surprise the designer

The job I moved to Boston for ended just about a year ago. And then the fall of 2012 was long and drawn out and, well, pretty light on the employment front. I was lucky to have a steady part time teaching job and enough small freelance projects to keep me afloat. Plus serving as a volunteer courier for Be the Match provided a welcome diversion. But there were plenty of long dark days spent applying for positions that I never ever heard back from. Life started to change when I received a call at home (in Ohio) in late December. I had interviewed at a Boston brewery for a tour guide/bartender/server weekend position and they were calling to let me know that I got the job (!) Brewery training started in early January, and coincided with the start of the spring semester (teaching 8 hours/week), a long-term contract design position (16-24 hours/week), and a long-term design project with friends (4 hours/week.) Suddenly my mellow schedule was packed to-the-gills. And it stayed t...

Have you ever made jam? I think it's on the intimidating end of the cooking spectrum. Canning seems complicated. Boiling water seems...hot. But when a close friend invited me to spend Mother's Day (our moms are both waaaay outta town) whipping up a batch of strawberry jam, it seemed like the perfect excuse to learn something. Strength in numbers! It's a simple enough process: mash the heck out of some fruit, add it to lemon juice, zest, and sugar, and boil boil boil. We were avoiding pectin because of the premise that it's made from animal products (Katie is a vegetarian), but we found out that it's actually made from apples. I think it would have helped the jam jell up a bit. And I'll just say that we have some learning to do still when it comes to the canning process. All in all, though, it was a great, fun, and ultimately tasty way to spend an afternoon. Here and here are two strawberry jam recipes that look tasty. I found them using tastes...

Have you heard of Brimfield? It's a town in Massachusetts . But, more notably, it's the location of three annual humongous antique fairs . This past (sunny, perfect) Saturday we spent the afternoon winding in and out of just a fraction of the Brimfield tents. It was the perfect opportunity to play with my new-to-me DSLR camera. (The recent purchase of that camera also kept my antique fair spending reigned in... I went home with just three vintage plates.) Do you do that thing where you decide you want to buy something and then spend days/ weeks/months/years mulling over the decision to actually buy it because of the cost? I definitely do. I've been thinking about upgrading my point-and-shoot camera for a couple of years now, but have always balked at the $500+ price tag on entry level DSLR's. A few weeks ago, I spotted a slightly older model (the Canon Rebel Xs)—in nearly mint condition and at a great price—on craigslist. It still wasn't cheap, but I pounced, a...