february!
Posted by shan | Filed under me, stuff
have you had a good week? they just go so fast! this whole weekend has been a blur – from leaving work at 5pm on friday until about noon today, i hadn’t spent any more than 10 hours at home {most of them sleeping}. it’s all been fun and lovely, but sometimes you just want to hang out at home, y’know?
last weekend was a different story – we spent valentine’s day casually wandering around, having loads of fun. breakfast at a cafe:
chinese new year markets:
and i made this for my valentine, from bakerella’s recipe:
it was just lovely. but that was a whole week ago! next weekend will be the last one of summer. it just goes by so fast.
Tags: baking, chinese new year, valentine's day
baking.
Posted by shan | Filed under me, stuff
it’s the middle of summer, right? so this torrential downpour is a little bit infuriating. {truth be told, it’s actually a refreshing change from the relentless heat, but i’m opposed to it on principle.} but, what else is there to do on a miserable saturday than bake your little heart out.
there’s been three very specific things i’ve wanted to make lately:
1. marshmallows. because i bought some homemade marshmallows at the markets recently and they were divine.
2. vegan chocolate avocado cake. because i saw laura’s post about joy the baker’s recipe and it sounded amazing. and weird, which i like. and i don’t eat eggs outside of cakes so it seems odd that i eat them inside of cakes. {it’s not a moral stance or anything, i’ve just never been able to eat them.}
3. banana bread. because we bought too many bananas last grocery shop and i needed to use them up.
so, first up: marshmallows. the recipe was fairly simple, but having never made anything like this before i had a bit of pre-marshmallow anxiety – “is this thick enough? how do i know what this is supposed to look like?!” – but they turned out perfectly. i’ve already planned to make these as easter gifts.
next up was the chocolate avocado cake. this was really simple; no different to a normal cake, really. i snuck a quick taste of the batter just as i was about to pour it into the pan, and was horrified to taste nothing but baking soda. ack! i forgot to put the sugar in! lesson learnt: ALWAYS TASTE YOUR COOKING. but with some extra stirring i was able to work it in just in time. i haven’t had a proper piece yet, but the bits i’ve sneakily broken off have been amazing. i’ll be taking it to an afternoon tea tomorrow, so i look forward to people trying it without knowing what it is. i was originally planning on making a different icing, but decided to make the avocado one just to see what it’s like. tastes good to me!
and lastly, banana bread. i got this recipe from the australian women’s weekly BAKE book. haven’t got it yet? go now. run. i haven’t tried this yet, but i think it might be a little overdone. i’ll sample some for morning tea tomorrow!
now why can’t i be this productive during the week?!
Tags: baking, cooking, food, homemade
create & live
Posted by shan | Filed under etsy, me, stuff
i’ve had a busy – but productive – weekend. went to the eveleigh farmers’ market yesterday morning and picked up a few things. highlights: lamb & garlic sausages, mango & chilli relish, chicken, spinach & cashew nut ravioli, amazingly fresh watermelon, home made marshmallows {that i am now addicted to and plan on making my own soon} and a beautiful bunch of flowers. sadly it was close to 40 degrees {celsius, that is} and far too hot to be doing anything that involves the outdoors. or moving. i desperately wanted to try some homemade ice cream sandwiches but, alas, the only flavour they had left was chocolate. maybe next time.
today i had a big clean up. finally threw out the bag of shoes that has been sitting at the back of my wardrobe for the last 5 years. i’ve moved house 4 times since i started that bag, and that bag of shoes – those shoes that one day i’m going to take to be re-heeled and then love them forever – always came with me. not anymore. they’re gone. i got rid of handbags, scarves, jewellery {all donated to vinnies, of course} and it feels good. almost cathartic, even.
i’ve also been busy. my sister & i will have a stall at the hills districts’ australia day celebrations this tuesday. if you’re in the area, be sure to come on by and have a look! we’ll also be selling some of our mum’s handbags. i’ve been working on a few new products for the stall, and my favourites are these create & live signs. i’ll have these {plus a few more} on sale as well as all of my cards and paper goods.
i hope your weekend was as fulfilling as mine! it is a shame about monday, though.
