Anyways.

I used to have this serious thing about Moleskines. It has been very well documented. Well-documented? Whatever. I find myself drifting away from those notebooks though, which makes me sad. I spent years and far too much money on them. Lined, plain, grid, hardcover, softcover cahier-style, address books, planners. I still love them, from the helpfully-integrated pocket and the ribbon bookmark and the elastic band to keep everything tidy, but they’ve lost some of the luster.

The thing about Moleskines is that they’re fucking expensive not refillable.* Once you’ve filled up a notebook, you get to file it on a shelf and then buy another. This tends to be a quality of paper. I’m not a super eco-conscious person (I drink bottled water in LA and don’t always recycle, although I try to be good about it), but if I’m going to do anything good for the planet, buying a refillable notebook should be it, with the rate I go through paper.

*Also, on Amazon, they have the Proposition 65 warning, which is that alarming block of text that reads thusly: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. I’ve been informed it is only applicable if you were to burn a Moleskine and inhale the fumes from the cover (on their hardback notebooks, that is, not the cahiers), but it still kind of creeps me out.

Turns out there aren’t a lot of fabulous refillable notebooks that I like. Hermès makes one in luscious pebbled leather (including their trademark orange), but the smaller size will set you back $245 and the larger $335. I love notebooks, but that’s stupid expensive. Plus, the refills alone are like $30-$50 each. Ouch! I write jot stupid things down far too often for that to be even remotely possible. A lot of others are in the Filofax style, with binder closures, and I really like bound books. Stitched, to be exact. Preferably with unperforated pages. I like the feeling of permanence.

The Midori Traveler’s Notebook is frequently hailed as gorgeous and wonderful and rustic and romantic and all sorts of other adjectives. I tend to agree. It looks a little like something Indiana Jones might carry on an adventure! The regular/large size is roughly 4.5″ x 8.5″ and the smaller passport size is… however big a passport is. Apparently, it doubles perfectly as a passport holder. I think it’s about 3.5″ x 5″ but don’t hold me to that.

The only problem with getting my hands on one of these is apparently everybody else and their mother also wants one. At least in the same size and color I wanted (the larger in brown leather). I checked at least four or five online stores and just ended up getting more and more discouraged. If I wanted it in black, I could have had it. If I wanted the brown in passport size, I could have had it. I refused to compromise (something I’m really good at) and continued searching.

Turns out there’s this shop called R Ë S O R that got mentioned in a bunch of blog post reviews and stuff. I’ve never heard of them before, but they have lovely things, including the Midori Traveler’s Notebook. In the full, original size. In brown. IN STOCK. Hallelujah!

(Amazon also had it in stock, and I probably ought to have checked there first, but I figured since I was going to get some refills at the same time, I would go through RËSOR, since their blank notebook refills are about $3 cheaper each.)

The notebook is essentially a lovely piece of leather, finished on one side and left rough on the other. An elastic band slips around the spine, so a notebook can be tucked in and affixed with it. It’s not quite intuitive, so people have put together tutorials. The refills come in all sorts of paper, from the expected (blank, lined, grid) to the calendars (monthly and weekly and daily, all undated so they can be used whenever) to the oddities (brown kraft paper, extra-thin, perforated sketchbook). Some of the accessories aren’t even paper: plastic pockets sized perfectly for credit cards, zipper pockets, and adhesive pocket flaps to be affixed to the front or back are also available. Patrick Ng’s gorgeous set-up can be viewed here, with an example of the zipper pocket.

(The long length of their regular size is also perfectly suited for boarding passes and airline tickets, conveniently enough!)

The notebook itself comes with the elastic spine band, a colored rubber band to hold the entire thing shut, one blank book, and a cotton bag for storage and protection. Personally, I think it would look nice with some scuff marks as proof of taking it about, but it’s nice to have the option to protect it a little bit.

Here’s a review, complete with pictures. Here is a Flickr group dedicated to the notebook. Here’s another review, which points out that it wouldn’t be too difficult to create your own customized refill books, which I’ll probably get a notion to do at sometime in the future.

What did I go crazy and order?

