One of my October goals was to give our guest bedroom a little makeover before my parents came for a visit. I'd love to share the results with you! Previously the room was really just a collection of furniture; it could function as a guest room but it didn't have much personality. And truthfully it was usually occupied by a certain furry member of the family (ahem). There was definitely a lot to be improved! A trip to IKEA and Target and an afternoon pushing furniture around...and convincing Chris to take a break from grading to hang the curtains...was all... Read more →

We made our first Tofurky this Thanksgiving...and it was really good! Even though Chris and I have been vegetarian for a few years we've always just made an alternate main dish, like a quinoa casserole. But this year, on a friend's recommendation, we gave Tofurky a whirl. We're already plotting to stash a few in our freezer to enjoy throughout the year since they're only available seasonally! "Oh hello there Tofurky...I saw you from the dried fruit section..." The Tofurky comes stuffed with wild rice stuffing and a separate gravy. It's not just a round hunk of tofu, it's so... Read more →

As soon as I saw that Abby's etsy shop would be closing soon I headed over and bought this sparkly print that I've had my eye on for awhile. Et voila: November art-a-month! If you like Abby's film photography prints too, she's having an amazing clearance sale; just use the code "shopclosing40" for 40% off. One of her framed prints would make a nice Christmas gift...since it's time to be thinking about these things after all! Aaand, I'm not at work! On a whim last week I requested to take today off and I'm making a mental note to always... Read more →

Have you listened to Spilled Milk? It's the show in which the hosts "cook something delicious, eat it all, and YOU can't have any." I've been reading Orangette for awhile and finally checked out the podcast that Molly co-hosts along with Matthew Amster-Burton of Roots and Grubs. Guys, it's hilarious! As in, I have to stifle laughter when listening at work (ipods and headphones get a green light at my office...bursting out in laughter gets a stale yellow light). On each show Molly and Matthew take on a different food - from rice, to dorm food, to parsnips - and... Read more →

As I mentioned in this post, I love reading about pregnancy, babies, and parenting (just to be prepared!), and this is the first post of three in which I'll share the books I've read over the past couple of years. Today's post is focused on books about conceiving and pregnancy while other posts will focus on newborn care and parenting. Many of the books I've read were mentioned by Sara either through her blog, where she keeps a great list of books about conception, pregnancy, and parenting, or her online course, Purposeful Conception (which I highly recommend!). My intention in... Read more →

Lately I've been wondering how much we actually spend on groceries each month. In our budget, we allot $500 per month for groceries, which comes from our joint checking account, but I had a hunch that we were spending more than that. Since we don't add up our grocery bills at the end of the month, we're never really sure if we're actually sticking to our grocery budget. We budget conservatively (i.e., extra) for all of our expenses, so we could be going over $500 for groceries each month and making up for it with the "cushion" that we have... Read more →

My mom and sister have always had their own sense of humor. They can send each other into fits of laughter over something before other people (usually including my dad and I) even know what they're talking about. But the whole family laughs over the ridiculous "how is it possible?" series, which my mom and sister made up. To give you a sense of the silliness, here are two classics: One day a man was walking along and suddenly found himself in a tree. How is this possible?? Answer: Monkeys pulled him up! Or, once there was a man who... Read more →

Today I'm happy to share a guest post from Chris! Since he's a nutrition professor by day I asked him to write about some of the nutritional aspects of our "being vegan" experiment, which we're trying out this week. We served veggie burgers at our wedding! Professors are a strange breed. Regardless of discipline, we all are rife with idiosyncrasies and social maladaptation we think can somehow be forgiven because we’re introspective nerd-geniuses. The truth is, although many of us are introspective and nerdy, very few of us are geniuses. I fallinto this camp: I’m just extra-eccentric without the brilliant... Read more →

This Sunday was the first in a loooong time that Chris didn't have to be at the farmers' market with Chow Locally. It felt so luxurious to spend a whole day together! The weather was clear and chilly, which made for a perfect day to relax and enjoy... a perfect fall breakfast... a long run that tired out our old vizsla (and apparently made him forget he's not allowed on the furniture)... and our favorite chocolate chip cookies. Hope you had a lovely fall weekend! Read more →

I guess the beginning of November has really put the end of the year on my mind because I'm getting excited about 2012 calendars! When I was in DC in September andvisited the Smithsonian I bought myself this 2012 day planner which features a "Smithsonian treasure" every week. Much more exciting than the plain-Jane-no-treasure-a-week planner I have now. 2012 is already shaping up to be pretty exciting! (shhhhh....don't tell my iphone but I'm very loyal to my paper calendar. I love to write down my "things to do" and "places to be"...and then I'm able to flip through old calendars... Read more →