12 Months of Lent

Website Work < Maine

2012-02-13T23:06:00.010-05:00

Confession Time: Instead of working on my website all weekend like I should have been doing, I went to Portland, Maine instead. Whoops! After all the computer crap and cat crap (not literally, ha) and car crap, I needed a little weekend getaway to lift my spirits and Maine always knows how to make me feel better. A few shots:

An embroidery in our B&B.

Best. Place. Ever.

Best. Lunch. Ever. From. Best. Place. Ever.

Midday Allagash, don't mind if I do...

Love.

East End Cupcakes in Old Port.

Gotta love a good whale mural.

I love Watertown and all, but come on...

Ok, ok, enough procrastinating, time to get back to work!

The Good News, The Bad News, and a PSA:

2012-02-06T22:47:00.003-05:00

The Good News: My computer is back complete with a new logic board and new hard drive, horray!

The Bad News: I hadn't backed up since I got it back after the first repair (you think I would have learned my lesson) a few weeks ago so I lost all of the work that I did on my website. Like, all of it. Wicked bummer.

PSA: Back up after you do anything important, seriously.

So, I'm officially back online and back to work. After a few days of reconfiguring, reinstalling, and redoing a ton of the work, of course. Progress report to come.

A Little Analog Superbowl Fun

2012-02-05T17:18:00.004-05:00

Just about to head over to Grammy's house for the Superbowl (yes, my 91 year old grandmother is having a Superbowl party) and thought I'd bring along the cross-stitch that I've been working on since, oh, I don't know, 2006? Anyone who I worked with at Neoscape in the early days will recognize this:

Cross-stitching and football with Grammy = Analog entertainment at its finest.

That's What Friends Are For

2012-02-04T09:49:00.004-05:00

To unexpectedly bring you flowers when your string of bum luck has expanded from just computer problems, to cat problems (my poor little Fanfan was recently diagnosed with diabetes) and car problems (don't you love when they find a bunch of crap wrong when you're just there to get an oil change?).

Thanks Jocelyn, you're the best! xoxo

Analog Graphic Design

2012-02-03T16:14:00.006-05:00

The outcome of my visit to the Genius Bar the other day is that I am yet again without a computer for the week because they needed to send it away to have a specialist figure out what this pesky problem is. Que sera sera, I suppose. Moving on...

Since website work is at a standstill, I thought I'd post about some of the analog activities that I've been keeping myself busy with in my new found digital-free free time.

Activity #1: Analog Graphic Design.

They've recently discovered my design skills at work (for anyone who doesn't know, I work as an educator at lululemon) and have kept me busy working on window displays and sign painting throughout the store. It's been really fun, and I have to say, even a little liberating working on projects that aren't so contrived and serious. So, here are a few photos of what my BFA is currently working on:

The theme for our February store windows is "Occupy Love". I had the awesome task of hand drawing and painting the large "Occupy Love" letters, which was super fun and a total throwback to my Type 1 class in college. The original display featured 2 mannequins on top of each other in the tent but we were asked by mall security to remove them because they had too many complaints that it was "offensive". Seriously? No comment...

Our events board for February. Drawing little hearts over and over again is basically my dream job...

The local happenings board for Feb...

More analog fun to come!

JDFI January + February Extension

2012-01-31T13:45:00.005-05:00

So, it's the last day of January and instead of celebrating the launch of my website, I'll be spending the afternoon at the Genius Bar getting a diagnosis of my twice busted computer. Sigh...

My mom always used to tell me that more often than not, your Plan A doesn't work out in life so you'd better not get too attached to the outcome (that one's for you Ben), and you'd better have a Plan B (sometimes even a C and D) lined up and ready to roll. I've been discouraged enough to ponder giving up finishing this website altogether (or at least putting it down for a while) but I read this great little quote in Whole Living Magazine this morning that gave me a much needed reminder:

So, my decision is to move forward and I'm extending my deadline to the end of February. I hope everyone can hang in there for another month of boring website posts, hopefully minus the computer problems this time.

SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!

2012-01-29T22:21:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to update everyone that I'm writing this from my iPhone because I got the black curtain of death on my computer yesterday and it's officially out of commission, AGAIN.

Just one question, SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

I'd also like to take a poll to see what everyone thinks this means:

A: I'm paying for something terrible I did in a past life.

B: I should give up trying to be a Graphic Designer altogether.

C: I should stop challenging myself to work so hard and have more fun.

D: I should quit my bitching because things could be a whole lot worse.

Answers in the comment field, please. I'm off to do something analog for the rest of the night...

Tony Schwartz: The Myths of the Overworked Creative

2012-01-27T22:51:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I watched a presentation by Tony Schwartz about how the way we’re working (think 8+ hour shifts of continuous output) isn’t working, and it really resonated with me. I recommend that everyone give it a listen if you have a chance (it’s about 30 minutes long), but I’ll detail the main points so you can get the gist of it.

Basically, Tony's goal is to debunk the theory that working as hard and as fast as you can is the best way to get things done. He talks about how, “We’re partially engaged in a lot of things and we’re almost never fully engaged in anything”, but how ”The most powerful way to get things done at a high level of quality and in an efficient way is to do one thing at a time in an absorbed way for a significant period of time”. Basically, the opposite of the heavily distracted and constantly interrupted way that I usually work.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m a champion procrastinator. I work for about 5 minutes before I allow myself to get distracted with something else: checking email, texting, obsessively cleaning the house, basically anything I can find to pull me away from my original task. At one point in the presentation he says that every time you move from your primary activity (let’s say, working on my website) to another (ohhh, like checking my email perhaps?), you increase the amount of time it’ll take to finish your primary activity by 25%. So wait...the 4 times I stop to check my email in an hour doubles the time it takes me to finish my task? Great.

So what do we do? Tony suggests tapping into the natural ultradian rhythm of our bodies, the sort of waking version of our sleep cycles.

“We’re not meant to work continuously and we’re not most effective when we do and the better way to work is to build in intermittent renewal along the way...we’re designed to move between spending energy and renewing energy in a rhythmic way”.

The human mind is able to focus and concentrate for 90 minutes at a time, but at the end of those 90 minutes, your concentration begins to wane and you need to recover and renew your energy before entering the next 90 minute cycle. In short, the most effective and efficient way to get things done is to devote your undivided attention to the task at hand for 90 minutes, then take a break to recharge, and enter another 90 minute work cycle.

I’m sharing this video because this is how I’ve been working on my website (and a number of other projects as well). For someone with a short attention span who’s easily distracted, it’s worked great. I like seeing my day in chunks rather than one long stretch of time, not to mention I love being given permission to take more breaks. It’s also nice to know that it’s still worthwhile to get some work done if I only have a 90 minute block of time.

And I should probably update everyone too, but there's pretty much no way that my site is launching by my original January 31st deadline. I thought I might be able to push through and get it done quickly, but those 10 days I missed when my computer was off being repaired definitely set me back. The new launch date is February 10th, and I'm sticking to it.

Time for a bunch more 90 minute work blocks!

Sneak Peak

2012-01-23T22:58:00.003-05:00

While I do want to share each step of my design process, I don't want to unveil everything before the site launches—there needs to be some element of surprise, right? That being said, here's a little sneak peak of my first stab at the design, zoomed out so you just get a hint of the direction that I'm headed in:

My working files are the ones in the middle with the turquoise band across the top and bottom. All of the surrounding images are just there for reference to give me a little inspiration when I need help figuring something out.

T-8 days! Hahahahaha, we'll see about that...

Wireframes

2012-01-18T19:16:00.003-05:00

Today was my first real website workday after the Great Computer Crash of 2012, and I picked up right where I left off: wireframing the site.

For all my non-design readers, once you have all of your content determined (what sections your website will have, text, images, etc.) wireframes are a way to organize everything in a rough, non-designed layout so that you have everything mapped out before you move into the design phase. A sort-of road map for when you're ready to start applying all the stylistic elements. I'll attach what I worked on today so you can get a better idea:

"Work" Page

"Individual Project" Page

"Services" Page

"About" Page

"Contact" Page

Next Step: Now that everything is all mapped out, it's time to figure out what the site actually looks like. I finished all my "Just Danne" branding (logo, colors, typography) over the summer so I'm hoping that the design phase will move along pretty quickly (which it has to with less than 2 weeks until launch).

Back to work!

and...We're Back!

2012-01-17T13:49:00.003-05:00

That's right friends, I'm writing to you from my computer which means that I'm officially up and running again, horray! I picked up my little friend on Sunday afternoon and spent the last few days getting her back up to speed.

Luckily, very luckily, I'm good about backing up so I only lost a few things. For all you Mac users out there, USE TIME MACHINE! Best application ever. When I got my computer back it was completely wiped and all I had to do was plug in my time machine drive and within about an hour everything was back, everything. Even my internet bookmarks and preferences. Amazing.

So, looks like I've got some serious work to do. I'm going to try to stick to my original deadline so it's go time. T-minus 14 days, ahhhh!

One Week Later...

2012-01-12T11:08:00.004-05:00

Well, it's officially been a week since my computer crapped out on me and I don't really have much to report. I'm still computer-less, and I'm still without any progress on my site. Sigh...

I have to admit, part of me was definitely looking forward to an unplugged week, but some sort of plague managed to strike the Kaplawagis household and I've been holed up for the past few days, sicker than I've been in years. In short, 2012 is kicking my ass.

And as if to rub salt in the wound, Behance (the creative network where I currently have my work up), sent this email about now being the time to get your portfolio site up to date. Thanks for the reminder Behance, I appreciate it.

Thanks for hanging in there guys and I hope that 2012 isn't being such a jerk to everyone else. Fingers crossed that my computer makes it home to me very soon so I can get back to work!

A Minor (let's hope so) Setback

2012-01-07T19:49:00.005-05:00

Picture this: It's last Thursday afternoon. I'm sipping tea in my study, making serious progress on my justdanne.com to-do list for the day. I take a break for a second to check iCal and the computer freezes. I give it a minute to regroup, but the rainbow circle of death is still spinning. At this point I decide it's time to shut it down and restart, but when I boot it back up this is what I see:

Reaction #1: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!NNOOOOOOOO!!!WHYWHYWHY?!

Reaction #2: Are you serious? 3 hours into my first day of work on the website that I've been procrastinating getting done for the last 6 years and my computer, which I've NEVER had a problem with before, crashes? No seriously, are you serious?

After a trip to the genius bar on Friday it looks like the logic board on my little friend is kaput and I'll be computer-less for the next week or so while it's off being repaired. I'm not really sure what to do about this as far as my website goes because there really isn't much I can work on without my computer, and especially without access to my files (which are backed up for the most part), so I'm just going to take this as a cue from the universe to keep it analog for a bit.

Que sera, sera, right?

January's Goal

2012-01-04T10:51:00.002-05:00

Brought to you by Danielle's Daily Fitness in Watertown, MA. Definitely one of my all-time favorite signs...

JFDI January

2012-01-02T21:18:00.003-05:00

People often ask me how I decide what to do for each month's lent. When I first started the blog back in 2009, I sat down and mapped out the entire year's worth of challenges in one sitting. While it was nice to have such a defined plan, I quickly discovered that completing one month of lent often inspired an idea for another month of lent, and that the experiences and adventures of the year lead me in directions that I couldn't have predicted.

So, I switched it up a bit and now I take things one month at a time. When the month is drawing to a close, I do a personal assessment and decide what would be most beneficial to me at that time. Is my diet out of whack? Am I slacking on exercise? Do I need to be taking things a little less seriously and having more fun?

Towards the close of December I was feeling pretty strongly that some sort of dietary detox was in the cards for January's lent (I've been living off of hors d'oeuvres and holiday sweets, it's disgusting). I even took it as a sign from the universe when I got the new issue of Whole Living Magazine which featured a 21 day detox on the cover. Perfect. Cliché, but perfect. But then I got to thinking...as much as my diet needed a reboot, there's been one pesky thing on my to-do list for the past 6 years (literally) that I just can't seem to finish for the life of me: Get my design website up.

Lent to the rescue!

It's really embarrassing to admit, but I design websites for a living and I don't even have my own. Lord only knows how I've made it 6 years in the professional world without one, but it's time to quit procrastinating and JFDI: "Just F***ing Design It" (a spin off of "Just F***ing Do It, what became our group mantra in my session of Project M). My goal for January is to launch www.justdanne.com by January 31st. No excuses, no extensions, just a hard deadline that I'm committing to. Period.

I'm not quite sure how interesting reading about my design process is going to be, but I'm thinking that it'll be a lot less annoying than reading rants about how much I miss jelly beans and pinot grigio (which I should probably consider giving up for real lent this year).

T-29 days 'til launch, 1,2, 3 go!

Another 12 Months of Lent

2011-12-31T17:27:00.003-05:00

Well, it's New Years Eve and the close of 2011 also marks the close of another 12 Months of Lent (December was my 36th month of Lent, woohoo!). My New Year's Resolution for 2011 was to devote more time and energy to this blog and it seems like it's paid off. Looking at the numbers, I posted 3 times as much as I did in 2010, more than tripled my monthly page views, garnered some new readers, and of course, was nominated by SHAPE Magazine for their Best Blogger Award (I still kind of can't believe that happened).

As I've written before in my yearly wrap-ups, this blog is truly such a positive and fulfilling endeavor for me and I really can't imagine my life without these crazy, self-inflicted challenges. This year I'll continue to devote as much time and energy to 12MOL as I can, and hopefully I'll be posting this time next year with a whole new list of milestones.

And although this blog is basically just a bunch of New Year's Resolutions spread out over the course of a year, this year I felt the need to set some more traditional resolutions which I accidentally designed into a wallet-sized format, whoops! There's the designer in me...

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy new year!

DIY Face Masks

2011-12-30T23:01:00.003-05:00

Although my last few posts might lead you to believe that I err on the earthy crunchy side, I'm definitely a girly girl at heart (an earthy crunchy kinda girly girl). My favorite color is and always has been pink (I was the proud owner of a pink Barbie Power Wheels Corvette when I was little), I love anything with ruffles, ribbons or lace, and I'm a huge fan of any sort of pampering: manicures, pedicures, trips to the hair salon, massages—you name it.

So, in the DIY spirit I decided to try out some recipes for face masks. I'm a huge, huge fan of the fresh face masks from LUSH (best store ever) and they're usually my go-to choice, but both of these are great fill-ins for when I don't have time to pick one up from the store.

Avocado Mask
from Whole Living Magazine

Mix half an avocado, one teaspoon honey, and one tablespoon plain yogurt until creamy. Spread on clean skin and let sit for 15 minutes. Then rinse with warm water, pat dry, and apply a simple moisturizer.

This one is my favorite of the 2. It's really easy to make and the texture was similar to one of my favorite masks from LUSH. I found that it kept for a few days too so I was able to get a few uses out of the recipe.

Kiwi Mask
from Whole Living Magazine

Puree 2 kiwis, 3 tablespoons plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon orange juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Apply to the entire face, leave on until dry, and then rinse well.

I liked this one as well, but my mixture came out a little soupier than I was expecting so the application was a little difficult (probably my own fault for not measuring the ingredients as well as I could have). The big perk of this mask was definitely the smell, mmm fresh kiwi...

And sorry, no picture of me with the mask on, maybe next time...

DIY Home Cleaning Products

2011-12-29T11:07:00.004-05:00

As I touched upon a few posts ago, I like to use natural, non-toxic household products whenever possible. While there are a few great brands out there that are my go-to choices for the store-bought stuff (I like Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, and even Target's brand Method), let's face it—it doesn't get more natural than making it yourself. Even if your kitchen isn't a laboratory, you can easily keep you home clean and germ free with only a few simple ingredients, I promise.

