02.13.07
Are you racing around like a lunatic looking for something unique to bestow upon your sweetie tomorrow? Well, it’s too late for gorgeous handmade jewelry from So Charmed (there’s always next year though!), but have you considered your local Trader Joe’s grocery store? No? What’s wrong with you?
After ignoring TJ’s for over a year I returned last weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find vast improvements in their offerings… the produce was WAY better and the gourmet prepared foods were fabulous, creative (eggplant parmesan with filo dough!) and will keep me happliy microwaving for the whole week. But what really hooked me were the unusual and remakably well-priced exotic treats that TJ’s is famous for, such as edible, sort of candied, dried Hibiscus flowers (shown above and below) which have a delicate cranberryish flavor that is truthfully nowhere near as exciting as the visuals… they seriously look like weird aliens. Even run of the mill strawberries were spectacular visually (lots of leafiness and some stems!) and produced a pop of crispy tart-juicy flavor when I finally finished photographing them and served them up for breakfast.
Molly and I have been late to school two mornings running now due to my “need” to photograph foods purchased last weekend at TJ’s. The least I could do was share, right? So, if you don’t have time to pick some up, or you are one of those poor unfortunates that doesn’t have TJ’s, Whole Foods, and an actual old-school Food Co-op fiercely competing for your food dollars, yank these photographic valentines off the blog and pass them on. But you better at least show up with chocolate in person… and I KNOW you have a drugstore nearby so get going, it’s slim pickin’s out there at this point.
Subject: I Heart Shopping, Modern Art
02.06.07
It’s really challenging (but way fun) designing ads for print magazines. The challenge is space… a small fry like me can only afford a couple of column inches. So how do you maximize that space, especially when your ad will be in there with a gazillion and a half other ads? Here are my most recent efforts.
Subject: They Call It Work
02.06.07
I am not, in general, a fan of caged pets of any kind… be they rabbits, gerbils, birds or whatever. It never seems right to me, and living with such a situation would keep me awake at night wracked with animal-rights guilt. So why on earth did I ever agree to become the landlord for a sad-sack bunch of crustaceans? Answer below.
Despite my own moral/ethical dilemmas, there are a few things I end up doing just because the look on my kid’s face will wrack me with worse guilt than having caged pets in my home. I suspect this is the reason most caged pets end up living out their sad-sack lives in suburban homes and backyards all across America. Which doesn’t really make it any better does it?
Such was the case last summer at Rehoboth Beach. Dear readers, I’ll spare you the whiny details, the begging, cajoling and PhD-level manipulation that lead to my purchasing not one, but three crustaceans, and not some dinky mini handbag-sized cage, but the full-on super deluxe Hermit Crab Condo, complete with Egyptian pyramid (a wise decision) and various hippie-dippie hand-painted shells the crabs could move into when they felt inspired to do so (hasn’t happened yet), plus peripherals: hella-bright dayglo stones (something tells me that whoever conceived of the idea of Hermit Crabs as pets was, you know, “on something”), 2 jars of specialized food, spray bottle, driftwood and a Hermie Hut which turned out to be a yet another handpainted hippie-affair, a half-coconut shell with door cleverly carved into it.
We have since cleared half this crap out of the Hermit condo because there was no room for them to walk an inch, but that doesn’t matter really. Because all these creatures do is sleep (see title of post). That is, unless you rudely awaken them (they spend 100% of their time hanging out in the freaking pyramid) which you must do daily in order to spray them or they’ll dry out, and that is just too hideous to imagine. After you bother the heck out of them they will “enjoy” a period of wakefulness for about 7-10 seconds before lumbering back into the pyramid for more of what they love best: Hermitting, Hermitage, Hermittance. I hate waking them up. But it’s the only way to make sure they haven’t kicked the bucket.
The death of a hermit crab is something you never want to experience. One of the three we brought home only lasted about 10 days. I hesitate to share this in any great detail. It was gross, slimy, stinky and sad. It depressed me for weeks. It depresses me just thinking about it and will haunt me for the rest of my life. I suppose an argument could be made that there is something dreadfully wrong with me. I’m TOO SENSITIVE to own pets. Even, or especially, crustaceans.
