Take a Moment to Appreciate the Letterpress

For those of you who wonder why letterpress costs so much, and why it takes time to perfect the files for the wedding invitations I do, wonder no more. If you saw the painstaking care that is taken to produce such tactile, wonderful pieces of art, you'd pay a lot more!

This is an amazing video of the peeps down at Mama's Sauce down in Winter Park, FL who documented the arrival of their bundle of joy, baby Kluge; weighing in at a mere 2,000 pounds. The sound of Thome Yorke's voice makes everything a whole lot better too.

The boys who produced this video say this, "Nick isn't a very smart guy. At a time in history when the print industry is pouncing from one space-age technological advancement to the next, Nick has decided to take a giant leap backwards into the industrial revolution.

Meet the Kluge letterpress. An 2,000 pound, cast iron, electric powered monstrosity of vacillating rods, giant spinning wheels and pneumatic hoses. The Kluge is Nick's weapon of choice in his battle against the future.
So why does Nick use the Kluge? A clearly outdated, cumbersome and obsolete machine? The same reason any craftsman uses any tool: for the quality of the finished product. A letterpress offers a tangible, three-dimensional look and feel to the printed image that no other technology can replicate.

Let Nick take you on a trip back in time as he runs through the process of turning an ordinary piece of paper stock into work of art."

KLUGE from Northern Lights on Vimeo.

The Charlesmead Pharmacy

You know those old school drug stores where they have soda fountains, a long counter, and a man wearing a red and white apron just waiting to smile and help you?

Well, it was rumored that we had one of those just down the street from us. We often pass the place. It's located next to a "gourmet shop" (that really only carries wine) and sells mice I think. It's a really nice, old building that seems pretty inviting from the outside. The windows are cluttered with big cut-outs of pill bottles and Rx graphics made from construction paper about 30 years ago. So, it's hard to see inside without walking by. They advertise that they have the best milkshake in Baltimore. I'm not sure where this honor came from, but who wouldn't want to find out. They also advertise a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich for $3.50. This was really the lure for Trent. No one appreciates a BE&C more than that guy.

So, last Sunday we decided to try it.

We get there at 8:45, and it doesn't open until 9:00. I'm thinking, for a place specializing in breakfast with all kinds of signage outside, it's odd that they don't open early. The guy waiting outside suggests that they will open soon, but he seems uncertain. He may have also fallen asleep mid-sentence. We take a spin around the block, and return for the opening of what I think will be our new retro place to eat. However, I am fairly certain after our visit, we won't be returning.

We enter to a small space with stock of just one item per shelf of inventory. One nasal spray, one bottle of aspirin, one calculator. Everything, not only the building seems old. Trent looked for dental floss, and came back shaking his head that we couldn't use the kind they sold. What the?

Lyla enjoyed the fact that they had a counter with stools for her to spin on and admire the never-ending supply of one-candies. This part was kinda neat, but it also left very little room to eat. It also ignited Lyla's burning desire for a lollipop. There were four varieties right in front of her. We reluctantly gave her a tootsie pop before we ordered since we knew this was one situation we weren't going to get out of easily. The spillage of chocolate juice from chin, to neck, to arm was dripping at an alarming rate, and we had to quickly replace the tootsie with a dum dum (we didn't see them at first). That was much easier to control anyway. That, and a Wonder Pets coloring book kept Lyla pretty satisfied.

As we were taking in the interesting atmosphere the guy who was waiting outside rolls on the scene again. He's the pharmacist! He's outside acting like he doesn't know anything, falling asleep and such, and then he's running the show on the inside? He couldn't have been nicer, which I loved, and Lyla didn't cry when he spoke to her which is a first. He also knew the people coming in, which I also liked. At CVS, they don't even make eye contact for fear you might ask a question. They also do that at every Home Depot, Michael's Crafts, and Target. Essentially, anywhere you really need help from a salesperson.

Onto the meal. We were expecting a flat grill warmed and ready for frying eggs, toast, or whatever our breakfast pleasure. Instead, an akward 14-year old kid nervously backs in behind the counter dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I swear he rolled right off his skateboard into the store by accident. I didn't think he even worked there. He seemed like he didn't know where he was--like some kind of shape shifter who was a dog, then shifted to become a human and ended up in the Charlesmead drug store. Actually, it was like an episode of Lost for all of us. Like time put us all there without reason.

The menu is very limited, and most of it is taped up with paper. We ordered a bagel for Lyla, a BE&C for Trent, and a grilled cheese for me (right, odd, but after seeing Trent's prepared, I couldn't do it). There is no cooking mechanism except a household microwave. The kid goes into the dorm fridge, and pulls out a pkg. of Lender's frozen bagels, which ends up being Lyla's meal. For Trent, he gets an egg out, which he cracks for approximately one minute before putting it into what appears to be one of the bowls from Lyla's play kitchen. It's small and orange, and old. He pauses. I know he doesn't know what to do next. We agreed later, that it was his first day. He finally put it into the microwave and cooked it. After that, he toasted a Thomas' english muffin. After that, he put two slices of bacon that I think he brought with him to work into the microwave. After about 20 minutes, all the ingredients made their way onto the muffin and was served. Only at that point was he able to start the next order. Mine seemed to be a lot easier for him. Two slices of white bread were toasted. Then, two slices of American cheese were added, and microwaved. Voila! Grilled cheese sandwich.

The poor kid. A short order cook he was not, but he was sweet.

All in all, our experience was comical and entertaining. However, I don't think we'll be frequenting it for breakfast.
I did include a shot of Lyla living it up though.