A few years ago I bought the book, Better Basics for the Home, by Annie Berthold-Bond. In the introduction she tells her personal story of chemical poisoning (first by a gas leak and then by a pesticide), and her family's attempt to move away from chemical pollution. In her search for clean air, she quickly realized that in our chemical age, the contamination was everywhere, especially in the products that we use on a day to day basis. She put the book together to serve as a modern day guide full of the information that used to be passed down from mothers to daughters. In just over 300 pages she manages to cover it all from household cleaners, to skin and body care, to gardening, pets, and pest control. Sort of the bible of DIY natural home and beauty care.

While there are tons of awesome recipes in the book (everyone should own a copy, really), I'll just share a few of my favorite for simple household cleaning solutions.

First off, in the chapter on housekeeping she states that you can clean everything in the house with 5 basic ingredients. Keep these 5 on hand and you've got the base for most of the books recipes:

1. Baking soda
2. Washing soda
3. Liquid soap or detergent
4. Distilled vinegar
5. Antiseptic essential oil.

1. Antiseptic All-Purpose Spray Cleaner
from Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond

Ingredients
1 teaspoon antiseptic essential oil (thyme, orange, lemongrass, rose, clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, birch, lavender or tea tree)
1 teaspoon washing soda
2 teaspoons borax
1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent
2 cups hot water

Instructions
Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake to dissolve and blend the minerals.

2. Basic Floor Cleaner
from Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond

Ingredients
1/4 cup liquid soap or detergent
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar or lemon juice
2 gallons warm water

Instructions
Combine the ingredients in a large plastic bucket. Use with mop or sponge.

3. Toilet Bowl Cleaner
from Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond

Ingredients
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda

Instructions
Pour the ingredients into the toilet. Let sizzle, then scrub. Flush.

4. To Brighten Clothing Without Bleach
from Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond

Instructions
Add 1/2 cup lemon juice or hydrogen peroxide to the rinse cycle of your laundry. Another option is to add 1/2 cup borax or washing soda to the wash cycle.

5. To Clean a Clogged Drain
from Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond

Instructions
Pour 1 cup washing soda into the water surrounding the drain, as close to the drain as possible. Within a minute, the water should go down. If this doesn't work, pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain followed by 3 cups boiling water.

Happy cleaning!

DIY Cranberry Candle Jars

2011-12-27T20:46:00.003-05:00

Ok, ok, so this might have been a more appropriate post last week, you know, before Christmas, but since I didn't even have time to wrap my Christmas gifts (that's what friends are for, thanks Sondra!), I just got around to putting these together tonight.

Um, easiest DIY project ever.

You basically just take a mason jar (luckily I have about 20 million), add some greens (I used pine) and a handful of cranberries, fill the jar with water, and drop in a floating candle (I ordered the candles from Amazon). Voilà, that's it!

Although I'm pretty sure these were intended to be made as a decoration for Christmas, I think they're pretty enough to be kept around for a few weeks longer. Hey, I make the rules here, right? Seasonal decorations it is!

On a side note, I hope that everyone has been having a wonderful holiday season. I've been very busy (I told a co-worker the other day, in all honesty too, that "I don't remember what I used to think about when I had time to think about things" haha), but have found time in between food comas to spend time with family and friends. Enjoy this last week of 2011 and stay tuned for more DIY projects to come!

DIY Toothpaste

2011-12-20T10:56:00.005-05:00

Yep, you read the title right, I just whipped up a batch of my own homemade toothpaste. If you thought I was a weirdo for making my own laundry detergent (which turned out awesome by the way, my laundry came out perfectly clean and smelling lovely), than you should probably just stop reading now because DIY toothpaste definitely takes it to the next level of hippy.

This recipe also comes from Bust Magazine and like the laundry detergent, it only involved a few ingredients and was super easy to make. I just gave my pearly whites their first brush with it and I have to say, it looked like toothpaste, it felt like toothpaste, and it acted like toothpaste—my teeth feel just as clean as they do when I brush with the brand name stuff. Here's the instructions on how to make it:

DIY Toothpaste
From Bust Magazine

Ingredients
4 Tbsp. calcium carbonate (I ordered this online)
2 Tbsp. baking soda
Pinch of stevia powder (for sweetness, adjust to taste)
5-6 drops of an essential oil (peppermint, spearmint, rose, vanilla, etc.)
Vegetable glycerine (I ordered this online as well)

Instructions
1. Combine the dry ingredients and essential oil in a small airtight jar.
2. Add a splash of vegetable glycerine and mix. Continue adding vegetable glycerine until you reach your desired consistency.
3. Put a dab on your toothbrush and brush away, that's it!

This recipe makes about a 3 week supply of toothpaste and will keep for up to a month. The paste will separate between uses so use your toothbrush to stir it up.

Paging Josh Rolnick, the only dentist I know, is this actually effective to use or is a mouth full of cavities in my future?

UPDATE: Here is the response I received from Josh Rolnick, DDS

"Unfortunately, I can't give my dentist stamp of approval. Although your toothpaste has calcium carbonate (a commonly used abrasive in toothpaste), it is lacking the most important ingredient, Fluoride. Your toothpaste may do a good job in mechanically removing plaque from your teeth, but it is not doing anything to protect the teeth from cavities. All ADA (American Dental Association) approved toothpastes have fluoride. Some toothpastes also have added ingredients with anti-microbial properties to kill the bacteria that cause cavities and periodontal disease. While this is certainly a very cool undertaking, I can't recommend using the homemade toothpaste. I recommend any ADA approved fluoride toothpaste."

DIY Laundry Detergent

2011-12-18T21:32:00.003-05:00

A few months ago Bust Magazine had a little piece on how to make your own laundry detergent. Since I'm kind of a hippy when it comes to household products, I was definitely psyched at the idea of making my own, eco-friendly, chemical-free version of the stuff that I usually get from the supermarket.

I made the following recipe this afternoon and I have to say, I felt pretty proud of myself when I finished. Although it didn't require too many ingredients and it was super easy to make, laundry detergent is definitely one of those things that you don't image being DIY-able. So not true!

DIY Laundry Detergent
From Bust Magazine 2011

Ingredients:
2 cups unscented bar soap (about 1.5 bars)
Fresh herbs: a few sprigs of lavender, thyme or rosemary work great
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda (I ordered both online for about $3 a box)
10 drops of essential oil: bergamot, ylang-ylang, lemon, eucalyptus or lavender work great

Instructions:
1. Grate the soap (this is the most time consuming part).
2. Boil 4.5 cups of water and stir in the grated soap until it's dissolved.
3. Add the fresh herbs, borax, and washing soda and stir.
4. Pour mixture into a pail with 2 gallons of water and add the essential oil.
5. Let stand overnight and strain into a large container.
6. Use about a half cup per load of laundry.

And that's it! Mine is currently in the "sitting overnight" phase but I'll give a full report when I do my laundry tomorrow.

Grating the soap...

Boiling the ingredients...

My huge of bucket of detergent. Who's excited to do laundry? This girl!

DIY Christmas Decorating

2011-12-17T11:00:00.005-05:00

Let me first start by apologizing for my lack of DIY-ing this past week. I'm sure I don't need to preach to the choir here, but December has been crazy busy for me and I've had much less free time than I usually do. In my defense too, I'll also say that I had to order materials online for 3 of my planned DIY projects and they've been trickling in throughout the week, so I've been on a bit of a hold until their arrival (Update: All materials for 2 projects have come in and I'm just waiting for my floating candles which should arrive sometime this week).

In the meantime, I've been working on doing some Christmas decorating around the house and even though they aren't official DIY December projects, I thought I'd share a few photos:

The Christmas tree, yay!

My lovely orange slice ornaments. They look really cool when the light shines through them.

I had my mom gather some greens and pine cones for me from the Cape and I've been making little arrangements throughout the house.

The centerpiece on our coffee table. I got the mini tree from Trader Joes, too cute. Then there's cranberries, holly, and pine cones mixed in.

Coming up tomorrow, I'll be trying my hand at DIY laundry detergent and maybe even toothpaste if I have time.

DIY Project #1: Citrus Slice Christmas Tree Ornaments

2011-12-08T21:08:00.004-05:00

I cut these instructions out on how to make your own citrus slice ornaments from Whole Living Magazine in 2008, way back when it was still called Body + Soul. Lord only knows why it took me 3 years to get around to making them (especially because it involves little money and effort), but I thought that it would be a nice project to kick-off DIY December with, especially since I'm getting my tree this weekend too.

Citrus Slice Ornaments
From Body + Soul, 2008

1. Cut four unpeeled oranges into rounds about 1/4-inch thick.
2. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 175 degrees for 4 hours.
3. Poke a hole near one edge with a needle and thread doubled twine through to make a loop.

Photo courtesy of Wholeliving.com.

While they ended up looking really cool and the prep work was as minimal as it gets, I have to say, the bake time was kind of insane. Maybe I sliced mine thicker than I should have, but my little orange slices were in the oven for much longer than 4 hours—try 8 (a whole work day!). If you try this project at home, definitely follow the instructions on slicing (they recommend 1/4 inch) unless you want to monopolize your oven for an entire day.

I'll be sure to post photos of my finished ornaments after I hang them on my tree this weekend, eee!

Save Eat More Kale!

2011-12-08T09:58:00.004-05:00

A few days ago I heard this piece on NPR called Chicken Vs. Kale: Artist Fights Chick-fil-A Suit. If you're not familiar with Eat More Kale, it's a small t-shirt business run out of Vermont by Bo Muller-Moore. He makes t-shirts and bumper stickers (I have one on my car) with the slogan "Eat More Kale" on them to promote the super food and support sustainable agriculture. When he tried to apply for a federal trademark over the summer, Chick-fil-A, a multi-million dollar fast food chain, accused him of infringing on their trademark, "Eat Mor Chikin." and demanded that he stop production and turn over all of his t-shirts to them. Chick-fil-A's "alleges that Eat More Kale confuses Chick-fil-A customers and dilutes its multi-million dollar industry." Are you serious? Confuse kale with chicken? Is that even possible?

Since it's clearly just a case of corporate bullying, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is on the case and set up the Eat More Kale Legal Fund, where people can buy "Team Kale" merch to help support Bo's legal fees as he takes on this corporate giant. Change.org is also hosting a petition that I encourage all of you to take a minute to sign:

Sign the Petition to Save Eat More Kale

I love Eat More Kale and I think that Bo's a great guy. When I did an Eat More Kale lent back in July of 2010, I wrote to him and he sent me a bunch of bumper stickers with a nice note back. It's absolutely absurd to me that Chick-fil-A is taking it this far and I really hope that all this does is boost Bo's business.

This is my favorite quote on the matter which comes from Gov. Shumlin:

"Don't mess with Vermont. Don't mess with kale. And, Chick-fil-A, get out of the way because we are going to win this one"

You'd better believe I'm ordering some Team Kale merch

I Will Always Love You Watertown and DIY December

2011-12-03T22:21:00.004-05:00

Well, I Love Watertown month has come to a close and I have to say that it was pretty awesome—just like Watertown. Although pretty much every month is I Love Watertown month for me, November definitely took it up a notch. I finally made it out to some new local spots, I participated in a few community events, voted in our town elections, learned about Watertown's history, and just spent time out and about enjoying all of the ins and outs of this town.

Since I've already covered all the serious stuff, I thought I'd close the month out with a couple of bumper sticker designs that I revised for Watertown's sake (being a Graphic Designer really comes in handy sometimes). And Watertown, don't you worry, even though it isn't officially I Love Watertown month anymore, I will always love you.

And now on to December! After snipping out the millionth fun DIY project from one of my magazines, I decided that maybe it was time to actually make some headway on the stack of cutouts instead of just adding to the pile. So, this month I'm aiming to complete 3 projects a week, ranging from making my own toothpaste to my own terrarium. Stay tuned and Happy Holidays!

Watertown City Guide

2011-11-30T20:14:00.003-05:00

I read a lot of great city guides in Bust Magazine and on Design Sponge, and although I don't expect anyone to plan a vacation around Watertown, I'm making a list of my favorite Watertown hot spots (that term might be a bit of a stretch haha), so that if you find yourself in the area, you'll be well prepared for an awesome time.

Eat & Drink

Breakfast: I've already mentioned the Deluxe Town Diner quite a few times so I'll spare you the details (see this post if you missed it the other day), but I also want to give props to The Diner at 11 North Beacon because it's also a great breakfast/brunch spot. Their biggest selling point? A much shorter wait than you'll find at Deluxe Town and a patio for outdoor dining in the warmer months.

Lunch: Maximo's is a new addition to Coolidge Square and I have to say that they win my vote for best takeout in the area, hands down. Their dishes are healthy, creative, and very vegetarian friendly. A+, try the burritos!

Dinner: For a snazzy date night meal, I'd recommend Stellina right in Watertown Square. It's upscale Italian food and they even have live jazz music a few nights a week. I also really like La Casa De Pedro, a Latin American restaurant in the Arsenal. They may not be super veggie friendly, but the few options that they do have are really good and the cocktails are awesome. For something a little more low key, Red Lentil is Watertown's very own vegan restaurant and they have a pretty extensive menu and great fresh juice and smoothies.

Markets: I've already posted extensively about Russo's and the Armenian and Middle Eastern markets, so again, I won't go into detail here. Refer to the posts that I linked to above to get the full story.

Drinks: I have to be honest here, Watertown doesn't have much of a bar scene. There are a few fun sports bars, 21 Nickels, (my favorite) and Donahue's, but there's not too much going on other than that. I like to get a drink at the bar at Not Your Average Joe's and also at Porcini's (the food is great here too). Other than that though, it's drinking at Casa De Danne.

Shop

Big Box Stores: My post from earlier this week should have been called "The Watertown 4" because people also always know Watertown because we have a Target in the Watertown Mall (there aren't too many in the area). We're also famous for the 2-floor Forever 21 across the street in the Arsenal Mall.

Smaller Shops: There honestly aren't too many "gift shop" type places, but a few spots come to mind like Fastachi, a specialty nut and chocolate shop, and also the shop at Arsenal Center for the Arts which sells goods made by local artists and artisans. We also have Sister Thrift, which is a great thrift shop located on Pleasant Street, just before Russo's.

Entertainment

The Arsenal Center for the Arts is probably the best option for entertainment in town. They have art exhibits, music performances, jazz, theater and various other special events. The Arsenal also houses The New Repertory Theatre, which offers plays throughout the year (I saw my friend Jordan in Hot Mikado here). Watertown is also home to the Boston Swing Dance Network which offers monthly lessons and dancing to a live swing band at the Armenian Church on Mt. Auburn. I've been a bunch of times and it's super fun. And I know this is cheating because it's in Belmont (a neighboring town), but there's a great little independently owned movie theater on Trapelo Road called Studio Cinema and it's awesome. They only show one movie at a time (which I love) and the actually use real butter on their popcorn. Believe it!

Mind & Body

Looking to do some yoga? Underground Studios is absolutely the best place in town. I've been going there for over a year now and I can't say enough good things about it. Come to a class with me! And if you're a runner or cyclist, head over to Charles River Road and take advantage of the great bike and run trails that follow the river. Watertown also has a host of Health & Wellness Centers but I haven't checked any of them out personally so I can't vouch for them. Anyone have any input?

And I have to say, as much as I love Watertown and how wonderful and magical it is, there are definitely a few things that this town could use:

1. A cool bar. I love 21 Nickels, I really do, but we need to expand our horizons beyond the sports bar scene. Anyone want to start one with me? Kim Cameron, maybe this is where Cat Bar comes in?

2. A hip café. The Watertown library actually has a pretty cool little café, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Diesel in Davis Square. Again, who's in?

3. A farmers market. We're practically the only town that doesn't have one! Why? Can someone answer this for me?

4. More little shops selling local arts and crafts. I love Magpie in Somerville and wish we had something like it here.

Anything I forgot? Places you love that I missed? Ideas for things that would make Watertown even more awesome than it already is? Lemme know!

