Yikes!

I don't even want to look at the date of my last post because I think it will make me feel even worse about this extended break I've taken from blogging!  Anyhow, I am back in action writing letters and as we speak I am whipping up a delicious dinner and some little side treats that will make for some great blogging fodder.  Hope you are all well; I will be back soon with some fun stuff!

-Aaron  :)

Ink.

Hey folks!  So, something exciting happened to me yesterday!  It'f funny, I was just telling Megan in my intro letter that my blog so far has been really limited to just mail or food, and I was hoping for something exciting to happen so I could write about it, and I totally forgot about this certain thing going to happen, even though I'd had it planned for about 10 days prior.  Anyway, more on that later.

First, some mail.  After seeing Bianca post about it, I took a look at Cute Tape and couldn't help myself and indulged in 8 different types of Japanese Washi tape.  As you'll see I've been going a bit tape crazy on my recent letters.

 I have been using some tractor envelopes that Patty made and gave me in a recent swap, and decorating them with old receipts and some rub-ons from Patty as well.  I had never seen such a thing before, maybe you all have, but they are really cool!  Basically you cut out whatever piece you want, peel off the backing, and rub it on with [basically] a popsicle stick, and then the image transfers from the paper to whatever you're transferring it to.

Sadly, there was no incoming mail, but I did make a dent in letters needing to be written.  The following two were both intro letters going out for a new pen pals swap on Swap-bot.  The guidelines were to write an intro letter and include some little extras for your partner, so I added in some postcards and/or handmade envelopes into each.  Check 'em out:

and one more...

So, that does it for mail.  Onto the surprise, if you can call it that!  So, here it is:

I got a tattoo yesterday!  I have been thinking about this specific idea for quite a while now, and a few weeks back something just hit me and I realized I was really ready to finally get it done.  I can't quite explain it but it was a definite change of feelings.  I did some final research on fonts, sizing, etc., and came up with pretty much what I wanted.  I had known of a particular tattoo artist through two good friends of mine who knew other people who had also gotten tattoos from this specific woman, and heard nothing but great things about her, so I called her up to see if she would be interested in doing the tattoo for me and she was.  We met and discussed the idea and I told her what I wanted slightly tweaked, and set a date from there.  It's so funny because there was a 10 day gap in between meeting her and the date set for actually doing it, and I was fine up until the day before, when I woke up thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm getting a tattoo tomorrow!"  And then the day of, I woke up at 7:30 on my own, which never happens, and couldn't go back to bed!  I was so restless, I woke up, wrote a letter, cleaned, did an errand or two, etc., etc., etc.  Finally the time came and it was surprisingly less scary once she started setting up and prepping and everything.  The woman who did the tattoo is an amazingly nice person; she puts you at ease immediately, answers any and all questions nicely, and best of all, she was extremely clean and thorough with her procedure which was, of course, of huge importance to me.  Anyway, I'm rambling here, but the point is, I had a wonderful first-time experience and I couldn't be happier.  

So you're probably wondering about what the tattoo means?  Well, to be honest, I never thought I'd want to get a word or phrase tattooed on me, but I eventually saw some people with tattoos like that that I really liked and eventually came to the word 'accept' because I think it just sums up a lot of things that I aspire to do.  I can be very easily annoyed, I get frustrated easily, I can be very hard on myself and others, and to put it bluntly, I am trying to CHILL OUT.  I basically want to accept who I am, who others are, what life throws at me, and deal with things in a little calmer way.  So yeah, there's that, among other things.  Wow, I think that was like, my most personal post yet.  I guess re-reading it it wasn't that crazily personal but like I said earlier, my posts have been pretty much only food and mail-related so this was a stretch for me.  Sorry if it was ramble-icious!  Alright everyone, till next time!  Happy food-ing, fun-ing, and post-ing!  ;)

Aaron

Picture Predicament

Quick question for everyone:

I'm really not too crazy about the photos I take and post to the blog, but I'm not sure how to make them better!  For the most part they are blurry and not great quality; I'm not sure if it's my camera or me, but does anyone have any tips on how to photograph well?  Like, flash or no flash?  How to light the area when snapping shots?  Maybe I need to study up on how to work my particular camera and the options it has, but if anyone has any quick tips that may help me out, I'd really appreciate it!  ;)

Sorry for the long delay, folks.  I have to admit, though, the fire to write and blog just hasn't been there for a while!  I hate to say it but it's the truth  :(  I can't explain why but I'm back in the swing of things and have written some letters and am ready to blog!  It really is inspiring to read all of y'all's blogs and see letters being written and art being created; it really brought me out of this recent funk, so thank you all for that!  Check out some of my recent mail:

Incoming:

^Above 3 pictures form one letter from Zoe.  I wrote her an intro letter a couple weeks back and I got a prompt reply, always a plus!  ;)  Great letter, mail tag requests, and a cute bumper sticker.

