Swelter, Shiver, Smile

Do you remember awhile back when I wrote a post about the snow in my hometown? Well, I was browsing Flickr today, looking at pictures of said hometown, when I stumbled on this:


And this:
And this:

(just for clarity's sake: that's a Jeep under there...)

You might ask me why am I showing you a picture of snow today? Why am I showing you a picture of snow on on this lovely day in May? Why would I bring up cold, wet, windy, yucky winter on such a beautiful spring day?

The answer is because it's hot out, and looking at snow makes me shiver. It's like mental air conditioning.

Really, give it a try! Take a look at one of the pictures, close your eyes, and picture standing where the photographer is.

...Brrrrrrr!


There, don't you feel better?

With Love,
~Brande N.

PS: My apologies to any readers who may be visiting from Siberia, Alaska, Iceland, or anywhere that is currently experiencing a cold front. Look away, look away!

Haut Couture, Eggs, and Whimsy

It's a documented and confessed fact that I love reading blogs. When my blog addiction began, it was with blogs focused on environmental awareness. I would read each of these 10 or so blogs every day. And while the messages were inspiring and enlightening, the fact of the matter is that the truth in those messages was heavy, startling, and often depressing.

I went through a burn-out for a month or so when, after realizing that everything I do has an impact on the world around me, I just gave up. I bought useless plastic gadgets, I quit recycling, I ate Mcdonald's, and I couldn't care less if my carrots were organic. I was exhausted. Dan recommended that I take a break from reading all those blogs in an effort to let my brain recuperate, and read something else instead. "What else could be worth reading?" I thought.

So I spent sometime skimming various blogs and eventually started bookmarking some about cooking, photography, fashion, comedy, and even parenting. Of these, the topic that became most absorbing was fashion. I, the t-shirt-and-jeans-girl who asks for the wash-and-wear hair cut, was reading fashion blogs. Over time, I realized that I like fashion because it is expressive, artistic, and dramatic. Very much like Theatre which has always been my first love.

One of the blogs I read covers everything from reality-TV shows about fashion (Like Project Runway) to critiques of celebrity red carpet ensembles, to reviews of the latest collections being debuted by various designers.

Today's post on said blog covered the Fall 2009 collection by Agatha de la Ruiz Prada, who is known for her whimsical and dramatic (though not exactly wearable) designs. This particular collection made me laugh and I knew I had to share it with you.

I would have called this the Bed and Breakfast Collection.

Although, I'm still trying to figure out that last one. The first is a picnic blanket or tablecloth, the second an entire egg, but what is she? An oddly shaped raspberry? A strawberry?

As I said, these dresses are certainly not wearable. But if I did procure one, I'd style it with a charm bracelet. Not just any charm bracelet...

...but this one. Which I actually own.

And now I'm hungry.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Note Self: Flowers in Hair

We're off to San Francisco! How exciting!

Our flight leaves at about 5am, but we have to get there early because we're first-time fliers (eek!) which means we'll arrive at about 3am. BUT to get all the way to Albany in time we have to leave Lenox at about 2am. To remedy this freakishly bizarre schedule, Dan and I slept most of the day Sunday and woke up around 9 or 10pm to finish packing.

I'm anticipating some serious jet lag.

Unfortunately, I'll only have sporadic internet access while I'm out there so I won't be posting again until Tuesday the 14th.

Thanks for sticking around while I'm gone, I'll be back soon!

With Love,
~Brande N.

So, about that new post...

Dan and I have spent the last two days visiting family and friends back in NY (where we still are). I had every intention of blogging, I promise!

But here's a little mathemtical formula that explains why I haven't.

1) Dan x the square root of (zeal to get to NY as early as possible) plus Brande's [insomnia] = going to bed at 1:30am and waking up at 5:15am.

2) Brande finishing her packing at 5:20am x brain fog (+ fatigue) = this conversation with self:

"Hmm... should I bring my laptop?
Nah, it's really heavy.
But I might need it.
You won't need it.
Are you sure?
Yeah! Afterall, this trip is about spending time with family. If you bring that you'll just end up sitting at the kitchen table surfing the web and ignoring your family. You don't want to do that, do you?
No.
Exactly. Besides, it's really heavy."

