Help: How Do You Organize Your Recipes?

Nearly every day I read a recipe I want to try (at a minimum -- often, I drool over multiple recipes) on the Internet. I know you do too! I know it! What I don't know, however, is what you do with those recipes. Personally, I think "Oh yum! I should make that for (dinner, x's birthday, breakfast with y)! It's perfect!" And then I move along, and before the day's out, I've probably forgotten it. Sorry about that, x and y, I'm sure it would've been delicious.

So what do you do with the recipes you find online and love? I'd rather have a system that doesn't involve printing them out, as I try to do that only for the most elaborate recipes, or ones I'm not cooking at home. I'm sure there's got to be some fantastic app or aggregator that everyone but me knows about, so please share. At this point I've got some halfhearted bookmarks, half of which are on my work computer where they're pretty useless, and an exploding recipe box jammed with printouts. There's got to be a better way.

Pie Masters!

Complete exaggeration, of course, but we did it! Saturday night we made Smitten Kitchen's Tomato & Corn Pie! I've been dreaming of it for ages, been gently prodded by a reader who assured me it was simple, in spite of being pastry-based, and even blogged about it for work.*

Saturday, incidentally, pretty much ruled from top to bottom. Cam and I hit a new farmers' market that looked dismal upon first glance, but actually had a really great variety of produce. So singular was my mission, however, that I just grabbed tomatoes, chives and corn, and completely ignored everything else. Now our crisper and counter top are woefully bare... Way to go. Anyway, later that day I saw The September Issue, which wasn't the best doc I've ever seen, but it was interesting on a number of points -- the fashion and publishing industries in particular, and as a somewhat unsurprising profile of Anna Wintour and her foil, Grace Coddington. Plus, pretty clothes!

My beloved Bulldogs had the late game on Saturday, so around 6 Cam and I went to a new wine bar near our neighborhood. We had the best of intentions -- a glass each, maybe some cheese -- and did reasonably well. I had a Shiraz and a Granache, he had a Malbec and a Cab (we like our big reds!), and we had a runny turning goat cheese, a sheep I don't much remember, and some speck. I'd never had speck before**, but it was delicious, like a more mellow prosciutto.

At any rate, when we got home after that fun, we got into some pie. I made the pastry, and Saint Tigerlily was right - it's "un-mess-up-able." Cam blanched the tomatoes and peeled them (a task he's undertaken before, but without Smitten Kitchen's helpful "cut a cross in the bottom of the skins before blanching" tip, which made peeling much simpler, he reports), and cut the corn from the cobs, while I pastried and grated cheese snipped herbs and mixed mayonnaise with fresh lemon juice. We layered everything into the shell***, covered it, and slathered the top with melted butter. Once cooking, it made the house smell so good we could barely keep our faces out of the oven, and when it'd cooled just enough to eat, we, too, devoured half in one unseemly seating.

I beseech you, as I have been beseeched (?), take advantage of the late tomatoes and corn, and make this. You won't be sorry!

*I don't talk about work here, but if you know me, you know blogging's part of my job. I have a ton of freedom with what I blog about, so I blogged about summer ending, but needing just one more weekend so I could make this pie.
**The waitress totally busted me checking out the Wikipedia entry for speck. She was interested in their definition, and generally supported it. It made me wonder, though -- is the proliferation of smart phones making servers feel less useful/fulfilled?
***How in the world did SK get such perfect layers?! She's a genius, plain and simple.

Embarassing Revelation #2

Ok. This one's a little more serious than #1.

I'm scared of babies. I'm getting better about it -- my bff, the girl, now woman, with whom I literally had the necklace, just had her second baby, and she's helped me a lot with my comfort level around the little ones. She's such a natural mom, and so unconcerned that I'll drop her little bundles of joy and ruin their lives. With her adorable first, I wouldn't hold him that first day in the hospital unless I was sitting down, and I was terrified to hand him off lest I drop him in the exchange.

With #2, a beautiful little girl, I did a little better. As has become our tradition, her first morning in the hospital with her infant I went over at the beginning of visiting hours, laden with bagels and good coffee (decaf for her). This time, she handed me her daughter and I walked all over the room with her, talking to her and watching her respond to the light playing across her face. I bounced her and made the sitting-to-standing and back again transition a number of times and didn't stress out. It was a big step for me, and I left the hospital completely infatuated with the little girl.

