butterfly chair

let butterflies migrate to your living room on this papillon chaise by d.sign21. the designer envisioned hundreds of butterflies chasing each other: i am not sure if it comes in custom colors, but i like the concept!

via contemporist.

octopus attacks paparazzi: steals camera

octopus appear to be too smart to eat.

white house garden tour

the national park service will distribute free tickets for the white house garden tour starting at 8:00am this morning. tour the jacqueline kennedy garden, the rose garden, the white house kitchen garden as well as the south lawn of the white house from 10-3 today.

my neighbor is nuts

i am not sure what precipitated this installation...at first i thought it was halloween, but it remained and then changed at thanksgiving...then christmas. did they clean out their garage, find this old wig head and not want to part with it? oh...its up-cycling!, i declared. but then she got a new sparkly outfit for new years. and, yes: red and pink for valentine's day, followed by green for the st. patty's celebration. thank god easter came and went, because this fantastic spring planting outfit appeared this week. oh, man: cinco de mayo is next.

how to travel with your dog

does your dog love to go for car rides? bet he wont once he's gone around the block in this dog sack! interesting concept obviously conceived by a dog hater...or allergy sufferer, i guess. the dog would probably have a blast, catching all of that air. but squished dog is not my cup of tea as the beast would be an easy target for the myriad of stupid, distracted drivers just looking for something interesting to crash into.

sauca high tech food cart

while having a few cocktails at poste in the hotel monaco, i spied out the window the saucamobile, the latest mobile eatery to hit washington dc's streets. combining a taquieria with a truck is not a new concept, but sauca is apparently a complete lifestyle brand that will fulfill my every need... i can even make international calls from the republic of sauca's pay phone: wonder if they have the number for the fojol brothers of merlindia. the saucamobile has been getting great reviews from patrons so i am looking forward to trying it...especially the fish tacos.

pansies

pansies are so awesome: why are they associated with light-weights? my first flower box planting of the year is pansies! why? last year when the weather broke, i planted amazingly decorative sweet potatoes: 9 inches of rain followed by a freeze later: my potatoes were dead...so this year: i am starting with the velvety flowers that can cope with the unpredictable ups and downs we call 'weather'.

damn, it's hot!

last year at (about) this time, we had snow: not today, though.

happy easter

"the ten commandments" made with

bunny peeps...why not?

@tacos el gringo

must be sunday...

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design something every day challenge

wow...i have definitely been designing something every day lately...just cant say what. let's just say, it will be available in the app store soon, and can be accessed from your iPhone,  iTouch and  iPad. more details soon, but check out my first app, master gardener, in the mean time: designed and developed with my brother.

happy st. iPad day!

did you spend the night in line at your local apple store, or wait behind the velvet rope at the same this morning for an iPad? did you pre-order the iPad through the apple store earlier this week? i did not.  i am hopeful someone lovely buys one for me for my  birthday. im a leo-virgo, fyi.

pie taster

friday night i made a meyer lemon meringue pie, shown above. this is a recipe i remember my mom making and everybody loving. those meyer lemons made it sweet and tart to perfection...so much so the mister ate half of it friday, and then the remaining quarter saturday morning!

all that work for so little pie!

meyer's lemon meringue pie

crust

20 finely crushed graham crackers

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

combine ingredients in pie pan.

press with the back of a spoon to fit pie pan

bake at 350° for 10 minutes

set aside

filling

fine grated rind of 2 lemons

1 cup fresh lemon juice

4 egg yolks

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

beat egg yolks until smooth and lemon colored

fold in condensed milk

add lemon juice and rind.

blend til smooth

pour into pie crust

meringue

4 egg whites chilled in chilled mixing bowl

8 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
dash of salt

combine sugar, salt and cream of tarter

whip egg whites 

add sugar mixture one tablespoon at a time just before peaks begin to form.

whip thoroughly after each addition

whip til stiff

top filling with meringue.

spread with spatula or back of spoon to form peaks.

bake on top rack of oven at 350° til top browns, 10-15 minutes.

day 76: design something every day

i am really behind on posting my daily designs...mainly because i have tried  to make my design time something tangible, something i have been meaning to work out, but just havent taken the time to put on paper. so, i have taken on some larger projects that i have been putting off, like the renovation/addition to my old house. i put up the design drawings a few weeks ago, but i am not going to bore you with the roof layouts or structural plans i have been working on. the final design drawings will be completed in a few months, and those should be interesting! i am also working on a couple changes to the river house without ruining the integrity of it's a-frame.  the main problem here is no protection from the elements at the entry- last weekend's torrential rains really brought this into focus. a roof is in order, but we would also like to expand the half-bath above the entry into a full bath and have a full-height ceiling in the tiny room. here is a sketch of what i am proposing...dimensions need to be worked out in a scaled drawing (coming soon!).

rainbow

storms are ending.

