Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Coffee Cupping.

Coffee Cupping, or Coffee Tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. It is a professional practice but can be done informally by anyone or by professionals known as Master Tasters. A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it spreads to the back of the tongue. The coffee taster attempts to measure aspects of the coffee's taste, specifically the body (the texture or mouthfeel, such as oiliness), sweetness (the perceived sweetness at the sides of the tongue,acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling at the tip of the tongue, like when biting into an orange),flavour (the characters in the cup), and aftertaste. Since coffee beans embody telltale flavours from the region where they were grown, cuppers may attempt to predict the coffee's origin. (From Wikipedia)

Coffee Cupping

Went to my first coffee cupping last night at Gray Owl coffee in Norman, Ok. I have to say, compared to these guys I know nothing about coffee. But it was fun trying all the different flavors out and learning that I could actually describe what I was tasting.

We would have several cups sat down in front of us, we would lean in and get a big wiff of the coffee, trying to identify what the flavors were just by the scent, then would quickly take a sip from a spoon and then jot down the first flavors that came to mind. Think of a wine tasting except wayyyy more cracked out by the end of the night once everyone was full of caffeine. My post-it was on the very far left, short and to the point. While the really knowledgable guy's was the one just to the right of mine that was long and detailed. Seemed as though I got mine pretty right on tho for a beginner. ;)

Are you guys really into coffee? Ever gone to a "cupping" before?

-Angela

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Vacation!

Vacation.
It starts in 5 mins! Can't wait!

My plans for the holiday:
Hang out with friends
Make some cupcakes
Drink lots of coffees
Visit the family in Bartlesville
Maybe paint a little
Work on putting my place together some more
Deliver these wedding invites I just finished
Blog a lil'
Austin, TX or Flaming Lips show for New years
Partay

What are your holiday plans?

-Angela

Monday, December 21, 2009

Housewarming. Handmade Herbal Bath Blend.

Handmade Herbal Bath Blend

Handmade Herbal Bath Blend

Another housewarming gift I received this weekend.

Handmade Herbal Bath Blend. I loveee the adorable handmade label. But thennnn... Check out that ingredients list! First Ingredient...Cayenne! I am going to try it out tonight and see how it goes.

Looks like it could warm up more than just my house! :0

-Angela

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sunday Thrifting Finds.

Man this weekend was a blast. Went to an awesome Christmas party last night and Chenoa and I had a lil sleepover. Woke up this morning and made some breakfast, listened to some tunes, and then we decided we wanted to go thrifting.Mid-Century Table
Best find of the day. A little Mid Century Table. Got it at Community Thrift for $15. Love.

Vintage Tree Print Vintage Bag
Died when I found this print. I have a few other very similar prints. And if you know me you know I love "tree stuff" • Beautiful cream and gold vintage bag. with long shoulder strap.

Vanity Tray Flower Dish
Vanity tray. Been searching for one for a while and couldnt find one I really liked until today. • Pretty dish I found that I thought would be perfect for holding all my spare change laying around my house.

Silver Tree Textured Candle Thrift Throw
More "tree stuff". ;) Silver candle with tree bark texture. A great find for me. • Cute throw I found that perfectly matched my stuff. Bluegreen and Taupy color.

Dunkin' Mug The Big One!
This was a hilarious find because I had been getting crap from my friends this weekend for my love of cheap Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Sorry frins but I think it tastes better than Starbucks charred roast. Anyway this was a perfect find to end a weekend. Love the cute 1970s style mug.

Pretty Tins Pressed Flowers
The little box was the new find. Bought it because it perfectly matched two other tins I had. I think it's going to hold recipes or tea. The taller one is currently being used for coffee filters. • Pressed flower decoration. If you havent noticed, I love having little elements of nature around my place.

Geisha Wine Cover
Last but not least. This wasnt a thrifting find, but a housewarming gift from my friend Chenoa. A bottle of Fat Bastard Merlot with a cute little Kimono style holder. Loveeee it. :)

-Angela

Friday, December 18, 2009

Vintage Video Friday! Happy Christmas.



Two posts in one day? Fancy That.
Happy Christmas everyone.

Tis' the season of Vitamin C.

It all starts with that little itch. You know the one. At the back of your throat when you swallow. The sneezes you wishfully think are just allergies. Then a weird feeling of warmth comes over you followed by chills. Yep. You are starting to get sick. And I say.. I will have none of it.