Watertown & Hiroshima

2011-11-30T10:08:00.006-05:00

An incredible article from Design Observer about when Don Levy, owner of the Deluxe Town Diner, stumbled upon an old suitcase filled with the lost photos from the bombing of Hiroshima at the end of WWII: Hiroshima: The Lost Photographs

Operation American Soldier

2011-11-29T21:24:00.002-05:00

Since the "Season of Giving" officially kicked off right in the middle of "I Love Watertown" month, I thought it would be fitting to find a local Watertown charity to donate to. I was tipped off to Operation American Soldier by a writer for the Watertown Patch, and after reading through their website, I'm more than happy to make a donation to this wonderful cause.

In short, Operation American Soldier is an organization that was started by John and Wendy Rocca, a Watertown couple with 3 children who have all been deployed at one time or another. After hearing their daughter tell a story of fellow soldiers who were not receiving any mail or packages at mail call, the couple decided to launch OAS to ensure that no soldier left mail call empty handed.

Sometimes the Rocca's organize packing parties where they gather volunteers to assemble the "cheer boxes" (usually filled with toiletries, snacks, drawings from children, personal letters from volunteers, and etc.), but since I didn't see one listed for this month, I decided to make a donation instead. For between $10 and $25 dollars you can sponsor a box that is shipped over to a soldier in need. Interested in sponsoring a box? Click here to donate.

I'd like to extend my gratitude to the Rocca family for creating and devoting themselves to such a wonderful chairty, and of course, to all of the soldiers who selflessly serve our country every day. A sincere thank you for your service.

The Watertown 3

2011-11-28T13:22:00.008-05:00

When you tell people that you live in Watertown, they generally respond with 1 of 3 remarks:

1. "Are you Armenian?"
2. "You must shop at Russo's"
3. "Omg, the Deluxe Town Diner..."

I've already written about Watertown's Armenian population so the first comment goes without saying, but for all of you non-Watertownies out there who aren't familiar with Russo's Market and the Deluxe Town Diner, let me fill you in on what you've been missing.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I lived in Watertown for over 2 years before setting foot into Russo's. Big mistake. This place is just as incredible as everyone says it is and it definitely lives up to the hype. Tables upon tables of beautiful produce (the selection is incredible), fresh baked bread and various other baked goods, an extensive array of cheeses from around the world, fresh pasta and ravioli galore, a florist and garden center, and all at super low prices–what's not to love? If you live in the area and haven't been yet, don't wait, this place is the best.

Each table has produce on top with processed food underneath, amazing...

The cheese counter

Christmas wreaths for sale

And the diner, oh the diner...I've been a bit of a diner connoisseur since my obsession with the 1950's started in high school, and I have to say that the Deluxe Town Diner is probably my all-time favorite. Not only does it look the part with stainless steel decor and neon signs, but the food is top of the line. What I love most about it is that they offer all of the greasy spoon classics but with plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians (my vegan friends are always psyched to be able to order pancakes and I haven't found another place in the area that offers veggie sausage). Plus they have an extensive tea selection which I've found to be rare for a diner (no offense Lipton black).

Located right on Mt. Auburn Street in Coolidge Square

A photo of my friend Marek and I in front of the diner a few weeks ago when he was here visiting from Slovakia.

My Challah french toast, mmm...

And my apologies for such a lack of posting in the past few weeks. I started my new [second] job at lululemon, went out to Michigan for Thanksgiving, and have had a million other things in between. Thanks for sticking with me!

Wild and Scenic Watertown, Massachusetts

2011-11-15T18:51:00.007-05:00

Ok, so I might be exaggerating a bit with the "wild" part, but Watertown is looking pretty good right about now. The foliage is a little later than usual this year, and the trees along the Charles looked too beautiful for me not to stop and snap a few shots when I was passing by yesterday afternoon:

Behold, the glory of Watertown in the fall:

My Favorite Part of Watertown: The Greenhouse at Perkins

2011-11-14T16:46:00.007-05:00

When I moved to Watertown in 2006, I quickly became aware of the large presence that Perkins School for the Blind has in the area. Compelled by seeing so many students out and about throughout the town, and because I lived only a short walk away, I went on their website to check out volunteer opportunities. The stars must have been aligned in the sky, because the first one I saw was a position to assist in taking care of the greenhouse for their horticulture therapy program (um, why didn't my high school guidance counselor tell me that horticulture therapy was an option?). If you know me personally, you know that I have a super green thumb and that I absolutely love plants (which stems from my high school job at Country Garden), so volunteering in the greenhouse was the perfect fit for me.

So, a few weekends each month, I head over to the beautiful Thomas and Bessie Pappas Horticulture Center and spend an hour or so taking care of the greenhouse plants and enjoying the scenery (and the warmth of the sun in the winter months). Pair this with a yoga class afterwards, and it's really the best way to start out the weekend.

Since the greenhouse isn't open to the public, I thought I'd share a few photos from when I was there this past weekend:

The banana trees actually grew bananas last year which is definitely rare for New England

The History of Watertown or, "Watertown: Where It All Began"

2011-11-13T10:02:00.004-05:00

When you grow up in a town, you usually learn about its history through the public school system. Growing up on the Cape, I remember classes in elementary school that were devoted to our local history: the pilgrims first landing in Provincetown, the construction of the Cape Cod Canal and its bridges, the local cranberry bogs, and etc. But what about when you're an adult and you move to a new place, how do you educate yourself about the local history? If you're Danne Dzenawagis, you sign up for a "History of Watertown" course offered through Watertown Community Education. True story.

Last Thursday night, along with 11 others (surprisingly all under the age of 65), I sat in the Watertown High School library and watched a presentation led by Audrey Jones Childs of the Watertown Historical Society. It began in 1630, the year that Watertown was founded by Sir Richard Saltonstall, and went up to the present day. Although some periods of time were a little less exciting than others, I really enjoyed the presentation as a whole, and I honestly wasn't expecting Watertown to have as rich of a history as it does.

I have to say too, especially with the Walmart issue looming, that it's really unfortunate that the town hasn't done more over the years to preserve its historical landmarks (this turned into a bit of a heated debate after the presentation ended). Watching before and after slides, it was so sad to see beautiful old theaters and taverns destroyed for 7-11's and bus terminals. I don't know if the town government was bribed by corporations of if the zoning laws are just really lax here, but it was truly disappointing to see how much of our history has been swallowed up by corporate chains and big box stores.

I won't bore you with all of my notes, but here are a few facts that I thought were really cool:

The first 3 towns of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century were Boston, Dorchester, and you guessed it Watertown. One of the first 3, who knew?!

When the first settlers crossed the pond from England they brought 40 tons of beer haha.

Watertown was the first town in the new colonies to have a protest against taxation without representation, cool huh?

At one time, Watertown was larger than Boston and it included land from the present day towns of Belmont, Weston, Waltham, and parts of Lincoln, Newton and Cambridge.

Because of its size and prominence in the early days, there's apparently a saying that "Everyone is originally from Watertown".

George Washington passed through Watertown in 1775, stopping to eat at the Coolidge Tavern (now the Galen Street bus terminal), on his way to take formal command of the army in Cambridge.

The Stanley Steamer, the first steam powered vehicle, was invented in Watertown.

And the best fact of all? We're home of the frozen pizza! I really hope I didn't mishear that one...

Town Elections

2011-11-08T10:38:00.003-05:00

This morning, for the first time in my 10 years as a voter, I voted in my town’s local elections. Go me/shame on me for not doing this earlier. In addition to it being I Love Watertown month, what really got me to the polls today was one particular issue: Walmart wants to open a location in Watertown (just minutes from my house), and some town councilors are in favor of it while others are opposed.

My person stance on the issue? No thanks Walmart, we’re all set. If anyone has seen the documentary, Walmart: The High Price of Low Cost, you understand my position. Yes, it creates jobs and revenue for the town, but it also creates traffic and crime, it puts local, mom and pop operations out of business, and let’s be honest here, the jobs that are created aren’t good jobs. Walmart is a notoriously awful employer: not paying workers a living wage, not offering affordable healthcare, not supporting unions, discriminating against women, and intimidating workers into working overtime without pay, just to name a few. Let’s not forget why these products are so cheap in the first place too—it’s because they’re made cheaply in China by workers who are paid about $3 a day. Like the title of the movie says, there’s a high cost for this low price.

I understand that the economy is abysmal and that families are on tight budgets, but guys, there’s a Target right on Arsenal…and a Home Depot…and 2 huge malls. Watertown doesn’t need another big box store. Period.

So I voted. And I signed the petition. And if there's a protest, I'll be all over it.

Watertown's Armenian Bakeries and Markets

2011-11-07T16:33:00.016-05:00

Omg, why did it take me 5 years of living in Watertown to actually make it over to the cluster of Armenian/Middle Eastern specialty markets in Coolidge Square? They're amazing! Bulk spices for super cheap, pita bread galore, coolers filled with lentil soup, fresh houmus and garlic sauce (this is my new favorite dip, incredible...), and cases of the most beautiful desserts you've ever seen. If you're ever in the area, it's absolutely worth stopping by any of the 3 that I mention below.

Although I loved them all, Massis might be my favorite

My new go-to place for spices, every spice you could ever need—and for so cheap!

If only I liked olives...each market had really extensive olive bars

This place, Arax Market, was awesome too.

I'm having a hard time remembering why I didn't buy any of these...

Sevan Bakery

Yes, please!

Today in Watertown...

2011-11-06T20:24:00.016-05:00

My day in pictures (I apologize in advance for all the Hipstamatic shots, I'm a little late to the game when it comes to all of these cool iPhone photo apps).

I stated the day out by participating in the Watertown Boys and Girls Club 8th Annual Road Race. My time was less than impressive, but it was a fun event nonetheless, and it benefited a great cause.

After the race, Dan and I stopped in at the Armenian Library and Museum of America. For those of you who aren't familiar with the area, Watertown has one of the largest population of Armenians outside of Armenia, dubbing it the nickname "Little Armenia". The museum tells the fascinating (and often sad) history of the country and it's people.

Armenian religious reliquaries. So cool...

Armenian swords from the 19th century

Armenian illuminations and manuscripts

A traditional Armenian wedding gown

The ALMA currently has an exhibit up of the work of Yousuf Karsh, a renowned portrait photographer of Armenian heritage. There were some incredible shots of amazing people like Albert Einstein...

Martin Luther King...

and Mother Theresa.

And this week in Watertown will be a busy one for me. I'm heading over to the library tomorrow night for a free screening of, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price which I'll write more about later (Walmart is trying to open up a location in Watertown and the town is not psyched about it). We also have our town elections on Tuesday (which I'm obviously voting in) and then Thursday night is my history of Watertown class at the high school. Much more blogging to come...

Watertown Image of the Day

2011-11-05T21:09:00.002-04:00

Found at the Watertown Recycling Center

November’s Lent: I Love Watertown

2011-11-01T12:08:00.003-04:00

For those of you who don’t know, I live just outside of Boston in the suburb of Watertown, or as I like to call it: The Best Town in America. Since moving here in 2006, my affinity for this place has just grown and grown (just ask my friends, they hear about it all the time). It's super convenient to get into the city, but being right on the Charles, it's just as easy to feel like you're far away from one too. Not only do we have the best grocery store (Russo's) and Diner (Deluxe Town) around, but my favorite part about this town has always been how old-fashioned it feels. It's somehow maintained the small town, friendly-neighborhood feel of the 1950's, and it's really refreshing to find that so close to a big city.

Since I'm clearly a pretty big Watertown fan and because I've lived here for a while now (just over 5 years), I decided that it was time to get a little more involved in my community, so I’m dedicating this month to really immersing myself in the local Watertown culture. How so you ask? Here are my November goals:

1. Go to one community event a week (Town Council Meetings, this weekend’s 5K for the Boys and Girls club...)

2. Visit at least one new Watertown establishment a week (The Armenian Museum, local restaurants and bars, historical sites…)

3. Shop locally to support all of our wonderful mom and pop businesses.

4. Write Yelp reviews about all of my Watertown favorites.

5. Take part in a local community service event.

6. Learn more about Watertown’s history (I actually signed up for a history of Watertown class which I’m totally psyched about).

7. Design funny Watertown pride things like t-shirts and bumper stickers.

Stay tuned and send suggestions if you have them!

Hot Yoga and Film Photography

2011-10-31T19:50:00.018-04:00

This morning I had a conversation with my yoga teacher about hot yoga and how I just can't get into it. "I try to be open minded every time I go, but I just don't like it", I said, to which he replied, "It's ok, you don't have to like it". He's right, there's no need to feel [Catholic] guilt about it, it just doesn't work for me and there's nothing wrong with that. After a month of shooting digital, I have to say that I share a similar sentiment when it comes to photography. I keep trying to like digital and although there are things about it that are irrefutably awesome (viewing your images immediately, never having to buy film, etc.), film definitely holds a certain magic that digital just can't replicate (the photos below are a perfect example of this).

I had fun this month getting back out there and remembering what it is about photography that quickens my heart. I wasn't as prolific in creating work as I had hoped, but I definitely snapped out of my slump and going forward, I'm going to make an effort to break out my Mamiya more often and even just take more every day shots (which will be much easier seeing that my iPhone shipped today! eee!).

I'm super excited to close out photography month with some pictures that I just got back today of my 2009 cross-country road trip that I took with my dear friend Jess (it only took 2 years for me to drop the film off, NBD). They were all shot with my medium format film camera, and by some force of sheer magic (most likely when I left the film in my 90 degree bedroom for an entire summer), the film got totally distorted and the strangest/coolest effects happened (none of this is photoshopped, I swear).

Happy Halloween and I'll be back tomorrow introducing November's Lent: I Love Watertown.

Shoebox and The 3%

2011-10-29T12:42:00.004-04:00

I just found out about an awesome new iPhone app by 1,000 Memories called Shoebox. It allows you to scan and adjust old paper photos easily so that they can come out of the shoebox (or in my family's case, an old Ruffles duffle bag) and into an online, sharable space. I'm extra extra excited about this because I just so happen to have impulse bought the new iPhone 4S on the way out of the mall the other day, whoops! Get ready Ruffles duffle bag, when my phone ships next week, I'm coming for you...

And on another note, the polls are officially closed and I managed to nab 3% of the votes for SHAPE's Best Blogger Awards, coming in 8th in my category of "Blogs That Keep Us Happy and Sane". Although winning would have obviously been pretty cool, I know that opportunities like this just beget other opportunities, and I feel so grateful for all of the 12 Months of lent love that everyone has shown me in the past month. Thanks you all so much for voting and spreading the word. xoxo times 10,000!

October...wait, what?

2011-10-28T15:53:00.003-04:00

Um, is anyone else wondering where October went? I just looked at the calendar and realized that it's November next week, which means that Thanksgiving might as well be tomorrow. What? How did this happen? Is it really almost time to bring the Christmas decorations up from the basement? Wasn't I wearing a tank top, like, last week?

Considering that this is the last weekend of my photography month, I'm going to try to fit in as much photo time as possible (although we're apparently getting a blizzard here in Boston so we'll see how that goes haha, I have no comment on that). The weather is looking clear tonight so I'm planning on heading out to shoot some of the afore mentioned wacky Watertown storefronts, and maybe even some of my neighbors crazy outdoor Halloween setups.

Also, I've had 5 rolls of 120 film in the fridge for about 2 years that I dropped off to be developed and scanned today (let's be honest, Dan dropped them off for me, thanks Dan!). What's on the film? Pictures from my cross-country road trip in 2009, YES! I'm going to pick them up on Monday, which just so happens to be the last day of the month, so I'll make sure to share my favorites.

Happy Halloween everyone!

A picture hanging in my kitchen, I thought this was a good Friday shot...

Oh, and today is the last day to vote for 12 Months of Lent in SHAPE's Best Blogger Awards. Take a second to vote if you haven't yet, thanks guys!

