Are you serious?

Are you serious?
Originally uploaded by daftly smitten

Went to Target to get a gel seat for spin class... And came across this gem of a product.  An ash tray... For your bike.  Because all bikers who smoke while riding are so gracious to depose of their butts properly.  Insanity!

Winter Buyers Co-op, Week 6

Today we trekked out into the rain to retrieve: baby beets, fingerling potatoes, 4 (giant!) Matzu apples, 1 fuji apple, 4 pink lady apples, block of colby cheese (any ideas what to do with this?), two boneless pork chops and parsnips.  This is my plan for the parsnips.  YUM!

Thursday Design Post - this week!

Nothing brightens up a home more than flowers.  Dave and I both appreciate having flowers around the house, so in addition to buying him the cookbook I Know How to Cook, I got off work early and showered our home with flowers the day before his birthday as a surprise gift.  Bonus for the both of us!

Here is a photo tour of the flowers:

I LOVE Hydrangeas.  If you are detail-oriented, you may notice that in my clothing photos, there were two bunches of hydrangeas, whereas here there is just one.  Sadly, for some reason the white bunch just shriveled away to nothing overnight.  Didn't even leave a note to explain itself!

I love the contrast of the roses with the deep purple and kermit green!

I put the flowers where I knew he would enjoy their presence most (flanking the TV).

These roses opened up beautifully almost instantly!

I love putting flowers in the bathroom.  It makes you feel like you're in a fancy hotel and you should tip the towel guy on the way out.  Conveniently we have two bathrooms:

This is in the master bath.

and this is in the half bath.

All flowers were purchased at Trader Joes!

Thursday design post (from last week!)

Things got hectic and I did not get to this last week, but today I will make up for it!

This is what I wore Monday.  I should not have stood with my feet together (obviously), as it creates too great a difference between the width of my hips and that of my ankles (it's the truth, so I'm just saying it and moving on).  But I was on a small chair.  And so it goes.  The flowers were for Dave - his birthday was Tuesday so I filled the house with flowers (more on that later today).

Yeay power lines!  It was *almost* still light out when we got home from work.  ALMOST.

Close-up of the jacket.  I love that it's both black AND brown, so it goes with everything, but I most often wear this with a bright pink to go with the magenta stripe in the fabric.  Puts a little kick into an outfit.

Sadly, it took years of sitting in the back of my closet before I suddenly realized that this jacket is a gem and should be worn in heavy rotation.  I like how the arms are a little long and flare out at the end.

And not to forget my favorite part... MY NEW BOOTS!  These are one of three pairs I bought last week in a crazy fit of boot-buying at the local shoe and chocolate shop (don't YOU have a local shoe and chocolate shop?).  They were having a one day sale.  I actually have deep regrets for not going back and getting the fourth pair of boots that I had told myself would just be too much.  I really don't buy shoes all that often - especially boots since they rarely fit over my enormous calves!  This pair and one other are by OTBT (Off The Beaten Track), and they are ultra comfy.  I will be on the lookout for more of this brand in the future, because they are just heavenly!

UPDATE: (forgot details)

white collared shirt is short-sleeved; Columbia sportswear on sale at REI

pink sweater vest: Cherokee from Target

jacket from H&M circa 2005

Mossimo black skinny jeans from Target

OTBT boots from Ma Petite Shoes in Hampden, hon!

Dark Days - Week 16

CABBAGE!!! I have had a monster head of cabbage just hanging out in the fridge for weeks now, and I was hoping to do something with it this weekend.  So here are two cabbage dishes I made yesterday to feed us cabbage for weeks to come (some went in the freezer).

1. Another spin on the rustic cabbage soup I made back in January (can you believe it was that long ago?):

This time I stuck with green cabbage only and switched the other veggies up a bit.  Started with 2 carrots and 3 rutabagas diced (in place of the potatoes) - threw those into the dutch oven with olive oil to brown for 5-10 minutes.  Added 1 diced onion and 1 tsp smooshed garlic.  2 minutes later, added the dice cabbage, gave it a quick stir and then poured in 4 cups beef stock and 1 cup water.  Let that simmer with the lid on while I sauteed the innards of 2 sweet italian sausages in a separate skillet, then added the sausage and one can of cannellini beans (only non-local ingredient - still can't find any local beans!!!) to the soup.  Seasoned with salt and pepper and it was all good!

2. Tried another recipe passed on to us shareholders at Mill Valley for Braised Red Cabbage with Apple and Mustard:

Obviously, I used green cabbage.  I think this will make a very nice side for meals throughout the week.  Rather tart for my husband's taste, but I like it.... especially the mustard.  The soup is really more for his consumption - I put the sausage in there just for him!

That concludes this cabbage smorgasbord! 

Design Thursday?

I totally owe you all a design post, but somehow photographs did not get taken Thursday of what I wore, and then I had planned to take pictures of what I had on today to make up for it and then I changed into my PJs before remembering!  I hope to make up for it later this week!

Winter Buyers Co-op, Week 5

This week's share: Thick-cut smoked bacon, eggs, whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread, oranges (valencia this time - much tastier than the oranges last week which, apparently, were better for juicing), carrots, boston lettuce, red potatoes.