• The brown notebook in the regular/large size (includes one blank book).
• One (extra) blank refill notebook.
• One lightweight blank refill notebook – refills are typically 64 pages, the lightweight is 128 pages of thinner paper. It is reviewed as showing through the page, but not bleeding through, without feathering.
• One lined refill notebook.
• One grid refill notebook.
• One kraft refill notebook.
• One zipper case.
• One large pocket sticker.
• One repair kit – extra bands.
• Double-sided tape pieces - for affixing flat things.
• Monthly calendar.
• Instant numbers - rub on to transfer.

Yeah. I went a little crazy. I won’t even be using the calendar until 2013, since I have my lovely Laurel Denise book (in green). So, I guess I’m banking on the world not ending in December. But the idea of being able to carry my notebook(s) and planner all in one tidy little package is just too good to pass up.

So, I’ll leave you with those 1000+ words on a notebook (I know, I know, I have a sickness), and one last gorgeous picture of Patrick Ng’s notebook, including a customized cover and little pocket stick-ons. Stationery porn!

Fun fact: Alex Trebek narrates the audio on the bus to and from the hilltop estate.

(I’ve got a soft spot for crows and ravens. They’re really intelligent birds! And look how proud the fellow on the right looks.)

(Hawaii can keep their white sand and swimmable beaches. I love California (and Oregon’s) rocky, freezing coastline.)

Switching to the “Gorgeous Office Products” portion of this post… russell+hazel. They’re news to me, but bloggers and the internet have been all a-twitter about them for quite a while, apparently. I’ve been meaning to get back into my foreign languages (Italian, Old English/Anglo-Saxon, and Latin), because it seems pointless to have spent years on them and then forget it all. Picking up a binder and all the accoutrements* for all my practice translations and notes was on my to-do list, so when I stumbled across these beautiful products, it was an easy decision. Brace yourself for way too many words about office products.

*I love this word.

They’re famous enough for their binders that they call it their Signature Three-ring Binder. 1.5″ wide and holding something like 275 sheets. Described as “the most inspired binder in history, with a dry-erase interior, an attractive book-linen spine, and a sturdy rubber band to keep it secure.” Bonus points for the fact that they are made from 100% post-consumer recycled content. I chose the bright red-orange color, so it’ll always be visible on my forever-cluttered desk (but I was sorely tempted by the silver). Is $24 a ridiculous amount to spend on a binder? Yes. But I have an unrivaled love of office products, and I plan on spending a lot of time with this binder, so I don’t really have a problem with the cost. (Besides, the cheap vinyl ones always fall apart.)

8-tab dividers. Their design is interesting, with 3 on the top and 5 along the side. On the bright side, that also means that you can just use 5 if so desired, without having the awkward empty gap the traditional all-along-the-side tabs would have. Acid-free and archival, laminated and cheerily colored.

Paper pockets to hold loose sheets. Set of 5. Heavy-duty with reinforced holes. The binders don’t have interior pockets like are common. On the one hand, it’s one less thing to tear on the binder: mine have the tendency to either tear or loosen, if I’ve used the binder for awhile. It also allows for more space for the dry-erase function. I figured these would be nice to have on hand as a replacement.

The Quips + Queries cards were a total impulse buy. I’ve had this weird desire for calling cards for as long as I can remember–I was kind of a strange kid. On the other hand, I don’t know what the hell I would do with them. I compromised, and bought these blank cards instead. Some of them do come printed with “quips and queries,” in varying themes, but I settled on the blank cards with silver edges. Très elegant, non? 100 cards and the little acrylic box. The cards measure 2.25″ by 3.5″ or about the same size of a standard business card. I can jot contact details on them or whatever. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, but they were so glamorous and gorgeous I couldn’t pass them up.

Since I was already buying the other stuff, I threw in another 50 cards. I used to hate pink, so I find it a little disturbing that I’m growing fonder of the color. In any case, I loved the sweet French sayings, despite the fact I never formally studied it (unlike Spanish, Italian and Latin). From top to bottom, they translate as:

• je ne sais quoi: “I don’t know what” (literally), more figuratively, that certain something or intangible quality that makes something or someone attractive that you can’t quite put your finger on.
• tete a tete: “head to head” (literally), more figuratively, a private conversation, usually intimate in nature.
• c’est la vie: “that’s life” or “such is life.” Can be used similarly to “shit happens” or “oh, well.”
• vis a vis: “face to face” (literally). Wiktionary informs me it can be used to describe (1) a certain type of horse-drawn carriage for two people facing each other, (2) one of two (or more) people facing each other during a formal dance or at the dinner table, (3) a date or escort in a social event, (4) a person holding a corresponding position in another organization; a counterpart.
• joie de vivre: “joy of living/life” (literally). Generally refers to the enjoyment of living or an “exultation of spirit.”