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@ tacos el gringo

so super fresh! i can not get enough of tacos el gringo: i dream about them! i am not sure what they marinate the meat with or why their salsa tastes better, but it does. they only are in callao, so you probably wont get to try them:(.

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27th annual antique photo show

tomorrow morning i will be packing up some of the photos i have collected from flea markets in bethesda, georgetown and capitol hill and hauling them over to the 27th annual antique photo show in arlington. i have about 20 tin-types that i would love to get more info on: some appear to have been taken at a boardwalk somewhere along the east coast. i also have a turn of the 19th-20th century photo album chronicaling a life from baby-dom thru death: very intense! they have experts at the show who can tell you about your antique photos and expert exhibitors affiliated with several photo related historical societies will offer free appraisal consultations. "Customers should bring photos with them and should ask at the entrance table to be directed to the expert exhibitors who've volunteered to participate," said Show Manager Rall, who also manages The Flea Market at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. i have had an obsession with photography and photographs for as long as i can remember...probably fueled by my dad who was a professional photographer...and ansel adams, stieglitz, david lachapelle, cindy sherman and other countless amateur and professional photographers, because i know i am forgetting many.

spring has sprung...and i like it!

before the rain started, I spent a couple hours raking out my flower beds, doing a little weeding and prepping for mulch. the sedums are starting to froth and the crocus are up!

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in the realm of buddha

get in deep at the sackler gallery's exhibition "in the realm of the buddha", starting tonight  at 7pm with the story of buddha. the exhibition's opening activities continue all weekend...the three exhibitions are on display through july 18.

flood watch

i get alerts on my i-phone when anything bad happens or is going to happen in the dc metro area. right now, its a flood alert , and that is not good! all of the sand, salt, garbage, asphalt scrapings, car drippings, kitty litter, dog crap, and varied rubbish from the last few months of wintery hell will be washing down the sewers to the creeks and rivers, and finally into whatever water you live near. polluted stormwater overflows into our water supply. here are three ideas from the audubon naturalist society we can all do to try and reduce the toxic stew.

1. fix leaky cars

2. choose organic fertilizers, but don't apply them if your yard is frozen or before the big rain storm. 

3. use CMA-calcium magnesium acetate- for future de-icing ventures

here are ten other very easy household ideas to help our local waterways and reduce your carbon footprint.

tv dinner iphone case

fellow etsy seller coolbeans717 has this delicious retro food case for my iphone.

i think i can put the snow boots away!

it is so nice not to have to wear insulated boots anymore on my dog walks!

iron chef america

dont miss local burger monger and top chef alumnus  chef spike on tonight's episode of iron chef america. i am a big fan of his good stuff eatery on capitol hill (could not believe it wasn't open last sunday), so i hope he kicks iron chef simon's butt!

maybe a little more snow will drop but...

when you see snowdrops, you know winter is o-v-e-r!

days 49-55: design something every day

i am behind on my daily postings of my design something every day challenge, but i have not stopped the design process. i have been working on some competitions, and today i submitted my designs for a creative bike rack competition for the golden triangle business district in downtown dc. i came up with a lot of different ideas, but these are the six i entered. that covers days 49-55, so i still have the other 8 (good) designs i didnt use to go.

the washington monument

after eating at j & g steakhouse, driving passed the lovely us capitol, and noshing in front of the air and space museum at house o'weanies, i was once again treated to a lovely view of the washington monument: have lived here in dc for a long time and have never grown tired of its pristine architectural beauty. you should visit.

cupcake cup: challenge yourself!

i love food competitions: especially when i'm involved. we can all participate in washingtonian's cupcake cup. you can check out the brackets (the first round is over, but many more remain), taste test the participants and vote for your favorite(s). i took the photo above at my personal preference, hello cupcake at dupont circle. yum.

chicken coupe

on the way back from a run with the dog this afternoon, i pulled up behind this truck. while sitting at the traffic light, i noticed there were some cages in the truck's bed...and then in those cages, i saw chickens peaking out! i got one quick photo  with the crappy iphone camera (can not wait for the 5-megapixel in june). you can sort of see their little heads: if you squint. i have so many questions! do chickens get cold? where were they going? why were they are on connecticut avenue? and, do they live nearby?

house o'weanies

i got hungry and i have a go-to place: its the house o'weanies! a half-smoke with ketchup, mustard, relish and onions soothes the soul...

united states capitol

despite the fact that it houses offices for do-nothing idiots, the united states capitol building is gorgeous! so glad the snow is almost gone!