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

the love of glass jars

recently, my mom and my aunt had a shared revelation: they both suffer from (but mostly celebrate) The Love of Glass Jars--the insatiable need to buy, scrub clean, and save any neat glass containers that they find. as their collections build, the jars are repurposed to store food, buttons, art supplies, and collections of all kinds. my auntie phyllie's latest glass loves are the "nice little squat" jars that, in a past life, held salsa. in their new incarnation, they live on her bookshelf displaying this awesome rainbow of colored pencils.

i know this love well myself, as there are rogue jars tucked into every cabinet of our apartment kitchen. too many times, i've bought grocery store items solely because of their containers (the food is like a bonus prize!). spega yogurt jars are one of my favorites.

someday soon i will post photos of our infamous kitchen shelf that is constructed of pine wood planks and 12 enormous jars of pickles.

are you a glass jar lover, too?

listening to: the woodlands national anthem by the arcade fire (listen)

:: image from phyllis mchugh leocha (auntie phyllie)

my first letterpress adventure

earlier this month, i went on a one-day letterpress adventure at the international printing museum in carson (printmuseum.org). their introduction to letterpress workshop (which was i was psyched to attend) was a great mix of fun, informative, and inspiring--and the museum itself is a hidden gem for anyone interested in printmaking.

the day started with a guided tour of their museum and a brief history of printmaking. and then we dove into the type room, learned the the basics of typesetting, and got to work on two basic printing projects. the museum has an awesome collection of type fonts and woodcut images to explore. for my name print, i couldn't resist this woodcut of a windblown cypress tree (for love of the california coast).

if you're in the los angeles area, the museum offers lots of classes about letterpress, book arts, and printmaking. i'm hoping to be back for their intermediate letterpress workshop on april 18. more printmaking soon!

see a few more letterpress pics at lillieinthecity / flickr.

listening to: feeling good by nina simone (listen)

library list for march

my new favorite destination is the main branch of the santa monica public library. it's gorgeous and modern and full of glass and light--and brimming with a million books to read. it has a cafe and its own bookstore, and it's environmentally friendly! oh, library love.

the latest books that i've check out have been almost all about food. inspired by this good idea at the kitchn, i decided to "test out" some new cookbooks before purchasing. needless to say, i now want to own each one of them...

+ chez panisse vegetables & chez panisse fruit are treasures from alice waters. each book is beautifully designed with gorgeous illustrations and bursting with recipes that celebrate fresh produce.
+ the new moosewood cookbook, a 1970s vegetarian classic, is handlettered and illustrated, which makes it feel extra personal, like the recipes are coming to you from a great, food-loving friend.
+ nigella express & nigella's how to eat made me understand why people adore nigella. her recipes are delicious, but simple--and her attitude towards food is celebratory, but down-to-earth.
+ good poems got thrown into my pile for good measure. just as i hoped, this collection of poems from garrison keillor (a prairie home companion) is lovely and surprising and gives a sense of hope and perspective in this crazy world.

so that's what's piled up for me at the moment... what about you?

more cookbook recommendations are always welcome!

listening to: mushaboom by feist (listen)

on community sustained agriculture

voila! my latest bushel of veggies from my local community sustained agriculture (CSA) program: the south central farmer's coop. a rough explanation of a CSA: it supports local agriculture by organizing people to "invest" directly in a farm--and in return for your share, you receive a regular assortment of seasonal, local farm fresh goods.

encouraged by a CSA-loving coworker, i started buying a bi-weekly box from south central. in the past month, i have experimented with more mixed kales, beet greens, and rainbow chard than ever before. i've discovered that a box of "greens" has a lot more flavor and personality than i ever expected. and i've also learned that when all else fails, everything tastes good sauteed in garlic and olive oil.

if you are in the LA area, check out south central and their many pickup locations around the city. if you are in elsewhere (including new england!), check out local harvest where you can search for a csa's in your area.

listening to: i don't know by lisa hannigan (listen)

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr