elephantine

inside + outside

Recently captured: the bedroom ceiling, a dog outside the library, a neighbor's planter, living room curtains.

just a regular cat

Sometimes I think Rufus's sole purpose in life is to drive us crazy. He will ever-so-gently claw at our faces while we're sleeping. He will stand on the dresser and grab me when I walk by, effectively hooking a claw into my new sweater. If we are on the couch late at night and he wants to sleep there, he'll stomp around the house producing such ear-piercing meows in protest that our neighbors can probably hear him too. He only likes one type of cat food, and will throw up all others. Our bathroom has these weird non-locking doors, and if he sees you go in, he'll immediately rush over and pull the doors open, just because he can.

The thing that drives us the craziest is something he does exclusively in ungodly hours of the morning. He stands on the bed, on the tiptoes of his hind feet, and furiously rattles the nearby floor lamp back and forth as if he's the percussionist in a band. If that doesn't work, he knocks the alarm clock off the bedside table.

Every so often, he'll curl up on Stefan's chest if he's on the couch and purr up a storm. It's as if it has slipped his mind that he's supposed to be torturing us. For a brief moment, he's just a regular cat. He'll do that thing that cats do where they nudge their face against yours, a little gesture that I'm pretty sure means "hi, I love you, and aren't I cute?" until he's had enough of that, and then off he goes again.

top pot doughnuts {belltown}

I stopped by Top Pot yesterday to enjoy what was aptly named a pink feather boa, a doughnut topped with pink icing and coconut shavings. You know what I love about this place? The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

let's just try it and see

Can I tell you a secret? Earlier this week, while I was folding laundry, I started daydreaming about becoming a freelance photographer. I imagined myself shooting pastries in small cafés and capturing congested kitchens in local restaurants. I imagined myself staying up late to edit. I imagined putting together a legitimate portfolio.

And then the voice of reason spoke up: hey, remember those two shops that you spend 50+ hours a week tending to? Remember that novel you keep trying to write? And the house you always need to clean?

It's difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that I can't do everything I want to. There aren't enough hours in the day, and I just don't have that much energy. And the other thing? I've always wanted to be someone who is fully dedicated to just one craft. I like the purity of that.

The point of this post? I guess I just wanted to tell you that even though things might always appear fine and dandy on this blog, I have struggles like anyone else, creatively and otherwise. I hope I never give off the impression that I have a perfect life. My reason for blogging has always been to share things that I think are beautiful. But maybe it's possible to keep doing that while being a little more personal? I don't know the answer to that yet. So, let's just try it and see.

Yesterday afternoon, I was planning on shooting some new kitchen products, but I ended up photographing these flowers instead. It occurred to me that there were leftover packs of instant film from our wedding just sitting in our bedroom closet, so I dug those out, too. Maybe this fragment of a dream will go nowhere. At the very worst, I'll just be stuck with a bunch of photos of my life. And that's not a bad problem to have.

new at elephantine...

A new piece in my shop called conmigo (meaning "with me" in spanish). Two tiny squares, all sterling silver.

some favorites...

...from Kaufmann Mercantile.

the homies 2012

I was browsing the list of blogs nominated for "Best Food Photography" for The Homies 2012 and was so surprised to see Elephantine on the list! Eeek. What an honor. If you feel like voting, just go here.

(Above: a few of my latest instagram shots.)

a la mode pies {phinney ridge}

Have I ever told you how much I love cherry pie? No? Well, I do. I had a slice at A la Mode Pies yesterday – and, well, yum. Not only is the pie is heavenly, the café is tiny and charming, and they serve Caffè Umbria espresso and Bluebird ice cream. It's also right next to the zoo, if you want to make an afternoon out of it. Thanks to the owner {Chris Porter, aka Seattle's The Pie Guy} for letting me shoot these photos...

where to visit: 5821 Phinney Ave N, Seattle, WA
hours: 7am - 7pm, closed on some holidays
i enjoyed: a slice of star-spangled sour cherry pie + a latte

today i like...

