependent on the "close the door" method of cleaning. After all, if you can't see it, it really isn't there.

Sunday night I was exhausted from the weekend and I had pictures to edit and we hadn't even thought about dinner, so naturally I decided the room had to be cleaned. I walked in and had that moment of panic and despair, where I thought oh, there is so much to do and I'll never get it done so there's not even any point and ohmygod I need a drink and a nap immediately. Seeing the (strong) potential for a meltdown, D suggested putting in half an hour every day this week, which is eminently reasonable and smart, so of course I disregarded it and dove in. I didn't take a before picture, because I'm not a masochist. And it still needs some work, so maybe we can consider these as the starting point.

{work room, treasures - see sources below*}

I know, you're thinking it's totally clean! Um, not quite yet.

{work room, north wall - see sources below**}

But it's so much closer.

{work room, east wall - see sources below***}

{work room, work space}

The work room also needs to be a guest room on occasion, so the giant fold out couch is on the opposite wall, beneath our seriously outdated school map.

{work room, south wall - see sources below****}

The wardrobes on either side of the couch provide extra storage space. I would have loved white, but these were repurposed from our old apartment and painting them seems like an onerous task.

{work room, south wall}

It's amazing how much more motivated I feel when the space is cleaner. Almost like I want to go mess it all up again.

Sources (I think this is pretty comprehensive, but let me know if you're curious about anything I've missed):
* - ribbon organizer on wall, adapted from Ikea, see previous post
   - white shelf - Ikea Ribba shelf holding a linocut by D, a homestead by Lily (not the permanent location), a cactus from Jamie, vintage thread spools, a calender by Lynn.
   - wire racks from Ikea, filled with used tea tins, some with chalk label areas (see previous post)
   - lamp from Ikea
   - desk from Ikea (would love to trade this in for a white one, but it's also repurposed)
   - awesome tray (barely visible on the desk) from Ikea

** - everything above +
     - filing cabinet from thrift store
     - chair from dumpster, recovered
     - sewing machine - Janome special edition - most similar to this one
     - white framed display on wall - made from a thrift store frame
     - small under the table cabinet from Ikea, a million years ago

*** - white frame display - made from a thrift store frame
       - lamp from Ikea
       - standing ribbon holder repurposed from old lab equipment
       - Command hooks on the back of the door for the totes
       - easy access tissue paper holder made from this rail in the kitchen section at Ikea, spray painted glossy white

**** - couch, hand me down
         - map, rescued from an elementary school (that thankfully was finally given a map without the Soviet Union, a mere 10 years after it was defunct)
         - Ikea wardrobes in birch
         - contrasting pillow made by me (see previous post)

So yes, almost everything is from Ikea and in an ideal world I wouldn't have completely mismatched wood finishes all over the place. But there was no way I was going to buy anything new if I had something that would work. I keep my eye on Craigslist, with the goal of eventually trading out some of these pieces to make it a bit more coherent. For now, it's functional and I'm happy.