Eat More Kale Throwback

2011-10-25T19:53:00.003-04:00

Some of you might remember my lent from July of 2010 where I vowed to "Eat More Kale", and turn myself from a kale hater into a kale lover (p.s. it worked, I'm totally hooked now). Since then, and especially since I put an "Eat More Kale" bumper sticker on my car, people always ask me what my favorite kale recipes are so I thought I'd share a few (this one's especially for you Helen!)

1. Kale Chips: If you haven't tried kale chips then you're really missing out. They're super easy to make and surprisingly tasty. Here's a good recipe from my friend Jess Powers: Kale Chips

2. Lemony Chickpea and Kale Stir fry: This recipe is delicious, easy to make, and great hot or cold: Lemony Chickpea and Kale Stir fry from 101 Cookbooks

3. Spaghetti With Braised Kale: This recipe is one my favs. Simple and delicious: Spaghetti with Braised Kale from Bon Appétit

4. Kale and Lentil Soup with Saffron Yogurt: Again from Heidi Swanson. I just made this one tonight and it was awesome. The $10 bottle of saffron is definitely worth splurging on too: Kale and Lentil Soup with Saffron Yogurt

5. Everything! What I learned in my month of eating kale was that it's pretty easy to sneak kale into just about anything: scrambled eggs, muffins (seriously, just cut it up into tiny pieces and you'll never know it's there), smoothies, you name it. It's always great as a side dish too, check out this simple kale recipe from Two Blue Lemons.

What did I miss, what's your favorite kale recipe?

West Dennis Beach

2011-10-24T20:11:00.004-04:00

A few shots from a walk that I took this weekend with my mom on West Dennis Beach, Cape Cod:

How did I ever complain about growing up here?

Sorry for the exploitation Mister Skunk, but it's impossible for me to pass up photographing a dead animal.

Dennis and Yarmouth have a plethora of old motels from the 1950's. Gotta love a good hand painted sign.

Just a reminder too that it's the last week of voting for SHAPE's 2011 Best Blogger Awards. If you haven't voted yet, please take a second to do so, it only takes 2 clicks!

Vote for 12 Months of Lent

The Memento Works

2011-10-20T10:06:00.004-04:00

I just stumbled upon this site, The Memento Works. Basically, you snail mail them your cherished sentimental objects and they beautifully photograph (and frame) them for you, before mailing them back. Although I love the underlying concept, I might be a little hesitant to send my favorite possessions off to a stranger. An interesting concept nonetheless.

It reminds me a bit of a project that I worked on a few years ago where I photographed people's prized possessions, the things that they would save in a fire if their house were burning down. I'd go to their houses and arrange a still life of their objects, and then shoot with a 4x5 view camera.

Then of course, a few years later a friend sent me a link to this project, The Burning House, which is essentially the same idea. Drats, someone beat me to it. I should at least submit my personal still life, right?

The things that I would save in a fire. Excuse the poor quality, but I'm so old fashioned that this is a digital shot of my c-print haha

The Work Week Slump

2011-10-18T21:58:00.004-04:00

When I was dreaming up this month's lent, I had visions (more like delusions) of carrying my camera around with me everywhere, snapping shots of whatever caught my eye, photo documenting my entire month frame by frame (ha!). While I've definitely shot more this month than I have in the previous 9 months of the year combined, I've fallen victim to the work week slump. As good as my intentions are, it's just really hard to get in a lot after work, especially now that the daylight hours are dwindling (and especially because I really only like shooting during golden hour).

So, since we're already halfway through October and I don't want to see the rest of the month slip away to the slump, I've decided to give myself some weeknight homework to stay productive during my non-shooting days:

1. I'm going to read the entire Nikon D80 manual, cover to cover.

2. I'm going to watch some technical tutorials online (any suggestions?) and catch up with my favorite photo blogs.

3. I'm going to brush up on my night photography skills and finally get some pictures of one of my favorite local phenomenons: Weird Watertown storefronts at night. If anyone knows the area, you know what I'm talking about. Does anyone have any good night photography advice/resources for me?

And since I haven't picked up the camera since Grammy's house and I can't really justify having a photo-less post this month, I'll leave you with this shot that I took in 2006 while on vacation in St. Maarten. Crazy, huh?

To Grammy's House I Go

2011-10-16T21:49:00.007-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday, my 91 year old Grandma Helen's house is one of my favorite places to photograph. She's been living in her 103 year old home in Brockton, MA since the early 1940's, and her house tells the history of her life, and of our family, through the possessions that adorn it.

I've photographed her house numerous times over the years, but it's definitely been a while, so I was excited to pay her a visit during photography month. In between stories of my Italian ancestors and brushing up on current affairs (she knows as much about what's going on in politics as she does about Dancing With the Stars), I managed to snap a few shots when the light was hitting the dining room just so.

The house where I've spent almost every holiday of my life

Grammy's hutch

A family portrait that my mom drew (and Grammy had put onto a plate) when she was a child

A photograph of my Aunt Carol (who passed away from Lupus 8 years ago) and my Uncle George at my parents wedding in 1978

I'd love to say that I took a photo of Grammy today, but I'm pretty sure that this one from 1975 is the last time that she allowed a photograph to be taken of her, seriously...

Saturday Shots

2011-10-15T15:43:00.013-04:00

A few shots from my morning excursion into Belmont (I'll always be a diehard Watertownie, but I have to say, Belmont is really growing on me. It's full of photographic gems).

From an antique shop in Cushing Square

Old newspapers from the same shop

Belmont's music shop

The organ inside the shop

I love this door

Tomorrow I'll be visiting my 91 year old Grandma Helen in Brockton (her house is incredible and my most favorite place in the world to photograph) so expect a post tomorrow evening full of funny still lifes and relics from the past century. YES.

And in case you haven't voted for 12MOL yet in the SHAPE Best Blogger Awards, you can do so here, every vote helps! Thanks guys!

A Brief History of 12 Months of Lent

2011-10-14T17:45:00.003-04:00

Since I’ve recently had an influx of visitors to my blog (yay!), I thought I’d take a minute to give a more in depth description of what 12 Months of Lent is so that new readers (especially those of you who don’t know me personally), have a better understanding of what exactly it is you’ve just stumbled upon. So, here you have it:

A Brief History of 12 Months of Lent, by Danne Dzenawagis

In December of 2008, I sat down to brainstorm some ideas for my 2009 New Year’s Resolution. Being my typical Type A self, I started by making a list of things that I wanted to work towards in the coming year, and as expected, the list was about 23,000 pages long. Great, how could I actually expect to make any real progress with such an intimidating/impossible list? Well, I thought, at least Lent’s in a few months, maybe I could work one of my goals into Lent…and that’s when the light bulb went off. Maybe I could work all of my goals into a series of “mini-lents”, one for each month of the year, which would break down my original list of resolutions into a clearly defined and manageable plan. Perfect. Type A sigh of relief…

Disclaimer: For anyone out there who may be reading this and thinking “Um, cool idea, but this sounds nothing like the Lent that I practice each year”, yes, I know, I use the term Lent very loosely. Having grown up in a Catholic household myself, I’m well aware that I’m pushing Lent to it’s limits, but really, I’m just borrowing the underlying concept: Personal sacrifice and dedication in order for personal growth and fulfillment. It’s as simple as that.

So what types of thing do I do? It’s honestly all over the map. I’ve spent a month picking up every piece of litter that I came across, another month not making any trash (it’s much more possible than you think), a month limiting my wardrobe to only 6 items (which I highly recommend that everyone try), a month cooking 3 new recipes a week, a month getting rid of 100 things a week, and other months committing to much more simple tasks, like writing in my journal each day, taking more photographs, and doing more yoga.

After almost 3 years of 12 Months of Lent, I can honestly say that this quirky little project has changed my life in such an incredible way. It's affected (and continues to affect) me in the most positive way possible and at this point, I honestly can't imagine my life without it. Thank you all for your encouragement and inspiration, and of course, for reading in the first place.

Love, Danne

What My Weekend Looked Like

2011-10-09T21:25:00.003-04:00

Besides a weekend long yoga workshop and a Pizzeria Regina excursion for Marissa's birthday (HB MC!), this is what my weekend looked like:

Catching Fanne up on the bed where she knows she shouldn't be...

Intimidating her enough to jump off...

Laying cuttings from my herb garden out to dry in our beautiful new salad bowl (thanks Mark and Carol!)

Making it to Fresh Pond just in time for golden hour...

and incessantly photographing the kaleidoscope-esque reflections on the pond...

And now? Fanne and I are sitting out on the back porch, enjoying the moonlight and the unseasonably warm weather. Ahhhh Indian summer....

SHAPE Blogger Awards (eeeee!!!)

2011-10-08T11:48:00.004-04:00

So, in case anyone missed my post on Facebook, I am super excited to announce that SHAPE magazine has nominated 12MOL for their 1st Annual Blogger Awards (um, omg?). I received an email from their associate web editor yesterday with all the details, so here's the scoop:

There are 6 categories in all, with 20 nominees in each category. Voting is done on the SHAPE website and goes until Friday, October 28th. Based on the number of votes, 6 finalists will be chosen, one from each category) and from those 6, the editors of SHAPE will choose a grand prize winner who will win a paid video series to be featured on SHAPE.com, as well as a possible mention in an upcoming issue of SHAPE magazine.

Totally awesome, right? Again, omg...

So, this is where I kindly ask all of you to follow this link and vote for 12MOL. Once you've voted, pass the link on to anyone and everyone, post it to your Facebook wall, tweet it, whatever you want. I wholeheartedly appreciate all the love and support I've received in the past few days. I love you all times 10,000.

Vote for 12 Months of Lent!

Also, if anyone out there is the person responsible for pointing SHAPE to my blog in the first place, please let me know who you are so I can find some way to thank you for being so awesome.

Digicam in the Belmont Victory Gardens

2011-10-08T00:16:00.008-04:00

I’m not sure if this dates me (and I’m not even that old) or just makes me sound like a total hipster, but umm, confession time…I’ve never really shot digital before. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t used a digital camera—it's just been reserved for the more candid “hanging out” shots, whereas film has been saved for my more defined personal projects. Even in my digital photo classes in college, we shot film, scanned our negatives, and printed digitally. Again, I’m not even that old, this was only 5 years ago. It’s truly amazing how much has changed…

As much as I’ll always love film, I think that it’s probably time to get with it and figure out how to work a digital SLR. I’m not fortunate enough to own one myself, but I’m lucky enough to have a boyfriend who does, so this month I’m vowing I’m to navigate the analog to digital transition (or at least make some headway).

First step: Taking digicam out on a field trip.

Since I have Fridays off (working part-time is a dream come true), I had a chunk of free time this afternoon and decided to pack up digicam and take Helga II (my car, apparently I love naming inanimate objects) out for a drive until I found something compelling enough to stop for. Driving through Belmont during golden hour (the most glorious time of day), I decided to pull over at the Rock Meadow Conservation Area. Hoping I’d get a few magically lit shots of some suburban agriculture, I trotted down the first path I saw and was lucky enough to stumble upon the Belmont Victory Gardens. Total goldmine.

While I’m definitely still trying to figure out the mechanics of the camera, I had fun just poking around and trying to get back in the swing of things. As expected, I was drawn to the personalization of each garden’s individual space. How the owner adorned their tiny piece of land and left their personal stamp on it. Below are a few of my favorite shots:

]

September Wrap-Up and October’s Lent

2011-10-03T14:32:00.010-04:00

Last month’s challenge from GOOD was all about connecting with people, and that I did. Out of the 30 mini-challenges that they presented me with, I was able to complete 26, only missing 4, go me! I sent postcards and thank-you notes, reconnected with old friends, strengthened existing connections, talked to strangers, complimented strangers, fed a stranger, high-fived, bought a gift for a friend, made a gift for another, lunched with a co-worker, lent out a book, asked for advice (I’m still taking suggestions btw), baked for my neighbors, and thanked my old teachers. Phew…now I’m exhausted (but also very well connected, thanks GOOD!).

After a month that was so externally focused, this month I’ll be switching gears a bit and working on something that’s a little more personal. For October’s lent I plan on rediscovering one of my lost loves: photography.

I’ve always enjoyed taking photos but I really fell in love with photography in college. The second that my schedule opened up and I had space for an elective, I signed myself up for black and white darkroom and I was hooked. Many more photo elective classes and BFA (in design, not photo) later, I found myself enrolled in Continuing Education classes at the Museum School, learning how to use a view camera (sigh) and the color darkroom (bigger sigh).

But ask me what I’ve photographed lately and I’ll tell you, “not much”. Why? Didn’t I love this? Wasn’t I seriously considering going back for an MFA? No excuses this month Danne, I’m kick starting myself back into action and sharing what I shoot here. I don’t have any defined rules really, just get out there and make some pictures. You up for a photo date Amanda E?

A photo that I took at age 3 of my lovely Mum. On the back it reads "Danne's First Photo"

Challenges #13, 14, 16, 22, 24, and 27, BAM!

2011-09-30T16:05:00.005-04:00

I am on a roll! I must have been saving up my lenting energy over vacation last week, because I've been crossing things off my master challenge list like a maniac since I've been home. In addition to the challenges that I wrote about in my previous 2 posts, here are a few other things I've checked-off:

Challenge #13: Call Someone You Haven't Talked to in Years. I called one of my old pals from my days at Hy-Line Cruises, Dan Schermerhorn. It was nice to catch up and we even made some tentative plans to get together in the near future. Hi Dan!

Challenge #16: Leave Someone a Thank You Note: After obtaining my 4th job in 5 years from my college's Career Services office, I decided to write them a thank-you note to let them know how awesome they are. Fellow MassArt grads, if you ever need a job, look here first, the MassArt alumni network is an invaluable resource.

Challenge #14: Say Hi to 3 Strangers: Sounds easy, right? But how many times a days do we walk by people and look right past them? On the way to the mailbox to mail my thank-you to MassArt, I made an effort to say hello to everyone I passed along the way. Why is it that we're taught to ignore strangers we pass on the street? Is this a New England thing?

Challenge #22: Ask for Someone's Advice, and Take It: I'm leaving this one up to my 12MOL friends: What are some ideas for future lents? I have October and November lined up, but I'd love some advice on something you think I should do in December. Any ideas?

On an advice related side note, I found this awesome site Elder Wisdom Circle, in my latest issue of Whole Living magazine. It's "a group of more than 600 advisers, age 60 to 105, who offer free one-on-one advice online". So cool! Also, my friend Amy started an advice blog that everyone should check out: Let's Be Honest Advice.

Challenge #24: Go to a Neighborhood Business You've Never Been to: Since I obviously love supporting local Watertown businesses', I was psyched when my yoga teacher Ben, pointed me to Maximo's, a new takeout place on Mt. Auburn in Coolidge Square. They have great vegetarian options and I liked it so much that I went back the next day and ordered the same thing, the tofu burrito, mmm...

Challenge #27: Introduce 2 People Who Don't Know Each Other: I'm working on organizing a craft night with 2 of my favorite crafty ladies who don't know each other very well, Jocelyn and Marissa.

And I'm not done yet, there's still 7 hours left in September!

Challenge #23: Thank an Old Teacher

2011-09-28T21:04:00.002-04:00

When I saw challenge #23: Thank an Old Teacher, I remembered a site that I saw a few weeks ago on my favorite designy blog, Swissmiss. It's called Thanks for Teaching Us, and it's a virtual collection of thank-you notes to teachers all over the world. Although I've kept in touch with a few of my teachers from over the years (thanks, Facebook), I've never actually taken the time to thank them for being so awesome...so what better time than now? I could write novels about my all-time favorites, but for now, here's a quick "you were a totally amazing teacher" shout-out to the cream of the crop (in no particular order):

Mr. Losordo, my 5th grade teacher who was basically the coolest guy ever and who might just take the cake for "favorite teacher of all time." I have the fondest memories of him playing his guitar and singing Beatles and Lemonheads songs to us with Miss Randall in class. When my brother was born midway through the school year (yes, we're 10 years apart in age), Mr. Losordo made a bet with me that he'd owe me $10 if he had Sean in class someday and couldn't remember how to spell Dzenawagis (unfortunately, Sean was assigned a different 5th grade teacher, mega bummer for both of us). Where are you now Mr. Losordo? I'm enlisting the help of the internet when I finish this post.

