quotable...

a book about my future life...

i just pre-ordered this book (from amazon) after reading about it in elle magazine over the weekend. and once i finish reading it i'm going to follow this chicks lead and move out of the city to my very own farm; i'm so over city living. it's been a long time dream of mine to move to the country, i just haven't grown the balls yet to actually get up and do it... someday...


here's the description...

Single, thirty-something, working as a writer in New York City, Kristin Kimball was living life as an adventure. But she was beginning to feel a sense of longing for a family and for home. When she interviewed a dynamic young farmer, her world changed. Kristin knew nothing about growing vegetables, let alone raising pigs and cattle and driving horses. But on an impulse, smitten, if not yet in love, she shed her city self and moved to five hundred acres near Lake Champlain to start a new farm with him. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of their first year on Essex Farm, from the cold North Country winter through the following harvest season—complete with their wedding in the loft of the barn.

Kimball and her husband had a plan: to grow everything needed to feed a community. It was an ambitious idea, a bit romantic, and it worked. Every Friday evening, all year round, a hundred people travel to Essex Farm to pick up their weekly share of the "whole diet"—beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, herbs, fruits, and forty different vegetables—produced by the farm. The work is done by draft horses instead of tractors, and the fertility comes from compost. Kimball's vivid descriptions of landscape, food, cooking—and marriage—are irresistible.

"As much as you transform the land by farming," she writes, "farming transforms you." In her old life, Kimball would stay out until four a.m., wear heels, and carry a handbag. Now she wakes up at four, wears Carhartts, and carries a pocket knife. At Essex Farm, she discovers the wrenching pleasures of physical work, learns that good food is at the center of a good life, falls deeply in love, and finally finds the engagement and commitment she craved in the form of a man, a small town, and a beautiful piece of land

there's something about this...

there's something about this song that brings me nearly to tears, it's hard to explain... maybe it's the place i currently find myself lost in today, a total fucking mess to be honest.

i made this slide show of my photos from my trip to scandinavia in 2007 and set it to jonae's 'the gloaming'...it just seemed fitting...

change...

gretchen from the happiness project said it perfectly...

meeting chase...

on friday after work my friend kerry and i headed down to harwich (on the cape) to visit a friend from college and her growing family. meet chase, possibly the most handsome baby i've met to date...


kerry and i couldn't stop holding him and breathing him in...and asking his parents a million questions...and schemeing on how we could fit him into our handbag to bring back to boston with us. we told him lots of crazy stories about his mommy from college too, he will most certainly be going to hobart if auntie blair & auntie kerry have anything to do with it...


the happy family...


next time we go back i promise i'll take photos of their incredible new house they purchased, it's stunning!

brooke sent me photo this morning of chase in the new outfit i bought him from bird by bird. buying baby clothes is way more fun than buying clothes for yourself i think. when i retire i might take a part time job in a baby clothing boutique just because it's such a feel good kind of place...

playing in my head...

currently reading...

this book was reccommended to me by my co-worker (she totally knows the books i will love). it's another one of those books you can't put down. it's a true story based off the diaries of the warsaw, poland zookeepers wife, antonina zobinski, who helped save hundreds of people from nazi hands during world war II...her love for humanity and animals alike is enough to make your heart swell...

kale krispers..

i am by no means a good cook, but my downstairs neighbor told me about this healthy little snack she makes for herself with kale. kale is a hard leafy green to cook with because it's much tougher than collard greens or spinach...but...it's packed with vitamin a, c, k and magnesium, calcium and iron...and...it has no cholesterol. so i decided to try this little recipe...

1. a bunch of kale, washed, and ripped away from it's hard stem that runs up the middle.
2. place large ripped pieces into a large plastic bag and pour a tablespoon (or as much as you like) of extra virgin olive oil along with a minced clove of garlic (or i think you can use garlic powder/salt if you want). shake well to make sure each leaf is well oiled.
3. place each piece on a baking sheet, spread out from one another. roast on 375 for about 5 minutes. then flip and roast for another 5-7 minutes. they shrink, a lot!
4. remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with a little salt & pepper for taste

viola...kale krispers... a tasty, healthy snack... ok, so the picture is not as appetizing as they really are (and make a lot because they don't totally fill you up!)...

i need this...

