SUPER EASY PHOTO CARD

Although I'm new to the blogging world, I've already found out that I really enjoy checking out craft blogs! My friend Joanne (we met at Interlochen eons ago) has a great blog, and asked for some help. She works in the non-prof sector, and would like a simple, cost effective way to send thank-you-photo-cards to supporters. Her cards need to be easily mass-produced and have space to allow for kids to decorate, along with a place to put a photo. She has a GREAT example on her blog, but on my subway ride home I thought up a little idea as well. I have dinner plans in an hour, so I'm hoping to post this SIMPLE card VERY QUICKLY! Here's what I came up with:

To make this, first slice a piece of paper down to 7.5"x11.5". To make that direction simpler, slice an inch off the side of a piece of copy paper. Next, fold the paper, so you have a card that measures 7.5"X5.5".

Next, I've turned the card inside out, and drawn a few lines on the paper. I need to slice/cut the horizontal lines, while the vertical lines show me where my hypothetical 4x6 photo would line up. I totally eyeballed the space between the horizontal lines. It has to be enough space to write a word, but not TOO much space as to cover something in the picture!

Here's just an example of where I would slice/cut. I would either use a paper trimmer CAREFULLY, or an exacto blade with a straight edge.

Next, you can decorate the front of the card. If I were giving this to kids, I would remind them not to draw in the middle, since that place will be covered by a photo. The two cuts that you've made will now be a little "banner" across your photo, where you can add words or a greeting.

Next, slide a photo behind your "banner", and adhere the photo to the card (I used a simple double stick tape here, but a couple of scotch tape tubes will work JUST fine!

This technique can also be applied to a vertical photo!

So that's it- my SUPER easy photo-card. Enjoy!!!

Middle of the week...

As unlikely as it seems, I don't have much to report today. It's been a fairly normal Wednesday, just work/gym/lunch/work so far. Tonight I'll get to see SFS which will be fun as usual, and MAYBE I'll even get to work on my latest scarf (obsessed much? Not me!)... :)

Last night I got to see my good friend JG! When we worked at the music agency, I got to see her EVERYDAY, but now that we've both moved on, and though we try to find time in our schedules, it sometimes seems impossible. But last night the stars aligned, and we grabbed dinner at our FAVORITE Indian place Cafe Spice. There are a few of these places (in Philly and NYC- there's even one in Grand Central Station), but JG and I have been hitting up the one in Union Square for so long, it feels like "ours"! Though some people might tease us about eating at the same place, we like it, SO THERE! (Insert "raspberry" noise here!)

Without further ado, here's my DELISH Murg Tikka Lababdar (I also had some naan, but it didn't make it into the picture)... Happy Wednesday!

Learning how to be a better "hooker"

First things first- guess what I found yesterday?

Unsweetened ICED TEA at the Wendy's by my office. This is a HUGE deal! The entire time that I've worked here (which has been 369 days), the Wendy's next door has not served iced tea. In what I've noticed to be a STARTLING trend, most fast-food stores in NYC don't serve iced tea, and those that do only serve the "sweet-tea" version (gag me). I had to re-up yesterday during my lunch hour, so I was running short on time when it came to getting food. I can't tell you how EXCITED I was to see that giant, silver tea dispenser, glittering behind the counter next to the french fry station. Maybe I'll have to go over there and get one today... JUST to make sure it's still there! ;)

In other news, I took a crochet class last night. For real. As you've already seen, I can do a basic stitch, but since I can't read a pattern, I've been pretty limited to what I can make. I was doing a little Internet research and found out that Lion Brand Yarn has a studio at Union Square- perfect!

So last night, I took "Crochet II"- and boy did I learn a lot! First of all, our teacher was the coolest; not only did she have a degree in knitting/crochet design from FIT, but she was an Alvin Ailey Company dancer for over 20 years... how awesome is that? My fellow classmates were on the weirder side: one kept forgetting how to do things and told us it was because she "took her medicine" and it made her forget, while another one kept looking at my sample and telling me what I did wrong only to have the teacher tell her that mine was correct and HERS was wrong. There were only 5 students, so I felt that I got a lot of attention/help from the teacher. Here are some pics of what I worked on in class (don't worry- that piece on the left is SUPPOSED to look that way- we were working on decreasing and increasing)... :)


When you take a class, you also get 10% off anything you purchase that day... so I bought a new kind of yarn. I was always a fan of a bulkier yarn (which helped to cover my imperfections), but last night I went out on a limb and purchased a finer gauge, WOOL yarn. Instead of cleaning my apartment when I got home (like a responsible adult), I started a new scarf (you can tell my the color scheme that it'll be a Knit Your Bit contribution).


