For Sale on Ebay

I'm cleaning off the shelves and these bottles, while I love them, are just taking up extra space. They are a very cool way to display flowers, etc.

Here are all the listings on ebay

No, these were not the ones given to me by Aaron's father.

Impeach Cheney

I have a theory that Cheney was put into power by the Founding Fathers to see if anyone in today's society is willing to defend the Constitution.

Two months after 9/11, on the day of the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 13, 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney appeared in the Oval Office with a four-page executive order designating terrorism suspects as enemy combatants to be held indefinitely, with no right to have their detention reviewed by any court except newly created military commissions, where they would not be permitted to learn the accusations or evidence against them, or be represented by counsel, or even know that their case had been heard and decided.

The secretary of state and the national security advisor were deliberately kept uninformed as the White House staff secretary prepared the order for signature. According to a four-part series published this week in the Washington Post on the extraordinary power of the vice president, "When it [the order] returned to the Oval Office, in a blue portfolio embossed with the presidential seal, Bush pulled a felt-tip pen from his pocket and signed without sitting down. Almost no one else had seen the text." Colin Powell was stunned when he learned of the fait accompli. "What the hell just happened?" he asked. Condoleezza Rice was described as "incensed." But neither of them, then or later, effectively challenged Cheney's usurpation of executive authority. And, as can be gathered inferentially, Bush never bothered to ask Cheney about their opinions on the executive order or to call them; nor did he seem to care.

See also: Impeach Cheney.

The most recent invention we know of is the vice president's insistence that an executive order governing the handling of classified information in the executive branch does not reach his office because he also serves as president of the Senate. In other words, the vice president is a unique legislative-executive creature standing above and beyond the Constitution.

Linktastically Delicious

But first, I bring you another public service announcement. If you have had giant spiders in your house for two consecutive summers? And you get the oogie feeling that you are going to see another one any day now? Because it's that time of year? He's probably resting comfortably right behind you.

Yep, another one. We didn't take a photo of this one. We both freaked out a little, but I had done so much research last time to make sure they weren't poisonous, that we knew we needed to just get it the fuck outside. They are helpful spiders, killing all the poisonous ones in your house, but holy crap - they are enormous! My mind just can't get around letting them roam. So. Aaron took a big clear bowl and dropped it over the spider. Then he slid a piece of cardboard under the bowl and slowly walked the now panicking spider to the door. And then promptly threw everything out the door and slammed it shut.

You should thank me for not taking pictures.

Now, onto today's links.

For Aaron, the spider-rescuing hero: Brisket, baby.

Spike Jonz is adapting "Where the Wild Things Are". This could be good. Not sure how you turn a short children's book into a feature-length movie, but maybe they fill in all the empty space with more rumpus.

Todd Oldham's treehouse. (via Design*Sponge)

Very charming Thomas Wold Mushroom Forest coffee table. (via decor8)

I love some of the design ideas from Rachel Perls: Orange Crush. I especially like the look of this room. And this modern kitchen.

Hmm, sounds interesting: Scallop and Fennel Pancakes (via The Kitchen - Apartment Therapy)

Chick-a-dee Smoke Detector. Fabulous idea.

I love this IKEA Lillberg Rocker in black with funky flower fabric.

LOVE THIS - Larry Laske Beach Chair. I wish it were made out of wood and not more plastic, but it is such a clever, minimalist idea.

I love the internet

Ultimate Tractor Showdown.

Summertime, summertime

sum, sum, summertime.

After a stressful end of the week, we spent the weekend close to home. And by close to home, I mean in the kiddie pool.

P.S.A. - don't take alli

No matter how much you want to lose weight? You don't want to lose weight this way.

And my absolute favourite (which is to say, the part of the website that horrifies me most):

“You may feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Until you have a sense of any treatment effects, it’s probably a smart idea to wear dark pants, and bring a change of clothes with you to work.”

For even worse news, read the no-B.S. translation of the marketing humbo-jumbo behind alli.

20 Months!

Sophie turned 20 Months Old today!

To celebrate, she wore her pirate dress, zebra tights and pirate boots.

We also received a fabulous art smock in the mail from the very talented Shan. Since Shan would not let me buy the smock, I'm working on a thank you gift to send back. Sophie LOVES the smock, even wanting to put it on after her bath (when it looked more like a hospital gown because her little tushie was hanging out). Thank you so much Shan! The colors and sizing are perfect!