...these earrings, these candle holders, this small pouch, and this photo.

have a wonderful weekend

Whether you're running errands, seeing friends, catching up on work, or doing absolutely nothing, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. This last week was the first time I only posted my own photographs. This blog isn't changing entirely to that, but I've really loved using more of my own images and hope to keep sharing them. Thanks so much for all your sweet comments, as always.

Above: last night's dinner, made from my favorite quiche recipe ever.

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Last week, I bought my first skein of yarn. All I wanted was something soft and in a shade of gray. I'd just found one when the saleswoman came over to see if I needed any help. I asked if she had recommendations for someone just starting out. "That's a good medium weight," she said, motioning to the yarn I was holding, "but dark colors are also more difficult to work with. It's hard to see the stitches while you knit."

I bought it anyway. Isn't knitting half about the feel of it? Over the past week, I've already noticed my comfort with knitting drastically changing. I'm getting the hang of holding the needles, of gauging the tension of the yarn. Yet it's the same set of motions from that first day.

Sometimes, when I first wake up, I watch the leaves outside my bedroom window. To say my eyesight is bad would be an understatement – without contacts in, I can't read someone's expression more than a few feet away – and to me, that morning view out the bedroom window is nothing but a palette of greens and circles of light. If there's even the slightest breeze outside moving the leaves, those soft circles of light blink and shift, fade in and fade out. In the end, though, it's not really about what I'm seeing or not seeing. It's just the feeling.

Works in progress: a patternless scarf (the whole thing is just knitted) and these fingerless gloves.

caffè umbria {pioneer square}

Had a nice lunch at caffè umbria with linda yesterday. I didn't get any this time, but their gelato is delicious.

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Are you on Instagram? I've started to get more into it. My username is rachelada, if you'd like to follow. (I also tweet a lot of my photos, too.) Above: a Valentine's flower, Lake Washington, a ribbon spool, and oranges.

new in the shop...

My latest additions to the shop: cupcake wrappers, hot chocolate moo-usse, simón coll chocolate bars, a tea towel, justin's nut butter, and a moon-shaped cookie cutter.

pike place in the rain

I spent last Friday afternoon at Pike Place Market. It was raining, and I tried waiting it out over a cup of coffee at Starbucks (how very Seattle of me, right?) but when the rain didn't let up, I gave in. I'm sure I looked crazy dashing from one covered spot to another, but there were too many things I wanted to capture...

If you're in the area, I recommend going to Piroshky Piroshky (which has – surprise! – good piroshky), Watson Kennedy (a pretty gift shop), Beecher's (their flagship cheese is so good), Sur La Table (a kitchen-lover's dream store), DeLaurenti (great sandwiches and an amazing selection of chocolate, olive oils, etc.), and The Pink Door (Italian restaurant + cabaret, perfect for a bachelorette night out).

fiction friday: ma lai go

  I had but a single memory of my grandfather Yuan: on Sundays, when my parents drove us to my grandparents' sand-colored bungalow, Yuan would retreat to the small, single-window kitchen and labor over an egg whisk and a round tin to produce an airy, perfectly round sponge cake. I could remember no visit without it. Yuan hardly set foot in that corner of the house, aside from this weekly ritual. It was the only thing he had any desire to make, and years later, the only thing he had any desire to eat.
  Yuan was unhurried as he cracked the eggs on the countertop, and steadfast as he beat them to a thick and opaque froth. His was an economical man; no movement went to waste. He slowed his stirring as each ingredient was added. Finally, he poured the pale yellow batter into a parchment-lined steamer, which was placed over a pot of boiling water. He slipped a towel under the lid of the pot before leaving the kitchen. "To catch dripping water," he said, when I shyly asked, and I imagined tiny raindrops threatening the sponge cake.
  Those Sundays, the cramped kitchen was also occupied by my grandmother as she prepared the heart of the meal: thick oily noodles, fried strips of pork, leafy vegetables in a pool of glistening sauce, packed bowls of steamed rice. She shouted in Chinese over the hiss and crackle of the food to Yuan, and then in bumbling English to us. "Why her hair so long?" she protested to my mother, meaning me. "She should keep it short. Out of the way."
  After lunch, wedges of cake were served on blue and white porcelain that, afterward, I would help clear from the table and stack by the kitchen sink. Only a few crumbs were the remaining evidence of Yuan's toil.
  "Oh, that sponge cake," my mother always sighed, once we were back in the car. She glanced at me in the flip-down mirror while reapplying her lipstick. "I've been eating it since I was your age."
  "Ma Lai Go," I said quietly. It was what Yuan had whispered to me when he removed the lid of the pot and a cloud of steam rose toward his face. It was the only time I ever saw him smile – as soon as the steam cleared, he always returned to his normal, serious self.

