furry friends

 Crazy weeks at work in advance of a conference that a colleague and I are hosting...spending my evenings with Chopsticks...

...watering the garden, and, as of yesterday, with Shinnok, the newest addition to our feline family.

<3

green days are here...not again, for the first time

So, it's a new year, and I have a few new things going.  Fairly recently, I jumped on a train of possibly random but likely much-needed energy around changing my diet for the better.  Friends were bringing little bits of things I had heard or paid attention to in the past back into my life and in front of my face, and I decided that there were enough good reasons to pay attention and do something about it.

For a while now, I've known that deep down, really and truly speaking, I should be eating a totally vegan diet.  It's most in line with who I am and want to me, how I feel about food and animals and the way the world works, and has always seemed to be the healthiest option out there.  I have, however, always gotten hung up on a few of my favorite things:  cheese, ice cream, and baked goods (if they come in brown paper packages tied up with strings, all the better).  This time, though, I bought some books, written in a way that works for me and are kind to the grilled cheese lover I am.  While reading about a week ago, I also had a moment that I've never had before, even in all of my thinking about what and what not I would eat...maybe it's okay that this is hard.  Maybe being the healthiest that I can be is worth it.  I love cheese, but maybe I could love something else more.  What if I have been settling for what feels good instead of what would feel better?  Wow!

Anyway...it's all relatively recent, but so far, it's going well.  I'm eating more (though not completely) vegan already.  I've also bought a juicer and started experimenting with green juice recipes.  My chocolate has gotten darker and my coffee has gotten rarer (not rare like meat, rare like less often); though I'm only a week or two in, things are good.  We'll see what happens next!

Dinner tonight--baked sweet potato with homemade cashew, pepper, lime and garlic cream.

Also, snowstorm!

Happy Groundhog's Day!!

le cafe

Today, I have overslept, driven 28 miles to work, tried to unlock the unlocked main door of the office, and stood in a motionless elevator, smelling my Jamaican Me Crazy coffee for several minutes before realizing that the button for floor 3 had not, in fact, lit up when I pushed it.  Also, for the record (and a bit of trivia, if you're into that), I don't usually do flavored coffee, but this morning the description "let the caramel and cognac spirit move you" was too much to resist.

Happy Friday!

summer so far

As far as I am concerned, we still have a bit of heat left to squeeze out of summer here in Michigan.  So far, it's been good to me (as it always is--summer and I are likethis).

I moved across town and in with Brian, the boyfriend/housemate/co-cat parent.  

We set about organizing the newly (and almost completely) renovated kitchen...

Chopsticks (upstairs) and Tron (lurking below) got accquainted.  Tron follows her big brother around like he's the greatest thing ever (and he clearly is).  We headed out of town a couple times, first to Miami...

and then, for the sake of balance, to Frankenmuth, MI.

If you're not familiar, Frankenmuth is home to Bronner's, a CHRISTmas* wonderland/hot mess. (*their emphasis, not mine)

Lately, I've been doing some baking (strawberry rhubarb pie...I always think of rhubarb as an autumn fruit...fruit?  vegetable?...and then am sorely disappointed when it vanishes come September.  Not this year, I caught you, rhubarb!  Ok, that was scary.)...

hanging out with the cats...

he had to be shaved, his cotton candy fur mats up like crazy...wow, he's good looking.

And then, the satisfying conclusion...

The Complete Collection of Lost, delivered to my door and into my arms.  Let the geekdom begin!  ...okay, continue.  

gold on top

Is it obvious that I have not built updates into my routine just yet?  Hmm.

Cleaning the bathroom...great time for some photos.

