cauliflower soup w bacon & parmesan

Check me out!  Already posting a new recipe for the month.  We've tried a few others too, which I'll add if they make it into regular rotation.  This one is for sure going to be repeated.  Soooooo good!

oh, january

I had all these great intentions of writing a Happy New Year post full of positivity and good intentions for 2013, but that just didn't happen.  And then I thought I could turn it into a happy birthday to me or things to do before I'm 30 post, but I missed that too.  (We did have a lovely dinner at Deuxave though.)

If I had written either of those posts, I would have made some sort of commitment to writing more often.  I'm glad that I wrote nearly twice as much in 2012 as in 2011, and I'd like to continue that trend.  Without writing nonsense, of course.  I know some of you are still checking in (I see the pageviews!) so I will continue to write.  I appreciate your stopping in, I do!

So let's make that some sort of a not-quite-new-year's resolution.  Here are some more / my 2013 to do list:

1. Write more.  Make it good.
2. Take better photos.
3. Try at least one new dinner recipe each month.  (We made chickpea soup last night - already accomplished for January!)
4. Bring a guest contributor on board.  (Shhh it's a surprise!  More details to come)
5. Keep that orchid alive.*
6. Finally actually post about Barcelona and Paris.  
7. Try rearranging the bedroom sometime this year.
8. Bring more color into our home.
9. Spend more time with family. 

I know a lot of that is ambiguous and relative, but I'm ok with that.

Good news: I already have a leg up on #7 - trip next month to Calgary / Banff to visit my sister!   Wee!


*This lovely orchid was a surprise from Adam in early December.  It's doing well so far but I think I was watering it too often.  If you're super perceptive maybe you noticed the print in the background on the left actually moved up to the entry.  The print on the right took its place.  A less-official #10 (or spin on #8): Hang more art!

oslo

Remember how I was agonizing over what to do with the entry?  Agonize no more.  Meet Oslo:


We spent months going to Crate & Barrel and petting this Oslo Bar Cabinet.  The dimensions were pretty much spot on for what we were looking for and the closed storage was perfect.  This thing was never going to go on sale, but there was finally a Black Friday / Cyber Monday deal, plus we scored some free shipping thanks to the lovely saleslady (and a little bit playing we are young and poor but have expensive taste).

Oslo finally arrived this morning and we eagerly stuffed it with things we need to grab on the way out the door - umbrellas, gloves, sunglasses, etc. - plus stuff that just needs to live somewhere like batteries and my sewing kit.

Remember how it used to look like this?

I sold that table last weekend.  Craigslist tip: always post quality photos.  Even though it never looked like this in real life, these are some of the staged photos I posted:

Wanna know a secret?  I bought that table off of Craigslist 2 years ago for $65, and it was delivered to me.  I sold it last weekend for $100.  I think I actually could have gotten more, but was just happy to have it out of the way because our new friend was coming in.

Look how pretty now!

I borrowed the framed print from the dining nook (there's something else in the works for art there) and the horse was gifted by my mom.  Thanks Mommy!

a christmas time of year

I gave in.  We have a real tree this year.

I will admit it looks nicer than last year's, although the headache factor of getting it all set up was much higher (needles everywhere, sawing off sappy branches, automatic water-er leaking on the floor, etc.)

But we had a lot of fun with DIY ornaments!  Pulling inspiration from Sherry at YHL, we grabbed some plain glass ornaments from Michael's plus glitter, feathers, paint, and ribbon.  I also made some origami stars.  Check it out!





We also grabbed some furry friends from Crate & Barrel to join in the fun:

london {photodiary}

I've finally sorted through pictures from London!  This is some blend of a photodiary and a (too detailed) account of what we did - maybe it will be interesting to you, but mostly it's so I don't forget what we did.  I hadn't been to London since a family trip around 1999, so it was certainly a treat to explore once again.  Overall it was wonderful.  I got rained on some and wasn't quite prepared for the cold, but loved it nonetheless. 

//Sunday - Tuesday
As I mentioned a few weeks back, I had a few days of work to put in and then had 2 days to play on my own while Adam finished up work stuff.  So for both of us, these days were work during the day + dinner and wandering at night.  




A certain favorite was Byron Hamburgers, recommended by my brother and his wifey, who used to live in London.