I think the reason I'm so scared of babies is because I really did drop one once. I was young, maybe 10 years old, and sitting at the dinner table in a room full of adults. Someone handed me a baby -- I don't even remember whose baby it was, it was a gathering of adults I didn't really know -- and before I knew what happened, the baby had slid off my lap and onto the floor. It wasn't far to fall, and was actually, to my memory, reasonably gentle -- many people didn't even notice, and the baby wasn't upset -- but it scarred me. I wasn't ready to be responsible for a baby, and the baby fell.

I'm still a bit wary of them, obviously, but being around my bff's children and my other friends' babies is helping. I know it's not entirely rational, but I can't be the only one -- anyone else a little more scared than you should be of dropping babies?

Making Beauty

OK, I fear I may be entering into stalker territory here, what with my Orangette obsession, but bear with me. I'm reading Molly Wizenberg's entire, sizeable archives right now, and it's a treat I look forward to like settling in with a juicy novel. It's tougher to cuddle with my laptop, but the feeling that washes over me when I read her blog is almost as good as curling up with a book. Her writing is precise and contained, so perfect it's almost precious, but that's probably just a green streak of jealousy. She's really, really good. So forgive my repeated references, and be forewarned: There may be more of this yet to come.

So the thing she wrote that got me thinking this evening is this:

"Cooking is a way to make sense of my days, and to make something beautiful of them. We all find ways to do this, I think, whether we are conscious of it or not."

That's good. I know just what she means, and I think you probably do too. I think running -- rather, exercise in general -- is the most regular way I make my day beautiful. Gross though I look (and smell) during and after, workouts cap my days, however trying, with something worthwhile. I sweated 18 buckets. I ran 3 miles. I tested my heart for 45 minutes. It's inelegant, and certainly less romantic than cooking, but it's mine.

Secondmost is probably cooking, or baking. The satisfaction of producing something more than edible sets me right. I remember coming home after an especially difficult day at work, a day where my post-work treadmill session failed to get the stink off me. I walked into the kitchen and set to work, and whereas Cam and I usually soux chef for one another, he just let me go. And when I produced a sustaining, even tasty meal, I felt better. Finally. Something beautiful.

Beyond that, I dream of other ways. Regular blogging. Better photography. Actually listening to my massive record collection. So how do you make something beautiful of your day?

An Orangette Afternoon

Today, I took the day off of work, just for me. We've been on the road more than we've been home since late May, it seems. Certainly, we've had more weekends away than in the city.

Remember these two?


Winston and Sweeney spent the duration of our recent trip to the Salt Lake City area in the incredibly caring hands of my boss and her husband, the Watsons. When we got home after 5 days gone, these two felines, who usually act like we've been gone for months (the typical I'm-ignoring-you-oh-you-were-gone? made famous by cats only lasts a second around here), instead greeted us calmly, like at the end of a regular ol' workday. I tell you, the Watsons are the BEST at cat sitting. How to thank them?


Orangette's granola, modified slightly. I couldn't find rice syrup at the one store I tried, so I subbed in maple. As I'm sure you can guess, it worked just fine. I omitted the sesame seeds, and used half almonds/half pecans. It's my first attempt at granola, and it won't be long till I bake round two. The scent alone -- swoon! The house was still heady with cinnamon and ginger hours later, though it's currently being overtaken by lemongrass and ginger (not that I'm complaining! Cam's winging Thai for dinner.). Anyway, it's crunchy and sweet and nutty and delicious, and will disappear quickly heaped over yogurt, sprinkled on ice cream, and gobbled by the handful straight out of the fridge. Next time I'll be a bit more liberal with the salt, and cranberries, added after the baking, will fit right in.


Before I made the granola, I pulled together a batch of these Chewy Cocoa Cookies with Chocolate Chips, also courtesy of Molly Wizenberg. More accurately, I pushed and smooshed together a batch -- the dough is quite dense. The cookies, too, are dense, and so thoroughly chocolatey. There's none of that dissatisfaction I usually have with chocolate cookies. Chips I have no dissatisfaction with -- it's the stuff holding them together, when ostensibly chocolate, I generally find to be bland, even flavorless. But that's not an issue here.

