Sara + h

three things happening on june 25th

1.  Lola gets braces and a jaw expander.  She's seven...  Yeah.

2.  I turn 39.  I'll be sad to see my thirties go next year.  It's been my favorite decade thus far.  Here's hoping that the forties are the new thirties.  Until then, I plan to enjoy 39.  Also, I plan to enjoy some birthday cake.

3.  From approximately 7:10 a.m. (the time of my birth) to approximately 7:10 p.m. everything in my shop will be 39% off when you type in the code "thirtynine" at checkout.  Sale items are included.  The sale is limited to only those prints I currently have in stock.  There are a number of prints I only have singles of so if you've been eyeing something, order early.  Once something is listed as out of stock, you're opportunity to get it at a discount is gone.

shop update

I'm always amazed when the things I've been thinking about seem to spring from the confines of my head and pop up elsewhere in my life.  This morning, I was talking with a friend about some major life changes that he and his wife are contemplating and how it shines a spotlight on the differences in their personalities.  She dreams big and thinks anything is possible.  He's more cautious and pragmatic.

This may seem to have absolutely nothing to do with a shop update but I assure you, for me it has quite a bit to do with it.  As I've spent the last few weeks getting ready, my mental dialog has vacillated between the big dreaming part of myself and the more realistic part of myself.  The question that has come out of this mental tug-of-war is whether being prudent in some way prevents the possibility of bigger things?  Is being pragmatic the same as being pessimistic?  And is there a way to be positive while at the same time providing yourself with an emotional cushion for the inevitable bumps in the road?  Unfortunately, answers didn't come with the questions.  Ah, if it were only that easy.

But enough about my hyperactive thought processes.  A shop update is nigh and I'm excited about it.

All the prints going up in the shop today are 8x10s.  The images themselves are roughly 7x7 and are positioned on the page to look similar to the actual Polaroid original they were taken from.  These prints are stunning, people.  And I'm not just saying that because they're mine.  Really.  They turned out beautifully.

A few more details:

~ each of the prints is a limited edition of 50

~ each print is signed and numbered on the back

~ one print of each image is being made available in the shop today

~ I welcome special orders (email with interest)

~ as prints sell, I'll restock the store with another until 50 prints have been sold

I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention something.  If I've failed to answer a question you have, shoot me an email or leave a comment here and I'll get back to you.

Now go look at the shop, would you?  Thanks.

drive by

Lets just get it out of the way right off the bat.  It's been more than a month since my last post and still there has been neither a shop update or a shop button placed in my sidebar.  I would say that constitutes a FAIL.  Shockingly, I'm quite chipper regardless.  Ha ha!  Shove that up your keester, Guilt.

In other news, here are some random thoughts, musings, & questions...

~ It never ceases to amaze me that there is a steady trickle of visits to this space despite my complete and utter neglect.  Seriously.  There are cobwebs in the corners, dust on the shelves, and furniture strewn about but still, occasionally, you come.  I'm not quite sure what to think of it, but for now I'm going to be flattered and say "thanks."  Sound good?  Yes?  I thought so too.

~ This afternoon I'm off to make knitting needles with eighteen 2nd graders, then two days from now I'll return to supposedly teach those same 2nd graders to knit with the needles we will supposedly make today...  Pray for me.

~ Is there anyone out there with design skillz who'd be interested in making me a banner (possibly two, one for the blog & one for the shop) in trade for photographic prints?  If so, shoot me an email.

~ Vellum, glassine, or cellophane?  What's your preference?

~ Last week was 'Roid Week 2009.  For those unfamiliar, it may sound like an homage to a painful affliction (different spelling people), but it was actually the regular bi-annual celebration of instant photography and a good time.  Go check out the group pool.

Ta for now.  I hope to be back sooner rather than later.  We'll just have to see.  The suspense is killing you, isn't it?

spring cleaning

I've yet to mention here the shop I opened last December.  I don't even have a button for it in my sidebar.  I'm mentioning it now though and giving myself a month to get a button up.  I'd say a week but I know with certainty that I wouldn't accomplish the task in that time frame and I'm making an effort to avoid the self-loathing that ensues when I set an unrealistic goal for myself and predictably fail to meet it.  I'm getting side tracked though.

So, I have this little shop.  When I set it up I didn't have very clear idea of what I wanted it to be.  I'm not sure what I have now could be defined as such either, but my idea is definitely more focused and with that sharper focus as well as the impending Spring comes the need for a purge.  Let's call it Spring cleaning, shall we?

What does this mean exactly?  Well, along with the fact that I'll be writing more about the shop and engaging in some self promotion, it means I'm having a sale.  To make way for new prints, all of the prints currently in the shop have been marked down from $15.00 a piece to $10.00 a piece.  The sale applies to both of the print sizes I currently carry (roughly 3x3 with a one inch border on each side and 5x5 with no border) and will continue until my small inventory is gone.

Come help me purge, will you?  You'll be doing me a favor and in return for a small amount of money, you'll be getting a small piece of art and a bit of happy.  We could all use a little more art and happiness in our lives right now, I think. 