The fact is, they are extremely fascinating critters and despite everything, I sort of love them. They have this one freaky bigass claw in front, the cutest eyeballs, and you can actually have fun watching them haul butt across the floor or carpet. They move surprisingly lightening fast. They are comical and pretty sweet, unless they get become agitated and pinch you. This produces mad pain and will find you racing for the nearest sink to run your hand (or god forbid other body part) under cold water… the only way to make them raise the white flag and let go. After this happened once (early on, before I understood the limit of their desire for acrobatics) Molly decided she’d pretty much had plenty enough of caring for the crustaceans.
They now fall solely under my jurisdiction. They can die in 10 days or live for 20 years. Parents, be warned.
Subject: Molly's Mom, Uncategorizable
02.02.07
Posting a few portfolio images from my graphic design studio: designfarm. Above: Projects for the American Library Association. I LOVE those librarians. They are seriously the grooviest clients ever. We got to party with them (with over 10,000 of them in fact) at their annual conference in Orlando the year that Complete Copyright was published and it was an amazing fun time. Illustrations by artbabe Jessical Abel, design by Jessica Snyder, art direction by Jessica Jodi “just call me Jessica” Bloom.
Based in DC, so lots of our work is for non-profits, NGO’s and the Feds, various agencies. We’re good, real good. For more info, visit designfarm online. Know someone who needs great design? We’re looking for a few more clients to add to our roster, so hollaback, ok?
Subject: They Call It Work
02.02.07
SYLVIA.
Isn’t that the BEST?! If you’ve been reading this blog, you know the very chicken I’m referring to. If not, see January, about mid-month. After sending a link to Terry, the director of Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, she emailed and reminded me of my plump little friend’s name. I can’t wait to visit Sylvia next Fall. Join us there!
Subject: Uncategorizable
02.02.07
Sometimes my day-job business life is pretty stressful, like this week, when we had a very important press check for a very important project… a day when I really wanted to feel on top of my game, on top of the world and just plain good about myself.
For many DC businesswomen, this would mean a power-suit, but for me, it meant donning a cute outfit that was a mix of pinstriped fitted straight-leg pants and a layer-y jacket with a built-in hoodie (Urban Outfitters… I still love that place), and accessorizing from my massive collection of, well, accessories.
It’s so easy to overaccessorize isn’t it? While I do have a tendency to over-layer clothing (jeans under skirts under jackets with tank tops and t-shirts–oh my!) I actually don’t wear a lot of jewelry during the week b/c I’m so freaking busy and it always feels fussy and bothersome. But that day, I pinned on this adorable handmade flower boutonniere (above) that had just arrived in the mail from Alicia Paulson’s ingenious store Rosy Little Things, along with one of my newer charm bracelets called Bluebird of Happiness (below). I wondered if I’d overdone it, but as I entered the conference room where my staff and the client were awaiting my arrival, I felt a surge of… not power exactly, but goodness. Happiness. Worthiness.
And, as I toyed with a teensy sterling silver Jack charm, staring down past my left shoulder at my wrist, it was clear that the warm feeling of goodness was emanating from the lovely pin, and yes, my bracelet too. Maybe also a little bit from these kick-ass pointy boots I had on, but that’s another post entirely.
Wearing handmade goods is like walking around with a big hug squeezing you. You are saying, well… duh! Didn’t I know this?? I mean, I MAKE handmade goods, don’t I? Yep, I do. So, I can’t explain the epiphany; maybe it was the day, or the particular combination of another crafty-girl’s stuff plus mine. I can’t say for sure.
If you’re thinking that perhaps I’m tooting my own horn here, and asking you to go buy my jewelry, honestly, I’m not. In fact, I’d like to ask you to go visit Rosy Little Things because Alicia is an absolute GENIUS of art, craft, color and design, and her things are full of love.
Support handmade goods, with all your heart (and your pocketbook too). The love will flow back at ya.
Subject: I Heart Shopping, They Call It Work