Mr. Ciborowski, my 8th grade history teacher who sparked a serious passion for history in me that had me wanting to follow in his footsteps and become a history teacher myself for a long time. Not only was he a great teacher, but he had solar panels and an energy-efficient washing machine (I remember many stories about this special "Sweedish" washing machine) in his house way before it was the norm. Plus, he could do the best pigeon impersonation of all time. You're the man, Mr. Cib.

Frau Butcher, my high school German teacher. Frau, it's shocking how much German I still remember to this day (ask my friends, I spontaneously break into German all the time). I always looked forward to coming to class on Monday mornings because we would all sit and chat about our weekends—in German of course—and because of this, I learned the language in such a practical way. You would have been proud the time I was in München and successfully found my way to the restaurant I was looking for by asking for directions "Entschuldigen bitte, wissen sie woe..." Vielen dank!

Ms. Welch, although you were never actually my teacher, I spent a lot of time in your classroom because you graciously volunteered to be the advisor of our Animal Awareness club. Not only did we love you because you volunteered your after-school time to help us with things like organizing greyhound racing protests, but you treated us like people instead of just high-school kids. I still remember the time you had us all over for dinner too, veggie lasagna! You're awesome, I only wish I could have actually taken one of your classes.

Many thanks to all of my wonderful teachers over the years—I wouldn't be where I am today without you.

Challenge #11: Do Something Nice for a Neighbor

2011-09-27T18:32:00.003-04:00

Because I recently moved to a new neighborhood, I was psyched when I saw challenge #11: Do Something Nice for a Neighbor.

Sadly so, it seems that the days of greeting your new neighbor with an assortment of fresh baked goodies are long gone (although I wouldn't put it past Donna Hamnquist to do so). Most of us, especially those of us in our transient 20's, move from place to place, never really taking the time to get to know the people who live their lives in such close proximity to our own. I've lived in a number of apartments since leaving the tight-knit neighborhood of my childhood, and I have to say that I definitely miss the sense of kinship and community that comes with investing in those around you. For a generation that's so connected, we often live a very insular lifestyle.

But back to the challenge...

There were a few chilly days before we left for Michigan, and this first peek at fall weather had me craving some home-baked treats—specifically the oatmeal-maple scones from the Flour cookbook. Even though I knew that we couldn't (more like shouldn't) eat 12 scones before leaving for our trip, I went ahead and made them all anyways, figuring I'd find something to do with the extras. After a successful taste test, it dawned on me that this would be a perfect way to complete my "do something nice for a neighbor" challenge. Win!

I packaged up a few of my tasty little scones in some parchment paper, tied a ribbon on top, and left them by my upstairs neighbors front door with a note. Sure, they could've had a food allergy or an oatmeal-maple aversion that I was unaware of, or maybe they'd just think that I was a total creep, but since they generally seem like reasonable people, I assumed that they'd at least appreciate the gesture. I mean, it's the thought that counts, right?

In the end, I can't say whether or not they think I'm a weirdo, but I did receive a nice thank-you message in return, so all's well in my book. Mission #11 accomplished!

If you're into baking, I highly recommend this recipe and the entire cookbook (which I linked to above). Everything I've made so far has been incredibly delicious.

To-Do Today:

2011-09-22T12:01:00.002-04:00

Oh boy, am I behind...but it's for good reason: I'm away on vacation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Weddings, family time, overeating, sleeping, wine drinking and exploring, have taken over my normal schedule, so my apologies for ignoring my usual responsibilities like blogging. I have missed out on quite a few challenges, so here's my official catch-up to-do list:

1. Video chat with a faraway friend (Does Fanne count because she's back home in Mass?)
2. Give 5 high-fives (I'm already 3 into this one)
3. Call someone you haven't talked to in years
4. Say hi to 3 strangers (easy since I don't know too many people here in Ann Arbor)
5. Make something for someone (this may have to wait until I get home, we'll see though)
6. Leave someone a thank-you note
7. Teach someone something (simple considering I'm surrounded by small children)
8. Cook dinner for someone
9. Send a friend 3 links they'll love
10. Give 3 compliments
11. Leave a positive comment on a strangers blog (any suggestions for cool blogs to check out?)
12. Ask for someone's advice and take it (hmmm...)

Time to get to work (and also enjoy the last official day of summer)!

Challenge #10: Feed a Homeless Person

2011-09-12T11:43:00.005-04:00

There’s a little quote on my lululemon lunch bag that reads “Do one thing a day that scares you”. While I can’t say that I consistently accomplish this, I have always believed that if something scares you or pushes you out of your comfort zone, that it’ll somehow be beneficial in the long run (barring some obvious things, of course).

When I read GOOD’s #10 challenge, feed a homeless person, I was definitely a little bit uncomfortable—so much so that I immediately started brainstorming modifications that would allow me to stay within my safety bubble (bad Danne!). I brought the challenge up to Dan last night over dinner at Pizzeria Regina to see if he had any insight on the situation. We went back and forth a bit, talking about experiences that we’ve had when we’ve seen homeless people angrily deny gifts of food, saying they only wanted money (the scenario I was dreading), and trying to determine what would be a comparable challenge. What if we bought scratch tickets and passed them out to the homeless people camped out in Harvard Square? What if we paid $20 for a Spare Change Newspaper instead of the suggested $1 donation? We settled on the scratch ticket idea, and even though I thought it was a pretty good compromise, I still felt a little bit like a slacker.

But then, out of nowhere, this miracle happened:

We’re leaving the restaurant with a big box of leftover margarita slices when a woman sitting outside on a bench stopped us and asked “Hey, could you spare a slice?”

Now, I have to interject here and say that NEVER in my life, literally never, has a homeless person asked me for food (and living in a city, I see homeless people all the time). They have ALWAYS asked for money. Also, I’ve been to Pizzeria Regina about 10,000 times and there has NEVER been anyone outside, begging for food, never. In sheer disbelief that this was actually happening, especially in such close proximity to the conversation that we just had, Dan and I quickly opened our pizza box and offered the very grateful woman whatever she wanted from it.

Call it coincidence, call it the law of attraction, or call it the universe really hooking it up, but whatever it was, it was awesome, and I was more than happy that I was actually able to complete this challenge in its original form.

Uni, you never cease to amaze me.

The First 7

2011-09-07T20:39:00.005-04:00

I'm 7 days into the GOOD 30-Day Challenge: Connect With People, and I have to say that I'm actually doing pretty well keeping up so far. Here's what my first 7 challenges were:

1. Send someone a postcard: Even though this was the first challenge, it took me a minute to round up some postcards, so I'll be writing mine tonight (I'm doing 2—and I won't say to who, surprise!).

2. Talk to a service employee: This was sort of a no-brainer since I do this all the time anyway, but I did make an effort to go a little bit past "How are you?" and I was as smiley as could be.

3. Share an old photo with a friend: I posted this cute little thing to my BFF Sondra's Facebook page:

4. Ask a family member about their day: Well, it did help a lot that I was visiting my family on the Cape this weekend, but I went out of my way (in a very sisterly way) to interrogate my brother on his workday, so much so that after I asked him what his favorite part of the day was, he looked at me dumbfound and said "I don't really know how to answer this, no one's ever asked me that before". Hehehe...

5. Plan a group outing: I've been trying to but this seems to be a busy week for people, so let me just ask the internet—who wants to go swing dancing with us this Saturday night at the Armenian church in Watertown? Any takers?

6. Ask a co-worker out for coffee: Does tea count too? I still have to do this one, time to (wo)man up...

7. Buy a friend a gift under $5: This gave me a great excuse to go to Target on my lunch break today, and buying fun little presents is just that: fun. I've been known to play the $5 present game on long road trips too and some of my favorite possessions have come from it.

On to the next 7!

Sayonara Summer and September’s Challenge from GOOD

2011-09-02T17:01:00.001-04:00

Really?Already? Sigh…I’m afraid it’s true. Even though I don’t feel the impending doomof the start of a new school year anymore (thank the lord), Labor Day weekendalways feels bittersweet because it marks the beginning of the end of thosemagical summer months. Sigh again. Although the official end of the seasondoesn’t come until the 22^nd, I’ll always consider September a fall month—no matter how many beachdays I can still squeeze in. So, with this change of season will also come achange of lent, as I officially close out my summer bucket list challenge.

I can’t saythat I checked everything off, but I got pretty close, and even though I won’tbe taking a formal tally after this weekend, I still have plans to do a few ofthe things that are still outstanding. All in all, I have to say that I had apretty quintessential summer, full of beach days, BBQ’s, fair rides, boat trips,farmers markets, and bon fires (and don’t forget bridal showers, bacheloretteparties, weddings and moving), and I really do have my bucket list to thank.Sayonara summer, you certainly were sweet.

Moving on toSeptember’s challenge, where I’ll be participating in The GOOD 30-DayChallenge: Connect With People.

I had anentirely different idea for what to do this month, but when I got my Daily GOODemail yesterday and saw their 30-Day challenge focused on connecting withpeople, I decided to jump on board. I’d been concocting a similar challenge onmy own which was focused on going out of my comfort zone to connect with strangers, but I hadn't gotten around to working out all the details. Looks like the good (ha) folks at GOOD did all the work for me, thanks guys!

I’ll write more later, but I’ll leave you with the video from theirwebsite describing the challenge. Wishing a happy and safe Labor Day weekend to all!

#3: Ride My Bike

2011-08-31T23:43:00.000-04:00

And by bike I mean this beast (see below), or as I like to call her "RoadMaster" (you'd be able to read that on the frame if my sweet helmet wasn't blocking the view). Me and Roadmaster have been together for a while now, I'd say since, oh...1992? 1993? My parents were big proponents of teaching me the value of a dollar by having me save up my own money to buy things that I wanted, and Roadmaster was one of those things. I scrimped and I saved (Christmas and birthday money from relatives, of course) and bought her all by myself. A proud moment for little Danne, let me tell you...

While Roadmaster got plenty of use in my middle school days, she's spent most of her time since then never seeing the light of day, being schlepped around from garage to garage every time I've moved. Summer bucket list to the rescue! Last Friday I decided to take her out for a spin to take care of #3 on my list: Ride My Bike. Since city biking makes me a little (a lot) nervous, I wasn't really sure where to go until the universe pointed me here: The Watertown Greenway.

Seriously, Watertown, you never cease to amaze me. First the Deluxe Town Diner, then Underground Studios, and now this? The internet didn't offer me too much information when I tried to get the greenway scoop, but from what I can tell, 1.) It's new, 2.) It connects to the Charles and Fresh Pond, and 3.) It's on the old MBTA tracks that used to belong to the A branch (yes, it's true! ever wonder why there isn't an A line when there's a B, C, D, and an E? There was until 1969 and it went all the way to Watertown yard!).

Since a portion of the greenway picks up a few blocks from my house, I decided to dust Roadmater off, pump her (tires) up, and take her out on the town–Watertown that is. I wish I could say that we had a glorious reunion ride together, but it wasn't quite as majestic as I had envisioned. While it was fun overall, the air that was rapidly escaping from my 10-year-old tires, and the 2% incline on the trail really made for a lot more physical exertion than I was bargaining for. After I trudged home on flat bike tires, and collapsed with exhaustion onto my couch, I decided that maybe Roadmaster had made her final journey. Although it'll be sad to see her go, I think it's time. Alas, every good thing comes to an end, just like summer I suppose...

Next Up: My summer bucket list conclusion and the introduction of my brand new lent for September. Stay tuned and enjoy these last few beautiful weeks of summer weather.

#19: Pick Berries and Make Jam

2011-08-26T15:05:00.005-04:00

After last summer's foray into the art of jam making (I made batches of strawberry, peach, and blueberry, mmmm...), I vowed to make canning my own a summer tradition. Making your own jam is definitely one of those things that you think only kitchen connoisseurs can take on, but it's a whole lot easier and less time consuming than you think—really, anyone can do it.

I use this super simple recipe that I found on...you guessed it: Two Blue Lemons. It only uses 3 ingredients (fruit, sugar, lemon), and takes under an hour to make. Check it out here if you're interested in trying your own batch.

Although my bucket list specified that I had to pick the berries myself, I just wasn't able to fit a berry picking trip into my schedule this week, so I decided to settle for the next best thing: the farmers market. I picked up some lovely pints of strawberries and yellow raspberries, mixed them with some blueberries that I already had in my fridge, and voilà, my lovely batch of tri-berry jam was born (which didn't quite full up the entire ball jar, whoops!).

Next up: My bike journey on the Watertown Greenway (who knew that existed?!)

Irene, We Need to Talk...

2011-08-24T11:43:00.002-04:00

Excuse me, Irene? I really don't have time for this. You see, I'm on a tight deadline here and I really need to go night swimming, take a roll of film, go to the Wellfleet Drive-In, run through a sprinkler, and make a sandcastle this weekend—none of which are fun in hurricane conditions. Sorry for the short notice, but I'm thinking that your visit just isn't going to work out after all.

Image from www.bbc.co.uk

Looks like I'll be working on sewing my sundress all weekend instead of doing all the fun things that I had planned, boooo. Maybe I'll at least be able to catch a little bit of Saint Anthony's Feast in the North End so I can wish for a sewing miracle...

#17: Pack a Picnic, #20: Play a Game of Badminton and #25: Fly a Kite

2011-08-22T21:56:00.011-04:00

There's only about a week and a half left of my summer bucket list challenge and I'm definitely scrambling to get as many things crossed off as I can. I have a busy week of summer fun ahead of me indeed, but here's what I managed to accomplish in the last few days:

On Sunday, Dan and I met Marissa and her friend Kate at the beach where we took care of #17: Pack a Picnic, and dined on a tasty lunch of pesto tortellini salad, strawberries, granola bars, and cream soda, mmmmm...

After our picnic, it was time for my jazzy homemade kite to make it's debut—and boy did it! Quickly nicknamed "Zippy", this little devil not only flew, but maniacally darted through the air in nauseating patterns. Totally Awesome. I'll post instructions on how to make your very own Zippy below, it's well worth the effort...

Me and Zippy

Zippy was the first kite that Marissa had ever flown, yay Zippy!

I topped off the weekend's spree of summer activities tonight by playing a fierce game of badminton with Dan on the elementary school lawn across from our house. My new $9.99 set from Target didn't disappoint, and it'll certainly make a few more appearances before cold weather season arrives (although who said you can't play badminton in the house?).

Homemade Plastic Bag Kite
From Whole Living Magazine

1. Cut a bag in half on the side seam and then into an elongated diamond. Lay thin dowels in a T, tape to bag, and tape and trim ends.

2. Cut and tape 3 streaming tails (the length of the kite) to the underside.

3. Tape a small triangle (the bridle) to the other side; poke fishing line through its loose tip; knot to secure.

4. You're ready to fly!

UPDATE: #22: Try Something New From the Farmers Market and #25: Fly a Kite

2011-08-17T23:05:00.005-04:00

#22: A follow-up on the cranberry beans, my "new" purchase from the farmers market last week. I looked around a little bit online and found this site, The Heart of New England, which has some great tips for preparing them. I chose to boil them and serve at room temperature with olive oil, lemon, fresh parsley, and black pepper. The verdict?

DELICIOUS! Um seriously, I was spoon-feeding myself beans like they were vodka soaked gummy bears (my new favorite alcohol saturated snack that I tried at Jocelyn's Jersey Shore party a few weeks ago). Really though, I'm not sure how long they're in season for, but definitely pick some up if you get the chance, I couldn't believe how delicious they were.