As far as today goes, it's pretty much perfect. If reading Pioneer Woman wasn't fun enough, look what I got in the mail today:

After Bakerella's glowing recommendation of Confectionery House, I can't wait to try these- thanks for the GREAT SURPRISE Mom!
Happy Tuesday!

What a weekend!

I don't usually like Mondays. Honestly, I can't imagine most people do (except people on Broadway)... after two blissful days of non-work, it's always SO hard to come back to "the grind". But I must admit... for me, the Monday after Easter is AWESOME!

As you could probably tell, I've been at church most of the week. With six days of rehearsals and services, my voice is about shot... but it was SUCH a great weekend. On Saturday, we had a rehearsal in the afternoon, followed by the Easter Vigil service. In between, the church provided us with a yummy dinner, which was a very nice treat (apparently I was the only one who HADN'T heard about the meal, so nobody else was surprised). And the services on Sunday were really great- the church was packed, and except for the awkward moment in the processional when a small child unplugged the organ (which resulted in a 3 second SILENCE), the music went REALLY well. I tried to take a couple photos at church- here are some of the Easter flowers and my view of the altar:

Although it was tiring, I'm going to miss being at church so much- especially because I'll miss my choir friends! But since Sunday is right around the corner, I won't have to wait long... :)

Rainy Saturday morning = HAPPINESS!

Happy Saturday! I awoke to the sound of rain outside... and since I don't have to be anywhere this morning, I couldn't be happier! I spent the morning catching up on my TiVo, watching AETV (and getting all misty-eyed when I see the "Pure Michigan" commercials every 10 minutes) and crocheting. I love to crochet, but since I'm pretty sure EVERY person in my family has already received a homemade scarf, I'd taken a break. But I recently came across a couple of organizations that have had me "hooking" with a vengeance! :)

First is Hats 4 the Homeless. This local group distributed hats/gloves/scarves to the homeless of NYC the week before Christmas. They accept donations (both store bought and homemade) all year round, and items can be mailed to:

Hats for the Homeless
905 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601

I also found Knit Your Bit. This organization accepts handmade scarves, and donates them to WWII veterans. The specific directions are on the website, but the finished product can be mailed to:

The National World War II Museum
Knit Your Bit Campaign
945 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130

With these two awesome groups to donate to, I've been busy the last couple of weeks... wanna see?

Here are some of the individual scarves, up close! On this one, I tried to make a "loopy" trim... I can't WAIT to learn how do to things FOR REAL!


This one is a definite favorite- I love the big tassels! Plus, I tried a flower...


And here are a couple more:



That's about it for today. I have a rehearsal at church this afternoon, and then the Easter Vigil service this evening... I can't believe tomorrow is EASTER! I hope you have a GREAT rest of your weekend!

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Easter really IS on the way! Not only is it warming up (the SUN is even shining), but I received all sorts of Easter goodies yesterday! SFS's folks sent me some Sees Chocolate, which is really yummy and a total treat! And my folks sent a box full of goodies, like these from Fabiano's:

Yes, Nonpareils are my favorite candy- don't ask me why! Maybe its the sprinkles? Who knows- but I really like them (you can ALWAYS find me eating Snow-Caps at the movie theater, too)! I'm so lucky to get so much candy- maybe THIS is how I get through 6 days worth of church! My parents also sent me this beautiful item:

Yes, it's a glass cake plate. My cell picture doesn't do it ANY justice, as this is just about the CUTEST cake plate I've ever seen. A while back, I told my mom that I thought it would be fun to collect cake plates (new and vintage)... boy, is she good at listening to my hints or WHAT? After Easter is over, I'm going to make a cake to put on this cutie... I'll probably steal an idea from Bakerella for that one! ;)

Yesterday's service at St. James was really nice. The more I think about it, the Tenebrae service might be one of my favorites of the WHOLE year. The "shadows" are pretty powerful, not to mention the AWESOME music that we get to sing. Case in point? Henry Purcell's Hear My Prayer, O Lord. Man, is that song awesome and totally fun to sing, btw! It's one of the songs that I want sung at my funeral. I don't mean to be morbid, and maybe it's a musician thing, but every time I hear an awesome song, I always say "I want it sung at my funeral"... at this point, there's going to have to be a week long festival to get through all the music I've earmarked so far! :) Tonight is Maundy Thursday, and although the music isn't quite as good as last night, we get to do a few good tunes... YAY! Happy Thursday!

