i'm going to jersey, baby!

my very wily friend, carrie, alerted me to this amazingness: all tomorrow's parties festival, curated by portishead. most notably, on monday there will be a solo show by jeff mangum of neutral milk hotel. this is a band i remember very distinctly dancing frenetically (and probably drunkenly) to during my college days. he hasn't played a large, public, live neutral milk hotel set in over a decade. until... NOW.

tickets went on sale this morning at 9 am EST. by about, oh, 9:15 am, the solo show was sold out. and my wily friend and i procured 4 tickets between the two of us! aw, yeah...

"in the aeroplane over the sea."


"ghost."


"my dream girl don't exist."


looks like i'll be heading to new jersey in october! SO EXCITED! i love these types of trips - on a whim, with excellent people.

new favorite knit!

made with peruvian hand-dyed yarn using the alderbrook pattern - amazing, cozy, squishy sweater. love love love. note: i'm having a hard time editing my photos because i love this thing so much... lots of photos ahead.

neck down:


oh, hi!


collar folded over:


the neck ALLLL the way up.


this yarn is so super scrumptious.


fun buttons - i really should block this... but i'll probably wear it tomorrow instead.

also on the list of amazing things - popup books...

this dude is amazing with his library of popup monsters and how to make them: robertsabuda.com.

(this is mostly for my future reference because i now plan to make popups that cover the entire WORLD).

that's how it starts...

lcd soundsystem, "all my friends."


other sights of late: a wild chair at the french lick resort.


the amazing dome in this little middle of nowhere southern indiana town:


hiking in the snow at morgan-monroe state forest:




boombox getting cozy. it's hard to tell which end is which when he cozies up.


other cool stuff: sounds from the week - the forgetters, my favorite rock band boyfriend's new band! IT'S A DEATH TRIP, BABY.
videos of wonderful music stuffs here!

all things go...

i forgot how much i love this song - i heard it today on the radio driving home, and it made me so happy.

sufjan stevens, "chicago."

vermicomposting fabulousness!

chris and i have been lusting after the vermicomposting tray systems we have seen various places (a la this), but i didn't want to spend a shitload of money on it. so we decided to make our own!

step 1: find the proper container. this thing is PERFECT - the trays snap together, and you can move the bottom tray up to the top once the compost in it is done.


step 2: safety first!


step 3: dremel large holes in the bottom of each tray.


step 4: cut wire to fit the bottom of each tray.


"it's like i'm in prison!"


step 5: vacuum the bits of plastic up off every surface in kitchen (including us).


step 6: take break to watch colts lose fabulously in the playoffs.


step 7: drill holes to string wire bottoms into each tray (and freak the cat out with power tools).


step 8: string the wire through.


the trays are ready for... the worms!




and there they are - one tiny, sweet little ball of worms.

2011, the first!

first "things that are awesome" posting of the new year! happy happy!

things i like: girls that say "yumyum" after any description of tasty food encounters. as in, "the pea soup was very good, YUMYUM."

painting with maps (artist: matthew cusick):




recipes for panda bread! i almost wet myself when i saw this (visit the source for the recipe).


thierry legault's amazing international space station transit photos (his copyright language scares me a little bit, but you really should click here to see what i'm talking about... if you know what's good for you).

my new air plants and presidential air plant holder:


the decorated lions at the art institute:


thinking of ferris bueller's day off EVERY SINGLE TIME i see these windows:


super fantastic 3d art:


three floyd's and its delicious beer!


especially when they turned up the "mood lighting..."


xoxo. here's to a fabulous year of more awesomeness.