happy friday! {canyon cupcakes}

happy friday!

well, my pledge on monday to blog more has fallen flat...but this week i: took a sewing class and made a pillow; went on lots of hikes; worked out; did yoga; experimented with agave and baking; and played with a two year old. not much time for sitting in front of the computer.

my friends moved here from new york this week and they {and their two year old} are staying with us until their moving truck arrives. we're joking that now that they left brooklyn and moved to los angeles, they are canyon people. so...i made some really hippie cupcakes and called them "canyon cupcakes." i'm trying to go off sugar and i'm allergic to dairy & eggs, so that means a lot of vegan cooking. this week, i experimented with replacing sugar with agave in cupcakes and the results were pretty tasty. although, as you can see from the photo, they are not the prettiest cupcakes...but heck, they're canyon cupcakes! they look like the brown hills of the canyon...

so, they are named canyon cupcakes in honor of my recent new yorker transplant friends. i amended the recipe from my favorite cookbook ever Calci-Yum! by david & rachelle bronfman. hope you enjoy! {sorry, esb, not gluten-free! i know you're disappointed given how much you *love* cupcakes! i'll experiment with that next time.}

{canyon cupcakes}

preheat oven to 375 degrees

makes about 20 cupcakes

nonstick muffin tin, lightly oiled

for cupcakes:

3 cups finely chopped beat greens

1- 1/4 cups soy milk

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup soy flour

1 cup agave

1 tbsp cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup chocolate chips {optional, i used fruit-sweetened & dairy-free from nature store}

for frosting:

4 oz firm tofu

1/3 cup agave

1/4 cup almond butter

1/2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. steam beat greens & allow to cool and chop. {i used the food processor to finely chop.} transfer to large bowl along with soy milk, agave syrup and vanilla; mix together.

2. in a separate bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and flax seed. add in the chocolate chips, if using. gradually stir dry ingredients into beet-green mixture; mix well.

3. spoon mixture into cups of prepared muffin tin. bake 20 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.

4. make frosting: in a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients; blend until creamy {you may want to add more almond or peanut butter if needed to thicken}. transfer to small bowl and refrigerate from 1 hour. when frosting has become firm, it's ready to spread.

{photo by me}

time to spare...

i hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving holiday! we definitely did...spent the morning packing & delivering meals to the homeless, spent the afternoon exercising the dogs at the pool and spent the evening eating delicious food with friends. can't really ask for a better day.

right now, i'm finding myself unemployed for the rest of the year. which means two things: 1. lots of spare time; and 2. not much spare money to spend in that time. so, what to do? well, i signed up to volunteer at 826LA east. if you are from sanny franny {my nickname for my hometown of san francisco}, i'm sure you've visited 826 valencia, a writing center for kids that generates income by selling cool pirate nick-nacks and their amazing mc sweeney's volumes. well, i love kids & i love stories, plus i can walk to 826LA east, so i'm going to a volunteer orientation next week. so hopefully soon, my spare time will be spent tutoring neighborhood kids after school.

i also signed up for a sewing class. yeah, i consider myself pretty "diy" but i can't sew a thing! my grandmother was an amazing seamstress & i unfortunately didn't retain anything she taught me...so in honor of grandma lena, i'm gonna learn to sew. plus, i can walk there {seeing a transportation theme here?}. there's a cute new storefront in our neighborhood called home ec, so i've signed myself up for a basics class, where hopefully i'll end up with a pillow! the class costs some of that money i don't have a lot of right now, but i figure i'm learning a skill that will save me some dough in the future. {i can't tell you how many cool vintage dresses i have that need simple alterations.}

and...who knows? maybe with all this time on my hands, i'll blog more...

paris catacombs

i just found out that one of my paris photos was included in the schmap guide to paris! {this is how it will look on the iphone.} i still however need to do my paris entry on the blog...coming soon...i promise! saving the best for last...