So the house smells delicious and it's reasonably clean, and I have all manner of homemade goodies to share and to horde. To me, that's a solid day off. I'm so thrilled to have a relatively blank calendar for the next three weeks, to have time for farmers' marketing, for homecooked meals, and for the chance to make plans -- like the date I have with Tomato and Corn Pie. I promised myself to her, in writing, on this lovely blog, and I intend to call on that pie on Sunday. I can't wait.

Corn, Tomatoes, Potatoes and Bacon

Lately, the recipes I've found appealing for dinner stray from the traditional protein/veggie/veggie or starch formula I picked up growing up. We always had three things on the plate, a meat -- most frequently chicken, but seafood, beef, or pork sometimes too -- a starch, Mom and I preferred potatoes or macaroni & cheese (Kraft, please!), but sometimes we had rice to appease my Dad and sister -- and a green vegetable, beans or peas in the colder months, salad in the summers. This makes it sound overly simple, and reduced, not nearly as appetizing as it was, but we ate well and healthfully.

One of my favorite dinners, I'm realizing now, was more of a one (ok, 2) pot meal, like the ones I've been drawn to lately. It's my Mom's version of Chili Mac, and it's still a homey favorite. It's basically ground beef browned with onions, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Throw in a can of tomatoes (I always preferred crushed, but sometimes they were chunkier), season, serve over noodles (we like tricolored spirals and elbows), and coat with a healthy layer of shredded cheese. Yum.

So, as I mentioned yesterday, tonight I had plans for a simple recipe I found on Epicurious called "Corn and Potatoes with Heirloom Tomatoes." We had lots of corn and tomatoes (though not heirlooms) from my abandoned inclination to make Smitten Kitchen's corn and tomato pie, and after reading the blurb,

This recipe alone is reason enough to grab your tote bag and head to the farmers market. Blackberry Farm dresses up the dish with parmesan foam and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar, but the ingredients stand on their own beautifully. Slip a fried egg on top, and you have an easy summer supper.

I started cooking.


First, brown some chopped bacon.


Pull out the bacon with a slotted spoon, then sautee a minced shallot in the fat.


Add a little white wine, then some water and the chopped Yukon Golds. Cook down for a bit, and while you're waiting, blend 1 of your 4 cups fresh corn with a bit of water, then strain out the solids and keep the milk. Add the corn and some more water, a bunch of sweet smoky paprika, fresh thyme, and salt (at just about every stage, you add a bit more salt).


Cook down till the liquid's nearly gone, then pull off the heat and add the tomatoes, the corn milk, and salt and pepper.


Top with the crumbled bacon, and add a sunny side egg to the top, if you're so inclined. We were, and the yolk made this homey meal luxurious. If I'd thought to add the parmesan and balsamic, it'd have been even more so, but it was delicious as you see it -- especially once I added some Sriracha.

I hope I revisit this recipe. It seems infinitely modifiable, and like the sort I'll be able to internalize quickly enough and free myself from constant recipe consultation.

A Homemade Soup

Why have I spent so much time not reading Orangette?

Unlike a lot of the (tiny number) of people who read this blog, I wasn't with Molly Wizenberg from the beginning. I'd heard of her Orangette, but I never read her properly till she appeared on my desk in hardback form, A Homemade Life. Her book is thoughtful and spare, sprinkled with recipes and stories about what makes the dishes special. It's beguiling, really, and after I devoured it, I, of course, checked out Orangette. Just once. And then I left.

I'm not exactly sure why, but I revisited it last week and was smitten anew. And tonight, in a long overdue move, I made one of her recipes. Of all things, in this season of sweet Maryland corn and tomatoes, stone fruits and all things fresh and good, I made her broccoli soup with lemon-chive cream. It was simple, fresh and delicious, perfect for Sunday dinner after a weekend of excessive celebration (another lovely wedding, of course! Cam's sister wed her love in a brief, giggly ceremony, followed by food and dancing.). I joked to Cam that it could also be called onions five ways -- you'll need leeks, onion, spring onions, chives, and garlic for this soup. And, having made it, I wouldn't leave any of them out.

Never fear, tomorrow night's dinner's already planned, to take advantage of said corn and tomatoes: A sort of corn/potato/tomato hash, cooked in bacon fat, topped with crumbled bacon and a fried egg. Mmmmm.

Quit Hasslin' Me, Pip

See that little girl down there, the one who's complaining about her sedentary lifestyle and trying to goad me into a run?

She's a bit of a pip.

