candied ginger. redux

my candied ginger experiments have had quite the learning curve.  from little bitty discs to successfully non-molding strips.  this time i did giant chunks.  trade offs - least amount of work, most amount of cooking time, well worth it

christmas day!

apparently my camera does some funky stuff.  like phone filters.  only better quality

work xmas partay

see?  office sparkles.  i convinced some of the other ladies to wear sequins as well.  holiday style success!

liz's laundry

i was gonna apologize for not posting in awhile.  then i thought... i dont owe you nuffin.  but happy holidays!!  here is the end of my december red and green streak and the first outfit was for our holiday party.  i told my office i would be wearing sparkles.  they didnt believe me.

• top, skirt, scarf, tights: target
• sweater: h&m
• bracelets: god knows where
• giant sparkle hippo ring: forever 21

frank interlude

wheresakitty?

liz's laundry

• vest: macys
• turtleneck: uniqlo heattech
• skirt: f21
• necklace: ny&co
• tights: target

goodwill in an hour

and i didnt even intend to be more than 10 minutes.  but there were so many good things.  and then i had all these crafty ideas.  we'll see of any of them actually come to fruition...

oh so retro floral dress - to leave as is or to make into a skirt, a khaki colored polyester man's shirt - to become a snood-type scarf, a purple silk paisley shirt - as yet unknown intentions, silk zebra shirt and magenta j crew dress - both ready to wear

flatbread and cookies

i know my abcs.  they stand for arugula bacon chili flatbread.  a-mazing.  and why chili instead of tomato sauce?  cos i didnt have any.  and i was too lazy to boil down a can of tomatoes.  and i had some chili in the fridge.  get off my back.  youre just jealous.

sparkle paint and the headache

so you wanna spend too much money on glitter spray paint?  do it.  its frikkin awesome.  be sure to heed the "use in a well ventilated area" warning.  and if you already have a migraine...  wait until tomorrow.

i bought a ridiculous number of animal "toob" sets including, aquatic life, wild/safari, horses aka stallions, and dinosaurs.  i already had the silver paint from a previous project, and had bought the little tubes of acrylic paint for future projects with freezer paper.  those may still happen but dont hold your breath.  but sparkle spray paint.  oh my god people.  it is "intense shimmer finish" all right.  it also is so aerosolized, it blows glitter fucking everywhere.  i cleaned glitter off the wall, all my dishes, the stove, the side of the cabinets, and the floor.  but i digress.

s[nooooo]w

and i suppose it is about time.  i am in maine after all.  and its december.  le sigh.  but look how clear the pics are!  swanky camera and all.  thats no flash, automatic settings.  too cold to futz around with anything else.  even frank popped his head out the door and then went running back to the couch

xmas decor

its not much.  but as i mentioned before...teeny tiny apartment.

pickled kitty

i feel i should start this post by mentioning two things: my apartment is 515 square feet.  also please note one of the labels of this post is "tmi".

the space issue makes for difficulty storing things i accumulated over 3 years of living in a house.  so when i get out my ginormous pot to process jars of delicious snacks, i have to move a bunch of baking tins and a cupcake tree.  frank finds this process fascinating and i feared my cupcake holder might meet its inevitable doom.

frank sniffed for awhile and then settled down next to it instead of testing his favorite part of physics - gravity.

liz's laundry

• ridiculous fur collar: h&m [$7 clearance!]
• top: thrifted
• skirt: jc penney
• tights and socks: target
• necklace: unknown
• curious crosseyed kitty: hell

2 hour apron

thrifted shirt and a ridiculous amount of incredibly twee and slightly creepy fabric

frank interlude

zomg.  cow mouth?

more pickles!

dilly beans!!!!!  so excited.  but now i have to wait 2 weeks for them to "cure".  waah.

saturday farmer's market

no real need for explanations.  indoor winter market.  admire the colorful veggies and stuff.

liz's laundry

december outfits - red and/or green every single day.  it took me maybe an hour to assemble these outfits [more than enough for the 18 days i work this month] and ... it amazingly allows me to wake up at 7:45, a full hour past my alarm, and still make it to work at 8:10.  epic.

frank interlude

look at the little turd's adorable fluffy face.  could you get mad at it sleeping/shedding on your pillow eeeevery single day?  this was totally frank circa 2007

homage to my belt

earlier this eve when i knelt [aka fell]
i could have sworn that i felt
an ever slight loosening in my belt
a clear plastic strip that doth svelte

i nearly could burn or glue or melt
the broken bit into a welt [on my finger..]
oh this tragic tale life hath dealt
once more into the veldt

thank god for amazon prime.

calendar boxes

not boxes for calendars.  dear god i hope no one has need for boxes to store calendars.  put that shit in the recycling bin.  or if youre a hoarder like me... find calendar pages on your desk in dec 2012 from a 2011 calendar.  yup.  jeez.

but rather, these are boxes made from square calendar pages.  you know the kind - overpriced [or bought in february for 90% off] oversized calendars with the brightly printed slightly heavy cardstock with matte pages.  tutorial below shameless copied from how about orange but with some additional steps for clarification.  or further confusion.

thanxmas

*edit - i changed the title from thanksxmas to thanxmas.  cant believe i didnt come up with that before.  jeez.

le table

liz's laundry

• top, sweater, belts: h&m
• pants: jc penney
• shoes: dsw
• necklaces: target and ae

liz's laundry

• skull scarf & tights: target
• dress: thrifted and shortened
• frilly socks: sockdreams
• heels: kenneth cole outlet
• belt: ny&co

thank you

thank you for 45,000 page hits!  [as of ...a few weeks ago]  thank you for bearing with me through this ridiculous journey through my ever derailing train of thought.  thank you for the few comments i get that remind me people actually read this thing.  thank you to other bloggers that inspire me to try new outfits, foods, sewing projects.

