And the winner is...

With a last minute and totally hilarious entry the Le Creuset sparkly pink spatula, the Kuhn Rikon ceramic knife, and the adorable cookie cutters go to Curiosity! If you missed her response here it is:

"Oooooo...pretty knife!! Pretty spatula! I am completely helpless to resist everyday items in bright colours. My husband convinced me to purchase our first laptop by saying we could get it in apple green. No joke. I would treasure that knife.

I LOVE that knife. And using the time-honoured wisdom of elementary school aged children everywhere, I would, of course, then have to marry it. Or think it over at the minimum. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about polyandry, but I would ask it to move in with me at least. I'm sure my husband would have some difficulty adjusting, but in time he would come to accept it. I could spend long Sunday afternoons with that knife, chatting, and laughing, and doing crossword puzzles, and then taping the crossword puzzles back together where he got a bit overzealous. We could go out in the evening, and cut a rug. And he would tease me because I'm not as good at it as he is, and I would say "cut it out!". And he would. And then he'd give it to me, because he's sweet like that. And at the end of the day, we could curl up in bed together and spoon. Because he is also willing to try to be different, just for me.

And with all our inevitable half-knife, half-human children running around...er...walking slowly around (because they're sharp objects, and we'll be good parents I'm sure), we'll need to make a lot of birthday cookies and themed pancakes and such, and we will need non-boring cookie cutters (because no child of this union is likely to end up boring), and spatulas. And a glittery pink spatula would be enough to actually convince me to bake them all myself rather than buying them from the corner store and spritzing flour on myself like they do in that commercial.

And with such a loving family and so many hands around just ready to pet things, our cat might need a companion to avoid being overloaded by love and affection, so your cat would fit in just perfectly. He is a very handsome cat, and I'm sure we would adore him.

...What do you mean the cat wasn't part of the giveaway list?"

But! Don't be too sad because if you are Angela I would love to give you a runner up prize of a collection of cookie cutters to use with your nephews. And if you are Lex then you too will be receiving some cookie cutters so you can make your sick friend some fancy cookies.

So Ladies (or gents?) if you want to claim your winnings go ahead and send me an email with your username (so I know what you won), and an address to which I can mail your winnings to adelightfulaffairblog@gmail.com. There's no reason you need to give me your actual name if you don't feel comfortable doing so.

I'm already planning another giveaway although I'm thinking this one is going to be a more style inspired so keep your eyes out.

The Small Object

If you like tiny things (or cute things), and really, who doesn't, you should check out The Small Object. I was at my most favorite grocery store ever, New Seasons, yesterday waiting for my wok to be done when I found the most amazing sticky notes ever. I go through an insane amount of sticky notes at work and I'm always looking for something just slightly more awesome than a pale yellow square. I will be using these forevermore.

I Do...want to wear every one of these.

I'm not really a wedding girl. I mean, someday sure, I'll get married and have a wedding but whenever I picture it it's more like a dinner party with a super quick ceremony thrown in. I don't dream of churches and flowers and cake and wearing white. I do dream of a fantastic menu and a party dress though.

Enter BHLDN (pronounced Beholden).

Now don't let the fact that for some reason someone decided it would be cool and not at all confusing to take all the vowels out of the name of this line or the fact that beholden means "owing thanks or having a duty to someone in return for help or a service" (which is not at all romantic) fool you. This is actually a pretty amazing new line of wedding apparel by the people behind Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People.

There are things like lingerie and jewelry and weird things for your hair and probably something blue and definitely something new but the most fantastic part is the dresses. I would wear these every day if I could.

What I'm Wearing Today

I usually don't like to wear red, white, and blue together because I don't like looking like a holiday when I get dressed but I really wanted to wear this outfit and I was too lazy/going to be late if I worried about changing purses. The pirate purse would have been a way better choice. C'est le vie.

Also I totally got these jeans for $30 and I love them.







Don't forget about the giveaway! Everyone needs a pink glittery spatula.

A Collection of Things

So, I have about a jillion (real number, maybe 5?) things to write about. This means another completely incohesive post. Although they all have to do with this weekend so I guess they at least have some kind of minor thread in common.

First of all, I planted an herb garden this weekend. I thought it was going to be hard and maybe I shouldn't reveal this so it seems more impressive but basically it involved taking the plants out of their plastic containers and putting them in terra cotta pots. Craig and I went to the nursery which I thought was going to be kind of boring but was actually pretty cool. Craig got a garden plot so we looked at veggies for him to grow. He offered to let me come help him with it and I told him I would but only if I could pick two of the things to grow, I don't have to weed, and also it's not a real promise I'll actually help. He agreed which reassured me I am the master of bargaining.

We went to the Portland Nursery. They have a gigantic amount of plants.


Craig wouldn't let me use the Radio Flyer wagon or one of the purple carts for our plants. Well, he would but I didn't want to have to pull it so I said it was okay for us to use the green one. Which I ended up pulling anyways.


Here is Craig holding all our baby herbs.


Later that day we went to dinner and saw Hanna which was awesome. I thought it was pretty violent for a PG13 film but I'm probably just an old lady now that I'm coming up on 26. I'll be talking about how coffee used to be only $3.50 when I was growing up in no time.

Also this movie is funny which it doesn't lead you to believe at all by the trailers. And I very much admire their ability to make it humorous without detracting from the parts that are serious business. That's a tough thing to pull off.


I have a secret I've been keeping just in case it didn't work out. Because I didn't really want to announce to the internet that this really awesome thing could happen if I were good enough for it to happen and then have it not happen and have to be like 'Sorry Internet, I'm actually sort of lame."

