really into drawings lately

erin mcguire, you are my new favorite artist in the world.

and all your 'nerdy girls' look like... me.

amazing...

this goes with a thanks to oatmeal and cinnamon.

chronic illness.

haven't been writerly lately--had a fun weekend (with lovely lula), but i am just out of pace lately, not sleeping correctly and generally green in the head and such.

i have been doing a lot of wondering about the emotional connection to sickness lately. sometimes i wonder if a lot of it is psycho-somatic. and whether i just need to get a bit happier and more hopeful and then my head would clear. who knows. it could just be my deviated septum.

i am caught somewhere between hypochondria-medicine-dependency and super-hippie-herbal-tactics-doctor-skepticism. i don't know which side to lean to to cure my months and months of sinus problems.

i'm just a bit of a sicky bird.

on another note--it's very pretty here. like God is apologizing for randomly making it snow yesterday.

and on a last note... i can't wait for my stupid hair to grow out. and isn't this picture awesome? it's from Allyson Kalie's flickr, which you can see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaliegarrett/3247906257/


a great photo. such a nice braided look. i think of heidi, and spending hours in art studios, and fall, and romantically cold days.

-papermoon

popcorny perfection

i can't believe it's 11:30 at night and i am this awake (without caffeine). i have work tomorrow! i have Mass in the morning! what am i thinking?

i think i need to get back into the pattern of exercising to get my body back to getting tired.

in any case, anyone who knows me knows that i try not to eat after 11 pm, because i know that what the 'hunger' i feel as soon as the clock strikes 11 is actually probably just my stomach kicking into digestion mode, thinking that i am asleep.

today i gave in, and ate popcorn. and i discovered something great!

my parents called uncharacteristically late tonight, as they are on a weekend trip and wanted to let me know they reached their destination. by force of some coincidental fate, my mama was eating popcorn--just what i'd been craving. i started to complain about the effort of it (i don't eat microwave popcorn--overpriced and i hate the 'butter' smell) because i haven't had good luck lately in my 20 year old microwave with the brown paper bag method, and i hate shaking pot over the stove for 20 minutes. but then my mom laid the tip on me: heat the oil FIRST, sans kernels... and when it starts to get hot, just throw in kernels to test if its ready!

maybe that's the obvious way, and you all already did it... but it was news to me and it made the whole thing 100% easier!

hooray for the most delicious healthy snack in the world.

g'nite!
papermoon

pollyanna strikes again.

first i hit you with the pollyanna cake (still have to try that recipe).

now, i've unintentionally dressed up as pollyanna. i think it was a subtle subconscious attempt to 'get glad', as i woke up to a rocky emotional state this morning.

my cheerfully ugly outfit is already helping me out. i just love looking a bit off.

it's my day off, so i think i might take a journey out to the bookstore and then work in a coffee shop all day long, pretending i am a book character.

they say that the main reason adults have trouble relating to children's desires is that they lose the ability to actually see the real world through the lens of their imaginary world, instead of vice versa. i think God forgot to take that from me. glad for that!

-papermoon

the boots of bliss

ok if i don't own one or both colors of this boot some time in my life i will just feel upset. does anyone have $128?


or fashion sense they could possibly loan me?




i know if i could wear shoes like these that i would also, magically, be happily married, 28, have a sweet little baby (or two), and long hair (worn in a bun), be insanely rosy-cheeked, eat organic food from a small farm, and i would love my government.

so... if anyone wants to loan me that money, they're at urban outfitters.

-papermoon

leftover coffee rice pudding.

my brother came in for a whirlwind visit with seven of his buddies, and when they left they also left me a full pot of coffee, undrunk.

so, i saved it all day until i thought of something to do with it.

all of my online recipe searches only yielded the idea to freeze it into coffee cubes (cool, but not intellectually stimulating) or to add it to brownies or frosting. not my style--i don't really like either of those things.

i couldn't stop wondering what would happen if i made rice in coffee.

so i just did it. after i put the coffee and basmati rice i had around into a pot and started it going, i thought about whether i wanted something sweet or savory. after poking my finger in to taste some of the coffee rice, i decided it would be very tasty in a strange stir fry, but that i wasn't in the mood. (i already knew that whatever i was eating for dinner needed to be tasty with my leftover vodka sauce.) i moved on to sweet.

i googled 'basmati rice pudding' until i found a recipe that interested me.
i modified it to come up with this: and it's DELICIOUS.