frank interlude

disgruntled cat is disgruntled

roasty toasty veges

i was feeling hungry and lazy.  which is different than hungry and angry = hangry.

i halved some baby potatoes, trimmed some beans, and halved and cored red peppers; dumped them on a pan under the broiler for 10 minutes, turned off the oven, and watched an episode of my newest favorite cop show life.  previous favorite cop shows include the good guys and the unusuals.  theyre all on netflix but unfortunately in their entirety.  2 seasons of life but 1 season of the other two.  pretty sure netflix categorization will come up with "quirky cancelled cop shows" for me to accompany my "violent supernatural action & adventure" "campy sci-fi & fantasy" and "critically acclaimed foreign gangster movies"

but i digress.

 perfectly roasted and just slightly steamed

salvation army

some things are inevitable.  like my car will need hundreds or thousands of dollars of work every year.  whether it be brakes, tires, rotors, or ahem.  a new windshield.  whatever.  thats what budgeting is for right?  what was not inevitable...but more fate perhaps is that the car place was less than 3 blocks from both salvation army and goodwill.  [un]fortunately my car took less than the 2 hours schedule for new brakes and rotors [and $600 less than it cost me the last 2x in ny] so i only went to the sa. 

tacky turquoise silk shirt, tacky paisley polyester shirt, oversized furry vest, reversible [!!!] rain jacket, brown sweater that i have been searching for ... for months.

liz's laundry

now new and improved!  clear pictures!  good lighting!  semi-organized collages!  exclamation points!

• sweater: macys
• scarf: target
• tank: jc penneys
• skirt: thrifted
• leggings: charlotte russe
• necklace: random shop in long island
• earrings: kohls

pickles!

...okra?  that slimy ish you find in southern or indian food?

birthday weekend!

thursday was my 27th birthday!  late 20's have begun with... an early snowfall, walking to work in a mini-hail storm, and ridiculous deluge of 33 degree rain.  oh weather.

regardless, close friends braved the flooding to celebrate tacos and margaritas with me!

newly discovered picasa collage function.  like a phone app.  only better

pumpkin gingerbread cranberry cupcakes

pan prep

mixer action shots

liz's laundry

• blazer: thrifted
• dress: target
• leggings: uniqlo heattech

new camera!

kitty glamour shot brought to you by my new birthday canon!

random snacks

 

since my trainer [i have a personal drill sergeant..] told me to eat more protein and drink more water... ive been quasi-successfully accomplishing one of those tasks.  one night i made a ground pork spinach curry with israeli couscous. 

fun.

halloween night was spent at the state theater for the fun. concert.  amazing live band and in true guy fashion...they all dressed like women.  more specifically, the cast of friends.  complete with a couch and the central perk sign mounted on the drum set. 

opening band was miniature tigers.  now because i apparently have ADD at concerts and i tend to ignore when the singer says actual words... i was confused by the band name.  at first i heard "imagine dragons" who was in concert a few months ago.  then i heard "bitchin tires".  the third time they said their name [..at the end of the set] i finally figured out it was tiny feral felines. 

liz's laundry

• shirt: gap
• dress: macys
• jeggings: target
• scarf: amazon

liz's laundry

• shirt: thrifted
• fox pin: shop of wordly delights
• necklace: random shop downtown
• shorts: glassons
• tights: target

pumpkinhead spice cake

made for a coworker's birthday.  we joke that he turned 60.  grumbly old man.  but in reality ...he's probably mid 40s?  maybe?  he has a 5 year old daughter but that really means he could be anywhere from 20 to 80.  soooo yea.  but pumpkinhead cake. 

amazing.

and spicy.  aside from the usual cloves, cinnamon, and ginger, i added just a tidbit of chipotle powder.  and you can juuuuuust taste a hint of it.  best idea ever.

and frankly, the frosting didnt look that good when i stuffed the cake in my overflowing fridge last night.  i couldnt wait for the cake layers to fully cool cos it was already after 11 and i was exhausted..so it got a little melty on the sides.  fortunately the butter ratio was such that i could scoop the excess frosting up off the cake carrier this morning and smoosh it back onto the sides.  and no one was the wiser.  but now you know.  ...

big news!

i took back recycling and am not living like a college boy any more! 

...not really amazing news.  but umm it took me about 4 weeks to do.  and 3 trips to my car with all that crap.  but thank god the place i take my recycling [unfortunately not in my apartment complex] has single stream.  no presorting.  and the bottle returnable has a keycard swipe-in so i dont have to wait in line or deal with people.  hahha yuss.  adulthood.  aka hermitude.

sins part 2: sloth, gluttony, and extreme wrath

nothing quite says fall in maine like pea-soup-thick fog.  no kitty feet though.  sigh.  but sweatpants and soup.  mmm lazy.

frank interlude

the poor little fluffy is exhausted from sleeping all day.  and something about little kitty jelly bean toes makes me want to poke sleeping kitty.  never a great idea.

liz's laundry

• blazer: thrifted
• patterned top: target
• brown tank top: h&m
• pants: macys
• shoes: kenneth cole outlet

herb replanting

due to impending frost, i replanted my herb window/porch box.  so far so good.  its not dead overnight.  brilliant!  give it ..oh maybe a week.

oregano and rosemary in my former spider plant hanging pot

i added sage to my pot of random stuff in the bathroom.. hopefully it wont rot like the fern it replaced.  i cant quite get the timing right with moisture-retention soil and plants suffer. 

and in case you were wondering [probably not] the basil was just a bit too far gone so it now resides in the freezer.