je t'aime...

in honor of the season, some DIY valentine ideas:

make these lovely heather honey truffles for your lovelies from readymade magazine.

courtesy of jonathan gregson via readymade.com

go to the love hangover in a city near you to hear love songs of trial and triumph.

cuddle up with a good movie.
tracy's pick - "a star is born"



juli's pick - "harold & maude"



make the smiling superstar card from the always cute shop, the small object.

courtesy of the small object

king kale

for about 2 seconds, i wanted to major in nutrition in college. that didn't last long, but i still love to read about food and wellness. some recent favorites - in defense of food, the blue zones, and quantum wellness.

the usda just announced new dietary guidelines for americans. it seems like a good start. check out mark bittman's nytimes piece on this topic.

i am not vegan or even vegetarian, but i try to focus on plant-based dishes as much as possible. earlier this week i made a kale pesto pasta using a recipe from 101 cookbooks (thanks to juli for introducing me to this site).

photo by heidi swanson from 101cookbooks.com

nothing with goat cheese can possibly taste bad! i added some walnuts and lots of red pepper flakes to the food processor, and it turned out great! the next night, i cooked up some chicken with tomatoes and lemon juice and added it to the leftover pasta. marvelous!

i (literally) just found this blog, 365 days of kale. who knew?! every kale recipe you can imagine. i like this woman already.

read about the incredible health benefits of kale.

DIY fabric

spoonflower, located in durham, nc, is an incredibly cool company that uses digital textile printers to make custom fabric for artists, designers and crafty folk.  you can easily upload your design or purchase someone else's cool creation.  they even hold weekly contests for a "fabric of the week."

here are some of my favorites:

hello llama

clover

they even have calendars!

year of the rabbit                                      birdies

hugh morton

hugh morton is one of the most well-known and influential photographers to hail from the state of north carolina. morton, a noted conservationist, inherited grandfather mountain and surrounding land in 1952 and dedicated much of his life to making it a beautiful tourist attraction.

morton chronicled life in north carolina from the 1930's until his death in 2006. he covered everything from political figures and nature to sports and university life.

a team of archivists with the university of north carolina libraries has been working since morton's death to catalog his 250,000 or so photographs. follow their blog, a view to hugh.

morton with mildred the bear, from grandfather.com

grandfather mountain overlook (1970's - 1980's), from hugh morton collection of photographs and film

grandfather mountain camera clinic (1950s - early 1960s), from a view to hugh

bear cubs, grandfather mountain (1983), from a view to hugh

you know this guy, 1983, from hugh morton collection of photographs and films

jfk addresses nc caucus at the 1956 democratic national convention, from hugh morton collection of photographs and films

(many thanks to my dear friend elizabeth hull for pointing me in this direction)

check out the poster cabaret

i love all forms of art and my walls certainly long for some new art from the poster cabaret in austin, texas.  they have a collective of artists throughout the states with some wonderful work printed on archival paper at affordable prices.  yay!

"i came to get down," 11 x 14 archival print of an original and vintage color paper collage, signed and numbered edition of 100, by hollie chastain.

courtesy of dirk fowler / poster cabaret

"rock and roll," 24 x 18, handmade 2 color letterpress print, edition 90, by dirk fowler.

valentine time

we made valentines at home yesterday from a little DIY project on the lovely creatures comfort blog.  we even made the envelopes which were so cute.  my daughter spent the better part of the afternoon carefully adding a greeting on each card and addressing each envelope.

she was so proud after we finished all of the valentines that she added a heart sticker on the back of each envelope with a flourish.  oh, to be four again.

all photos by juli

a hand-made home

in 2008, my friends greg, a musician, and lorraine, a nurse, set about building their very own mid-century style bungalow. greg got his contractor's license, and with the help of family and friends, they put together nearly every inch of the house themselves. greg milled local lumber for the hardwood floors, installed the roof using salvaged slate, and lorraine tiled the bathroom floor.

they moved in around august of 2009, and have since added 3 chickens and 1 baby to the family.

check out their blog.