being a wanderer

I realize that if you set out to wander there probably should not be any rules involved, but if there has to be some, these are a pretty good place to start:

No. 0: No maps or navigation devices allowed.

No. 1: Don’t tell anyone you’re wandering except your co wanderers.

No. 2: Don’t go into the first place you see unless they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner twenty-four hours a day.

No. 3: If you see an Urban Outfitters you are too near mainstream streets. 

No. 4: Avoid the police, even if you’re innocent.

No. 5: Trust your instincts.

No. 6: No shopping, Bekka.

No. 7: If you are looking for food or beverages and you skip over four places, you must go into number five.

No. 8: No salads.

No. 9: Just eat it.

No. 10: Use the bathroom every chance you get.

No. 11: If there is guacamole, order it.

No 12: Ignore the rules.

I think I may have just found another blog to follow... :)

And speaking of wandering, I have finally purchased my tickets for Uganda! Hip hip hooray! Africa, here I come.

rules by Bekka Palmer via swiss miss

chicago pizza

I made some pizza dough yesterday (first time with my new Kitchenaid stand mixer - it was glorious), and I decided to delve back into Peter Reinhart's American Pie since it had been a while. I turned to the Chicago section, which I've read many times before, but not since moving to Chicago. Ol' Pete and I apparently have the same feelings about Chicago style pizza. He explains it so well:
'I was hoping I'd become a convert to the genre when I visited the fabled originators. On paper, I'm there. I love cornmeal-flavored doughs, spicy sausage [well, not this girl], and oozy, gooey cheese of all sorts, but when I actually sit down to eat a deep-dish pie, I have the feeling of being assaulted--yes, in a good flavor sort of way, but relentlessly.'
I was assaulted twice by deep-dish pizza this past weekend, so this girl is looking forward to some trusty New York style tonight, which somehow DOES NOT EXIST in Chicago. 
Happy pizza Wednesday, friends. 

pizza

a sad day for lovers of individually-sized fried pies

This morning, New Orleans lost its beloved pie producing factory in a 5-alarm fire. Lucky for me, I still have a couple pies stored away in the freezer from our wedding. One of the owners promised this morning that they will be back. Until then, you will be sorely missed, Hubig's. 

second photo

things where they don't belong

Have you guys heard of this? #alleyshrimp - it's such a simple and yet clever concept: you take pictures of things that are out of place. Clearly, I am very late to the game, but considered my eyes opened/reopened to the things I spot on the street. 


via swissmiss

just my llama and me

Marc told me last night that for my wedding gift, he tried to find a place that would allow you to 'adopt' a llama (though it would stay on the farm it lived on) and then you could go visit it whenever you wanted. Doesn't that sound absolutely amazing?! Sadly, such a service does not exist, but if somebody wants to start it, I would be the happiest girl on the planet.

In the meantime, I went to tumblr to satisfy my llama appetite and found this gem:

Now that I watch Sesame Street much more frequently thanks to my nanny job, I'm reminded of how awesome it is. Just the other day I watched an episode where Will Arnett played a not-so-talented magician as a nod to Gob from Arrested Development. Naturally, his opening music was 'The Final Countdown.' I appreciate that Sesame Street recognizes the fact that adults watch the show as well with kids. Anywho, this post was not supposed to be about Sesame Street, but about how awesome this video is. I look forward to the day I can walk down the street with my llama. :)

p.s. did you know Sesame Street has a tumblr?

video via The Backcountry Llama

hammock delight

I've been lucky enough to have spent a good amount of time lounging in a hammock recently and it is deeee-lightful. I highly recommend it.

Happy Monday friends.

image via YEAH! rentals

i'm baaaaaaaaack!

It's been eons it feels like. Probably because it has been a ridiculously long time since I've posted and also because so much has happened in the last month alone. For starters, this girl is married now! Whaaaaat. I became an aunt (again!), I got married, I went on a honeymoon and I now share an apartment with this man I now call husband. Cah-razy. I'll give you a little time to let all of this sink in. I'll be back - soon, I promise - with some more in depth posts of the wildcrazyfun that has been the month of June. In the meantime, some goodies from New Orleans...

just cuz

A baby elephant on the beach can make even a Monday a little better, right?

baby elephant on a beach

happy weekend!

Did I mention spring arrived in Chicago? Well, it totally did. Everything is a-blooming and green again. Temps still dip into the 30s, but if I had any doubts about spring being here, they were washed away today when the largest centipede I've ever encountered found himself in my apartment. I literally yelled when I walked in the room and saw him and continued to make loud noises until I mustered up the courage to kill him. I still shudder at the thought. Have you ever had to psyche yourself up to kill a bug? That's what I had to do. I even had to turn the fan on because I started sweating. Sure, I may have not seen a single roach since I've moved up here, but what roaches are to the south, centipedes are to Chicago. Except, instead of 6 legs, we're talking like, 100 (thank goodness they can't fly). Bleeghidshigsa;fjidasnvd; Enough to give you the heebie jeebies, for sure.

