love: new tunes tuesday: kat edmonson
| i have decided to institute a new tradition here at cook•craft•read•love!
new tunes tuesday! i function best with some structure- and i have so much beautiful music to share, so! da-da-da dum! without any further ado, some lovely new jazz from the beautiful kat edmonson on this beautiful spring tuesday. |
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| i heard kat at the end of an episode of the united states of tara, (which is amazing!) and her song lucky caught my ear immediately.
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craft: diy business cards, care of design*sponge and my first giveaway!
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| awhile back, i found this diy project on design*sponge, and was immediately smitten!
i also wear many hats, and have been needing to print up some new cards, but i recently discovered several boxes of sad unused business cards from past jobs, with out of date contact info. (Any project ideas to use these?? i have been on the hunt for a project to make use of these beautiful pieces of thick cardstock! please share any ideas! thank you in advance.) at first i considered printing some mini cards from moo- because they are so darn cute and really reasonable! (i still might.) but all in all, the design*sponge project seemed like the perfect solution to avoid adding to my collection, while retaining the cute factor:)
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cook: brown rice risotto with garlicky greens
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| oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day!
i’m having one of those days. where anything seems possible. fully inspired and ready to go. today is beautiful. today is perfect. today is the day i get to tell you about lots of things i love. things like beautiful greens from the farmer’s market. loads of garlic and quick & tasty (and healthy!!) daytime meals. perfect for a gorgeous spring day like today! |
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| nearly every monday, i meander down the street to the west hollywood farmer’s market. it’s considerably smaller than the one in hollywood on sundays.
but i prefer it for several reasons: 1. i can walk there. (seems a little silly, but parking in hollywood, especially on sundays during the farmer’s market, takes forever and gets me in a bad mood!!)
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love: a fresh wave of inspiration
i have been seriously slacking in my blogging here.
almost everyday, i start a new entry, and then proceed to get distracted, or rather inspired to work on one of the many other projects filling up my plate at the moment. since i believe that the best results are achieved through creating while inspired, i try to listen to that little voice inside that nudges me to jump from project to project. sometimes, the outcome is beautiful & inspired (and completed!) but sometimes this methodology leads to many things unfinished:) whatever the result, this is my process, and i try to stick to it, because i have found that forced or rushed creative endeavors rarely turn out as they should.
last week I wrote my “blog it forward what inspires me most” entry- and it absolutely inspired me to get back to business! thank you again to victoria of sfgirlbybay who organized that amazing project!
a few things in the works:
the cook•craft•read•love etsy store!
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love: what inspires me personally•blog it forward
the day has arrived!! it is my turn to write about “what inspires me personally” in the incredible “blog it forward” mashup, hosted by the ever gracious Victoria of sfgirlbybay. thank you so much for putting together this beautiful, eclectic group of bloggers.
thank you to come blow bubbles for their lovely intro and post yesterday, (beautiful beautiful photos!!) and please check out the incredible & inspiring coquette & dove, (fabulous taste in clothes. i want everything she blogs about.) who will be posting tomorrow in the mashup! also for some added inspiration, also writing in the mashup today are: bella vita, one pearl button, redesign technologies, fashion foie gras, storyboard c, june crafts, the san franista, melissa loves & wiley valentine.
i have been thinking a lot about what i was going to write today. i have been reading what inspires the other participants in this mashup, and it has definitely pushed me to think about what really opens me up to inspiration- now i could give a list of all the things that make me happy, like taking pictures, making music, traveling, cooking, ect. and all these things do make me happy, and do inspire in a way, but what i really wanted to ponder here, is what helps me reconnect to myself and inspiration, when i feel off.
because lately i’ve felt off.
i have felt uninspired.
so how to return to that “aha!” moment?
i suppose there must be a list coming after all:)
being outside.
there is something so magical for me about being outside. feeling connected to nature, even in the middle of los angeles, even if it is just sitting next to the plants on our patio, helps me reconnect to my purpose in this life, and my passion. the way plants grow and evolve constantly, is so beautiful & inspiring. everyday is an opportunity to grow and reinvent myself. try something new. there are no limits.
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love: mumford and sons
| mumford and sons: a gift last week from the MPR (minnesota public radio) daily song podcast… |
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| simple, heartfelt, beautiful and honest music. |
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| also, i am absolutely loving their design aesthetic. beautiful and original. |
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| Sigh No More |
love: a walk with caprice
| a walk with caprice through our beautiful and always inspiring neighborhood. |
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love: blog it forward
this month, i will be participating in a wonderful event
all the bloggers participating, (300 i believe) will be assigned a post date, and on that day, they will post an entry on the subject of “what inspires me most”-in that post they will link to the next blogger on the list, who will post the next day, and link to the next blogger in their post and so on and on and on:)
the event is being hosted by the lovely and inspiring
thank you victoria!
i’m already hard at work drawing out all that inspires me. which has been really fun. here’s what i have so far…
cook: fresh gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms & herby pesto
i had to rewrite this entry title three times.
1. cook: creamy herby pesto gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms.
2. cook: fresh gnocchi with herby almond pesto and mushrooms.
3. fresh gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms & herby pesto.
ahh. still not quite right but i have to move on and get to this recipe because honestly, i have never been oh so satisfied (in the kitchen;) by something so easy peasy to make.
when i was about 15, my best friend’s sister nievska, came home from a trip to italy, and wanted to make gnocchi.
now i don’t remember much about how it tasted, but what i do remember is that they were all falling apart while we were boiling them, and it was a rather frustrating, and unfruitful endeavor.
in the ten years since, i have seen many recipes, in many cookbooks, for gnocchi and i’ve always wanted to try it! but somehow, this adolescent experience absolutely skewed my perception of the difficulty of gnocchi making. now i’ve had the seriously inferior shrink wrapped version from trader joe’s, but i rarely eat that because it really doesn’t taste anywhere near good enough to make up for all its carby-starchy-i-need-to-run-twice-as-long-to-work-this-meal-off-ness.