Happy Mardi Gras everyone! To share in the spirit of the season and to lament the fact that we didn’t go back “home” for the season this year, I dug some photos out of the MG archives to share here. Living in New Orleans for 5 years was THE. BEST.

If you’re in the mood, you can get last year’s King Cake recipes here.

(t-shirt via Dirty Coast)

The preface to the book Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans….. “This book should begin with a certain musical phrase – best expressed on the trumpet – that every New Orleanian knows.  It is that four-note announcement, with powerful emphasis on the third note – da-da-DAAAAA-da.  The Mardi Gras call to arms, call to attention, call to parade.  It is a phrase that wakes up the neighborhood and clears the air for a multicolored, umbrella twirling, brass-band singing, shouting and stomping impromptu second line headed straight down the nearest street.  It is a sound of home that I miss. ”

Happy Mardi Gras, friends!

This week, for the first time, we got tagged in a question and answer post by one of my new alt friends, Lindsey, so I thought it would be fun to share some answers with you all! Here are the rules:

**You must post the rules
**Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you’ve tagged
**Tag 11 people and link them in your post
**Let them know you have tagged them

Thanks Lindsey, off we go!

1. Is your toilet paper roll pull over or pull under?

Wait? People care about that? Just kidding I know people do, but we’re not two of those people. Honestly its probably different each time and it doesn’t even occur to me one way or the other.

2. Who makes you laugh the most?

My boyfriend! Being in a long distance relationship means a lot of phone time, and sometimes we have whole conversations where we thought we heard one thing and it was something else. One time we were driving home and I was talking about a billboard with a zebra (for We bought a zoo), and he thought I said beaver (from the bridgestone tire commercial) and needless to say the moment where we got to “wait, what are YOU talking about, I’m talking about zebras” was pretty hilarious. We try to make light of our crummy situation by laughing at each little thing we can.

3. If you could meet any historical figure who has already passed, who would it be?

Alvar Aalto, the modernist Finnish architect. D and I both studied abroad in Finland and got a chance to tour many of his iconic buildings, and have even seen one of the two in the US (Mt. Angel Abbey Library). Our style identifies closely with his overall clean aesthetic infused with tangible and rustic materials. He had a great sense of architectural experimentation, and it would be awesome to pick his brain about the small details that go into each building, since as they say, God is in the details. (Thats another architect for another time)

[image via]

4. How many hours a week do you spend on Pinterest?

Ooh, honestly? 10-20 probably. I’m the type that has it open in one window/tab and clicks over while I’m waiting for a file to load to see if there’s anything new.

5. What word do you love?

Reconnoiter. Its the verb form of reconnaissance. Theres no reason its my favorite, other than I think its really fun to say!

6. What word do you hate?

I don’t really have any of “those” words. Generally I’m a good speller, but the words definitely and separate get me every time (its those pesky e’s)

7. What is you favourite smell?

Fresh Laundry and Dryer Exhaust. I used to love doing homework in the college dorm laundromat just because I loved the way it smelled!

[image via Waverly fabrics]

8. If you could play a character in any movie, who would you play?

The girl in Step Up (the first one). I grew up as a dancer and love her style, plus she gets to mack on (and later marry IRL) Channing Tatum.

9. Dogs or cats?

Dogs. I grew up with both and still love cats,  but I’m allergic! Plus, dogs are just so silly and wonderful to be around.

[Our family's pup, Madison]

10. What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Modern Family. That show kills us every week!!

11. What was the last situation that made you blush?

This here is a family blog! Erik and I get teased by his roommates a lot (those sailors. . .), so probably one of those moments.

