Natasha Richardson

I'm so upset about the terrible tragedy that was Natasha Richardson's death, and I just need a moment to mourn and express myself.

First I heard, "Natasha Richardson has fallen on a ski slope and is in critical condition"
Then.... "Natasha Richardson may be brain dead"
Finally, she had passed away, and I was just devastated. Its so sad, and its so scary and I'm just one person in Chicago who would never bother people I don't know when they are mourning, so this is my space where I'm going to offer my sincerest condolences to her family and friends and the acting community she belonged to, and which I'm sort of a minuscule part of.

I just recently finished CPR and first aid training. We learned about things like internal bleeding, and the seriousness of any head injury.

And this seems like a really absurd tangent, but it really isn't...
The episode of Little House on the Prairie I was watching recently was about a family - mom is expecting a baby, dad is so thrilled because their first had miscarried ... then dad fell off a roof he was working on. Doc Baker tries to check him but he insists he's fine, but after Doc Baker leaves his condition deteriorates and he suddenly dies of internal bleeding. Its really sad!

I guess having my mind inundated with information about internal bleeding, when I heard Natasha had hit her head, it became immediately apparent that she'd suffered what doctors later confirmed, internal bleeding and a blood clot in her brain.

Its a really serious matter, and an avoidable tragedy.
And I would never even begin to push blame anywhere in light of a tragic death, but I do think it can be an opportunity to inform others and help avoid tragedies in the future.

Also, I think its great that the Canadian government is pushing for helmet laws. I also want to say that I'm an avid skier, and that I don't think people should take this as proof that skiing is imminently dangerous. I'm not going to look up some sort of fact here, but frankly, you could hit your head on a lot of things while walking down the street to get a pretzel. And I've taken spills on skis on bunny hills and advanced slopes, as have thousands of skiers of all levels of ability I'm sure. Accidents just happen.
Its not about the skiing, its about preventative measures, recognizing signs of a sudden illness, and getting immediate care. So here's some info courtesy of my first aid workbook from The American Red Cross:

"Generally, a person with sudden illness looks and feels ill. ... A person may deny anything is seriously wrong. ... The person's condition can worsen rapidly if he or she is not cared for."

Signals of a Sudden Illness:
Changes in consciousness: (dizzy, light-headed)
Nausea or vomiting
Difficulty speaking or slurred speech
Numbness or weakness
Loss of vision or blurred vision
Changes in breathing
Changes in skin color
Sweating
Persistent pressure or pain
Diarrhea
Seizures
Paralysis
Severe headache

If you aren't trained in CPR and first aid, you shouldn't interfere, but you can always call 911!

Also, get trained! Its really empowering, and reasonably priced if you go to The American Red Cross. Its a really worthwhile experience, and I highly recommend it. I paid $95 for CPR for Adults, Children and Infants, and also general First Aid. It was a day long class, and I left certified, and feeling like a new, more complete person.

Well, I guess thats my little contribution to the world in response to a sad story and a sad loss...

Aprons

So I am in need of an apron. Spending a lot of time at home cooking for yourself, an apron is a necessity. Now, if I had any sewing skills, I'd be good and make one for myself. But unfortunately, sewing is not within my knowledge. Although I may be attending Sewing Rebellion this Sunday at Mess Hall, which is right around the corner.
But in the meantime, I've been indulging in all the beautiful aprons that are for sale online...
Here are some of my favorites:

I found this pretty little one at Jessie Steele. I really love the citrus colors and the pocket and matching terry cloth that hooks on! So handy and super cute.

These next three are from Anthropologie, which is the store I don't allow myself in, because had I a wallet with me, I would leave a beggar with a beautiful new kitchen... But there's no harm in just looking, right?

I love these...

Can't decide if I prefer the blue or the red of the first version with the gorgeous flower appliques.

And this chartreuse and blue number is a little piece of sunshine.
If I had a choice, I'd own them all and wear a new one for breakfast, lunch and dinner, depending on my mood. But sometimes its good to be poor....
I'll hopefully get time to make one myself this weekend using recycled scraps of cloth at Mess Hall.

Food can be so pretty

Pretty pictures from my dinner the other day!

Here are all my produce ingredients for my stew. Mmmm......

Getting everything ready to cook. Olive oil is probably my favorite thing of all things. I want to stare at its pretty color, touch it, taste it, smell it, hear it pour.... its wonderful.

I had read one recipe for dumplings. (Biscuit mix, milk and cilantro) Perfect addition to my stew!
YUM!

Dessert! I've been eating a lot of berries lately, but I decided I wanted my berries hot this time, but didn't want a full pie, so I made a crisp!

Aren't cooked blueberries a magnificent color? And delicious too! This just has a little brown sugar, flour, butter and almonds cooked onto the top.

Capucine!

Ahh, I feel like I'm walking on a cloud. I spent my morning laughing with videos of the sweetest little girl....

Capucine is a delight!

And I am hereby promoting both her videos, and her mom's lovely blog, which is sure to become a favorite of anyone who loves lovely things.

Enjoy!

Also, Capucine and her mother have used her internet fame for such a great cause! It's a fundraiser called Capucine's Library, and the profits go to helping children in Mongolia purchase school and library books. You can purchase T-Shirts, or Buttons, Magnets and Mugs, all designed by Capucine, and support Capucine's Library!

I'm so excited I might need a nap....

Chalkboard Art

I can't help myself but post again today. I'd have posted it yesterday, but I was really busy making a lot of plans and applying for a potential job! And that's what this post is about, that job!