I spent this morning at an antique expo with my mom, and met at least one vendor with excellent taste.  I also met a pair of 1960s lucite wedges that just had to come home with me...

victorian

Last night, I made a trip to a local antique mall with the boy.  I was shopping specifically for a package of vintage hat netting I had seen and since been inspired by on a previous trip.  I picked that up, and then I came across the latest love of my life...an early 1900s, Victorian blouse/blazer.  Black, beaded, with exposed boning and the loveliest lining.  It's like a gorgeous garment and a sewing how-to in one perfect piece of history.  Bonus--the stitches on the boning are done in bright green thread.  I'm wondering if these might be more contemporary, "maintenance" additions, done in a bright thread to acknowledge that they are not original.  I'll have to look more closely.  I'm trying to balance my desire to wear it everywhere with the reality that it is a delicate piece of history, and should be worn only rarely.  Photos to follow!

he who will save us all

Lost.  (as in, the greatest television show ever made)  Still recovering.

Avedon, just in time

Last weekend, the boy and I went to see the Richard Avedon Exhibition before it left the Detroit Institute of Arts (just in time, it left two days later).  It was lovely, and I spent much of my time lusting after the clothes and hats.
Just a few...

I wore a new acquisition to my collection of vintage hats.  We followed up our DIA visit with a stop at Retro Image, my favorite local antique store, which has just reopened following a long reconstruction after a car drove through its window (!).  I found some great treasure, including vintage lockets, jewelry, and the most amazing 1960s black dress coat, to be pictured soon!

hat-vintage, from Hudson's The Woodward Shops (Dearborn Village Antiques, Dearborn, MI)

dress-Richard Chai for Target

moccasins-Minnetonka

wanted

I need a black bag.  Need, I tell you.  Yes, I know that need is relative, but here is my dilemma:  I am a young, professional woman with stuff to carry around--folders, books, a Macbook, on occasion.  My closet boasts red bags, gray bags, bags with orange trim and flowers...but no classic, large, doubles as a briefcase black bag.  And so, my search:

I initially wanted the Zed from Matt & Nat.  I would include a photo, but I can't seem to make it work and frankly, they fell off my list after a few reviews of the company as lousy employers who make vegan but not eco friendly products.
if you're curious

Next, I checked out ReMade USA, recycled leather bags by Shannon South.  I love these, and my vegetarian/cheese holdout wannabe vegan self is ok with recycled leather.

photo:  remadeusa.com

The bummer here is that these are regularly sold out (good for ReMade!), and I want instant gratification.
On to Ashley Watson, whose bags are also made of recycled leather jackets.  This is the Linnet--purse handles, shoulder strap, mature but me, etc.

photo:  ashleywatson.net

But...I cannot find this bag for sale on the world wide internet computer web.  Before contacting Ashley Watson directly, I undertook an Etsy search to see what I could find, and I think I've found a match:

photo:  etsy.com/shop/paulinacarcach

Handmade by Paulina Carcach, this leather shoulder bag (not recycled, but that is balanced somewhat, for me, by the support of an independent seller) may be the purse/briefcase I've been looking for.  Yes?  Stay tuned!

retrospect: my favorite shoes of the past year

Happy new year!  Of course, we've been at oh-10 for a couple of weeks already, but I've been spending that time in and out of town (for friends and for the job), with a cold (for my head and my nose), shopping (mostly Salvation Army and shoe stores) and sleeping (for my body and my soul).  I've made a pseudo-resolution to shop for clothes exclusively at Salvation Army for the month of January, both to save a few dollars and to challenge myself to buy only treasures I have plucked from racks of obscurity.  So far, it's going well, and I have a much-complimented gray hat and some vests to show for it; however, I've strayed into an antique store with a few clothing racks, and I didn't limit myself on shoes.  Hmm, convenient loophole I've left myself.

In accordance with my love of making lists, I thought I'd select my favorite shoe purchases of 2009.  I did quite a good job of narrowing it down to just three:

most excellent stacked black heels, Irregular Choice

black Joelle boots, Coach (the result of a long "perfect black boot" search)

cutout gray & black oxfords, Jeffrey Campbell (these just barely made the cut--found them in Chicago on 12/30)

The neutrals were much needed.  A new year, new shoes to come.  For now, off to bed.  Bon soir!