emmiebean

Spring has Sprung!

 

Spring is finally here! Hooray! It's going to be 90 degrees out in sunny Santa Barbara today, and I plan to celebrate it with a little gardening. I have a new jasmine and a few new tomato plants that are eager to get in the dirt.

How are you spending your day?

Spring Seeds

So as most of you know by now, Dana and I just got engaged after nine years together. Hooray!

And planning a D.I.Y. wedding is just as fun as I thought it would be. As if planning one big party couldn't be fun. It's also been surprisingly easy so far, knock on wood. I guess it doesn't hurt that I scour about six adorable wedding blogs daily (Once Wed is one of my favs!) and have been saving clippings like some sort of digital hoarder for a while now. Somebody is going to have to stage an intervention soon. 

As our plans roll steadily along, I thought I would take a little break from wedding OCD for a second and brainstorm some of of the plants I'd like to grow this year. So far a herd of little radish leaves are peaking up in the backyard. Neither Dana or I like radishes, but the bunny does, and let's be honest, the pets pretty much rule the roost around here. I'd also like to focus more on herbs this year, as my garden was over-run with all kinds of lettuce that we didn't eat last year, and it seems like we use herbs in pretty much every meal in some form or another.

 

I also have plans to put some poppy seeds in the ground over the next week. I figured I could use some of the coral and blush-colored blooms in my bouquet this summer. <-- See, an intervention is definitely needed!

Are any of you planning on continuing or starting your own gardens in 2011? What are you planting?

Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring... Banana Bread!

What do you do when you have a bunch of spotted bananas in the fruit bowl that are just a little too ripe to eat? Make banana bread!

That's just what I did this afternoon in between wedding planning and etsy workin'. This recipe is SO easy and yields delicious results.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

I Love Olive Manna

It's official. I am manic over Olive Manna. This sweet papergoods and packaging shop makes me swoon. It's amazing I haven't purchased everything in their cute online shop for my own new Etsy shop, DearEmmie (coming soon!!)

Check out some of these pics, and I'm sure you will be equally smitten with Olive Manna's simple and elegant products.

Customizable Pencils

Pretty Tweed Ribbons

Enjoy Stamp

Mini Clothespins. Cute!

Vote for Us!!

Hello lovelies! :) Please vote for Dana and I here, and we could win free wedding photography from ep love for our wedding!! All you have to do is leave a comment before this Friday, and your comment will count as one vote! Hooray! Tell your friends and co-workers too.

On the contest page there's also a little story about how we met, plus the inspiration for our wedding. Yahoo!

I'm Not Dead!

 

Sorry to all my lovely friends and family who have called me over the last week only to find me M.I.A.! I've been racing around trying to get my newest venture, DearEmmie off the ground! And I am pleased to announce, today was the official opening of the new shop!! Hooray! 

As many of you know, the idea to start a new paper goods shop has been in the making for a while. A lot of careful planning and creating went into making it happen, and as of today, all of the DearEmmie ducks finally got into a row :)

More prints will go up in the shop over the next week, but for now, I will leave you with the first three prints to make a debut:

And a special thanks to Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros for letting me use their sweet and poignant lyrics from the song "Home." For those of you who aren't familiar with their music, they are some talented folks. Also, they put on a mean mean live show.

Cheers!

Je n'aime pas la pluie

Rain, rain go away.

I have a newfound respect for people who live in rainy climates after these past few weeks of rain in Santa Barbara. I find myself starting to go stir crazy when I can't go outside and do the daily things I usually do- gardening, taking long walks, going for a run. Oh how I miss you, sunny weather. At least the cat is happy that she has a warm lap to sit on now that I am stuck doing indoor activities like reading and watching shows on dvd.

The New Year is Approaching

Though it may not look a whole lot like this in sunny Santa Barbara, it still feels wintry and cozy at Bear Cat Manor. I can't believe 2011 is right around the corner...

Giving Thanks

I am sorry I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, dear EmmieBean readers. As you etsy sellers know, this is the busiest time of the year, and rightfully so, as we are all hunkering down in our workshops, trying to turn out gifts that our customers can give with—hopefully—a bit of pride. 

I am very sleepy from a long work-filled weekend, but I thought I'd take a few moments to reflect on what I'm thankful for, since that's what people do this time of year.

I'm so so thankful for my partner of nine years, who's a constant source of goodness, and who makes me laugh at least once a day until my stomach hurts. I do not exaggerate when I say, you are the best one. I'm thankful for my great group of friends, my lovely big family, and my furry companions Emma + Mini.

I'm thankful that I get to do something I love, something that keeps me stimulated and fulfilled, and allows me to have genuine and heartfelt interactions with complete strangers from all over the world.

And I'm thankful that I have entered the happiest time of my life thus far. I have never felt more aware of who I am or what I want, more content, or had a bigger feeling of security and stability (which is ironic since, besides teaching, I am completely self-employed). Who woulda thunk it?

But yes, I hope you are all finding huge amounts of happiness in your own lives, and that 2011 will be even better than 2010. I'd love to hear what you are all thankful for, so please leave a comment :)

Happy holidays, dear readers.

Ancient Nature

Check out these gorgeous photos from the Anthropologist Blog. Proprietor Håkan Strotz hand-built this charming little retreat in Sweden, and it is as darling and rustic as retreats come. When can I move in?