Wrapped Interiors

Check out these crazy installations! What ingenuity, I am very impressed. When I first stumbled upon this form of art I just saw the pictures. It made me think that a lot of tape and maybe some glue and too much time was what it took to create these installations. After watching the little film though, it looks like with careful planning the only thing that happens on site, is the unrolling of the plastic and then the use of a fan. I'd love to see more of exactly how they pull this off. What a cool image it creates though!

El Claustro from Penique productions on Vimeo.

Weekend in Pictures

Ahh, what a weekend! It is always nice to get out of the city, especially in the winter when not much is happening in DC anyway. This weekend Andy and I went to Berkley Springs, West Virginia with some good friends of ours. Berkley Springs is only about two hours away from DC (4 if you get stuck in Friday traffic!) so it seemed like the perfect weekend destination. We met Friday evening and started the weekend with wine, chocolate wine included. (Which, might I add, is much more like chocolate liquor than wine.) Then for the rest of the weekend we enjoyed great food, the windy outdoors, walking around the natural springs (74 degrees), massages at Spa Fest, and quality time with each other. To wrap up the weekend we tried some fried alligator tail, pictured above, and said our goodbyes. So now the week begins and I can only dream of what is to come next weekend!

What's Cooking?...Pineapple Salsa

This last weekend Andy and I got together with some friends to play a game of Settlers. (Don't judge!) I use to think that game was so nerdy and stupid, until I played it one day. Now I love it and get super excited to play!

I knew there would be junk food for people to much on, so I wanted to make something that was very snackable, yet healthy. Salsa was the first thing that came to mind. I have a huge sweet tooth though, so I wanted to zest it up a little with some pineapple and lime zest. This recipe was thrown together last minute, but I am quite pleased with it. I paired it with some homemade flatbread chip/crackers...recipe to follow next week.

Zesty Pineapple Salsa

• 5 Roma Tomatoes (I like these because they seem firmer, you can use any kind of tomato though)
• 1/2 of a large onion
• 1 whole bunch of parsley
• 1 can of pineapple
• a good sprinkle of garlic salt
• juice of 2 limes
• zest of 1 lime
  
• a splash of hot sauce, or more depending on how spicy you like things

Chop everything up pretty finely. Add the garlic salt, lime juice and zest, and hot sauce. Mix well and voila, there is your pineapple salsa!

Old Photo Thursday

This photograph is a good one to follow last week's photo, in continuing with things on wheels as a theme. Not that I meant to have a theme, but it seems to be happening on its own. Oh the life of blogs...
So back to the photo. This is my Grandpa Carl. Cute boy eh? I especially like the bowl haircut. This picture reminds me of the simple things...like tricycles and playing outside. I was having an email conversation with my mom recently about kids and technology. Technology has provided a quick fix for parents these days to the point that kids are growing up glued to technology rather than playing outside. My cousin (who got an ipod for Christmas) is just one of the many. I am sure that it is easy for parents to calm their kid down with an ipod, ipad, or iphone, but what happened to the days of tricycles and making stick forts? I'm not a parent so I am definitely not one to talk. I just get a little scared about the day that I decide to raise a child in this world full of technology.
So back to the picture of my grandpa. It is a lovely picture and fun to think about the simpler days of life.

Roll It

This thing is called 'Roll It'. It is a form of alternative housing created by the University of Karlsruhe as an experiment. It is a cylindrical shape so that it can be rolled to a different position for different functional needs.

This alternative experiment for housing is quite smart. It has functional space for sleeping, working, exercising, and it even has a working sink. I love the wood paneling on the inside of this structure. I would be afraid of my house rolling away though, if I were to live in such a structure. Or maybe that could be a good thing, as I like to move often anyway.

From my shop

Last week I opened my little Etsy shop called Turquoise & Lime...yes, the same name as the blog. I tend to get attached to things like names. I promise the next thing I start won't be called Turquoise and Lime. Anyway, I am going to try and post something from my shop each week.

This week I am featuring a vintage plaid dress. I was vintage hunting when I found this dress. I must admit it wasn't the first thing that caught my eye, but once I gave it a few looks over I decided to get it. Not only was this dress very well made, but it is also comfy soft AND it has long sleeves. I don't know about you, but I have trouble finding dresses for the winter with long sleeves.

When I bought this dress it was about ankle length long (Yikes!) so I put some work into shortening it. It is actually short enough now that it could be worn with jeans, like a tunic top. In the picture I am wearing it with black tights and boots.

Weekend in pictures

It was a relaxing weekend. Enjoy some pictures from our little corner of DC.