  ^Milton fold-n-seal from The Missive Maven.  A while back I sent her a Milton fold-n-seal of my own so she sent me one back in return!

^First of two letters from a pen pal swap on Swap-bot.  This girl included some fun greeting cards along with her great intro letter, which was written on paper made from elephant dung!  Cool, huh?

^Second letter from above-mentioned swap.  Another great intro letter from a woman who I was paired up with for my St. Patrick's day swap back in March.  She didn't mention remembering me from that swap so I'm not sure if she remembers me or not...I'll have to remind her in my reply back.  ;)

^Cool vintage postcard from Megan.  I am excited to write back with an intro letter to get our letter-writing rolling!

^Fantastic letter from Bianca.  (Image courtesy her blog)  I especially love this because a WHILE back she posted pictures of some envelopes she had made, this one included, and I distinctly remember saying to myself, 'Wow, I LOVE that envelope!'  I just thought it was so weird but cool and I almost asked Bianca to send my next letter in it, but then I decided against it since it it might sound a bit...greedy...so then I check her blog a few days back and sure enough, there is my name on THAT envelope!  Yeah, so, her letter was great as always, and on top of it, one of my mail tag requests in my last letter to her was 'something mail art-related that I can put to use' and what I had in mind was, like, a postcard or two, or a few labels, or some stickers, and she ended up sending a TON of stuff, all of which I loved.  Really above and beyond; so much fun!  Check it all out:

^Postcards...

^Labels, stickers, tags, fun bits & pieces...

^WAY COOL handmade envelope with sewn flap.

Outgoing:

Unfortunately at this point, my outgoing pile is much smaller than my incoming pile, but I'm working on changing that as we speak!  Here is what I've put in the mail (or will be putting in the mail first thing tomorrow):

^Reply to Lauren.  Envelope made from a sci-fi art book I picked up at the thrift store.

^Long-delayed reply to Belen.  I was having trouble coming up with good mail tag replies but it all came together (with some help from J) at the last moment so I hope she enjoys everything!  :)

Well that'll do it for this post, folks.  Hope you all are well.  I'll update with other outgoing (and hopefully incoming!) items as they come up.  L8R!  :)

Maps

Hello, hello!  Just sitting here grooving out to Erykah Badu's new album, and LOVING it!  I have never really listened to her music before now but I checked out her album after all the media attention was given to her new music video, and I ended up really liking the CD!  Her voice is just so unique, and the music in her songs just puts me in this really relaxed, almost dreamy state; it's really cool.  I always do this with new music though, I listen to it non-stop, just over, and over, and OVER again, and then I end up getting tired of it, so we'll see if I overdo it with this one too, LoL.  As of right now, though, I am in musical heaven.  Sooo....MAIL TIME!

Today in the mail I got a much anticipated letter from Belen, and a piece of post I was afraid actually got lost in the mail, but thank goodness I was wrong.  Usually mail only takes 2 days to get from her to me or vice versa since we are only a couple hours drive apart, but this letter took about a week, so I was worried! It was quite a thick envelope, though, and a little lopsided and special, and I can tell by the blurred/cockeyed/cut-off stamp cancel that the mail machine didn't do to well while sorting it, so that probably explains the lateness.  I was so excited to see it in the mail today!  ANYWAY, it was well worth the wait, as it was chock full of goodies!  A wonderful letter (as usual) and mail tag responses and requests.  Take a look:

^Front - love the envelope and stamp!

^Contents: Letter, her mail tag requests, and my mail tag requests: paint samples (LOVE THEM), list of ten, and some vanilla rooibos Tazo tea that I really can't wait to try; it smells so good and she said she enjoys it latte style, which I will definitely try since I always get vanilla lattes...perfect choice Belen!

Can't wait to reply to Belen, really.  That's it for incoming for the past couple days.  Here is some outgoing mail:

^Front of a postcard for Postcrossing.  From Postcrossing I checked out the receiver's blog and found out she is Courtney, a follower of my blog!  Cool coincidence, huh?  Her blog is really fun, and she's got some great mail on there, too.  Check it out!

^Back of the postcard...little blue fish is a 3D sticker I got on sale at Michael's in a sticker pack for like, $1.00.  I've been putting them on lots of stuff lately.

