clay to crumble

on this day in 2008: 

hot and sunny and making clay at First Friday in June!

on this day in 2009:

cold and rainy, made a frittata out of an emu egg (yielded the equivalent of 10 hen eggs!)

and a strawberry rhubarb crumble with pistachio and peanut butter ice cream for dessert.

and I got to share it with my favorite lad!!

Umbrella Today?

not sure whether you and your sister should wear your umbrella hats today?

a text message sent to your phone in the morning to let you know if you need your umbrella can help with such quandries.  

never be unprepared again!

neat beets!

it turn(ips) out, unemployment yields fresh opportunities!

I am now a weekly volunteer at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market.

we carry goods from over 90 local farms and artisans in the Southeast PA region!

even special products sometimes like emu eggs.

I bought one and will cook with it this week!

cat's out of the bag!

remember when I had that post about feeding a neighbor's fish? 

they were this guy's fish:

and i'm smitten. there's no otter person quite like him!

recession proof exfoliation!

this exfoliating body polish is at Sephora for $65:

through the course of this economic downturn, many will continue buying things like body scrubs (jars of pre-mixed sugar, lemon juice and oil) for $65.  Some will pay $8 at CVS for something comprable.  

I am here today, my fellow Americans, to ask you to continue to exfoliate despite the recession.  

And to exfoliate your feet especially since summer is upon us.  

And to exfoliate on a budget--with no excess packaging.  Go to your kitchen and concoct your own scrub from lemon juice and sugar (and maybe some olive oil) and proceed to your bathroom and scrub!  Scrub hard!  Your next interview will only go as smoothly as the soles of your feet!

And save your hard earned dollars for something better.

Someting more useful.

Like 

or, perhaps

 

7/11/09: 2 MONTH COUNTDOWN!

exactly two months until:

(butterscotch krimpets being thrown over the walls of the Eastern State Penitentiary in an epic re-enactment of the French Revolution followed by a party on Fairmount Avenue!)

BASTILLE DAY!!!! 2 PM! July 11th, 2009!  Be there or be-headed!

Mark your calendar!

this weather

is best enjoyed with a cup of earl grey and this pouring into your ears.

laid off and laying down the alfalfa!

I always wanted to grow and eat my own alfalfa.  

But I couldn't.  Until now! 

'Cause you have to rinse them like 3 times a day to get them happy and sprouty and you can't really do that reasonably when you work.

But now I rinse them 3, 4, even 5 times a day and I am going to eat them soon!

Oh good!

maybe i'll work at scatland

canned!

today.  i was.  

shoot.

for the birds...

my mom and I arrived to miami to find that my dad (who was here for a week already) had done some grocery shopping and purchased this product:

I asked my dad to put on his glasses and showed him the label on the back with these ingredients:

Whole wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, salt, molasses, yeast, mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium iodate, calcium dioxide) (is this like pantene pro-v for bread so healthy it shines?), datem, calcium sulfate, vinegar, yeast nutrient (ammonium sulfate), extracts of malted barley and corn, dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, calcium propionate .

He was pretty repulsed so we decided to feed the rest of the package to the seagulls on the beach the next day.

it was so fun!

we all scream for sunscreen...

remember this? i just thought of how maybe this time in miami i'll take his advice.

what do you get....

if you cross a chemical and a bicycle?

BIKE CARBONATE OF SODA.

Which Elizabethan Sailor could stop bikes?

SIR FRANCIS BRAKES!

Your reaction to those jokes--whether you rolled your eyes or laughed so hard you snarfed -- is because your brain is functioning properly. To continue operating as the incredible human being you are (with so many people that love you dearly), I IMPLORE you to wear a helmet while biking to protect your fragile brains.

stop thinking your hairdo is more imporant than your brain-do.

stop saying, "but I bike carefully" because accidents happen.

and I promise you won't develop an underbite from wearing a helmet.  pick a cool one!

WEAR A HELMET.  IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.

earthday

“I am sorry” sighed the tree. “I wish that I could give you something…  but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry…”

–”I don’t need very much now” said the boy. “just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired”

 –“Well” said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, “well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down…and rest.”

 

And the tree was happy...

roof access for lunch...

with a large side of sunshine, please!

I want fluffy back

or six baby fluffies.

mayflowersmayflowersmayflowers

all I want is april stooping not stoopid showers.

eleanor loves hammies

i met eleanor in mr. gelman's 6th grade math class at E. Brooke Lee Middle School.  she was cool because she had a wallet chain and her mom let her go to HFStival. the first time i went to her house, her dog Dodger bit my leg really hard. she's still extremely cool; living in San Francisco with her pilot boyfriend Benn and the other apple of her eye, Howard. 

the way she talks about and e-mails her friends and family with hamster updates is so cute!

  long live howard!

A helping of yelping

Have you yelped yet?

It's fun. It's free. It's consumer empowerment at it's finest.

And I got the "Review of the Day" for the Philly community today!

It's not all just restaurants either--it's doctors, hotels, services and the list goes on!

Got something to say about a local business? Good and bad--don't be shy, just yelp!

sock it to me

sock puppet Sunday at Tattooed Mom's followed quite possibly the most beautiful weekend of my life.

kim & ernest

penelope & i 

meet april. she is my new Bianchi San Jose.  She is really special.