A housekeeping post: My fall semester starts Monday, and since I've been dragging a little lately, I took two days off work last week to dust out my head- and living-spaces. The extra-long weekend was EXACTLY what I needed. In the past four days I did lots of laundry, watched pictures moving on screens, went out to three brunches, drew many little illustrations, made salon &… Continue reading

Orange zebra bracelet and green elephant bracelet from Furbish Design Studio.

I don't think I've ever seen her wearing a dress before. Love her. “I have neither the discipline nor the desire to turn into someone else.” via NYTimes

So, we are not really football fans fan, though I'm wearing my giant bronze fleur-de-lis earrings today, and my boyfriend is making jambalaya. However, I would be totally excited about the Superbowl if the screenplay went more like these: The second one and the last one are my favorites. via BlackBook

Last weekend, I went up to New Hampshire to coach my mom on her new iMac. The highlight of the trip was spending time with Maddie, a/k/a Trouble, a/k/a the cutest-tongued fluffiest puppy in the entire world. Note her little-lamb legs! Also, that her face looks like a Muppet! I had been warned that Maddie pees when she is excited to see… Continue reading

I've been, well—I hate to used the word "blessed" because I don't necessarily believe in a big sky-deity doling out blessings, and I don't want to say "lucky enough to," because I hope there's something in me attracting wonderful people, but—I know and love and respect and am known, loved, and respected by some pretty phenomenal people. And I feel blessed every day that they are in my life. I'd… Continue reading

I'm not a big fan of Neil Gaiman quotes, but this one made me smile. layout by me in Adobe Caslon Pro…

The last time I made a New Year's resolution was at least a decade ago, and I think I resolved myself against New Year's resolutions. Kind of like giving up Catholicism for Lent. Anyway, this year, inspired by unclutterer.com, nubbytwiglet.com, and my paid-off credit cards, and abetted by the Harvard semester leaving me class-free for a whole month, I'm embarking on a huge project to purge my… Continue reading

Welcome to New England: the mercury flirts with single digits, and us hardy folk are faced with the challenge of dressing to bounce between warm bed, icy winds, overheated public transportation, frigid dashes across streets where drivers interpret red lights as the merest of suggestions. And who knows whether our offices will be saunas or fridges. Layering is the greatest weapon in our adaptive arsenal. Here's how I cope… Continue reading

1. Keep Calm and Carry On poster. Typographically and visually stunning, these were designed by the British Ministry of Information in 1939, to be distributed in the event of a German invasion on English soil. Only 50 were printed, and they were never hung. I love the message, and believe everyone should live by it.
2. Jewish Rosaries by Carlen Altman. My Catholic and Jewish grandmothers would

For me, baking is incredibly experimental, with room for great flexibility. When people ask me where I learned this, I simply tell them that "I grew up in my mother's kitchen." Continue reading

Most of my classmates were bums anyway Continue reading

I didn't think it was possible to pull together pantslessness and stylishness. I was damn wrong. Grace Kelly, via theimpossiblecool: Eat your heart out, Lohan…

created by Ub Iwerks; directed by Walt Disney Continue reading

When boyfriend and I were in San Francisco last week, it happened to be Fleet Week. We flew into SFO ahead of Jeanne's wedding, picked up our ferry tickets to Napa at Pier 39, and had a few hours to kill before our boat came in. We ate Dungeness crabs melts on SF sourdough bread, and watched the Blue Angels flying in formation over the bay. When we headed outside to… Continue reading

Baking the Star Wars Cake

This labor of love is also a result of my love for smittenkitchen.com. The cake is Deb's Best Birthday Cake. It is filled with her Mango Curd and frosted with her Swiss Buttercream, the instructions for which include the directive, "Patience, young Jedis." As per her brilliant layer cake tips, I made the mango curd and… Continue reading

For Cristo's birthday, I made reservations at Ten Tables in Cambridge — their second location, in the space the original Craigie Street Bistro used to occupy, and which actually has at least 14 tables. The food and service were amazing. Because we ate on a Sunday night, they weren't serving a full menu. But they were serving a $33 prix fixe. Here's a super-quick wrap of what we had. surprise!Amuse Bouche Chilled cucumber-mint… Continue reading

I love my adopted city, and have often blogged about its changing character. Feel free to explore my Harvard Square. Continue reading

Why takes the science out of programming. He says: learning programming is about learning grammar. This is, very literally, language I understand. Continue reading

Adorable animated .gif from jezebel.com