off to pack

we're heading back to indiana tonight on a red eye to pack up our lives and have it shipped out to us in cali. i will be immersed in boxes and won't have time to blog, so i'm leaving you with some announcements i did the other week for a friend of mine. we told his little story on the back. to our friends/family in indiana - we'll see you soon! i'm bringing my new diana camera so expect some good images next week.

to buy or not to buy

i saw this great article in the NY times about which kitchen essentials are worth the extra money, and which ones you can save on. read the full article. it has great tips, like this:

Whole vanilla beans

Imitation vanilla extract should come with a government warning label: You have no idea what you're missing. Even extract made from real vanilla has nothing on the beans themselves. Scrape the seeds into sauces and doughs, steep the husks in vats of crème anglaise for ice cream. You can reuse the beans too. After they're dried, bury them in your sugar bowl for homemade vanilla sugar. Yeah, they're expensive ($1 to $2 for a single Madagascar bean), but when you want the flavor to shine through, they're worth it.--A.S.

any thoughts? i have yet to switch to vanilla beans because of the cost, and i've been trying to decide if i should get a dutch oven when i already have a slow cooker - are they that different? this article is telling me yes..

ilove

i heart my new iphone. it's pretty. it's easy to use. it has a calendar to keep me organized (virgo - it's necessary). there are lots of application options, a lot of them free. it's an ipod. i can watch tv/videos. it checks email. it shows me the weather. it showcases my photography. i waited awhile for these to run through the first few and fix all the kinks. if you've been on the fence, get it. if you have one, you already know how i feel.

coffee table

i found this image on the flickr stream from a magazine in canada. i really dig the coffee table and no amount of googling can track it down. so j is going to help me make it. it will bring the feel of the beach/nature to our apt as we fill it w/rocks and shells (we already have a pile started) and display them under a glass top. the rocks will keep it weighed down. we'll get the metal (either silver or black) and then have it welded so there are no sharp point sticking out when visitors come over. a little modern, a little eclectic. anyone have any ideas of what else we can place in there? old b&w family photos perhaps?

super excited for plastic

i finally went and bought the diana camera w/my birthday money! we went 3rd Street Promenade over toward the beach on friday night and stopped by urban outfitters where i picked out the white & black version of the camera and also added the 35 mm backing so film can be cheaper when necessary. i can't wait to try it out - i'm going to grab some film tonight and take it to to the farmer's market tomorrow after work. for those of you that don't know, it's a plastic camera that can take medium format and now 35 mm. film. it has light leaks, can be a pinhole, can be way too saturated, and everything else that i'm excited for. j said, why do you want a camera that you can't control? my reasoning is that it's nice for once to just see what happens. it looks older. more seasoned. grainy in b&w's. love it. we ate dinner at a crepe place and if you haven't been to one, you need to track one down. ham, fancy cheese, spinach & tomatoes in a crepe? yum. lemon & sugar in a crepe? divine. one of my hands down favorite ways to make a crepe.

sorry

for the lack of posts. i sorta have possible new job starting - it hasn't been decided for sure, but i'm going in every day for the next two weeks at least, and have been doing my freelance in the evenings. i need to work hard so they can offer me good money and then we can not be so broke and maybe save up for one of those house things people have. i'll be back soon. i did get asked about a wedding to shoot in march in one of my favorite areas, Healdsburg, CA (gorgeous), so that's happy news for the day.

santa barbara

we went to the beach after j's meeting. these were down below the pier walkway. nobody was guarding them, but there was some money in the blankets. pretty creative i think.

upcoming move

1. the benders got approval on our new apt in marina del rey!
2. we will be in muncie packing stuff into a truck oct. 23-26th (j finishes school next fall)
3. we will need some help loading up the truck on sat. in exchange for good food
4. if you don't want to lift things, please bring a large sign that says 'apt for rent' that you can hold while mingling outside. shaking this to music will earn you extra dessert.
5. we're selling items if people are interested: large tv, shelves, a few chairs, rug, microwave, queen matt/box. & the grill after we use it to feed you
6. we still need someone to rent the place, so spread the word please!
7. we're giving away food that we can't ship on a first come first serve basis. this includes luxury items like...ketchup & mustard.
8. anyone is more than welcome to visit after we move out of our los angeles box.

when will it sit right

my brother rick posted this quote on his blog:

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it."