^A thank-you postcard for Anu.  She sent an entry for my 50 State Challenge and asked for a postcard in return...no problem there!  :)

^Back of postcard...another 3D fish and some other fishy stickers I got in a Swap-bot swap.

^Handmade map envelope and intro letter to Zoe.  I have such a hard time writing intro letters...anyone else in the same boat on that one?  I just find that I'm kind of at a loss for what to say to a stranger.  I hope that doesn't come off the wrong way - I am so excited to write to new people and build up my contact list, but things just seem to get rolling easier for me after the first couple letters have been written.  

^Back, with big ol' 3D octopus from the same sticker pack as the fish.  

^Cat fold-n-seal with a quick note to The Missive Maven. 

Just a quick note before I wrap up the mail portion of this post: I am totally always looking for new pen-pals!  Last post, Zoe commented and said she'd like to become pen-pals and I was so happy...I feel like I haven't really expressed that, and since I don't make my address public it's not as easy for people to just write if they wanted to.  So, that said, always feel free to comment on posts and exchange e-mails and we can write from there...I would truly love it!

Oh, and one more note for mail...and I'm sure if you're reading my lonely little blog, you've already heard about this, but just in case you haven't, Bianca is doing a fun giveaway to celebrate the opening of her Etsy store/200th post/reaching 200 followers, so you should totally enter and try to win!  Speaking of which, I have to go do that myself.

To celebrate Easter this past Sunday, J and I cooked a nice dinner for my mom and grandparents.  I don't give up anything for Lent, but my mom gave up wine and my grandma gave up sweets/treats/snacks, so this was definitely a joyous day for them, especially because during Lent it's both my grandparents' birthdays and there couldn't be dessert because of my grandma's no-sweets thing, and both celebrations this year ended up on Fridays, which means no meat either!  We go to go all out for Easter dinner this year.  Once again, our menu came from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques.  As I've said before, this is a cookbook with recipes that require some time and TLC to complete, which is why we save it for occasions like this.  Farmer's Market produce helped make this meal super fab:

^Kabocha squash and fennel soup with candied pumpkin seeds.  I'm not a huge squash fan, and haven't loved Kabocha when we've cooked it before, but this was one yummy squash!  Super fragrant and sweet tasting...yum yum.

^Devi'ls chicken thighs with braised leeks.  (We all laughed when we realized we made a dish called Devil's chicken thigh's on Easter...)  I wish this was a more photogenic dish, but oh well, it tasted delicious!  The chicken is seared on the stovetop, then coated in a dijon mustard sauce, and then topped with homemade herbed breadcrumbs before being baked on top of the braised leeks, which were also really, really tasty.

^Dessert: hazelnut-brown butter cake with sauteed pears.  OMG, best part of the meal in my opinion.  Cake made with, and pears sauteed with, fresh vanilla bean, which makes such a HUGE difference!  To make the cake you grind hazelnuts with powdered sugar and flour for the dry ingredients, then alternately fold brown butter (butter that you cook until it's super nutty and delicious) and the dry ingredients into whipped egg whites for a super light and yummy cake.  Fresh whip cream for fun on top, plus syrupy goodness from the pear pan.

Hope you all are well, and hopefully the rest of the week brings me some good mail and/or food to blog about in the coming days.  Until next time!

Song of the moment: Window Seat

Artist: Erykah Badu

Album: New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh

Super Swap

So here's the post I promised with some attention to the Time After Tea stationery swap.  I was so happy to take part in this and even happier when my package arrived...it far exceeded my expectations (not that I didn't expect something great from my swap partner Patty, I just didn't really have expectations going into it, you know)?  Anyway, another HUGE thanks to Patty for all the wonderful things she sent in the giant package for the swap.  I can't remember if I ever mentioned to her, but I LOVE vintage stuff, and she sent along a good deal of it, which made me super happy.  Take a look at all the wonderful things she sent my way:

^Real, unused vintage postage stamps.  Um, YES PLEASE!

^Lots and lots of mailing labels, one thing I have yet to buy for myself...will have no trouble putting these to use!

^Vintage Batman fold-n-seals.  OMG I LOVE THESE.

^I got such a kick out of the dialogue in this one...

^Kitty cat fold-n-seals.  I know a certain someone who might enjoy receiving one of these.  :)

^Bewitched fold-n-seals.  Again, I can't believe she included these.  Bewitched holds a special place in my heart because growing up I would watch the show on Nick at Nite every summer on "Bewitched BeWednesdays!"  I get a very strong feeling of nostalgia whenever I think of that show, The Munsters, I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie etc. because they remind me of such good times being a kid over summer break...sigh...

