lovely cookbook, lovely chef

by juli, courtesy of newsobserver.com

andrea reusing of lantern in chapel hill, nc, will release a lovely cookbook called "recipes from cooking in the moment" april 5th.  the book includes andrea's trips to the farmer's market, shelling crabs with family and friends and beautiful food shots that accompany recipes.  i have photographed andrea over the years and she is such an authentic person who cares for her craft.  this book is definitely one to add to the shelf.  see pages from the cookbook at scribd or read a great article about andrea from september 2010 in food & wine.

 

by juli, courtesy of newsobserver.com

what does pi sound like?

today, march 14, was officially pi day!

a few days ago, my husband's friend marcelo sent us an incredible video of musician michael john blake's musical representation of pi.  marcelo is brazilian and unlike anyone i have ever met.  he has the sweetest spirit and ends every sentence with "my friend."  plus, my husband says he is one of the most immensely talented musicians he knows.  marcelo came to america to study music and earned a master's in jazz performance at georgia state university.  now he teaches music at his kids' school in brazil.  a noble career choice.

this was also featured on npr today.  check it out...

i love it so much. people assume that music and math are 2 ends of a spectrum. not so. as a musician, i am always thinking about beats, patterns, and timing.

another cool example of music in the natural world...

dog love.

"like a photograph, she cannot say what she lets me see.  she is an embodied secret." - jonathan safran foer

franny takes her turn in the photo booth, by juli

i am a lover of dogs.  i have had a dog or two or three...at almost every point in my life since i was a baby.  they are my companions, of course, but they awaken me to living: my sense of humor, play, compassion and intense loyalty.  my own daughter was brought home to a pack of large dogs and i made all the humans wait outside so that my pups could meet their new tiny person in peace. 

i added a new dog to our pack a little over a year ago.  she is the scruffiest little squirrel monkey dog you could conjure and her name is franny.  she was chosen by my daughter on petfinder and brought to us via a rescue dog transport from memphis. it was a dramatic entrance which included her appearance on the discovery channel (for three whole seconds) and i must say she is the most unique little creature i have known.  she is also absolute love to my daughter.  franny tolerates being dressed in clothing, runs alongside my daughter's bike and spoons at night.  (she actually climbs up the stairs of the treehouse bed.)  she sits still for whispered secrets and dances at our entrance.  the love and friendship of a dog is a special thing and is such a lovely piece of my own childhood...it is a delightful thing to witness all over again between tula mirth and franny as they gracefully bridge the gap between human and canine.

bike ride, by juli

a double-wide and a shipping container. home sweet home.

i love homes.  i love the beauty of an old house and the minimalism of a modern one.  i love tree houses and barns and airstreams.  i had a friend who once lived in a caboose which was converted into a home with a small kitchen and bathroom.  oh, how i envied him!  every time i stepped inside, that caboose took me back to a favorite childhood book, "the boxcar children." 

i grew up with two big brothers who also happen to be architects and some of this love certainly comes from them.  they taught me that not all houses are homes and that one could take a shipping container or two and turn them into an awesome home.

so with that, i'd love to share a couple finds from small house style which is about small houses, but also innovative design.  i found two lovelies from texas tonight including this double-wide which was converted into a pre-fabricated sustainable cabin built by urs peter flueckiger with his students at texas tech university.

courtesy of small house style

and the second is a converted shipping container (with a rooftop garden!) designed by jim poteet.

courtesy of chris cooper for dwell

how to care for introverts

i found these nice care instructions via dorothy joy while scavenging about on pinterest. very applicable to kids and adults!  i am introverted and always interested in where others fall on the introvert-extravert continuum.  my husband is so extraverted!  he can talk to anyone about anything, which just amazes me. i like people, but need some alone time to recharge and get back to myself.
  
i am wondering if blog readers are an introverted lot...

i hope you enjoy a leisurely sunday, whether alone or surrounded by loved ones!

(beautiful violet bella photo for sale on etsy and pinned by christina)

oh anthropologie

courtesy of anthropologie.com

the newest anthropologie catalog is beautiful, as usual.  i find rooms that i could only dream of within its pages and try to halfway mimic via my country flea market haunts.  i ran across an open letter by anna mantzaris to anthropologie yesterday via mcsweeney's and, well, it just sums it all up.

"Your little catalogue comes careening into our home every three weeks and suddenly I am dissatisfied with my life. Happiness flies out the window (sans Persian Velvet Curtains). You make me angry with my loving, live-in boyfriend, unhappy with our adorable dogs, and dissatisfied with our sprawling, albeit ramshackle, flat...

So after months of longing and lamenting, I took action. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I made a pilgrimage. I braved the train, the crowds, the drizzly weather. I entered your doors and I stood directly in front of your Cooled Lava Dress (Oh, how very cool it was). I visited your Bay-of-Smoke Jacket. (You knew I always wanted to go to the Bay of Smoke!). Standing on your faux-sanded wooden farmhouse floors, amongst your clusters of light bulbs turned avant-garde chandeliers, I realized I've done it all wrong—the liberal arts degree, the MFA, the low-paying publishing jobs, the erratic freelancing and adjunct teaching..."  read the full letter here.

displaying kid art

i am working on my daughter's corner of the living room where i would like to create a gallery wall of her art over her desk.  i have found so many beautiful walls in my online travels and i certainly favor the look of frames although they may be a bit more confining for a rotating gallery.
aren't these walls engaging?

via Staci on Pinterest

there is the option of the wire curtain rod (which we have used) but it is not always pleasing as the art tends to sag pretty quickly and ends up looking messy like our refrigerator.  however, ohdeedoh does give nifty directions on a diy ikea wire curtain rod which is tempting.

courtesy of ohdeedoh

removable gallery corners from petit collage could pin down art but also make it easy to rotate at only $18 for a sheet of corner decals.

courtesy of petit collage

martha stewart provides diy instructions for a "wonder wall" which are made with magnet boards and foldout canvas walls.

courtesy of martha stewart

another idea that i ran across via opal never shouts is a graphic poster made from several scanned images of your child's art.  pretty clever and it could also make a great gift for grandparents.

courtesy of opal never shouts

make a wall mural with diy instructions via readymade magazine.  definitely not for a rotating gallery, but still pretty awesome.

courtesy of readymade magazine