'shrooms

The first year Dan and I were together, I gave him a Shiitake mushroom log for his birthday.   He loved it (if you're ever looking for the perfect gift for a microbiologist, look no further), which is why I was somewhat shocked to find out months later that he's not a fan of mushrooms.  Not inexpensive mushrooms, anyway.  Put a plate of morels in front of him and he'll eat them with gusto.  Present him with a plate of run-of-the-mill creminis or white button mushrooms and you'll get a thumbs down response.  It's a texture thing.  He calls them little erasers.  (I blame his mother and Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.)

I, on the other hand, like nearly any kind of mushroom.  Since Dan doesn't though and Lola isn't passionate about them one way or the other and Astrid isn't a fan of anything that remotely resembles a vegetable (fungi included), mushrooms aren't something you often find on the menu in this household.

Enter lunch.

On weekdays, lunch is a solitary meal around here.  Dan is at work, the girls are at school, and I can eat anything I want without fear of offending anyone's texture sensibilities.  So ocassionally, today for instance, I make mushrooms.  And when I do, they're good.  Very, very good.

If you'd like to do the same sometime, here's what I suggest:

1.  Get yourself some mushrooms.  Any kind will do.  If it's Spring and you've got some cash burning a hole in your pocket, buy morels or porcinis or some other devine and insanely expensive fungi.  Otherwise, you can use creminis like I did here.

2.  Slice 'em up.  They cook down.  Keep that in mind as your chopping.

3.  Put a skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add a few teaspoons of olive oil and heat until shimmering.  Add the mushrooms and season with salt & pepper to taste.  When the mushrooms have cooked down add one clove of crushed garlic and cook everything for a minute or two more, until the garlic has mellowed out and become fragrant.

You can stop here and you'll have a delicious lunch, but you can also add a bit of white wine at this point, scrapping up the fond as you do, and it'll be even better.  I didn't have any white wine in house so I used a bit of 1/2 & 1/2 instead.  It proved quite tastey.

4.  Serve with or, in this case, over several slices of toasted baguette or a hunk of crusty bread.  (A sprinkle of chopped fresh thyme wouldn't be a bad thing either.)

5.  Eat.  You won't regret it.  Even if your standing up over the cutting board like I was.

recipe for the perfect hard boiled egg

1.  Place eggs in a sauce pan and cover with cold water.
2.  Place sauce pan over high heat and bring to a gentle boil (avoid walking away and forgetting about the eggs at this point).
3.  When water begins to boil, remove the pan from heat, cover with a lid, and let sit for 10 minutes (now you can walk away and forget).
4.  Remove eggs from water with a spider or slotted spoon, run under cool water until you can comfortably handle them, peel & eat.

i remember this

I remember laying in bed, and washing dishes, and folding laundry, knitting rows, sewing seams, and living life, all while silently composing posts.  Rolling words around in my head, back-and-forth, back-and-forth.  Worrying words like beads, burnishing them like stones.  Then, sitting down to pour them out polished and beautiful and perfectly chosen, only to find nothing.  Nothing.

It's one of the reasons I stopped writing here last year.  The words would. not. come.  Words have never been especially easy for me.  I'm always finding them after the moment passes or repeating the same ones over and over.

I took Literary Essay in school because I loved the teacher but the writing nearly gave me an ulcer.  I was kindly given a C in large part because my ideas weren't bad even though the words I used to express them undeniably were.

And here I am again, battling the word vacuum, searching for what I want to say (because I do have things I want to say).  Damn.  It's annoying.

remiss, no more

Sorry to keep those of you who commented on my last post waiting.  Apparently there were things keeping me away.  Life, I guess.  Or perhaps it was the laundry.  There was certainly some of that.

At any rate, the winner of one print of her choosing from my shop as chosen by the random number generator just now is (can you hear the drum roll?) commenter no. 3, Megan.

Ha, that knock knock joke above made me laugh. Must try it on my kids.

And you'll be surprised at the number of folk still reading I think. I kept checking back in here every now and then, just in case. And voila!

It's the elegant photos I love. Love, love, love.

Posted by: Megan | January 22, 2009 at 01:26 PM

There were more people reading than I anticipated, Megan, but not many more.  Still, I appreciate anyone willing to pay attention to me. 

did you know

...that my last post was no. 200?  Yeah.  Me neither until just now.  That it coincided with me marking Barack Obama's inauguration was a happy bit of chance.

It feels strange reaching this milestone now, after having abandoned this space for the better part of a year and having only recently returned.  I originally began blogging to document the things I make and to become a part of the online craft community.  I'm no longer certain of my reasons for blogging but I'm quite sure they're different, having evolved from what they once were.  Regardless of my motivations, 200 posts is a reason to celebrate so that's what I'm going to do.

Comment to this post before 11:59 p.m. on Sunday the 25th.  Tell me a joke or something you've enjoyed about Sara + h.  I'll choose one person at random to receive a print of their choosing from my shop.  You're chances of being that person are decent.  This place has lain fallow for so long that not many folks are reading.  So, comment.  You know you want to.

01.20.09

What if the mightiest word is love... Love that casts a widening pool of light...

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

~Elizabeth Alexander