So I left the laptop at home. Not a good decision. All of my photos and settings and bookmarks and everything useful for life is on it. Ugh! I even brought my camera with me thinking I might take a few pictures to share. Then I realized that I left the uploading cable at home. And it's been nothing but rainy and dreary since we got here.

So I hope you'll forgive me for neglecting you! I'll be back to posting very soon and I believe it's about time that I give you another edition of Traveler's Resources, no?

With (neglectful) Love,
~Brande N.

Silly Goose

Today, I witness something horrific. Tragic. Horrible.

You see, we have a guest coming to the Inn in a few weeks who is eloping (how romantic!). She emailed me asking about locations on site to have her small ceremony, and I instantly though of the balcony in her room, Room 14. I decided to send her an email with a few pictures of the different venues, so I grabbed my camera and started clicking.

After taking all of the pictures downstairs I climbed the staircase, entered Room 14, and immediately felt something was amiss. A steps further into the room, I discovered this:




Death by 60lb antique mirror. Oh, the humanity!

I feel as though I've lost a good friend. RIP.... um... Nameless Goose. You will be missed.


With Love (and silliness[...it's one of those weeks]),
~Brande N.

A Picture is Worth...

You know the old saying "A picture is worth 1,000 words?" Well, 1,000 is a lot of words. And a lot of time. And while I might be able to pull 1,000 words out of these Valentine's Weekend photos if I really wanted to, I'm going to try 10. Because sometimes it's more fun to limit yourself, no?

Here we go:

Bubble Bath Kit. Himalayan Salt. Smells of Lavender. Fun project.


Heart-shaped pancake. Does a hyphen count as one word?


Dark chocolate. Organic Strawberries. Yum! Shouldn't have eaten so many...


Manchego. Cheddar. Gouda. Olives. Pita. Chocolate. Fruits. I am hungry.


Cheese plate and wine? I wish I was a guest!

This was actually surprisingly fun! I think next time I'll try photo-inspired haiku...

With Love,
~Brande N.

Regarding Large Pancakes and Bad Diners

Yesterday, Dan and I went out to breakfast. If we aren't cooking it ourselves or eating at Haven, we're every bit in love with Sylvester's in Northampton. Did you happen to click that link? You should, because no one can fully understand the glory that is Sylvester's without at least looking at their menu. Huevos rancheros, eggs benedict, ham-apple-chevre omelet, banana bread french toast, homemade corned beef hash... it's too much! And that's just breakfast. They do lunch, too!

But we eat at Sylvester's A LOT. And my greatest fear is eating there so much that we grow to hate it. How sad would that be? So Dan and I decided to go to a new place, about 20 minutes past Northampton, for breakfast. It offered locally sourced and organic ingredients, had an interesting menu (French meat pie, anyone?) and seemed quirky and fun.

It wasn't. Ugh! This place was in the middle of nowhere, we got lost, had to turn around twice, it was humid and musty in the dining room, and the food ended up being pretty much bad. What a disappointment.

I have always been an optimist, however. So out of the pile of burnt homefries, microwaved turkey sausage, and cold pancakes I found something precious. A blog topic. I give you:

The World's Most Atrociously Large Pancakes:

Now at first glance, they might not seem that big. But that's a butter knife on the left there. This pancake was at least one-and-a-half butter knives in diameter and almost an inch thick. And there were two of them. You can barely see the second one peeking out from the monstrosity on top of it.

When Dan ordered "two blueberry pancakes, please", the waitress asked him if he'd like one instead, "They're plate sized, you know".
"Nah, I'll take two." he says. Because he had been craving pancakes. Really craving them.
"Alright," says the waitress, "But I rarely see any man finish two."
And then, the eavesdropping gentleman across the room joins in and says, "That sounds like a challenge!"

What man can stand up to that kind of pressure? Dan couldn't. The sleeping gladiator in him awoke and attacked those pancakes with fire and zeal. He suffered and perservered but, after eating about two-thirds of he mess, he was beaten. And a little bloated and kind of drowsy.

That was breakfast. you know where we went to dinner? Roberto's. A sister restaurant to Sylvester's. And it was delicious.

The lesson of the day? Sometimes it's a good idea to just stick with what works!