#25: I finally got around to making my kite tonight so I can get #25 crossed off the list this weekend. I have to say that I put in some serious effort and it definitely looks like a third grader made it (feel free to laugh out loud, I know I did haha).

Hopefully I'll be posting photos of it majestically soaring through the air in the next few days...

#27: Go to the Fair

2011-08-14T13:15:00.012-04:00

When I was a little girl, my parents would tuck me in each night and ask me what I wanted to talk about before bed. No matter what time of year it was, the answer was always the same: the fair. Even in the depths of winter, my mom and dad were forced to recount every single detail of this childhood wonderland to me as I lay in bed, drifting off into a blissful, fair-filled slumber.

For my friends and I, the annual Barnstable County Fair was the event of the summer, if not the whole year. Cotton candy, fried dough, rides that made your stomach turn, tents full of awesome stuff (total junk) to buy, crafts galore (hello sand art and your name on a grain of rice), face painting, pony rides, barns full of baby animals...do I need to go on? It was pure heaven.

Although it'll never be as exciting to me as it was when I was 7, going to the county fair is definitely a summertime essential, so I made sure it had a spot on my bucket list. Since I couldn't make it down for the fair in my hometown (I think I had some sort of wedding related something that weekend, surprise surprise), I found a Groupon for the Bolton County Fair and decided to check it out. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but it was a lot of fun and exactly how I remembered it (I think these things are essentially the same in every town in America).

Sorry Fanne, no pets allowed

Dan and Mister Baby Goat

Piglets! Awwwwwwww

The world champion "LumberJills" in the middle of a heated log rolling competition

The prize winning vegetables

Blue ribbon apple pie mmmm...

The fair's best corn

Some things never change

Best fair food ever: "Mister Kielbaski" haha

Both were delicious

Dan trying his luck

We got these great stickers from the local cheese vendor

And what trip to the fair is complete without going on a ride? Definitely almost hurled on the kid next to me but it was totally worth it

Thanks Bolton Fair!

#22: Try Something New From the Farmers Market

2011-08-10T21:21:00.008-04:00

I made a trip over to the Davis Square farmers market on my lunch break today to cross #22 off my bucket list: Try something new from the farmers market. Like a lot of people do, I tend to get stuck in my ways when it comes to buying produce, and because of this, a lot of the more uncommon veggie varieties never make their way to my table. It's not that I'm a stickler for the tried and true, it's more that I just don't know what to do with some of the "exotic" varieties of my old favorites. I put my excuses aside today though, and let lent pull me out of my produce slump. Here's what I came home with:

1. Cranberry beans, what?! Who knows what to do with these?
2. A new (to me) variety of zucchini (the exact name seems to have escaped me, Farmer Jess?)
3. A golden beet, mmmm...

I didn't have a chance to cook up any of them tonight, but I'll be sure to update in the next few days when I have a verdict.

Bon Appétit!

I'm back, and I'm Still Bucket Listing!

2011-08-06T13:48:00.007-04:00

Hello! My apologies for the lack of new posts over these past few weeks, but I moved, and as I'm sure you can understand (especially those of you who are my age and have moved countless times over the past decade), it sort of takes over your life for a little while. The good news is that the craziness is starting to die down and I'm ready to pick up where I left off: the Summer Bucket List.

Although I made good progress in June and July, I've still got a bunch of things to cross off in August. Here's what's left:

-Ride my bike
-Sleep outside
-Blow the seeds off a dandelion
-Catch a fish
-Sew my own sundress (in progress)
-Go for a canoe ride
-Go to a Sox game
-Go night swimming
-Pack a picnic
-Pick berries and make jam
-Play a game of badminton
-Try something new from the farmer's market
-Fly a kite
-Take a roll of film
-Go to the fair (next weekend, Groupon purchased!)
-Go to the Wellfleet Drive-In
-Run through a sprinkler (my new house has one, YES!)
-Make a sandcastle

Time to get crackin'

And on a side note, I love, love, love my new apartment. Although it has a million features that I could ramble on about, the best part about it is that the ice cream man comes down my street EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's like the universe reads my blog or something...love it.

(Pre) #27: Go to the Fair

2011-07-22T09:06:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Groupon, it looks like I'll be heading to the Bolton Fair in August to knock #27 off my list, and saving 50% while I'm at it, horray!

#9: Make a Summer Playlist

2011-07-21T23:56:00.003-04:00

I have a long history of making playlists—so long that it predates the term "playlist" and goes back to the good ol' days of mixtapes. If we were friends in high school, I'm sure you can dig up an old Danne mix somewhere, and I'm even willing to bet that I gave it some funny name involving alliteration, at least 1 Silverchair song, and a "bonus" track from the Ultra Lounge Leopard Skin Sampler (which for the record is still my all time favorite album).

Back before Pandora and Genius playlists, if you wanted to hear a mixture of songs from different artists, you'd either have to put your 5 disc CD changer on shuffle, or sit down and mix them yourself, you know, by recording the songs you wanted off of a CD and onto a 60 or 90 minute cassette tape. Not only did I make a lot of mixtapes in my day, but I was lucky enough to receive a bunch as well (especially the year when I asked everyone to make me one for my birthday), and as much as I minimize my possessions, these tapes will always survive spring-cleaning.

What's so fun about going through them is that they take me right back to where (and who) I was when I made them. Like how a certain scent can immediately transport you back to a distant time and place, music can have the same nostalgic effect, which is exactly why I wanted to assign this summer a soundtrack.

So, after much hemming and hawing over the past few weeks here she is, the official 12 Months of Lent Summer Bucket {Play}List. As can be expected of any Danne Dzenawagis mix, you’ll find an eclectic collection of songs spanning many decades and genres of music, with at least a few questionable juxtapositions.

Below is a screenshot of the song list and I also published it on iTunes in case anyone is intrigued enough by my selections to take the plunge and purchase it for yourself. And hey, if you still drive a car with a cassette player like I do, you might even be able to talk me into sending you over an analog copy.

12 Months of Lent Summer Bucket {Play}List

#32: Buy an Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Man

2011-07-20T21:03:00.003-04:00

When I was growing up, one of the best moments of a long summer day was the second you heard the sound of the ice cream man coming down the street. At the first ring of his bell, the neighborhood kids would disperse at unimaginable speeds, running home to beg our parents for a buck or two (back then that actually bought you something) so we could spoil our suppers with Bomb Pops and Snow Cones.

I don't know if the ice cream truck industry has seen a steady decline over the years or if my parents' neighborhood just doesn't have as many children as it once did, but my dad says he hasn't seen the truck come down the street in years, and I certainly haven't seen it in any of the neighborhoods that I've lived in in Boston (well, except for the sketchy one that was always parked on Mission Hill at odd hours of the night that my college friends and I were convinced was a drug cover, that's another story though).

When I put "Buy an Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Man" on my bucket list, I was secretly hoping that the universe would make one magically appear on Thurston Road, but when I finally came to terms with reality, I headed down to Pleasure Bay in Southie with my best gals Amy and Jenny to hit up the truck that's reliably parked at the beach there. In our post bachelorette party delirium (Amy's tying the knot this Saturday), none of us managed to snap a shot of our tasty treats so you'll just have to take my word for it that I had a cup of vanilla soft serve with chocolate jimmies (sprinkles to all your non-New Englanders), Amy had a pineapple milkshake, and Jenny kept it classic with a Snow Cone.

Image from http://students.cis.uab.edu

In other bucket list news: My mom and I spent a good portion of Monday working on my sundress, but since I picked out an advanced level pattern (way to go, Danne), I'm pretty sure that it won't be making it's debut until at least Labor Day. Calling Sondra Hamnquist, I need your help!

#33: Have a Bonfire

2011-07-13T22:58:00.002-04:00

Um, how did I forget to put this one on the original list? I pondered this question last Saturday night when I found myself sitting under the stars, enjoying an evening backyard bonfire with a couple of Powers, a Magnus, a Kaplan and a kitten (the most well tempered little kitten who contently snuggled up in my lap and didn’t move for the entire night, omg, I love kittens).

We’re in business now though, because “Have a bonfire” has not only been added to my summer bucket list, but also checked off. I even threw in a second one in the DzenOasis with my family on Sunday night, just because.

Next step: Beach bonfire. Who’s in?

#24: Do Yoga Outside

2011-07-11T20:44:00.003-04:00

I do a lot of yoga inside, but up until yesterday, I had never done yoga outside. It’s not that I haven't wanted to, it's just that I live in a city and I’m not really too keen on the idea of the entire neighborhood bearing witness to my sun salutations. Thanks to the beautiful backyard oasis that my parents have been hard at work on (I’ve coined it the “DzenOasis”), I was finally able to take my practice outside yesterday. Feeling the warmth of the sun shining down on me during poses and glancing over to see the gardens in full bloom was amazing, but my favorite part definitely had to be spending my savasana listening to the sound of chirping birds and the breeze running through the leaves. Ahhhh, that's more like it...

Namaste

#8: Go to the Beach, #31: Go for a Boat Ride, #14: Light Some Sparklers

2011-07-07T22:58:00.007-04:00

Done, done and done. And in that order too.

Since the weather in June was less than ideal for fun summer activities, I was extra excited that the first weekend of July brought sunny skies and 4 days off in a row to enjoy them (an extra long weekend for me, woohoo!).

I spent my time wisely and managed to knock 3 things off my bucket list. Drum roll please…

#8: Go to the Beach
I spent my first beach day of the summer up on Plum Island, enjoying the amazing beach that’s just steps away from my good friend Marissa’s parent’s place. Not only is it one of the most beautiful beaches on the north shore (of Boston that is), but somehow it’s never crowded. Sound like a dream? It is. I love you, Plum Island.

Marissa and I enjoying a perfect beach day

#31: Go for a Boat Ride
Considering that I don’t own a boat or have any boat-owning friends or family members, I wasn’t really sure how this one would get crossed off the list. The universe answered my prayers though, and our friend Jud invited us out on his dad’s boat for some 4th of July water skiing (my code word for sunbathing) on Chebacco Lake.

Some action (See: Dan) and inaction (See: Danne) shots by Jud

#14: Light Some Sparklers
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Not when you live in Massachusetts and fireworks are illegal. Although we actually were in New Hampshire (where they're perfectly legal) on Saturday night, we somehow (I blame The Portsmouth Brewery for this) managed to forget to pick some up before we crossed back over the state line. Lucky for us though, the favors at the wedding that we attended on Sunday were gigantic sparklers and we lit them off in Gloucester the evening of the 4th.

More lovely shots by Jud

And what, it’s Friday again already?! This weekend I’m trading Cape Ann for Cape Cod for more bucket list fun.

July = Awesome

#10: Get a Pedicure

2011-07-02T10:39:00.003-04:00

Although I always have painted toenails, I'm more of a DIY girl than a "Pay someone $30 to do it for you" girl. Boy, is it nice though (especially when it's in a massaging chair too), so hey, I'll let myself splurge a few times a year. Now I have pretty holiday themed toenails that are perfect for the weekend, especially for #8 on my bucket list: Go to the beach, which is just where I'm headed right now...

A happy 4th of July weekend to all!

Fanne couldn't bear to see me taking a photo without her in it so she plopped herself right in there, what a ham...

#30: Make a New Flavor of Sun Tea

2011-07-01T15:56:00.008-04:00

As the context clues (I'm a vegetarian, I do yoga, and there's an "Eat More Kale" bumper sticker on my car) might lead you to believe, yes, I'm a tea person. I'm not making a conscious effort to be a granola girl, I swear, I just don't like the taste of coffee and unlike most people, I really dislike the smell (I'm pretty sure that 5 years of brewing cheap coffee on a sweaty ferry might have something to do with that). Tea's another story though, and as anyone whom I've ever worked with can attest, I drink it all day long.

Although a hot cup of tea on a chilly autumn morning is one of my favorite things, I think I might enjoy a tall glass of iced tea in the summer even more—especially when it's homemade. Despite coming from a family of sun tea enthusiasts, I had never actually made it myself until last summer and I've been hooked ever since. Normally I just toss a few tea bags into a glass pitcher filled with water and let it brew in the sun for 4-6 hours, but I've been wanting to branch out a bit and try other concoctions.

I stumbled on this post on Design Sponge a few weeks ago about herbal infused vodka (yum), which then lead me to this post from DigginFood about herbal sun teas. After reading these, I made sure to include a few plants in my herb garden that I could incorporate into tea making.

Today I put my chocolate mint to use and sun brewed it with some orange slices. Although I was pretty sure that this was going to be amazing, I have to say that it was closer to mediocre than incredible. The mint was a little less chocolaty than I was expecting and it kind of just tasted like a garden (which is usually right up my alley, just not exactly what I was expecting). I think it's all about the proportions though, so I'm going try it out a few more times before I make my final judgment.

Any sun tea enthusiasts out there have any recipes or tips for me?

#6: Plant an Herb Garden

2011-06-27T20:00:00.008-04:00

Until I have the space to have a real garden/mini farm of my own, I'm going to have to settle for container gardens on my front porch. I've tried veggies before, but I decided to stick to herbs this year since I'm usually not around enough to keep things watered consistently (herbs like to dry out a bit between watering, win for me!).

Although I planted my gardens in the beginning of June, I had the wonderful opportunity of replanting one of them this weekend because Fanne, my 20 lb. fat ball of love, has really enjoyed using one particular garden as a makeshift litter box—on multiple occasions too. Oh the joys of owning a pet...

I did a little garden maintenance this weekend though, so we're back on track. Since Fanne has officially lost her unsupervised porch-time privileges, this should be it for the season as far as planting (and replanting) goes.

Here are a few photos of my 2011 harvest:

Chives, cilantro, cat nip, and chocolate mint

Basil, parsley, oregano, and rosemary

"What, did I do something wrong?" and "Who's fatter than me?"

#7: Make Homemade Lemonade

2011-06-25T15:21:00.006-04:00

After spending all that time and energy washing my car on Monday, the inevitable happened, and it rained the next day…and the next one, and the next one, and well, it hasn’t stopped since. All this rainy weather isn’t making it easy to cross things off my bucket list, so I’ve been trying to focus on activities that aren't weather dependent. Today I decided that since mother nature was handing me lemons, I might as well make some lemonade (it is on my bucket list after all).

I got this recipe from Bust Magazine (I actually do read magazines besides Whole Living, I swear) and it’s just as delicious as it sounds.

Watermelon Lemonade from Bust Magazine, June/July 2011

Ingredients
1.5 cups fresh lemon juice (I used about 8 lemons)
1 cup sugar
4 cups water, divided

Instructions
1. Combine 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar in a saucepot. Heat on the stovetop until the sugar has dissolved. Let the mixture cool.
2. Juice the lemons over a strainer (to catch the seeds) and into a large glass pitcher.
3. Add the remaining 3 cups of water and the simple syrup to the lemon juice.
4. Puree 4 cups of chopped, seeded watermelon with 2 cups of the lemonade.
5. Add back to the pitcher, stir, and enjoy!

If the weather cooperates, I’ll be spending my Sunday sipping watermelon lemonade at the beach while flying a kite. C'mon miracle...

The fruit carnage in my sink this afternoon

#21: Wash My Car

2011-06-20T23:56:00.004-04:00

So, I realize that hand-washing your car might not make it onto everyone else’s summer bucket lists (and I fully understand why), but for me there’s something a little summeragical (summer and magical) about it. Picture it (and picture Sohpia from the Golden Girls saying “Picture It…”): it’s a hot summer day, the birds are chirping, you’ve got a tall glass of lemonade, and you’re out in the driveway in a sundress ready to give the car a washin’ the good ol’ fashioned way…are you there with me?