Fun fact: russell+hazel also offer some bright ideas of how to put their products to use. My favorites were Chronologicality for students (filing by date), the card caddy to sort the little pieces of paper and frequent buyer cards that seem to multiply in my wallet, and their to-do basics. They also had a list of graduation advice and words of wisdom. I’m about six months too early for it to be appropriate, but the following made me laugh:

It was Conrad Hilton, the hotel millionaire, who was asked towards the end of his long and successful career for some lessons he had learned, something that might be a guide to the young. After a long pause, he said he thought one really good idea was to keep the shower curtain inside the tub.
— Roger Mudd

That’s all I’ve got for now! We’re moving into week three of winter quarter, and things are starting to pick up, as far as readings and projects and essays go. I’ll do my best to continue updating, though. It’s a nice break from thinking about informatics and reference transactions and the architecture of information technology.

Did I mention that the post-Christmas sales are my secret weakness?

American Eagle, Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic, and Madewell all have amazing sales going on the stuff that is already on sale. Clearance clearance, my kind of sale. I can afford American Eagle and Old Navy and Gap at normal price, but Banana Republic and Madewell at full price is a little out of my normal shopping niche. When they’re offering 30-40% off things already on sale, though? I’m so there. Especially with free shipping thrown in as well.

I’m still not really sure if I should be wearing different clothes for grad school or not, but the things I picked out were pretty much wardrobe staple picks: sweaters, solid-color or striped shirts, and pretty camis for layering. There’s only one thing at all that I picked out that was a splurge, and it was a $56.00 metallic leather clutch on sale at $19.99 and marked down to $13.99.

How could I pass that up? It’s also 8.25″ x 13″ which is definitely big enough for a clutch. Actually, maybe a little big for a clutch. Also handy for in-purse organization. Also, SILVER. I’m sure I’ll use it for something.

Anyways, here’s the mathematical breakdown:

• 3 stores
• 20 total articles of clothing (well, 19 and 1 accessory)
• 1 zip-front hoodie
• 5 sweaters
• 1 cardigan
• 2 pairs of pants (1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of yoga pants)
• 6 shirts (4 short-sleeved and 2 long-sleeved)
• 4 camisoles/tank tops
• 1 clutch

Item I’m most excited about: the ex-boyfriend sweater from Madewell. A little bit oversized, v-neck, with some cashmere and angora in the blend for extra softness. In malachite! I’ve wanted a green sweater for awhile.

($69.50, on sale for $29.99, marked down to $20.99)

In any case: I’m off to San Luis Obispo for the weekend with some friends! Driving up tomorrow, hanging out in town Saturday, and then doing Hearst Castle on Sunday. (Apparently it’s also known as San Simeon, which I hadn’t heard of before.) I’ll be dreaming of all my amazing clothes arriving. There’s only one more thing I’m on the hunt for: a green (about the same shade as the sweater above) crossbody leather bag for summer. Something on the smaller side. Not tiny, but not on my usual scale of bags. Like the smaller size of Kate Spade’s Scout bag, maybe? The orange one in the photo below. But, you know, green.

I’ve found bags that are almost perfect, but there’s always one damn flaw holding me back: (1) it’s a shoulder bag without a crossbody strap (2) it’s suede (3) it’s way too freaking expensive and I’m not in love with the lining.

(Juicy Couture Hazel Small Shoulder Bag, $268 and on sale for $159.99)

(Madewell Suede Mini Mailbag, $118)

(Hayden Harnett Barnard Crossbody, $425)

So! If anyone has a suggestion for a fabulous green leather crossbody bag, I’m all ears. I’m in love with the Mini Mailbag purse, I just hate that it’s suede. So very water unfriendly for summer, sigh.

