LIFEFLIX

Thai-Inspired

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:59:00 +0000

You guys HAVE to try this.

PS. Don't make the same mistake, please wear gloves when dealing with the peppers!

Cheap & Easy

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:39:00 +0000

... no, not like that.

Creamy Pasta with Ham & Broccoli

I made this for the second time last night and I'm officially addicted (another Everyday Foods Recipe).

Ingredients: Roasted Broccoli - 1 crown, Cream Cheese - 8oz (room temp), Deli Ham

Roast Broccoli: lightly coat florets with olive oil, season well with salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated 425F degree oven. After 8 minutes, turn the florets and roast for another 8 minutes. Use a big enough baking tray so the florets have plenty of room.

In the meantime... boil water for the pasta and cut up some ham (the sandwich kind) - I used about 1/4 lb. Don't forget to take out the cream cheese.

Cook 1/2 to 3/4 package of egg noodles (good for 2 servings). Drain pasta but reserve 1-2 cups of the water. Dump the cream cheese into the pot you just used for the pasta, slowly thin it out with 1/2 cup of the reserved water, add the cooked pasta and continue mixing. If the "sauce" is still too thick, just keep adding more of the pasta water. Mix in the broccoli and you're done!

(totally optional but I add a pinch of Cayenne pepper at the very end)

Magic Meals

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:29:00 +0000

I love a recipe that takes no time to prep and basically cooks itself (kinda makes me feel guilty for ordering in sometimes). Prime example - Roasted Chicken with potatoes, red onions, lemon, thyme, balsamic and olive oil. You just chop up new potatoes, onions and lemons in quarters, throw in some sprigs of thyme, season well with salt & pepper, drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar (make sure everything is nice coated) and voila, a satisfying meal in no time!

Nice Package Tutorial Time!

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Head on over to www.shopnicepackage.com for the free tag download more details!

Finding your worth

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:33:00 +0000

I've had to raise my wunderlust prices again! I'm also slowly realizing that it's impossible for me to continue offering my products at wholesale, unless I hike my prices even higher or cut my production time in half.

Working on Nice Package for the past month has been an eyeopener for me - Ez and I have quickly adapted to what we refer to as "check the document", recently nicknamed "spready". One thing that I can thank corporate America for is my love/hate relationship with spreadsheets (Excel or in our case google docs spreadsheet). Spready is a spreadsheet that I created, it tracks all of our ideas (good and bad) and lets us know whether we can go ahead and produce the item at a decent return. It tracks things like our total cost of investment (supplies + labor) and by figuring out the cost of producing one unit we're able to play with different pricing situations to figure out the balance between making money and what we think our market can bear. Don't forget to consider Paypal, Etsy fees and other marketing fees when figuring out your markup %. I think lots of creatives out there (us included) are so busy dreaming up the next big thing or have this how-can-we-make-this-even-cuter-so-our-customers-go-ape-shit mentality, but then fall short in analyzing the actual time that goes into cute-output. Spready is sort of that annoying finance guy in your office that says "NO, absolutely not!". BS (Before Spready) we've honestly had to abort production on several kick-ass ideas that were almost completed after realizing that we'd have to charge an obscene amount of money in order to cover our supplies cost and that's not even including labor.

I'm proud to say that nothing gets produced under our brand unless it's gone through mr. spreads. We certainly learned this the hard way (AND still leaning!). I hope more and more artists/creatives start taking the time to analyze their production process and pricing scheme. Nothing makes me sadder than seeing under-priced items on Etsy and other online markets, not only is it detrimental to the artist/designer but also undervalues the perception of indie products as a whole.

I found this great primer Pricing your Handmade Goods - hope you find it useful as well!

Related Lifeflix posts:
How to: Price your Craft
How to: Retail Pricing

Risotto Cakes - great for a hangover

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Happy Friday!
So here's what you can make with the leftover risotto! The best part, the cheesy middle!! Roll leftover risotto into balls (a little smaller than a tennis ball), insert a cube of mozzarella cheese, then flatten into patties (make sure cheese is covered), dredge in flour, stick in the fridge for 15 mins, then re-dredge in flour and fry it up. Served with arugula and oven roasted grape tomatoes with thyme!

Hope you guys have a great weekend - we'll be raking up leaves, handing out candy and getting a head start with prepping for my family's arrival!! (my sister Ces & brother Tom will be spending Thanksgiving with us!!)

A perfect day for...