So, although it was a little bit like that this afternoon when I gave Helga II (yes, that’s my car's name) a bath, I think I may have romanticized the whole car wash thing a bit because about 2 minutes in I was sweating my face off from scrubbing, and totally exhausted from lugging buckets of water down 2 flights of stairs. But hey, at least it was good workout and Helgs is definitely looking pretty good.

I also took the opportunity to put my order of Fast Brite to work (yes, I actually buy things from infomercials, i know, i know). After incessantly complaining about the weird foggy look that my headlights had taken on, my parents saw Fast Brite on TV and sent me the info. I was fully expecting it to be a rip off but it actually worked! Here's my before and after photos as proof:

And a happy Summer Solstice to all, enjoy the longest day of the year everyone!

Sundresses, Kites, and Sunny Skies

2011-06-16T23:07:00.006-04:00

Isn't summer the best? Here's this week's progress report:

Sundress pattern: Check
Kite making instructions and materials: Check
Summer Bucket Playlist: Well underway

More updates to follow as my weekend unfolds, wishing a wicked awesome weekend to all...

#2: Make Homemade Popsicles

2011-06-13T22:52:00.008-04:00

After coming home last night to find a present (in the form of cat pee) on my bed, then accidentally dropping Fanne onto Dan's face in the wee hours (subsequently finding out that a large portion of his forehead was lost in the incident), and then receiving a courtesy call from Bank of America that someone had stolen my credit card and was making long distance phone calls, you could say that I wasn't necessarily in the best of spirits. I didn't let the bastards grind me down though, instead I took matters into my own hands and did something fun from my bucket list: I made popsicles.

I cut this recipe out of Whole Living magazine in 2008 and have somehow allowed 3 summers to pass without putting it to use—until now! I'm happy to report that there's a fresh batch of pineapple-cinnamon popsicles in my freezer right now. Since the recipe says to allow 6 hours for them to freeze, it's looking like they'll be ready just in time for breakfast too, which is perfect because you know what I always say: when life hands you lemons, eat popsicles for breakfast.

3 Frozen Fruity Pops Recipes (recipes and photo from Whole Living Magazine, June 2008)

For each recipe, combine the fruit, herb or spice, juice (if called for), and a dash of salt in a blender on high for 30 seconds, until smooth. Pour into Popsicle molds, and freeze for six hours.

Honeydew-Basil
Mix 4 cups of honeydew melon cubes (which contain potassium) with 1/4 cup of vitamin-K-packed chopped fresh basil and 1/2 cup organic frozen lemonade concentrate.

Pineapple-Cinnamon
For an exotic tropical pop, use 3 cups of pineapple chunks (known for anti-inflammatory properties), 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 cup fresh orange juice.

Mango-Parsley
Combine 1 ripe mango (an antioxidant powerhouse) and 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped parsley (a bad-breath fighter). If the mango isn't ripe, add 1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate.

The Hand Illustrated Version

2011-06-10T10:06:00.005-04:00

Summer Bucket List

2011-06-08T00:20:00.008-04:00

Are we really already 7 days into June and I haven’t even introduced this month’s challenge? Slap on the wrist, bad blogger! I’ll spare you my lame excuses though and get right to it—this June, and probably July too, I’ll be making my way through a list of fun summer activities that make up my very own summer bucket list.

Everyone knows what a bucket list is, right? A list of things you want to do in your life before you “kick the bucket” (it’s also a really terrible movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, boy was that a letdown). While I’ve definitely drafted a few versions of the more traditional bucket list in my time, I thought It’d be fun to make one specifically for summer, because let’s face it—it’s always gone before you know it (especially if your summer is like mine and you have 5 weddings to attend).

So, let the fun begin! Here’s my list thus far, and definitely me know if you think I forgot something awesome:

1. BBQ
2. Make homemade popsicles
3. Ride my bike
4. Sleep outside
5. Blow the seeds off a dandelion (I promise I won’t do this in your yard)
6. Plant an herb garden
7. Make homemade lemonade
8. Go to the beach
9. Make a summer play list (believe me, I’d do a mixed tape if I still had a cassette player)
10. Get a pedicure
11. Catch a fish (or at least try)
12. Sew my own sundress
13. Go for a canoe ride (14T comes equipped with a canoe, one of its many perks…)
14. Light some sparklers
15. Go to a Red Sox game
16. Go night swimming
17. Pack a picnic
18. Eat dinner on the front porch
19. Pick berries and make homemade jam
20. Play a game of Badminton
21. Wash my car
22. Try a new vegetable from the farmers market
23. Buy an ice cream from the ice cream man
24. Do yoga outside
25. Fly a kite
26. Take a roll of film (yes, the old fashioned way)
27. Go to the Fair
28. Go to the Wellfleet drive-in movie theater
29. Run through a sprinkler
30. Make a new sun tea flavor
31. Go for a boat ride
32. Make a sandcastle
33. Have a bonfire

Big Shoes For Little Souls

2011-06-01T19:53:00.005-04:00

Well, we did it! Through thick, salty air and early morning ocean fog, Amy, Jenny and I successfully completed our first 5K this past Sunday as part of the Cape Cod Child Development running team. I'm happy to report that collectively, our team was able to raise over $10,000 to support the children and families of CCCD, yay!

I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who helped me to meet my fundraising goal. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST, THANK YOU x 10,000!

My Dad Knows Everything About Baseball

2011-06-01T00:03:00.003-04:00

I’ve always known that my dad is a huge baseball fan (he mainly just watches the Sox games, but he’ll always cheer for anyone who beats the Yankees), but this month he really proved it to me. I probably called home a dozen times over the past 31 days with a whole slew of baseball questions that most people my age should know the answers to:

“Dad, how do they determine how many games are in a series?”
“Hi Dad, me again, do the announcers travel with the team?”
“Yep hi, another question: What the hell does over 500 mean?”

And so on…

What shocked me every time was how immediate his answers were—I couldn’t stump him! After a month of very thorough answers to my incessant stream of questions, I really am convinced that my dad knows everything about baseball.

When I was home this past weekend, my brother and I went down to the basement and shot some of his baseball collection. These are a few of my favs:

My dad is also a huge Carl Yastrzemski fan. I mean, can you blame him? What's not to love about a Polish Red Sox player?

Carl, or "Yaz", in all his glory

More glory...

I can't read this so let's just pretend that there's a "ski" at the end

This illustration of Fenway Park was a Father's Day gift from my mom and I one year

A replica of the paper from when the Red Sox won the World Series in 1918

Moxie and the Red Sox? Now you're speaking John Dzenawagis' language...

And yes, I’m well aware that it’s June 1st now. The holiday weekend threw me off a bit so I'm going to take a few extra days to wrap up Soxing before I introduce June's challenge. Stay tuned!

My MFP (Most Favorite Player)

2011-05-26T20:35:00.004-04:00

Even though he’s apparently in a bit of a slump right now (at least that’s what they’ve been saying, like I’d know the difference), there’s still something pretty lovable about Dustin Pedroia, my official MFP (most favorite player) of the 2011 Boston Red Sox team. Like you inadvertently gravitate towards one band member or TV show character over another, it also seems to happen in the sports world.

Unlike a serious sports fan would, I don’t base my favorite player status on merit, but rather on things like, “cool we were born in the same year!”, “hey, he just got a hit!”, and most importantly: general adorability. A week or so into this month I realized that I was getting a little more excited when Pedroia would come up to bat and since the feeling has persisted, he has officially been granted my MFP (quite an honor).

It may come as a surprise that he took the cake, especially over a shoe in like Jacoby Ellsbury (admittedly, he’s definitely a hottie and it’s pretty cool that he’s the first person of Navajo descent to make it to the major leagues), but I don’t know what it is, there’s just something about that Dustin Pedroia, sigh…

Before I turn into too much of a teenager though, here are last week’s highlights from week 3 as a baseball fan:

1. Watching a game with lil’ Eleanor as my baseball buddy. Seriously though, how cute is this baby and how serious of a sports fan is she already? She wouldn't even take her eyes off the game for photo. Justin must be so proud...

2. Eating the delicious spread of baseball snacks prepared by Amanda Morgan: Cheese, bread, & jam, pigs in blankets, deviled eggs, and chips & guac? Yes, please.

3. Listening to the game on the radio last Thursday night when we won it in the bottom on the 9th. I had an “I am my fathers daughter” moment when I slow clapped in the car by myself haha.

4. Being in New York City last weekend and genuinely feeling a little out of place among the many people who were donning Yankees gear. The rivalry must run pretty deep if I even feel it...

Just one week to go though and not enough home games to fit it all in. I will get to Fenway before June 1st though, fingers crossed for good weather!

She gets cuter every time I see her, omg...

Ever wondered what my last meal on earth would be? Add a glass of Pinot Grigio and it's complete

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2011-05-20T14:30:00.006-04:00

A lot of people say they can’t get into baseball because it’s too “slow”, or “boring”, or because there “isn’t enough action”. Um, are you kidding me? That’s why baseball is so awesome in the first place. Yeah, you’re not guaranteed a bloody brawl or a game that’ll score in the double digits, but I’m not watching sports because I’m looking for something to get stressed (or grossed) out about—I’m watching to relax. Sure there’s a few tense moments in your average game, but for the most part it moves so slow that it’s practically meditative—or at least a little more so than a pig pile of 300 lb. men is (sorry football).

And for a compulsive multitasker like myself, baseball is a godsend. A sport that I can keep up with without devoting my complete attention to? Win! I can switch back and forth between stations, give myself a pedicure, make a dent in my mounting pile of clothing that needs mending (thanks fast fashion), and catch up on emails—all without missing a play.

Dear Baseball,

Don’t listen to all those haters, you’ve had it right all along. Slow and steady wins the race.

Love,
Danne, your new fan

p.s. On another note, good luck with tomorrow’s impending rapture everyone. This someecard pretty much sums up how I feel about the matter:

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

2011-05-17T20:40:00.004-04:00

Sorry to be redundant and complain about the weather like everyone else in the Northeast is doing, but seriously? Did I really just take the space heater back out of the closet? Am I really rockin' the fleece socks? Isn't it supposed to be Spring? Didn't we suffer enough this winter Mother Nature? And now this—a rained out Red Sox game.I think I'm just about as bummed as little Brooks Fletcher here...

5K Fundraising

2011-05-15T16:47:00.003-04:00

It’s that time of year again friends—I’m fundraising! This time last year I was trying to raise $2,000 to participate in Project M, which thanks to all of you, I was able to do (seriously, thank you, that was amazing). This year I’m looking for financial support in another one of my endeavors: I’m running the 5K in The Great Hyannis Road Races as part of a charity team to raise money for Cape Cod Child Development. CCCD is a great organization that provides childcare, educational and developmental intervention, and family support services that are affordable and accessible to families all over Cape Cod & the Islands. As with any non-profit, donations are an integral component to their funding, so I’m happy to do what I can to help out.

Not only am I excited to run in support of such a great cause, but I’m extra excited because it’s my first race (yay!), it’s in my hometown (yay again!), and I’ll be running with 2 of my besties, Amy and Jenny (another yay!).

As part of the team, they ask that I raise at least $100 for the cause, so if anyone can spare even a few bucks it would be greatly appreciated. No donation is too small!

Thank you all so much, and hey, if you’re on Cape that weekend, come cheer us on!
Danne

Baseball on the Radio

2011-05-13T15:04:00.007-04:00

Call me crazy (I'd prefer old fashioned), but I feel like there’s definitely something magical about listening to a baseball game on the radio. Kind of like how the crackle from a record player can give music an instant sense of nostalgia, the same is true for anything that’s heard through fading radio reception. I’m willing to bet that even if you didn’t grow up spending summer nights listening to the crack of the bat through the airwaves, you probably still find yourself susceptible to the warm sense of sentimentality that it evokes.

What inspired this month’s challenge in the first place was a book that I read over vacation called Slow Love, by Dominique Browning. In brief, it’s a memoir about a woman who loses her job, and in essence, her identity, and is forced to confront a number of realities in her life and embark on the journey of regaining her balance (hmm sound familiar?). There’s a particular passage where she describes listening to baseball games on the radio so romantically that it had me longing to do the same.

An excerpt:

“…Listening to games on the radio at home was a different matter. Not having the visuals when you’re a novice is a challenge. Instead of following the action, I became entranced by the symphonic quality of the sounds of a game coming over the radio: the crescendos of the crowd roaring when something exciting happened, the dissonant chords when the umpire was a blockhead, the thematic quality of most of the calls, the digressions at quieter intervals. Best of all was the counterpoint of Stroller’s [the author’s former love interest] rapid-fire commentary with that of the announcer; it was like a baseball concerto, and it washed over me in a bath of shared pleasure”.

After reading this, I realized that it was sort of a tragedy not to own a radio, so I bought one (which I had to do online because apparently they’re so antiquated that Target doesn’t even sell them anymore). When I Googled “handheld radio” a bunch of super high-tech options came up: No I don’t need GPS, no I don’t need an LED screen, I just need a radio, plain and simple. That’s when I found this little gem that I received in the mail yesterday. It weighs about 3 ounces, has a sweet hand strap, and is about as analog as it gets. I love it.

My new little friend came just in the knick of time too, because tonight begins a 3 game series against our arch rivals, the New York Yankees. You'd better believe that I'll be out on the front porch, radio in hand, listening to the play-by-play the good ol' fashioned way.

Question: Where can I stream live MLB games online for free?

2011-05-06T10:54:00.004-04:00

Can an actual sports fan confirm this for me: Is it true that there are restrictions from MLB that don’t allow live games to be streamed online for free? I wanted to listen to the game while I was at work yesterday but couldn’t figure out how to get it to work without buying a yearly subscription from MLB.com. It’s only $19.99 so I might just go for it, but I wanted to check first to see if someone has a free solution for me. Anyone know?

And in Red Sox news this week, we won the first 2 games against the Angels and then lost the second 2 (we really lost the last one, ouch). A 4 game series with the Minnesota Twins starts tonight at 7:10pm.

And in Danne news related to becoming a Red Sox fan, I think it’s actually working! I find myself caring a little more each game and actually looking forward to watching. Who knew it would be this easy?

From Sixing to Soxing

2011-05-03T21:07:00.002-04:00

Last night I did something that your average New Englander does on a regular basis: I watched the Red Sox game. It might not sound like a big deal, but it marked the first time in my 27 years that I’ve intentionally sat down and watched the entire game from start to finish. So why last night? Well, because I’ve declared May “Soxing” (the name came to me in a dream haha) and I’m on a mission to finally become the Red Sox fan that I was predestined to become (destiny based on proximity to Boston and my Dad’s fervor for the team).

Whether you’re a fan or not, there’s no denying that Massachusetts has some of the best sports teams in the country. Between the Patriots, the Celtics, the Bruins, and the Red Sox, we’ve won dozens of championships—unfortunately I’ve just never really cared about any of them. I think it’s cool when your home team takes the title; just not cool enough for me to actually sit down and watch a whole season’s worth of games. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl or because I’ve always preferred art and music to sports, but I’ve just never really got the hang of being a sports fan.

Just because I’m not currently a citizen of Red Sox Nation doesn’t mean that I don’t think it looks like a lot of fun. Part of me has always wanted to share in the excitement that comes with being a diehard fan, but I’ve just never put in the effort: Enter May.

My original intention was to commit to watching every Sox game for the entire month of May, but when my dad showed me the schedule (30 games in 31 days), I thought that maybe I should make some adjustments.

It might shift a little as the month wears on, but as of right now, here’s my assignment for the month:

1. Watch every home game that isn’t on while I’m at work.

2. Venture out to a bar (or other public place) to watch the game at least once a week. I plan on making special appearances at Bleacher Bar and Cardullo’s in Harvard Square (I've always wanted to sit out front with all the old guys in lawn chairs haha).

3. Make it to Fenway at least once to watch a game live and in person.

Like I invited people over in March for dinner parties, I’d also like to open the doors of 14T to drink Allagash and watch Sox games with me. Come on over and Go Sox!

