Lazy Lunch: Brie Grilled Cheese.

One of the only perks of working outside the home (for me) was an actual designated lunch hour. Oh, and eating out everyday! That's bad, for real. Primarily for my pocketbook. I couldn't resist the delicious taste of "cooked by somebody else" food though.

I sometimes find myself not eating my "lunch" until 4:30. No bueno. Did I tell you guys I don't use the microwave either? Some days I wish I did. I could eat something hot much quicker! If we have three different kinds of leftovers I sometimes heat them up in the same skillet. I make sure Nick doesn't catch me though. He would puke. I'm gross in that way. I let my foods touch and mingle which totally mortifies a lot of people.

I love a good pb&j. I will smash on cheese and crackers. Don't let there be a ripe avocodo floating around here. Sammie time! I was burnt out on the old standbys so today I decided to get fancy and recreate one of my favorite simple lunch treats from our beloved 3 Sisters. A brie grilled cheese sandwich with apples and berries.

So simple. I mean, I just told you exactly what it is and how to make it. Brie freaking grilled cheese with apples and berries. Ingredients right there, bam. 

Can I just tell you how a griddle changed my life? Pancakes and grilled cheese come out perfect because of my trusty griddle. So great.

There it is. Lunch. Love. 

***

Was it as good as 3 Sisters? Heck, no! When I make these again I plan to mash the berries up a bit to get them super juicy and add just a touch of honey or sugar to sweeten them up. I would've loved more berry per bite. 3 Sisters has perfected the brie-apple-berry ratio. Gotta work on that!

Still pretty good and a nice substitute when I can't have a perfect lunch at my preferred spot.

Do you have any quick lunch ideas for me? 

LJ

What I Wore: Ladybug Dress.

I hope all the mamas out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Yesterday was my younger sister's grad school commencement so I was up bright and early for that! (Which explains my failure to do anything at all to my hair.) I love the morning but I definitely endorse afternoon siestas. We had a big family brunch thanks to my brother in law and sister. Hubby and kids gave me a Sephora gift card and some of the best cards EVER! I got to spend the afternoon with Nick all alone! We went down to Mass Ave and had beer and snacks then frozen yogurt. It was a full (and sweet) day.

Here's what I wore to the graduation ceremony as well as the Mother's Day brunch. A favorite of mine, the ladybug dress. :)

Is this a ladybug or some sort of impostor??

I love the very full circle skirt. 50s finery my dears! Ladybugs and tomatoes. Sweet, sweet gardening themed frock. 

I got the chance to wear my "Mother" brooch and of course, the vintage name bracelets in honor of the best (grand)mother any woman could've wished to have!

 I absolutely adore my Tumbleweeds sunglasses and I wear them like every day, seriously. Today was no exception!

By the time we took these photos I had been up and at 'em for a good 12 hours. I felt a bit haggard and was ready to switch out this dress for a blouse, shorts, and casual sandals.

I knew we would be doing a lot of walking so I opted out of wearing any of my various red heels and instead wore these small wedges I got from ModCloth last month. So comfy! Love them!

My favorite part is the sparkly (but not too sparkly for daytime) bows. :) I'm pretty sure these will be some of my go to shoes for the summer.

***

Dress: Vintage

Brooch: Vintage

Name Bracelets: Vintage

Sunnies: Tumbleweeds

Shoes: ModCloth

Later in the evening, against my better judgment I went to see Nick spin an all vinyl set. I was so thrilled to get in bed last night! 

I'm ready for this wonderful week though!!

How was your Sunday/Mother's Day/Graduation Day?

XO,

LJ

Saturdays are for...

*Eating huge Italian dinners with family.
*Drinking red wine.
*Being a terrarium making machine. (For Mother's Day!)
*Cleaning til' my fingers hurt.
*Being filled with anticipation for the coming week. Guys, its gonna be pretty freaking amazing!! I can't wait to show/tell! Seriously so good and why I've been MIA.
*Wearing minimal make up.
*Thrifting amazing vintage dresses and a denim vest with fur trim. Someone will surely love it!
*Talking to my plants like they understand.
*Watching the birds who frequent our bird feeders.
*Loving those that love me back.
*Framing the amazing prints I ordered as gifts from The Pairabirds.
*Laughing at my sister's love for the "Top 10 Feral Children" list.
*Making vintage plugs for folks all over the world.
*Doing inventory for my shop.
*Listening to Marvin Gaye.
*Painting my nails for the 4th time this week. Tonight: For Audrey by China Glaze
*Refraining from spending this week's earnings on treats on Etsy!
*Crawling into a bed made up with fresh linens.

