a rocker

I was highly unproductive this weekend, in terms of having anything interesting to show yous, but sometimes it goes like that. I'm embracing my time to be unproductive while I can.

We did do like 1 million errands though, which always feels nice. And made a grand master list of all the things we want to get done pre-baby.

And I found our rocking chair.



The Risom Rocker from DWR. yayyy.

I'm of the belief that one should not fill one's house with things for baby that you wouldn't like to have in your house if you didn't have baby (stroller and crib and some other necessities notwithstanding). Especially when it comes to plastic things, but that's a different topic altogether. I know we need a rocker, but I just cannot stomach one of those huge poofy lazy-boy-for-moms upholstered gliders. Apologies to anyone who has and loves theirs, I'm sure they're terrifically functional, but they make me want to throw up a little. If we're going to buy a rocking chair, I want it to be a chair that we will enjoy in our home forever, not just while I'm nursing 12 hours a day. Naive? Probably, but let me exist in my fantasy world while I can.

It's expensive, and we might not end up getting it. But I'd rather spend a little more on a beautiful piece of furniture that we will keep for always. Plus I haven't even tested it out yet. Of our 1 million errands, none took us past a DWR. So that is a project for this week. Maybe the floor model with be on sale.

We're going to end up blowing our entire baby budget on our rocker and our stroller, but really, aside from diapers and a breast pump, what more do we need for the first 6 months?

Also, I purchased my first official piece of maternity apparel. Milestone! I am so thankful that I live in the age of premium denim. Those poor moms who had to come before us were forced to wear hideous jeans throughout their entire pregnancy. And it turns out maternity jeans are super comfy! Perfect for airplane rides! I think everyone should have a pair. They're like denim sweats.

pound cake for the passing of an icon

I now present my post where I properly mourn the passing of Gourmet. I've been holding off because, I don't know, it doesn't seem real? Like how could the company that still publishes such editorial GEMS as Mens Vogue and Travel + Leisure (and sends them to unsuspecting customers for free, I might add) decide to close the best cooking and entertaining magazine in the universe? I am at a loss. I mean doesn't everyone with the slightest culinary leannings read Gourmet? Their recipes are not always 100% reliable, but I love their styling and I get excited every month when my copy appears in my mailbox.

Le sigh.



And to make it worse, they're not even finishing out the year. Just cutting us off with November. No index of Christmas cookies, no New Years Eve parties, no mulled wine. I feel a little betrayed. Especially because I just, not 3 weeks ago, renewed my subscription. So I am saddened. More so even than when Blueprint closed and I loved Blueprint. It was like a magazine made especially for me and women like me. But now Gourmet, an old but ever inspiring aunt, has left without so much as a goodbye.

I think this calls for pound cake. It feels like that sort of weekend. And perhaps I'll even make the brown butter version on the last page of the last Gourmet. Everything is better with brown butter.

(Poundcakes from this month's Martha and Gourmet)

project inspiration

I was trolling blogs yesterday for a bit and came across this awesome office re-do by Pearl Street Interiors on Abbey's cute blog. I probably wouldn't have reposted was it not for the wealth of DIY tutorials that came along with it. Mega inspiration.

She gives a tutorial on how to refinish two pieces of furniture in an extremely cost effective way. And, I'm more interested in these others, how to cover bulletin boards and how to make fabric window shades from your existing mini-blinds. I think I've gone to redecorating heaven.



We have mini blinds on every window in our house. They drive me insane but for whatever reason I've be able to live with them for the last 7 years. Look out mini-blinds. You're about to be stripped to your skeleton and covered with fabric. Possibly this weekend.



And then there's the bright red credenza/dresser thing and patterned cork boards. The credenza I'll probably skip, but appreciate. Corkboards... you will be mine.

Also, I've always liked that Ikea rug... might be cute for baby's room? I had a mini meltdown last night about our lack of space, our insane amount of stuff, and the impending introduction of lots more stuff into our life. Does everybody go through this when they're about to have a baby? Brock reminded me that we could live in New York in a one bedroom apartment. True.

I'm desperately clinging to the idea that our house will remain and adult house, even with a baby. Tell me it's possible.

Soup for a rainy night

One of the soups I planned to make this week is done. Made, enjoyed for two dinners, pots cleaned, chops licked. It was good. And timed nicely with our first rainstorm of the year. Finally. Melanie reminded me of it last week and I spent the days until it came to bubbly green fruition on my stove pining for it's yumminess.

See, I have this thing with coconut right now. By right now I mean for the last 3 months. It's my pregnancy craving numero uno. Mostly revealed in the amount of thai coconut soup I can consume in one week. It can be a little surprising. Second on demand is Indian spiced things, preferably the samosas from India Sweets & Spices on Venice in Culver City. Little pockets of fried heaven, I tell you.

And then this soup appeared. Indian spiced french lentil soup with coconut milk dumped in at the end... Where do I sign?



It's Molly's recipe, though I did make a few additions of my own.

1. I added cumin. I'm sorry but no properly spiced lentil dish should go with cumin.

2. I added fresh chili peppers from my garden. Only two teensy ones which had the seeds and membranes scraped out. Warning: if you don't know how hot a particular pepper is, (no matter how tiny), do not throw a second in for good measure.

3. I added a bunch of chopped beet greens at the end.

And I garnished with a blob of greek yogurt (an attempt to cut the above-mentioned chili spice), fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of kaffir lime.



