all the lovely particulars

A Clementine Weekend

2012-01-31T04:30:00.000-08:00

Good morning everybody! I thought I'd give a quick recap of what I spent my weekend doing.

I came up with a clementine plan of attack after getting a box of clementines and realizing there was no way I could eat them before they died.

So I juiced the whole box, and made a brand new cocktail which I dubbed the Annabel St. George. It just seemed like an Annabel St. George. It had one part gin, two parts clementine juice, one part strawberry-banana juice, and a splash of pineapple and lime. Absolutely delicious.

Then I made meatballs for the first time ever. You can find the absolutely delicious recipe here. It called for chicken, but I used ground beef and it was absolutely delicious.

My only recommendation is to double the cheese called for in the recipe.

Hermione tried on the practice pom pom I made to see if she'd like being a bunny rabbit for a change. (She didn't.)

Morning tea party with toast!

And then I tried what is my new love.

The clementine poppy seed loaf.

How do you capture liquid sunshine and flowers in a dessert?

Make this loaf. And that was that for the weekend! Have a marvelous day everyone!

all this and heaven too

2012-01-30T04:11:00.000-08:00

by Florence and the Machine

I hope everyone has an absolutely beautiful Monday that's warmer than most January Mondays!

Guest Post // Kyte from Life's Little Ironies

2012-01-27T04:40:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! I have a special surprise! Kyte from Life's Little Ironies graciously agreed to write a special guest post for today. Have a lovely weekend!

"There was a cheerful rattle and clink of china. Normality returned. Tea! Blessed ordinary everyday afternoon tea!"

--And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie

Hello, Lovely Particular Readers! Thank you for letting me visit today. <3 My kitty, Irony, was one of the lucky recipients of the catnip mousies which she guards with ferocious attentiveness, along with her two favorite teddy bears.

(photo by Kyte)

She is very stressed these days about the arrival of a new family member--a kitten named Charisma! But as we all know, when the kitty is stressed, everything is a little...on edge. Which brings me to my best stress remedy... a nice cup of tea! Because there really are times when cocktails are not appropriate.

(photo by Anne Taintor)

My mother gave me a Teatime Magazine subscription for Christmas, and it informs me that January is National Tea Month. Everything in my life is conspiring to draw me into the celebration of this delightful beverage - though as an avid tea-drinker can tell you (and will, at length) "tea" is much more than just the murky brown liquid in your cup. Tea is a mentality, a lifestyle even. It is a celebration of all things fine and good in life, such as your nice china your great-grandmother gave you that you never use, or making an Occasion out of a friend visiting, or bringing out the real silver spoons, or a tiny, decadent little you-really-shouldn't-but-oh-how-you-want-to-O-my-stars-that-was- definitely-worth-it goodie, or even just a moment alone, being still, sipping, at peace with the world. Let all the troubles and worries just stand in a row and yip for a few minutes. You need to finish your cup of tea!

(photo by Kyte)

Personally, I have been celebrating with my very favorite chai tea (ok, so it's really more of a latte...) and I've come to realize that the philosophy espoused by these tea fanatics might just have some merit. So whether you prefer black, white, red, green, grey, or herbal, sit down with a nice cup and a friend (or mystery novel) and I guarantee a better day!

Love!

"a funeral crashing dropout with an imaginary friend."

2012-01-26T03:47:00.000-08:00

I missed Restless when it was in theaters, but I thought it looked sweet so am looking forward to seeing it now that it is on DVD!

Because it's that kind of Wednesday

2012-01-25T03:42:00.000-08:00

Before we get to the link roundup, here is Benedict Cumberbatch, the second greatest voice in England (the first being dear Alan Rickman, of course) reading Little Red Hen.

Now didn't that make your Wednesday better?

Here are the links!

As a huge fan of Downton Abbey, I'm secretly very excited for this album to be released!

I love how all our scientific maneuvering still cannot get time completely under control.

The Cool Girl's Guide to Cooking for One.

This slideshow of literary nail art completely astonishes me.

Have a lovely day everybody!

the healthy one

2012-01-24T03:42:00.000-08:00

by Laura Stevenson and the Cans

Just a song for this January Tuesday. I hope everyone has an absolutely lover-ly day!

get back on board!

2012-01-23T03:08:00.000-08:00

The Costa Concordia Get Back on Board Necklace ($20) is a lovely little reminder of how not to fall into rowboats when your ship is sinking.

Hermione Says Hello

2012-01-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

"Omg. What a mess, mom."

"I really don't know what could have happened here."

"I've been quite busy keeping Mr. Scratchy Pole in line this entire time."

"But I must admit this adds a certain flair to the decorations!"

pillow talk

2012-01-19T03:47:00.000-08:00

by Wild Child

So pretty and lovely!

Wednesday Roundup of Happiness

2012-01-18T04:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone rants about Mondays, but I feel that Wednesdays can be the bleakest days. So in order to change that, here are a few links I found during the past week that cheered up the day!

I just love this minimal movie poster for what may well be the best television series ever.

Most unique bird feeder design ever.

According to the New York Times furniture is growing. J ean-Francois Fortou goes to extraordinary lengths to show this in this clever photo series.

Fingerless Mittens with Owls on them? Yes please!

And finally, the Five Best Shoes for Travelling.

Have a lovely Wednesday, everybody!

Catnip Mousies

2012-01-17T03:30:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break I kept myself busy knitting catnip mousies for all of Hermione's kitty cat friends. This was met with mostly approval by all cats. Except for Hermione, (who ignores hers until someone else picks it up and then how dare they touch her toy!)

Caspian the Bengal playing with his mouse

(photo by Vicki)

Irony the Supreme playing with her mouse

(photo by Kyte)

Cartman the Handsome Marmalade Cat playing with his mouse

(photos by Anthony)

Hermione the Magnificat ignoring her mouse which is all but buried under her new obsession (paper!)

Zom-Body to Love

2012-01-16T04:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my friend A came over and brought her new nail polish. I decided to use her new green OPI on my toes and didn't think much more about it till I got up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water and noticed on my way back to bed that my toes were glowing. It is mildly disconcerting to discover your toes are glowing at four in the morning, but now that I am awake and have done my research I rather think that I like it. So, if you too would like this interesting experience, by all means invest in OPI's Zom-Body to Love ($10) to brighten up your nocturnal wanderings!

moonrise kingdom

2012-01-13T03:26:00.000-08:00

(via)

It seems like its been ages since Wes Anderson released The Fantastic Mr. Fox, so imagine my happiness when I stumbled upon a trailer for his latest film, Moonrise Kingdom! Anderson newcomers like Bruce Willis and Edward Norton have been thrown together with familiar faces like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzmann to create a film that looks absolutely perfect.

The Penelope Wristlet

2012-01-12T04:01:00.001-08:00

I think everyone can agree that a wristlet may be the best invention ever, making it easy and fun to carry things about with you. But the Penelope Wristlet ($48) knocks it out of the park with its cheery red color and friendly little robot!

two sided sleep mask

2012-01-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

As I was flying back and forth for the holidays I realized that the whole closing-your-eyes-thing works great until you realize you really needed a drink of water of a snack of peanuts. So the Two Sided Sleep Mask ($20) is the perfect traveling accessory to block out your annoying neighbors or insure that you will not miss any meals. It's like having your cake and eating it too!

Titanic

2012-01-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

If you've been here for any amount of time I am sure you know of my obsession with Downton Abbey, so imagine my delight and surprise when I found out Julian Fellowes (brilliant writer extraordinaire) was writing a series about the Titanic?

And it looks simply marvelous!

Monday Monday

2012-01-09T03:46:00.000-08:00

(Hermione doesn't like to wake up after mid-morning naps)

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Mine involved Firefly with my friend Ashley

(image via Firefly)

where we had the most lovely mimosas

and the best egg BLTs I have ever had.

Then we went to Caribou Coffee to get drinks to smuggle in to the movies (it was dark inside our purses so no photographs :( )

Where we saw Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (which was crazy and mind-bending even though I almost fell asleep due to the mimosas)

How was your weekend???

good morning

2012-01-06T03:59:00.000-08:00

lovely readers! I am

so very sorry for my prolonged absence. What happened? A world of things, capping off with a holiday vacation that was absolutely loverly, and now back to real life. Things will be back to normal around here. But for now, I shall leave you with an impromptu mix cd that I made for my friend Emses to cheer her up. (I promise I shall send it soon Ems!)

Yours to Keep by the Teddybears

The Puppy Song by Harry Nilsson

Strawberry Fields covered by Ben Harper

Dance Anthem of the 80's by Regina Spektor

Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love by Coldplay

See you Monday!

downton abbey preview!

2011-12-08T04:34:00.001-08:00

In case you weren't excited about Downton Abbey coming back to the US!

Sleigh Ride

2011-12-06T04:24:00.000-08:00

by She and Him

I think this might be my favorite song from their Christmas album!

good morning!

2011-12-05T04:25:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and are ready to face the work week! I had my two brunches, got stuck in the Scottish Parade that apparently takes place every year in Old Town Alexandria, visited Mount Vernon, visited the Archives, and still managed to cram in time to take a nap! Here are some of the pictures from this weekend!

Mount Vernon in Gingerbread

The Most Amazing Waffles Ever (But I was good and ordered Eggs Benedict)

David McCullough has said that Mount Vernon is the autobiography that George Washington never wrote.

I rather think he is right!

Hermione looking pensive.

Liberty, the Turkey Obama pardoned, now living in captivity.

Apparently Aladdin the Camel is a Mount Vernon Tradition.

He was the friendliest camel I've ever seen.

And just a HINT of a blog post for later this week of the waffles I did eat. Waffles with Blackberry Butter and Maple Syrup Air on top!

Wild Honey

2011-12-02T04:16:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! We made it to the end of another week! Do you have any fun plans? It looks as if I shall be going to brunch twice, visiting Mount Vernon, and doing other fun and exciting things like sleeping. I hope everyone has a lovely Friday!

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2011-12-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

I have been on a crazy spate of quirky British films of late, and in my random internet wanderings discovered only last night that they were making a film called the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. What can be better than the title? Only that Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Penelope Wilton are all going to be in it. Be still my little Anglophile heart!

blue christmas

2011-11-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

Things have been so crazy that I just have time for a quick song before I pop out the door. Have a lovely day everyone!

my week with marilyn

2011-11-29T03:59:00.000-08:00

Ever since I first heard of this movie I knew it was going to be on my must see list of fall 2011.