She's also a liar! I have been running. I didn't while we were in California, but in the month since we returned, I've gotten back on the 'mill. It never fails to amaze me how much easier it is to build up my (modest, but important to me) mileage once I've established a foundation. Before we left, I was running 3+ miles 2-3 times a week. After almost four weeks off (2 weeks on vacation, followed by two bouts of sickness in quick succession), I could struggle through two and a half miles. But within 2 weeks, I'm now back up to 3+. It feels amazing!

Anyway, my little Nike+ girl (did I ever give her a name? How about Pip? Ok. Pip.) has been getting some bad information. Somewhere in California, I lost the receiver that my Nike+ transmitter talks to. It plugs into the bottom of my Nano, so it seems that'd be a logical place to keep it, but it drains the battery so I packed them separately (and used neither). Now I can't find it. I'm lucky, because my transmitter will also talk to my iPhone, but I don't want to run with the phone, and I have a spotty record of remembering to start the program when I'm on the treadmill. So Pip's a liar, I have been running.

Incidentally, it doesn't seem I can buy a new receiver, only a receiver and a transmitter, or just a transmitter. But not a receiver alone. What?

A weird thought to wrap up this ramble: Some mornings I work out before work, and use the toiletries (shampoo/conditioner/body wash/lotion) provided by my swanky gym. Then all day long, I feel like someone else is standing near me, just out of eyesight, because I don't smell like myself. It's bizarre.

Welcome To The Family, Robot!

Hello, lover! Or, more accurately, hello birthday gift from Cam. He's too much, I swear. This thing is freaking gorgeous. World, meet Robot (the "t" is silent), short for Robot Culinaire. Combined with this little beauty...


...We are in business! Maybe literally. But that's a story for another time. This is the story of our first dinner with Robot. Shrimp Cakes with Chili-Lime Cream Sauce, from Bon Appetit. I think it's supposed to be a first course, or appetizer, but did that stop us? Of course not. So, while Cam peeled and cleaned the shrimp (exceptionally grody ones - half of them had orange stuff lining their, um, tracks - roe? We'd never seen that before.), I mise'd the place.

Green onions and an egg, some butter, of course.


White wine, chopped ginger and shallots, and lime juice form the base for the sauce.


Those formerly icky shrimp.


The cakes! 12, as the recipe promised. Very simple, really - just 16 large shrimp, a green onion, some dijon mustard and Sriracha, salt, pepper and panko. We omitted the cilantro - I have the tastes-like-soap issue with it from time to time. Robot 'em up, form cakes, roll in more panko, and refrigerate for a bit to firm them up.

If you looked at the recipe, you may notice two more ingredients we "omitted." An egg, and some lemon juice. Oops!


Fry 'em up in peanut oil. I tried not to watch. One of Cam's favorite things to torture me with is the Fry Daddy. We do NOT have one, and I maintain we don't ever need one - fried food should rarely be consumed, and you should have to leave the house for it. Anyway...


Plated with the sauce, which I would've eaten over dirty socks, it's that good. Started with the above foundation, then made ridiculous with butter, cream, and about two tablespoons of Sriracha. I die!

So, yeah. Easy recipe, and delicious, even without the egg and lemon juice. My only real critique is that the cakes were a little dense, but I'm sure that's all about me forgetting the egg. I'd make them again, and serve them to anyone. You, if you're lucky.

More On Weddings

Two weekends ago, I saw another fabulous couple get hitched and ride off into the sunset together. It was pretty flipping amazing. Every wedding is unique, of course, but this one was special for a couple of reasons. For one, it was held at my aunt's house, where she married my uncle just about 5 years ago. That was an almost inexpressibly great event - she found the love of her life when she was more than 50, and she and her husband are so blissfully perfect for one another, then and now, that it's an inspiring story for everyone who's still hoping to find someone to love forever. So to have this more recent wedding echo that one set it up for greatness from the start. Secondly, the couple themselves, of course. They could not be more kind, more generous, more loving. My "new" cousin - a daughter from my "new" uncle's first marriage - and her now-husband only met my family about 2 years ago, and we all took to one another in an instant. And finally (of course there are a billion reasons the wedding was great - I haven't even mentioned the amazing Mexican food yet - but finally, for these purposes), the lovely couple is really dedicated to living consciously, and to that end, nearly everything was recyclable or compostable. Seriously - the day after the big event, the groom and about 5 of us helpers went through all the refuse from the weekend, and came away with just one small garbage bag of actual garbage. Incredible!