Brussels Sprouts.... YUM!

Something must've been in the air yesterday... because I cooked dinner, too! Well, I should say that I cooked SOMETHING to eat after my church rehearsal, which I called dinner, but is probably best described as a side dish... but WHATEVER you call it, it was DELISH!

Having never tried Brussels sprouts until recently, I had always assumed that they were GROSS- think of all those TV shows, movies, cartoons, etc. where the mother is forcing the kids to eat their Brussels sprouts... I wouldn't exactly call that a shining endorsement! But a while back, SFS made me some Brussels sprouts (in yet another attempt to show me what I've been missing food-wise), and I was hooked. And that's not an understatement- I can't stop myself from eating them when they're still cooking in the pan! For example, if there are any Brussels sprouts left by the time the ENTIRE dinner is made, it's usually a miracle!

Yesterday, on my way home around 9 pm, I had a HANKERIN' for Brussels sprouts. So, I grabbed some at the grocery, and got to town. Here are some pics and my VERY fancy cooking directions. Please note, this is TOTALLY SFS's technique- I swear I had to watch him do this 10 times before I tried it on my own- not that it's complex, I just couldn't imagine that they'd taste so good with so little work! But back to my story:

First, I cleaned the sprouts. I put them in a colander and ran water over them for a bit. Then, I chopped off the bottom of the stems and sliced the sprouts in half. When I do this, the over leaves come off and I throw those away- I'm not sure if that's good or not, it's just how I roll!

Then I put them in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I also laid the sprouts so they were lying on the side I cut.

Aren't they cute? It's like those "Cabbage Patch" dolls... except on my stove... yikes!

And when they start to brown, you flip 'em over!

When the other side has a good color on it, you can put 'em on the plate and DEVOUR them! (I've cropped the photos so you can't count and tell that there were more sprouts in the pan than made it to my plate!)

What an AWESOME dinner. I hate to admit that since I'm still sick, I couldn't exactly TASTE the sprouts, but I know they were AWESOME! As for today, it snowed for a moment here in NYC, but nothing stuck. I'm in the midst of Holy Week- tonight it's the Tenebrae Service, which should be fun as usual... Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday...

Although I love to bake, it is pretty well known that I don't often cook unless I have to. And some people like to tease me about this. Well, today, I cooked lunch for myself... see?

I totally nuked some water, stirred it into the dried food, nuked the WHOLE thing for five minutes, and then let it sit for two minutes. I'm pretty sure I'm ready for my toque!

In other news, it's officially Holy Week. Sunday witnessed the marathon Palm Sunday, and tonight we have a few hours of rehearsal in preparation for the remaining services this week/weekend. But Davis (our director, who we fondly refer to as "Big Daddy", even to his face) sent out the funniest email a moment ago.

Since I have laryngitis, tonight’s rehearsal may be the most fun you’ve ever had working with me!

Isn't he a hoot? I was cracking up when I read that... though it was in the waiting room of a doctor's office, so I must have looked like a wack-a-doodle! Hope you have a GREAT Tuesday!

Japanese BBQ and a COLD!

What a weekend! It started off SO nicely- SFS and I had dinner at Gyu-Kaku on Friday night. I'd never had Japanese BBQ before, so I had not idea what to expect... but it was SO MUCH FUN! Since I had no idea what to expect, imagine my delight when we were seated to see that there was a mini-grill built into our table! The waitress immediately turned it on (so it would be hot enough to cook with when our food arrived), and proceeded to explain how it all worked. All of the food arrived raw (and marinated if you chose), and you get to cook it to your liking. For our dinner, SFS and I decided on Kalbi (beef) with Shio marinade, Harami (beef) with Miso marinade, shrimp with garlic marinade, assorted vegetables to grill, asparagus to steam, and sticky rice. The food arrived moments later (it IS raw, so I shouldn't have been so surprised), and SFS and I got to cooking. It took me a while to get the hang of it, especially because I kept "contaminating" my chop sticks. The restaurant supplied us each with tongs (to cook with), and the chop sticks were to eat with- of course, I kept forgetting and touching the raw meeting with my chopsticks. After going through two pair, the waitress brought a couple more sets to the table "just in case". Ooops! Here are some pics of our yummy meal:

This is the first shot of our meal- you can see the shrimp and assorted veggies.