How was your Saturday?

LJ

Garden for victory!

We are no longer gardening because of food rationing but certainly for victory. Victory over big business. Victory over poisonous pesticides and herbicides. Victory over a sedentary lifestyle. Victory over the blues. 

Gardening makes me feel good. It centers me. It makes me present in the moment. I once gardened myself past a broken heart. A whole summer spent with my hands in the dirt distracted me from my tears and helped me to see what was really important. By the end I was totally in love with Mother Nature and myself.

 Yard work makes me sweat, push myself, and use muscles that need attention! I rue the day I have to work out. I just don't like it. I make my time outdoors count as exercise.

Growing even a little of our food helps me to feel like I'm providing something nutritious for my family as well as a bit of my love in the form of something edible. There is no greater feeling than eating a meal that contains ingredients that you grew yourself!

Lately I've been spending hours each day in the yard. Not just cutting the lawn and string trimming the seemingly unending expanse of vinca but replenishing soil in raised beds and planting food!

Candy corn plant (Manettia inflata) I am so thrilled with this baby! It is such a good grower. I am looking for the perfect spot to trellis it.

Tomatoes waiting on a covered bed.

I pulled back the tarp and this is what I had. Eek. Not so pretty. I broke the soil up a bit to make it easier to work with. (Much to the dismay of the roly polys, worms, and spiders.)

Eight bags of new soil later I was ready to rock and roll!

In addition to tomatoes and peppers I planted three small rows of seed. Lettuce, carrots, and swiss chard. I planted way too much of this stuff last year!

What did I wear? Beat up gardening shoes, striped socks, and high water pants from the Salvation Army. Rarr. I'm bringing sexy back for sure.

Rainbow chard seeds!

Two types of lavender. I cannot wait to use this stuff! Maybe tomorrow won't be so busy.

So pretty and fragrant.

The salvia up front is going nuts! I planted some ornamental grasses today, too. That bed is finally finished. (Its only taken two years.) There is echinacea, sedum, a butterfly bush, gallardia, a hydrangea,  catmint, sedum, veronica, cannas, and ornamental grass. I am going to mulch soon and then I'll share a photo. I love mulch. I'm so anxious to order it!

Bees everywhere!!

We got some more rose bushes today. I'll plant these later in the week. I was pooped.

Today's big luxury purchase, a big eggplant plant! :)

It already has some tiny eggplants on it. I grew some from seed last year but the growing season was not long or hot enough to produce any substantial fruit. This one will definitely give us some eggplants.

Two completed beds! One full of herbs and the other contains tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuce, and chard. Now to start my beans!

An herb garden is truly one of the easiest and best things to have as a beginner.  (Or someone who enjoys cooking.) They are easy to take care of so they can be a huge confidence boost. 

***

After tackling a huge overgrown shrub and string trimming until my whole body vibrated I was too worn out to put up the chicken wire around these beds. Hopefully the critters leave them alone tonight!

Are you working in your garden yet? If so or you're planning on it, what are you growing? 

Does anyone have chickens? I sprung the idea on my dear husband today but I'm unsure how much work it really involves. 

LJ

Pause.

There has been so much going on the past week... I pressed pause on social media and blogging for a bit.

I can't form coherent paragraphs (or produce any photo documentation) at the moment so I'll make a couple lists...

Good things:

*Feist was incredible! Her voice is even more beautiful in person. It was so nice to spend the evening with our friends sans children and work and responsibility.

*Nick and I took a couple trips outside city limits last week to pick up some fabulous vintage. Hundreds more items for the shop. Yay! More enamel flower brooches, too.

*Long lunches and beers and shopping with my sister. I will miss her so much when she moves next month.

*Summer has returned for a bit and that meant refreshing the soil in the raised beds and planting herbs.

*My Tumbleweeds sunnies arrived and I have worn them like every damn day. So in love.

*Aveda shampoo for curly hair has invigorated my curls!

*Peonies. Cosmic purple carrots. Lavender.

*Walking barefoot in the grass.

*Tirimisu ice cream. Coconut cake. Cucumber fizz cocktails.

*The super moon!

*I discovered that I have various alternate rings I can wear when sausage finger strikes and my wedding rings don't fit.