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:57:00 +0000

It's another cold, wet and soggy day over here. I'm in the mood for something comforting like this Risotto dish I made last week. You know what's great about this dish? You can make yummy golden brown risotta cakes with the leftovers (pics tomorrow!)

I'll be sewing up my new garlands then heading out for a quick haircut. Nothing fun I'm afraid, just a good ol' trim - my hair is so gross right now, we're talking MAJOR split ends.

In progress...

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:23:00 +0000

I had a day off yesterday and I finally forced myself to work on a few new color palettes for my wunderlust buntings!! It's not so much that I haven't had a second to work on my own line, it's just been really challenging to shut off my "nice package" brain. It's been hard for me to switch gears and it's something that I'm trying to work out (hopefully soon!)

I also stopped by Home Depot and picked up a couple of cans of spray paint and repainted two random chairs that I haven't been happy with for the past year (one of them has already been painted twice). I left them in the garage over night, I didn't realize it was going to rain today so I hope they're doing alright out there.

Still Cooking

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Happy Monday.

Just wanted to say thank you again to my friends for taking me out on Saturday for a belated bday celebration - you guys are the best!

I'm in SO much pain right now, Hillsy and I decided to move on to level 2 (J. Michaels DVD) and man did it kick our butts. Since we haven't done the DVD in the longest time, we decided to start at the very beginning - Level 1. It took us about 2 weeks until we felt it was time to graduate to 2.

I'm also happy to report that I'm still cooking up a storm. I tried another recipe from my new fave mag - Stove-top Mac and Cheese. Basic bechamel/cheddar cheese sauce+ onions + worcestershire + dijon mustard + cayenne pepper. Yumm. (now you know why I exercise)

Spinach & Bacon Frittata

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Spinach & Bacon Frittata

Things I would change the next time around....
- cut the spinach leaves a little smaller and maybe use less (one bag was waaay too much)
- add 1 or 2 more strips of bacon :)

Seared Salmon + Yummy Green Sauce

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:16:00 +0000

I did really well last week - 7 days of homecooked meals!
I'm officially in love with the Everyday Food Magazine! It's helped me transition back into cooking easy and simple to make GOOD food. The best part is that most of the ingredients are simple and easy to find (most I already have). Not like Gourmet Mag (RIP), where you end up feeling like you need to book travel tix to a faraway land so you can pick up an exotic spice or two - basically feeling like you don't get to travel enough and end up hating what appears to be a mundane non-gourmet kinda life...

By the way, this is my new favorite way of cooking potatoes (so freakin' good).

Recipe used: Seared Fish with Crispy Potatoes + Green Sauce

Pizza Friday & RR Weekend

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Hope you had a nice weekend!! Hillsy and I finally had a nice and quiet full weekend. Whipped up some pizza (mmmm), finally saw Michael Moore's latest documentary (good!) and simply relaxed.

Marinated Chicken with Cucumber-Mint Salad

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:30:00 +0000

We loved this sooooo much even if our entire house still smells of onions 24 hours later. I used Nan bread, I love how it's a little bit more doughy & chewy than pita bread.

I got this recipe from last month's Everyday Foods Mag and I'm so glad it's up on their website (Marinated Chicken with Cucumber Mint Salad). I'm not sure whether or not you were supposed to do it this way, but I removed the onions from the pan once they caramelized and added a little bit more oil to the pan. I then cooked the chicken and a minute before they were done, I added the onions back into the pan. I wanted to get the little bits off of the bottom of the pan, so I finished it off by adding a tablespoon of water and carefully scrubbed the bottom of the pan to get the extra "flavor".

Open for Biz

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Gettin' Back on Track

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:45:00 +0000

I spent the rest of the weekend recuperating from the unbelievably hectic schedule that Ez and I have been on this past month and a half. I was scheduled to go on a little break but given the circumstances, it had to be canceled for obvious reasons. So how did it go this Saturday? It didn't go as well as we had hoped but there were a ton of takeaways from the experience and I definitely don't regret doing it. Thank you to all of our friends who stopped by in person and in spirit! Unfortunately the weather wasn't too cooperative - it was showering most of the morning and then there was the wind. It was so freakin' windy we kept having to hold our tent + products down. Thank goodness we had a couple of friends on hand to help us out. Stuff kept flying off of our table (not in a good way!), it was definitely a nutty day. We'll be posting more about it on the Nice Package blog later today.

