Fuji Instax Mini Instant Camera

I'm at the point in my life where I can remember a time when only rich people and photojunkies had digital cameras, and the rest of us normal folk used those crazy little boxes with film that had to be taken and developed. Stacks and stacks of negative sheets still haunt my mother and fill her basement with blurry photos with a horrible-to-acceptable photo ratio of roughly 1,000,000 to 1. Ah, the days before a preview screen!

When Polariod announced the discontinuation of its extremely popular vintage instant photo camera, there was a major backlash from the artist community and nostalgia lovers. People across the world stockpiled the hard-to-find film packs whose numbers are only dwindling as the days go by. Still, there's a few options that have sprung up to fill the analog need in a digital world, one of whom is the Fuji Instax Mini Instant Camera by Photojojo!


Photo from Photojojo store

This lil' box of adorable packs a different wallop than the square photos we all know and love- the pictures that print have the immediate satisfaction like the digital cameras of today, but portray a dated look of yesteryears. Described as "Polariod's little brother", these little puppies are only about the size of a credit card and have a few upgrades from their outdated brother, such as four exposure settings for indoor/outdoor shooting, a built-in flash, and a sweeping wide angle so you can still have a bit of control while maintaining the 'surprise' aspect of instantaneous shooting! With film that costs just over a dollar per print, it's not the bargain of the century, but for the magical moment when it pops hot and fresh into your hand, it might just be worth it.

Virginia Weekend

Apartment 5 Version 3.0.

i want to ride my biiiiicycle

These were excellent modes of transportation around the jungle of Costa Rica... until I got a flat tire. FANTASTIC.

Tiny Showcase- Stephanie Specht

It's been awhile since I've looked at Tiny Showcase, but every once in awhile I manage to find my way through the crazy entanglement of the interweb to reach this exquisite site. I was looking through the past few weeks' work and loved this print from Stephanie Specht "Apple Tree". She selected OrcaLab for her donation, which is a research lab located in Canada dedicated to studying marine life without interfering with the natural habitats of these creatures. They also place an emphasis on stopping commercial whaling and rehabilitating the animals who are in need.

I love gray! When it's juxtaposed against bright vibrant colors it's truly a delight to my eyes. And lambs are awesome. The only thing that would make this better is if it were bunnies. But disregarding that (and my obvious insane bias), this is just one great print of many. I highly recommend visiting her site, where you can feast your design-hungry eyes on her really simple, clean line work. She runs the design studio Stipontwerpt in Belgium, so hop over there and give it a peek.

photo of the day

Weird cactus bud things that look plastic. Click on it for a much bigger picture. Not super dynamic since it's a phone pic, but interesting.

granny smith apple

Tell me that isn't the most wonderful green in all the world. Because it is.

most excellent

As seen at the "Drive Thru" at Vo's Cafe.

art room!

Here's a totally crappy picture of our totally awesome room! Before this weekend, this was just a heap of clothes and things strewn everywhere. With the addition of the work table and sewing machine, it motivated us to transform it into our den of creativity! Now we actually have some visual stimulation on the walls, to be joined by more additions I'm sure eventually. Anyway, the room isn't the important part. It's what is coming OUT of the room that makes a difference! Stay tuned....

Superpoop

Seriously? Superpoop? I Can Has Cheezburger gets me into enough trouble at work, with me trying to stifle my laughs at my incredibly obvious behavior that no, in fact I am NOT working! This webcomic is another branch from the duo bringing you Married to the Sea, which is equally hilarious. You might ask why I chose to speak of Superpoop then, if they are so comparable. The answer is simple: the tiebreaker was the use of the word "poop".

Do yourself a favor, and get your daily laugh intake.

the snail returns!

My friend came back to the office! Hello snail friend!

thanks sarah beth!

I'd seen these before, how could I possibly not blog about them?? Beer is awesome, art is awesome, and mustaches are awesome. This is a totally perfect gift for an enthusiast of any of the mentioned 3. Bread and Badger by Amanda Siska is a way cute independent store with etched glass goods. Take a peek at a few of her other glasses:




It's so inspiring to see young artists making great things simply for the love of creation. There is a lot of negativity in the world and to see small pockets of whimsy is so refreshing. She has a great kitschy gallery seen here, with a wide variety of well-priced items that would be perfect gifts for really anyone. You can also see where she'll be and where she sells on her Where section, which is convenient.

One last thing- the model in this picture looks strikingly similar to Jess from Philadelphia, now in Long Beach.