This weekend DC had its first real snow. It snowed Friday night and then a bit of rain on Saturday morning put a nice layer of ice on top. We did a lot of napping, but we also got out of the house on Saturday night.

While out Saturday night we met the a guy who never takes off his concert bracelets. (Pictured above left.) New trend? I am obviously not in the know on this trend... The other picture is of Andy and his beautiful hair. This weather does wonders for his hair!

I love the cozy feel of snow on the weekend. We pulled out our couch bed and had a huge cuddle fest watching movies and drinking tea. Can you spot the dog?

Chocolate chip cookies make lazy weekends all the better. I highly recommend this recipe. The cookies are amazing! They practically melt in your mouth. Lastly, a picture of me heading out Saturday night. Some friends of ours threw a Vietnamese New Years party and cooked some really amazing food.

What's cooking?...Chicken Coconut Lime Soup

Now that winter has finally hit DC, I have been on the search for good soup recipes. Luckily Pinterest just happens to be the perfect place to look.

I found a recipe called Creamy Coconut Lime Soup and it sounded too good to be true. It also sounded unlike a soup and more like some kind of dessert. I was very curious about this one. Not only was it amazingly delicious, but it was so easy to make! Andy could not stop talking about how much he loved the soup. The other night he actually ate two bowls of it with about an hour in between. He claimed he was full, but it tasted so good he wanted more. I did find this soup quite filling, but I think that was because of all the chicken.

The recipe calls for buying a rotisserie chicken and using that, but I boiled 2 very large chicken breasts instead. That way it was a bit healthier. I boiled them in a covered pan of water, then let them simmer for about 30 minutes. After that, I put them in the refrigerator to cool down. Once they were cooled I used two forks to shred the chicken before adding it to the soup.

The original recipe didn't call for cilantro, but I added it to my recipe. I like the subtle added flavor, and of course the color. Without the cilantro it seemed too bland for my tastes, but you could definitely leave it out or substitute it for something else. I love to mix and match recipes.

Creamy Chicken Coconut Lime Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 purchased rotisserie chicken, shredded, or two boiled chicken breasts shredded
• 2 cups water
• 1 14 oz lite coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups thinly bias-sliced carrots (about 2-3 medium)
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons Gourmet Garden Thai Herb & Spice Blend (If you can't find this, try Thai green curry paste. I used the paste and it worked great!)
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• Cilantro (finely chopped)
  
• Sliced Lime (optional)

Directions

1. Remove and discard skin and bones from rotisserie chicken. Shred the meat using two forks, pull chicken apart. In a large saucepan combine shredded chicken, the water, cilantro, coconut milk, carrots, lime juice, soy sauce, Thai herb & spice blend, and salt. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 8-10 minutes or until carrots are crispy tender.
2. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with slice lime.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, on this blog.

Old Photo Thursday

I took this picture off of Facebook a few days ago. A guy friend of mine had posted it and said "hopefully one day". How cute. I immediately fell in love with this picture. Not only is it a super cute picture, but upon looking more closely it is a super cool bike!! This man must have constructed that little side car for his son. I am surprised that we don't see a lot more of this, but in a modern version. I've seen those little buggies that kids can ride in behind your bike, but I've never seen a side car. The side caption says this picture was taken in 1931. Bravo for creativity and ingenuity in the 30s!

Photographer Kassandra

These photos were taken and manipulated by photographer, Kassandra. I couldn't find much information on Kassandra other than she is from Russia and she creates these incredible images. If you go to her website you will see so many more like these ones. (*Warning, she also has quite a few nude images.) The way that she is able to manipulate these photographs is very dreamy and they look like they are from another realm. I have often tried this type of photo altering in photoshop, but I can never seem to get the continuity correct. It takes some real time and talent to get images like these. What a great modern art form!

(source)

My Projects: Wall Collage

Andy and I recently moved apartments. This large white wall has been staring me in the face everyday so I finally did something about it. In our last place I had printed a bunch of large photographs (that I had taken) and framed them all with plain black frames. I hung them in a collage style too, but they had a much simpler feel. This time I wanted to do something a bit more three dimensional and fancy. So I spent the last few weeks/months looking for these vintage frames. It is always fun to have a specific item in mind when hunting vintage. Luckily DC has some great finds! Finally I had the frames that I wanted so I took some old family images, some art I had done a while ago, art that a friend had done, and some photographs, all combined with the vintage frames and voila! I am quite pleased with my little collage of pictures and frames.

Side business!