Also it should be noted that Molly was smart enough to skip the photo of the actual soup. It looks a little like sludge or something Shrek would eat in his swamp. But it is wholly delicious. And for next time, I'm thinking I might try red lentils instead? Or the unsplit small brown Indian variety. Just a thought.

weekend things

Finally made it to Intelligentsia in Venice. We're a little slow on the uptake. It's so modern and clean and you get your own barista who makes only your drinks when you order. And their pastries are not only edible, they're quite delicious.









Other than that, we laid low. Found these late season peaches at the market, which were pretty tasty though different from their juicy summer brothers.



I napped and read on the couch quite a bit and then puttered around in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon. I find Sundays to be good days to do fussy things like making stock and segmenting oranges and seeding pomegranates. Things you just don't want to tackle come dinner time during the week. And it made the house feel so cozy and fall-like. And then made me incredibly sad that we don't have a fireplace or dining room. A fireplace and dining room would certainly make all of our troubles disappear.

Stock for a few soups to try this week (so prepared!)





And salad parts for dinner at our neighbors' house on Sunday evening. (Hi Ruth and David!) Isn't that so communal and cute? We love our 'hood.



Now if it would only rain. The clouds have been looming, but I'm afraid they might blow over. Please rain please rain please rain.

because i might be tired of poached eggs...

Meet my new favorite... the fried egg grilled cheese sandwich.



For fall lunch with tomato soup? Yes, very good then. I'll take two.

It was such a pleasant lunch with the afternoon light coming through the kitchen window, and me flipping through Gourmet over a salty treat.

Maybe the photo is less appetizing than I intended... but you get the picture.

beauty product alert: Bare Escentuals

And this is coming from someone who is not at all a beauty product maven. The most recent cosmetic I got really excited about was my Nars lip gloss in Scandal, (still very excited about that BTW), which I discovered in January.

So last night when I unwrapped a bunch a new products from bare escentuals I was pretty curious. We did a really great giveaway with them on 100 Layer Cake and as a thank you, they sent us each a little care package of (it turns out) completely awesome, natural, non-paraben, non-sulfate products. I think I might be in love. And I swear on this blog that I am not saying this because they gave me free stuff.

For instance, take this lip gloss:



(The color is Lana and it's apparently only available at Sephora).

To. Die. For. It's perfect. It looks dark, but it's totally sheer and pretty much just makes your lips look a few shades darker than they would be naturally. The only downside is it's lip-plumping. Remember that craze like 4 or 5 years ago? Like topical collagen injections in the form of lip gloss? I had Lip Fusion and I thought it was awesome. For like 2 weeks. Anyway, this stuff doesn't feel the same, really more just minty and tingle-y, but it's worth it for the color.

AND their bare minerals powder is really nice. Like I think I might have found a new favorite product. I'm not forsaking Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, by any means. But this is a good addition to your pretty face arsenal.

That's it for Friday. Hope you all have a beautiful fall weekend.

our first baby thing

My mom's baby blanket. She found it in her cedar chest and handed it down to us last time we were in San Diego. It's a pretty bluey greeny color and was handmade by one of the women in her family... though we're not sure who. Her entire family was extremely crafty so it's impossible to guess.





We love it. Even though we have no place to put it yet. That's our project for January.

the squash

Item 5 on my weekend list, which I'm happy to report I knocked out with gusto. Harvest the squash. Pumpkins, butternut, some undetermined hybrid that somehow manages to pop up every year... there are many. More than this photo. The hybrid vine (always a volunteer) is still going strong so no need to pluck those beasts yet. And there's a petit french pumpkin still turning color on the vine that I decided to leave for a little while longer.



But, um, what am I going to do with all of these? It's kind of a serious problem. Our house doesn't have a cellar to store the fruits of our garden for the winter. It has a laundry room? But if I stashed the squash there, it would be hard to access the washer. I'm pondering options. In the meantime, they're waiting by the back door. And the orange ones need to get out of the sun stat because they start fading. I learned that the hard way last year.


In other orange news, look who else is coming in nicely on the other side of the yard.



Oh I love you persimmons. Maybe more than the figs. You are so versatile and delicious. And we missed nearly the entire season last year while we were in Australia.



Actually, I think I just love orange food. The squash, for example. I cannot wait to start roasting those. I have plenty of stand-by fall recipes in my head, (remember that divine minestrone from last year?), but I'm thinking I'll get things going with Molly's recipe for savory bread pudding from this month's Bon Appetit. Must make a test batch before Thanksgiving.

(side note: just when I've given up on renewing my subscription, they come out with a great issue and I'm drawn in again. Blast. November is good.)

things for the weekend

This week has been a wee bit tumultuous as far as work and things go and I'm so looking forward to the weekend to catch up with myself and clean and garden and bond with my space. Yes I'm weird and take unmentionable pleasure in tidying my house and then relaxing in it. Brock will be out of town so it's just me and the bump (or as my friend Nikki dubbed him/her, the sprout), and the chickens and my list of things to get done.



There's a much larger list of "things to accomplish before February" but that's another post altogether.

As for the weekend, here's the game plan:

1. Remove piles of craft supplies and fabric from the living room. Lug sewing machine back into it's hiding place in the guest room closet.

2. Package and mail 3 very important, very belated presents. I'm terrible with mail.

3. FINALLY unpack and clean vases/flower frogs from the wedding. Don't judge. They're sitting in boxes still. Must get them off the front porch.

4. Chicken coop. blaaah.

5. Harvest the family of pumpkins and hard squash lazing in the backyard sun. Time to clean up the garden. Though it's been so hot, it seems unwise to plant winter vegetables just yet.

6. This list is incredibly boring. But it's all I have for friday. And it will be so satisfying if I get everything done.