Friday Music: Imogen Heap

To get my mind off other stressful things today, a friend sent me the link to this amazing Imogen Heap performance. I love her magical voice and the fact that she performs and records and replays herself singing to make one complete piece of music is spellbinding for me.

If you want to see the longer performance (including Zach Braff's introductions).

Link, link, link.

(link, link, link. Shake your linky. Yeah.)

Very cool IKEA hack - a funky kid's room.

Amazing and beautiful photos from Pumpkinoodle Studio. I have a print of this gorgeous one.

Recipe: Tomato, Corn and Basil Bean Burgers

Petite Magnolia Jewelry Tree (via Awesome!)

via decor8: Amy Butler's Mood Board contest. So many fabulous ideas for decorating.

via not martha: Top Ten Real Food Workout Foods

via AT:NYC: Very cool Papton paper chair by Fuchs + Funke - kind of like origami.

also via AT:NYC: Outdoor Wallpaper

also via AT:NYC: Craftsbury Kids - a great shop for kids' stuff. Blabla dolls! Wooden Rocket Kits! BabyLegs!

Another via AT:NYC: Eatware - decomposable tableware. Don't buy those awful styrofoam plates and switch to something that won't harm the environment. Think of the birdies and fishes! These dishes are freezer, microwave and steamer safe and can handle even wet and oily foods.

And, Farmtek - farming and gardening supplies. Might be a cost-effective way to get gardening tools, fencing, etc.

100% recycled glass tiles

Automatic home composter. Can even be used indoors. And it's on sale for about the same price as one of the crank/turn ones on which I've had my eye.

Love these glass and wire mobiles for your computer by Leah's Glass Creations.

I love these wire numbers and letters by Kristine Mays

via Materialicio.us - extremely cool recycled metal tiles.

Cow in a Pool!

This cow was enjoying herself, cooling off. Those pesky people had to go and move her out of the pool. I love the satisfied look on the cow's face while she's in the pool. Content and zen and just wanting all the annoying people to go away.

Sophie's Dream Journal, cont.

Late last night, I was attempting to move her over a little in the bed when she opened her eyes and shouted: "Pancake!" and then rolled over and fell asleep.

Sophie's Dream Journal

Things Sophie has blurted out upon waking:

"Doggy crawl unner bacon!" (Doggy crawling under the blanket!)

"Bees in Sophie's eyes! Hurt!"

and my favorite from this morning:

"I see goats!" (while signing goat emphatically)

As I have mentioned before, Sophie is a morning person. She has an internal on/off switch and she sits up in the morning wide awake and ready to go. Almost always at exactly 5:25 a.m. Ten minutes before the alarm goes off.

In case you're wondering, she naps in her bed. "Sophie's comfy bed! Sophie's cloud bed!" (she has cloud sheets on there at the moment). She also starts off the night in there. There were a few nights where she slept in there until almost 5 a.m. Lately it's been earlier. And when she wakes up, we bring her in with us. Because we both miss her and she sleeps very soundly in our bed. We think the earlier waking could be growing stuff because all of a sudden she has a voracious appetite again. And really? During the week it is just so much easier to let her sleep soundly with us than having to go into her room in the middle of the night and try to get her to go back to sleep. Plus, she's a snuggler and I'm a snuggler and we fit together really well. It sounds like I'm trying to defend our decision, which is partly true. Also true is that if co-sleeping works for your family, then it works for your family. So many people co-sleep and are afraid to talk about it. Hi, my name is Erika and we co-sleep.

Verklempt

Uhhff. I cannot watch this without getting all teary and choked up.

Paul Potts, everyone. Fantastic.

Sophie kept asking me to replay this video.

Cockaboody

Dutch at Sweet Juniper recently wrote about a fantastic animation called Cockaboody. It is really wonderful. I cannot count the number of times Sophie watched it this weekend. I love the two little girls and I can't help but giggle when Georgie gets really angry at Emily.

Happy Father's Day!

To the best daddy in the whole world. Sophie is so lucky to have you as her daddy. Your patience and laughter and gentleness and strength and your willingness to break into song and dance at Sophie's request are traits treasured by both of us.

