cake and other delicious things.

Oregon had her first taste of Pennsylvania snow during the holiday weekend.





And then it was time to taste the cranberry upside-down cake...


...thank you, smitten kitchen. click here for the recipe.


Michelle taunting Oregon with her dainty cup of hot apple cider.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, as well! Now, how much longer do I have to wait until Christmas??

absence makes the heart grow fonder?

{mandy's bedroom, 16 house}

Oh goodness- sorry I've been away the past several days. Things have gotten a bit hectic around here, but I think they'll be slowing down back to normal once this holiday weekend is over.

It's 3am and my brain is officially fried from all the homework problems I've been tending to...seeing a picture of Mandy's cozy-looking bedroom doesn't help my heavy eye syndrome, but certainly gives me an incentive to finish quickly. I wish Oregon was tiny enough to cozy up on my pillow. However, I think she rather prefers this position instead...


sweet dreams! See you in the morning!

weekend casual

How beautiful does Audrey Hepburn look in this photograph?! It makes me want to have a nice, relaxing weekend in loose clothing...and maybe get a super-short haircut...

Okay, maybe not that short. Maybe just a haircut in general would be nice.

{image via here}

What are you up to this weekend?

Tomorrow I'm spending the day with my Nonna and probably seeing the film, "Eat, Pray, Love." I am not a particular fan of the book itself- based on others' interpretations, not mine, though. However, I L-O-V-E Julia Roberts! "Pretty Woman" has been my favorite movie since I was 10 years old (it was also the first rated R movie I watched without my mother's permission!) Then, tomorrow night, my Mommy is coming to visit and sleep over and play with her granddaughter (No, I didn't have a baby in the past few days. Oregon is her grand baby :)

Oregon begs for ice cream

We had cardamom and salted caramel ice cream at Puffs and Pastries in Hamden last night. Oregon had her first taste of the cardamom ice cream, and she liked it very much...as you can tell by her attentive gaze at the ice cream spoon.

A Leafy Green Timeline

We found our CSA share!!! It must've been hiding...One Straw Farm also distributes people's shares at the JHU East Baltimore campus (where I work) and we were able to pick ours up from them on Tuesday. Here is a recap of this share's lifeline within our kitchen as of yesterday...

We got about 5 different types of leafy greens...I will have to figure out some different recipes in order to use them all. They are all so colorful, though! There's red lettuce, green lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, and arugula. We also got some radishes, and garlic snape (??), as well as 3 (yes, three!) quarts of strawberries. Unfortunately, my excitement over the strawberries was matched by Oregon, who successfully inhaled an entire quart while I was out of the kitchen for 5 seconds. I mean, it was as if they didn't even exist when I came back! At least she's got good taste in food ;)

strawberries pre-Oregon attack
Innocent little Oregon, sitting on her rug in the kitchen...paying no mind...

overcome with guilt, post-strawberry consumption.

Mixed greens, Strawberry, red bell pepper, sliced almond salad with homemade honey mustard dressing! YUM!

These are our asparagus from the farmer's market...they weren't included in our share, but they were still SO delicious. They're also grown using "hydroponics," meaning they're grown in water without soil! Isn't that crazy?? They are also such lovely colors :)

Steam-sauteed with some olive oil, salt and pepper...and voila! (I call it "steam-sautee" because I put them in the pan on the stove top but then put a lid over top and seal in the moisture while the flame is on so they don't release all of their nutrients...look how green they turn out, too!)

Thursday, already???

{via here}

This has been a crazy and hectic week. This past weekend, we discovered that Oregon needs more than two people to hold her down while she gets her toenails clipped, and you cannot give her more than one treat while she's in the car because she gets carsick and will throw it up...all over your friend's car floor.


I also discovered the painstaking process of filing my taxes and how expensive it is just to prepare them, let alone pay them. My feelings for Turbotax are very complicated right now. I almost threw my computer off the balcony last night, but at the same time I don't know how I would've done my taxes without it. "Momentary financial distress" is what I'd like to call it.


In other news, the weather here is PERFECT!!! I walked outside this morning, and could feel the extra spring in my step. Even if nothing goes my way for the rest of the week, this sunshine is sure to keep the demons at bay...

i thank you God for most this amazing

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

- ee cummings

{Rocky Mountains, Colorado, July 4, 2009}

Oregon (Trail)

Name: Oregon Trail Mix (yes, we've decided that will be her full name...Oregon for short :)
Age: 1 year (approx.)
Breed: Pointer mixed with fireball (she's got LOADS of energy)
Birthday: February 14, 2009 (I got to pick the date)
Favorite activity: sneaking onto the Hopkins Lacrosse field at night and chasing after lacrosse balls; pursuing the occassional rabbit or squirrel
Favorite foods: Organic treats from Trader Joe's! (yes, they do exist.)
Virtues: Knows almost every command in the book (sit, stay, paw, down...)
Not-so-much virtues: she likes to jump on the couch when no one's looking; can destroy any toy you give her

Does anybody know of some "indestructible" toys on the market? I gave her a Nylabone yesterday and she's already wearing it down to the bitter end.

Any training tips out there for keeping a doggy off the couch? I'm not a fan of the whole, "slap her on the nose" or "smack her bottom" tactics. We're going for non-violent, especially since she's adopted and you never know if she'd been hurt in the past.

All-in-all, she's a sweetheart and loves to be loved!