again with the farmer's market ?!?

i know, i mean how much could you possibly care about my farmer's market?

but i bought these yesterday and didn't exactly know what they were or how i was going to cook them. so i looked up "squash" and found out that squash is firstly either summer squash or winter squash - according to the season in which it's grown. obviously, this being late august, these are summer squash. further investigation revealed that the 3 globular ones are called "eight ball" and are just a differently shaped zucchini and the funny little yellow one is called a "pattypan." to know this squash trivia was weirdly important to me.

oh, and happy labor day!

announcement - NIE NIE DAY

i just found out that a fellow blogger, stephanie nielson and her husband christain, were in a plane crash last saturday and are in critical condition and facing months of recovery.



in response to this tragedy design mom has so generously organized nie nie day, an online auction where so many bloggers have lovingly donated their items and services so that 100% of the proceeds can go to help the nielson family in their recovery. currently there are 165 items up for auction - great things like an autographed guitar by maroon 5, and tons of other items ranging from artwork to hi fi baby strollers to custom blog templates. i bet if you look at the list you will find something you just love and can't live without :)

i will definitely be taking part in the auction. maybe you can too?

foyer

last night i was sitting in my living room, waiting for a friend to arrive, and really looking at my foyer. i was thinking about how i could make it cuter - and i actually thought about painting it a light pink. so i googled some ideas and found this cute little modern feminine foyer. it's probably about 36" wide by 18" deep which is a really small space to work with, but it looks so tidy and useful. and i like the grayish brown neutral ground with lots of white and hits of girly pink.

and that umbrella is seriously sweet.



image from canadian house and home.

winecharm

i made these initial wine charms for some friends - i thought they turned out really cute.

watermelon salad

i finally got around to making elise's watermelon salad and it was so insanely good. i made enough for 4, but ate it all in an afternoon.

special quality

i've been thinking about this pillow all weekend. i love the minimal colors and the scooter and advertising style are so india cool. if i had a dime for every time i heard "special quality" in a store when i was in india...

strangely satifisfying smoothie

i made this smoothie for breakfast today. wasn't sure how it would taste, but i ended up liking it. just add the following to a blender and hit the highest setting.

handful sliced cantaloupe
handful blueberries
3/4C milk (i normally use yogurt)
1T honey

whenever fruit is in high season - right now in baltimore it's peaches - i buy it, peel it, slice it, and freeze it. and then use that as my "ice" in my fruit smoothies. you get WAY better frozen fruit that way - i'm never happy with the frozen fruit bags in the store.

lordy

there are some beautiful offices over at pottery barn. the last one is my absolute fave. definitely click the pix to see the bigger versions.

containers for the commitment phobic

change your labeling at whim with glass containers that have a chalkboard label. from pier 1.

farmers market

just got back from the catonsville farmers market - such a haul for $16! got lots of green and red bell peppers, anaheim chilis, white baby eggplants - never made those before so we'll see how that goes...

oh my gosh and the tomatoes! so sweet! literally almost like candy - and they have that awesomely special - but hard to describe - summer sunshine tomato taste :) i forget the name of them - but i just had a serious *bunch* of them for lunch. and the zucchini was *huge* - like some crazy genetic anomaly. check 'em out - that's a dime for scale.

currently coveting

in the recent issue of everyday they tested a bunch of ice cream makers and of course i had to read that article and now all i can think about is buying this -

and making insane amounts of this.

knock knock

who's there?
dwain.
dwain who?
dwain the tub, i'm dwowning!



another great - and this time affordable! - item from moma.

giveaway winner!

is strawberriesinparis - comment no. 9!



sorry i forgot all about this - i just picked the number a few minutes ago - but anyways - CONGRATULATIONS!

everyone else - thanks for playing along - i hope to hold another giveaway soon :)

cool cup

if you like fun science trivia and love to cook, this is for you.

cute

check out this cute little doormat on clearance at pier 1 for $13. i've had coir doormats before and they don't really hold up, so i'd say this would be great for a covered porch or *perfect* for a special occasion like diwali!

cool tool

my cuz sent me this cool link that finds a good meeting point midway between you and a friend. so you'll be able to save time and gas, and still be a good buddy that keeps in touch :)

"the small pleasures of morning"

is what this little french bowl translates to - with it's cute little illustrations of croissants and eggs and tarts - it's perfect for a simple but sweet awakening :)

*and dont forget this!

celebrate!

this coming friday is india'a birthday, and over there on your birthday the custom is to give all of your friends a treat - so in honor of that, and as a "thank you" to all who visit me here at house no. 8, i'm going to have a celebration giveaway that includes some of my favorite things! i won't tell you exactly what they are but you can click on the image above to get an idea :)

just leave me a comment, just to say hi, and on friday i'll draw a name at random and announce the winner! good luck - this is going to be fun!

score!

$1.50 versus $15!

so good salad

went to a friend's house for dinner last night and she made one of the best salads - i came home and googled the dressing and found out it's a multiple award winner for almost 8 years in a row!

currently coveting

this adorable little tote by belle and boo.

sweet cakes

i love this little cake pan because it doesn't look too difficult to decorate - it's pretty detailed so it looks like you can skip the frosting and just stick on some candy pieces. it's finally back in stock over at williams sonoma, where i hung out too long and also found this.

sweet

i love the idea of framing wonderful old letters. the only thing is i might frame color copies and keep the originals somewhere safe.


image from pottery barn.

building a better tomorrow

i really like these babel blocks from moma. they're supposed to represent the different ethnicities present in the city of new york -- as a way to teach kids about diversity. i'm kinda wondering though - did raj miss the train?