I applied for a job with Sur la Table's culinary program. Aaaaaand...I got it! I'll be a kitchen assistant so I'll do prep for cooking classes as well as assist with them. I sort of fell into applying but I'm so excited for the opportunity to be using some culinary skills professionally as well as be in a position to learn so much. It's part time so I'll still keep my current job as well.

In celebration I want to do a giveaway. This is not at all sponsored but I thought it would be appropriate to give someone out there a few of my favorite kitchen things from Sur la Table. I've never done this before so be patient, also feel free to offer advice if you've done a giveaway or participated in one before and think something could be done better. It will be a trial run learning experience.

Here's what I'm giving away...

First up we've got an ice cream cone shaped cookie cutter!


Next is a sparkly pink Le Creuset spatula. This spatula is a legit nice spatula that works well (none of that tough non-bendy rubber) but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I mostly like it because it is pink and full of glitter.


Cupcake cookie cutter! Super adorable to decorate. The cookies, not the cutter.


And last but not least, a ceramic paring knife by Kuhn Rikon. I'm newly in love with ceramic knives and I use this one for everything. You will be getting this awesome color that was not available when I purchased mine.


So now for the how-to. I want to make this fun rather than just use a random number generator to pick a winner so full disclosure, this is going to be totally subjective since I'm the one picking the winner. Leave me a comment telling me what you would use these tools to make and the answer I find most fantastic will win all four items. Remember, if you win you'll have to give me your address in order to mail them to you so if you think there's a chance I could be a murderer and you aren't going to want to give me a place to send these things you should probably not play. The last day to submit a comment will be Friday April 15th, 2011 and the winner will be announced Monday April 18th, 2011.

Oh, and my cat is still adorable. Just in case you were wondering.

What I'm Wearing Today

Not that the rain really ever keeps me from baring my blindingly pale legs but today there is sun! Which means that wearing this skirt, that has been sitting in my closet for four months with the tags on it, without tights is acceptable.

Pizza Pie, Oh My!

I made pizza with Craig for dinner last night. Except I'm using the word "made" very loosely. Really we just topped a frozen pizza with things we wanted to eat but it turned out amazingly and the whole dinner took 15 minutes to make.


If you don't know what leeks are or haven't used them in your cooking you definitely should. They're basically just a more mild onion but my favorite thing about them is how easy they are to chop. You just slice off rounds and separate the circles. Plus they don't make you cry.


I also diced up some red pepper.


I chopped up zucchini as well and sauteed it with the leeks and red pepper in a tiny bit of olive oil with some salt and pepper.


I threw the pizza in sans toppings so the veggies wouldn't end up as mush. This is my all time most favorite frozen pizza. I keep one in my freezer at all times in case of an emergency (or um, laziness). It only takes ten minutes to bake and you bake it directly on the rack which means less dishes to wash! Yay!


While the pizza cooked for a bit I sliced up some black olives. When the pizza had about three minutes to go I threw all the topping on.


Doesn't that totally look like not a frozen pizza? I served it with a salad of mixed greens topped with gorgonzola, cucumber, and pepitas with a blush wine vinaigrette.

I mean, it takes me longer to shower than it did to make this meal.

The Outfit I Want to Wear Every Single Day of Spring

I mean seriously? Does it get any more gorgeous? I am pretty sure I am turning into a 'riding through a meadow on a wild horse while wearing a daisy crown' girl this Spring.

A Chocolate-less Home

I moved around a lot growing up. You'd think that the whole leaving people/people leaving thing would get easier but it never does. Yesterday Lana moved back to Philly. It was a hard day for me. I had an amazing friend who had so many similar interests to mine yet was different enough to be constantly opening my eyes to new wonderful pieces of life. And the most awesome part was living three blocks from each other. Late at night when one of us was bored or sad or wanted out of our houses all it took was a quick text and a few minutes walk and things were fun again.

We spent her last days in Portland doing all the things you don't do when you live in a city because they're always there. One of those things being a tour of cupcake bakeries. Even though the last week she was here I always had in my mind the number of days until she would be gone we somehow still managed to have fun and not be sad until the very last day.

I'm not going to say I lost a friend because I don't think I did. Our friendship has changed but it's not gone. And I am truly glad that she's in a place that makes her so happy now.

This is going to sound weird, there's no way to make it not, but in some ways I'm thankful for the experience of her leaving. I would take her back here in a heartbeat but for the first time in my life someone has left and I don't feel like my entire world is ending. I don't feel like I want to close up and not talk to people again. I mean, okay, for a minute there when this became real yeah, I did feel like "Why is this happening AGAIN?" but I realized yesterday that this is okay. And knowing that I can now handle something like this without falling apart is so invaluable. I feel like all that time spent sitting in that giant leather chair in my therapist's office actually produced something.

I have to give Lana some credit though because even though I never mentioned it to her my biggest fear about her leaving was that she would end up back with all the people who love her and fill up her life and there would no longer be any room for me. I think it's a testament to how close we are that she knew how much that was weighing on me without one word uttered. I won't get into the mushy details but she wrote me a letter and in it addressed that fear of mine. And I love her so much for just knowing that that's what I needed, and for helping to make this huge change in my life seem not so daunting. I'm going to miss you Miss Lana.

There Will Be No Pillow Fights

Well, it's official. Lana is moving back to Philly. I'm going to miss her terribly but lucky for me today is her last day in her apartment and she doesn't actually leave until next week. Know what that means?

Lana and Lauren sleepover extravaganza!!