Here you can see that we're starting to cook. With shrimp, onion and corn on the grill, you can also see the beef dishes on the right.

Here we've added some more food to the grill (I thought the grape tomamto in the onion looked like an eyeball)...

And here you'll see that after we steamed the asparagus, we threw it on the grill to add a little "char"... DELISH!

Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was a little lame. I got a cold (I'm not blaming anyone for infecting me... really...), and spent most of Saturday on the couch, eating soup and drinking OJ. Yesterday was a marathon church day, as Palm Sunday calls for EXTRA long services. After our second service, a bunch of girls from church went to brunch at Gracie Mews. SFS met us, as we were able to enjoy a Sunday afternoon like "normal people" (ie people without church gigs). After that, SFS and I decided to enjoy the beautiful day by hanging out in Central Park. We picked up a carton of strawberries, found a grassy hill, and people watched for a couple hours. It was so nice to enjoy the sun, and the park was PACKED- you can always tell when NYCers enjoy nice weather, as every inch of lawn is covered with PEOPLE! Of course, since today it's been raining NON-STOP, I'm really glad we took the opportunity to enjoy the nice weather! Hope you're having a nice Monday!

It's FRIDAY!

Woah- it's a REALLY rainy day here in NYC! At lunch a moment ago, I almost washed away... really! I decided just to run across the street to Two Boots because I didn't want to get any WETTER than I already was! :)

Tonight SFS and I are going to grab some dinner after work. He's going to meet me in the East Village, and we'll have some sort of Asian-fare. If he has his way, we'll be eating this:

And if I have any say in the matter, I'll be eating this:

Some might say that I'm being boring/not adventurous... but if I know that I like something and it's DELICIOUS, I have a hard time ordering something else that might not be as good. It sure drives SFS crazy, but we all have our little quirks, right? Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Sunshine-y day

What a beautiful day- the sun is shining and it's warm! Not much to write about, but it'll be quite a busy day. I did take a moment to update the look of the blog, thanks to "Cutest Blog On the Block"! Hope you have a GREAT day!!!

I miss Hawai'i!

I know that sounds like a silly statement, but I had SUCH a good time when I was there last year with Scott. And because I made most of our reservations on the Internet and the companies still have my email address, I sometimes receive an unexpected reminder of what an amazing vacation we had! Take today, for example: it’s rainy and chilly here in the city, the shoes I ordered on PiperLime were WAY cuter on the website than in person so I had to return them… and all of a sudden I see an email from the Pacific Whale Foundation. Immediately I start thinking of the islands, the sun, the music, the ocean… and it makes me happy!

You see, back when Scott and I were researching our trip, I was SO excited to get to go on a whale watching excursion. I saw LOTS of websites that offered the opportunity, but PWF is more than just a tourist trap- it’s a non-profit research foundation that gives back to the Maui community at every opportunity. Their email today was telling me about an initiative they have: No Child Left Indoors.

Since 1980, Pacific Whale Foundation's education team has offered quality, age-appropriate field trips and marine education programs to children in grades K - 12. They include educational whale watches, tide pool explorations, beach clean-ups and marine debris monitoring programs, career mentoring, community service programs, ocean-themed lab experiments...and more. Several years ago, Pacific Whale Foundation established our "No Child Left Indoors" fund to assist students whose parents are economically disadvantaged and unable to pay for their child to participate in field trips.

As a grown-up, seeing whales as close as we did was an awesome experience- I can’t imagine what it would be like as a kid. Lucky for me, PWF accepts modest donations- if you’re interested in helping out, here’s a link to the No Child Left Indoors website.