Both Ez and I started to feel sick once we got home from the market. I guess we've both been fighting something for the past couple of weeks but have been working like dogs and wouldn't allow ourselves to get sick, until of course it was all over. So we're taking several days off this week, trying to get back to 100%. We still need to launch the shop, post tutorials, reach out to bloggers etc etc. - so there's definitely still a ton to do.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get my life back on track. My non-Nice Package life that is. The house is a mess, I haven't cooked a real meal in god knows how long and my own brand Wunderlust has taken a back-seat to everything else. Poor Hillsy has been so supportive of everything, but I'm sure a part of him was semi-relieved to spend a normal weekend at our home. So this week, I'm attempting to do a better job at balancing. We finally did our groceries yesterday (Hillsy has been doing it on his own for the past couple of weeks), this week's menu is set - thanks to Everyday Foods Mag (Ez gave me a subscription for my birthday) and I spent an hour this morning prepping all of the ingredients for the week. I'm going to tidy up NP headquarters (dining room) and get working on a few Wunderlust items.

Wishin' & Hopin'

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:41:00 +0000

I've been on weather watch since last week. We've been working our butts of so we could join Deb at the Brooklyn Flea tomorrow, but if it rains it's a definite no go for us. It's a rain or shine venue but since most of our goods are paper-based, it would not be wise for us to go - the potential nightmare just doesn't seem worth it. C'mon rain, please give us a break!!

Need: An extra tall pint of beer

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:16:00 +0000

This month has been such a whirlwind and keeping it all under wraps has been so hard! I'm so happy to finally share a preview of what me and my friend (and new biz partner) Ez have been up to!!! So give us a peek, would love to know what y'all think! Everything will be available for sale next week. If you're in the Brooklyn and NYC area, we'll be sharing a table with Deb of Bonbon Oiseau at the Fort Greene Brooklyn Flea on Saturday (if it doesn't rain that is!)

More details tomorrow, I gotta go run and get that pint!

In Love (again)

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:58:00 +0000

I can't get these boots outta my head (especially the ones on the right) even with their $348 price tag. Help!! Can all size 37 readers please buy them out, so I can be put out of my misery.

Images: Free People (left)

Best Boyfriend E-V-E-R

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Hi gang! I'm officially 33 woot woot!

I also wanted to let everyone know that I officially have THE best boyfriend in the universe. You know how my mom was in town right? Well, she decided to invite my aunts and cousins over for a little bday celeb yesterday and although Hillsy already had "secret" plans for us - we decided that since she's hardly around it wouldn't be such a big deal to cancel our plans and have some relatives over! Anyway, so he and my mom planned the menu and made all of the arrangements. A special thanks to my aunts, uncle and cousins for making the drive, it was so nice having you over.

There was also a huge heavy box waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me which arrived on Friday but I was good and waited until yesterday to finally open it. A second box arrived on Saturday afternoon - a box of my favorite flowers. Awww. I know.

I mentioned wanting a really really old working typewriter ONCE and somehow he remembered!!! So here's what was inside the box... my new toy...

To top it all off. I came down with a bug last night and ended up having a huge headache and an uneasy stomach. I crashed on our couch once our guests left and I hardly remember going upstairs for bed. I woke up this morning to put a pot of coffee on and noticed that the entire house was immaculate. He must've cleaned up the kitchen, dining room and living room while I was snoozing last night. I die!

Babe, thank you so much for making my 33rd birthday so memorable. Everything was perfect, down to the yummy cake! You're the greatest. I love you. I'm such a lucky lucky gal.

Easy Meal: Couscous Stuffed Peppers

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:35:00 +0000

Hillsy was away on biz all week, thank goodness my mom is visiting from Cali!! Apparently he's loving Seattle, I have a feeling I'll be hearing all about why we should move over there! Honestly, if it wasn't for the notorious rain & clouds I really wouldn't have a problem with that. Warmer winters, cooler summers, lakes, Tom Hanks' SIS boat house? What's not to love??

It's been another crazy week of craftin' house so as you can imagine, cooking and cleaning have fallen out of the priority ladder. It's been cheese toasties, salads, basically anything that doesn't require more than 10 seconds to think about. Ez introduced me to this yummy stuffed peppers recipe, it's become a staple around these parts. She's a vegetarian so she uses tofu instead of sausages (I usually make it with sausage or bacon when you know who is around!)

Easy Meal: Baked Potato

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Baked potatoes are so underrated!!
Such an easy and satisfying meal, perfect for dinner (and lunch the next day).

Preheat oven 350F degreees. Rack in the middle.

