Learning How to Pickle

My mom came up for a spontaneous visit this weekend and we spent Saturday afternoon pickling vegetables. We used a traditional Vietnamese recipe for the brine.  So simple and so yummy! Next time I'm going to try to make some spiced pickled carrots like the ones they serve at Tartine. Double yum!

Project Coffee Table: Completed!

Remember when I posted sometime last year that I wanted to make this coffee table? I finally got around to ordering the hairpin legs and buying the table top last month. Then after a weekend of unsuccessful attempts to find a power drill, my friend Maria lent me hers and the table was completed. It still needs to be oiled every few days for the next two months, but so far I have to say, I'm totally happy with the results.

For these photos, my sister Jenny (pictured above) helped me with the styling and "tablescaping".  She says, "We wanted the coffee table to be the focal point of our living room, around which our friends could gather to sip single origin espresso and trade tips about holistic vets." Ha! We had so much fun being tablescape artists for the day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello friends and Happy Valentine's Day! I had such a fun impromptu crafting session with my sisters and friend Jacqui* yesterday. I brought out all my crafting supplies and we all made valentines for our boos. I decided to ditch the traditional card and made an unravelling message instead. I stamped the message using my alphabet stamps and added a washi tape border. Then I ravalled (is that even a word?) it all up and packaged it inside a little muslin bag! Can't wait to give this to Rance tonight!

* Thanks Jacqui for helping with the message. You are a true wordsmith.