~ Steve Jobs

r & i are doing the same thing right now. trying to figure out what to do. what fits us. what void we can fill in this world that makes us successful and happy, satisfied, and proud. and at the same time having to find something that pays the bills and supports our families. i battle with this on a weekly basis. when times are good i love my job and the field i've chosen. but when it's bad, i doubt. sometime i think i am too many things, that if i were one it would be more successful. but i'm afraid to put it all into one in case that one fails. if i could just choose to do what would make me happy, i know what i would do. but the truth is, bills need to be paid. we need to pay rent. we need to eat. sometimes, i want to shop at anthropologie, even if it is the sale racks. so where does it come from? that thing that says in your heart...this is it. this is your calling. and i'm not talking about motherhood. that will come when it comes. this is separate. this is it's own.

tomorrow

we're heading to santa barbara tomorrow. jan's meeting w/a former marine who does hd video work underwater and all over the world for national geographic, etc. any ideas of what to do after the meeting?

mirimar air show

For those of you in the LA area, there's a big air show going on this weekend down toward San Diego.

grey's anatomy

she came into work today with her husband. i didn't say that i loved her show. but i wanted to.

pretty things for free

nubby twiglet has a free calendar you can download each month for free right here. each month a new one pops up. the designs are so pretty and they have quotes on the opposite page like "everyday is an arrival."

tree photography

sorry for the lack in posting. we went w/nicole & travis to his parents lake house last wkend and i've been sick since we got back. on top of that i'm helping a new firm w/a big presentation and i need to do well on it so they hire me for the future! i was browsing around and stumbled upon lens culture editions. Myong Ho Lee is a korean photographer who does something different and really cool. Backdrops behind trees. If they weren't $500/print, I would pick one up. I would really like to try this sometime. isn't the one w/the hot air umbrellas in the background beautiful?

sock animals

I made some sock animals for the twins from the book Sock and Glove. A sheep for Azalea & a zebra for Clive. They were supposed to be done before they came home...then when they came home..and then I finally just finished them up when we went to meet them! My favorite part about the zebra is that because of the way I used the sock, he's always smiling. Well, that and the rad mohwak. I think they like them! thanks H for the photos.

jujubees

The other day Noz & I went to the big Korean market in Koreatown and saw Jujubes, fresh ones. We had no idea what to do w/them, until I remembered that they come dried in one of my favorite korean dishes. They are like dates. Apartment Therapy, the Kitchn, recently posted an article about fresh ones and now I think we'll have to go back and try them out. If you don't have fresh ones nearby, you can help me on the hunt to find the best recipe to make korean yaksik. You won't regret it. Brown sugary sticky rice with dried jujubes, pine nuts and chestnuts. (i usually pull out the chestnuts for mom)
2nd photo via flickr

picnic pics

the picnic was a success. perfect day, great food, our friends, and j's game of pin the cherry on julia's ice cream and naming 3 reasons why people like me and 1 reason why they came. they turned out pretty funny. i hung string and used clothespins to hang chinese take-out boxes to mark our spot and emphasise our world theme. thanks everyone for coming to celebrate and for all your great dishes! photos via the husband.

turkey lasagna

had this at holly's the other weekend and it was really, really good. i love the addition of goat cheese to the ricotta. it's from the barefoot contessa, whom i love. she has such great family style recipes.

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 pound lasagna noodles 15 ounces ricotta cheese 3 to 4 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled 1 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten 1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside. Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one third of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

can't stop the birthday

the korean dinner had to be rescheuled because too many friends were out of town. j & i revised it to a picnic, this sat. at noon with a world theme - everyone brings a dish from their heritage/nationality! i'll be mixing up some korean chicken, we have japanese, swedish, italian, philippino and german coming. we'll sit on blankets on the grass under trees at a local park under a string of chinese take-out boxes. play a game or two, throw a football and relax eating sweet birthday treats. sounds like a lovely saturday. anyone know of a fun adult game we can play? i'm thinking pin the something on the something. j suggested pin the wives on the mormon. or pin the yamaka on the jew. i'm aiming for something a little less disrespecful, haha. photo via

anti-theft lunch bags

whoever came up with this idea is hilarious.

"Stealing your co-worker's lunch is a downright contemptible act, that is, if it's perpetrated by someone other than you. But, if you've ever had your lunch stolen, you know the the frustration and anger it causes. You know the revenge and ill-will it inspires. And you know that no matter how well you try to hide your lunch bag at the back of the refrigerator, something's gonna be missing when you open it. Well, lament no more. The Anti-Theft Lunch Bag to the rescue . . ."

Green splotches are printed on both sides, so once inside, nobody will dare sneak a bit w/o envisioning a sick day ahead.. (seen here)