me gusto mucho!

i want to live in this store and eat macaroons all day. pretty please?



(wait for the slideshow to move... the styling is incredible!)




photo courtesy of impactlab.com

friday, i'm in love

ran across these helvetica cookie cutters in blogland today. how awesome. awesome. awesome.


oh, beverly hsu, you are brilliant! you must have loved this documentary too? yes?

taste the rainbow!

just a little bit of color to add to the blinding white out/coverage in the DC area.

how cute it this cake featured on jordan ferney? i wish i was trapped at home (instead of at a hotel in capitol hill) so i could play with food dye and cake batter!


enjoy the snowpacolypse!

christmas packaging 2009

no matter how rushed i get during the holiday season buying this, making that, or going there, i try to spend some time creating a theme for my presents. as i've said here and here and here, i'm not a fan of millions of rolls of wrapping paper for every occasion, age and gender. besides not being green, i just don't have room for rolls.

so this year, in a effort to use less paper and also in hopes of encouraging recycling, i used metal tins for the presents i was giving.

metal tins with handcut & handwritten tags

instead of the next big thing toy (another thing i'm not a fan of), i stuck to timeless presents that my many nieces and nephews will enjoy later in life. in addition to some new winter scarves, i decoupaged ornaments for all the kids with pictures of events from this year (one from the snowstorm last weekend). my godchildren also got personalized snow globes which w

ere a huge hit!

decoupaged glass ornaments and snow globe

finally, the goodie of the season - pecan tarts a la leah. better than

your average pecan pie. and cuter too!

i hope that those that celebrate christmas had a great one! we surely did.

i'm glad to be back. back posts to come!

to do: dog days on u street

dirty energy| u street | aug 1

U Street celebrated this weekend with a Community Festival. Local shops participated in the Dog Days of August which included some crazy sales (and lots of fun junking). I walked around, shopped (a little too much), and was able to stop and just take shots of the usual DC charm and character.

stamped crates | u street | aug 1

yum, farmers market peaches. p.s. farmers market at 14 & u, every saturday from 9-1pm.

monkey bucket | u street | aug 1

old & dusty| u street | aug 1

loved hanging/junking out at ruff and ready, it's like your grandma's attic/basement on crack. hording anyone? if you're patient, you'll find some good estate pieces priced to go. not for the claustrophobic or germaphobic.

sporadic chess | u street | aug 1

the best part of this scenario is that the guy who is standing was just passing by (see his luggage next to him?) and decided to play with the guy on the bike. random. and so u street.

musicar | u street | aug 1

these things were out to promote the Art Cars Festival. total road hazard--people were slowing down to gawk -- but hilarious and total over stimulation.

brassvn (notice the men's room sign)| u street | aug 1

"take my picture" | u street | aug 1

and what's u street without characters? be sure to visit pradesh (sp?) at the capital carpet and furniture store. he was the sweetest man and a total ham when he saw my camera.

copy cat

i was inspired by my successful fondant experiment and wanted a treat from baked and wired (so much better than g'town cupcake). but instead of trekking my way into the city, fighting for parking and possibly getting disappointed (they have limited offerings of each flavor), i decided to just make my own version of lemon cupcakes with raspberry filling.

i started with a basic yellow cake and vanilla buttercream recipe and experimented with lemon zest and juice. then i injected some raspberry jam/preserves... and viola!


it's not the magically dense yet moist baked and wired cupcake - mine were fluffy instead -- but was very lemony.

ps. i still want cupcakes from baked and wired.

wonderland

i spent most of this weekend trying my hand at ousting duffy of ace of cakes... (ha, riiight). my sister asked me make a crazy, tea-sized, alice in wonderland themed cake for my nieces birthday party as a nice addition to the cupcakes and ice cream cakes already on the menu.

it's not perfect, but considering this is only my second attempt at fondant, i think it came out pretty well.

my sister did a great job decorating my parents backyard as a garden party gone mad.

the mad hatter made an appearance to do a magic show, face painting and some awesome balloons.

happy 4th birthday janiya!