does your dog constantly rub up against your upholstered furniture like my little monsters do? instead of paying someone repeatedly to come clean my furniture is it pathetic that i totally want to buy myself one of these? i'm kind of a nerd like that... in college i used to ask my parents for things like vacuum cleaners and food processors while my sister was asking for the latest fashion apparel. so i'm a little dorky, at least i'm a dork with clean furniture...

guess what?...

i won the chan luu bracelet from elements of style's giveaway!!! aside from the fact that i never win anything, i was having a pretty bumm morning at work....and then i get this email from erin (whom i'm mildly in love with- in a strictly platonic, i love her work, i love her style, kind of way) saying i won! it's amazing how quickly your day can turn. thank you, thank you, thank you erin!

take your time building your home...

the first thing i tell clients/friends/family when they move into their new home is don't try to do everything at once...take your time...live in the space for a while...collect things along the way in your travels. this is a way to ensure that the house feels like a home rather than an overdone show piece.

so when i read the elle decor interview with denver's interior designer, mikhail dantes of d&d interiors, i was thrilled to hear that it took him nearly 4 years to plan his home! and what a home it is. the simplicity of the black & white color scheme, the minimal furniture, the expansive ceilings, the endless light streaming in...now this is a home i could get used to...

2011 is only a few months away...

so like i was saying...on our recent overnight to portland the boyfriend bought me this great woodblock print calendar by blue butterfield. looking forward to 2011 to hang it on the wall, such gorgeous illustrations...

designer toothbrush

in case you're looking for a new way to waste money at your local pharmacy, check out the new reach by design 'designer' toothbrushes. no, they won't make your teeth whiter, but you're sure look cool brushing them now! i'll be stopping by walgreens to pick up my new one this week...

a night away does a couple good...

the boyfriend and i escaped for the night up to portland, maine. it's one of my all time favorite cities and we were looking forward to a quick trip away from home, work and the dogs, hoping to catch a glimpse of the changing leaves...


on the way up we stopped at the kittery outlets where i of course did a lot of damage and the j.crew outlet store to stock up on some fall items and the boyfriend bought a nice new pair of black boots for the fall/winter too...


we stayed in a great waterfront room (i splurged) at the hilton garden in portland downtown waterfront, the perfect spot if you're staying in portland, within walking distance of everything...


the boyfriend did a quick once around town with me, then i left him at gritty's brew pub for a few pints while i hit up some stores...


randomly i picked up a great new bohemian gray duvet cover & pillow sham from a local 'head shop', mexicali blues. the boyfriend loves how soft it is and so do i, can't wait to put it on my bed! then i popped into waterlily imports and picked up a handmade birthday gift for a friend who's birthday is coming up at the end of the month. i always like to stop in maxwell's pottery outlet too to do a little early christmas shopping for our families and the boyfriend bought me a nice block print 2011 calendar from there also (i'll post about it later, it's so beautiful). i'll probably definitely be coming back up in october/november to do some more holiday shopping with my girlfriends...


the best part of the trip were the cocktails we had at vignola and then the delicious meal we had at my all time favorite locavore spot, fore street grill. it was really special for me to share these places with the boyfriend, we enjoyed good food, good drinks and good conversation...



it was a beautiful, cool fall evening and on the walk home from dinner we overheard some live bluegrass music being played outside of amigos, so we popped in and listened to dark hollow bottling company for a few hours, we even bought their cd to remember the night by. it was the perfect ending to a perfect day...

the perfect wedding...

yet again, another bride & groom i don't know, yet i am absolutely, totally, 100% in love with their wedding & all the little details. amanda from orchard cove photography (one of my favorite wedding photographers/ dog lovers) captured this day perfectly. i think what i love most about their wedding is how small & intimate it is, definitely the way i'd go if it were my own day. by the way, any couple that includes their fur-baby in their big day is alright by me too...don't they look like such a fun couple?...

dear david yurman...

dear david yurman, oh how i love you, and your rings, and pretty much all of your jewelry. i wear 2 rings of yours daily on my little fingers and they have made me happy every day for a few years now when i look down at my hands. i feel naked when they are not on my fingers. however, i would like to upgrade to one of these soon...do you think i could convince the boyfriend to splurge on me?...


and maybe a few of these bracelets for good measure...