(modified from the recipe for Basmati Rice Pudding in Totally Vegetarian by Toni Flore)

SERVINGS
4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

2 cups leftover coffee
1 cup white basmati rice
4 1/2 cups milk (i drink 2%)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1. Combine coffee and rice and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over very low heat 8 to 9 minutes, until most of the coffee is absorbed. Check and stir to avoid stuck rice, which will burn at the bottom of the pot.

2. Add 4 cups milk and the sugar. Continue cooking, now on low heat, for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, OR until the rice is soft and most of the milk absorbed. Remove the rice from the heat.

3. Pour 1/4 cup of the remaining milk into a bowl and whisk in the flour to dissolve. Add the vanilla extract. Add remaining milk and add to the pudding. Serve warm or at room temperature, or even after refrigerating.

delicious. and not too unhealthy.

and the rest of the coffee? in my ice cube tray. :)

-papermoon

perfect video for today's spring start.

i love lisa hannigan.




her mom made the book covers... sweet.

-papermoon

my new project.

i am finally at 75% on a new project i am working on, which is a high enough percentage to talk about it.

lately, i have been very interested in various listing projects--amy krouse rosenthal's 17 things i made , hwa young jung's 'english things', beth campbell's 'potential future' lists, to name a few.

one morning as i reached into my cupboard to grab a mug, i reflected on the fact that, like a pre-schooler who will only drink out of a batman cup, i am legitimately frustrated when i don't get to have my coffee in my mauve glazed mug. i have about 12 mugs--way more than is necessary--but i always want this one. it's my favorite.

i had a similar moment later, when, upon preparing to eat a scone, i kicked the dishwasher in anger because i couldn't eat my scone on my clear glass dimpled plate, which i bought for 50 cents at an apple orchard. i have a full set of dishes-- 8 full sized plates, 8 salad plates, not to mention at least 6 saucer sized plates and a few decorative plates--but i only want to eat my snack on my favorite plate.

i have a lot of some things, but one favorite. hence my new project.

lots but one favorite

i am not 100% committed to this format/layout, or even to the whole idea of this being a blog. it may morph into a series of drawings, or photos, or just a written list. this is what i am trying out for now.

hope you enjoy it!


on a totally unrelated side note, i put extra mustard on my sandwich today in hopes it would help out with my cold--and my brain is burning, i swear...

-papermoon

monster game with yana

i am going to be taking a short hiatus from the internet--having a little holiday with my family this coming weekend!

i thought i would leave off with something fun... a prime exhibit of the monsters-eating-other-monsters game*, a relic of a lovely coffee shop talk with my friend yana. (the more beautiful monsters are hers--a fabulous artist is she.)


hope you have a monstrously fun weekend!!!

-papermoon

* do other people play this game? i know i have at least been playing it since i went to RISD's summer program back in the day...

inspiration strikes...

... at inconvenient times.

i have a new project in mind! it's really been a while since the 'nudge' to make a little art came around. i am going to attribute these newly flowing creative juices to a little reunion of sorts with my old art scene, this weekend. (this rendezvous was the one bright moment in a weekend full of the stomach flu and sinus woes.) of course, i have been struck with this idea right in the middle of the stress and flutter of trying to catch up on my life and duties before work tomorrow. this is a shortened week for me, as well--i am meeting up with family this weekend out of town--so we'll see if progress is tangible.

i am excited for the moment i can reveal the notion...

-papermoon

guest blogger: chicken soup with lovely lula

it's a first for papermoon! a guest blogger: miss becca mae of lovely lula.

becca and i met as art buddies during my long lost college years (ha) and have enjoyed brunching our way through our mutual unemployment ever since.

topic of the day? chicken soup! here's becca!

Well I'm thrilled that we're doing our first official "guest blogging" piece.

