Friday Round-up

Each Friday, one of us does a little round-up of stuff that has stuck in the brain this week.  Kind of like an ear-wig, but with stuff.  Ear-wigs are okay, too.  It's not always sewing related.  

cover images from Makeshift

This season's issue of MakeShift arrived today.  I don't remember how I came upon this magazine, but I really love it.  It's kind of like academia-lite.  Each issue takes a theme and contributors address it as they see it.  The result is fascinating and the kind of thinking and observing that makes me remember why I enjoyed academia   Of course, there is a bit of a 'Damn-the-Man' feeling about it, and the hippy child in me just can't pass that up.  

My mum recommended this book last year.  I read it then and liked it.  I'm reading it again and loving it.  I don't know why it's better this time through.  Maybe I'm in a different head space or maybe, as I already know how it flows, I can concentrate on the details and the humor.  I don't remember laughing this much last time I read it.  Here's one of my favorite lines, or at least one that made me laugh out loud for an extended moment.

"I tried pregnancy yoga once. Pregnancy yoga is not yoga.  It is nice ladies laying on the floor in a sunny room, farting.  I refused to go again.  I had my pride."

 It's not really about yoga, except that it is a bit.  You'll understand when you read it.  

Last weekend, after only a day of Olympic* coverage, I switched over to a marathon session of Nigella Express on the Food Network.  As a result, this week we have been eating, almost exclusively, from this cookbook.  It's great and gross all at the same time.  The recipes really are under 30 minutes from first cut to first forkful, which is amazing.  However, they are also incredibly rich, which is Nigella's way.  I love her for it, but the food coma that sets in almost immediately makes doing the dishes even more torturous than usual.

Photo by Ariele Alasko
from her blog, Brooklyn to West

 Saving perhaps the best for last.  I'm not sure how I found Ariele's blog but I have been obsessed ever since.  Maybe it's because we share a name or maybe because she has a way with photos or maybe because her stuff is just so damn good.  I could look at these tables for hours.  But I also love that she uses found materials and just goes where they take her.  Since I first scoured her archives I have been trying to convince Pete to take up woodworking and make us some cool shit.  I guess I could take it up, but I've got my quilting.  (Which I finally started on and it was AWESOME!!!)



Those are my offerings for the weekend.  Go forth. Read. Cook. Make.





*For the record, I LOVED the opening ceremony.  I share An Unfound Door's thoughts on the matter and add that the bit with Bond and the Queen might mark my favorite bit of TV this year.  All of which just proves I am becoming more and more British the longer I stay here.