(Also: kind of in love with this Pompidou Clutch, also from Hayden Harnett. They call the leather color candy apple – how perfect is that?! It does come in green and can be converted to a crossbody with a “nylon webbing strap,” but the shade is this really unattractive light shade called bitter lime that I’m really not loving. I want something in that gorgeous emerald/malachite/darker green like the above bags.)

Things I don’t love about my apartment: scrubbing the hardwood floors. The amount of noise on the weekends (damn undergrads). The suspicious black spots on the ceiling in the bathroom.

I’ve reached the crazy level of having FOUR laundry baskets in my room. One for towels, one for whites, one for darks, and one for things that need to be hand-washed, or have some sort of special attention paid to them. (I don’t really own any brights, or I might have five.)

I still fit into my (lovely) black-and-white ruched dress from Express that I wore to a Christmas party two years ago. This is pretty fabulous, because it’s a size 6, and I definitely did not fit into J. Crew’s size 6 dress I ordered in December. Oh, fickle fashion sizing. This is good news, because there is a Winter Wonderland Grad Ball in February – basically, an excuse to dress up and not dance. In any case, I was going to get a new dress for it, but if I can just wear that one, I’ll probably splurge on some new shoes (like wedges I can walk in, instead of my excruciating 4″ stilettos) or some bright red accessories (I’ve been thinking about flowered hairpins or hairbands a lot lately).

I think I finally figured out a way to catch all the little bits and things that life throws at me and I want to remember, for whatever psychotic reasons:

• iPhone Reminders app, to capture all those quick and creative ideas I have: a spark for a short story, photographic series, or other artistic piece.
• A .txt file (I know, how Stone Age) on my desktop for quick access, to copy-paste any words/phrases that catch my eye. I’m a sucker for a bon mot, and often will want to save a snippet of an article while I’m catching up on my daily blog perusals.
• LittleSnapper, a fantastic screenshot and websnap capture application for Mac. It’s beautifully designed and allows for the building of both ‘Smart’ and manual collections, the application of tags, and (most importantly) a notes field, so I can remind myself why I captured a particular image. (It also has a bunch of fancy highlighting, annotating, and other edit/capture tools, but I don’t really bother with those.) This replaces a messy, multi-tiered folder system on my desktop.
• An iPhone Notes file for capturing vocabulary words I don’t remember and quotes I want to remember while reading (these get transferred to an iOS wiki program called TrunkNotes I keep on my iPad and back up to DropBox).

You can count me in among the people that are obsessed with Downton Abbey. It’s amazing! I may or may not have watched the entire first season in one sitting. (Psst: It’s on Netflix instant-stream! And season 2 is available on PBS’s website.) I’m totally daydreaming about horseback riding and chandeliers and luxurious baths in claw-foot tubs.

And finally, since I’m heading to SLO for a weekend out-of-town with some girlfriends on Saturday… Joan Didion’s packing list.

To Pack and Wear:

• 2 skirts
• 2 jerseys or leotards
• 1 pullover sweater
• 2 pair shoes
• stockings
• bra
• nightgown, robe slippers
• cigarettes
• bourbon
• bag with: shampoo, toothbrush and paste, Basis soap, razor, deodorant, aspirin, prescriptions, Tampax, face cream, powder, baby oil

To Carry:

• mohair throw
• typewriter
• 2 legal pads and pens
• files
• house key

I admit, I probably won’t follow this when I pack on Friday in a rush on Saturday morning, but how much more awesome can you be? Cigarettes, bourbon, and a typewriter. How very chic.

• Morning: They go something like this: wake up early, but not too early. Take a shower. Have enough time before class starts to sit at the kitchen table with a mug of something hot and steamy and a plate of something delicious and fresh but not too fatty: prosciutto and avocado on country bread, maybe. Read a few pages of the latest New Yorker. Take a leisurely stroll to class.
• Mid-morning: A healthy and tasty snack. Some almonds and a small piece of cheese, maybe. Or a few clementines. Some baby peeled carrots and a small cup of hummus, maybe.
• Afternoon: A salad with added protein (beans or chicken). Low-fat 1000 island dressing, if such a thing exists. Or a sandwich, maybe: whole-grain bread and turkey and lots of veggies, no mayonnaise. Unless it’s aioli. I’ll always make an exception for aioli.
• Dinner: Something fabulous with brown rice or whole-grain pasta. Maybe a nice piece of salmon. Maybe splurge a little and throw some heavy cream in there if I was good all day.
• Post-dinner: A glass of not-too-cheap-but-not-too-expensive red wine and an ounce of dark chocolate.
• Throughout the day: Lots and lots of hydrating water.

