[Scissors + Glue] DIY Doily Lanterns

How adorable is this Doily Lantern from More Design Please?

Source: moredesignplease.com via Lisa on Pinterest

See the rest of the photo tutorial here.

[Green Thursdays] Eco-Friendly Water Bottles

With the warm summer months ahead, hydration and health are key. I've been looking at new water bottles for trips to the gym and beach since my plastic ones will apparently cause an early death. My friend told me about the new glass bottles covered in silicone and I am down to buy. The glass is BPA-free and doesn't give the water a weird taste and the silicone makes it more durable. Here are a two I'm considering:

LifeFactory Glass Beverage Bottle with Matching Cap and Silicone Sleeve - $22

Takeya Classic Glass Water Bottle with Silicone Sleeve - $22 at Amazon

[Green Thursdays] How Sustainable is IKEA?

IKEA just released its yearly Sustainability Report today, and while it boasts that the company "reduces CO2" and no longer sells incandescent lights, consumers need to read these sorts of corporate marketing materials with a very large grain of salt. Or enough grains of salt to season beef stew.

The fact of the matter is that if you want cheap things, there is a trade-off. Of course, I recognize that this is coming from the girl who lusts after platform shoes but refuses to pay full retail. Everything in moderation, I say (instead of owning the 60 pairs I want, I have about 6).

But IKEA cannot possibly provide all of the furniture that it provides consumers with for such a low price without some societal trade-off. For instance, it harvests its wood in China and Russia, and we have all heard about the atrocities that happen at overseas manufacturers when low-cost is concerned. IKEA claims to have "forest patrollers", but they only have about six of these people for the entire company. Can you imagine six people overseeing all of the crap that gets produced at all of the manufacturing locations world-wide? You can read more about this topic in the book Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell, or in some articles by her in The Atlantic.

The further problem with IKEA, and I would say this is probably the most threatening to the environment and the idea of sustainability, is the mindset that the store instills in us. It encourages a throw-away culture. What, your BJURSTA kitchen table just snapped in half? Throw it in the dumpster, and buy another one. I mean, you only paid $200 for it anyway. Maybe you'll even upgrade to a more expensive IKEA model that will last all of five years, instead of two (unless you live in a frat house. Then I give all IKEA furniture a six-month lifespan).

Furthermore, I don't know if you've noticed, but IKEAs never seem to be located near your house. There's an explanation for that: IKEA puts its stores in places where property taxes are low, and the corporation therefore doesn't have to pay as much in taxes back to the community. But a trip to IKEA is usually a day- or half-day-long occassion. In college, I once drove an hour and a half in LA traffic to buy some barstools from the IKEA in Burbank. And how much did I waste in gas and time? I don't know if I could put a number on it. But I could have picked up some barstools from a neighbor on Craigslist or a local garage sale.

All I'm saying is that we need to hold IKEA's self-declaration as a sustainable corporation up for scrutiny. Don't believe everything you hear, and don't expect their couches to be comfortable either.

[Food + Drink Wednesday] Seasonal Fruit Tarts

My roommates and I are having a dinner party tonight, and my contribution will be an apple and pear tart. Pears are pretty much my favorite winter/early spring fruit ever, and, yes, I do rank my favorite fruits on a regular basis. 

In a quest to find the perfect early spring dessert that will take us into the garden parties of the summer, I bring you the following post about tarts and pies with seasonal fruit (and one with coconut that defies both the imagination and seasonal produce constraints). 

Cooking Tip: When making the pastry, always remember not to overwork it. Chunks of butter are your friend. And keep the butter insanely cold. Like crazy-cold. If you have a food processor, that's all fine and dandy, but cutting the butter into the pastry with a knife or quickly with your hands works just as well. 

I'll be including some of my own photos here later. 

much love,
Carrie Melissa

Pear and Almond Tart (for Autumn, this one is more labor-intensive)
via Dessert First

Rustic Apple Tart via RealSimple

Coconut Custard Tart (pretty close to Tartine's-- with chocolate on the base of the tart)
via Bay Area Bites

Any Fruit Tart (adjust to the seasons) via Tiny Happy 

Blackberry Custart Tart (super easy) via Columbus Foodie

[Get Involved Tuesdays] PRIDE in Utah

This past week, a transgender woman in Utah faced extreme discrimination and mockery when she attempted to renew her photo license. According to PRIDE in Utah, a rights organizations, the story played out the following way:

Salt Lake City, Utah – Not a highlight of our state. On Thursday this week, a transgender woman entered a local DMV to renew her license only to find half the staff mocking and ridiculing her, including security forcing her to scrub off her makeup and pull her hair back before she could take her photo.

