Oh-So RB Sabbatical

So sorry it's been so long, friends! I certainly should have written sooner.

With baby on the way (so soon!) and our new venture, I've been spending some time reflecting on all the big changes. It's looking like I'm in need of a bit of a vacation from my little blog here and it may just be that I need to close up shop on Oh-So RB altogether. Blogging seems to have changed so much since I began (would you agree?) and I'm hesitant to post just every once and a while (doesn't seem quite right!). Certainly, I've gathered unbelievable inspiration from reading your blogs, writing here and being a part of a great circle of art-minded friends. Any thoughts & suggestions you have would be welcomed. While I'm away, I'll definitely still be listening!

Happy summer to all--enjoy, enjoy!

(Memory jars and handmade thank-yous from Martha Stewart--so lovely!)

Sweet Find: Sugarboo Designs

Minimal, reconstructed art and pillows-- I love the feel of these pieces from Sugarboo Designs.

A Vision for the Event: Thank-You Party

I just love the idea of nontraditional ideas for parties--how about a dressed up thank-you dessert for a friend? I based this image board off the lovely Anna Melcon notecard at left--her sense of color is divine. Emerald green, light mint, bright yellow, black. Sometimes I just love the look of an event that's fancy eclectic and a little country...! Plus, this little party could be pulled off on a serious budget--what's not to love?




Images: Anna Melcon Bond (of the soon to be opened Rifle Design Shop--March!), lemon ginger cake with pistachios from epicurious, Paulette Macarons, Anthropologie, Martha Stewart.

Sweet Find: Three Eyeballs

One of my studio pals from college, Emily Wick, was featured on National Geographic this past week--so exciting! She's created a wonderful US map with each of the state mottoes--isn't that just brilliant? I'm thinking "Equality Before the Law" would look pretty sharp by my desk...!

Happy Birthday, BFF!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year: my best, best, best friend Lola's birthday! Nothing makes me happier than getting to celebrate who she is: brilliant artist, photographer, traveler, politico and unbelievably loving and supportive friend...who just happens to have been born three days before me! (Practically sisters! You know, me being the younger and cuter one, right, Lo?) We met the very first day of college and have been bosom buddies ever since (she just loves Anne of Green Gables--don't we all?). So, what's extra special about this year? We're both turning the big 3-0! Happy day, Lo--here's to a decade of inspiration, confidence, laughter and happiness beyond compare! Can't wait to enjoy it with you!

(M'm, cupcake image found here. Photo of my bff from our wedding--isn't she gorgeous?--taken by the wonderful Allison Garrett.)

Pretty Primer: It's in the Mail Art

To celebrate our upcoming reunion, my alma mater has invited alums to send submissions to a mail art exhibition with the plan of saving everything as the basis for a new archival collection. Isn't that a brilliant concept? I'm imagining the gallery full of all sorts of creative collage mailed between good college friends--what a way to catch up with one another! In fact, my friend Ben and I are thinking of collaborating--pushing the envelope, if you will--just like old times. The perfect excuse for getting back to playing with my paintbrushes and illustrating.

Do you have any favorite mail art pieces? What materials do you think we could use? Right now, I'm dreaming up schemes with raffle tickets, distorted photocopies, a little gouache, maybe some stitching with colored thread. Of course, the work has to make it through the post. Hmmmm!

(A couple of my favorite pieces from Donald Evans and Litsa Spathi. Evans makes these lovely stamps from imaginary lands. A Fluxus artist, Spathi blends media to create her multilayered collages.)

UPDATE: How fab are these vintage paper packs from Estate Sale? I think I may need to pop one of these in the mail to my penpal....

Into the Kitchen: South Indian Cuisine

Oh my my! My friend Gayathri made a big dinner for our office yesterday evening. All of her favorite foods from her home in South India were present: spinach dal, shrimp curry, egg green curry, tamarind rice, the list goes on--it was amazing! As I'm learning, most of the Indian foods we eat in restaurants here in the States are Northern Indian cuisine (think tomatoes). Every dish we ate was light, a little creamy (lots of coconut milk) and so flavorful. I count the meal as one of the best of my life.

Try some for yourself: South Indian vegetable curry, scalloped potatoes with coconut milk and chiles, Malabar shrimp in coconut sauce, country-style tomato and cilantro broth (great for an Ayurvedic diet!).

Gratitudes: Happy Friday!

What a fine day today is turning out to be.... Yesterday was a long one on this end but, wow, today--today has been full of so many exciting things. I've lined up a new job. S has a book contract for his memoir (!). And Ez at Creature Comforts (I just adore her taste and creativity) gave us a mention--many, many thanks!