That sounds amazing, right? But here is what actually tends to happen:

• Morning: Hit snooze four times, rush through a shower, cram down a Luna Bar and an apple and take the bus to class.
• Mid-morning: Nothing. Or maybe a super buttery chocolate croissant from the coffee shop.
• Afternoon: Pizza or Chinese food or tacos from the eateries around campus. Sometimes a BBQ bacon cheeseburger and fries (ouch).
• Dinner: Soup and bread, or something microwaved (like Trader Joe’s chicken tikka masala). Maybe some frozen ravioli with jarred sauce.
• Post-dinner: Something sugary and fatty if it’s in the house. Ranch sunflower seeds. A bowl of cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats = my not-so-secret weakness).
• Throughout the day: Lots and lots of (low-sodium!) Diet Coke.

I really need to work on turning the latter into the former. Okay, probably not that idealized. But… I do need to work on improving my eating habits. I’m plotting out ways to make this happen. Part of this involves working on my grocery list: I want to keep things like those Laughing Cow low-calorie cheese wedges, prosciutto, avocados, fresh berries (blackberries, swoon), and whole-grain English muffins around. Sliced turkey and smoked salmon and just the little things that make throwing together tasty-but-healthy meals possible.

…Okay. Prosciutto might not be STRICTLY healthy. But I’m so in love with it, it’s making the cut. There’s nothing better than catching a bite of that delicious, salty ham. My current quick meal is a wedge of good bread spread thinly with pesto and topped with prosciutto and torn mozzarella, the kind kept in water for freshness.

Some yummy breakfast possibilities:

• English muffin with pesto, mozzarella, arugula, prosciutto. YUM.
• Quiche. I can picture baking up a quiche lorraine on the weekend and having a slice each morning the next week for breakfast. I never get tired of quiche.
• A croissant with an egg scrambled with cream cheese and chives, with two slices of no-fat-added fried pancetta.
• Mimosas. Okay, not on the days I have class. But on the weekend. With fresh-squeezed orange juice. I’m totally going to buy a citrus juicer thing and make this happen.

Also, things I am lusting over: a gorgeous ceramic toast rack. This one was from a fabulous and drool-worthy blog post on Luxirare. I can totally picture spending Sunday mornings curled up with crisp slices of toast and a dish of European butter alongside some fresh blackberries, sigh.

P.S. Want to see some more gorgeous breakfast inspiration? Check out BKFST, a beautiful photography-centered Tumblr that captures gorgeous images of breakfasts all over the place. This is my current favorite, not because I like porridge (blech!), but because of the lovely Scrabble (or Bananagrams?) tiles in the gently fuzzy background.

P.P.S. I just got back from Whole Foods. I don’t shop there all the time (for one, it’s prohibitively expensive, and for two, they don’t sell Diet Coke), but I like to treat myself to a bag of groceries from there once or twice a month. I picked up some great ciabatta rolls, fresh strawberries (swoon), organic peeled baby carrots, blood orange sorbet, and some other goodies. Also, a turkey-bacon-avocado sandwich from their deli, on parmesan focaccia – delicious, especially the red-tinged aioli. I’m not sure if it was sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers, but it comes highly recommended from me.

I settled on s’mores cupcakes for the celebration: for one, plans weren’t settled, and cupcakes travel and serve better than a three-layer cake (despite how festive layer cakes are); and two, he seemed interested in them when I described them along with a few other things I’d made in the past.

When I made these in high school, I used the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake recipe. I whipped up a half-batch of standard graham cracker crust (3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 1/2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter) and pressed a heaping teaspoon into the bottom of the (lined) cupcake tin. I added the cake batter on top of this, baked them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 22 minutes, and then let them cool out of the tins. With a small spoon, I scooped out a hollow in the center of the cupcake, awkwardly maneuvered a little scoop of marshmallow cream into the middle (it’s really sticky!), frosted the top with (store-bought) chocolate frosting, and decorated with mini marshmallows.

