Have no fear, this was not completely futile. The affordable art shop that I found, called The Working Proof, sells charming art prints backed with a great mission!

“The Working Proof seeks to promote art and social responsibility. Each print is paired with a charity of the artist’s choice, to which we are donating 15% of the sale of each print – creating what we believe to be a product with not just aesthetic, but social value. Besides showcasing emerging artists and great artwork, the intent of the Working Proof is to promote a variety of charities and to expose them to new supporters through the appreciation of art and creativity. We release a new print once a week, on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm, EST.”

My purchases funded tutoring youth in writing skills and advocating for sustainable transportation. I’m making the world a more literate environmentally-friendly haven! What a great way to justify my purchase, haha. PLUS, my prints are fabulous. I’ve posted one below:

This piece is called Grow Your Imagination, and it’s by APAK. You can read a short interview about the inspiration behind the piece here. It was silly because I recognized the whimsical artist duo because I bought some of their Happy Hermit stationary a few years ago in Spokane. It was THE BEST STATIONARY EVER – and I don’t say that lightly. I can’t wait to hang this on my wall. I think I want to frame it with a blue or green matte. It’s going to be fantastic!

Illustration by Julia Rothman

We drank mimosas all Christmas morning, and it was fabulous. I might have to do a repeat on New Years eve! Can you believe 2010 is almost over? Whew! I think I’ll give 2010 an above average grade on its report card. It was a tad rocky at times, but mostly well-behaved. (haha.) I feel like things started coming together this year. I consistently spend most of my energy resisting this title, but I  feel like we became real live “adults” this year. Good and bad, I’ve felt the most adult that I ever have in my life. I have real-person employment, relationships, residence, etc. and I spent the year with some amazing people. Things feel pretty legit. Don’t get me wrong – I still struggle with this grown-up thing, but with all the crazy responsibilities I see some fancy benefits. There’s a lot of potential here! That feels pretty great. Happy new year, friends.

Carrie Brownstein & Fred Armisen’s apparently have a sketch comedy show called Portlandia! I can’t wait! Portlandia premiers January 21st at 10:30 on IFC.

It’s December! Hooray for the holidays!

We hosted a lovely little ugly-sweater-party this past weekend to ring in the yuletide cheer.

See photos below:

It’s okay to be jealous of our sweaters.

I’m excited to visit my parents to help cut down and decorate the tree today. I thought about getting my own tree in my townhouse, but I realized I don’t have any decorations or ornaments… maybe I should start my own collection!

The super cute bee illustration at the top of this post is from Kate Hindley. Here’s a link to her Etsy too. She has some amazing cards for sale. I’ve been obsessed with buying paper products lately. Weird, I know – but I can never have enough greeting cards, post cards, stationary and art prints. I love them! I’m using the good ‘ole postal service to correspond to my lovelies! (Everyone loves real mail.)

This pretty little otter print is from Portland based  Berkley Illustrations. I’ve bought a few prints from their Etsy. (The ducks are the best!)  Their personified animals make me smile every time. Check out their store and browse the dozens of animal portraits and you’ll be sure to chuckle.

(cold outside image source: malarky.)

Happy Holidays! Bundle up!

Soft Cakey Pumpkin Cookies
– 2 cups flour
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
– pinch of nutmeg
– 2 large eggs, beaten
– 1/2 cup canola oil
– 3/4 cup sugar
– 1 cup pumpkin puree
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup chocolate chips
– 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
– 1/4 cup chopped pecans

“Heat oven to 325F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg together. In another bowl, mix together the beaten eggs, sugar, oil. Beat vigorously until well combined. Stir in the pumpkin and vanilla until well incorporated. Pour in the flour mixture and stir until combined. Split the batter into 2 bowls if you want to have 2 separate kinds of cookies – add chocolate chips and half the pecans in one bowl and the butterscotch chips and the rest of the pecans in the other. Stir until combined.

Line 2 baking sheets with silpat mats or parchment paper. Drop batter by the spoonful, spacing the cookies at least 2 inches apart. Flatten cookies slightly. Bake for 15 minutes or until the tops feel dry and the cookies feel spongy. Cool on a wire rack & store in a covered tin. Makes about 24 cookies.”

Here’s another recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches for pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I might try to make those too for the Halloween party that we’re throwing next weekend!