knit & purl

A friend of mine is starting a knitting/crochet group, so guess what I'm doing later today? Going up to the yarn store, picking out a couple things, and then coming home and forming that first slip knot. I only know a tiny bit about knitting (from a long, long time ago) but am so looking forward to getting back into it.

(Inspiration from anne greene, all the mountains, aino sal, and cuddle me knits.)

in shades of blue

Loving this card, these earrings, this painting, and these bottles.

kismet ring {new in the shop}

I have a new little ring in the shop named kismet. I start by forming a band out of fine silver wire, then carefully hammering one spot into a flattened diamond shape. It's my new everday ring.

(p.s. Mignon Kitchen Co. now has its own facebook page!)

keep on loving you

When you've been in a relationship for 9+ years, it gets really hard to come up with new gifts. But you know what never gets old? Simple, handmade ones. My valentine's day gift to Stefan is a burned CD mixtape, in a DIY paper sleeve, along with this card from printerette press. (He puts Sriracha on pretty much everything.)

saturday at golden gardens

The thing about Golden Gardens is that there aren't actually any gardens. But there is sand, a park, barbeques, fire pits, a playground, sailboat races, a bathhouse that's rented out for weddings, and a food shack called Little Coney that sells soft serve ice cream. During the summer, the beach is teeming with sunbathers, volleyball players, and sandcastle constructors. During the winter, it's wonderfully deserted.

Oh – and if you listen carefully enough, you can often hear sea lions calling off the shore.

As for the rest of my weekend? I had a few yummy meals out, watched Our Idiot Brother (funnier than I was expecting), donated some things to Goodwill, and designed a new ring (more on that tomorrow).

a little giveaway!

I recently sold my 4000th piece of jewelry on etsy (I can hardly believe it) and I'm celebrating with a giveaway!

What you can win: a nova trio set, which comes with three pairs of tiny gold-filled stud earrings: white topaz, blush cubic zirconia, and black spinel. (It's perfect if you're indecisive, like I am.)

How to enter: Easy peasy – just leave a comment! International folks are welcome to enter, too. The winner will be picked at random at the end of the day on February 12th.

Update: the winner is Miss Bibliophile! I'll be in touch. Thanks everyone for entering :)

soaps and sweets

Donuts and coffee, good day soap, kocochi soap, and meringues etoiles.

"You don't know a woman until you have a letter from her."

Some sweet cards from Quill & Fox. I especially love that parrot.

(Quote from Ada Leverson.)

monday faves...

...from Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co.

fiction friday: sweet

  Maddy had read a short story about it in some magazine, although now she couldn't recall which one. What she did remember was that you had to bake two pies – one with, and one without. She baked them both on the middle rack, placing the one for herself on the right side, nudging it gently into the oven. Then she wound the timer, and wiped the flecks of flour off her palms.
  She made the phone call with the cell phone her daughter had given her over the holidays. "For emergencies," her daughter had said, but by that week's end, Maddy had discovered that she liked being able to make a call while she was in town; she had even used it to call Dr. Keller when she was held up in traffic and running late to her appointment. Now, in the brightly lit hallway just outside of the kitchen, she dialed John's number.
  "Still coming at three?" she asked, and then, "No, no. No need. Just bring yourself."