Those turned out brilliantly and were well-received, but I enjoy messing with a good thing, at least in the kitchen. Cue some good ‘ol experimentation tonight:

I used the same white cake recipe again, because it’s amazing. Don’t bother with the frosting that usually accompanies the cake recipe (EIGHT cups of powdered sugar is way too much), but it’s a really great standard recipe to have on hand for versatile white cake. Also, don’t taste the raw batter, because it’s really, really good.

I made a variety of cupcakes. Here’s a breakdown:

• Same old thing: graham cracker crust, white cake batter for the rest.
• Boxed brownie mix on the bottom, white cake batter for the rest (hey, they both bake at the same temperature for the same amount of time, it’s worth a shot!).
• A scoop of white cake batter with two broken squares of Hershey’s chocolate, topped with additional cake batter.
• A scoop of white cake batter with a dollop of chocolate fudge frosting, topped with additional cake batter.
• White cake batter topped with a scoop of marshmallow fluff.
• White cake batter with additional crumbs of graham crackers mixed into the batter.
• White cake batter with additional crumbs of graham crackers mixed into the batter, with either chocolate bar pieces of chocolate frosting dolloped in the middle.
• White cake batter with additional crumbs of graham crackers on top of a scoop of brownie batter.

As it turns out, some of these turned out better than others:

As you can see in the  bottom left of the tin, the marshmallow fluff didn’t melt into the cake batter, which is kind of what I expected. It kind of… crisped up in the oven, turning into these weird toasted marshmallow chips. This is both good and bad: the marshmallow chips taste delicious, really similar to marshmallows toasted over a flame. On the other hand, the cupcake underneath didn’t bake entirely. Next time, I would leave marshmallow fluff off the top of the cake, but might bake some of these on parchment paper on their own to top the cupcakes with as decoration. They’re really yummy!

The chocolate frosting in all instances bubbled up and melted all over the cupcake tin. This is where I throw in a fun little tidbit about myself: I freaking HATE cleaning cupcake tins. They’re annoying as hell, with caked on bits of… well, cake, and other messy things, especially when fillings are taken into account. If they made decent disposable muffin tins, I would probably buy and use them and throw them away after. I know that’s really eco-unfriendly, but I really do hate scrubbing them clean. The chocolate bars in the middle worked out much better than the frosting.

I filled and decorated these with various things: marshmallow fluff in the middle once more. (You could also spoon chocolate frosting in the middle of these, AFTER they are baked, but I didn’t do that this time.) They were frosted with either chocolate frosting or marshmallow fluff, and topped with pieces of chocolate, graham crackers, graham cracker crumbs, and mini-marshmallows.

Things I would try next time: spooning the marshmallow fluff into the middle of the cupcake rather than the top, or mixing some into the cake batter. Using graham flour in the cupcakes, maybe in combination with brown sugar rather than white. Trying with chocolate cake instead of vanilla. Toasting the marshmallow cream on top, either with the broiler or a kitchen torch (!). Something with a meringue top – I love meringue.

In any case – s’mores are delicious, and cupcakes are delicious, and s’mores cupcakes are really delicious, in pretty much any combination you can come up with! I highly recommend you give these a try. With milk and extra napkins, cause they’re really rich and messy. But totally worth the effort.

EDITED TO ADD: Having actually tried these now, instead of foisting them on my roommate, she was right — they’re really, really rich. Especially the ones with brownie mix at the bottom. Whoah, fudge-y. The brownie batter actually worked really well, it cooked all the way through, and once the cupcake liner is peeled off, it gives the cake a really pretty layered effect. The cake with graham cracker crumbs mixed in doesn’t really taste like graham crackers. It doesn’t taste bad, by any means, but it didn’t really add anything other than texture. I think graham flour would work much better.

The Flipboard app for the iPad (and iPhone, but it looks gorgeous on the bigger screen of the iPad). It basically creates a beautiful, personalized magazine from a number of popular blogs, websites, and social networking sites, and flip through their content at your leisure. Below is the 3×3 grid of my first Flipboard page: cute animals, life tips, trivia, and design, all in one neat and pretty package. It makes lounging on the couch in the morning with my yogurt and fruit a way more enjoyable experience.