Now, a related complaint, sort-of. I'm going to a bridal shower for my boyfriend's sister on Saturday, and like many couples, she and her beloved are registered at Target. Have you ever gone to a Target to buy off a registry? I did, today, and it's stupid. I looked up the registry from home, made mental notes about a couple of items, found one, and took it to guest services so they could check it off. But they can't just look up the registry - you have to go to a kiosk and print out the entire thing so they can scan the barcode on the first page. This was a reasonable registry, 5 pages long. So I printed 5 pages... And so will every other guest who goes to Target to shop for them. There's no "print first page" option, and if there's a way to get the item checked off the registry without printing the whole thing, the employee I dealt with didn't know it. Ridiculous. Spending nearly two weeks in California made a definite live-with-less/be greener impression on me, and the thought of 50 guests each printing 5 pages... Times a billion weddings... Grr.

Quittin' It

Yet another of my less-than-chewy tv show favorites is Run's House, the MTV "reality" show about Rev. Run's (of Run-DMC fame, Mom and Dad) family. It's actually incredibly wholesome, and he has the cutest kids imaginable. Diggy seems a little like the lost middle child sometimes -- inevitable in a family of superstars, where his two older sisters have a sneaker empire, his older brother is trying to start up a rap career, and his younger brother Russy steals the show with dimples and antics (says Mom, Justine: "He aces everything he tries."). It's the only scenario imaginable where Diggy might get overshadowed -- in any other family, he'd outshine everyone. Well, it turns out Diggy has a blog, "Life of the Jet Setter." It looks, well, surprisingly real, for a reality show project. He mostly posts stills from fashion shows showcasing looks and designers he likes, and occasionally, he writes.

Also wanted to say thank you everyone for the feedback on the blog and for subscribing I see that almost everyone started a blog and that's great it's a good way to be creative and do something with you time. I enjoy it a whole lot and I hope you all enjoy it as well! Aight I'm out. God Bless. Peace.

He's better than Stephanie Meyer, that's for sure. So, yeah. Diggy's blog is better than mine, what's the point? I'm out.

Kidding. Just expressing my unnatural pride in a kid I'll never know.

Of Fruits And Flies

One of the things I considered essential when condo-shopping was a window over the kitchen sink. If not essential, well, incredibly desirable. So we've got one, and it's big enough to grow a nice respectable tangle of herbs -- tall basil stalks, thyme, oregano, sage and a rosemary tumbleweed. They're beautiful and bring a little of the outside in.

Somewhere along the way, on one of our produce runs, we too brought a little of the outside in -- fruit flies. They took to the oregano in a flash, and soon I was swatting them away from my face in every room of the house. Not a major infestation, but an annoyance. Cam said the way to solve the problem is to break off a section of banana and drop it in a jar, then cover the jar with plastic wrap pierced with holes. The fruit flies zoom in to chow the banana, then can't escape.

The other day I had a nectarine with a little ding in it I need to cut out, so I dropped the bruised bit into a jar, covered it with plastic, popped it with holes and snapped a rubber band around it. It worked like a champ, See all those little guys?



Here's my question. Now what? What am I supposed to do with all the buggies?

And while we're asking questions...



I bought a lime a couple days ago. Where did it go?

Cake Is Real Food

Ok! So as promised, some good food I made myself. I'm still a little embarrassed about my Lean Cuisine revelation, but hey, no one's perfect. Anyway!

So after making a three-layer 9" round strawberry cake for my sister, and 3 6" round 3-layer cakes for the lovely psmee's bridal shower*, I asked Cam what kind of cake he wanted. He wanted the chocolate whiskey and beer cupcakes (aka "Irish Car Bomb" cupcakes) I made once before, in cake form.

I've certainly been learning from all the Smitten Kitchen reading I do, because I knew the batter for a standard batch of cupcakes should nicely fill 2 9" rounds. So I whipped it up as written, then poured it into the round pans, docked the temperature to 325 to ensure flat tops, and baked them till the toothpick came out clean. Then I cooled them, wrapped them in foil and plastic wrap, and froze them. When your man's on the road constantly and unpredictably, cakes in the freezer make it easy to pounce on a window when he's home.