Here’s their sequel that debuted yesterday:

Haha, these guys are getting so much media attention.

“EUGENE, Ore. — ESPN College Gameday goes live early Saturday morning and arguably the ducks biggest fans, Supwitchugirl, released their newest show of team pride. The video just came out and the guys behind it say, so far, it’s getting good reviews.

Last year’s “I Love My Ducks” video went viral with nearly a million hits. The boys of Supwitchugirl have had a year to get their creative juices flowing.  With one day until ESPN’s College Gameday to spare, they cooked up their most highly anticipated video yet. Friday, Supwitchugirl released “The Return of the Quack” on YouTube with new twists, including a special guest appearance.

Last year’s “I Love My Ducks” video was such a hit, they got a phone call a from of their former idol out of the blue. The call came in as a restricted number, which turned out to be Joey Harrington. They say they were kind of star struck at first but then pitched them their idea of the video and he was interested in helping them out. Even the duck mascot and the cheerleading team pitched in to help the guys out.  And still the calls keep rolling in.

They Duck Store called them saying they wanted to make return of the quack shirts, last year they sold more than 40,000 t-shirts. Local radio stations have already started playing the new song and Supwitchugirl says even the U of O players loved it. Supwitchugirl says the “The Quack is Back” t-shirts should be available at the U of O bookstore Friday evening.”  – KEZI News

I’m disappointed that I only went camping for one night this whole summer. Look at these sleeping bags! I must have one, even if it’s just to camp in someone’s back yard! They are from a company called Anorak, and they have a million other fabulous patterns if you look at this link. Please buy me one, and we can have the best sleep-over ever. (I will even bring marshmallows.)

Damn, look at these gorgeous rings from St. Kilda Jewelry. They are so unique and eclectic. I can’t stop ogling them!

I’ve been really wanting to do my hair like this lately. My hair is getting so long, and I feel like don’t take advantage of how fun it can be. The Orchid Grey blog posted a little tutorial on how to do it. I tried it, but I looked 5 years old. Bummer.

So there you have it – another random blog post with no theme. Hooray – My life is ridiculous, and I can’t stop eating these strange, meatless chicken nuggets.

The end. Goodbye for now…

Today is the first official day of fall. I do mourn the loss of summer, but goddamn I love autumn. Best season ever. I can’t wait for pumpkin patches, crisp weather, sweaters and scarves. It already smells like fall, and the trees are starting to change colors… it’s a little magical. This year, I want to drive to beautiful Hood River and go apple picking. And don’t forget HALLOWEEN – the boyfriend and I are thinking about being Doug Funny and Patty Mayonnaise. It could be epic.

I am currently playing the new Arcade Fire album, Suburbs, in my kitchen as I dance around like a fool. It’s amazing, and so are the following songs that I  can’t stop listening to: The first is a cover of Kid Cudi’s Pursuit of Happiness by Lissie. Kid Cudi’s version is pretty decent too, as it features MGMT and Ratatat, but Lisse puts a good spin on it.

Doesn’t life feel good when you have enough time to get some new music in your routine? I think so. Local Natives is (are?) my latest obsession. The whole album is great, but my favorite song is called Sun Hands. I’m posting a live version below that was filmed here in Portland at the Doug Fir during MusicfestNW this month. They have some crazy mustaches! (Boyfriend, don’t get any ideas.)

Also, here is a link to the album version of Sun Hands that is a lot more polished. (The posted live version is more fun to watch than a YouTube of their album art, but the album version is just so perfect. Listen!) I could probably listen to this song all day. It’s possible.

On a different note, The Portland Mercury wrote an article about my hometown in July. It’s hilarious, rude and mostly true.
A few highlights:

BEST GOOSE-INFESTED SWIMMING BEACH

BEST OREGON CITY BRIDGE THAT MAKES THE SELLWOOD BRIDGE LOOK TOTALLY SAFE

BEST WATERFALL THAT’S NOT SOME PISS TRICKLE IN THE COLUMBIA GORGE

BEST ELEVATOR

BEST ALLEY TO GET ATTACKED BY THE HACKY SACK GANG

You can read the full article here. Although, I think they have since screwed up the order of their photos, diminishing their humor.

Happy six years, baby.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: music ]]> http://foreveryummm.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/home-is-wherever-im-with-you/feed/ 0 Heather Edward Sharpe