  At a quarter to three, Maddy pulled the pies out of the oven. They looked identical: both golden brown, both stained dark purple in a few places where the filling had seeped through. She set two plates on the counter, reminding herself that hers would be the one on the right. Not a good time for forgetfulness, she thought.

  John, predictably, was late. And he had in his hands a small container of cookies, even though she had told him to bring nothing.
  "I baked a pie," said Maddy in protest, but John was already in the kitchen.
  "Two pies, I see!" he said. "I'll put the cookies out on a plate, if you don't mind." She couldn't stop him; he was already setting them out on a platter, placing the chocolate chip cookies on one side and the oatmeal cookies on the other.
  "Taste the pie," said Maddy. She was suddenly holding a forkful of it up to his mouth, cupping her other hand under it. Behind her, on the counter, the pie on the left was steaming from the place she had dug into.
  "Not yet," said John.
  "Go on. Taste it," said Maddy. And be done with it.
  But he looked hesitant. He looked nervous. He looked as though he knew. He broke off an edge of one of the oatmeal cookies, and held it out to her.
  "Only if you try a cookie first," he said.
  "Fine," she said, "But I want a chocolate chip one."
  "Suit yourself," said John. "But I want a bite of the other pie."

a little adventure on bainbridge island

Yesterday afternoon, I hopped on a ferry to Bainbridge Island to visit my best friend, who moved there just a few months ago. We walked around the little downtown area (Winslow), wandering through the bookstore, fabric store, the bakery, and the yarn and tea store, then had a yummy dinner in a quiet Indian restaurant.

On the ferry ride back, I went out onto the deck – windy and freezing, but worth the view of Seattle lit up against the black water and sky. I've always loved cities at night.

thank you + new in the shop

It's been a little over a week since the opening of Mignon Kitchen Co., and I owe a huge thank you to everyone who visited, blogged about, and placed an order from the shop! I'm so flattered by the response.

A lot of people have asked me who designed the site and what service I'm using. I designed the layouts myself, and then customized one of Shopify's templates to fit my design. The amount of customization I did required heavy HTML + CSS editing, but Shopify has lots of other nice templates that don't require touching the code.

And...hey! There are a few new goodies freshly stocked in the shop: organic vanilla extract, apple caramel preserves, meyer lemon curd, and la-dee-dahs, which are shown above. La-dee-dahs are these amazing handmade candies made of sea salt caramel, nougat, and dark chocolate. They're pure happiness.

it's simply...

...beautiful. The entire Mjölk shop, that is.

my monday faves

This bowtie packaging, this photo, these bite-size doughnuts, and these terrariums {via meagan}.

mini crepe flowers...

This mini crepe paper flower favor tutorial over at Oh Happy Day is the sweetest!

some cuteness...

...for your thursday: an embroidery pattern, elephant plush, cutie pie, and cat gift bags {via alli}.

year of the dragon

What's the best fortune you've ever gotten? Earlier this week, Stefan and I went out to celebrate Chinese New Year and these were in our fortune cookies. Oddly similar but opposite: mine said You will have good luck in the winter and his said You will have good luck in the summer.

today i like...

...this furniture, this print, these display boxes {via melissa}, and this cherry ganache tart.

introducing mignon kitchen co.

I'm thrilled to share that Mignon Kitchen Co. is now open!

Over the past year, I've become increasingly in love with spending time in the kitchen and giving homemade food to others as gifts. I knew I wanted to make something bigger related to that process, but I wasn't sure what. Then, slowly, the idea of Mignon came together: an online shop that carries goods for the kitchen and pantry, wares for setting a lovely table, and packaging supplies for giving homemade food as gifts.