With Love,
~Brande N.

On Slow Days...

Have you ever taken the time to really look at a freshly zested citrus fruit? Sometimes it is really quite lovely. Other times it is the funniest looking thing.

Case in point:
(Image - You Can Count On Me via Flickr)
An incredibly beautiful zested lime. It makes me want Key Lime Pie. Mmmm. Key Lime Pie!



Versus:
(Image - Hyperbolation via Flickr)
Hilariously Naked Lemon. Remember those horrible dreams you had in High School where you would get on the bus naked? This lemon is living that dream. The only thing this makes me want is a sweater!



As Opposed To:
(Image - Jocelyn via Flickr)
Luscious Blood Orange. This photo has awakened in me memories of its incredible raspberry-citrus flavor. And after seeing the intense red color of its zest, I find myself deeply longing for a Blood Orange. (I am now making a note on next week's grocery list)



OR:
A sad, sad little orange that I zested to make biscotti. He looks so very naked. Like a sheep. A freshly sheared sheep.


Hmmm...I wonder if....



...And now you know what [some] innkeepers do on the slow days.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Apologies!

Dan and I got back from New York on Sunday afternoon and before I even took off my coat, it was back to work! There's been a flurry of decorating, prepping, planning, calling, and brainstorming for our big New Year's Eve Package and I'm having trouble finding time to drop a line here on the blog. So rather than give you a half-dazed late night groggy post or a rushed, gotta-get-done-because-the-cookies-are-baking-and-if-they-bake-any-longer-than-6-and-a-half-minutes-they-turn-into-frisbees post, I decided to take a little break until Thursday, and leave you with the following thoughts:

---A person checks into a hotel for the first time in his life, and goes up to his room. Five minutes later he calls the desk and say, "You've given me a room with no exit. How do I leave?"

The desk clerk says, "Sir, that's absurd. Have you looked for the door?"

The person says, " Well, there's one door that leads to the bathroom. There's a second door that goes into the closet. And there's a door I haven't tried, but it has a 'do not disturb' sign on it."---

Until Thursday, Have a great New Years everyone!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear Chocolate Chip Cookie,

I have conquered you. You tried so very hard to outwit me, to make me look bad. Well never again cookie! Never again! I’m tempted to think that you arranged all those times the phone rang during the last minutes of cooking. You wanted me to burn you. You wished that I would never bake you as well as John’s mom had. Your facade of tooth-breaking crispness was spite for the fact that it was I was the baker and not her. Well it may be her recipe, but I am the baker here and I will not be beaten by a cookie! And all it took to beat you was a pizza box and 6 ½ minutes of patience. 6 ½ minutes spent sitting on a pizza box, yes, but it was worth it to watch you and learn your secrets. I have mastered you cookie! Now, to prove that I have vanquished you for good....



...I’ll post these terribly delicious-looking photos of you cooking. Yum!



Mmmm.. raw cookie dough.



In deliciousness, second only to cookie dough ice cream.



I'm melting!



Oh what a world!



What a cruel world!



From melty to poofy. These cookies are tricksy.


See the one that stated sliding? Yeah, that's the buttah.


Too. Much. Delicious!


Now don't let them fool you! See the poofiness in the middle? That means they are NOT DONE! But they will be in about 45 seconds. It happens that fast.


Chewy in the middle, crunchy on the outside. Sweet, salty, chocolatey, and completely addictive.


Hello, sweet, delicious victory. I'm going to eat you now.


With Love,
~Brande N.

(My apologies for this absolutely silly post. I had a lot of hot chocolate today.)

My favorite things

Fair-traded coffees with loc’ly made cookies
Organic veggies and cage-free roast chicken
Plastic free products sustainably made
These are a few of my favorite things

Reading “green” bloggers and making “green” changes
Recycled, upcycled, handmade, carbon neutral,
Avoiding synthetics, enjoying real foods
These are a few of my favorite things

Shopping at Co-Ops with totes made of cotton
Smelling the roses, enjoying the sunshine
Loving the earth cuz it’s one of a kind
These are a few of my favorite things

When the smog chokes,
When the trash heaps,
When I’m feeling sad…
I simply pursue all my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad!