Savvy Eats

We’ve spent the last four days in Virginia, about 20 miles outside of D.C., visiting our friends Adam and Laura. There were lots of board games (of course): Agricola and Thunderstone, Seven Wonders and Bohnanza, Pandemic and Power Grid and Cards Against Humanity. I finally broke my week-plus-long losing streak (seriously, I could’t win a [...]

I did it: I finished my first real quilt, using Elise’s tutorial.  It is about 45″ x 60″ and covered in flowers and foxes and birds. The triangles don’t quite line up, and the binding isn’t 100% even, but I couldn’t love the quilt more.

For years, I’ve been looking for a way to keep my to-do lists and schedules organized.  My index card book works to an extent, but seems best suited to organized individual projects and blog post planning.  But for everything else, I need a planner, and nothing store-bought fits my needs.  Trust me, I’ve tried them [...]

Edible Gifts: Candied Citrus Peel from Shutterbean Candied Clementines from Saveur Chocolate Bark in 3 Flavors from Chasing Delicious Cranberry Mustard Hot Cocoa & Chocolate Mixes with Maple Marshmallows Flavored Salt from The Kitchn Homemade Extracts (with great printable labels) from Spoon Fork Bacon Lemon-Lime Marmalade Maple Cream Nut Clusters from Edible Perspective Popcorn Seasonings [...]

I promised myself I would start packing for IACP this morning.  I’ve pulled the suitcase out of the basement and set aside a few outfits. I’ve chosen a book for the bus and my iPod is charging.  And I’ve packed up some tea.  Because we all know I can’t be without my tea. I have [...]

As a kid, I loved back-to-school shopping.  Not for my “first day of school” or “picture day” outfits, but for school supplies.  I still love office supplies, and often have to talk myself out of purchasing adorable-but-completely-unnecessary striped paper clips or sweetly-colored page tags. There is always at least one pen of my favorite brand [...]

Last year, the absolute favorite gift I gave was the custom cookbook I made for Heather.  I liked it so much, I wanted to keep it for myself!  In fact, I have one or two more in the works for holiday and birthday gifts down the line. To make things a little easier on myself, I’ve designed [...]

I hate buying wrapping paper. Hate, hate, hate it. Everything is either expensive or so cheap it tears when you fold it. And it often feels so generic and boring. So instead, I bought a roll of off-white kraft paper at Michael’s, and am giving my gift wrappings a homemade spin. Bonus: most of the [...]