The day after his actual birthday (which he spent outside Columbus, Ohio. Magical, he'll tell you) I got my opportunity to finish the cake. I used the cupcake ganache recipe too, but either I did something wrong, or it was just too runny to go in the middle layer of the cake. So I added in some more melted chocolate, froze and stirred, froze and stirred, and finally got something that would stay in the center without squishing out the sides.

Finally, the Bailey's icing. I remembered that the original recipe made a small amount, which was ideal because it was incredibly sweet. I'm so infatuated with Swiss buttercream after making it for psmee that I decided to hack SK's recipe by replacing the vanilla with Bailey's. It's the craziest icing - for what feels like forever, the KitchenAid swirls away at this gloppy lumpy white mess, and then suddenly, it takes. Worth the wait, and there is no other frosting, to my experience, that's more delicious, easier to work with, or more durable. Success!

As you can see, Cam's cake came out pretty great. He loved it. The only thing he worried about was the leftovers, significant for a household of 2. But! I threw him a tiny surprise party the following night, and the 8 of us managed to make short work of it.

*Banana cake with cream cheese icing, chocolate with chocolate ganache, and vanilla cake with Swiss buttercream and layers of strawberries. And yes, I'm asking for Sky High for my birthday!

I Love A Wedding

It's a good thing, since I've got quite a few to attend this year! This weekend's going to be standout no matter what goes down at the next ones, though. One of my very best friends got married to a great guy, and I'm so excited for them to build a long future together. The newlyweds are off to Europe tomorrow, and I wish them a great trip! Here are a few of the things I won't soon forget about their nuptials and celebration.

1. There is a video of me twisting - from behind, with Cam, in my Lilly Pulitzer bridesmaid's dress - posted to Facebook. And I don't hate it - rather, I find it hilarious. My posture is tragic, as usual, though.
2. Wedding bands can actually be good! Bravo, "The New Monopoly." Bravo. I never thought I'd hear a band cover OutKast, "Scotty Doesn't Know," and Chubby Checker. And so much more. I'm not sure I've ever danced that much at a wedding!
3. The bride wrote a poem for the groom, which her cousin read at the ceremony. And it didn't suck, not even a little bit.
4. Sea Scallops rolled in shredded phyllo, fried crisp, and served on a bed of wilted spinach, lump crab and proscuitto ham. And Choptank Sweets. And carrot cake. And grade one tuna tartare with sushi rice, seaweed salad, pickled ginger and wasabi vinaigrette. Thank you so much for renting out the best restaurant in town!
5. Dancing with Cam. He's somewhat reluctant, generally, unless the music is old country or bluegrass. But every time a girlfriend grabbed my hand and hauled me back to the dancefloor, he was right behind me. And we had so much fun!

Next wedding is about 3 weeks away, my fabulous new cousin and her beloved are tying the knot in California and I can't wait. Let me back up and explain "new cousin." My aunt, my mom's only sister, got married for the first time when she was about 50, to an amazing man who has 4 daughters from his previous marriage. They all seem really nice, but one in particular is at a similar age and place in her life to my sister and me, and she and her fiancee couldn't have meshed more easily with my family if they tried. They're the coolest. Should be a very different event - much less preppy, much more granola, but equally lovely.

Embarassing Revelation #1

I actually think this meal is pretty good. Like, I look forward to it as it spins in the microwave. I don't dream about it, or even crave it, but yeah. I like it.

Full disclosure, I only resort to the ol' LC's when I'm too lazy or uninspired to pack something better. I'm a die-hard lunch-packer, and sometimes I just get burned out. Stay tuned for future confessions of this sort. There are a handful that aren't too bad. See the "Twice the Veggies" bit on the top corner? Key.

Please don't hate me! I still love good food! I promise! Let me tell you about the cake I baked for Cam, OK? I will. I mean it.

Mission Accomplished!

Good golly. It seems we are the proud owners of iPhone 3Gs's! Today has been too much fun. We got to the AT&T store around 6, as planned, and settled into a tiny line. An hour later, the pre-order folks went in, and by 7:30 they were letting us regular people in. We had the nicest woman help us - Chelsea - she made short work of transferring our two separate accounts, on different carriers, into one lovely little family plan bundle. Birthday plan #1, a total success, with no hassle and just enough of a "remember-that-time-we" memory to make it stick. Click on the picture, if you're so inclined - my little beauty takes quite a nice mobile photo!