This Williams-Sonoma picnic basket set. It is a freaking unbelievable $349.95 – ouch! – but it is also packed with everything but the food you could possibly need for a picnic: silverware, plates, salt and pepper shakers, a blanket, cheeseboard, corkscrew… the list just goes on and on and on. Now that I’m living in Los Angeles, the dreamy idea of year-round picnics is totally on my want-to-do list. Particularly this lovely winter picnic from Design*Sponge.

This photo from one of my newest favorite blogs, The Sweetest Occasion. I love forts and pseudo tents – who doesn’t? – and have started daydreaming about how I can set up something like this or a canopy of some kind with my bed. Which is, you know, not a canopy bed. But I think I could finagle something with thin white fabric, or netting, and a ceiling mount, and the corner posts of my bed… maybe. Also, how sweet are the stars?

This lovely little canvas duffel from J. Crew (I have a J. Crew thing going on right now). I’m not usually into pink–like, ever–but this is just such a fabulous pop of color. (Also available in navy.) It’s super small, just an overnighter (9.0″ high x 16.5″ wide x 9.0″ deep), but I’m really loving it. Also, it’s only $36.50, which is pretty cheap for anything from J. Crew.

Surprise balls! Basically, they are long strips/streamers of crepe paper, wound tightly around miscellaneous little trinkets and toys that can range from expensive and lovely vintage objects to stickers and temporary tattoos and candy. They can be round, lumpy, or if you’re Anandamayi Arnold, exquisite pieces of art that many customers can’t bear to unravel. I love how personal these can be, by picking out individual items for people you know and choosing their favorite colors for the crepe. I might make one of these for my mom for her upcoming birthday!

This tweet, via Dooce (SO TRUE):

This cheerful list, also via The Sweetest Occasion. I’m particularly wanting to work on #4, having fresh flowers around:

One of the things my parents/mom bought me for Christmas was a duvet cover! I had a comfy, cozy duvet all last term, and no cover for it. I wanted something white, she wanted me to get something less boring, and finally she compromised and bought me a beautiful white cover with subtle lines so it has some form of texture. The combination of finally having a metal bed frame, my memory foam mattress, the gorgeously soft Calvin Klein grey sheets (500 thread count), and this lovely duvet cover have turned my queen-sized bed into a veritable paradise. I plan on spending at least 30% of my total time this term lounging here. For real.

(Please ignore the off-center poster up there. I rearranged my furniture and haven’t gotten around to shifting the art yet.)

P.S. That brown dog is Macaroni, my dearest and oldest stuffed friend. He was a Valentine’s Day surprise from my parents when I was a little kid. He was named after the heart-shaped pasta we had for dinner that night.

P.P.S. I am so totally writing this blog post in bed.

In any case, moving on! My new planner has space for goals for the year on the first page. This is my clumsy way of segueing into the topics I said I was going to cover: looking back on 2011 (books read) and looking forward to 2012 (resolutions).

Let’s cover 2011 and my year in reading first:

• Total books read: 96
• New books vs. re-reads: 63 new and 33 re-read
• Physical vs. digital: 65 physical and 31 digital
• Non-fiction: 9/96
• Most anticipated: Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston
• Read twice in one year: Bossypants by Tina Fey and The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler
• Worst read*: Probably something by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (I re-read a lot of YA things I read years ago this winter). Not awful as in poorly written (although her first are a little awkward), but very vampire-cliche.
• Best read: The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler

*I can’t put down a book once I start it, even if it’s awful. I HAVE TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS. And even awful books have their moments.

My resolutions for this upcoming year include things about my bed and books, too. See how all these disparate subjects are (awkwardly) coming together? Here’s a probably incomplete list:

• No more eating in bed, even during finals week (!). We have a kitchen table, a couch in the main room, and I have a large and spacious desk in my room. There’s no reason why I need to eat my cereal in bed. Well, I mean, the sheets are warm and comfy. But seriously. No eating in bed anymore. Drinks are still totally okay.
• Read more books than 2011 (at least 97). Also, I’d like to increase the number of non-fiction things I get through.
• Cut back on the Diet Coke (2 servings or less per day) and increase water consumption (at least 2 servings per day).
• More sleep, less naps.
• Get rid of (throw away, donate, recycle, use up, whatever) 366 items, one per day of the year.
• Finish a goddamn crossword puzzle completely. I always come so close, and then have something like 3-10 clues I just can’t get.