Local resident Amber Anderton watched a horrifying scene play out in front of her this past Thursday at the DMV located at 1095 Motor Ave. (approx. 200 N 1000 W) in Salt Lake City, as a transgender woman sat down at the photo station to renew her license. “When the DMV worker looked at her,” says Amber, “he immediately left and got another employee, whispered in their ear and they both began laughing as they looked back at the woman. They both then went and got security who escorted the woman back to a supervisor’s office. When they came back out the woman was taken to the restroom where she had to scrub off her makeup and pull her hair back before they would let her take her license photo.”

Amber goes on to describe how the original two employees were seen walking from office to office, and several other employees came out to laugh and toss anti-transgender slurs around.

Mortified at what she was witnessing, 29 year old Amber approached the woman (who is remaining anonymous) and apologized for the treatment she was receiving. She asked if the woman planned on filing a complaint, but was told that although the abused woman as livid, “I really don’t want to cause a scene.” Amber than asked if she would allow Amber herself to make a complaint which the woman agreed to.

Marching up to the supervisor (who refused to identify more than his first name, John), Amber said, “How dare you treat people this way! Would you make any other woman take off her makeup to get her licensed removed?” The supervisor coldly responded that “That is not a real woman, it’s a man.”

These are the common and everyday persecutions and discriminations that our transgender brothers and sisters face on a daily basis. Remember it wasn’t too long ago that Amber Yust in California was sent a threatening letter by a DMV employee using her personal information.

Local Transgender Advocacy group “Tea Of Utah” tells us that as a whole, the Salt Lake DMV leadership has been very open to trainings on gender identity issues. But apparently the Fairpark location hasn’t gotten the message.

According to the Utah DMV website, the phone number for that location is as listed below. Do not let this story pass! And I want to give an enormous thank you to Amber Anderton, a citizen who stood up for what is right, and faced down the tyranny and bigotry of these DMV workers and made herself a hero.

This event is disgusting and appalling. A state or federal department should act with integrity and tolerance.

Call Fairpark DMV today at 801-965-4437. This is unacceptable behavior.

[Music Monday] TV on the Radio Video Release, Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet

Last week, TV on the Radio released the new video for their song "Will Do" off of their upcoming album, Nine Types of Light. I'm looking forward to some more chilled out tunes that TVOTR is so good at delivering.

Also, Thom Yorke, Four Tet, and Burial have collaborated on this awesome, spacey tune. It kind of makes me want to stare at the ceiling for a few hours. In a good way? I kind of want to listen to this on repeat for the next hour or two.

[Girl Crush] Julie Sarinana (Jules)

This girl knows what's up. 

She can dress it up. 

Or she can dress it down.

And she always looks like a badass.

She basically makes me want to get up and get dressed for work in the morning. If you were to only follow a handful of style blogs, Sincerely Jules has got to be one of them.

All photos via her blog.

[Things We Adore Sunday]

1. Eco-Friendly Water Tips from Design*Sponge. Summer, get here already!

Image by Ashley English via Design*Sponge

2. ForageSF's Underground Farmer's Market (more photos to come soon, I promise!). This month's was awesomely awesome: chicken and waffles cupcakes, duck confit nachos, chicken pot pies, lavender potato chips, made-to-order Vietnamese spring rolls by Little Knock. It was so boujie, I could cry. I also strongly suggest going in the morning or early afternoon, as the night markets tend to attract a much more intense crowd.

 3. I just can't get this hair tutorial out of my head. It's pretty much the reason I want long hair. 

Via Jamie at From Me to You

4. Navajo rugs. I'm obsessed with all the color, and I definitely need some more flavah in my bedroom.

Photo via Ava Living

[Friday Link Round-Up]

1. Check out this legit braid-bun tutorial on Cup of Jo.

2. Planet Blue's new photo shoot is getting me excited for Coachella... and clothes.

3. Ms. Magazine blog posted the story of Native American feminist Zitkala-Sa - fascinating.

4. Check out these gorgeous Lillianna photo collages found via English Muse

Yes, Please.

Oh, why hello there. I'm in love with you.

Photo via Nowhere Boy, The Weinstein Company

[Food + Drink Wednesday] SF Food Blog Log: The All-You-Can Eat Guide to the Bay Area

I present to you, lovely readers, a semi-definitive list of San Francisco food blogs. San Francisco loves food almost as much as it loves talking about how much it loves food. So these blogs are by San Franciscans, about San Francisco food culture, and usually contain epic photos of food-related greatness. This list is a work in progress, but I think I've brought together the most notable tastemakers (please excuse my terrible pun) the Bay has to offer. 