Please confirm/deny.

snail

I found this little guy outside my office today and decided we would be friends.

new job

I did it, I'm a slave to corporate America! It's day 3 of my new job, and so far my brain is expanding at a much faster pace then I could have ever dreamed possible. While this is a totally new experience for me, I'm hoping it will lead to bigger and better things that make this 8-5, commuting, professional job experience all worth it. They showed me how to file things today! Egad. What have I become???

Behold, the kingdom of Post-It notes.

The Handmade Holiday

What: A New Juried Indie Craft Show in Richmond, Virginia that will exclusively feature the work of local crafters & designers.

Why: Buy Handmade & Buy Local this Holiday Season!

Who: The Richmond Craft Mafia, The Visual Arts Center of Richmond and some of Richmond's most talented indie crafters and designers.

Where: The Visual Arts Center of Richmond (formerly the Hand Workshop) at 1812 Main Street

When:
Preview Party - Friday
December 12th from 7 - 10 pm
Ticket Info

Open to the Public - Saturday
December 13th from 10 - 5
Free & Open to the Public

How: Come on out and support local carfters and designers this Holiday Season!
Vendors:
Amy Weiks Jewelry
April Scott Kids
Avant-gourde
Avenue Handmade
Bee's Knees Studio
Claire McDermott Designs
Crystal J Silks
Erin Taylor Designs
Ernst & Thistle
Essential E Paper
Face Metal Design
Gabriel Craig Metalsmith
Gwen's Garden
Hearts & Needles
Hershey Is My Baby
Jackson Sage
Jude Glass
Keen Designs
Lark Studio
Lorcom Lane
Maslodesigns
Miss Pickles Press
Modern Atelier
Modern June
Moneky & Me
My Precious Studio
Nicole Lee Designs
oelle m.
Phil Barbato
Popidiot
Pretty Silly Things
Serious Whimsy
Sew * Ono Apparel
Shannon by Hand
Silver Tree Art
Solos Glass
Tasha McKelvey
Team 8 Press
The Cupcakery
Twist Style

LINK TO HANDMADE HOLIDAY WEBSITE LINK LINK LINK LINK!!!!!

The Mission North Park

Boys and girls, it is time for the weekly BRUNCH REVIEW! This week we actually had some friends join us for the monumental event which took place at the Mission in North Park.

(picture taken from their website)
We've been passing it on a daily basis for a few weeks now, and there is always a huge crowd out front. To me this means there is something worth waiting for. Today was no exception, but when I managed to fight through the crowds outside and in the lobby, I was pleased to hear that it was only a wait of 20 minutes. Brilliant! I expected it to be a pretty classic American brunch menu, with the normal eggs, bacon, toast, maybe with a few innovative omelets here and there, but I was pleasantly surprised. The menu was extremely unconventional, and it was described as "chino-latino", which I still don't totally understand but I could see the slant. There was a whole section for just Latin breakfast dishes, and a great drink menu. I guess there's a pretty serious espresso and smoothie bar happening. I toyed with the idea of getting a Blackberry Banana smoothie, but settled for a hammerhead (espresso in coffee) instead.
For my meal, I was torn between the Pappas Loca (Rosemary potatoes, grilled jalapeños, black beans, cheese, avocado, and sour cream, with the option of adding 2 eggs) and the Roast Beef Hash and eggs (Grilled Angus beef, horseradish cream, rosemary potatoes, and scrambled eggs.) Ultimately I decided to go with the latter, pictured below.

HOLY FREAKING COW. Normally you'd expect the eggs to be the main part, with a "side" of potatoes, but this was the exact opposite. Within 5 minutes of ordering, I was presented with an absolute mountain of rosemary potatoes, huge chunks of what said to be roast beef but tasted more like straight up steak to me, topped with cilantro, small onions, tomato, and horseradish on the side with 2 eggs (scrambled BEAUTIFULLY) and rosemary toast.
The potatoes were for lack of any other word, BOMB. Crispy on the outside, barely stuck together by the skin, but cooked all the way through with just the right amount of spices. The horseradish wasn't sinus-clearing, but the provided hot sauce was a superb additive. I'm mildly picky about how my eggs are cooked, and this scramble was the perfect amount of scrambled-medium to slightly soft (I like my eggs slightly sticky). Perfect.
THE TOAST! Oh god, the toast. Very few things make my mouth water like the promise of a great slice of toast. I didn't have to add a single thing to this. Incredibly tasteful, just bland (in a good way) enough to make it still seem like toast without going totally overboard and dominating the flavor of the main dish. A little horseradish was a delight to add, but not even necessary for the entire piece. Today I was not part of the clean plate club, and I have about half of it left. For $8, a totally filling, innovative, and delicious meal that I am looking forward to finishing later today.
All in all, I'd give the Mission two enthusiastic thumbs up. I see now what all the crowds were excited about.

