exit, pursued by bear

crazy on you.

This past Sunday, the hubs and I saw The Decemberists at the Pageant. It was my anniversary gift to him: first anniversary = paper = concert tickets! It was a great early anniversary evening, although we were slightly bummed that they didn't play our favorite song.

I didn't see the Decemberists last time they played the pageant, although I do, unashamedly, have the gig poster from that evening:

{poster by Vahalla Studios}

I think I had tickets to that show, but was unable to attend for some reason, and this justifies my strict gig poster owning policy ... I did see them in 2005, at Mississippi Nights -- I randomly even still have that ticket stub in my wallet:

They played a great show that night -- when they played "The Mariner's Revenge Song," they brought out all of these great, seafaring-related props. It was fantastic.

Sunday night's show also rocked. Blind Pilot opened -- they were fabulous -- even hung around after their set and signed merchandise, including my copy of their album:

I feel like I just geeked myself out there by sharing that, but what can I say: I was excited! They were INCREDIBLY nice. They'll be in town in August, playing Off Broadway if you want to check them out.

The Decemberists show was, of course, awesome -- the first set was comprised of music from their latest album, "The Hazards of Love;" the second set featured music from previous releases and an AMAZING cover of Heart's "Crazy On You," thanks to the killer vocals of Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond) and Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond). As Annie Zaleski notes in the RFT's A-Z blog, they DESTROYED this song:

Oh, and were you looking for crappy camera phone photos of the show, just like last time? Well, I aim to please:

{Blind Pilot, taken by yours truly}

{The Decemberists}

Need more?

• Slideshow here.
• More photos here
• Riverfront Times blog "A to Z" concert review here.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch concert review.
• P-D blog "Rock Candy" pre-concert post on Blind Pilot.

Set list, via A-Z:

The Hazards of Love
Prelude
The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
A Bower Scene
Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
The Queen's Approach
Isn't it a Lovely Night?
The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
An Interlude
The Rake's Song
The Abduction of Margaret
The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing
Annan Water
Margaret in Captivity
The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

Set Two:
"Grace Cathedral Hill"
"We Both Go Down Together"
"Culling of the Fold"
"Sleepless"
"July, July"
"Dracula's Daughter" > "O Valencia!"
"16 Military Wives"
"Crazy On You" (Heart)

Encore:
"Shankill Butchers"
"A Cautionary Song" + 'Spirit of Saint Louis' re-enactment by "The Decemberists Family Players" (in a word: awesome).

eight arms to hold you.

I think these earrings are fab -- wouldn't they be fun to wear this summer?

{"Octopus Earrings" from Anthropologie: $268}

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day!

stick your neck out.

I'm a little late to the game on this one, but I just love this giraffe lamp from Jonathan Adler:

{photo via jonathanadler.com; giraffe lamp: $395}

Sconces are pretty cute, too.

fair shares, week 5.

Here's what was included this week for our group from Fair Shares:

• American Grassfed Beef-Stew Meat
• Herbs en Route Parsley
• Biver Farms Kale
• Yellow Wood Mustard Greens
• Dry Dock Lettuce
• Yellow Dog or Scharf Asparagus (not sure which farm it came from)
• Mangia Pasta Whole Wheat Radiattore
• Heartland Methuselah
• Tessa's Peanut Butter or Lee Sweet Potatoes (I opted for the yummy looking peanut butter)
• Lee/Hilty Roma Tomatoes
• Companion Miller's 5 Grain

Here's a picture I took of our share. And just one more reminder, if you go to my CSA Flickr set, I have notes on some of the pictures, identifying what's what:

So excited to get that asparagus -- I was beginning to think we might never get any!! Oh, and the vase on the right has some of the lovely pink roses from our garden. I just love this time of year :o)

From last time, we didn't get through the Swiss chard, so I'm determined to finish off the mustard greens and kale quickly, so that doesn't happen again. I really don't want anything to go to waste. We did make a pasta dish with the chorizo, which was great - since we were able to use the mushrooms, chorizo, fresh angel hair pasta ... I served it with a big salad made from the greens and the rosemary slipper bread, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was a great dinner.

Last night I made some salmon fillets, cooked the asparagus and served it along side some yellow saffron rice. We also had some slices of the fresh bread. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying the fabulous meals were getting from our CSA!

From this share, I think I'm going to make some homemade pasta sauce with those canned tomatoes, and use the fresh radiattore. I still have some mozzarella, so I may make a little tomato, basil, mozzarella salad to go with it.