Tis the season of Vitamin C.

Ever since yesterday when I got that first little feeling, I have been inundating myself with very high doses of vitamin C... via a mysterious fizzing elixr called Emergen-C....and it seems to be keeping it at bay...kind of. I am still feeling rather weak and not like myself but my weakness has not turned into the full blown plague just yet.

And plus... who wouldnt want to overdose on Vitamin C when it is flavored like Acai Berry?

-Angela

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Reading Corner turned Christmas Corner.

Remember that reading corner I showed you in the previous post? It has now been the home of my new xmas tree here for a while now. 

I got the LAST white xmas tree at a Kohl's Black Friday sale marked down to $15 bucks. :) (originally priced $50) 

New Tree + Special Ornaments

A few people have brought that to my attention that this photo makes my tree look HUGE. So I need to point out that this tree is only 4 feet. It's my lil babytree. 

The thing that makes this tree so special to me is that my grandfather, who is now in his mid-eighties, allowed me to inherit my grandmother's beautiful christmas ornaments this year. So based on when my grandparents were married, had children, and when my grandmother would have bought these; I am guessing these ornaments are from the 50s or 60s. Plus the look of them would tell me no different. 

I've always hated Christmas for as long as I can remember working retail (since I was about 16 until just about a year and a half ago). Now that I actually have time off from work to enjoy family, giving gifts to the kiddos, and not having to fight off rude customers blaming me for ruining their christmas (because they waited until christmas eve to shop).... now Christmas is slowly starting to grow on me. 

-Angela

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

For Shame! An update about the new place. Finally.

Ok so I found a cute tapestry for Kathleen over at jeremyandkathleen and she told me she was going to link me in her next entry in order to shame me into updating. And ok ok I surrender. The shame has worked. I must update. ;)

Ok so some of you may have already seen this if you are friends with me on my flickr page. But for those 5 readers who arent.. I shall share the UNedited UNartdirected UNfinished pictures of my new place. 

I have actually done quite a bit since these pics were taken and plan on taking some "after" photos once I am all done... or well.. finished enough to be ok with taking more pictures. (because if i waited till i was ALL DONE...it might not ever happen).

Living room view from door.
So here is the living room. I got rid of those ugly pillows that came with my sofa and the couch looks much better without them. Also got that picture hung and another tree picture above the tv. Dvd player is all hooked up and rearranged. All thats left is to look for some new pillows and a throw to go on the sofa. Probably will take inspiration from a color in that painting most likely. ;) After rearranging this room a zillion times. This just seemed to be the best arrangement for the living room. It is kind of an awkward space. 

View from couch. Fireplace.
View from the sofa. Got some new pics hung on both sides of that mirror. Still can't get the pesky mirror to hang. Tree pic is moved above the tv.  

Desk/Clutter Pile. :)  Corner behind door.
Office clutter is all cleaned up now so I have a clear desk with my orange chair there. And that is an OUTBOX in that tupperware container. A huge one. That self portrait needs to be hung too. In the pic on the right, that little stand there is going to be painted teal and used to hold purses and shoes. Coathooks will be going on that wall. And ive now got a little bowl on that table for mail and keys. Landing strip is almoosstt there. 

Reading corner. Bare dining room.
Love this little reading corner.  And my dining room now has a giant paper lantern above the table. The bookshelves and the tinyness of my dining area makes my place pretty cozy. 

Kitchen!
I love my new kitchen. Its small but it gets the job done so well. If you saw my old one, you would know what a vast improvement this one is. And its so great to have a dishwasher again. You take for granted the little things. And yes. That door leads to a backyard. 

Care for some wine? Out the kitchen door.
It's the little things like wine, fresh flowers, and a welcome mat that make a place feel like home. Private fenced in backyard helps too. I've never had that before and I think its gonna be really nice in the summer. 

Hallway. Bathroom/Laundry
Of course two of those boxes are still yet to be unpacked.. but wait.. ignore the boxes and look past to the pretty scarf collection...divert divert! :) To the right is my bathroom. The white curtain hides the stackable washer and dryer. I hate seeing washer and dryer sets. I must hide them. Those curtains have been used at my last 3 or 4 places for that very use. 