MAS FOOOOOD

Tough ta-tas. I like food, and I like blogging about it.
We went to the Coronado Farmer's Market today, and while it was small, we found some great treasures. PS. If you haven't been to Coronado Island, GO. It is beautiful and has a spectacular view of downtown and the bay. It seems pretty "quaint" in a yuppie-ish way, but I'll take pretty scenery over ugly tenements any day. The farmer's market only had a few tents, but we picked up a pound of roma tomatoes and a basket of jalapenos for $3, and then caroused over to the organic cheese tent.
Clearly, Ashton and I have cheese issues, namely obsession. We seem to eat cheese in every meal and in between meals whenever possible. This was no ordinary cheese tent. I have never tried cheese curds before, but according to the dude there it is what is rendered early in the cheese making process and contains less fat but just as much flavor. It doesn't hold freshness as long, which isn't really a problem for us. We sampled a few kinds and went with Mike's Firehouse Cheddar, a garlic quark spread, and a block of goat cheese.
In our culinary enthusiasm following our purchases, we spontaneously decided to start growing basil in a window box at our apartment. Thus a spur of the moment trip resulted in a window box and small basil plant to start our little garden. It seems easy to grow and doesn't require much room, so perhaps we'll invest in some rosemary or thyme to expand our little venture. This being said, we got even more enthusiastic and created the following dish.


We sliced up two of the tomatoes and splashed some olive oil across the rows, then laying about one small or one half of a large basil leaf on each slice. Then Ashton diced a large jalapeno and put a piece in the center of each one, and I added a dab of the garlic quark and sprinkled black pepper on them all. Then we baked them for 15 minutes at 250 degrees, at which point they were bubbling and hot and looked a little something like this:


The basil had curled nicely, the cheese had melted superbly, and the jalapenos had released all their delicious juices onto the piping hot tomato slices. They were a little soggy, so we added some toast since we didn't have any crackers. The tomatoes were excellent, but they all had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, which I think had something to do with the cheese. Great for dipping, perhaps not for melting. Since you never can tell with jalapenos, I think this one was somewhat mild, but on the last few I sprinkled just a little garlic salt and crushed red pepper and it gave it just the spice it needed.


Basically Ashton and I are the shit, and everyone is jealous of our awesome gastrointestinal adventures. The end.

this week.

I have received a complaint that all of my latest entries have something to do with food. Well, with no job and limited friends, generally the highlights of the week are good meals! Okay, BESIDES food, we've gone to the beach several times (which is about 10 minutes away- HA!), explored the surrounding neighborhoods (they're cool- HA!), and explored Coronado, which seemed strikingly like New England, but with palm trees. Oh, and also I'm volunteering at the San Diego Museum of Art, so hopefully I'll meet some people and see some awesome things there as well.

Ok, back to the important stuff. BRUNCH OF THIS WEEK. Mel and Travis, accompanied with the darling Elliott, brought us to the end all be all glutton capital of all brunchdom- the $15 all you can eat El Torito brunch with unlimited mimosas, fresh waffles, a fully manned taco bar and omelette bar, along with all the regular Mexican treats. Let me just tell you, things got wild. Before we trekked over to brunch though, we checked out the Swap Meet outside the San Diego Sports Arena to work up our appetites looking at weird things and holding pygmy bunnies, which sent me into such a state of hysterics it was a little embarrassing. Still, I managed to hold myself together until the main event of brunch. Here's a small sample of my experience.


This plate lasted for about 30 seconds before total demolition was achieved. As you can see, I began strongly, focusing on mainly the Mexican portion offered, emphasizing rice, beans, a tamale, some mashed sweet corn, veggies, and a variety of marinated meats. MMMM.

Plate 2 is as follows:


I'd never actually tried a chille relleno before, and I was really pleasantly surprised. The outer coat of cornmeal was a little much, but it was just the right amount of spice and cheese. A definite exploration of taste. I got my first corn rolled carne asada taco from the taco mistress, coated with salsa picante and a tomatillo-avocado sauce. DELICIOUS. Carne asada is definitely meat to the Spanish gods. And the sausage! Holy cow! I skipped it the first go around because I wanted to focus on delights not readily available to me, but on the urging of our comrades I gave it a go and I WAS NOT SORRY. I don't know what it is about El Torito's sausage, but DAMN. IT WAS GOOD. Then the obligatory chicken enchilada, which wasn't the greatest, but certainly wasn't the worst.