A lot of things in the shop are small, intended for scaled down recipes. Some are made by hand. One of them is handmade by me. A few of them are especially for Valentine's Day. All of them are things that I love.

You can visit the shop here. I'd love for you to take a peek. If nothing else, I just hope that putting Mignon out there will inspire someone to spend more time in the kitchen. To quote Julia Child, “It's so beautifully arranged on the plate – you know someone's fingers have been all over it.”

fiction friday: creature

   On clear nights, the creature came out of the woods and wandered through our town. My little brother called it the noche perro; he had been teaching himself Spanish ever since a pretty exchange student from Córdoba was assigned to his class. ("Doesn't she speak English?" asked our father, over dinner. "Yes," said my brother, "but that's not the point." Then, to me: "Lindy, pass the butter, por favor.")
   He was wrong about the creature, though – it wasn't a perro at all. It was much too big, hairy, and aware of its surroundings. I had seen it dig through our neighbor's trash cans, and it was methodical in its ways, eating certain pieces and throwing back others after a moment of consideration. I had seen it bury something in the Andersons' garden. I had seen it hide from a cat, retreating into a shadow until the tabby crossed the street. But even when the creature reemerged, it looked uneasy, as if at any moment the cat might come running back and attack.

   Then some of the PTA moms got wind of the creature. They said it was sniffing around the schoolyard. They spoke to the local news, claiming that two of the neighborhood cats were missing. When they realized that the creature was after nothing more than our garbage, they insisted that everyone hide their trash cans in their garages at night.
  "Now this monster will leave us alone," they said.

   When the creature came back, it seemed confused. Where there had once been bins stuffed with dinner scraps and plastic packaging and used tissue, there were now only round depressions in the grass. From house to house, it found the same thing – except at one. Outside of our house, the creature found a brown lunch bag, and inside the bag, my lunch. A peanut butter and honey sandwich. Half an apple. Some crackers. The creature sniffed at the food, gave a moment of thought, and then removed the sandwich from its plastic bag. It ate the bag, chewing slowly, and then took the sandwich in its mouth and started walking back toward the street. It looked back only once, glancing up toward my bedroom window. I saw the the glow of its small, oval eyes, and then I ducked out of sight.

stitch and repeat

So impressed by this crochet work by jungjung {via pretty light}.

mark it with a...

Every time I see herb markers, I feel inspired to try a little garden again. Some faves from Harlow Lane, Pigeon Toe, Paulova Ceramics, and little jane st. {via Design*Sponge}.

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Did you get any snow yet this winter? It finally came to Seattle.

today i like...

...this tealight totem, this ring, this print, and this teapot.

what i've been up to {a sneak peek}

Remember when I mentioned that I was launching a big project soon?

My project is a new online shop, and next week is the grand opening. I've been working on this for months, only telling a few people about it, spending countless hours researching, placing orders, designing, and photographing. The shop is called Mignon Kitchen Co. (pronounced "min-yawn", meaning "cute" in french) and carries a selection of goodies for prepping, baking, serving, and sharing food, from basic wood mixing spoons to chevron-print napkins to Parisian fondue-in-a-jar.

Come by next Monday for the big reveal. I can't wait to show you.

have a sweet weekend!

(Lemon tart recipe from here.)

moonrise kingdom

"Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness."

I can't wait for Wes Anderson's latest movie, Moonrise Kingdom.

terttulla ceramics

I recently came across Terttulla Ceramics and love the simple, pretty pieces.

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Just a couple shots of the latest flowers I picked up from the market.

and more faves...

...from crate&barrel, jennifer, tartelette, and kitzie g.

monday faves

This light, this photo, this chalkboard, and this jacket.

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Unlike Rufus, I'm planning on having a productive weekend. Happy friday!

smaller is cuter

...like these little guys from Royal Mint.

oh, jammies!

All I want to do today is snuggle up in this nightwear from Toast.