A few things...

1. Today I visited Waterfront Antique Mall  

in an effort to avoid the Black Friday mobs at the mall.

The antique mall is very eclectic. 

A friend of mine has attended their auctions and found some incredible deals.

I absolutely love vintage restaurant ware. 

I snagged this heavy duty restaurant ware plate from the YWCA for just a few bucks!

2. Design*Sponge Online published a book this fall.

I check the d*s website religiously for their latest postings about home decor, food and life.

The book is beautifully designed. It lives on our coffee table so I can drool on it whenever I see it.

Grace Bonney (the adorable gal in the picture) is one of the creators of the website, and her home is featured in the book.

  The design aesthetic is funky --much of the homes are designed with mid-century touches.

The book also has a large section of DIY projects for all skill levels and budgets. 

I want to make these hand towels!

And these place mats!

Toward the back of the book there is a wonderful illustrated "How To" section for all of those intimidating craft projects like rewiring a lamp or reupholstering a chair. 

  I keep seeing awesome craft projects like these but just never stop and take the time to try them out.  

 A New Year's resolution of the crafty sort, I pledge that I will complete (and post about) one new craft project per month in 2012!

3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars. Leftover pumpkin puree is a great excuse for these delicious bars. Mr. Living Lovely on Little (Mr. LLL) pondered whether these bars were part of my plan for world domination.

No, they are not. I actually borrowed the recipe from Elizabeth LaBau of SugarHero.com.

My apologies for the not so pretty food photos. Man, taking pictures of food is HARD! Please refer to Elizabeth's gorgeous pictures--I promise you they didn't actually look like a chunk of sod!!

Can you find all four?

This fall, the school I work for hosted a grand party... an extravaganza to raise money for student scholarships.

Our school has a wonderful nutrition program that emphasizes whole foods production, so this year our florist had fun with the centerpieces, placing some surprise elements in each one....

Notice anything unusual?

Each bamboo box was filled to the brim with edibles, roses, and succulents. 

There is little frugal about professionally designed centerpieces, but I love the attention this florist paid to the details, even hiding rocks and shells underneath some of the little leaves.

The florist was Fiori Floral Design.

DIY: Make your own laundry powder

Happy Thanksgiving one and all!

May your holiday weekend be merry and bright...

Homemade laundry powder can be a cost-effective way to avoid

the harsh perfumes and dyes of commercial products.

Our supply of laundry powder ingredients has lasted about 3 months, and cost around $8 total.

There are cheaper laundry soaps out there, but the chemical "freer" laundry soap

alternatives can be very expensive. 

Because we have a small apartment and there are only two of us, we make small batches about once a month. I'll share with you the basic ratio of ingredients, so that you can multiply accordingly.

Here is what you'll need to make your own laundry powder:

1 bar Ivory soap or Fels-Naptha bar finely grated

1/2 cup Borax

1/2 cup washing Powder

You only need to use 1 tablespoon for each load--MAX. I only use about 1/2 tablespoon for an average size (and minimally soiled) load.

To grate your soap, I suggest you use a food processor. 

We grate our soap using a standard grater. It is fine for our washing machine, though many washing machine's do not appreciate larger chunks of soap and will leave a residue after each load.

Cadence was on hand to oversee the laundry powder operation. Thank goodness.

Borax is also useful for myriad other chores around the house, and has been a great alternative to the army of toxic chemical cleaners under our sink.

We sprinkle it on our carpets to deodorize before we vacuum each week. 

There is a great list of alternate uses for borax on www.diylife.com/2010/08/12/25-household-uses-for-borax/

Another frugal laundry trick we love is using tennis balls in the dryer. Not only does laundry dry faster, but it also leaves towels and blankets extra fluffy and cuts down on the static! 

We now use those little neon balls completely in the place of standard dryer sheets. 

Fair warning: doing the laundry with tennis balls can be loud!

A Change of Heart

(Note: This picture has been edited. No, I was not stuck in a hurricane and no, this is not another dimension or the World of Narnia. Next photo is the original.)

This evening I was disappointed to find it too dark to throw the ball for Cadence by the time we arrived at the dog park.

I became frustrated.

I realized that winter's long nights are quickly replacing the extended hours of summer sunshine.

Grumpily, I decided to hike down to the water anyway, primarily because Cadence had already smelled ocean and had her heart set on the visit.

Boy am I ever glad I did.

Sure, it wasn't the warm summer sunset I was expecting, but the sky was a turbulent and swirling navy blue. I felt no wind. The dog beach was mostly empty.

The silence, in combination with the intensity of the sky, and the twinkling of the distant ferry lights, was breathtaking.

How often does life end up as you expected?