Stripes and florals and neons, oh my!

2011-04-30T19:28:00.003-04:00

Today marks day 30 of sixing and since I was so well behaved all month, I decided to let myself off on good behavior and celebrate by putting on a coral and white striped shirt, crazy, I know…

While part of me feels like Dorothy stepping into the Technicolor Land of Oz after a black and white Kansas, I have to say that sixing was a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable than I had imagined it being. After a whole month of limiting myself to only a fraction of my wardrobe, I can honestly say that I barely even missed it. Much to my surprise too, there were only a few times when I found myself wishing for more variety and it was kind of amazing to never have to worry about what to wear.

So am I a sixer for life? Well, probably not, but this month did make me think a lot about my fashion choices and I’m definitely going to make an effort to become a more conscious shopper. I’m not about to go as far as to boycott my favorite fast fashion stores, but I’m going to make an effort to buy more classic and durable pieces and to shop second hand when I can. Overall though (and especially because my wardrobe looks so enormous after a month of deprivation), I'm going to try to focus on what I already have, and to think twice about whether I actually need something or if I just want it when I am out shopping. I have—we all have—a lot more than we realize we do.

So, signing off for sixing but I’ll be returning tomorrow with my next endeavour: Soxing. Seriously.

Oh, and in case you didn’t notice, I finally have a logo! It’s not 100% done yet and I anticipate a few more variations before I call it a day, but hey, better done than perfect, right?

"6 for 6", or "6 Outta 6 Ain't Bad", or "6 Degrees of Separation", or since it's April 28th, how about "28 Days Later"

2011-04-28T22:58:00.007-04:00

Why haven't I thought to play off the number 6 until now?

Hindsight's 20/20 I guess, but anyway...

I suppose it's only fitting (haha) to showcase some of my favorite outfits from sixing, so voilà! I present to you my top 6 wardrobe concoctions from the month:

A special thanks to Dan Kaplan for taking these snazzy photos

Tim Gunn's 10 Essentials

2011-04-26T21:47:00.002-04:00

Aside from the realization that I possess a stupid amount of clothing, this month's other big observation is that my wardrobe lacks pieces that could be described as timeless and versatile. The items that I picked for my 6 were literally the only nondescript things that I could find in the visual cacophony of my closet. Hmmm, maybe it's finally time to stop dressing like a 5-year-old girl...

Although I'll probably make my own list at the end of the month based on my personal experience with sixing, here's Tim Gunn's list of must-haves—you know, the things that are actually worth paying more than $15 for.

Tim Gunn's 10 Essential Items Every Woman Needs
• Basic black dress
• Trench coat
• Classic dress pants
• Classic white shirt
• Skirt
• Blazer
• Day dress
• Cashmere sweater
• Jeans
• A comfortable alternative to a sweatsuit

Looks like it's time for a sustainable shopping spree to fill in the blanks, bummer...

Fast Fashion

2011-04-23T14:42:00.002-04:00

I consider myself to be pretty eco-minded, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never really considered the negative effects that the fashion industry has on the environment. Amanda wrote a great comment on the “My Vacation 6” post that inspired me to do a little research into sustainable fashion. Here’s what I found:

Clothing—fast fashion in particular—is a huge source of the carbon emissions that are contributing to global warming. This is due not only to how these clothes are produced, but also how they’re cared for (think: washing frequently in super hot water and drying at a high heat).

“Fast Fashion” is a term that refers to cheaply made clothing that rips off designer styles. The intent behind it is to produce clothing that reflects the latest fashion trends rather than creating pieces that are timeless and durable. These clothes are so affordable that you can dispose of them after only a few wears. Examples: Target, H&M, Forever 21 (3 of my favorites, gulp).

$1 trillion a year is spent on clothing worldwide and the average consumer consigns 66 pounds of clothing a year. Clothing makes up an estimated 30% of landfill waste.

Polyester, the most common synthetic material, requires huge amounts of energy and crude oil to produce, which leads to emissions that are harmful to the environment.

While cotton, a natural fiber, has less of an environmental impact than polyester, it’s also responsible for a quarter of all pesticide use in the US, and it requires more laundering than synthetic fabric. This constant washing has a massive environmental cost, and a Cambridge University study found that “buying a 250 g cotton t-shirt was equivalent to buying 1,700 g of fossil fuel, depositing 450 g of waste to landfill and emitting 4 kg of CO2 into the atmosphere.”

Then there’s the cheap labor, the shipping across the world—ahhhh, like we need something else to feel bad about! What are we supposed to do here, wear the same clothes until we’re 90? We don’t need to go that far, but what we can do is limit our consumption of fast fashion, wear clothes until the end of their natural cycle, buy sustainable and eco-friendly when we can (H&M actually just launched a new line of 100% sustainable clothing, horray!), and just not consume as much as we have been. I’ll tell you firsthand too that limiting my wardrobe to only 6 pieces has really made me think about how unnecessary it is to have all those clothes in the first place.

The Cambridge University study that I mentioned before also made a few interesting suggestions to the clothing industry for improving their sustainability. Who knows if they'll ever catch on, but I really liked these 2 in particular:

1. Stores could lease out clothing much like a library book, for a short period of time or for an entire season.

2. Retailers could offer to buy back clothing from customers at a discount for recycling.

What I’m hoping is that sustainable clothing will catch on like reusable shopping bags did a few years ago and that eco-friendly clothing will soon become the norm. Until then, we need to make the personal effort to buy less and to be more conscious of what we do buy.

A Few Related References and Links
Can Polyester Save the World, New York Times, 2007
What to Wear, The Rise of Sustainable Fashion, Climate Action, 2011
H&M's Conscious Collection

Back to Life, Back to Reality (and my New England 6)

2011-04-19T19:01:00.003-04:00

What are the telltale signs that my vacation is officially over? My once glorious tan continues to fade a little more each day (thanks for all the rain, Boston), the 25,347 mosquito bites that I acquired are merely a memory (a really itchy and annoying one), and my neck is already stiff enough to require its traditional midday massage. Sigh…is that all there is to vacation?

But wow was it great, and much needed too. Not only did we swim in a bioluminescent bay, drink our weight in Piña Coladas (did you know that Puerto Rico claims to have invented them back in the 60’s?) and gaze at the stars from the hot tub every night, but I managed to do all of the above while only wearing 6 articles of clothing. Danne bam!

You might think that denying yourself the joy of packing a suitcase full of Forever 21’s entire summer collection would be a bummer, but it was more of a relief. Let’s face it too, does anyone really wear all of the outfit alternatives that they pack? Maybe it’s just me, but I always end up wearing the same dress over and over again. After this trip, I think I’m officially a vacation sixer for life.

Sixing has been really great back in my regular life too. No more "I have nothing to wear" moments, no more looking through my closet for stupid amounts of time every morning. Now, I simply choose pants or dress, black or gray, and then add some shoes and accessories. Done and done. I actually really love it. I mean, I do miss some of my old brightly-colored favs, but I'm kind of enjoying looking a little more like a grown-up in my black and "Graphic Design Gray" (as a professor of mine in college once put it) ensembles.

Here are a few things that I've learned from 2 weeks of sixing:

1. My Spring jacket can definitely be worn as a shirt too, win!

2. Leggings are the best thing ever, especially on vacation. Not only did they protect me from at least a hundred more mosquito bites, but they can act as yoga pants, regular pants if you have a long shirt, and keep you a little warmer if worn under a dress. A whole new world...

3. Scarves are also a contender for the best thing ever. If anyone needs an idea for a birthday gift for me next year, I'm all about building up my scarf collection. They make anything look a little fancier and can even make a black wife beater look snazzy. Amazing.

4. I need to invest in some serious staple pieces. You know, a nice black sweater, a white shirt—basically, the opposite of my current pattern infested wardrobe. While the stripes and florals are fun, I can definitely save the pizazz for the scarves and jewelry so I don't need to hit up H&M every season. Oh the things I'm learning...

5. Nobody notices, or cares, if you wear the same thing 2 days in a row. Well, unless it comes from the afore mentioned floral pattern section of my closet...

A snapshot of my Viequation, ahhh Vieques sunset, I miss you already...

My Vacation 6

2011-04-07T21:38:00.004-04:00

Well, I have a confession to make. I'm not really going the whole month only wearing 6 things—it's actually 12. No, I'm not cheating—I'm just going on VACATION (!!!!!), and since the weather forecast in Puerto Rico is sunny and in the 80's all next week, my New England 6 really aren't going to cut it.

I wasn't sure if I should take a vacation from lent too, but I decided that sixing would be really helpful for packing, and that it was! I honestly could have got away with only packing 5 things, but I gave myself the 6 and then threw in a 7th bonus item—just because it's vacation.

So, 12MOL is signing off and checking out for a week or so, but I'll be back soon and posting will resume as usual.

Adios!

My Vacation 6

Sixing

2011-04-04T16:06:00.003-04:00

This month I’m embarking on a wardrobe diet, not because I think I have a shopping problem, but because I think it’ll be a fun challenge in minimizing (which is obviously a hot topic for me. See: January’s lent). I was chatting with my coworker Elise last week about what to do for my April lent when she referred me to this article that she had read in the New York Times a few months ago. After reading only a few paragraphs, I was sold and decided to make April’s lent “Sixing”.

Here’s the gist: I choose 6 articles of clothing from my wardrobe and wear only those selected pieces, mixed and matched, for an entire month. Last night I carefully selected my 6 and decided on the following:

1. Jeans
2. Black dress
3. Black tank-top
4. Gray short-sleeved shirt
5. Long black sweater
6. White blazer or white sweater (I’m still on the fence. The rule is that it doesn’t officially count until you wear it).

It may sound a little intense but there are a few exceptions that make it manageable:

Items that Don’t Count for Your 6

1. Undergarments
2. Pajamas
3. Swim wear
4. Work-out clothes
5. Outerwear (jackets)
6. Shoes
7. Accessories

I may or may not allow myself a bonus item depending on how difficult it is (hey, I make the rules here) because while limiting my wardrobe to 6 items is pretty tough, upping that number to 7 doesn’t really make it that less of a challenge. We’ll see though, I’m sure there will be photos of funny outfits and complaints about missing my favorite brightly colored clothing to come…

Is that all there is to Mmmarch?

2011-04-03T15:27:00.002-04:00

And just like that it’s over and I’m back to eating Celeste pizzas and TJ’s frozen dinners. Just kidding—well kind of, I actually did hit up Mama Celeste the other night, but my good eating habits from last month haven’t totally gone out the window just yet…

I’m sure it was evident in my posts, but if the joy of cooking didn’t come across, let it be known that I really enjoyed Mmmarch. It was great to cook up so many new recipes and just to eat better in general, but the part that I enjoyed the most was spending time with so many people that I love and care about. A few recipes in, I realized that this month’s lent was just as much about the people with whom I shared the food with and the stories and history contained in each recipe, as it was about the actual meal itself.

When I studied abroad in Italy, one of my first observations was how seriously the Italians took their meals. Restaurants didn’t even open until 7 in the evening because once you sat down at the table, it was presumed that you’d be there all night. Meals were dragged out (in the best way possible) for hours and hours, and long after the last course was served, there was no antsy waiter hovering over you, waving the check in your face. On the contrary, you were invited to stay as long as you liked, and when you felt like you’re dining experience was through, you would ask for the check yourself. While microwave dinners are certainly convenient for our over-worked lives, it completely removes the experiential element from the meal, and to me, that’s just as important as the food.

Dan and I spent the first half of our weekend at the funeral of someone who died far too young and it made me even more grateful that I was able to share so many happy memories this month with the people that I hold near and dear to me. Not to sound like a public service announcement, but it’s so important to make time to get together with your loved ones, and even more important to tell them how much they mean to you.

That being said, I love you all, thank you for joining me for dinner, and hey, if you didn’t make it over last month, the invitation still stands. Viva la dinner party anytime you want!

Next Up: The Wardrobe Diet. Full-post coming tomorrow, it should be interesting haha.

Recipes #11 & #12: Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt and Coconut Quinoa Lentil Stew

2011-03-30T22:40:00.006-04:00

Before I even kicked off my month of cooking, I had been trying to make dinner party plans with my BFFL Sondra and her boyfriend Tony. Since the two of them work unconventional schedules and live about an hour away in Providence, it’s often difficult to book them for a weekend night so we made sure to plan far in advance. We managed to sync schedules and they came up and joined Dan and I for dinner last Friday night.

Sondra and I grew up across the street from each other and spent so much time together that our childhoods are virtually identical. Not only is she my first friend, but also my oldest—not in age but in years that we’ve been friends, which is a whopping 25. Our 2-decade + friendship has seen it all: knock-down, drag-out fights about Weebles (for the record, I still think I was in the right), our traditional Christmas Eve-Eve sleepovers, trips to Whale’s Tail and Clark’s Trading Post, various really stupid teenage phases, and even living together in good ol’ 14T. Friends like Sondra are hard to come by; the kind who’ve been there through literally every phase of your life, whose family feels like your own (well, probably because our parents are both named John and Donna and we both have Aunt Sue’s who own ice cream stores), and the one’s who you know will have your back no matter what. In other words, I love Sondra and she’s the best.

Since it’s pretty clear that I’m awful fond of Sondra, its no surprise that I’m super-critical of any guy who she brings home to meet me. After years of less-then-awesome prospects, she finally got it right with the wonderful Mr. Tony Pacitti. Tony’s an all-around stand-up guy and a great writer to boot. His book, My Best Friend is a Wookie, is totally awesome and everyone should read it (especially those of you from my generation because the cultural references are a goddamn laugh riot). All the gushing aside, mix two Dan’s with a Sony and a Tony, add in some fritters and Trader Joe’s wine, and you’ve got yourself a pretty awesome Friday night.

I hit up my girls over at Two Blue Lemons for some delicious gluten-free recipes (Tony was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease), and came up with these two gems, both of which were so delicious that there were no leftovers (bummer for me).

Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt
Coconut Quinoa Lentil Stew

Love you guys!

and I love fritters...

Sondra and I in Tortola last year

and of course, Sondra and I when we were 'lil ones

Recipe # 10: Baked Bulgur-Stuffed Tomatoes

2011-03-28T20:35:00.004-04:00

If there were one person to credit for my healthy eating habits and my general philosophy on food, it would definitely be my mom—or as the secret Brit in me has always called her, Mum. Although she spent her pre-retirement days as a hairdresser, her true passion has always been food and nutrition (well, that and rearranging the house so often that it’s virtually unrecognizable every time I go home for a visit). She started me off on a healthy eating path at a young age by making all of my baby food herself, and when I was old enough to develop a taste for junk food, by forbidding anything even remotely unhealthy from entering her cabinets (which was especially difficult considering that my dad was a Frito Lay salesman and had a giant truck stuffed with potato chips parked in our driveway).

Because of her, I was that kid eating tofu-veggie spread and rice cakes for lunch while everyone else was scarfing down Lunchables and washing them down with Red #40’s favorite friend, Hawaiian Punch. Although I was a little bitter at the time, now that I’m old enough to understand her motives, I’m thankful that she molded my eating habits when I was young, and grateful that she instilled in me the understanding that you truly are what you eat.

When at the ripe age of 12, I saw a cow get branded and proclaimed that I was never eating meat again, she was nothing but supportive, taking me to see a nutritionist and preparing me veggie-centric meals, always saying that I’d end up healthier and live longer because of my decision. Years later, it’s my turn to be the supportive one, and I’m proud of my mom for making the decision to follow in Bill Clinton's footsteps and adopt a vegan diet. It’s been inspiring to see how dedicated she is to her new lifestyle and to hear about how much better she feels inside and out because of it. Plus, she shares all of her delicious new recipes me with me, including this one for baked bulgur-stuffed tomatoes that we enjoyed together when I was home last weekend.

Here's to you Mum!

Photos again are courtesy of my very talented brother, Sean