Tiny (Waffle) Furniture

S: Adorable. A waffle iron that makes tiny furniture.

And if you haven't seen the film Tiny Furniture, you should. There are no waffles in it, but it's really good anyway.

(Image via 2DM)

May the Odds...

S: Love this print.

(Image via Tumblr)

This and That

New Sephora/Pantone collaboration

Kinfolk magazine

Paper dots garland

Such a cute bike for one- to two-year-olds

This wedding post on Snippet & Ink

Sweet belugas

(Image of painting via Michael Carson)

Garden Party at Laguna Gloria

S: Garden party! Laguna Gloria has a new outdoor exhibit called Art on the Green. Different local artists built mini golf holes around the grounds, one of which is this awesome giant rooster.

Last night, they had free cupcakes from the Cupcake Bar, beer from Brooklyn Brewery, and wine from Perdenales Cellars for visitors who wanted to putt the course. Of course, about halfway through on the part closest to Lake Austin, I started to get attacked by mosquitoes, so we had to skip a few holes and get back to our picnic spot by this amazing tree (I made potato gnocchi with a red sauce similar to this recipe, but without the beef, and brought it with us).

This is the perfect time of year in Austin. Right before it gets unbearably hot when you can still sip on drinks outside and not get all gross and sticky. Mosquitoes aside, it was a GREAT night.

Cascarones

S: When I lived in New York, I always missed buying cascarones (brightly painted eggshells filled with confetti) for Easter. So when we were at the store earlier stocking up on coffee and Topo Chicos, I couldn't resist. I mean, just look at these gorgeous colors.

Before

After

(The Easter cards on the table are free printables from Mooo. You can get them here. And here's a tutorial on how to make cascarones at home. )

Pair App: Thumbkissing!

S: Pair, an iPhone app for couples to send messages, photos, videos, and drawings just to each other, is adorably ridiculous.

S: There's also a thumbkissing feature, in which each person puts their thumbs on their respective screens and the phones vibrate at the same time. Like I said: Ridiculous! Adorable!

Short and Sweet Guide to Austin (the Manly Edition)

C: Here's my contribution to Sandra's Short and Sweet Guide to Austin.

(S: I'm going to call this the Manly Edition.)

The University of Texas Tower

Restaurants

-Kome: For when you want delicious, inexpensive sushi. (4917 Airport)

-Mi Madre's: For when you want cheap, giant burritos. (2201 Manor)

-Franklin's: For when you want the best BBQ in the world. WARNING: Show up before 11 a.m. or they may run out of food before you get there. (900 East 11th)

-Your Mom's Burger Bar: For when you want a burger with everything. (1701 East Cesar Chavez) 

-Korea House: For when you want to cook your own food but not be at home. (2700 West Anderson Lane, #501)

Coffee

-Mozart's: For when you want to sip coffee next to a semi-large body of water. (3825 Lake Austin Boulevard) 

-Green Muse: For when you want to sip coffee with eclecticism. (519 West Oltorf) 

-Once Over: For when you want to sip coffee next to a serene creek. (2009 South 1st)

Bars

-Jackalope: For when you must go to 6th Street. (404 East 6th) 

-Vino Vino: For when you want good wine. (4119 Guadalupe)

-The Tigress Pub: For when you want to drink at a neighborhood bar. (100 West North Loop)

Peeps, Peeps, Peeps: On Why I Love Easter Candy

S: Every year right before Easter, my mom sends me a GIGANTIC box of candy. It's a thing of gorgeousness. Yellow and pink Peeps, pastel Reese's, Russel Stover peanut butter milk chocolate bunnies, Ghirardelli dark chocolates with strawberry filling. And it's always entirely too much, and I inevitably end up giving half of it away to friends or coworkers. But without the box arriving each April, it would feel a little less like spring. And more like I'm a real live grown-up at last. So here's to springtime, Easter candy, and my mom. I love you all ridiculously, the first two a great big deal less than the last.

In the spirit of spring, here are some rad candies you can buy online (followed by shots of my candy swag from Mom):

Andie's Specialty Sweets. These pastel chocolate-filled toadstools are adorable. I can't decide if I want to tragically and joyfully smoosh them all with my feet or eat them.

Julie's Fudge: I have no idea how delicious these light blue and pink fudge squares are, but I'm banking on INCREDIBLY.

Dude, Sweet Chocolate: Chris (my fiance) surprised me once with Dude, Sweet chocolates on my bedroom pillow. He had gone out of town that morning and I had been with my cutely rambunctious nephews since the break of dawn. It was the best thing that has ever happened to anyone after a long day baby-sitting.

Hammond's Candies: Floppy eared chocolate bunny!

And the sweet treats from my mom:

The last picture is not candy in the strictest sense. It is, however, me in my new Easter dress. THAT HAS YELLOW-GOLD APPLES ON IT. It is the second best thing that has happened to me this week.

(Top four images via Andie's Specialty Sweets, Julie's Fudge, Dude, Sweet, and Hammond's Candies)

Diagramming Sentences

S: Grammar Nerd Alert: Since undergrad, I have been a fan of Chomsky's syntactic trees. But I still love these illustrations in Kitty Burns Florey's article about the more traditional way of diagramming sentences.

 

Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden

S: A bright, spring afternoon spent sipping ice-cold beers while sitting at a picnic table in the sun. Yep, that was Sunday for me and Chris at Easy Tiger (on Sixth Street about a block west of the highway). But instead of just sipping on our beers, we were also eating pretzels and gouda.

S: The last shot is of Chris walking back from the side area near Waller Creek where they have three ping-pong tables. Three! Really nice. And sorry, no pictures of the delicious gouda. We ate that too fast.

Scrabble Typography Limited Edition

S: Chris sent me a link to this article on Friday, and I can't stop thinking about how beautiful this Scrabble board is.

S: From the article: The purpose of this project was to revive an old, but loved game. The idea was to excite people about typography by giving them the ability to choose what font their Scrabble set would come in. The game board and interior box are made out of solid walnut, and the exterior box is made out of solid birch. Swoon on so many levels! (Those levels being the Scrabble level, the font level, and the solid walnut/solid birch levels.)

(Image via The Dieline)

Books: Divergent and The Future of Us

S: The last two books I've read (in my free time, aka Not for Work) have been YA: Divergent and The Future of Us. If these two books were in a book fight, Divergent would win hands down.