happy stuff.

my college roommate (and very dear friend) drove out (across several states!) to visit us (with her two kids ages 2 and 4!) a few weeks ago.  while she was here, i snuck some of her kids’ clothes out of their suitcase make patterns so that i could try out my new 90-minute shirt tutorial [...]

last night i decided the time was right to try out this recipe for a zucchini and ricotta galette from smitten kitchen.  it had these healthy looking slices of zucchini and a very intriguing description of the crust that made me just have to try it.  the only problem was that we were out of [...]

as promised, here is a post about something other than baby crafts.  this one features my new favorite summer sandwich! i know i’ve posted about summer sandwiches before (wow.  that is some vintage happy stuff. no photos!  hardly any text!  look how far we’ve come…) and i do still like all of those sandwiches, but [...]

remember those luscious apricots from the last post?  i couldn’t stop thinking about how good they’d taste with cream cheese on top of some sort of pastry, but i also couldn’t figure out what kind of pastry this combo reminded me of.  then i finally remembered kolaches.  i’m not sure they ever traditionally combine apricot [...]

awhile back, i read on one of the many blogs i follow about the concept of a “pantry challenge” and was intrigued.  the basic idea is to try to go for a week (or two weeks or three days or whatever) without buying any groceries.  the point is partially to motivate you to use up [...]

the last few times that i’ve attempted to make my own popsicles, i’ve been very disappointed with the results.  they were always frozen so hard!  somewhat like licking an ice cube.  how did commercial popsicles get that nice, soft, bite-able texture?  after last week’s successful rhubarb sorbet, i decided to try an experiment this weekend.  [...]

last week was the annual lotus pilgrimage canoe trip.  this year we seemed to hit the water a little too early.  there were lots of buds and not tons of flowers or seedpods.  here are some photos for you to enjoy: and although they are more “common” and boring, i took a few shots of [...]

because of the quirks of my work schedule, i haven’t been to work since last thursday.  originally, i’d planned to take advantage of this stretch of time off by taking a trip to visit a friend, but in the end,  i decided to just lay low and stay home.  it’s been very relaxing.  here are [...]

ahhh… i needed that. so many beautiful bits this last weekend. first, this weekend was the annual local festival that culminates in an aerial dance performance suspended from the trees by a troupe called cycropia. i’ve blogged about them before and they’re probably my favorite local entertainers. their act is just so unique! a friend [...]

on thursday’s bike ride home from work, i got a flat tire.  i wasn’t even halfway home and i didn’t really want to walk six miles, so i called mr. happy stuff to see if he could come pick me up.  i have changed my own flat tires in the past, but the sheer physical [...]