Marc is off to his bachelor party this weekend in Texas, so I've got a lovely girls weekend ahead, complete with some top secret wedding projects + The Hunger Games. I'm pretty pumped.

Happy Spring, friends. May your weekend be restful and centipede free. 

photo by Bonnie Tsang

happy easter

I wanted to post something on Monday about how I had finally mailed out invitations, but I couldn't quite find the right picture for the post expressing how elated I felt. Naturally, I ended up not posting anything and just playing around on the internet like it was the last day of its existence while sippin' on a caramel frappe I treated myself to for my accomplishment.

Since the big mail-out, I have been even more excited to hear people's reactions to the invites. Not that I am seeking their praise, and not to say that positive comments don't make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, because of course they do. I've just been working really hard since Jan/Feb to create the whole invitation 'suite' (ugh, does that term make anyone else want to vomit? It sounds so hoity, but I've yet to come up with another one to use in its place), and as I was assembling them, it felt very much like wrapping up a little paper present that I put tons of time and love and care into for all our friends and family. And you always want people to like the gifts you give them, right? So far, so good.

I'm looking forward to sharing some photos of the invites here on the ole bloggy-blog soon. And I'm also pumped to start blogging on a more regular basis again.

I hope all you kids out there have a lovely Easter weekend!

flowers via lyla & blu

i llike you too.

I'm so glad the feeling is mutual. 

You guys. Home stretch of invitations. The end is in sight!! I promise I'll be back soon. 

llama

real talk

Honestly, how feasible is it for me to own a baby sloth? (please watch this video to understand what I'm going through right now) I need to know the answer, STAT. I absolutely and completely understand Kristen Bell's reaction now. 


baby sloth

neglected

Blog, I'm terribly sorry you've been so neglected lately. Wedding invites and life have been consuming me as of late. On the bright side, I have managed to work a llama into the invitation. A LLAMA! I was probably the happiest girl in the world the moment I realized I might be able to do it. 

teehee.

llama

a belated birthday wish

to a cool little niece who inherited both her mom's sass and love for red velvet cake :)

I appreciate the fact she tries to save some cake for later by storing it in her dress - she's a smart lady.

VICTORY. Check out that look on her face. She knows she won.

A scrumptious bunny gift from Aunt Candice. 

Happy first year of life, little one. 

happy thought for a gray day

'What have you done for color today?' 

                                -Henri Matisse

goldfish painting

the week condensed

Losing The Game That Must Not Be Mentioned appears to have really put a damper on my blogging for this week. C'est la vie. I instead took a plethora of pics so you can see what you've missed, because I know you've been dying without me around, Internet blogosphere. ;) It's been a pretty big week, actually. I made my first king cake (!), I bottled my first beer, had my first Chicago snow storm (woot) and cooked some dee-licious (if I don't say so myself) frito pie. Not pictured: started knitting a bunny for my niece's first birthday gift, booked my flight for my classy lady party and finally got around to framing and hanging my birthday present from last year (picture coming soon). 

If you do nothing else this weekend, you MUST find time to listen to this. It will rock your world and 'rebuild you from the inside out.' I'm going to go ahead and say you owe it to the world to listen to it. Yep, I just went there. After you listen let me -and the world- know what you think. Many thanks.

Cheers and happy weekending. 

a big night

Despite all of the controversy, apathy, anger and passion, I am thrilled/nervous/pumped/etc. to see my very own LSU tigers playing for the BCS national championship tonight. People can cry all they want, but until something changes, this is the means by which everyone agreed to crown a national champion. Even though I'm slightly depressed to be so far away from New Orleans, you better believe I'll be yelling at the TV like I'm actually in the Superdome tonight. 

da-da-daaa-dum...

happy new year...

...and welcome to 2012! I'm pretty stoked, because this is the year I will marry my favorite person in the world. This also means I get to spend the first half of this year planning a giant party for this very event and it is going to be awesome (I thought about using 'the bomb' here, but I don't think people say that anymore). 

Also, I woke up this morning to a snow-covered world. I don't think that feeling will ever get old. It really is like waking up in a (snowy) parallel universe. The outside world saw my big coat for the first time. It's warm, cozy and like getting a hug from a sleeping bag, which is a good thing because I'll probably be wearing it for the next 3 months straight. 

In other exciting news, Marc and I brewed our first beer Saturday! It's a fairly involved process and one wrong move can ruin the entire batch, but it is a blast.

 

We are at T-5 days until bottling. Hopefully it turns out good enough to share with friends, otherwise we will be drinking our own mediocre beer for a while. 

Happy Monday, friends. 

p.s. one of my favorite bloggers opened up her new paper shop today! I'm a fan.