Printed Loveliness

How much do I love these sweet butterfly cards? Yes, this is hella girlie (as I stated in my Flickr comment), but so lovely, and obviously made with care. Searching around printed cards online (like I do), I came upon these and this great little company – Old Lady Bern Designs. Not that I really need to add to my already huge collection of printed cards. I know it’s ridiculous, but I just can’t stop. There’s something magical about sending a printed card nowadays. Ever since the Internet made those cheapy drugstore cards almost obsolete, there’s been a slew of local artisans making beautiful printed pieces.

Butterflies and flowers. What could be better? Nothing.

There are also companies that specialize in stylish, quality printed cards. while I was out at the Park Slope Farmer’s Market recently (no Yuppier words were ever spoken, I know), I discovered some gorgeous cards from Loop, a company out of Philadelphia that creates beautiful papers and textiles made from eco-friendly materials. I purchased a set of note cards with different designs of tree branches, that I might actually use as wall art, if I can find some reasonably-priced frames to fit them.

When I sent our birth announcement out, I went through Tinyprints, and found tons of sweet designs. They put it on great quality card stock and even mailed it out to our mailing list, and it was not at all expensive.

Note: Not my actual birth announcement. But also note the bird. I love birds on stuff!

Like with most other things these days (farm fresh food, micro-brewed beers), there really is an arts-and-crafts movement in the realm of printed materials; where small quantities are printed and the designs are unique, pretty and well thought out. As a child of the drugstore greeting card generation, I have a giddy fascination with these new collectibles.

Old Lady Bern Designs

Loop’s Seize the Day Note Cards

Tinyprints’ Sweet Songbird Begonia Announcement

I’ve Been Preoccupied

Not that there is a legion of readers I need to apologize to, but if anything, I’ll apologize to myself for staying away for so long from a blog I enjoyed writing – and had only JUST started! It’s just that, there’s been a lot going on in my life. Yes, along with expecting in April (omigod!), I also changed jobs in October, when I was already around 4 months pregnant. Those two things alone are enough to be a major distraction, but together, well……Anyhoo, aside from being ‘distracted’, as any pregnant woman will tell you, I’ve become increasingly obsessed with getting the nursery together – something called ‘nesting’.

I think it’s more that I’m so freaked out about the concept of parenthood, that I am focusing on the aspects of having a kid that I can control. We’re actually really, really thrilled about this crazy new thing we’re doing after 10 years of marriage. Just another adventure for us I guess. Along the way, I’m probably going to be including all kinds of baby-centric stuff now, like any other obnoxious new Brooklyn parent. Might as well start with this post. Isn’t our nursery ADORABLE?

Nursery Tree Decal

These wall decals are totally sweet, btw, and not too pricey. Also easy to stick on, as well as removable. Click here to check them out.

More Vintage Packaging

Update on my recent posting of the Dieline’s great pics of vintage packaging. This weekend, I found my own while Al and I were scouring antique malls for ‘steampunk’ trinkets (Halloween’s gonna be major this year). Not only did we score some very cool old gadgets, I found a treasure trove of great old packaging tins. They may not be bio-degradable, but these were made to be used and reused and then sold in antique shops for 10 times the price. Actually, these were not expensive. I might go back and pick up a few of the less rusty ones, if I can convince hubby that we need more weird crap in our apartment. I think we do – and I’m eyeballing that super rusty Maxwell House tin.

Our House is a Happy Pour House

The first few years we were married, Al toured as a Stage Manager for a ballet company. He spent a lot of time in Bavaria and, as a result, he came back with a renewed love of good brew and an expert pour. I now have both by proxy and am proud to be able to pour a tall glass of beer without making a foamy mess. I’ve even used the technique to pour Coke, although that’s not nearly as satisfying.

Kevin Purdy at Lifehacker spent some time with Ethan Cox, a Certified ‘Cicerone’ from Community Beer Works in Buffalo, NY. Head over to his post to reap the rewards from the time he spent learning what goes into pouring a great beer.

As Al learned overseas, the glass you pour into is almost as important as the beer that goes into it. Duvel’s tulip glass is the favorite in our collection, and Ethan Cox apparently agrees that it’s his ‘desert island pick’ for beer glasses. Then they go on to talking about ‘nucleation points’ and blah, blah – I wish being 4 months pregnant didn’t mean I can’t enjoy a nice foamy Spaten. Right now. I’m gonna have to have a serious talk with my obstetrician about this. Anyway, watch the mysteries explained:

Lifehacker, How to Give Your Beer the Right Glass and a Proper Pour

Community Beer Works

Coffee Tins for My Coffee Table

Someone at The Dieline shares my love of vintage packaging and scours the Internet and Flickr accounts for the best, most unique antiquated designs. I want these old coffee tins in my apartment. Who knew I’d ever love anything about Sanka? They should seriously consider going back to this, so people are tempted to try it along with some shredded wheat and canned concentrated orange juice for breakfast. Maybe I’ll just enjoy how it looks instead.