Crazeballs

Yup, we're nuts. You may know that already, but do you know the extent to which Cam and I have lost our minds?

About a year ago, Cam mentioned to me that he'd really like an iPhone. I was having none of it. "You're crazy," I said. "You constantly drop things, and your job is dangerous, and you'll lose it. No way. Bad idea." Of course, I don't have any authority over whether or not he buys one, but he took my concerns and thought some more.

Six months ago. "I want an iPhone." "You'll drop it or lose it."

Four months ago. "I want an iPhone." "Bad idea..."

...But secretly? I kind of wanted him to have it. See, last year, on his birthday, I was a reallllly bad girlfriend. How bad? I went away for the weekend with my girlfriends to celebrate all of us turning 30 that year. On his birthday. More than a month before I actually did turn 30.

He had a good birthday anyway, and I tried to make it up to him, but ever since then I've known I really have to hit it out of the park this year. So I started to think, "What if I did get him an iPhone? He'd never expect it, since I've been dead-set against it for all this time..."

Once I decided to go for it, and did the research, I realized 2 is better than one, money-wise. The service plan's a lot more reasonable. And my contract was up. So I decided we'd get two. So I just needed to try to delay him till his birthday. My awesome bro-il helped, sending me an article filled with rumors about a new model being released in June, just weeks before Cam's birthday. So I sent him that, and he was excited, but it was all just rumors. And when he came back from a big trip abroad, he broke the news to me: "I think I'm buying an iPhone."

I took a deep breath, then confessed my plan. So ever since then, it hasn't been a secret, and we've been having fun trading Apple rumors. Sadly, I never learned there was a pre-sale option, that one could order the phones and have them delivered to the AT&T store for pickup on the release date, June 19th. So here's how it's going to go down. AT&T stores will open at 7 for pre-sale lucky ducks, 9am for the massses. We are the masses. So we're planning to get in line at 6 tomorrow morning. Best believe I'll be bringing my camera, and the sweet camp chair Cam made an REI run for today. Wish us luck!

Please Mom May I Have Another?

Because we're classy and have an enormous condo, Cam and I eat at the coffee table. We could eat in the breakfast nook, or the formal dining room, but that's absurd (and also more flat out lies. We have neither.). The coffee table's got shelves - a 2x3 grid of cubbies. Winston likes to lie in the one below my plate, per the above picture.


Then, at some point during the meal, he creeps out. Mom? Food? Me? Aren't I cute?


He then spends a lot of time staring at my plate, hoping. This is actually really polite behavior for him - he thinks nothing of standing up on his hind legs and fishing around on the counters for goodies. I'll try for a picture of that next.

Dinner, by the way, was rigatoni in a roasted red pepper & parmesan cream sauce, topped with windowsill basil, zucchini on the side. With homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Not too shabby!

Yummy Jonathan Adler Wishlist

I've recently come out of my cave a little bit by entering contests on a few of my favorite websites. What could it hurt, right? The Pioneer Woman has frequent, insanely awesome giveaways, which I love. Any excuse to visit her site, really. Tangentially, she also has a really simple philosophy about updating her blog: Do it daily, so people never waste their time visiting. Food for thought.

Anyway, it's the giveaway going on over at Decor8 today that sent me straight to my Blogger account. Holly Becker's giving away two Jonathan Adler gift certificates, and to enter the contest, you had to list 2-4 items you'd love to buy there. My typing wrists are resting in a puddle of drool after making my list. Here are my choices.

Pie-in-the-sky selection: chain rug

Slightly closer to earth: meurice mirror

And finally, affordable: helix bath jar


Of course, the likelihood I'll win contests on these fabulously popular sites is slim, but it's so fun to enter!

Who Feels Like Chicken Tonight?

Me, for one. I've got that ridiculous bird in the oven right now. Ridiculous because he weighs 5lbs. I wanted a nice yummy organic birdie in the 3-4lb range, but ye olde Perdue was my only option. I think it'll be fantastic anyway. It's destined for the belly of my friend who could use some comfort food. We'll let you know how it turns out, because you need to know.

So, the many many wall-ready pictures aren't up yet. I'm weirdly indecisive about this particular decorating decision. Just about every piece of furniture we've got I've loved and felt sure about, and I know I want all those pics up, but I'm having a hard time with it. I need some opinions, but I think that'll be hard to do electronically. So would you please come over and help me with that? I'll feed you chicken!