happy stuff.

i love to create tiny vignettes. here’s the one i put together today in my bathroom at home. here’s my favorite shelf. the black and white photos in this display are two that i purchased while in paris last spring. i was on the lookout for pictures with bikes. i took at least one picture [...]

i ran across a picture book today called flyaway katie. it’s about a little girl who is feeling gray and who sees a painting full of color that she’d rather be in, so she puts on bright clothes, paints her face blue and she jumps into the picture where she stays all day and is [...]

today i went to observe a baby storytime for work and i was surrounded by some really cute kids. i couldn’t take my eyes off of this one baby girl who had the cutest little fat cheeks and whose mouth was buried deeply between those cheeks and who had one curl that stuck straight up [...]

today, i went to the wintersilks store to buy myself some new silk long johns (i think that the ones for girls should be called “long janes”–especially silk ones) since mine are getting rather ratty. surprisingly, there was a sale! i got a pair that had already been marked down for an additional 50% off! [...]

i love to check things off of my to-do list. especially those with a hard and fast deadline that could have negative consequences if procrastinated. those types of things hang over my shoulder like a zealous vulture. today, i turned in all of my paperwork for my new job. you know, the insurance papers, the [...]

tonight, i made potato soup and served it with slices of homemade bread–a truly good loaf! i think i’m getting the hang of this month’s bread recipe! for those who don’t know, grandma’s potato soup is sprinkled with crumbled bacon. so, i had cooked up two slices of nueske’s smoked bacon (the best!) and had [...]

i love the way that snow on bare tree branches defines the edges of everything, bringing the world into sharper focus. i heard a woodpecker somewhere in the woods–i stopped to listen. icicles formed on my eyelashes.

so i took some of the plain yogurt i’d made and i added some pumpkin topping from trader joe’s and just a touch of maple syrup and…. yum! pumpkin yogurt! why don’t they sell this in stores? at least seasonally? it’s like creamy pumpkin pie filling!

i’m still getting used to having a schedule that jumps around from week to week, but i’m currently in a lovely stretch of 6 days where i only have to work one day. it’s so awesome! i spent the first day making bread and yogurt and granola and i actually took the time to wipe [...]

yesterday, i had lunch downtown and i decided to go for foods i wouldn’t ever cook for myself at home but that i would love to try. i thoroughly enjoyed my parsnip and bacon soup (very thick but smooth soup, somewhat like potato, but just a hair sweeter, sprinkled with yummy bacon–just enough to add [...]