See More at The Dieline

OK Go: Here They Go Again. Again.

OK Go continues their domination of viral music videos. With big-budget music videos going the way of MTV (I’m not really sure where that is now), and the Interwebs taking over as our main means of entertainment, it’s been left to an industrious few to capture our increasingly-unavailable attention. When their first video was being passed around Youtube for their song Here It Goes Again, with all band members doing an impressive synchronized dance on a series of treadmills, it ‘went viral’ and made them instantaneously famous.

I kind of thought that was going to be it from them, and that maybe they were a clever one trick pony; but they keep turning out these awesome videos, with one topping the other. In this case, out-cuteing the others, if that’s possible. Their music’s actually pretty good, too. Plus, Dogs. If you love seeing trained doggies and dudes acting like trained doggies, you’ll have to check out this video for their new song White Knuckles. All I can say is, I spotted the goat right away.

Also, read more behind-the-scenes about the making-of at Gizmodo.

Sparkling Label

I love birds, I love booze, I love vintage bird lithographs. That’s why I want to marry this new label for Longview Vineyard’s W.Wagtail sparkling wine. True, birds are all over the place these days, but I really like the look of this one. I think they did an especially nice job on this label, without making it look too cutesy. Instead, it looks like a cross between those antique botany drawings and an old-timey ad for mustache wax. Also? Birds, you guys. Birds on wine labels.

Read more at The Dieline

Cooking Sometimes Happens in My Kitchen

Jordan Reid’s Perfect+Easy Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes. Perfect recipes are never fancy, but require only a few ingredients and the least probability of my screwing them up. This one I love for its simplicity and yumminess from a blog I used to peruse by Jordan Reid. Jordan was a sometimes blogger for a site called Nonsociety, who always posted tips and recipes that were actually useful – not just trust fund baby-useful. Since I can’t find where she’s blogging now, I think it only fair to re-post, so that others can attempt and enjoy cooking perfection. For me, it’s rare. So rare.

JORDAN’S BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
What you need:
2 butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
Olive oil
1 large onion or 2 small onions, sliced thinly
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced (I say 2 tbsp in the video, but my mother called me after viewing it and said that’s too much. I say it depends on how much you like ginger.)*I’m w/Jordan on this, the more ginger the better!
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tspn cinnamon powder
5-6 cups chicken broth

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Place squash, cut side down, on an oiled baking sheet and cook for about an hour, or until a fork can easily be inserted. 
2. Remove squash from heat and let cool for at least 45 minutes (don’t burn your fingers!).
3. Using a paring knife, remove skin from squash and cut into 2” chunks. Set aside. 
4. In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add the onion, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook over med-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes (or until onions are translucent).
5. Add squash and chicken broth to pot, cover, bring to a boil, and simmer for about ten minutes.
6. Remove cinnamon stick from pot.
7. Working in batches, puree the squash/onion/broth mixture in a blender (when a vortex appears at the top, you know that it’s blended sufficiently). 
8. Top with a little creme fraiche or a touch of chopped parsley, if desired.

Click below to see the magic happen. In my kitchen.

butternut squash halves

butternut squash baking

ingredients

Saute, Saute, Saute

chicken stock

cookin

scooping

blending

Garlic? Anyone?

soup!

So, 2 kitchen clean-ups, a shower and some shampooing later, I’m very pleased. My house smells great, and nothing tastes more like Autumn than this dish. Very apropo, now that the leaves are changing out in the country. Dang, it’s good. Enjoy!

Betty, Peggy or Joan?

Okay, I know this has been asked a gazillion times since the premiere of Mad Men (one of my favorite shows) but, c’mon, admit it. There’s a Peggy, Betty and Joan in all of us at any given moment. So whether you’re peppily trying ‘new’ things and standing up for your rights, taking a swig of a chilled martini after a long day with the kids or sashaying your way into a clever comeback, there’s a dress out there for you. Since vintage fashion has become part of mainstream retail, there’s no shortage of opportunities for shopping/browsing/wishful thinking.

The Betty – Classic Beauty Dress at Modcloth.com, $109.99

The Peggy – Tory Burch Raeca Silk Crepe Dress at Nordstrom, $495

The Joan – Learning Curve Dress at Anthopologie, $248

Where to send your money:

And Now for Something Completely Different

Inspired by my lunch today with Al at Stage Deli on 7th Ave, where I ogled a giant-looking cheesecake covered in chopped Oreos, here’s a very important update on the state of Oreos and how they’re ending up in stuff. Courtesy of The Berry.