Still need to find a recipe for the ground lamb and will need to come up with something for the stew meat. But I'm excited about trying new things!!

madsen cycles.

think I could train Norman and Louis to not jump out the back? ;o)

think of everything you could put in that bucket! groceries, picnic items, sports equipment, menacing French Bulldogs! Even kids, apparently!

the price tag ($1200) is definitely out of reach for me, but Madsen is sponsoring a contest and you can win one of their cargo bikes! Click here to find out how you can win!

satchel!

Satchel. It's such a great word. Reminds me of a scene from Psych ... here's where I would show a clip from the episode "Bounty Hunters," but alas, I have been foiled in my attempts to find said video. Here's a transcript outlining the relevant repartee, but it probably/definitely loses something in the translation:

Shawn Spencer: Is this a briefcase or an attaché?
Burton 'Gus' Guster: I think it's a briefcase. Attachés have a softer shell.
Shawn Spencer: Really? That's all that differentiates them, a softer shell?
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Well, "attaché" does have a better ring to it.
Shawn Spencer: Let's go with attaché.
...
Shawn Spencer: Attaché sounds pretentious, dude.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Well, it could be the way you're saying it.
Shawn Spencer: You say it.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Attaché.
...
Carlton Lassiter: [to Byrd] Hand over the satchel.
Shawn Spencer: Ooh, satchel! I didn't think of that one.

ANYWAY ... since I'm probably the only one that watches that show, let's move on.

As I have mentioned here ad infinitum, we are  going to England next month for two weeks. We'll be in London for a few days, then we'll take the train up north to visit my grandparents (and meet up with my parents) for the remainder of the trip. Very, very excited.

Over the past few months I've been trying to get everything together, so we're not running around at the last minute. This also helps in sort of spreading the cost of things - that way we're not having to spend oodles of money right before we depart.

I've been wanting to get the hubs a leather messenger bag that he can use on the trip: something that would serve as a carry-on, but also would be manageable enough to use as sort of a "day pack" when we were out and about: i.e. something large enough to carry our DSLR camera if I didn't feel like carrying it ;o)

Because I thought he'd use it during our trip, we didn't want anything too bulky or wide. Banana Republic had a great "camera bag" that I thought might work -- but I wasn't sure about the the closure on it. Plus, when I inspected it in the store, there were no inner organization pockets - nothing for pens or his iPod/iPhone. And it was a little on the small size -- which was veering into "manpurse" territory.

Their messsenger bag, on the other hand, was a little too big -- specifically, too wide. Plus, it suffered from that irritating habit of online store: no pictures of the inside of the bag. This frustrates the heck out of me when I'm trying to buy a purse for myself. I did look at the interior of this one in the store as well, but I have no memory of what I found. I think there was a similar lack of interior organizational pockets. Not to mention it was just too expensive.

Finally, after much searching, I came across this one from Fossil:

{"Fossil Messenger - Mason" via Amazon}

It's a vertical messenger, which is perfect, since the majority of it's capacity comes from its height rather than its width/length. It's tall enough to fit my 17" laptop when inserted vertically - but when I tried it on, it's not wider than my butt, which is perfect - I didn't test it on the hubs' butt - but I would imagine similar results, since his is pretty cute ... ;o)

And while Amazon didn't have extra pictures, eBags did, plus helpful descriptions noting "organizational pockets." The price was still probably more than I would normally pay, however we have a bunch of Amazon gift certificates from our rewards credit card, so we were able to get this and actually a bunch of other items for free, which is always preferable.

The leather is really nice and soft -- the interior is lined and there's space for a cell phone, electronics, an ID, you name it -- plus a couple of zippered pockets.

So, we're both pretty happy with this. I think it would make a nice briefcase, too -- or should I say attaché?

EDITED TO ADD:

Whoops! Almost forgot to mention my favorite satchel: Satchel Pooch from Get Fuzzy:

fair shares, week 3.

Yesterday was the week 3 pickup for our CSA with Fair Shares. We alternate with another couple, so this was only our second share. Here's what was included for our group this week:

• Prairie Grass Ground Lamb
• Herbs en Route Sage
• Ozark Forest Fresh Mushrooms
• Claverach Radish Shoots
• Yellow Wood Swiss Chard
• Yellow Dog Lettuce Mix
• Mangia Angel Hair Pasta
• Trillium Farm Goat Mozzarella
• Mississippi Mud Coffee
• Companion Bread (choice between Rosemary Slipper and Rustic Olive - I opted for the Rosemary)

I also picked up a jar of Gringo Salsa (Hot!) and San Luis Tortilla Chips - both were delicious. There are always a lot of "extras" that you can buy in addition to the contents of your share. The CSA coordinators keep a running tally of what you pickup then bill you at the end of the month, which is really handy. You can also swap/trade for items that you don't want or like, but I haven't needed to do that yet :o)

I don't think I mentioned this in my previous CSA post, but the first week I also picked up a jar of locally made Apple Cider Vinegar - I sprinkle it over our dogs' food at each meal (it has lots of health benefits for dogs - well, and humans, too!).