So! Yeah. There’s that. Classes start in something like 36 hours, so I’m going to do my best to savor the last free hours… sleep in, be lazy, spend a horrifying amount of time on the internet, and get a nice dinner out (or ordered in) tomorrow. Maybe finish at least the frames for my new end tables. Hope y’all had/are having a lovely weekend!

On our next installment: a long overdue list of Things I Am Loving.

Cute photo op: the dog licking the hand mixer beater after I whipped up the batter for his homemade dog biscuit gift.

I had a few calm days between Christmas madness and New Year’s madness. One of the highlights was the fact that I got to use my new planner, since it started on the 26th. I got it in green and it’s lovely. My dad also finally cut up the boards for my side tables. I haven’t gotten around to sanding them or anything, but it’s progress.

Post-Christmas, I flew north to Portland, had a sweltering, full-heat car ride to Eugene, and hung out with a bunch of friends from college I hadn’t seen for months. I was informed that I made my friend Jess’s theoretical trivia team, which was a big honor. There was an alarming amount of alcohol consumed (including homemade Mango Madnesses, which are the best drink ever created ever from Rennie’s, which was totally our Cheers in college, and amazing times were had by all. New Year’s started out slow and then escalated and suddenly there was champagne being passed around in the bottle, because who needs glasses, and there were loud YouTube videos and sing-alongs, and everyone kind of needed a chill day on the 1st. Awful Chinese food from Safeway was consumed, alcohol was avoided, and the ladies got together in the evening for girls’ night. Here is Alex measuring out the string for friendship bracelets, using herself as a ruler:

So, what comes next? A day or two at home to decompress, a six-hour drive back to LA and school. I have to make up some lists, like books to buy and things to take care of before school starts (downloading PDFs for class and getting fresh batteries for my Bluetooth keyboard), and then it’s time for another quarter of grad school. On the one hand, long lists of readings and essays and other obligations. On the other, sunshine and LA shopping and food trucks. Gotta take the good with the bad, I guess.

Upcoming: 2011 in books (what I read and what was amazing), and resolutions and goals for the next year.

]]> http://karawheeler.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/the-happenings-and-going-ons/feed/ 0 karawheeler IMG_0181 IMG_0216 http://karawheeler.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/merry-christmas/ http://karawheeler.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/merry-christmas/#comments Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:00:18 +0000 karawheeler http://karawheeler.wordpress.com/?p=1924 Continue reading →]]> Merry Christmas! I am busy putting together a crafty gift from my mother: a perpetual  calendar, inspired by this Design*Sponge post, except I’m using full 3×5 cards and chose different scrapbook papers for each month. Here’s a sneak peek at what my kitchen table looks like right now:

There is something a little bit strange about messing around with paper, scissors, and glue sticks at the same table (well, location – we’ve replaced the table since then) at 22 as I did when I was a kid, but it’s a fun little project, with all the pretty papers.

Also, a little bit of link love:

Drunk History Christmas with Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey and Eva Mendes (via dooce)

(and)

Here’s the thing: If you’re using the holiday season to go out of your way to be an asshole to someone, believer or non-believer, you’re doing it wrong, and I wish you would stop. That’s not a war, it’s a slap fight and it’s embarrassing. As a non-believer, when someone says “Merry Christmas” to me, I say “Merry Christmas” back, because generally speaking I understand that what “Merry Christmas” means in this context is “I am offering you good will in a way I know how,” and I appreciate that sentiment. Left to my own devices, I use “Happy holidays” because I know a lot of people who aren’t Christians (or at least Christmas-centered) and that seems the best way to express my own good will; the vast majority of people get what I’m doing and appreciate that sentiment too.

I think most people get the idea that regardless of religion or lack thereof, we’ve designated this time of year as the one where we make an effort to be decent to each other. Accept it. Welcome it. Live it, in the best way you know how. Be tolerant and gracious when others share this sentiment in a way different than you would. Look for what they’re saying means, not just the words they use to say it. It would be a fine way to have everyone enjoy the season.

(from Scalzi via Wil Wheaton)

That’s all I got. I’m gonna write the dates in on these index cards while watching Love Actually before I go out to dinner with the family. Updates will resume at some irregular point after the holidays!