Kristen Garcia

Recently I have been particularly digging baking things with coarse sea salt (and if a recipe doesn’t call for it, adding more than the recommended amount, rebel rebel). It is so nice to get a little bit of contrasting saltiness in something homey and sweet like chocolate chip cookies (last week) or brownies (yesterday).

I immediately turned into Antieau Gallery in New Orleans a few months back when I saw the sign hanging outside, because I knew just from that that it was a place I would like. Photos don’t do any of the stuff in the gallery justice. (Bryan Cunningham)

The 8th Day, from a pinboard called “sin cara” (fascinating idea), that only took about ten clicks and a copy/paste to find the project/source/artists. Seriously, that’s fantastic for something pinned (or for that matter ffffound) via tumblr. 

Oh darn, one of the many things that I’m distinctly not is a blogger. Tiny rituals like this help me stay sane, though, so I’m going to try to get back to this little thing. It’s very easy for me to feel underwater, and forget the things I like, and like to do. 

Nutmegger Workshop

Honey & Jam: chocolate chip cookies

Evan B. Harris

Old signs! Baking! Forests, artists. Listening to new music and sitting outside and reading and drawing woodgrain. 

I’ve been obsessed with Pinterest lately. It’s like the answer to all my images-I-like plus inspiration-organization-and-saving desires, and it almost solves one of the huge problems I have with people linking pictures, which is a lot of times not being able to track a source or find an artist or designer.

pinterest.com/picapicapie

^ Here’s mine!

Okay, cool. Finally a post the way I intended from the beginning. 

A search for reference pictures for: fox kits > fox babies > Inuit fox art > what followed:

Drawn and Quarterly Bookstore had a post linking that particular photo by William Wegman, but the link was broken. (that copy found on Style Me to the Moon.) A quick scroll down to

a little feature about art duo Tin Can Forest. 

Today I saw District 9 for the first time (image from the Guardian)—totally engrossing. I very much liked the documentary treatment in the first quarter or so, and though the style transition was a little muddled I didn’t really care (it wouldn’t have led anywhere story-wise but I really wanted to see more of the dystopian Johannesburg as far as urban/institutional design, e.g., the sheet targets, the person symbols [see: Walking Men Worldwide]). 

I think I have come to appreciate breaking-the-fourth-wall gore on the camera lens. For the record, I didn’t particularly enjoy it in Children of Men. (I know I’m a sucker.) Potentially inversely related: I am listening right now to Die Antwoord. Times change, people change.

Why I Need to Live in a Forest, Reason 82: I want to listen to birds, and am easily distracted by people’s admittedly mild volume. Boo, I’m going for a bike ride and then to get some chocolate. For it is again time to make the consummate Magnolia Bakery peanut butter cookies, graciously brought to us by Smitten Kitchen.

This felt pillow by Llubav Choy Duer (via design*sponge) is for me especially nice because it seems so accessible. The right degrees of simple and fancy, and not too delicate. 

tori bag by minä perhonen—I typed w in my browser and the url popped up, but I don’t remember having visited it recently, though I do recall saving and failing to label some images months ago from Hello Sandwich and ii-ne-kore. Little serendipities!

Tallgrass prairie in Kansas (via the US National Archives flickr)—what a wealth of history and inspiration in all the national and state archives’ and museums’ flickrs. I like reading historial journalism, especially in the disasters category (why, self?), and these help immensely as far as envisioning people and places and events of really-not-that-long-ago.

Oops, I remember now why I don’t make photosets or text posts. Guess I’ll have to suck it up and make a theme from scratch somewhere else someday soon.

1 Simple Anatomy, Slow Burn by John Byrd (via my catalog of Full & Spare, a ceramics show at FSU’s Museum of Fine Arts)

2 A Gallery of Foxes (via hello jenuine) earlier this year in Uppercase Magazine—apparently Uppercase is capital stuff (do u liek my pun?) and I’m certain I’ve come across specials and art and editions featured in it, but I just never noted it for itself. This is now remedied.