At this point things were slowing down a bit, with champagne flowing like water and our bellies slowly expanding. I thought it best to choose wisely over what would be my last plate, and here's the story of Plate 3.


I'd forgone the waffles until now (as Travis had advised me to wait until they brought out the fresh hot ones), and with a variety of toppings available I chose simply, settling for a dash of honey butter with maple syrup. Great stuff. Melt in your mouth stuff. I'd replicated the carne asada taco from Plate 2, and was again not disappointed. The only qualm with it was that the girl seemed to rush cooking the corn tortillas, so they were a tad chewy, but certainly not indigestible. Just for kicks, I also revisited the sausage and veggies, the veggies being not a hot thus not as delicious. As seen by the second photo, I signaled my surrender fully and completely by this point. By then I was reaching my limits of obesity and waddled to the car to go home and die slowly.

In conclusion, the El Torito brunch experience was certainly an experience, with its ups and downs, but ultimately I don't know how often I could go to such a place, where mustachioed men waltz over with bottles of champagne, willing to bathe you in it as you lie in a gluttonous stupor with a trail of rice along your bulging belly. Maybe next week.

urban solace

Oh man. Reason #8493 to love San Diego. Everyone here seems to love brunch just as much as us! I'm glad we've come to a place that values the most majestic of all meals. Last week Ashton and I scouted the San Diego Sunday Brunchmaster site to find the perfect first brunch of our San Diego experience. Ultimately we decided that Urban Solace was going to be the benefactor of our business. Bluegrass Sunday brunch? Yes please. Within bike riding distance? Sure! Everything sounded good. And I assure you, everything TASTED good.



First off, Ashton had the portobello sandwich, complete with lemon chive aioli, crisp lettuce, tomato, and sweet potato fries. I'm not the biggest advocate of sweet potato fries (mixing the sweet and savory seems silly to me) but these were pretty good. Not the best (Ipanema anyone??) but pretty good. The actual mushroom itself was a giant steak of a shroom, juicy and dribbling with perfection. An excellent sandwich.
I, craving the lost tastes of the South, got the Cheddar n' Chive biscuits and gravy, which was definitely southern-inspired, but a more "Western" take on it. The biscuits themselves were heaven. Light, fluffy, delicious. The sausage was a tad sweet, but the gravy was a cheesy, gravy-licous experience. And while I find watermelon often bland and boring, THIS particular slice was cool, refreshing, and just the right amount of sweet. Perfect. I annihilated every last bite. Ashton fought bravely, but eventually had to call it quits on the mountain of sweet potato fries.


Don't let those last few morsels fool you. I had a clean plate by the end. Also, I might add, the mimosas were excellent, albeit a smidge expensive, and Ashton's bloody mary came with a lemon, lime, and huge stalk of celery. Nice touches, and it was an excellent shade of spicy. At $6 and $7 a pop, I didn't feel like we could indulge as we usually would, but the ones we had were lip smackin' good.
Ah, the bluegrass. What can I say? It seemed almost for a moment that we were in the Deep South. The cirleque iron railings, patio, and 3 man band complete with cowboy hats and a banjo, whilst enjoying biscuits n' gravy.... ahhh. It really was an absolutely stellar day.
In conclusion, Urban Solace was the perfect choice for our introduction to San Diego Sunday Brunch. The drinks were a tad pricey, but the food was excellent and the prices were reasonable. Service I'd give a B- to in terms of timeliness, but an A in terms of friendliness. Now I think this week it will be El Torito for us, with its $15 brunch and Mexican buffet with endless mimosas?!?!? YES!!!!!

farmie markie

Today was a good day. I thought it was going to suck, but became an A+ day instead of a C-.

Blah blah blah I was going to explain all the job hunting we did, and how it seemed like we had more prospects today, but who cares? We went to the beach! And watched doggies play! And then we went to the North Park Farmer's Market!



The Farmer's Market was awesome. I think we got there towards the end part of it, but there was still plenty to see (and eat). We got to sample a bunch of things, and ended up buying some pumpkin butter and some Kenyan vegan snacks, complete with Ginger Green Tea. It was totally the perfect end to the day. Well, the afternoon. Tonight 2 of our German/Long Island friends are coming and we are hitting the town with them.

Should be good.

ugh.

welcome to the room ashton and i have been living in for a month and a half.
mostly i'm used to it, but sometimes i look at it and want to die.