Thank you SO much to my dear friend Adil for finding an add for a chalkboard artist! (I've just had my coffee... I need to be more sparing with my use of exclamation points, or this whole post is going to read like I'm shouting at you... )

So for those of you who do not know my odd collection of skills and side projects... if you ever frequented Tommy Nevins Pub in the last three years, you've probably seen my artwork amidst the drink specials.

This was last years Christmas board, and the first time I decided that I'd really "let myself go" and get really artistic with the board. It took about 4 hours, and it was a whole lot of fun.

A detail of the cocktail waitress, from back in the day when we still had to wear plaid skirts. I had to make sure she didn't look like anyone who actually worked there so no one got a big head!


This is the holiday board the next year. I got tired of being cartoony and decided to make a "work of art." I think its quite lovely, really. The crowd did too.

And this one is my favorite of all the boards I did over the years. But that's because I love baseball. Its based on a famous picture of Joe Dimaggio, but I turned it into a Cubs vs. Sox game. It was quite controvesial, because on the board, the bases are loaded, the Cubs are up by three, but the Sox player is hitting the ball WAY out... will it be caught? will it be a homerun? Its hard to say who will win!


A detail of the players, I loved the way the white chalk make the wrinkles in his jersey.

Well there you have it. A sampling of my chalk art. I wish I had taken a picture of each board now!
Well, we'll see if this job contacts me. It would be a great part time activity!

Either way, if anyone you know needs a chalkboard filled.... I'd be honored to be your gal!

Guest Blogger: Chicken soup with Papermoon!

Here it is, the long anticipated shared dinner and guest blogging event!
This blog is shared by and can be viewed at Papermoon

becca and i met as art buddies during my long lost college years (ha) and have enjoyed brunching our way through our mutual unemployment ever since.

topic of the day? chicken soup! here's becca!

Well I'm thrilled that we're doing our first official "guest blogging" piece.

A few nights prior I'd tossed together a little homemade chicken soup for one at home, using egg noodles, and some pan fried chicken. It wasn't just right; the chicken was a little too chewy, but I could tell this hearty meal had a lot of potential. When Sarah and I got together that week for dinner, we gave this homemade chicken noodle soup another go, this time with two chefs in the kitchen.

This lovely dinner happened back in March before Lent began,
so I won't lie to you and say those lovely sparkling beverages are just tonic water.

Sarah worked on the chicken, since I wasn't too pleased with my first try. I don't consider protein to be my specialty. And Sarah made the most incredible, soft, tender, lemony, herbalicious chicken I've ever tasted. It was perfect for soup. It was perfection all by itself! SO delicious.

* a side note from me: my chicken tactics

1. cut your chicken up into soup-able pieces, salt and pepper them and add plenty of herbs de provence. (i add a lot of extra rosemary to mine whenever i have it around). i also added a bit of sage to this particular chicken. i am an herboholic.
   
2. make a country dijon vinaigrette--for the acid, use one part white wine vinegar and one part lemon juice
3. put that chicken in the dressing and let it hang out.
4. when it comes time to pan cook chicken, i am all about medium heat. i object highly to putting down those little pieces and then flipping them over. i let them all sit until they are all basically visually cooked-looking, then turn over for the other side. dried out chicken is disgusting. medium heat! just cut the biggest piece down the middle to check for any pink before you turn off the stove and proceed.
   

back to becca!

I got busy chopping up the vegetables:
Garlic
Onion
Yellow Pepper
Carrots
Parsley
(I'm not big on portions, numbers, that sort of thing... I usually just sort of judge by how much seems to be proportional to the meal size. But I believe we used... two cloves garlic, 1 onion, 1 pepper, a handful of baby carrots, and a handful of parsley, if you were curious.)

They looked so pretty in Sarah's tiffin box containers. How convenient to have such a pretty, stacking set!

Cooking was pretty easy, but I just can't bring myself to pretend I'm a "food" blogger.

If you want a good food blog, check Lottie + Doof or Smitten Kitchen!

But anyway.... olive oil in the pan, medium heat, heat oil, add garlic until its just about to brown, toss in onions and carrots. Thank heavens Sarah suggested the carrots to cool the garlic, because I was about to burn it. If you've ever accidentally over browned your garlic, its not a disaster, but when you are enjoying your soup, you might bite down on something chewy and be confused about when you added peanuts to your soup, and why they taste like burned garlic. What I'm saying is, they get crunchy. Not good. Anyway, thanks to some cold, crispy carrots, no garlic was burnt!

Next, broth. We used vegetable broth--no need for any extra chicken-ness with our delicious recipe.


Toss in the peppers, add the chicken, and I add even more herbs, because... its hard to go wrong with fresh ground herbs, and a good pinch or two of pepper.

Now this is important... Egg noodles are delicious, but NOT if they are over cooked... they get pasty, and fall apart, and then you'd have Chicken Mush Soup, which is a texture disaster - never okay with me.
We tossed the parsley and the noodles in to boil for about 5 minutes, and it was perfection!

A peppery bowl of soup, some paintings, and a few Audrey Tautou movies later, and we were ready for dessert.


I got the recipe for the mango, ricotta and lime parfaits from Food Everyday by Martha Stewart.
Its lime juice, lime zest, mango, and sugar combined together and poured over ricotta cheese.
We may have been a little overzealous with the bourbon-enhanced whipped cream on top, which I could eat alone as a meal it's so good.

All in all, it was a lovely evening and an incredible meal, and in the end we learned a very important lesson, blue paint tastes the best.


what can i say... former art majors can't resist tasting the watercolors every once in a while.