What's that white stuff?

Hey y'all! We finally got some snow!

In sidebar news, I now have three trips to Texas planned this year (learned about the latest one last night... yay for more weddings!) I haven't been back that many times in a year, ever. And ironically it's happening a year when the weather is acting much the same between the great white north and the hill country homeland...

GPOYS*

You've met Danica before, here on the blog. Usually in the context of crafts and projects, at which she is a creative genius. She is a full-time photographer, which I admire (and envy, just a little bit). I love her style, her eye for visual storytelling, and her kind soul. We're bartering skills from our day jobs to help each other out, so she came over last week to snap a few shots of me around the house (I needed a new headshot for something coming up this spring). But I especially adore this one from the kitchen:

More of her lovely work here, on her blog.

Thanks, Danica :)

*GPOYS = gratuitous picture of you Saturday (GPOYW = gratuitous picture of you Wednesday, a popular Tumblr phenomenon that I do not normally participate in, being that this is Blogger... ;) )

Watercolors on a Saturday Crafternoon

Spent last Saturday playing with watercolor paints and colored pencils with college girlfriends in the basement while watching Downton Abbey.

Felt like a little kid all day, until we had to do the dishes. Oh, dishes... You are not my favorite thing about being a grown-up.

Recent obsessions

1. Clothes and jewelry in emerald green

2. Words with Friends (find me)

3. Maple and rosemary roasted sweet potato fries. I don't eat them so much as inhale them.

So far as I know, I made them up. So humor me if that's not true :)

Sweet potatoes + olive oil + maple syrup + salt + dried rosemary (ma sends it from her garden in CA)

Make. Eat. Enjoy. You can thank me later.

On the Radio

Knitting night + state of the union on the radio = lots of chatting and not a lot of listening.

In other news, I heart instagram.

Xoxo

Makeover Alert: Cookbook Corner

My recipe binders got a makeover recently, and I finished the final details today. No longer do I have to sort through piles of papers clipped from magazines or printed from blogs!

I'm posting this via phone from my cozy spot on the couch, and I don't know how to caption photos... But it was a pretty straightforward transformation. Pretty, matching fabric binders from Office Max. Special section dividers that have pockets for the smaller recipes. Removable/movable section tabs in case I reorganize the sections down the road when I fill up the existing binders. Number stickers for the spines so that I can quickly identify them on the shelf (numbers are key -- this way, I can add more binders easily, and not be tied to categories labeled on the binder. Right now, #1 is breakfast and appetizers, #2 is soups, salads and side dishes, #3 is main courses, #4 is desserts and #5 is drinks and misc. If I need to add a binder and spread out the sections into 1-6, it's all the more simple to do so. At least, here's to hoping...)

How do you organize loose-leaf recipes? Any tips to share?

Bloggers & Beer

I'm writing this post from (gasp!) a bar. Instead of dealing with a sink of dirty dishes and a pile of tax forms I'm hanging out with some fellow bloggers and digital folk, celebrating the return of Bell's Hop Slam :)

Also of note: I finally got a real smartphone (not a dumb smartphone, aka the blackberry I was hauling around forever). Which means I can instagram and write posts on my phone and all sorts of fun things that are conducive to more blogging than I've been inclined to do lately. Hurrah.

And this is how I'm going to beat away the winter blues.

Xoxo