Blogs by San Francisco Writers

• Cooking with Amy: gourmet recipes; restaurant, book, and travel reviews.
• Chez Pim: a “professional eater” chronicles cooking, baking in San Francisco and around the world
• An Obsession with Food: An SF food writer’s take on the local “food scene” and offers tips on wine, cooking techniques, etc. No recipes.
• 101 Cookbooks: A blog written by an SF-based food writer, cookbook author, and photographer. Beautiful photos and great, inventive recipes.

via 101 Cookbooks

• The Certifiable Foodie: Food news, recipes, local farm news, and so on.
• Italy in SF: Italian food in the Bay Area
• becks & posh: An English girl explores SF's culinary adventures.

Via becks & posh

• Gastronomichael
• No Salad as a Meal: Food reviews, etc.
• Married with Dinner: A couple’s blog on SF food.
• Food Wishes: So cool. Chock full of VIDEO recipes from this SF chef.
• Briciole: An Italian girl in California.

Food News & Review Blogs

• 7x7: The food section of the San Francisco magazine
• SF Eater: News, Reviews. Part of the larger Eater.com blog

Via SF Eater

• KelsEats: Reviews of restaurants, dining
• Mission Mission: Not a food blog, but does have a food and drink category, which gives reviews, SF-centric food news, and good local information (even though it’s crazy hipster)
• Uptown Almanac: Not a food blog, but has an extensive “Eats and Beers” category (their largest category behind “Mission District,” “Street Art” but slightly larger than “Douchebaggery”). Contains reviews and food-related news.

Via Uptown Almanac

• GrubStreet SF: Local and national/international news.
• SFoodie: SFWeekly’s Food Blog
• Bay Area Bites: KQED’s SF food blog.
• Beer & Nosh: Beer news and reviews, beer dinners, market news.

Via Beer & Nosh

• Tablehopper: Not a blog, per se. It’s a website for the author’s weekly newsletter, focusing on SF dining reviews and the like.
• Hidden Menu: An amazing blog with amazing photos from restaurants around the Bay Area that details all the “secret menu items” that you’d never know existed.
• SF Cart Project: Food cart news galore.
• Edible San Francisco: A blog for the big, glossy magazine, called Edible.

Academy of Sciences Chef via Edible

• Inside Scoop SF: Michael Bauer’s Blog for the San Francisco Chronicle
• Summer Tomato: Tips on healthy, local, sustainable eating by San Francisco-based food scientist, Darya Pino, Phd.

Baker Blogs by Bay Area bakers

• Bake with Mars
• Dessert First (see microblog for SF-centric posts)

Via Dessert First

• Ciao Samin
• Eat the Love
• The Tomato Tart
• The Flirty Guide
• La Vie en Route
• Piece of Cake



Via Piece of Cake

Food Communities:

• SF Food Wars
• I'm sure there are more of these, but I'm having trouble tracking them down. 

Vermont Cheese Forests via SF Food Wars

[Get Involved Tuesdays] Facebook & Child Trafficking

Overall, I love Facebook, I really do. However, there are issues I have with it. For instance, the fact that Netizens managed to find thousands of child pornography in a quick sweep of FB. Change.Org is offering a petition to protest against FB's lack of policy regarding these images and cooperation with authorities to prosecute perpetrators. Some key points in Change.Org article:

"Child pornography on Facebook primarily manifests through closed groups created by pedophiles to share photos and videos of abused children and through profiles of abused children, created by their pimps or abusers. Often, specific sex acts can be “ordered” on Facebook, and can include extreme violence and heinous brutality.

Despite the severity and prevalence of child pornography and child sex trafficking on Facebook, the company has no strategy to prevent child pornography or cooperate with law enforcement to report illegal images. It's time Facebook took child pornography and child sex trafficking on their site seriously, and made it their responsibility to stop facilitating these crimes."

Sign the petition online to encourage FB to create a policy to stop and prevent child pornography and trafficking by going here.

[Music Monday] Zee Avi - Bitter Heart

Whoops - I've been slacking. Damn all the readings I have to do on hegemonic masculinity.
Bitter Heart - Zee Avi by Sunx

[Travel Saturdays] Street Food in Bangkok, Thailand

My brother and one of my travel buddies are both in Bangkok, Thailand. This prompted me to start looking up ticket prices, then search for images of Thai beaches, which finally led me down a path of destruction: looking at photos of Thai street food.

I'm drooling.

