How to Choose

Me: "The package gives us options. Do you want to make ultra-vibrant colored eggs; regular colored eggs; or pastel eggs?"

James: "What's the difference?"

Me: "You use vinegar for the bright eggs, lemon juice for the medium ones, and water for the pastels."

James: "Which do you want?"

Me: "I don't care. Do you have a preference?"

[pause]

James: "...I like the smell of vinegar."

These Are a Few of My...

As much as I rail against the evils of a consumerist culture, I must admit that I like stuff as much as the next person. And if that stuff comes from an independent artist, a non-box store, or is just something unusual, so much the better. Here are a few things that I've been grooving on lately. Some of the merchants even incorporate charitable giving into every purchase.

First of all, Etsy.com. Do you know about this site? It's "your place to buy and sell all things handmade." I may be a late bloomer, having just discovered it recently. But you must check it out! I have had the pleasure of two purchases from Etsy merchants.

This ezine by Jen Lemen is short and sweet, but long on inspiration and full of much-needed affirmations.

I've been on the hunt for a good apron and found one by busybyaprons. With its lovely pattern and flirty skirt, this cute little number could almost be a dress. (If you like completely backless dresses, that is.)

In addition to selling very groovy handmade items, Etsy is a remarkable website. You can search for items by color using a fun floating bubble color chart; using a nifty Geolocator to find sellers anywhere in the world (I found five in Iceland); by recently listed items in two different Time Machine formats, one of which lets you drag and "throw" items across your screen; and by traditional Categories. There's even a Connections feature that I haven't fully explored yet.

I'm discovering a whole host of affordable art online these days, too. And my long-bare walls are thankful. These prints from pretty:darn:swell are waiting to find a home on my walls. (These prints are sold out, but check out their ever-rotating stock of cool prints.)

I haven't purchased anything from Pushmepullyou Design yet, but I'm eyeing up two bird prints. I'm not much of a bird person, but I like mourning doves and seem to have a bunch of them around my house. I was also recently amused to learn the obvious: That doves and pigeons are part of the same bird family. I like the symmetry and irony of these prints.

It's too bad that pigeons get such a bad reputation of being dirty city dwellers or rats with wings, while doves are associated with lovely things like weddings, magic shows, and peace on earth. I finally understood the hatred of pigeons after vising Trafalgar Square and being forced to protect my hot dog from the hungry winged beasts.

In other animal news, this reversible necklace by Mark Poulin on Uncommon Goods shows that it's possible to be both a cat- and dog-person at the same time. Or at least at alternating times.

And finally, this Eau de Play-Doh commissioned by Hasbro would drive my hubby wild. In a bad way. He's the only person I've ever met who can't stand the scent of Play-Doh.

Maybe I'll try Demeter's cotton candy scent instead.

(And in good segue way fashion, my next post will include cotton candy, John Williams, and a night at the symphony.)

love is more thicker than forget

love is more thicker than forget

more thinner than recall

more seldom than a wave is wet

more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly

and less it shall unbe

than all the sea which only

is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win

less never than alive

less bigger than the least begin

less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly

and more it cannot die

than all the sky which only

is higher than the sky

~e.e. cummings

photo by jenn, outside of a boutique in wexford, pa

Live Lobsters to Celebrate 5 Years!

A few weeks ago James and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary. To celebrate, I honored James' love of all things surf and turf, and ordered a Lobster Gram. The nice company in Maine ships live lobsters and other tasty goodies straight to your door. I didn't get a picture of the FedEx guy delivering it, but that's okay, because he wasn't wearing a lobster costume, despite my hopes.

Here's the box the little crustaceans arrived in:

And here are the beauties themselves. The one on the right was definitely the fiestier of the two. It gave James a bit of a fight. Thank goodness for those rubber bands! (And yes, that is a lemon and a plastic bag of butter packets nestled into the box with the lobsters.)

I made James put them in the pot of boiling water. (And no, they did not scream.) (And yes, I did feel a little bit bad about the whole thing. But someone else killed the cow that gave us our filet mignon. It shouldn't make a difference who does the killing, but it does have a psychological effect.)

But of course I got past my guilt and enjoyed the scrumptious feast...

...and some good company:

Here's to another five years and beyond!

More Inspiration

One of my favorite moments is the man at 1min 13sec.