FOODIE: Bagel Sandwiches

Way back in the day I used to work at a Noah's bagel shop at 4am every morning. I hated that damn job, but I did learn to love bagels and to make a mean bagel sandwich. Not like it's that hard, really. Now I make them at home all the time. My favorites are bagel melts, which are so much cheaper to make at home than purchase at bagel shops.

We buy our bagels in bulk from Winco Foods. (Alice and I love everything bagels, Lucy only likes plain, and Eric prefers sesame seed.) Cut them in half, pop them in the toaster, butter lightly and layer the halves with toppings of your choice. We often make 'breakfast bagels,' which consist of whipping and microwaving an egg in the microwave, putting said egg on toasted and buttered bagel half, top with thin sliced ham and a slice of swiss cheese. Place on a cookie sheet under the broiler and watch closely, warming just until the cheese melts. We also make them for lunch with all kinds of veggies, lunchmeats, and tun, all topped with cheese, of course. Makes for a delicious warm meal on cold winter days, especially when paired with soup.

ARTSY: Trey McIntyre Project 10+1 pt. 3

So, I'm in this show again and I'm thrilled! A benefit for the renowned Trey McIntyre Project, a contemporary dance company based here in Boise, each year TMP invites local artists to create works inspired by dance/the company. Last year I made this. This year I made something inspired by this dance performance they did about two years ago. Here's a sneak peek:

If you're in town, you'd best come to the opening party tonight, TMP Headquarters on Fulton Street, right next to TableRock Brew Pub, 5-9pm. It's free, and sure to be fabulous!

ARTSY: Prison Art

One of my most favorite places in Boise, the Old Idaho State Pen. It's creepy and wonderfully preserved and well worth a visit. Or several. I can never get enough time here. Alice and I got the rare chance to access some of the cells in the 4 House and got these pics of the incredible inmate art.

CULTURE: The 2011 Wintry Market

Our inaugural Wintry Market was a huge success! Over the course of two days (Sat Nov 5 and Sun Nov 6) thirty different crafters, artists and makers filled the Ballet Idaho Auditorium space with good fun and terrific handmade gifts. Hundreds of people came through and the vibe was casual and eclectic and inspiring, by all accounts

And! You guys! The Ticky-Tacky shop did spectacular upon it's debut. Seriously, I got great comments about the quality of items and the originality. Several people even mentioned that I should have a store somewhere. As for now, though, I'm still just working the local booth/event market. I sold almost $350 worth of vintage goodness, though, in just two days. This exceeded my expectations, and totally got this girl a brand-new Kenmore vacuum.

My co-conspirators in all things crafty, Anna and Kristin. Together, we put together a pretty wonderful show and helped promote handmade and local goods in Idaho. I love these ladies. They also took way better photos than I did, so for more images of the Wintry Market, check out our blog and our Facebook page. You should also 'like' us/follow us to get info about other holiday markets in Idaho, as well as get updates on Wintry Market 2012!

STYLE: T-shirt Revamp With Men's Tie

I follow Craft Gossip on Facebook and saw this link to this blog's tutorial on upcycling an old t-shirt with a men's tie. Eric happens to have a plethora of old, quirky ties lying about, so I snatched one up.

My blue tee had another stain on it (as most of my tees do) so I crafted a few little fabric rosettes to cover that up, and to adorn the tie.

In the original tutorial, she uses a vintage button, which I also think would be darling. But this turned out pretty cute, don't you think? I can't wait to make more!

ARTSY: Wintry Market + Ticky-Tacky

Early last spring, my friend Kristin Montgomery and I met for brunch and discussed Boise's need for a quality handmade arts and crafts holiday market. We had both noticed that our local handmade shops and markets were expanding and seemed to be successfully operating on a grassroots level that we both appreciated and enjoyed. We knew that we could add something special to the holiday scene and thus, Wintry Market was conceived!

We quickly secured Ballet Idaho's stellar auditorium space, thanks to the community-building mindset of their new development director, Heather Langhorst, and her commitment to artists supporting artists locally. Local animator Jason Sievers created our fabulous poster and we soon had all 30 available booths at the Wintry Market filled with some of the best makers in the state of Idaho. Big City Coffee was thrilled to help our customers satisfy their caffeine fix and sweet tooth and B29 Streatery is ready to park their popular food truck in the Ballet Idaho parking lot for the weekend.

Co-creating the Wintry Market has also allowed me to finally fulfill one of my dreams of starting my own vintage shop. I call it Ticky-Tacky, and it's a carefully curated vintage shop full of reloved and reused items for the home and the holidays. Items have been thrifted, repurposed, and handmade by yours truly. You guys, I'm so excited to share the goodness!

There'll be killer vintage Christmas goods! Clothes! Purses! Kids decor! Art books! Crochet! Needlepoint! Crystal! Melmac! Ticky-Tacky is overflowing with so much greatness it's gonna be hard for me to part with all the retro lovelies I've selected. Of course, everything is one of a kind, and is certain to go fast, as I'm a firm believer in reasonable prices. Vintage homes FTW!

So, if you're local, help us ring in the holidays season by attending the inaugural Wintry Market and supporting Idaho's artists and crafters. Seriously, you're sure to find the most unique and hip holiday gifts around. And, I'd love for you to stop by the Ticky-Tacky booth and say hello.

Here's the deets:

Wintry Market Handmade for the Holidays

Ballet Idaho auditorium

Corner of 8th & Myrtle, in downtown Boise's BoDo District

Sat Nov 5 & Sun Nov 6, 2011

10am-5pm

FREE ADMISSION

+kids recycled arts corner!

+coffee and snacks!

+quirky holiday photo booth!

KIDDOS: BSU's Vertebrate Museum

We did so many fun things as a family this summer, that I can't wait to share them with you. As you can tell, much of our time was spent away from the computer and out of doors, meaning a severe lack of posting. Anyhow, one of our little day trips included a visit to Boise State University's Vertebrate Museum in the Science Building.

The Science Building is right next to the Morrison Center on campus and houses biology, chemistry and nursing. They recently reinstalled the quirky collection throughout the halls on the second floor of the building, and they are open to the public.

The girls had so much fun exploring taxidermied birds and fish and checking out all kinds of seashells, a thrill as we were headed to the Oregon coast the very next day. Also, we got in a little visit with daddy, a chemistry professor with offices on the third floor of the same building.

It is truly a gem of a place to take the kiddos, and you can even grab lunch at Subway on the first floor of the building or just across the lawn there's a mini Mai Thai in the food court that is too die for. You'll want to pay for parking garage parking, though, as there are just a few metered spots around the building that only last for 30 minutes and the parking ticket folks are ON IT.