Fried Food Platter via NY Times (Photo by Joseph Polleross) 

Gahhh! (via Nomad Chef)

Shrimp and Egg via NY Times (Photo by Joseph Polleross) 

Fried Shrimp Goodness (Photo via Temple of Thai)

This leads me to believe that this book by David Thompson is in my future:

[Friday Link Round Up]

1. Rich kids make bad music videos via Flavorwire... Facebook has been blowing up with Rebecca Black's Friday, but some of her comrades showcase their extreme talents in these cringe-worthy and epic music videos. Check them out here.

2. Consider these gorgeous bathing suits from Princesses tam.tam

3. Bake everything on Bakerella, including these cupcake pops.

4. Gotta love me some folk: Listen to Jared Mees and The Grown Children at Music Ninja.

[News] Michelle Obama To Author A Book on Local Eating, what whaaaat?

Cardigan-Gardening: I Can Get Behind That

One more reason to adore MObama: She's writing a book about local eating and the White House garden. Way to bring it on home, Michelle! The book will be published by Crown, a division of Random House and Barack is even planning on writing a sidebar or two (no, I have no idea what he's going to write in it, but there's word that he will help out).

Read the article at The Washington Post.

Photos via Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty, Win McNamee/Getty

[Green Thursdays] Ireland's EcoVillage

Photo via ConstructIreland

Today is a really green Thursday because it's St. Patrick's Day! I'm not Irish, but I do like Jameson, Guinness on tap, and verdant countrysides.

This morning, I read about the first ecovillage currently being constructed in Ireland, called Cloughjordan (say that ten times fast... if you know how to speak Gaelic).The community includes its own farm, 114 low-energy homes, workspaces, and a school where the members of community and tourists alike can learn about permaculture, organic farming, and sustainability.

In reading this, I also found out that Europe has its own ecovillage network. If America has something like this, I want to move there, like, tomorrow. Otherwise I need to get a visa and move to Europe.

Read more about the project in the ConstructIreland article and on their website, The Village.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I know this day is not historically about getting wasted, but since when did Americans care about history anyway?

Ohhh, yeahhhh. Or maybe not.

[News] Obama Gets Real About Women's Rights

So I'm four days late on the uptake on this one. My full-time job gets in the way of these things from time to time.

During Monday's press conference, Obama took the time to talk about Women's History Month. While he cited progress that women like Eleanor Roosevelt promoted in the past, he also took on the honorable task of articulating the protracted road before us. Women still attend and graduate college at lower rates than men, and (duh!) they still earn less for doing the exact same work. I'm not sure he actually plans to do anything concrete to change these inequities, but bringing awareness to the fact that women still very much face unequal treatment in the workplace is a huge deal.

However, I'm not prepared to say that this is enough. I know it's a lot to ask from a man to talk about the major cultural biases that women face in America, but it needs to be opened for discussion, just as Obama opened race up for discussion in our nation. Women need to know that they are not powerless against cultural and social discrimination, no matter how subtle it is. And it is damn subtle. But these subtle differences in the way we are treated, how we are referred to in the workplace (Miss Jones), these are all things that prohibit us from excelling at work and from trying harder. They keep us from reaching out for more and from being highly competitive. It starts at a young age, all this, and it needs to be nipped in the bud.

I distinctly remember hearing a mother in a park about a year ago say the following to her daughter: "Little girls are seen and not heard." Meanwhile, the girl's girl's brother screamed over the mother's voice trying to divert attention from his sister. I worry for those "little girls" who will soon become grown women and who won't see themselves very far outside the domestic sphere. I want so much more for them.

Now, I do want to give Obama credit. Obama's policies might not be all that he promised they would be, but I never heard President Bush talk about Women's History Month. Once, I heard him talk about the immorality of third trimester abortions (he made no mention of the fact that these operations usually occur to save the woman's life). I also don't really think of President Bill Clinton as having done much for women's rights. In fact, I think he probably put us back about two decades. So here's a salute to you, President Obama. Thanks for trying. This can't be solved by one man's call to action. We all need to re-think gender relations in this country, and we all need to start doing so right now.

[Food + Drink Wednesday] New Favorite Baking Blog

My new obsession (besides Tastespotting, which is my go-to reprieve from work) is the i am baker blog, written and photographed by a mom/baker/genius in the kitchen. Just look at some of this ridiculous amazing-ness and check out her blog for yourself. It's all stuff you never thought you could do with some mixing bowls and a little love. So inspiring!

Special K Bars... totally healthy, uh huhhh

Rainbow Pancakes, oh my!

Cookie Dough Brownies

St. Patrick's Day Cake

Rose Cake (makes me want to try my hand at wedding cakes)