part II: nags head

for those that don't like reading. *ahem*cousins*sister*ahem*.

independence day fireworks in front of our house | july 2009 | nags head, nc

massive [click to see the people on dunes] | july 2009 | nags head, nc

buried [dunes] | july 2009 | nags head, nc

snake tracks [dunes] | july 2009 | nags head, nc

beach house #3 | july 2009 | nags head, nc

nags head pier at sunset | july 2009 | nags head, nc

gone fishing!

relaxing on the pier | nags head, nc | july 6, 2009

after working remotely from the beach for a good part of the day, i slipped away for a couple of hours to go fishing. i grew up fishing with my father, so no matter how much i squirm touching the bloodworms, i actually really enjoy it.

here are some shots from today:

fallen between the cracks | nags head, nc | july 6, 2009

left for the seagulls | nags head, nc | july 6, 2009

bait & hooked | nags head, nc | july 6, 2009

not our catch | nags head, nc | july 6, 2009

our big catch! | nags head, nc | july 6, 2009

outer banks photos

photo by parkerspain

it's raining on the outer banks but while, of course, i'd rather it be sunny -- a rainy day here still beats a day at work.

however, i've started taking a photography class at the torpedo factory and have yet to find some good weather to do my homework. i'm sure i could take shots of things in the rain but, as a beginner, i'm not confident on finding correct lighting in the cloudy haze.

so instead, here are some fun shots that i've found on flickr. i'm not sure i will ever be this good, but it's nice to dream anyway.

bodie light house | photo by jim frazier

nags head pier | photo by cary scott photography

kitty hawk | photo by cary scott photography

my wish: to live simply

from our aunt's beach house in mindoro

kris w/ our nephews

my cousin rj w/another nephew in mindoro

my cousin kris (mentioned here), took these shots in her hometown of sablayan, mindoro. if only i were there now...
[it's going to t-storm in dc again. ...sigh.]

save the bananas!

my friend, lovelola, has this joke that i like to "save bananas." it's true.

there's only short threshold when i think a banana is good to eat fresh (basically, just past green-- otherwise, it's too mushy). in an effort to not throw perfectly edible food in the trash, i have been queen of the banana bread, asking people for mushy bananas and making baked goods in return.

i've had a handful of people to thank for volunteering for the red cross waterfront festival and since i've been obsessed with cupcakes (see here, here, here, and here), and i just happened to have 4 bananas just past their prime, i decided to try out martha's banana cupcakes.

originally, i was going to make what i started calling banana splits - banana cupcakes w/ a chocolate ganache topped w/ a maraschino cherry - a theory that chrys at P4D and i had while at work last week.

banana bread + chocolate ganache glaze = FAIL (pretty! but not so yummy)

so i opted for a regular buttercream with a drizzle of caramel topping instead of going through the trouble of martha's caramel buttercream recipe that requires a candy thermometer.

sorry martha, as jessie spano said "there's never any time!"

operation save bananas + thank the volunteers = mission accomplished!

to do: eastern market

vintage or nothing's awesome tag | eastern market | june 14, 2009

a couple weeks ago, in between dc's noah's ark reenactments, i spent a lovely day at eastern market with a good friend. besides finding a few antiques (more on those later), we just wandered around looking at all the beautiful wares and enjoying the sun (sans humidity).

for those that don't know the history or have never been, eastern market is big open air flea market. besides antiques, handmade stuff, and artists, there is a food presence of butchers, farmers and their seasonal products, and local artisans focusing on meats, cheeses, and baked goods (and an awesome diner-esque fish fry place) located in historic south hall. unfortunately, south hall was devastated by a fire in april of 2007.

friday, june 26th is the grand re-opening of the south hall. from what i hear, there will be food specials and other fun things.

here's what you can look forward to:

suitcases: vintage or nothing| eastern market | june 14, 2009

stamp pendants: lilypad designs| eastern market | june 14, 2009

keys | eastern market | june 14, 2009

letters [from a printing press] | eastern market | june 14, 2009

felted booties | eastern market | june 14, 2009