I have exciting news! I have started a side business. My Etsy shop has just opened and I am thrilled! The business is taking hand picked vintage clothes, purses, scarves, and frames, and selling them in an Etsy shop. A lot of the clothes I alter and modify myself to make them more modern and friendly for 2012. It has been so much fun to start, so we'll see how it goes.

The blazer that I am wearing and my purse in this picture are featured in my shop.
Check it out: Turquoise & Lime

What's cooking?...Scotch Bacon Truffles

Scotch Bacon Truffles on Vimeo.

What's cooking...Scotch Bacon Truffles! Andy and I had a few dinners and parties to go to this last weekend so we wanted to make a fun food item to bring. We decided on Scotch Bacon Truffles. Unfortunately we didn't attend some of these dinners/parties due to feeling under the weather, so now we have a whole batch of these bad boys sitting on our kitchen counter. They taste amazing so it is hard not to eat a bunch at once. We also had some difficulty in making the ganache. For some reason the scotch didn't want to mix with the chocolate. It all worked out in the end, but I don't know how much liquor I'll be using in future truffle recipes that I create. Because of this problem I am not going to post the recipe but enjoy the little film we put together.

Old Photo Thursday

(source)

I really enjoy this photograph. Just a man and his dog, his best friend, ready to set out on some kind of adventure. The caption on the photo says "Ready for the summer trail. Sewaro, Alaska". I wonder how long they were on the trail for? The dog looks pretty loaded down with all of that gear. I'm sure they had the time of their lives, and now we have their photo to ponder and enjoy.

Yoga By Equinox

Wow, this video is so incredible and inspiring that I am speechless. It makes me motivated to do more yoga! I do some yoga, but I always aspire to do more and become like the lady in this video. She is incredibly fit and graceful. It makes me wonder what I look like in yoga class... For now I will just enjoy watching the video. It might be a little late for another new years resolution.

Holidays in Review

Yeah, yeah...I know this is way overdue, but better late than never right? With traveling over the holidays and then coming back to a busy life, lots of laundry, and getting back into a routine, now I am finally getting to Christmas pictures.

My brother has been living in Montana for the last 7 years and I am only now finally getting to visit him. He originally moved out there because of my aunt and uncle. Now they have three adorable children-my cousins, who I rarely get to see. So it was time Andy and I made our way out to Montana for the holidays...and what an awesome time we had!

Christmas cookies. It's not Christmas without them.

Going sledding with my cousins Christmas morning. They got sleds for Christmas!

My Dad and his crazy hair! The cabin lodge where we went cross-country skiing.

A beautiful rainbow viewed from my aunt & uncle's house one morning.

Big Sky Brewing Company. Just one of many breweries we enjoyed.

Myself, my brother, and Andy hanging out in downtown Missoula.

Window Phone

(source)

Now this is an interesting new concept. This cell phone is called the "Window Phone". It is called this because it acts like a window does in certain weather conditions. When it rains you get droplets on your phone, when it snows you get frost on your phone. The other interesting thing is that you blow hot breath on your phone so that you can use it. Just like a window, when you put hot breath on it, it steams up and you can write on it. The same works for this phone when you want to call or text someone. Pretty crazy eh? I'm not sure how practical it is, but it is definitely an interesting idea. This phone was created by Seunghan Song.

What's cooking?...Doughnuts

Easy 10 Minute Doughnuts!

Doughnuts have long been a Christmas tradition of my family. They go back as far as I can remember. My mom usually makes the 2-day kind with mashed potatoes in them and lets them rise for a whole day. They taste awesome, but few people have that kind of time. One Christmas my mom decided she was not going to make doughnuts, so my younger brother set out to find his own simple way of making doughnuts for the family...and he did just that! These literally take 10 minutes per biscuit container.

1.) Start with a can of biscuits. They can be any kind. If the can says 10 biscuits, it will make 10 doughnuts...simple!

2.) Use your thumb and forefinger to make a hole in the biscuit and stretch it apart so that it resembles a doughnut.


3.) Fry the doughnuts in an inch or two of any kind of oil. I think we use canola or vegetable oil.


4.) When the doughnuts are browned on both sides take them out of the oil and let them drain on some paper towels.


5.) Decorate your doughnuts as you please. A simple glaze can be made of mixing powdered sugar with milk until you get the desired consistency you want. Cocoa powder can be added to that mixture, or any other flavoring that you like.

Biscuit Doughnuts are a fun easy thing to do with kids! My brothers and I always loved decorating doughnuts as we were growing up, and now we let our little cousins take over the decorating.