nesting with heather palmer

below: medium aqua nest, $130

below: small green nest, $60

below: steel blue, $49 through the end of february

i came across these gorgeous glass nests on etsy and i can't get enough. heather palmer, the artist, lives in san francisco and calls herself a craftsman, artist and teacher. her work was recently featured in real simple so she's having a special on the small steel blue nest - $49 til the end of february. could be a great off-registry wedding or shower gift, birthday gift or a just-because gift for yourself.

banana bread

banana bread is definitely my favorite thing to make (and eat). my mom handed her super easy recipe down to me, and it was originally handed down to her from an old family friend. i like to make three smalls instead of one large and put two in the freezer for enjoyment at a later date. hope you like!


ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 3 brown bananas
• 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (if your hear desires...i skip them)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• cinnamon sugar for dusting the pans and top of the batter
  

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• cream the shortening, sugar and eggs.
• add mashed bananas and blend well.
• add dry ingredients and mix.

• grease one large or three small loaf pans, sprinkling each with cinnamon sugar mixture.
• fill each loaf pan with equal amounts of the batter and sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar mixture.
• bake at 350 for one hour.
  

here's the finished product. i like it best when toasted with butter. mmmmm.

socks + tights = bootights

if you read lucky mag then you saw bootights in last month's issue. how smart, right? i always wear a pair of socks over tights when i'm wearing them with boots...so why not buy a pair of tights with socks built in? socks + tights = bootights. genius.

they retail for about $30 and come in a bunch of colors and styles.

framing my past with ork posters

our kitchen/dining area is allllllmost completely decorated and it is making me very happy. i bought four black and white posters from ork a really long time ago and since most of them are non-standard sizes i have been dying to get them framed. timing worked out perfectly and i was able to take advantage of a 60% off custom framing coupon at michael's and use some gift cards from santa.




you're probably wondering why i chose the cities i did, right? they all represent a city where we've lived in the past. hopefully the artist will continue expanding her collection to one day include baltimore and austin.

about ork: To us, it's not just posters. To us it's about finding where we are, where we've been and where we want to go. In the most humble manner, we can only hope it's that for you too. Ork Posters was born when I embarked on a search for a neighborhood poster that fit my taste for good design and typography, simplicity, and originality. My hunt came up empty. As a result, I designed the original Chicago poster in the summer of 2007 for myself.

each city also comes in multiple colors and the selections are really pretty. check them out! oh, and click here for more info on our shmancy vintage 4/5 subway sign.

shoot, it's FEBRUARY?! edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros is keeping me sane.

hooooooly cow, it's FEBRUARY!? wha??

that being said, i do not have a mood board for you to celebrate the first of the month (or the second of the month or the third of the month). it has been an absolutely insane couple of weeks between visitors and starting a new job and traveling and yadda yadda yadda...so anyway, so sorry for not posting the ole' mood board on schedule but i'll try to get to it as soon as i can.

what i can share with you instead is a link to check out one of my new favorite bands, edward sparpe and the mangetic zeros. i was turned on to them by my friend martha, a huuuuuuge music lover and someone who i turn to regularly for tips on the latest and greatest. she writes a really great blog about her favorite music and newest finds and you should definitely check it out for a little musinspiration.

meanwhile i'll be hoping edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros make their way through austin again soon so i can check them out in person. i've been listening to the album "up from below" over and over again and it gets better every time. enjoy!

I'm an iphone user!

Ok so my new job also came with a new iPhone. How fun, right? I'm still learning the keyboard and apps but so fAr so good. I'm even writing this post is from my hotel room in Houston (hence no photo, too advAnced. Oh and I'm not fixing typos, sorry! So I wanna know from you iPhone users...whAt's the best (read: cutest) protective cover to get??

grey nail polish for grey skies

the weather in austin has suddenly turned brisk again, with rain on and off to add to the "ick" factor. so my new go-to nail polish is this new grey shade, called particulière, from chanel's spring 2010 line. i picked it up at neiman's for $23 about three weeks ago.



can't find it or don't want to spend the bucks on it? opi's you don't know jacques from the france collection is a good substitute and can usually be found for about $8.

ps. i'll be in houston for work tomorrow so there probably won't be a post...will definitely be back on wednesday!