pictures

so what do you do with the trillions of pics you take with your digital camera? if you're like me you let them grow unchecked on your hard drive until you have a crash of some sort and then lose all of said pics. this happened to me back in january, and i am still hoping that i'll be able to recover those precious, but now, corrupted files. the silver lining i suppose is that after that happened i developed a healthy respect for the backup process and for having a hard copy of those great pictures. so now i regularly backup to CD and my flickr account.

ok so back to the pics. i've always imagined myself creating these wonderful 12"x12" kind of minimalist scrapbooks. i knew i didn't want lots of extraneous color, busy patterned scrapbook pages, or other embellishments, just because i'm not that girl. i love and appreciate other people's scrapbooks but i wanted something that would be simple, quick, informative, and easy to keep current.

the more i thought about it the more i realized the 12"x12" format wasn't going to work b/c i could only fit two 4"x6" prints comfortably on a page and a 12"x12" book seemed kind of unwieldy for a coffee table or bookshelf. so i considered the smaller 8x8" scrapbook but that wasn't going to work either b/c i could really only fit one 4"x6" pic comfortably on a page. i could crop and cut different sized pics but that starts to feel like scrapbooking and trying to fit all the different sizes on a page sounds something akin to working on a puzzle.

what to do?

i finally decided that i liked the compactness of a traditional album - in a space about the size of a hardback novel i can fit 200 pictures (which may be more than a years worth). it's easy to hold and pass around, it won't take up lots of space, and as time as goes on - if you buy the same type or at least uniform size and color - will look great as a series sitting on a shelf. but i still needed to be able to add text.

so here is what i came up with: i edit my pictures with any editing software and add text to the bottom border as opposed to on the image itself partly b/c i love simple black text on white ground but mostly because its easier to read and provides a uniform appearance to your album. i then print them to the conventional 4"x6" size, and now my text is included.



this, my "test" album, is chronological - i just add pix as i go along, but i only add as many as i feel i need to capture and convey the event effectively. for a big vacation that may mean 30 pix; for an outing with friends maybe just 1.



i love this format b/c anyone looking at the album will know exactly what the pic is about. i also decided that any big event, like a trip or big birthday party, will have a "title text pic" that introduces that event within the album.



i am reserving the first two picture slots for (1) the year label and (2) a list of whats included in that album. i am thinking that i may do a special album or two - ie. just pics of me and my husband or once in a lifetime trips or of a special milestone birthday.

i know i must sound weirdly obsessive. my only defense is that since i've started using this format, i actually have an album that i update regularly and thats easy to share :)

banana bread, again

i have tried so many banana bread recipes in the last few years, but i am never that happy with the results -- too dense, not moist, not enough banana flavor, whatever. but this past weekend i found myself with some really ripe bananas and i decided to try again. so i searched the web, checked the ratings, and still came back to a recipe i have tried before. except NOW it had 2300+ positive ratings - 800 more than the last time i used it! i decided that if 2300 people loved it, it's got to be pretty good and probably deserves a 2nd chance. so i followed it to the letter -- but i omitted the crumble topping. so how was it the 2nd time around?



absolutely perfect -- the holy grail of banana muffins -- my search has truly ended. they were incredibly moist and fluffy - just all around amazingly yummy. i think the difference this time was that i made sure i used fresh baking soda and powder, and i was careful not to overwork the batter. they just came out beautifully. and i love them as muffins as opposed to a loaf b/c i think they're just cuter that way :)

dal

i made some dal as part of my weekend cooking extravaganza. dal is basically a thick lentil soup from india. there are so many types of lentils, but this dal was made from these two types in equal parts. i'll try to find out what the names of these lentils are and post it here later.



it was really easy - just add lots of water and cook the lentils, and in a separate pot brown lots of onion, ginger, and garlic. add it to the cooked lentils, and season with salt and garam masala. this is how i like it - with sour cream, scallions, and a serious chili pepper.

the last of april

so here it is the last week of april. for most people the summer sunshine can't get here fast enough -- a sort of " yeah, yeah, we put up with the april showers lets get to the may flowers already..." type of thinking. but before we leave this month that i love so much - i wanted to share some of my current favorite rainy finds. maybe they'll give u reason to reconsider the raindrops :)

a rainy day piggy bank -



a little girl in galoshes print



a zipper pull -



an artsy photograph -



a necklace with a gentle reminder for all of us -




some almost painfully cute wellies -



and my favorite for those of us who just love rain for itself :)

stir fry

i did a lot of cooking over the weekend and this was a quick stir fry i made while i was cooking all my "big" stuff.