Tags: babble, craft, homemade, markets, weekend
#teamconan
Posted by shan | Filed under stuff
i’ve been watching conan since thecomedychannel started airing late night some time in the late ’90s. i’m genuinely very, very sad that his run on nbc has come to an end, but the most disappointing thing about today isn’t just that it’s conan’s last episode of the tonight show – it’s that this whole entire fiasco is coming to an end. late night tv has never been this good.
if you haven’t been following, i highly recommend you check out the recaps on tv.gawker. they’re amazing.
Tags: i'm with coco, teamconan, tv
things i love
Posted by shan | Filed under etsy, me, music, stuff
felicia day, the guild, and jed whedon. all together!
you need to watch the guild.
my dad
father’s day is 6 september in australia and new zealand (and maybe a few other countries as well). i have a couple of father’s day cards for sale in my etsy store.
which is why i’ve re-branded my etsy store, to smallstakes.etsy.com. the name comes from one of my favourite spoon songs, small stakes.
sunshine
which is rather convenient, because spring is most definitely on its way.
Tags: etsy, felicia day, spoon, summer, sunshine, the guild
rain, rain, go away.
Posted by shan | Filed under etsy, me, stuff
how depressing is this?
this is what it looks like from my kitchen window right now:
it has looked like this for most of the last fortnight, and will continue to look like this for most of the next month and beyond.
so, this is where i am:
in front of the heater with my gold sequined peter alexander slippers. ahhhh, bliss.
the only redeeming things is that at least it’s not that cold. it’s cold, but it’s not obscene-cold. we spent the recent long weekend in canberra and it was just absurdly cold.
so, now i shall spend the rest of my weekend cooking. tim has just moved in with me, so we’re getting a weekly food plan sorted. i’m going to make a chicken pasta bake that we can both take for lunch on the days that we don’t have leftovers. and then i’m going to make some toblerone cookies. yum!
Tags: complaints, food, rain
500 days of summer
Posted by shan | Filed under stuff
apologies for my absence of late, i’ve been so busy and had an emergency trip out of town and blah blah blah. but i’m back.
i just bought us tickets to see 500 days of summer at the sydney film festival. i am so excited to see this movie.
zooey deschanel is insanely adorable.
Tags: blah blah blah, movies, sff, zooey
tickle!
Posted by shan | Filed under stuff
this video is completely making my day.
happy easter!
Posted by shan | Filed under stuff
tomorrow, i plan on making this:
i’m willing to bet that it won’t turn out quite that magnificent, but i’ll give it a go. happy easter! may your days be filled with chocolate.
i give in.
Posted by shan | Filed under me, stuff
after craving one for months, i finally caved and got myself an iphone. technically my phone contract isn’t up until august, but i decided i just couldn’t wait any longer. i have to pay out a little bit of money on my current plan, but i think it’s worth it.
i think the final straw came last thursday, when i received a convo on etsy about an urgent custom order while i was at work. i could check my email on my current phone, but couldn’t log into etsy to reply to it. our internet usage at work is heavily monitored, so again i couldn’t log in to reply. the order was for 25 bookmarks, which needed to be in america by april 3, so i would need to send them the next day (friday) to have any real chance of guaranteeing their arrival. so i replied when i got home to clarify some details and check whether they still wanted to proceed, then i didn’t receive a reply until i was at work on the friday that they wanted to go ahead. i was able to quickly duck home inbetween some meetings and pick everything up and get it sent off, but i realised that if i had an iphone i’d have been able to sort it all out on thursday with no problems.
so, i caved. it arrived this morning and i just can’t stop playing with it. best toy ever.
and look! now i can show you photos of things i’m working on with relative ease (ie. no cables. i hate plugging stuff in).
i’m working on a few collage type pieces, and still playing around with exactly what i want to use. i’ve been making a lot of smaller gift tags to include with my orders, and i made these yellow ones late last night. but i love the paper so much, i think i might keep them for a bigger piece that i’m working on.
Tags: craft, in progress, iphone