I love you.

Linkle me this, Batman

from Etsy Labs: how to make a dressform that is an exact replica of you. In duct tape. Which reminds me of a tutorial I found a few years back and have been meaning to try: dress form made from paper tape.

Look at this absolutely fantastic mobile Pixie Blossoms made for her kids. So bright and cheerful and wonderful.

On a complete tangent, via The Morning News, you can most likely tell someone is lying if you ask them to tell their story backwards (reverse order). There are times when I think I should have gone into detective work. Or forensic science. I find this kind of reading of people and motivations fascinating. Also, I like the unraveling of riddles. Not so big on bugs (to which Aaron can attest after the screaming, flailing incident in the car this weekend. The big beetle is still missing as of press time...) so I wouldn't want to do autopsies. Someone just bring me the evidence and I'll figure out what it means. Mmmm, kay?

And back to things I love that I don't want to forget: lovely egg-shaped beverage coolers by Chateau. Love the "bahama blue" color. It looks like an elongated robin's egg spaceship.

Because we received yet more leeks in our C.S.A. farm share this week: Creamy Leek and Yogurt Soup

via the SCOOP: IKEA has updated their website and added some cool new products. I love this funky swivel chair although I'd have a hard time convincing Aaron that it needs to live in our house.

also via the SCOOP: Stolen Jewels - printed leather pixelated jewels.

via not martha: very cool stenciled cement idea.

Also via not martha: my friend the wire rope.

Linktastic Bookmarks

Alicia at Posie Gets Cozy's backyard pergola. LOVE IT.

Deck tiles for if we ever buy a house. With room for a deck.

Urban Hardwood - salvaged wood from fires, storms and urban growth around the Seattle area.

via Creature Comforts: I'm loving Bombalurina's etsy shop. I especially love this amber topaz necklace. It looks so ancient and full of mystery and power.

Leave it to the fabulous not martha to come up with a fantastic DIY shoe rack. I love this! Maybe Aaron will be so kind as to make it for me?

via not martha: paper bag flower instructions from Martha Stewart

via Crafty World: how to paint a wall mural. I like Crafty World's idea of abstract hibiscus flowers, too. It would be fun to paint them in a clear gloss varnish so you only see the flowers/patterns in certain light.

via orangebeautiful's the SCOOP: I want to make hundreds of these Amy Butler Gum Drop Pillows. Don't they look so wonderful?

Bershon

My lovely sister has (finally) started uploading her own photos to Flickr.

And while this is not the standard at which she takes photos now, it is still cracking me up: classic Erika bershon:

Go check out her more recent photos.

Like this one:

and this one:

Weekend Videos

First and foremost, the first video in which she says: "I love you Daddy". This made Aaron's week.

Needless to say, after this video, she went on to list everything she loved. Strawberries, Otto, monkey cake (banana bread), pasta, rice, beans, etc., etc.

And, this one is for my sister and brother-in-law. The first time Sophie said "Oy Vey!" Please show this to the membership committee.

Friday - Linktastically Delicious!

Just so I can find these later without searching through my bookmarks.

via Apartment Therapy, NYC:

Super-cute solar tulip lights.

via Apartment Therapy, Chicago:

Eco-friendly reusable shopping bags. And bottles, lunch bags, and etc.

slinked: Butterfly Inspired Color Palettes

Chair made from recycled wine barrels from bluehouse. Plus, they carbon offset their deliveries.

Fun leaf sunshade for the beach. Or outside on your patio. It reminds me of the leaf we have in Sophie's room from IKEA (except the one I have is green and I can't find that one on their site).

100% plant-based cleaning products.

Bona Floor Mops (and other products): an alternative to all the trash generated by Swiffer.

via Funky Finds:

Look at this adorable toy kitty named Rusty! I have a soft spot for orange kitties. This etsy shop, Cupcakes for Clara, also has other cutie-pie animals and finger puppets.

at Cut Out + Keep:

Necklaces out of fabric scraps.

In other news, because I keep seeing the new Applebees commercials and I can't help thinking: what the hell happened to Tyler Florence (although he looks normal-sized on the website)? He used to be a total hunk and now he's all doughy and puffed-out. Tyler, pull it together man. Apparently the meals you're serving aren't all that healthy for us, are they?

