disaster relief

It's been a week now since the earthquake in Haiti. I know the news is completely oversaturated with information with what's going on. But just to reiterate in the simplest terms--

Disasters happen. People need help. The Red Cross helps. Always.

The Red Cross relies heavily on donations and volunteers. You can help all victims of disasters in three ways:

• monetary donations
  
• volunteering
  
• giving blood

If you haven't already, please visit their website to help them help others in our nation and beyond.

classic

now that the holidays are over (i know, i'm late), let's do a review shall we?

in the last few months, i've visited my share of new bars and restaurants in the dc and philly areas. and with the rebirth of the cocktail and the trendiness of all things mad men, i've been enjoying my libations more than ever.

my current favorite? the old fashioned.

with it's agnostora bitters, sugar, and orange zest it's the perfect complement to my drink of choice, bourbon. you can find a recipe and some trivia here.

some places to check this classic cocktail out?

in philly, check out the village whiskey. don't forget to also try the duck fat fries and the variety of pickled items - it's way past vlassic. promise. or you can always go to the pub and kitchen, one of my philly faves.

in dc, definitely grab one at againn (best i've had so far - must be the brandied cherries) with frites. also try it at the W hotel's living room bar or at my virginia favorite, eventide.

cheers!

it's a new year!

traditional slovenian dinner

[clockwise from the top: sauerkraut, stuffing, dumplings, lentil soup and a rye pork roast]

happy new year! i can't wait to see what 2010 will bring my way.

last night, i attended a house party hosted by the fun boys of the alexandria harmonizers. besides a black and white casino theme, we were treated to spontaneous bursts of harmonies every few minutes and a beautiful rendition of "auld lang syne" at the stroke of midnight. it was a ton of fun! if you get a chance to purchase tickets to their next show, i wouldn't miss the chance. they are pretty amazing - and nice boys to boot!

today, my friend invited us over for a traditional slovenian new years day dinner (as in pork, not chicken). it was a delicious and will bring us good luck for the year. good food, good company and crazy ohio state fans while watching the rose bowl. what more could you ask for?

finally, santa brought one more family christmas party tonight. back to opening presents... hope you had a great NYE and great start to the new year!

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!

back to our regularly scheduled program...

um. so i get it. i disappeared.

what can i say? life happens. nothing bad. just busy.

i know i promised this in my last post, but i plan on getting back on the horse soon. just gotta get my ducks in a row. and by ducks, i mean joining the 21st century and getting internet at home.

i know. lame.