1. Pierce cleaned/brushed potatoes (russet) with a fork (all over).
1. Apply a thin coat of olive oil - I just pour a little bit in my hands and give 'em a little rub down.
2. Roll them into a plate of coarse/kosher salt
3. Place on baking tray and bake for a total of 60 minutes, turning them over at 30 mins.
4. In the meantime, prep your toppings. Bacon for me, but if you prefer a healthier option you can steam broccoli? Grate cheese if using.
5. Remove potatoes from oven, slit the top with a knife and squeeze the ends towards the middle/top (just to make it look pretty - I never have any luck with this, so most of the time I just split it in half and call it a day). Pour cheese into the middle and allow it to naturally melt or nook the cheese first then just pour it on top.

Random Conversations

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Background: It was another busy day of product development at the Hills and Burdman household. Hillsy noticed that Burdman was in one of her craftin' grooves and suspected that she probably didn't want to break it by going to Stop & Shop for their weekly Sunday food shopping trip. The thoughtful man that he is, Hillsy volunteers to do the groceries for the second weekend in a row.

SCENE
The couple gets up from the table and starts cleaning up after dinner. Like clockwork, Marichelle begins to scrounge around for something sweet...

marichelle: Hey babe, I totally dreamt that you weren't able to get the Caramel Cone Haagen Dazs ice-cream. Isn't that weird? I was so shocked to see it in the freezer this afternoon, I even told Ez and K that you weren't able to find the flavor. So weird. Hillsy pretends to be interested.
hillsy: Huh. Weird. still pretending to be engaged. Hey, you know what I also bought? Haagen Dazs "Five". It's their new thing, apparently only has 5 ~~flavors~~ ingredients.
marichelle: Oh yeah? What are they?
hillsy: Opens the freezer and starts reading the label. Milk, cream, sugar, eggs, van...
marichelle: interrupts. Oh yeah? What did they leave out?
hillsy: Hmm. Let me see, I also bought the regular stuff, coz I wanted to compare the taste... let's see... Milk, cream, sugar, eggs, van... wtf? It's the same exact thing!??!
marichelle: Nice. That's SO wrong.

Notes:
I couldn't resist the caramel cone (my new favorite flavor) so I just wanted to note that I personally haven't done a taste test, but I will and will definitely give you the low down.

vanilla bean: Calories: 290
Ingredients: CREAM, SKIM MILK, SUGAR, EGG YOLKS, NATURAL FLAVOR, GROUND VANILLA BEANS

vanilla bean five: Calories: 220
SKIM MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, EGG YOLKS, VANILLA (VANILLA BEAN FLAKES, VANILLA EXTRACT).

Image: Haagen Dazs

The Morning After...

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:27:00 +0000

I can't lie, reading all of the awesome comments from friends and readers made saying goodbye a little harder - but knowing that I was able to connect with so many like-minded folks via the magical land of blogging in such a short time, reassures me that letting it go now doesn't necessarily mean that all of the time and energy that went into, now means absolutely nothing. I know it sounds crazy, but that was the hardest part about it, thinking... wow you've worked so so hard on growing the site, increasing readership, coming up with unique features and you're just going to let it go just like that??! Then I realized that I was holding on to it for the wrong reasons.

I spent a good amount of time working on HH, mostly finding unique products and new artists that appealed to me AND that haven't been plastered on other blogs. After crunching the numbers, the amount of money I was receiving from advertising wasn't enough to justify the amount of time I spent working on the site. Yes, I could've revved up marketing and pumped money in from savings, perhaps hire a few contributors to increase content to increase page views - ultimately acquiring more advertisers... hmmm it all started to sound way too familiar. Hey wait up, wasn't this the world that I left three years ago?? Somehow I came full circle, masked by more favorable variables like "handmade" and "indie" - but this route was headed straight back to what I was running away from three years ago.

It's so easy to revert back to what we're used to doing right? For me, it's the web. Websites, Photoshop, online content, page views, unique visitors... in a strange way, I find comfort in these terms. It's no surprise that I jumped at the first opportunity to get reacquainted with these old pals so quickly. My goal for the next few months is to force myself to grow & learn outside my "happy place" and to stop hiding behind what I find comfort in!!

Bittersweet Farewell

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:07:00 +0000

Big news.

Still Working on the Order....

marichelledb@gmail.com (Marichelle) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:24:00 +0000

[cricket chirp] [cricket chirp] [cricket chirp] [cricket chirp]