Going through the Archives

Have I told you lately how much I love my little girl? I was going through some old photos of her and felt I must share some of her classic expressions:

(she's going to hate me for this one when she gets older):

And then how much she's changed since then:

DIY Zombie Makeup

Love this. I especially love how they made the gaping flesh wound on the forehead with liquid latex and toilet paper.

I think I need to experiment with this. And then start filming a zombie movie.

Linkage - an afternoon of links

How did I not know about Green & Black Organic Chocolate ICE CREAM and where can I buy all of it? I'm addicted to their dark chocolate bars and now ice cream? *dies*

Henry Lau's fluorescent lighting and creative way of incorporating the long cords into his design. I love this idea. Actually, I like the cord design better than the lights. Maybe do this with painted rope? Or ribbon?

I love the look of this kitchen - it looks so calm and quiet and clean. (via Apartment Therapy)

Love these molded wool bowls from MIO. (via Apartment Therapy)

Tree stump table by Because We Can. Fantastic. This is one of those designs that I wish I had the tools to make. Although $115 is not unreasonable. Plus, it's eco-friendly. (via Apartment Therapy - sensing a theme here?)

Oxo-Brite Non-chlorine Bleach. For some reason, it is listed in the Gourmet Food category...

Terracycle Gardening Products. Also, sign your company up to collect 20 oz soda bottles. They provide you with boxes to ship them back to them. Better yet, they are recycling them and they donate $0.05 to a charity of your choice for each and every bottle you collect.

"TerraCycle produces a powerful, organic, eco-friendly plant food that is the first mass-produced product in the world to be packaged in used plastic soda bottles. To go even further, the entire product is made out of garbage - from the contents to the packaging. As a result, TerraCycle Plant Food is the first mass-produced consumer product to have a negative environmental footprint."

Continuing the train of thought from the article about our oceans turning into plastic: Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags. This one I love: the BinFrame.

Fun, the hose-roll for dealing with garden hoses in a fun, sculptural way.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Inspired by this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's site (an absolutely gorgeous site that I make a point of checking every day) and also by the first C.S.A. farm share delivery that included rhubarb, I made an absolutely scrumptious Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble on Thursday night.

It was so tart and so yummy that we made a point of walking into town on Saturday and buying more rhubarb at the farmer's market. And THEN on the way out of the farmer's market gauntlet, we saw our C.S.A. farmer and he gave us even more rhubarb for free. We couldn't find good organic strawberries anywhere so I made ANOTHER crumble with frozen blueberries, only this one was double the size. I ate my weight in rhubarb over the last few days is what I'm saying. Geez. AND I have a big bag of cut/sugared rhubarb now patiently waiting in the freezer.

Anyhoo, onto the recipe. I didn't change much from Smitten's. The main change is that I didn't have any of the fancy sugar in my cupboard. So I just used regular white sugar.

The photo above is of the strawberry version. I attempted to take photos of the blueberry rhubarb version but we're in the middle of selling a bunch of things on eBay (wanna buy some shoes? And some Germans?) and the photos were deleted in our posting frenzy. Trust me, it was completely scrumptious.

For the Blueberry Rhubarb version, I basically doubled the recipe, only used one lemon, added a bag of frozen blueberries, and put it all in a 9 x 13 pan. The best part of the recipe is the crumble. It's like crunchy-yet-chewy shortbread cookies (my favorites). I'm not sure I can even come close to describing how fantastic it tastes. Which is why I'm now going through rhubarb withdrawal because Aaron tells me he had only two servings and now the entire pan is gone. All fingers point to my belly.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

For the topping:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons sugar
Zest of one lemon
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 ½ cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 quart strawberries, quartered
Juice of one lemon
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
Pinch of salt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugars and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.

2. Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, flour and pinch of salt in an 8 x 8 square pan. Smitten used an oval pan, others have used pie plates.

3. Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.

Yield: 1 serving. ;)

Thank you to Smitten Kitchen for another amazing recipe.

A Weekend in Videos

We used to go out at night. Now we stay home and drag our daughter around in a box. We're simple people, really:

Wait a minute, don't eat my peas!

"Daddy, I'll some bagel."

The world's most patient cat. "You ride? Yee haw!" Otto just sits there and purrs. Good kitty.