Alright, I’m tagging these fun folks: Jo, Stacy, Rebekah, Danae, Melanie, Nikki, Joy, Michaela, Steph, Vanessa, and Allison. Of course, NO PRESSURE to participate if you don’t want or are too busy. Like I said, this is the first one I’ve done and just thought it would be a fun “get to know you”. Here are your questions:

1. Tell us the short story of how you got started blogging?

2. Are you an Apple or a PC?

3. What is your ideal Sunday afternoon?

4. Where is your dream destination?

5. Beach bungalow or Mountain chalet?

6. Pencils or Pens?

7. What is your go-to recipe?

8. Whats at the top of your playlist this week?

9. Favorite young adult fiction, or are you too cool for that school?

10. Black or green thumb?

11. Favorite indulgence?

the weekend is whizzing by!  B and I the other night found ourselves neeeeeding a snack… (that is how I whine when I get hungry…..)  we stumbled upon this new cupcake shop at Greenlake called Cake Envy, where I ate this yummy chocolate strawberry piece of happy-ness.

I digress, this cupcake has nothing to do with this post.  Except maybe, I want another one today!

Instead, I am at that point in the weekend where I want to curl up with some good reads by the fire.  blogs, books, articles, you name it – I’m game.

I want to share with you just a few of the things that I have loved to read this week, maybe to inspire your reads today??

Obama came to Seattle this week and chatted at Boeing.  This post…… click it.  read it.  It is seriously awesome and a great reminder — no matter who politically will have your vote this coming November.

One of my favorite blogs — if i close my eyes i imagine I own all these great books!  Side question — what makes vintage children’s books so awesome?  Illustrations, I think!

My mom sent me the link to this letter… which I got a really big chuckle out of.  I have no need for a dog house, but would like a treehouse to play in!

And, a new-ish blog to me that I have fallen for is called Chatting at the Sky.   It’s one of those – the moment I see it on my Google Reader, I get really excited and just turn off everything around me in order to let my heart soak in every single word.   one of my crazy new favorite blogs these days … This is the post that got me hooked…

Ok, off to start reading Eragon for book club this month!

What about you, what are you reading?  Blogs you’ve discovered?  Good book club selections?

Geez, it has been a soggy Friday.   Grey and dreary, with buckets of rain falling.  It feels cold, more like winter than these past few weeks where we have been blessed with some amazing blue days.  I wish the rain came down in rainbows, like this installation at the Sculpture Park I enjoy so much…..

But the weekend is here, making the rain seem brighter somehow.  It seems like no matter how much time I have lately, there never seems to be enough to get it all done.  I have been making these really pretty weekend to do lists lately, with fun check boxes to color in.  I might still be working on the to dos of two weeks ago.

oops.

Hopefully this happens to other people, or do I need to give up sleeping in order to make it all happen?

This weekend does have some grand stuff going on …. and it is 3 days long!

reading, responding to a few emails, packing for an upcoming trip, cleaning, writing, a bit of crafting, cooking, worshipping…..

happy weekend all,

d

You might have noticed in the last month or so that some sidebar ads have been popping up here on ravenna girls. These our our new sponsor swap partners. I’d love to introduce to you:

Vanessa from Little Gray Pixel. Lately she’s been crossing off the list of 100 movies you should watch before you die, and having beautiful sun-drenched photo shoots. Vanessa has been the most generous sponsor host we could ask for, and we hope she finds a home here as part of the ravenna girls family. Go give her some love!

Jenny from Hank and Hunt. I met Jenny before alt, but we got to party it up a bit while we were there, and she’s fan-tastic. She’s the queen of party crafts and just this week she’s knocked it out of the park with a chalkboard crown DIY and a confetti table cloth over at Oh Happy Day where she is a new contributor. Check out her archives, there are some amazing projects there!

Lyndsey from The Stationery Place. When we went to the Handmade Weekend booksigning last fall, Lyndsey walked right up to us and introduced herself, and it was one of the greatest blogging connections we’ve ever made. New to Seattle, she’s put her heart into getting some of us offline and meeting one another which has been totally awesome. Check out the latest in her Seattle Paper series where she is tracking down “every stationery shop, designer, and distributor in the Northwest”!

Welcome, ladies, we’re so happy to have you!

