dried cranberry + walnut salad

 This is such a good lazy-girl's salad; I know that I love having salads for lunch at work and I hate cooking chicken the night before. So this totally vegetarian salad is a perfect fix. With a raspberry vinaigrette, this is a sweet and fruity (and crunchy!) salad that requires a handful of ingredients: walnuts, lettuce, dried cranberries, and dressing. I like using a fresh spring mix, but you can really use any type of green. And that's it! Viola! Done.

Happy munching!

pines and a trench sketch

Sketching by the Christmas tree might be my favorite thing ever…

The smell is so nice, and I have some still life to paint from! 

I sketched and edited these doodles on my much-enjoyed snow day yesterday

It snowed dumped about 4 inches in a whole afternoon. It was beautiful! All white.

I was kept happy with tea and fun snow days snacks,

 but was quite annoyed that the all-day weather forecast

kept me from seeing the cast of Downton Abbey on Good Morning America…grrr.

I even angry-tweeted my dumb local news channel. I don't think they got it :P

Anyway, it was a nice day. As I type this I am crossing my fingers for a delay tomorrow!

anyway…happy Wednesday, all! ciao xo

insta-lately (and insta-analysis)

can we have an instagram talk?

i struggle with choosiness on instagram…i have said this before, i think i am a snob. 

there are certain pictures i just don't post. perhaps i should.

i am so inspired by some amazing accounts…like kat in nyc, folk magazine, and inhonorofdesign. 

just to name a FEW. there are so many more out there that i really do love.

anyway, my first instagram conundrum is that i don't think i have good balance.

there really are too many coffee pictures. 

not enough people pictures. 

my second conundrum is…

i don't instragram too much on a daily basis and i always feel that when i do, it has to be perfect.

 i am so weird.

do you also over think your instagrams? or am i just crazy?

i think i am just crazy. anyway. 

that rant was really unnecessary.

ciao! xo

happy snow

A typical snow day for me looks like this:

It starts with a  call around 4:45am. The night before, you think you know, but you're never totally sure. The worst is the built up anticipation and having it been all for nothing. But when you're pulled out of sleep and hear that phone ringing, you know you're going to be happy. I don't typically go back to bed, as I love nestling up in the couch next to the pups with my warm coffee, tuning into the news and watching the weather and traffic - knowing I don't have to move. By this time the snow has probably already started and everything is coated in a blanket of white.

Skinny branches are lined with snow with their brown undersides defining the landscape; evergreen needles delicately pushed downward from the weight. This time around it was perfect snowball snow, quite heavy and even dangerous, as it is easily pack-able. My favorite type of snow is the huge globs that fall down faster, in heaps. The light snow is beautiful, but I prefer the heavy rather than the fine whispers of snow that you have to really squint to see if you're looking out a window.

I spent my day hovering over a box of chocolates, watching the Christmas tree light up, hearing snow plows and motors struggle outside, listening to Downton Abbey reruns and drinking about 3 cups of tea per hour. I am an addict…

happy snow day to you! stay warm and cozy!
ciao, xo