1 cup sweet chili sauce
2 T soy sauce
2 T oil
1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
1/2 cup snap peas

mix chili sauce and soy and set aside. heat oil in skillet, stir fry veggies until crisp tender, add chicken and chili sauce soy mixture, heat thru. serve over rice or rice noodles.

my purse

this has been my everyday purse for almost 2 years and last night, with heavy heart, i retired it. i know its hard to look at, but i love it b/c it was, and still is, my most complicated sewing project to date.



click on the pic to see the details.

i cut it, sewed it, added the funky fabric border, figured out how to make and add straps, made those professional looking X's where the handles attach to the bag, and lined it. and after about 6 hours of working on it, at 2am my mom told me how proud she was of me, and that she loved it, and said it definitely needed a zipper, and helped me put one in. when i took it to work the next day my friends -- who are fantastic seamstresses -- said it was cute and i was thrilled. but after almost 2 years of constant use, it looks pretty worn but it doesn't have a single rip, hole, or loose seam. but i guess i still have to give it up, though i can't throw it away, and i actually may still wear it from time to time. i love this purse something crazy.

this is my new everyday purse (do you hear that? its a collective cheer from family and friends) it has no sentimental value - was only $10, but its cute, pink, and summer-y. i think i can copy the pattern and it's a perfect match with my to-do notebook.

hmmm

what do u think of this art print? i'm liking it in spite of myself. i don't quite get it, but it makes me smile. i like his curls and the 4 little condiment jars. i am very drawn to the detail and watercolor effect of the cart and trying to figure out why he is less detailed. maybe i like it b/c it reminds me of botero. it can be found here where i already bought this and this and am still kicking myself b/c i missed out on this.

moonlight tour of dc

ok, so the walk didn't quite go the way i had envisioned. i was so excited b/c i had been wanting to do it for about a year. we got there on time and the walk started, and within a half hour my calves were hurting so bad, i couldn't keep up. the tour guide was just going too fast for me - and that's more my own fault for being so out of shape. so my friends stayed back with me and we had our own version of a moonlight tour on the mall. it was still fun with the beautiful moonlight, and the washington monument all lit up.

this was right in front of the monument, can't remember what it's called, but it is a historically significant survey marker -



we saw a segway tour, pam wanted to hitch a ride -



the monument at dusk -



the capitol building as we headed back from mc donalds. thanks for taking pix stephanie!

happy weekend

the weather looks great this weekend - we may even get a thunderstorm! the farmers markets are opening up and its craft show season. they're having a nice one in richmond this weekend.

tonight i'll be doing the monuments in the moonlight walking tour in dc, and i'm really looking forward to it - i just hope i'll actually be able to complete it! hope u have a great weekend :)

yummy antioxidants

everyone knows that pomegranates are good for you.

movies i've watched b/c i don't watch movies

i keep saying i'm not a movie person yet i keep watching movies. in 3 days i watched:

• margot at the wedding
• elizabeth the golden age
• jane austen book club
• rendition
• juno
• broken english
• my beautiful laundrette
• love in the time of cholera
• romancing the bride
• novo

foodie

my new brother in law loves andrew zimmer and wants to try all that the world of food has to offer. the higher the "ick" factor - the more he is entranced. this past weekend while we were at a great ethiopian restaurant, talking again about his foodie-ness and taking some general pix, i mentioned to my sis that maybe they should document all his culinary adventures in an ongoing "foodie scrapbook". she thought this was a great idea - and here is what they say will be the first pic.

a dream in doubt

on sunday night i went with a friend to see a a special screening of the award winning film A Dream in Doubt at busboys and poets in washington dc. it was such an important and thought provoking film about hatred, misunderstanding, family, and the power of the american dream. if u get a chance u should definitely watch it.

synopsis from the website:

“A Dream in Doubt” is an immigrant story in a world in which patriotism has morphed into murder. When Rana Singh Sodhi’s brother is killed in America’s first post-9/11 revenge murder, he begins a journey to reclaim his American dream and fight the hate that continues to threaten his community. This intimate, hour-long documentary of one man’s odyssey from persecution in India to embracing America as his homeland proves that courage and hope have the power to overcome hate."

ribbon sheets

i trimmed a plain white sheet set with a cute ribbon i had on hand, and it was such an easy, fun project. just enough color for my minimalist sensibilities. my sister is coming up for the weekend and i think this is cute for the guest bedroom.

graceful

i think she looks amazing. she emanates such an air of style, grace and refinement. i can't think of the last time i was this impressed with a woman's image in a magazine. i wish i was her.

naturals

i bought these body sprays last summer, but only started using them recently, and i gotta say - i'm really liking them. they smell so good - fresh and clean - don't contain anything unnatural, and unlike some other body sprays - they actually have staying power. and i think they've won some beauty awards recently.

stonewall

like i said before, i'm not a wallpaper person, but just last night i saw another (!) cool one while flipping through a british design mag. its also from graham & brown and its called stonewall. its very photo realistic, and not too expensive. i can totally see this on one wall in an all white bedroom...

etsy's the best

here are my 2 most recent buys from etsy: a vintage cotton ribbon to trim some sheets for my bedroom



and a cute japanese print with the best little sentiment.

happy april !

i don't know why i love the rain - it might be the indian in me - anyone who knows indian culture knows how they love rain - so here's a little more bollywood (don't worry - this isn't going to turn into a bollywood blog :)

barsaat ke din means "the days of rain"