A note on sponsor swaps: For awhile we’d been sponsoring Vanessa’s blog when at the beginning of the year she announced that she was switching her ad policy to swap only. And that got us thinking: sponsor swaps are a beautiful thing. Ad pricing on small up and coming blogs (like ours) can be all over the place, and the ability to do a swap makes it a less arbitrary process. Plus, this encourages us to feature sponsors that we would also have feature us, in other words, people we heart big time.  Its much like swapping blog buttons, but with a monthly commitment to help feature projects and grow each others community. We plan to have a limited number of swaps to start in order to make sure everyone gets lots of love, because no one wants to get lost in a sea of sponsors! A couple times a month we’ll be introducing current and new sponsors as well as highlighting some of our favorite happenings at their blogs.

If you’re interested in chatting about the possibility of a sponsorship swap, shoot us an e-mail: ravennagirls [at] gmail [dot] com.

[Glitter glasses image via Pugly Pixel]

Somewhere along the way, the internet introduced me to two books in particular. I’m not 100% sure where or why these hit a particular chord, but I became FASCINATED with the illustrations in each one and HAD. TO. HAVE. THEM.

Both are out of print, of course. The first one is Space Alphabet, which the amazing D tracked down online and gifted to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. She assured me at the time that she found the only one available anywhere, and I pretty much believe her.

[Image of original Henri via Grain Edit]

The other book is Henri’s Walk to Paris, illustrated by mid century master, Saul Bass. I have searched up and down for this book. Online, offline. Everytime I walk  into a thrift store I peruse the children’s book section desperate for the marigold spine peeking out. No luck.

So, imagine my glee when I was reading Oh Happy Day last week and Jordan shared that they are RE-LEASING HENRI!!! I might have shouted with excitement (ok, I definitely shouted with excitement).

[Images by Rizzoli, via Grain Edit]

Its amazing. I won’t have a vintage copy, but I will have a copy. When Jordan said this book is impossible to find, she wasn’t kidding. If you know me, and have a child, you’re probably receiving this book as a gift in 2012, just a warning In my opinion, its that good.

Some other children’s books I have been swooning over lately: Along a long road found via Inward Facing Girl, Paul Thurlbly’s Alphabet, also via IFG, and Hippos Go Beserk, introduced to me by Journey (literally she lays in bed an night and sings “All the Hippos, Go Berserk!).

The ferry goes right past my grandma’s house before it docks in bremerton. I don’t know that we’ve taken any pictures from this vantage in awhile, so I took the opportunity.

Here is the view looking out from the same spot towards Bremerton. Pretty breathtaking, huh? After the service we all gathered on the lawn and reminisced about a long and happy life.

Happy Valentines Day, all! Just a quick note from D and I to show our love for each and every one of you that makes our humble little blog a part of your day.

We’re going to have a quiet girls night Downton Abbey marathon (we’re a few episodes behind!) and probably some Trophy Cupcakes. Enjoy your love day and see you back in a few.

[Lesson learned from making this animated .gif: We need a tripod!]

To create our February mantel we mixed some wintry themes like bare birch trees and the scandinavian reindeer with bright red and pink accents. A leftover pink poinsettia from the holidays sticks around, with a vintage red lantern, a festive winter birdy, and a glittery pink heart garland.

Simple like the end of winter, with a pop of color that we can’t resist.

This week I also added some glitter banded wooden blocks for a little extra color throughout. I originally intended them to be a garland of their own for another room in the house, but that project was sort of an epic fail (remind me to show some outtakes later). Thats why the blocks have holes drilled through them, if you’re going to perch them cutely on the mantel, don’t bother to buy blocks with holes.

All you have to do is wrap one piece of double sided tape around the block (I trimmed some pieces to be narrower than others), sprinkle on some glitter, and seal with some matte polyurethane spray. You could probably even skip this last step if you don’t care about the blocks losing a little bit of their glitter here and there.

I stuck on some acrylic vintage typeset stickers to spell “love” on some of the blocks and sprinkled the rest throughout. Graphic and modern, but still, with glitter and a touch of whimsy. Perfecto!