Here's a picture I took of our share. And just another reminder, if you go to my CSA Flickr set, I have notes on some of the pictures, identifying what's what:

From our previous share, we still have the chorizo sausage left - which I froze. We got through most of the greens and the mushrooms (delish.) - we still have some chevre left, but I think it still should be good. Oh, and most of the eggs, but I'm sure I'll use those up soon. I made a pasta dish last week with the Swiss chard ribs and the mushrooms, it was amazing.

Honestly, I was worried about the volume of food - but as of now, it's pretty manageable. I'm sure as we progress into the summer and fall harvesting seasons, the amount will increase - but for now I'm very comfortable - it doesn't feel like too much for two people.

Oh, and if you're curious, here's what was included in our group's share last week - this is what our share partner took home (hope we get some asparagus soon!):

• American Grassfed Beef-Ground
• Herbs en Route Spearmint
• Claverach Sunflower Shoots
• Theis Family Farm Spinach
• Yellow Dog Lettuce Mix
• Scharf Asparagus
• Heartland Legacy Cheese
• MO Grain Project Flour
• River Hills Poultry Alliance Eggs
• Lee Farm Sweet Potatoes or
• Martin Long Grain Rice
• Jasbo’s Salsa
• San Luis Tortilla Chips
• Companion Multi Grain Rolls

Tonight I think I'm going to make angel hair pasta with chorizo and mushrooms. I took the sausage out the thaw last night, so it should be ready for dinner this evening. I'll make a big salad, too - and serve it with the rosemary slipper bread (isn't that a great name?). Maybe a little fresh mozzarella on top?

Just need to find a good way to use the radish shoots and the ground lamb ... I'm thinking of maybe some sort of Greek dish for the lamb, but not sure yet.

Exciting! :o)

happy friday!

¿Luchador pugs? Sí.

I present to you: ¡Las Pugs Enmascaradas!

{photo from mad organica}

Hat tip to one of my French Bulldog e-mail list members for sending this around. Pugs do seem to have more fun, lol. Read all about the alter egos of Lupe and Carmen here.

fair shares.

This past Wednesday was a great day: my husband's birthday (yay!), Earth Day and the first day of our CSA season!

I've been wanting to join a CSA for a few years now - and the philosophy and approach of Fair Shares, which is a combined CSA, was definitely appealing to me. I've been hesitant about the cost (paying up front) and the amount of food we might end up with for two people, which kept me from joining last year. Plus, they had a waiting list for membership last season.

But this year, I decided to get more serious about eating locally and seasonally - so I joined the Fair Shares waiting list and found out about month later that I had a spot. Shortly after that, someone offered to split our share - we'll be alternating weeks - which would save us money and alleviate my worries about dealing with too much produce. Success!

So, after work on Wednesday I went to pick up our first share. My group received the following:

• Hinkebein Hills Chorizo
• Herbs en Route Thyme
• Ozark Forest Fresh Mushrooms
• Wildcard Greens Choice X 2 (I selected Swiss chard and a lettuce mix)
• Dry Dock Farm Lettuce Mix (lots of greens this week!)
• Salume Beddu Mostarda (mostarda is like a lovely Italian chutney)
• Heartland Fresh Chevre
• River Hills Poultry Alliance Eggs
• Marble Creek Maple Syrup
• Black Bear Bakery Bagels (3 varieties, 2 of each)

Here's a picture I took of our share. If you go to my CSA Flickr set, I have notes on some of the pictures, identifying what's what:

Especially excited about those mushrooms. And the chorizo! And the mostarda sounds delicious! Well, let's be honest, I'm excited about it all! The bagels from Black Bear have been wonderful. I'm definitely looking forward to our bi-weekly shares.

Anyone else CSA-ing?

these remind me of high school ...

... and I kind of want a pair:

{"Dr. Martens '5026' Mary Jane Flat" from Macy's}

Doc Martens and plaid, uniform skirts look great together, in case you were curious.