Afros and/at instcare

My hair. My poor hair. I don't care about how much my boyfriend dislikes it or the weird looks I get in public, sometimes I just have to have an afro. On Wednesday night Sarah kindly (and gently, I'm so tender headed) put my hair into sponge curlers. It's a nostalgic activity for me honestly. I think back to the hundreds of times my mom, and sometimes dad, would wrangle my hair into pink sponge curlers. I've always had such a tender head and I know I gave them hell if they made one wrong move. I try not to yell at Sarah but of course I do occasionally.

 I owned that Afro. As with most things in life, if you carry yourself with confidence you too can rock an afro. I may have been a little too confident though because I had a little accident. We went to my friend Chantelle's house for a friendly gathering and as I was stepping out of the car and onto the curb.... my foot just slipped off the curb. I wasn't even doing anything. Just poof, you're falling. Mostly it was embarrassing but my friends were kind and gave me some ice and I managed to have a lovely evening anyway. The next day when I woke up and stepped out of bed I basically collapsed. My foot had puffed up and swelled overnight. I tried to shake it off and go to work anyway but I started getting scared that I may have broken something. Sarah, my life saver, took me to the instacare (and wheeled me around the empty waiting room while giggling) and the X-Rays said nothing was broken. That's a relief! I'm still hobbling around a bit but the pain is lessening.

 

Having an afro at instacare makes everything in life seem a little more ridiculous. 

Take care. 

Lately

Summer seems like the perfect time for parties and for friends to gather just for the hell of it. I have made some wonderful new friends and am closer than ever to my good old ones. Even though it's warm outside I can't stop turning on my oven to bake. I hate showing up to a party empty handed, I just can't do it.
A few of my recent cakes....

 Of course I have a cat shaped pan. What did you expect?

 

A girlfriend of mine requested red velvet cake for her birthday and I immediately frowned but knew that I had to do it. Red Velvet is so... overrated. It has a special name and it lures you in but really it's not worthy of being your BIRTHDAY cake!  I made it, she loved it, the end. 

I didn't take a photo of it but just yesterday I made my dad a coconut macadamia carrot cake and it was delicious!! I'll post the recipe for you soon. 

Take care. 

alive

I am still alive and well. Doing things and going places.

Lots of brussels and kitties in my life.
 

 Silver Lake. Still frozen.

Dead Horse Point.

 Sultry Cooper

 Family

North and South Window Arches

One year ago....

I went on a date with this beautiful man... and the rest is history.



He makes me laugh every day and reminds me that I'm beautiful in my ugliest moments.

what vegetable do you hate?

Last night I made this amazing dish:

"Eggplant and arugula salad"

I've made it a few times before and it is always just as good as I remember. Eggplant scares a lot of people. My boyfriend wont touch it. He doesn't like popcorn, brussels, or celery either though so he's the weird man out. I didn't take many pictures but just trust me. It's a super fast, fairly healthy meal. No carb, for all my freaky friends out there.

Eggplant, pre-oven.

Eggplant and arugula as my leftovers today:



Kevin came over with some fresh baked bread last night and it went perfectly with the eggplant.



Look how pretty it is! I wish I could make bread like that. Kevin used to work at a bakery "back home" so he has some awesome skills. He always says "back home" but he has lived so many places i'm never sure where exactly he means. He's a good friend and i'm glad he's here.

Stay happy everyone!

book, thrift, learn new things

I picked Oscar Wilde's classic book The Picture of Dorian Gray for our book club. I knew I had seen a copy on my moms bookshelves and it turned out to be a really cool copy!! It is larger than most hardback books and it has really beautiful, kind of eerie, illustrations in it. Very excited to finish this one!


While I was at my moms I decided I want to learn how to embroider. She inherited these amazing iron on appliques from her mom and as soon as I saw them I knew I needed to learn this new skill. I think most of the appliques are intended to be used on pillow cases or nice towels but since its my first go at embroidery I thought I'd do something I could frame, if it turned out. I've been watching my mom embroider, and cross stitch and needle point since I can remember. I loved hearing the sound of the needle pop through the fabric and the slide of the floss as it came through. I have always been amazed at the things she makes. More often than not she is making a stitchery for someone else. All of our neighbors and friends homes have something done by my mom hanging on the wall. She uses her talents to make wonderful gifts for people, how cool is that?

There were so many colors of floss (this is just a few boxes) it was hard to choose what to do.
The iron on came out bright pink and the floss covers most of it up so that's good.
I'm a little tea pot do de do.

While thrifting recently Sarah found this amazing shirt and excitedly brought it over to me, insisting that I buy it. I love it.

life in a jar

My soul mate makes these amazing terrariums. You can buy them. They make wonderful presents for any occasion. They brighten up your desk and make a good centerpiece for a kitchen table.




I know you want one.
So, email sarahmcanderson@gmail.com and tell her what you fancy as far as jar shape and size or any specific colors you want to see.