^Mail-themed rub-ons.  I actually have never heard of such a thing but I guess I will be experimenting with these very soon!  

^Tractor calendar envelopes.  I love hand-made envelopes...everyone has their own style so it's great to see different templates.  I think these may be the most manly thing I own...LoL!

^MORE VINTAGE!  Air Mail-themed envelopes and note paper.  I hate to even use them because I just want to keep them forever! 

Great stuff, huh?  Here are a few pictures of what I sent out in my package to Patty for the swap.  I feel kinda bad because I certainly didn't include as much stuff as she did, but my collection of stuff to send for mail-related swaps is pretty small at this point, and most stuff I send has to be made or bought, and I don't have a ton of money to spend.  That said, I think I put together a pretty decent package and Patty said she really enjoyed it, so that's what really counts, right?  Ok, here we go:

^All contents together: Handful of handmade envelopes, sticker sheets, note cards with envelopes, "P" post-its, rubber stamps, and 6 sets of handmade stationery.

^Close-up of one style of stationery I made.  This was my first go at something like this, so they were nowhere near perfect...I cut out the 3 images from a food magazine article about traveling in France, glued them to paper, and drew lines for writing, then photocopied and made 5 sheets of each page.  I quite like the way they turned out.

^Close-up of my new rubber stamp.  I bought bird-themed scrapbook paper, cut it to note-size paper, and then stamped each page for a place to write date, etc.

Onto some food...

This past Friday, J and I had some of my good friends over for dinner and visiting time since I don't get to see them much anymore.  I say my friends because I knew them all first and I met J later, but we're all friends now.  :)  We put together a delicious roasted beet salad and then had a build-your-own-pizza bar for everyone to be creative with.  All 3 of them thoroughly enjoyed everything which makes J and I very happy.  :)

^Toppings: Arugula, goat cheese, parmesan, homemade pesto, sliced and diced tomato, basil, hummus, mozzarella, kalamata olives, capers, and homemade pizza dough out-of-frame.

^Before the oven...

^425 degrees and 10 minutes later...VOILA!  

Last deal of business for the day, some fun incoming mail.  I think after this post I will be all caught up with the multiple pieces of mail I've had lying around...such a nice feeling to know I've gotten around to posting it all and can safely put it where it belongs in my stash.

^Reply letter from Lauren.  LOVE all the date stamping!  I want to get one of those stamps so bad but have yet to find one that fits into my budget.  They're quite expensive, no?

^Back.  More date stamps?  Yes please.

^50 State Challenge entry from Bianca, to cross off Oregon.  This is a re-gift from a swap package she received, and it has a welcome spot in my collection now!  :)

^Back of the postcard, complete with signature Bianca-esque lettering, handwriting, and adornments.  I love the 3-D strawberry!  P.S., I guess it might seem kinda weird that I blurred out the message; it's not anything super personal or weird, I'm just taking a cue from other mail-bloggers who do the same.  In my mind I guess every message has something unique about it from person to person, and keeping it personal5 between person A and person B is a nice thing to do.

^Postcard from L, who was one of our dinner guests the other night.  She really, really enjoyed all of my postcards, letters, and fantastic things I've received from all over the world!  Usually, as I've mentioned before, people think my love for mail is a bit strange and a borderline addiction (LoL), so it was a nice change to have someone who enjoyed it so much!  :)  I told her if she thought the stuff I've created (envelopes, labels etc.) was so cool she should check out some of my fellow bloggers' stuff and be truly blown away!  I have yet to send her those links but now that I'm thinking of it I will.  Anyway, instead of a normal thank-you card, she sent a gorgeous postcard thank-you to add to my collection.

^Lovely decorations and a wonderful thank-you note.  

Well folks, that should do it for this post.  Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the incoming mail above!  By the way, if you see any fun mail items above (i.e. stuff from the stationery swap) that you like and would like to see in your mailbox, let me know!  I have a ton of stuff I am dying to use; I know some people who would like certain things, but definitely call dibs on anything you see and like!  Also, I have updated my 50 State Challenge list with the postcards I have received this week, so check back and see if you have anything to send my way!  :)  Like I said before, if you sent me something and I didn't post it here on the blog please let me know so I can give credit where credit's due, ESPECIALLY if you have submitted something for the postcard challenge.  I am really appreciative to anyone who sends something for that that I definitely want to acknowledge you all in some way.  Alrighty, until next time!  :)