colorful everyday

today i'm road tripping to san francisco for a long weekend with mum, dad, and the little bro--and i'm looking forward to some days full of laughter, food, and sunshine.

i'm amazed at how quickly "daily posts" (which i'm all excited about!) are lost in the shuffle of full, busy, good everyday life. for the moment, i'm okay with being distracted by the offline world--but i'll be back with more here soon...

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr

listening to: two coins by dispatch (listen)

composting adventures

recently i went to a free composting workshop hosted by the city of Los Angeles (along with my food&craft&newmedia-loving friend alex of viva.le.mani). these workshops are offered once a month for LA residents and give a helpful overview of the art/science of urban composting. plus, they offer super deals on a variety of composters at city-subsidized prices. (i got an earth machine composter for $20!)

when i was growing up, my family always had a compost in our backyard, so the practice wasn't foreign to me. but doing it in the city seemed a bit more intimidating, so i really appreciated the boost of confidence from this little workshop.

a few new-to-me tips that i took home...
for a healthy compost, be sure to keep a 50/50 balance of browns-to-greens. not enough browns? try adding some shredded newspaper. to keep away critters, never include anything that was cooked in oil/fat. and to keep away fruit flies, bury new fruits and veggies under the old compost in your bin. and if it starts to smell funky, you're doing something wrong! i'm still getting started myself--so for more details, check out the LA city composting guide.

and let me know if you have any composting adventures or tips to share!

listening to: let it be me by ray lamontagne (listen)

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr

reviving the succulents

one of my new "at home" resolutions is to be a better plant keeper. in the past two years, allison & i have brought a lot of little plants into our home--especially succulents (and many from trader joe's, because we were charmed by their cute & colorful pots). we've only lost a few, but thanks to chronic pests and overdoses of sun/water, most of the survivors have been living at about 60%.

so in an attempt to save the succulents, i spent a long, messy morning last week cleaning and pruning and, in the end, cutting them up for parts. (check out this intro to propagating succulents for more step-by-steps.) currently, all the plant bits are drying on my windowsill. now i have to buy some rooting hormone (sounds a little scary) and special potting soil to get the new little plants started.

and to battle future pest attacks, i'm thinking of trying neem oil or food grade diatomaceous earth--or maybe a special plant spray from whole foods? not really sure about this. let me know if you have any ideas!

hopefully in a few weeks, our indoor plant colony will start growing again, and with some ongoing TLC, i can keep them thriving at 100%. fingers crossed...

listening to: somewhere over the rainbow by israel kamakawiwo'ole (listen)

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr

the days of the week

in the hopes of posting more regularly, i've decided to experiment with some weekday "themes." so after lots of mulling over what i think about and write about and do about town, i've settled on this series of "themes" in the most general sense of the word...

monday : the city
tuesday : at home
wednesday : sustainability
thursday : food & drink
friday : creativity

plus miscellaneous posts about my love of libraries and reading lists.

hm, is there anything else i missed?

additions and subtractions and exceptions are to be expected.

listening to: reckoner by radiohead (listen)

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr

interview at the haystack needle

jen at the haystack needle just posted a little q&a with me for her green swap series. jen's blog is one of my favorite daily reads, so i was more than happy to share a few thoughts with her on simple ways that we can live a little greener.

throughout the month of april, the haystack needle is featuring a series of interviews with green experts and bloggers. i'm excited to read more in the next weeks.

thank you, jen!


:: silly photobooth strip from my office holiday party

weekend sun & sunprints

i spent a lot of time in the sun this weekend: in my backyard, at the farmer's market, on my bike, across town, and outside some great echo park coffee shops. i love that summer in LA starts in april.

i finally played with some sunprint paper that i had bought a few months ago. this simple photo paper captures the shadow of objects in bright light. it's a fun art/science that is perfect for a sunny afternoon. i experimented with an assortment of buttons, bread tags, and backyard plants for some simple little prints. check out more inspiring sunprints at anna atkins and boomslice and rinneallen.

hope you took advantage of some sunshine over your weekend.

listening to: rebel rebel by seu jorge (listen)

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr