The tiffin lunch kit is the best of several worlds: Japanese bento boxes, indian tiffins, and Chinese takeout cartons. It’s compact and adorable and I’m 97.78% sure it will make any meal that much better.

The high today is 74 degrees, and I have visions of windows thrown wide open and bare feet. And these Found Battani Stripe Rugs fit into my mindscape perfectly.

Wowza! Jeweled mixed media installations by Kirsten Hassenfeld that have me wishing my jewelry box were considerably bigger. (via The Jealous Curator)

I don’t know what happened over the weekend, but I went all kinds of domestic. I took care of things that had been neglected for months and I not only bookmarked but bought the ingredients for several recipes to make this week. The first of which is this Slow Cooker Chai-Spice Pear Applesauce. I’m pretty sure that if you put the words “chai-spice” in front of anything I’d eat it. And then I’d have seconds. I love how spicy it turned out, perfect for winter. The bonus of this recipe? Your home will smell insanely delicious.

Slow Cooker Chai-Spice Pear Applesauce
adapted from The Type A Housewife

Ingredients:
• 5 medium apples (I used Granny Smith)
• 5 medium pears (I used Bosc)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 5 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Crushing on this Song Map litho poster from Dorothy. It’s an entire road map created from song titles! There’s even an A-Z key of all of the songs and the artists who sang them. The ultimate gift for the music lover.

I’ve been chugging along with my iPhone 3 for a few years now, and to say it was dragging would be a bit of an understatement. Half of my apps wouldn’t even work on it any longer because the phone couldn’t handle the updates. So last weekend I pulled the trigger and upgraded to the white 4S. And it’s amazing, but you probably already know that. Uncommon was kind enough to send me this case by artist Marco Cibola a few months ago, and I may have been more excited to finally have a phone to put the case on than to actually have the phone! It’s beautiful.

01/ I love the idea of updating jewelry with paint
02/ get ready for spring flowers with these wood + stoneware vases
03/ super smart clothing styling
04/ I’d totally get cozy under this quilt
05/ this app let’s you type + walk safely all at the same time
06/ dying to do a food swap after reading this
07/ our Growing Your Readership panel from Alt – illustrated! 

Aside from my newest role in life as caregiver, I’m also still designing. Last fall I took on a project for the lovely Erin of Salvaged Grace. We’d become friends over Twitter and she was ready for a new logo to go along with her upcoming site redesign. I knew we’d be a good match when she mentioned wanting a type-only mark, my very favorites to design. Here’s what was decided upon ultimately and I couldn’t be happier with it, it’s the perfect mix of fun and lighthearted with vintage. Just what Salvaged Grace is all about.

PHOTO: Pete Barringer In New Orleans, second from right

If you’ve been reading for the past few months then you know that I had to beg a few weeks off from Design Crush in late December and early January. To explain why I have to go back to before I was born.

I grew up living at one end of a row house, at the other end lived a lovely older couple named Pete and Betty Barringer. They quickly took our young family under their wing, Pete teaching me to hit a whiffle ball and Betty letting me play school with her. And soon enough enough they were just like an extra set of grandparents. In fact one year I made them come to my biological grandparents’ house with us for Thanksgiving! Then when I was 15 my parents’ marriage ended and my mom got engaged to their son, Bill. He was recently divorced as well and everything just clicked. So now my “extra” grandparents were becoming my step-grandparents. Not too bad of a deal.

This past December an existing health condition of Betty’s worsened drastically and very suddenly, she passed away January 1, 2012. But that’s only the half of it, because Pete has Alzheimer’s. After the funeral he had to move back to Oklahoma City with my mom and stepdad for the obvious reasons, and my days are now spent watching over him for the time being. He’s not so far a long as to be in a home, but he’s not able to remember enough to care for himself or be left alone either. We’re sort of in the in between right now, and it’s hard knowing it’s only going to get worse.

I won’t lie, some days are really tough. Especially the ones where he talks about going home and you have to explain that this is home now. But other than that there are some great times, too. I get to hear about his time spent as a soldier in World War II and so many other stories I never would have had the opportunity to know. We all really try to laugh, otherwise everyone might breakdown and cry. I know if the tables were turned he’d do the exact same thing for me in a heartbeat.

Have you ever had to take care of a relative when their health failed him? I’d love to hear any words of wisdom or advice you might have.

You just can’t go wrong with Lizzy Stewart’s brand of illustration in my book. Nothing overly precious and the perfect amount of color. Her giclees are my favorite.