A few nights prior I'd tossed together a little homemade chicken soup for one at home, using egg noodles, and some pan fried chicken. It wasn't just right; the chicken was a little too chewy, but I could tell this hearty meal had a lot of potential. When Sarah and I got together that week for dinner, we gave this homemade chicken noodle soup another go, this time with two chefs in the kitchen.

This lovely dinner happened back in March before Lent began,
so I won't lie to you and say those lovely sparkling beverages are just tonic water.

Sarah worked on the chicken, since I wasn't too pleased with my first try. I don't consider protein to be my specialty. And Sarah made the most incredible, soft, tender, lemony, herbalicious chicken I've ever tasted. It was perfect for soup. It was perfection all by itself! SO delicious.

* a side note from me: my chicken tactics

1. cut your chicken up into soup-able pieces, salt and pepper them and add plenty of herbs de provence. (i add a lot of extra rosemary to mine whenever i have it around). i also added a bit of sage to this particular chicken. i am an herboholic.
   
2. make a country dijon vinaigrette--for the acid, use one part white wine vinegar and one part lemon juice
3. put that chicken in the dressing and let it hang out.
4. when it comes time to pan cook chicken, i am all about medium heat. i object highly to putting down those little pieces and then flipping them over. i let them all sit until they are all basically visually cooked-looking, then turn over for the other side. dried out chicken is disgusting. medium heat! just cut the biggest piece down the middle to check for any pink before you turn off the stove and proceed.
   

back to becca!

I got busy chopping up the vegetables:
Garlic
Onion
Yellow Pepper
Carrots
Parsley
(I'm not big on portions, numbers, that sort of thing... I usually just sort of judge by how much seems to be proportional to the meal size. But I believe we used... two cloves garlic, 1 onion, 1 pepper, a handful of baby carrots, and a handful of parsley, if you were curious.)

They looked so pretty in Sarah's tiffin box containers. How convenient to have such a pretty, stacking set!

Cooking was pretty easy, but I just can't bring myself to pretend I'm a "food" blogger.

If you want a good food blog, check Lottie + Doof or Smitten Kitchen!

But anyway.... olive oil in the pan, medium heat, heat oil, add garlic until its just about to brown, toss in onions and carrots. Thank heavens Sarah suggested the carrots to cool the garlic, because I was about to burn it. If you've ever accidentally over browned your garlic, its not a disaster, but when you are enjoying your soup, you might bite down on something chewy and be confused about when you added peanuts to your soup, and why they taste like burned garlic. What I'm saying is, they get crunchy. Not good. Anyway, thanks to some cold, crispy carrots, no garlic was burnt!

Next, broth. We used vegetable broth--no need for any extra chicken-ness with our delicious recipe.


Toss in the peppers, add the chicken, and I add even more herbs, because... its hard to go wrong with fresh ground herbs, and a good pinch or two of pepper.

Now this is important... Egg noodles are delicious, but NOT if they are over cooked... they get pasty, and fall apart, and then you'd have Chicken Mush Soup, which is a texture disaster - never okay with me.
We tossed the parsley and the noodles in to boil for about 5 minutes, and it was perfection!

A peppery bowl of soup, some paintings, and a few Audrey Tautou movies later, and we were ready for dessert.


I got the recipe for the mango, ricotta and lime parfaits from Food Everyday by Martha Stewart.
Its lime juice, lime zest, mango, and sugar combined together and poured over ricotta cheese.
We may have been a little overzealous with the bourbon-enhanced whipped cream on top, which I could eat alone as a meal it's so good.

All in all, it was a lovely evening and an incredible meal, and in the end we learned a very important lesson, blue paint tastes the best.


what can i say... former art majors can't resist tasting the watercolors every once in a while.

-papermoon

the apron display

a few days ago i was freshening up the apartment and i felt the need to nail something to the wall. (sometimes i just want to use a hammer.)

i had already put a nail up in the bathroom for my hair dryer, and one near the front door for lora's keys, so i really had to stretch my mind for an excuse. walking into my bedroom, it came to me! i have been storing my excessive and ever-growing collection of aprons on my bedroom doorknob, when i could be proudly displaying some of my favorite things!


i think it really adds something to the hallway. i also like looking at them together and thinking about the story behind each of them...

hope you put your favorite things on display!

-papermoon