Here’s a little reminder of how much FUN these boat trips can be! The first pic is Scott and I on the boat, while the second pic is a “flying pickle” (breaching baby whale) we were lucky enough to see!!

I love Vernors!

If you know me at all, you know that I love Vernors! I love the fizzies that go up my nose upon every drink… I love the bite of the ginger… and most of all, I love FUZZY NAVELS! That last statement might confuse some people, as the “traditional” Fuzzy Navel includes peach schnapps, lemonade and OJ. But in my family, a Fuzzy Navel is equal parts Vernors and orange juice. I don’t really know how this came to be, because my grandpa made my brother, cousins and I fuzzy navels when we would visit him at Higgins Lake for as long as I can remember.

There are HUGE perks about living in NYC: Broadway shows 6 days a week, amazing museums, any kind of take-out at any time of day, etc… but NO Vernors. I have searched every gourmet grocer, supermarket, corner store and bodega, to no avail. My amazing family realizes the sacrifice, and will often send a few bottles my way, but I still horde it like a precious commodity. A couple of my work colleagues have noticed a weird pop (or SODA, as they call it) bottle on my desk and asked about its origins. After explaining about Vernors and Fuzzy Navels, today was the big test- I made Fuzzy Navels for two of the fellas I work with. To my great relief (though I can’t say I’m surprised), they LOVED them. They admitted that they were each a little skeptical, but other than the murky color of the drink (it DOES look like dirty OJ), they both thought it was delicious! Plus, I can’t tell you HOW happy it made it to start the day with an ice cold Fuzzy Navel! It TOTALLY makes up for getting bird poop in my hair yesterday! (Yes, I was pooped on while walking to work yesterday… that makes 6 times in my life so far- what’s the DEAL?)

To add to good mood, a few of my Etsy.com purchases arrived yesterday. I love to send cards (a fact to which ANY relative of mine will attest), and I take great pride in finding the “perfect” card. For example, I send my Grandma M. cards with frogs on them, as she loves frogs. But I’ve bought one of EVERY frog card I’ve seen in the city- so I took to the internet for a new supply. I’ve purchased things from etsy in the past, so it was fun searching for something NEW!

Aren’t these perfect? The green design is by CamCruz, while the others are made by Fiddlebones.

And I couldn’t pass these up! Not only are the covers beautiful, but there is a mini-window on the inside of each card. Plus, Popoonworld included a FREE card (the one on the far left).

And how cute are these? The “do not bend” sticker was on the mailing envelope I received from Popoonworld, and the little card was tucked inside my package. Even with shipping, these cards were a TOTAL deal, and I can’t WAIT to send them!!

Monday and Grant's Tomb

Happy Monday everyone! I had the opportunity to take a walk at lunch and visit the Apple store- the weather is amazing: sunny with a slight breeze. I’m so grateful to have a window in my office where I can enjoy pretty days like this one!

As promised yesterday, here are some pictures of Grant’s Tomb from my weekend exploration with SFS. The General Grant National Memorial, the largest tomb in North America, is a mausoleum containing the bodies of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, and his wife, Julia Dent Grant. Located at 125th Street and Riverside Drive, the Memorial is next to the Hudson River and also houses artifacts from Grant’s life. The inside of the memorial is HUGE, with beautiful ceilings and slightly creepy bronze busts surrounding the caskets. If anyone asks you "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?", you can respond by saying no one- it's a mausoleum! Here are some pics that I took... enjoy!

"I'm the king of New York!" -Newsies

So this post has NOTHING to do with Newsies, but I saw that playing card on the sidewalk over the weekend, and couldn't resist the title! On Friday we went to watch the GU/UNC game, and though it didn't end QUITE as I had hoped, I still had fun. Then on Saturday, SFS and I spent some time walking around Harlem. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and you could tell that spring was definately in the air!


We spent our time exploring in the area around 130th, between Madison and the Hudson. There are some beautiful buildings, but it was pretty ominous to see windows boarded up with cinder blocks! We saw SO many churches/meeting houses of all different denominations- it was really interesting! I also got my FIRST Italian ice of the season... coconut- YUM!






SFS and I then walked over the Grant's Tomb (pics will come later in the week), as I'd never seen it before. Later on that evening, we helped to celebrate Dan's birthday at Congee Village, followed by drinks at Lolita. What a fun weekend!