3 Seconds by Jason Miller (via sfgirlbybay)

Happy Autumn! Down here that just means it rains every day. I love rain every day! Fall also means I hate myself anew for moving away from Tallahassee and my alma mater, because I miss not only the people, but the change in weather, and fun, Autumnal staples like Geek Night. Other things like Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming—“Following graduation, a handful of college students do nothing and talk about it wittily”—sitting in my Netflix queue don’t help either.  

To drown my sorrows, or at least splash around in them just enough so that I can still drive home afterward, I might as well go try some of that Southern Tier Pumking that everyone is talking about! 

Oh no, I seem to have gotten into a “mood” and cleared my browser’s cache. That leads to fixing permissions, verifying the disk, and then, the ultimate in autumnal spring computer cleaning: formatting and reorganizing from scratch. Uh oh. I don’t remember exactly how I stumbled upon the last of these, but thank goodness for tabbed browsing and del.icio.us!

Sophia Arnold, via all the mountains

PPcut collection by Furze Chan, via designworklife and ohjoy!

moomah cafe in New York, branding by Apartment One, and them I believe via Brand New (I must have already spent a couple of hours going through this omg), and more lovely photos at decor8 and Kim Cornelison

Sorry. I was working for the Census back there, and drinking some fancy new beers. And moving, and not getting internet until five hours ago. It was a nice experiment going without it, but I think all I really needed to get rid of was facebook. Profit.

David Lebovitz is to food as the Sartorialist is to fashion, I think. But while I’ll always be detached from the latter as I’ll never be fashionable, baking is something I can do, and can work on, and I can drool over chefs and bakers and take notes on places to visit and things on which to nom. (his whole blog, really, but particularly this recipe for salted butter chocolate chip cookies)

I was reading Andrew W.K.’s twitter yesterday for encouragement at work, so I will describe the type on these sweet chocolate wrappers by Nineteen Seventy-Three as party-weighted. (via black*eiffel) I also noticed some notebooks with all-over patterns by Sanna Annukka, very neat.

“Bento Time” is a book about people and their bento boxes. (via ii-ne-kore) It’s tangential, but I am reminded of Spam musubi. I tried, but I don’t think I’ll ever get that.

I went through 1000+ items on my reader the other day, so recent things have stuck in my mind, + we’re getting ready to move a little ways in town (but to a nicer spot) = I especially latched onto these in particular.

Debbie Carlos, via For Me, For You (I’d love to hang this in my new room)

Fog, via For Me, For You reminds me of clouds rolling into Koke’e State Park (one reason to be sad to be at sea level)

Keira Knightley feature in Africa in Vogue, via Coco+Kelley (I tore this page out when I saw it a couple of years ago and, in packing and organizing, found it again recently in my Folder of Imagery for Collaging and Inspiration. This feature is still so pretty, but still it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Now we have vuvuzelas, at least, I guess.)

The Chinese Soup Lady: black (silkie) chicken. I am hoping to find one soon, so that I can try my hand at preparing one.

Pop-Up Adventures by Owen Gatley (via my love for you…)

William Edmonds (via the Made Shop, Public School)

Various jobs and interning, and organizing my life, and getting ready to move have been sort of kicking my butt. It is now hot as what! outside, and my now-main job is driving around and walking around, trying to convince people to answer questions for the government.