More to come in my 101 list this weekend, more finds, more projects and hopefully a new recipe soon.... I hope you'll keep me posted on what you're imagining, enjoying and working on these days too!

Sweet Find: Pithy and Cleaver

I highly recommend stopping by the new Pithy and Cleaver. Writers, designers and friends Shiv and Maggie tell their beautifully detailed cooking stories. A perfect chocolate chip cookies trial. Miso cod with asparagus anecdote. Quick baked ziti with greens and hot salami--and a surprise ending. These ladies have brilliant taste. Literally. I'm already hooked and I think you will be too.

Sweet Find: Tea Collection

I'm thinking ahead to the holidays (tell me--is it too soon?) and browsing the Tea Collection with my friends' young ones in mind--such sweet clothes! They also have a fine line of paper goods available through tiny*prints. The patterns and designs are as lovely as the ethical stance of the line. I can't imagine a better way to raise children than as little citizens of the world.

Designing Wedding Heirlooms: Pretty, Pretty Postage

Greer Chicago offers the most fantastic stationery, books, calendars--you name it, they have it and it's all designed beautifully. My favorite thing? Postage with the Mostage. One thing I would have loved to have for our wedding invites: unique, vintage, wildly interesting stamps. I looked and looked myself and then, in the interest of time, had to give up. Bookmaker Bari Zaki coordinates her postage for Greer with these lively colored envelopes. I'm all about reimagining wedding traditions--invitations really don't have to all be the same, do they? Why not make yours truly one of a kind with several colors, shapes, sizes and maybe even handwrite the details for your guests. Still looking to mix and match for a set color scheme? Check out Champion Stamp Company. Martha is stuck on them, too. (One of my very first posts on this blog was on stamps--has it really been that long? Goodness! Speaking of, happy birthday to Snippet & Ink!)

Gratitudes: Week in Review

It has been one busy week here! A couple days after returning from our roadtrip the summer semester began--whew. Teaching five days a week has kept me on my toes. Despite all the running around, we found some time this week to really enjoy summer at home. I'm so thankful for:

1) Swimming laps with Kelly--three days a week, go team! Who knew how relaxing exercise could be?
2) The last piece of our wedding cake--I couldn't resist, it was wonderful for breakfast with my favorite coffee...!
3) Our garden, despite looking like an overgrown jungle, has produced a whole array of flowers--new dahlias, tiger lilies, stargazer lilies, the red heirloom gladiola I planted (mentioned here) and, of course, more and more zinnias.
4) Homemade pizza--I found this recipe and tossed on some chicken and prosciutto. So yum!
5) Getting to see all 500+ photographs of our wedding by Allison who, in a word, rocks. I may have mentioned this before, once, twice, maybe three times--
6) Being home--sweet home!--and having the scent of cedar winding through the rooms to remind us of New Mexico....

Travel Diary: Santa Fe Quilting

One of our best memories from this Southwest roadtrip was stopping in at Santa Fe Quilting. The shop is a hidden gem. (Really, it is practically hidden in this shopping center off of busy Cerrillos Road. Thank goodness for Mapquest!)

There are bolts upon bolts of fabric stacked up everywhere in the three room shop--fabric by local New Mexico artisans, Southwest prints, batiks aplenty, and, best of all, designs from Africa, Asia, South America. We were thrilled. Before we left Lincoln, we met with Phyllis Moore--the designer of the amazing quilt we received as a wedding gift--to discuss the possibility of making a second piece for us. While chatting, she mentioned this hole-in-the-wall fabric shop and we decided to look it up. What a pleasure it was to wander through the vast array of colors and patterns--such a pleasure, in fact, we decided to bring back some of our favorites for Phyllis. (Click on the images above to enlarge. I just love the piece that is third from the right. The designer is Terry Mansat, a New Mexican artist and quilter.)

Along with the textiles, we also found a few milagros in town for our favorite quilter's collection: a hand and some scissors to protect her great gifts (shown below on a swatch of Frida Kahlo print fabric).

More on our craft and design adventures to come!

Great Wedding Blog: And Stanley Makes Three

I've been a fan of Bridget's blog, And Stanley Makes Three, for some time now and last week we got into a lovely conversation via her post on photo lanterns (don't you just love the serendipity of the web!). She is planning her wedding for 2010 and her blog is rich with ideas--such a good read! Not to mention...could her dog be any cuter? Seriously!
Thanks, Bridget, for the feature! I look forward to talking more soon!