{photo by me}

happy friday the 13th!!

i love friday the 13th. i turned 13 on friday the 13th. a true triskaidekaphile. working a lot, my dears...sorry for sporadic posts. but alas, unemployment looms on the horizon {unless another project comes my way soon...send good thoughts to the employment goddesses...}. maybe i'll start my wedding planning business after all. a producer turned wedding planner...your wedding will go so smoothly if i plan it...

have a wonderful weekend.

{photo credit here}

forget cupcakes...forget donuts...

...forget even cool ice cream sandwich trucks. milkshakes. brilliant. you can color coordinate, customize {vegan, anyone?}, and how perfect for a summer outdoor or picnic wedding.

a new trend, perhaps? {esb?}

{photo credit: chow.com via earth friendly weddings}

rock for pablove...

we'll be attending this show next weekend. if you are in the los angeles area, definitely check it out. it is a benefit show for the pablove foundation...fighting childhood cancer with love. it is the culmination of a bike ride across america to raise awareness about childhood cancer by pablo's dad, jeff, who i've blogged about before. check out pablo's dad's blog and learn more about the pablove foundation.

get your tickets here.

or get your super special backstage VIP passes for $150 here.

patty's love letter to fannie

the citizens band in new york!

if you are lucky enough to live in new york city, be sure to check out the upcoming citizen's band performance on friday october 23 & saturday october 24. part political commentary and all fabulous cabaret performance, the citizen's band is a group collaboration extraordinaire...

the official announcement:

It is with unmitigated joy and excitement that we bring you news of our newest theatrical endeavor “The Debt Rattle.”

We are delighted to make the premiere of “The Debt Rattle” at the Henry Street Settlement on Thursday, October 22nd@ 8pm, Friday, October 23rd @ 8pm and Saturday, October 24th @ 8pm. Tickets are available now, for the price of $25.00.

"The Debt Rattle" is our 8th original show and finds our Citizens struggling to make sense of the post-crash social order, set in the desperate world of marathon dancing.

We're simply thrilled to announce that this first staging of "The Debt Rattle" shall feature the incredible talents of such dazzling Citizens as Chelsea Bacon, Ian Buchanan, Michael Cavadias, Adam Crystal, Karen Elson, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Rachelle Garniez, Mike Jackson, Greg Jarrett, Zoe Kravitz, Dave Lebleu, Mark McAdam, Amy Miles, Jon Natchez, Nina Persson, Rain Phoenix and Ronin with musical direction by Kimberly Grigsby ("Spring Awakening") and special guest performers Mr. Blue, Justin Bond and Jeff Palmiotti. We are extremely gratified to once again enjoy the talents of set designers Dino Siampos & Sam Wheeler.

full disclosure: the co-founders sarah sophie flicker and jorjee douglass are good friends of mine! {unfortunately jorjee won't be in this show, she's here with us in los angeles...} but the show is utterly amazing...unlike anything i've seen before. dancing, singing, acrobatics and loads of vintage visual inspiration, it's a sight to be seen. want to know more...i've written about them before here. see more amazing photos from past performances here.

{photo credit here}

vintage glitterati...

as you all know, i'm a vintage fanatic...so i've been so excited by a new vintage site called vintage glitterati. it's a collaboration of several different vintage sellers from etsy. many of the sellers specialize in upcycling vintage...taking a current vintage piece and upcycling it into something different. a great way to save vintage pieces that may not be able to stand on their own due to damage over the years. thus, the ultimate reduce, reuse and recycle--my favorite. i have an amazing cuff and belt that has been upcycled from many different vintage trims.

there are so many great finds on their for the vintage bride! sigh, if i were only getting married again...

go check it out!

{photo credit here}

my friend just sent me this...

and she said it reminded me of her...how sweet! that's the ultimate compliment...clara bow reminds someone of me!

i love the lingerie...gotta get me some tap pants like hers!

other folks weddings: {corinna & julie}

another brilliant same-sex wedding featured on rock'n'roll bride. the dress is to die for, the couple is gorgeous and the photography amazing. oh, and it's outside {my favorite} and there are horses. if you haven't seen it already, go check it out right now.