For my mother and grandmother’s birthdays I am making chocolate babka (via smittenkitchen). Compared to the other breads I’ve made, it’s epic labor, maybe matched with the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, but one equally of love. The halved recipe still has yielded two loaves. :O

‘reversed volumes,’ bowls molded from vegetables by mischer’traxler, via craftzine

tissue paper pom-poms and luminarias on martha stewart weddings

5 tips for getting the most out of cut flowers, by Claire Lee for Craft: Bloom, via teagan tall

wrapping sheets by kamal, via ffffound

see also:
design*sponge: flower lab, pt. ii

Craft: Celebrate Earth Day with gardening projects

I purchased the aforementioned dress from Anthro and can’t wait to wear it somewhere special. It has the most perfect pockets! I guess the first place I wear it will be made special, so I’d better pick well. :]

I’d also like to note that today I am making brown butter brown sugar shorties (smittenkitchen) and some more pizza dough (bread and honey) to freeze for later. Last week, our most killer delicious pizza was topped with portobello mushrooms, red onion, artichokes, sun-dried tomato, prosciutto, and fresh mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano. Paired with Glee’s Madonna episode, it made for the best dinnertime ever. 

Every now and then an artist seems to make the rounds on blogs. Lately (for me) it has been Sharon Montrose, who takes beautiful and deceptively simple, respectful portraits of pets and other animals, some of whom you might not otherwise give a second thought - lambs, pigs, vultures. (her etsy shop; via my love for you…, craftzine) 

When tagging posts and links for my reader or delicious, I tend to remember content and color most. For the above, animals, colors, muted, monochrome. Something from a smidge ago that I really enjoy: Janis textiles & paper, via all the mountains

The Around the World dress kills me because it’s linen, and lovely, with rick-racky-type twill stripes at the bottom and cute, delicate smocking front and back. I like it lots.

ps. I think it is also worth mentioning that there is a new nest in the bougainvillea, and it belongs to a mockingbird! Yay! There has been quite a bit of singing going on lately around my house.

End credits from Kinamand, a 2005 film about a divorced plumber who marries a Chinese immigrant (this is one of those movies with scenes that are moving photographs)

A still from Lost in Translation, 2003, which has one of my favorite soundtracks

Friends of Type, via oh joy! (see also: Jessica Hische’s Buttermilk font; the first page of Veer’s type section all the time) (These remind me of a font that had a surge of popularity a little bit ago. It is swooshy and contrasty and was I believe used in some in-store M·A·C ads last year. I wonder what it’s called; the thought of it is on the tip of my tongue. eta 9/4, Memoriam)

A Desert Celebration pt. IV, inspired by Georgia O’keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, via Once Wed

And also, going in the background: SolarBeat, via aarondeyoe, is something I wish I could put on an ipod and play ad infinitum.

I’ve finally started transferring music from the external to the computer proper (I relied a lot these past months on public radio, whatever plays at the mall, and various hip-hop/R&B stations on the drives to and from work; why do I do those last ones?). All of this makes me miss WVFS in Tallahassee very much. Listening online, and from far away, just isn’t the same. I miss the top floor of Diffenbaugh building, and volunteering with something so neat. 

I’ve been rediscovering things I liked and like again, and have been working on some new mixtapes for the heck of it (I am not very good at this so it takes me a while); I started a new last.fm as well. 

Monome Greyscale 64, via the last page of lukassuveg, recommended to me via tumblrbot

The Avalanches, Since I Left You, the cd that is always in my car, happily on a list of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade also via the above (see also on youtube Since I Left You and Frontier Psychiatrist)

Katy Horan, who has always done amazing beautiful work, at Domy Books, Austin, TX, thank you to chrkcheung on del.icio.us (I want to take a moment to be belligerent and say it will always be “del-icioh-us!” to me. Hee.)

No-knead bread may be pretty neat, but there is nothing quite like kneading a soft, eggy dough. I’m grateful this week for ceramics class having taught me how to knead, and for healed bones allowing supination and pronation, and for washing things by hand and going outside to leave them to dry and noticing a flat tire sooner rather than later! Hey spring.

taxidermy by Polly Morgan, via teagan tall

Coromandel Cacti’s cultivation guide to succulents and lithops

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at Barbican Centre, London, via voxceleste, recommended to me via tumblrbot.

I’ve typed and linked this entry out at least three times. Come on, tumblr. I’m tired. From being an intern and working at a job (soon to be jobs) that I do not enjoy quite as much. This just means I have to hurry up and finish my not-so-cover letter so that I can go somewhere to do this for dollars. 