Into the Kitchen: Fig and Walnut Tapenade

Thinking about my friend Lola (yes, you!), I'm on the hunt for the perfect fig tapenade recipe and I have a hunch I may have found it thanks, once again, to epicurious:

Fig and Walnut Tapenade with Goat Cheese

1 cup chopped stemmed dried Calimyrna figs
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup chopped pitted brine-cured black olives
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon drained capers, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 5.5-ounce logs soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet), each cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/4 cup toasted walnut halves
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)
Assorted breads and/or crackers

Combine chopped figs and 1/3 cup water in heavy medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until liquid evaporates and figs are soft, about 7 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Mix in olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, capers, and chopped thyme. Season tapenade to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Arrange overlapping cheese rounds in circle in center of medium platter. Stir chopped walnuts into tapenade; spoon into center of cheese circle. Garnish with walnut halves and thyme sprigs, if desired. Serve with breads and/or crackers.

I'm sort of ambivalent about the olives. What do you think, Lo? Will this do it?

Gratitudes: Special Charms

Browsing around different blogs, I found daisy chain's most recent post about the Saint Joseph bag she carries with her everywhere and I couldn't help but think of all the little things I have slipped into nooks & crannies too, all the milagros, beads, crystals, painted doohickeys, swatches, seashells, buttons--the list goes on and on.

When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, a good friend of hers put together a tiny purse like this filled with gemstones, a handful of the most colorful and textural bits you could find. For a long time it has been one of my most prized possessions and, after some plain old wear, the fabric seams just started to fall apart. I knew I had to find a new home for it (one of those projects you always mean to get around to!) but what would work? Just by chance, at one of the plant fairs we visited last year, I brought home this tabletop birdbath and, voila!, my charms had a new life. Thanks to the find, I can't help but think they look like some kind of magical water now, out in the open for all to see.

Thanks, Amber, for this moment of reflection!

What's tucked away in your world?

Into the Kitchen: Black Pepper Scones

Thanks to Kelly's sweet gift, I'm going to make some of these this weekend!

Black Pepper Scones

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper, or to taste
3/4-1 cup buttermilk
Milk for glazing

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter and cheese. Stir in the pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400°F and set a rack on the upper-middle level. Grease a heavy baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.

Gently stir enough buttermilk into the flour mixture to make a soft, sticky dough. Gather the dough into a ball with your hands. On a well-floured surface, roll or pat the dough into an 12-x-8-inch rectangle approximately 3/4 inch thick. Try not to handle the dough too much, and don't worry if it looks rough.

Using a large spatula, transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Use a dough scraper to cut the dough into 40 squares, each 1 1/2 inches. Separate the squares slightly on the baking sheet. Brush each square with a little milk. (Or cut circles out of the dough with the rim of a glass or a biscuit cutter and transfer them to the baking sheet.)

Bake the scones for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are brown on the bottom and very lightly brown on top. Don't overbake. Transfer to cooling racks to cool briefly and then serve as soon as possible. Bacon and eggs are good accompaniments.

Saint Valentine's

Thinking about Valentine's Day: what if we kept Neruda's words in mind?

Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter....

Happy Freedom to Marry week--have a good one!

In the Spotlight: LA Ciytzine

Get this: LA Cityzine is having a writing contest and entering is free. Yes, free. Check out the complete rules here. Plus, my best friend has a great article here. What more could you want? Enter, enter!

Into the Kitchen: Pumpkin Spice and Apple Donut Holes

My good friend Pat and I were chatting about baking with yeast the other day and she passed along this wonderful, easy recipe. What's more perfect with coffee on a lazy Saturday in winter?

Pumpkin Spice and Apple Donut Holes

For dough:
1/2 cup of warm water (around 110 degrees)
1 package of dry yeast (I like the Rapid Rise kind--so much faster)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp shortening
1 egg
1 1/2 cups sifted flour (my version of sifting now is using a whisk)
1 1/12 cups of chopped Macintosh apple (optional)
3 cups or so of canola oil for frying

For sugar:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp or more cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of ginger
dash of clove

Stir water and yeast together to dissolve. In a medium bowl mix sugar, salt, shortening, egg and flour. Stir well for about 1 minute. Blend in apple. Cover and let rise in warm oven about 20-30 minutes. When dough has doubled, pat it into a rectangle 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife cut dough into cubes. Heat oil in a pan to 375 degrees using a candy thermometer. Fry until golden brown, turning donuts only once. Drain and dip in pumpkin spice sugar.