{photo credit evrim icoz photography via rock'n'roll bride}

wedding anniversary memento...

i'm so excited! i've never won anything in a contest, but i just found out we won a custom canvas from geezees custom canvas! i entered a contest over at one of my favorite sites, so you're engayged and we won! i'm thinking about what we should do...looking for photos and thinking about what wording...vows, ceremony...

what a wonderful first wedding anniversary memento! thanks so much to so you're engayged and geezees custom canvas!

{photo credit here via so you're engayged}

european sojourn...scotland

after a lovely, rainy week in ireland, we hopped a quick flight to glasgow, scotland, where my friend lesley was waiting to meet us. we made a stop at her mother's house, which was a lovely bed and breakfast, then drove the hour to dumfries where lesley lives. it wouldn't be a trip to scotland if it weren't raining, and sure enough, it *poured* the 2 days we were there. no matter, it was lovely to visit with lesley and her gorgeous home.

there are two houses on lesley's property, which consist of an old converted schoolhouse and the mistress's house. this one is the school mistress's house. it is available for holiday rental here. it would be a great place to spend a holiday. it was rented out already when we were there, so we stayed in a guest room in their main house.

this is the converted schoolhouse, where lesley and her family live. we stayed here in a sweet guest room.

her beautiful garden. i love the prehistoric plants.

and of course, the ducks!

next stop: london, england...

european sojourn...ireland

the first stop we made along our european journey was ireland. we went to clifden, county galway, on the west coast. it was gorgeous. it rained most of our trip...but due to the rain, the flowers were in full bloom. we stayed in ireland for a week touring the countryside and visiting with patty's family.

hydrangeas were everywhere...one of my favorites.

patty feeling naval on the coast...

connemara, the region where clifden is located is known for their ponies. they were everywhere...

this is the old coast guard station, patty's cousin has refurbished it and it is a self-catering accommodation now. we're staying here next time...look at the views!!

the clifden castle...ruins now, but patty's ancestors were tenants so her cousins own some of the land around it...

more ponies near the castle...

patty's cousin's house...where we stayed...

the road to patty's cousin's house...i would walk it to the bay, sometimes running into girls and their horses...but never any cars...

a rainy day...we drove through the country with patty's cousin...this area was called dog's bay.

lovely houses in dog's bay...

patty's cousin has a boat like this one...it's so beautiful...the weather was too rough to go out on the water...i was really disappointed!

dog friends where ever we go...

views from my walk on the sunny days...this is along the sky road, the main road in clifden...breathtaking views...

view of the castle and sheep tenants now from the sky road.

view of the castle from our walk...

the fuschia were everywhere growing wild!

next stop: dumfries, scotland...

new york fashion week...

no, we didn't go to christian siriano's show. but this dress is so gorgeous, i had to post it. in fact, we only went to one show and one party. it was fun to just experience it, truly. so, after a month of traveling and no posting, i have a lot of catching up to do.

i'll start tomorrow. must sleep today.

photo credit here.

back in the country...

but not settled in at home sweet home yet. we were home for a week, barely got over jetlag, then flew to new york for work. it's fashion week, so we are accidentally here for fashion week! since we're working, only going to catch a show and a party or two...but i'm sure i'll have some stories when i return...so lots of blogging to do...oh, didn't bring my computer to nyc...so no blogging until back on west coast...until then...kisses!

photo credit here

still on european vacation...

sorry for the abrupt lack of posts...organizing for the trip got a bit crazy. we're still away and having an amazing time {despite the fact that patty got a cold in scotland & london!}. here's a sneak peak of our travels and i promise to post photos and a full report when i'm back!

missing you all out there in the blogosphere! xox

european vacation...dumfries, scotland

at the end of our ireland trip, we are spending one night in dublin, then patty's mom flies home to los angeles. we catch a flight to scotland and will be staying two nights in dumfries. i'm really excited to see this part of scotland...we're stopping in dumfries to stay with my friend lesley, who i stayed with for a while when i lived in seattle. she's from scotland and now is married with a child...she and her family live in an old school house. how charming. i haven't seen her since 1999! i'm so excited...

next stop: london...

{photo credits: photo 1; photo 2; photo 3}