Thursday, September 30, 2010

Washington

I just got back from a lovely trip to Washington state.  Here are a few photos.  Mount Baker:
My Uncle Larry and Aunt Becky's beautiful home that they built:
The gorgeous view they wake up to every day.  How would you like this in your backyard?
I'm not sure, but I think I might be the first person to ever take a picture of this sign...
Downtown Vancouver:
Downtown Bellingham.  I was in heaven and hell at the same time.  The BEST antique mall I've ever been to.  Total overload.  $60 for a set of mid-century end tables?  What's that?  $195 for a set of four danish modern chairs?  Why did I have to fly? I did get a whole lotta other knick knacks that I was able to bring home though, so it wasn't all torture. 
And right across the street was a place called Rocket Donuts.  The most awesome donut shop I've ever seen, that's for sure! 

Sunlight filtering through a walking trail.
A waterfall that has claimed many a person.
And just because.
Aside from San Diego's loss to Seattle, it was a good trip.  Beautiful weather - and I come home to hot/muggy/rainy San Diego.  What happened to my city?  Can't I leave for five days? Apparently not.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Mid Century Magazines

I found a whole stack of vintage magazines at the swap meet this weekend.  The guy was selling them for .75 cents each.  FYI - that's only .25 cents more than they originally cost.  I can never get over how the overall design of the mid-century was so much better.  Maybe it's just novel to me because I'm not from that era.  But regardless, I love it, and it's very inspiring to me.  


Oh, how the life of a housewife could be excited by a refrigerator!   (But this wall cabinet refrigerator is actually pretty neat!)


Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Just Because

I took this picture this past weekend and I kind of really like it. Who knows why I like things.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Weekend Finds

The swap meet wasn't that great this weekend, but I did manage to find a couple of things.  We also visited the La Mesa Antique Mall.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't super over-priced like the antique mall in Ocean Beach.  There was a really loud, but nice man in the shop who Aaron and I fooled into thinking we could speak French.  That was kind of fun.  Anyway, I found this Scandinavian wall hanging.  I liked the colors and I just think Scandinavian art is really cool.
 
I also picked up a pretty collection of vintage thread.
I got two more brooches at the swap meet.  They seem to be harder to find now than they used to be...
And, last but not least, I found this recipe book: The New Joys of Jell-O.  It is from the seventies, so it has some fun pictures in it.  I'll share some later. I love that people used to show up for a party with a big jiggly Jell-O mold.  It has helpful tips and even a section on serving your Jell-O in style.  Luckily, I have a lot of my Grandma's serving dishes so I can be as authentic as possible.  I can't wait to try a new Jell-O dessert!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Wishy-washy

That's me.  Blogger to Wordpress and back to Blogger.  You know what - Wordpress just never felt right to me.  It was all wordy and sophisticated.  So thanks to blog2blog, I got all my posts moved back over to Blogger.  It's like I'm starting from scratch, but oh well.  I got a pretty new blog and I think I'm happy now and I'll stay here for a while.

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Prettiest Thing I Ever Did See



I made this amazing Jell-O mold for a family Labor Day bbq.  And let me tell you.  It was worth the four hours it took to make it.  I just can't get over its beauty.  I've been wanting to make one for a while because of its mid-century qualities, and then I saw this on my Craft Magazine Daily e-mail and I knew I had to make one, like, NOW.



Behold its stripey amazingness!



Want to make  a jello mold? Well, first you have to have patience.  Second you have to have 9 or 10 boxes of Jell-O.  Mix each box with 1 1/4 cup boiling water. Pour your first  layer in the bundt pan, stick it in the refrigerator, and wait 15 to 20 minutes.  Gently pour your next layer of room-temperature Jell-O on top of that.  Repeat with each layer.  Yes, you have to wait 15 minutes between each layer.  For the opaque layers, add 2 tbs sour cream; or 1 tbs if you want to split up a color (half regular/half opaque).

A couple of tips:  I was really worried about it getting stuck in the pan.  You're supposed to put it in a bowl of warm water for 10 seconds to loosen/melt the outer layer a bit.  Mine slipped right out, along with quite a bit of melted Jell-O. Oops!  I'd say maybe 5 to 10 seconds next time.  And you can see it pulling away from the edge of the pan, while it is in the bowl.  Another thing, don't make all your flavors at one time.  I'd say maybe three at a time, making your next batch with enough time to cool completely before you pour it on the previous layer.

Now I know better for next time ... and there will be a next time.  Oh, and it was delicious.  There's always room for Jell-O!