How many times does life surpass your expectations?

Thank goodness the world isn't left up to my imagination!

Here's to more surprises like this!

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Quick Ricotta Gnocchi (or my FIRST food post!)

I'll admit it. I am an addict.

Addicted to food blogs that is, with one in particular.

Molly Wizenberg is a foodie, a blogger, journalist, author and now restaurateur with her husband Brandon Petit. Molly was responsible for one of the best-loved food/life blogs around, Orangette (http://orangette.blogspot.com/).

Two years ago the couple opened Delancey (www.delanceseattle.com), a woodfire pizza spot in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. She is funny, candid and her recipes hit the spot. Basically, Molly is a food blogger goddess and I worship the counter on which she bakes.

In her book, A Homemade Life, Molly shares her recipe for slow-roasted tomatoes.

I just had to try it because:

A) the recipe calls for 4 ingredients,

B) tomatoes are cheap and in-season and

C) I am Sicilian and 2/3 of my body is literally a mixture of olive oil and tomatoes. It's genetic.

This is a weekend recipe, as it takes 4 to 6 hours to complete,

but it is WELL WORTH THE WAIT!

This recipe makes a LOT. You'll be surprised how many dishes you will want to which you'll want to add some of these sweet little guys. In the last few days we have added them to burritos, eggs and pasta salad. They are a great way to spruce up an otherwise "blah" dish.

Rinsing the tomatoes, just like my momma taught me.

Tomatoes sliced in half and tossed lightly with olive oil.

Tomatoes spread on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Sure, these little guys don't look pretty, but they are absolutely irresistible.

As you can see, many of them disappeared before I could take a picture.

To highlight the sweet flavor of the tomatoes, I made a recipe from another favorite blog, Budget Bytes. This was the first gnocchi recipe I have tried. It was easypeasie (is that how spell that?).

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/08/easy-ricotta-gnocchi-258-recipe-065.html

Mmmm...slow-roasted tomatoes

with ricotta gnocchi, fresh Parmesan cheese and basil from the garden.

WARNING! Collapsing Snowfields!

My fellow frugal friend Rachael and I promised each other that each month we would pile into the car with a day's worth of snacks, the camera and the GPS and visit a part of the Puget Sound we have never visited before.

Just over an hour from Seattle, this weekend's destination was Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest's Big Four Ice Caves.

Nestled in a valley, the caves are created by the melting snow from the mountain peaks above.

The water from the melting snow creates waterfalls and rivers within the mammoth ice banks. As the water flows through these hidden channels within the ice, it melts more of the ice and creates the caves.

The pictures below were taken by Rachael.

In the height of summer their is still plenty of ice and snow (FYI, those small dots are people).

Waterfalls that then disappear back into the ice, creating the caves.

Approaching the other-worldy looking mouth of the caves, visitors are blasted with cold air some 20 degrees cooler than the air around it. Fog pours out of the entrances, which are about 6 feet tall.

All one hear's at the foggy front door is the perpetual "drip drip drip" of the melting snow from inside.

The beautiful ceiling of the ice cave (reminiscent of a cathedral) is created by way the melting glacier drips off...forming these peaks and basins.

Light broke through from the snow field above the cave.

Filling our water bottles with ice cold glacier water. DELISH!

To begin planning your own adventure, visit http://www.wta.org/go-hiking.

There is Fun (and Frugal) Life North of Seattle: Day Trip to Everett

Saturday morning I treated myself to a road trip to the historic North End neighborhood of Everett for their 3rd Annual Garage Sale Day. What fun it was!

Over 100 families participated. There is no ticket or entrance fee.

All are welcome to just stroll down the tree lined streets and browse the sales.

The neighborhood is filled with historic homes and well worth a walk on a normal (non-garage sale) day.

I spent less than $10, and picked up three new books and some vintage yellow dishes.

For the dates of next year's garage sale day, visit www.northwesteverett.org.

But what i really wanted to share with you from that morning is my discovery of a beautiful P-Patch tucked between downtown Everett and the waterfront.

A P-Patch is public land that has been set aside for individual's from a community to have a small patch of land to bring their own gardening dreams to life. In an urban area, P-patches can be one of the only resources available for citizens to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers.

I stumbled upon Everett's Bayside Bicentennial P-Patch. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! The space is no wider than two of the car lanes of the highway racing beside it.

The gardens are beautiful. Each patch is obviously well-loved and cared for.

In a strange way it felt like my dog and I were visiting someone's home as we strolled through. Each patch so personalized.

Instead of falling to disuse, becoming an addition to the parking lot beside it, or just another example of inner-city decay, this small piece of land has been used to build and sustain the community around it.