Birthday Wishes and Champagne Dreams

No one doubts that I have the best husband in the world. He loves me no matter how I look (and last week after long days and nights at work, and my co-workers pointing out how pale I looked, it helped having a husband that could love me that way), how I act, when I put my foot in my mouth, when I get myself into impossible situations, etc.

He will go to the store or take-out place virtually any night. I hate to do that. I hate leaving the house after I've come home from work. He has made so many trips to Giant for a missing ingredient for me, he might as well be a checker.

He is so great with Lyla, and Lyla adores him. He has a funny manner, and knows what makes Lyla truly happy. Mostly juice and anything Elmo.

Trent wasn't always strong in the gift department. By that I don't mean he didn't give good gifts, he just waited until the absolute last minute, then wasn't happy. Or he would buy me something ten sizes smaller than I wore. That type of thing. Then, he couldn't find what he thought I'd like. Well, in recent years he started listening. Now, if I had to pick one flaw of Trent's it's that he rarely listens to me when I ramble on. I think this is the case with most husbands, so I don't even really count it as a flaw. It goes down with cleaning, putting the toilet seat down, and wanting to have sex when you feel miserable with a flu. However, he has learned that I talk about things I would love to have a lot. I'm always looking through mags, and showing him things, and obsessing about a pair of sunglasses, hair extensions, and other gross things that only a Gossip Girl would want. Anyway, a few years ago I saw a ring on a billboard for a local jeweler, and fell in love with it. I jokingly talked about it all the time. We saw it in the Bulgari store in Vegas with all diamonds, and it was lovely, but a little much for me--both in price and aesthetic. I liked the all white gold version. We tried it on in the store as a gof, knowing we'd only buy it if we struck it big. We never knew the gold version was much more reasonable. Anyway, two or so years later for my birthday (last year), he got it for me.
Yes, the gold one. Who do you think we are? The Kardashians?
Well, I love it, and wear it every day, and I always get compliments on it. The fact that he knew how much I loved it, and was happy to never own it, but still got it for me was so special to me.

Fast forward a year. I recently added "Jen's faves" to this blog, which is a feed of things I see, and like. You can link through and often find out where to buy them. I saw it on a shelter blog I follow called http://makingitlovely.com/ (great blog--thanks Liz Evitts) and became obsessed with the things she put up. Anyway, I decided to do it on my blog as well. In two weeks, three people asked me about stuff I put up there. Funny, since I think no gives a hoot (don't pollute) about my rants and favorite things, but "You love me...you really love me!" (thanks Sally)

Yes, get to it, I know. On the morning of my birthday, Trent was like a little school girl; all giddy and ready to give me something. I barely remembered the damn day since things have been so crazy with my schedule.

So, he gives me this brown box, which I think is some kind of journal, or scrapbook (right, Trent scrapbooking, he can barely use scissors). It turns out it's a Louis Vuitton box. Now, don't get all blah-ba-dee-blah with me about labels, it's important to the story. I immediately knew what it was by the box name because I had just seen a scarf on ELuxury that I loved, so I added it to my Jen's faves, never thinking I would even consider buying it. Well, it also turns out that my friend Leslie looked at it as well to get me! Ha ha. Who knew I was creating a registry of gift ideas for my public? So, Mr. Trent used his thinking cap again, and pulled through with a winner. What a guy ladies and gents, what a guy.

When Will it Be Like This

I rarely fantasize about the lives of overexposed celebrities, especially a looney tune like Angelina Jolie, but I happened across this photo of her an the Bradster, and I could help but admire it.
The way the shot is composed with all the camera to the bottom left who bleed off at the opposite angle of this stunning couple is really beautiful I think.

There were other photos of her dress up close which was stunning. It had a slit up to the waist, and her skinny-ass leg looked marvelous of course. How has she had three kids (twins mind you)? Why has it taken two years, two days of ab-only workouts, tennis lessons, and the Wii to scrape the surface of my grossness, and this chicken is svelte and rail thin? Is it genetics? Hoodia? What?

Noel Says it Best

Anyone who knows me or Trent knows that we not only love the music of Oasis, but get a real kick out of the good old Gallagher brothers. They say whatever they want, and they don't give a sh*t what anyone thinks. And I don't mean that in the way that most lame-ass celebs like Jennifer Aniston or someone say it. They truly say whatever is on the top to anyone. I wish I had so many friends, so much money, and so much liquor and drugs to act this way. I'm sure even this blog has offended someone.

Anyway, I have posted Noel's "Top 10 Things He Loves/Hates", which I thought was pretty amusing, and in the same vain, I will posted mine. I encourage you to send me yours, and I will post them here. Since I have so many followers on this thing. All ten of you.



10 Things I Love
(I'm excluding my wonderful family, dog, and friends including my husband and daughter since all of them would take up the top ten spots).
1. Carvel ice cream cakes, swedish fish, stuffed artichokes
2. Online shopping
3. A four to five inch pump
4. The rush of running a marathon
5. Music--as long as it's British
6. Weddings. And wedding invitations.
7. Sandstorm played at a great party.
8. Playing craps
9. Edward, the vampire from the Twilight series.
10.Going to sleep

10 Things I Hate
1. Bad written grammar
2. Nude pantyhose
3. Tween singers
4. People that talk to other people while we're on the phone
5. Guys that don't care about the way they dress
6. Overgrown toe nails
7. A shower that doesn't take
8. Falling in the toilet when the seat is up
9. My butt
10.Traversing on a snowboard