Ahem. I miss the Fame-era Lady Gaga. I’ve listened to Boys Boys Boys entirely too much in the past several days; it’s uncharacteristic but totally fun. (see also the Doggie Gaga Project, via buzzfeed)

ohjoy’s ffffound is always a good bet for finding and refinding beautiful things, like confetti system (via bird & banner, see also PartyParty by confetti system on ohjoy!)

Friends of the Institute is two of my favorite people doing silkscreen. I think I finally figured out what to draw for the print they invited me to, well, draw for. Yay!

Because filing taxes for the first time as a very poor adult(!) and as having done contract work(!!) is not that much fun, to say the least, today we are going to make st. louis gooey butter cake(!!!) (smitten kitchen). See also:

hello sandwich: Kichijoji and Koenji, two western Tokyo suburbs

apartment therapy: fake flower “wallpaper” by Front Design (via sweethomestyle), also happening in an incarnation at your local Anthropologie store

paper n stitch: Platypus File house tour

Recently I realized that I need more pom poms and flowers. In pondering my materials, I recalled this neat DIY pom-pom vine (oncewed) made by rifle design, as well as pajaki, Polish paper chandeliers that, literally translated, mean “spider of straw” (wren handmade, another on wren, a couple on freshlyblended, lena corwin).

Laurent Milon (via teagan tall and Craftzine posts)
The video of the rings’ production is adorable and fascinating.

Andean cock-of-the-rock (wikipedia, flickr)

Boar Mountain cake by Emily Miranda (via teagan tall),
who also creates most amazing jewelry.

I put a drawing of a mockingbird in The Florida Show at Bear and Bird in Lauderhill. This Saturday, March 6 from 6pm to 9pm is the opening. So I’m this, yay:

This week too I start my internship! I’m fairly certain I’ll really enjoy it (retail with like-minded people! who like aesthetics!) but this will be a good opportunity to try it out, I think.

l Pulpo!” When Ray Wise says it, it sounds so dastardly. I love it. (What can I say, I really like the show Castle. Also, I just, well, whenever I notice him in something, he ends up being the bad guy. Leland, of course; the manager in this episode; the Rossum executive in Dollhouse — apparently I missed him on Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! so I’ll have to get on that asap.)

heart and craft: inspired
with rafters, Jessica Hirsch’s Daily Drop Caps, invitations, and garlands

oh joy!: a tiny garden in a pothole

Owen Gatley, an illustrator (yay pop-ups! the fun paper kind)
(via my love for you…)

Today was frosting-little-cupcakes and (bread and honey) making-pizza-dough day. Sigh, I’ve got to get over how much sugar goes into frosting, and bake not-mini cupcakes to have bigger things with which to practice (as fun as having a ton of little baked things is).

I’ve always been terrible about writing letters, but last year I found in Anthropologie last year a lovely little bundle of relief-printed notes by Gwen Frostic, and I have been slowly but surely using them. Though she died in 2001, her shop and presses continued, and apparently they were closed in 2009 due to a foreclosure after which Anthropologie made what purchases were necessary to get the shop printing again (via a joyful day). Isn’t that neat?

ONTD: Lady Gaga scarecrow¹

ONTD: Jessica Stam on the cover of the first ever Vogue Turkey²

wedding cupcakes by Blue Cupcake, on flickr

Common Errors in English Usage³

pratt.tumblr.com⁴

My friends Holly and Kevin are engaged, I am so excited for their wedding next year ♥

I’ve had to work longish days the past couple of weeks and didn’t get a chance to bake anything for my sister’s birthday yesterday, but here are some things I am thinking about making:

bread and honey: vanilla cupcakes, rosewater cupcakes

Martha Stewart Weddings: crystallized rose petals

¹sensationalist, but pretty ²that orange marine flatworm-looking embellishment ³related by colorway (lol), many eggcorns and malapropisms ⁴never ends