*Assuring newlywed friends that things smooth out. Just hold on. 

*Green eyeshadow. Sounds tacky but so pretty.

*Jazz. It makes everything better.

*Super cute new dresses from Target!

Not so good things:

*Shit around here is on the fritz. Oven is limping, fridge is barely cold, string trimmer is quiet, and the lawn mower is half assing it. We had a plumber here two days to fix the upstairs toilet and the downstairs shower. Old house living.

*500 items to photograph! I've been having major anxiety and so far have only taken about 50 product's worth of pictures and listed like 12 items.

*Insomnia. I haven't been able to sleep before 3:30 am for days and I feel like a turd all day because of it.

*PMS. Grrrrrrrrrr.

*Having a psycho guy confront a group of us all over a table at a bar. I'm allergic to drama around here. I guess he didn't get the memo.

*Business around the beginning of the month is always sloooowwww.

*That kick ass herb garden I planted? I turned the sprinkler on, ran to the grocery store, and returned to find all the plants swimming. Flooded. Oy freaking vey.

*All I wanted was a mojito and to see my brother this weekend. I did not get either of those things.

*Drowning in emails to answer.

*Sick son.

*Dirty house, neat yard. Clean house, wrecked yard. Spotless house and awesome yard, no work done and no money made. What to do?

*Did I mention major anxiety? I got it honey.

*The super moon is inducing lunacy, I'm convinced.

So as you can see I'm doing some major balancing and wondering and working and guessing and loving and struggling. I can only hope this week is smoother and more conducive to fitting in little luxuries like blogging.

How was your weekend?

LJ

Polyester: A love story.

I've heard people spit out the word polyester like it makes them ill. Like a curse word. Like they would never let it's icky unnatural fabric caress their precious skin. Like polyester is the freaking devil himself. 

Confession: I like polyester. I may even love it. 

Here are some of my most recent polyester love affairs...

Would I wear a thick 60s polyester during the summer? Hell no! I will rock it when the weather permits though. I've found that the late 70s and 80s gave birth to some pretty soft and lightweight polyester blends. Polyester has a friend in me. I'm not too fancy.

So yay or nay? Are you down with O.P.P.? (Other people's polyester.)

LJ

PS Most of these can be found in my shop. ;)

Super weird documentaries.

If y'all saw my Netflix queue you'd probably weep. I'm a sucker for emotional, socially explorative documentaries. I sometimes indulge in 8 hour tearfests. (Which is basically just watching these gut wrenching documentaries in the dark and crying into my Hello Kitty blankie.) Well, I decided to branch out... to super weird documentaries.

Here are a few I've watched recently that are compelling and f'ing bizarre...

"I Think We're Alone Now" 

Anybody remember Tiffany or am I the only senior citizen 'round these parts? Well, for those of you not in the know, she was sort of like Britney Spears Light in the 80s. Pop girl singer with some hits basically. This documentary chronicles the lives of two people who are in love with, and stalk, Tiffany. Not just in the 80s. Like freaking currently. I am terrified for Tiffany. I was mortified and confused while watching this documentary but I had to watch it all the way through! Wanna take a trip to crazy town? This is the film for you. 

Below is a link to view it online but it is currently available via Netflix Instant:

Watch this shit show now.

NEXT!

"Shut Up Little Man"

Long ago in a land far, far away there lived two guys, Ray and Pete. (Okay, in the 80s in San Francisco.) Ray and Pete had some of the most epic knock down drag out, verbally scathing fights known to man. And for your listening pleasure, they were recorded. Why would someone record two old drunk guys fighting? Cause they lived next door and that's the only way they could stay sane. These tapes of Ray and Pete fighting spread like like wildfire and because of their popularity gave birth to plays, songs, merchandise, a bunch of stuff. This is a disturbing, odd piece of work. I dug it. 

Here is the trailer:

Moving on...

"Crazy Love"

The ultimate tale of "if I can't have you, nobody can." I'm always fascinated by what people have and will do because of obsession. Linda and Burt had a thing. Burt was a lying scum bag. Linda tried to move on. Burt threw acid in her face. Life ruined? Sort of. She ended up marrying this nut job. (FYI, I would not do that. I would find you and *beeeeeep* Eek. Maiming folks is not the way to any sane individual's heart.) You've gotta see this to believe it! Crazy love, indeed. 

Anyone have any wacky documentary suggestions for me?

LJ