Bedroom
And THIS is where all the action happens! (or lack thereof..ha) I definitely want to paint or put something on that wall behind my bed but i havent decided what yet. We will see. Would love to put some curtains up to so long as they dont interfere with the natural light. 

Mid-Century Dresser Messy, unedited, closet.
Here is my rescued dresser. When I found it, it was completely scratched up and water damaged. Thats when I decided to paint it teal. I still have a whole gallon of that paint left so that is what the little shoe holder I mentioned earlier in the post is going to be painted. Anyone need some teal paint? The other pic is my closet and argyle obsession. The rest of my place has pretty big walk in closets but that closet happens to be kind of awkward. Still working on the most organized arrangement for everything in there. Decorative boxes/bins holding stuff? Shoe racks? All stuff to think about...

Of course there were pics of the unpacked clutter. If you MUST see the rest of my place you can click any of the photos to go to my flickr cause sorry but im not posting the embarrassing clutter piles that have yet to be unpacked.

But it seems there are always new things to be doing to a place. It is never finished. It is constantly an evolution of changing taste and needs. Then those little visions you have itching at the back of your brain just dying to manifest themselves. We will see how It comes along in the following weeks. 

And despite my blogger lazyness. I will even try to update this thing once in a while. 

-Angela

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thankful. Grateful.

So many things I could list I am grateful for this year. The first? Being able to comfortably have thanksgiving at my Grandfather's house this year.

Imperfect holidays are the prettiest.
I am grateful for mismatched chairs, mismatched plates, mismatched serving dishes, mismatched styles of stuffing, but most of all... mismatched people.

I am grateful that they needed to figure out how to fit two extra dining tables in the living room. And for needing to pull out every chair we could possibly imagine could work for seating.

I am also grateful for perfect weather, open windows, and natural light flooding in.

What would you like to drink? Grandpa.
I am grateful for having to fill so many cups with drinks. And for getting to spend another year with my grandfather, who is now in his mid-eighties. And has been my hero since childhood.

Orneryness.
I am grateful for mischievous nieces and opportunities to give aunt-worthy advice.

You missed a spot.
For cherry pies.

Firsts.
And first attempts at sweet potato pies.

Pies
And having so many pies that they can only be stored in the laundry room and on top of deep freezers.

There is usually never enough.
For actually having enough green bean casserole for leftovers this year. (it is usually the first one to be demolished within the first trip around the table.)


Demolished Dishes.
And for evidence of full bellies. :)

Other things I am grateful for this year:
A good job
Good friends
The sound of my big brother snoring in his chair right now.
My lovely, sensitive, mature, hilarious nieces.
A new place I feel safe in.
Friends that are fantastic enough to help me move into this new said place.
Male family members who gripe about me having a low tire... then air it up for me.
My camera.
My brother making me rocket fuel style coffee to cure my caffeine headache... at midnight.
My creativity.
The strides I have taken in healing some things within myself.
My nephews coming into town tomorrow evening.
My long day of black friday I have ahead of me tomorrow.

And last but not least. My grandfather allowing me to inherit beautiful, vintage, handpainted Christmas ornaments that originally belonged to my grandmother. It meant so much.

Happy Thanksgiving guys!


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Photoblog Post- Maternity shoot with Loni.

Hi guys! It has been a few days since I posted these on my flickr page but I thought I would share these on my blog as well.

A while back I posted up a preview shot of the maternity shoot I did with Loni as a gratitude post. Just wanted to share a few of my favorite shots from that day.

There were a lot of pictures taken but I tried up just upload a few of my favorites. Also there were some demi moore ish semi-nude photos that we had taken but to respect Loni's privacy I will not be posting those online (which is really too bad cause they were beautiful!).

DSC_0627E

DSC_0631E DSC_0642E

DSC_0640E DSC_0634E
Perfect Yellow flowers.

DSC_0660E DSC_0667E

DSC_0663E
Pink heels and morning sun.

DSC_0698E
Baby gifts and Framed Ultrasound.

DSC_0700E DSC_0729E
Sillouette. And Loni sporting a Canada hoodie. (her husband is Canadian)

DSC_0710E DSC_0751E
Belly and Little Bing.

DSC_0747E
Cheese?

DSC_0778E
Bear.

DSC_0765E DSC_0930E
So cute.

DSC_0910E

DSC_0959E
*melt.

-Angela

Blog Widget by LinkWithin