pasta extravaganza

Adam and I have been experimenting with homemade ravioli. We're in the process of nailing down the optimal squash for flavor, and the perfect techniques. Each batch also includes our own ricotta salata crafted from scratch. I make the filling, he preps the dough, and together we make a great team. I promise to share on a recipe as soon as we have everything perfected. In the mean time, I wanted to share some of the lovely snaps I've captured along the way. 

Oh, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

terrarium workshop with terrain

We have these awesome things at work called "Brown Bag Lunches." There is a different topic every week, and the idea is that, over lunch, you learn something new. When we got the newsletter that last week's would be terrarium workshop I b-lined for the signup. 

So, on Friday, Chelsi, Melissa, and I headed to the workshop with Terrain. They supplied us with drainage (gravel), air & water purification (charcoal), nutrient rich soil, plants, and fun decorating supplies. We each bought a vessel and got to work. 

My terrarium ended up as a succulent arrangement with purple flowers (not sure of the name), rocks, and moss. What I love about terrariums is that you can really just throw everything in, and there is little chance that it will look bad. There are only a few essential things you need to make the project a success.

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How to make a successful terrarium:

1. Your vessel should always start with drainage (gravel, pieces of glass), purification (activated charcoal), and good potting soil. You only need a thin layer of charcoal, do not over-do it!

2. Do not combine succulents & ferns. Succulents like drier climates while ferns enjoy a moister atmosphere. They will not be happy living in the same environment.

3. Do not over water! Your plants only need a misting about twice a week. 

4. Stick to the rule of odd numbers, build a terrarium with 1, 3, 5...plants according to your vessel size. 

5. Do not place your terrarium in a place with direct light. They prefer a location with indirect sunshine.

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Good luck with your terrarium building! I can't wait to put more together myself. 

the home of gisèle d’ailly van waterschoot van der gracht

Once in a while, you stumble across the source of a tare that you’ve loved for months…maybe even years. That happened to me with this very shoot. When I came upon it, I was surprised to see that the studio tare I’ve been in love with, comes from the home and work place of a 100 year old woman. I immediately decided that she had to be the coolest 100 year old that there is. Given, she has had the chance to acquire all of this awesome stuff over many years of living, but wow, what good taste.

It got me to thinking what I’ll be at her age. I can only hope to be so badass, to be able to look back at such an interesting life. I like to think that my circles of amazingly creative, beautiful, talented friends will one day be legendary the way her friends have become. Those are the things we all want right now, in our 20’s, but they are also the things that we just have to wait for. We’re all so anxious. Myself, I want the awesome collection of art, the Pinterest-worthy house, the realized dreams…I want them all right now. But I have to wait. Maybe I have to wait until I’m 100. They are the kinds of things that you work for all life-long. I hope that when I’m 100, I can say I’ve made it, just like Gisèle d’Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht (wow, that’s a name). I hope I live in a place just as beautiful, that my smile is as bright, and that my creativity is still flowing just as strong.

Sadly, I read that Gisèle died shortly after this shoot in her home. May you rest in peace, Gisèle. Be assured that there are still young ones like myself who draw inspiration from your life & the world that you lived in.

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Image Source

weekly scenes

I've been starting to feel, for the first time ever, like a consistently balanced person. Life just is, things just go, and it works. I feel good. 

Up until recently, I have to say, it's been something of a challenge. I'm a weird mix of a person. I like to dance to DJ's and love fashion, but on the other side, I'm practicing yoga and using my CSA to make foods from scratch. It's a strange dichotomy, but all of these people live inside me, and they all need to be expressed. When I'm not making time for a little of everything, I get out of balance. 

Recently, it's been coming naturally. After a few long years of mindfulness, listening to myself, and doing what feels right, things are starting to click. I mix it up and make every piece of me happy. Life feels pretty damn good because of it. 

current finds

Yesterday was a good shopping day. We had a huge sample sale at work and then my friends and I walked around center city Philadelphia for the afternoon. My favorite stop was Anthropologie who, I must say, is killing it with their holiday assortment. It was tough not to buy everything in the store, but I ended up with some gifts for for others and these fun wrapping supplies.I can't wait to wrap up some gifts now!   

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1. Vintage Jacket - Sample Sale

2. Jardin Blooms Wrapping Paper Book - Anthropologie

3. Etoile Velvet Ribbon - Anthropolgie

4. Ruffle Pillowcase - Sample Sale

bourgeois boheme

When I was in Paris, I learned a new phrase, "Bobo," short for, "Bourgeois Boheme." In other words, wealthy (bourgeois) people who look and act like the lower (boheme) class. Some people might look at it as a negative label, but I don't. There is nothing wrong with someone who has money not wanting to look or act like it. If they choose to forgo luxuries, follow a path of creative expression, and maybe something a bit more gritty, what's wrong with that? It's much less wasteful, much more romantic. And that's why I'm calling this one, "Bobo." To stick up for those that fight for a life of beauty and artistic pleasure without opulence. It's possible.

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Starring the beautiful ladies Jana Kirn & Chelsi Zollner

je t'aime paris

Oh Paris. What a dream of a city. Adam and I had such a good time there. We walked for hours each day, exploring gardens and and the beautiful architecture. We just kept going, wanting to see more because at every turn something else would take your breath away. It's much bigger than I had expected, and although full of French people, it is also a very international city. It's like New York's more beautiful older sister - international and cultural, but more grown up and refined. We ate well, of course. I will never forget the crepe we ate on arrival. It was like a giant, "welcome to Paris." We were so hungry, it was so big, so delicious, so perfect. But then again, isn't everything in Paris perfect? I think it just might be...

If—

BY RUDYARD KIPLING

(‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

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I just came across this poem by Rudyard Kipling. It's bursting with great advice. Posting it on this blog, so that I'll be sure to remember and revisit it. 

Hope everyone's Thursday is off to a great start.

Birthday Bouquet

How beautiful is this bouquet that my friend Ellen gave me for my birthday? She picked each flower herself, and then they tied it up with green wire and a piece of rosemary at the center. I've never seen an arrangement more simple and beautiful. I've been in love.

The perfection of this bouquet goes hand in hand with my birthday's entirety. I couldn't believe how many nice surprises everyone had for me. I'm truly lucky, probably too lucky.

Thank you everyone who made my birthday so amazing. I love each and every one of you!

what the woods have taught me

What the woods have taught me - check out the full post on Free People's BLDG 25 Blog today!