it's a wrap.

i love wrapping.

always have.

always will.

there's a place in my heart for the art of packaging.

do you have a favorite?

lately i've been snipping tiny bits of paper

for my etsy packages and really loving how they turn out.

even snipping tiny letters and shapes out of washi tape.

these little letterpress packages

{they look like bakers chocolate, no?}

are headed to a family in scotland.

it has been letterpress mania over here, by the way.

bunches of letters like this in the shop.

come see.

so, am i alone with my wrapping obsession?

is everyone else elbow deep in paper, tape, and string too?

special snipping shears?

oh, baby.

loving stripes this fall.

{who am i kidding? i love stripes every season.}

it's more likely that i'll

be wearing mine on top.

perhaps i should wear a drab solid though...

might be less conspicuous when i steal all the

adorable children and softies from luckyboysunday .

seriously.

i want everything pictured.

taco time

photo via freep

you've probably heard a little something about

the growing gourmet lunch truck scene, yes?

perhaps you've seen the great truck race on food network.

i fell in love with the idea shooting gads of 

tv commercials on the west coast. 

my very favorite truck was called "off the shelf."

absolutely incredible.

their french toast sticks are deep fried in funnel cake batter 

for crying out loud.
amazing traveling food? sold.

needless to say, i'd been waiting for this phenomenon

to make it's way to my neck of the woods.

so, last week when i saw a big shiny truck

{all i could make out in passing was the word tacos

and the twitter logo} in my neighborhood

i crossed my fingers and toes.

later found out it was jacques tacos.

LUCKILY they had my neighborhood

on their schedule for the next day.

YES.

aaaand scene.

here's the gritty.

i was too excited to let the long ass line dampen my taco spirits.

good thing it moved pretty quickly.

i followed my original game plan to try one of each.

 one braised beef short rib.

one grilled chicken.

one slow roasted pork.

one marinated avocado.

all dressed in black bean & corn salsa, queso fresco, and sauce vert.

{some crazy force took over my brain for a moment

and made me think i'd be able to save half of each

for my husband. that didn't happen. sorry, love.}

they were all super delicious.

tortillas were warm and their texture perfect.

the marinated avocado was creamy and dreamy. flavor was fresh. 

maybe even a hint of lime. mmm.

generally speaking, i usually pass on grilled chicken. 

it's boring. most times dry. in the case of tacos,

it's usually dripping with mysterious orange overkill.

THIS chicken was the exception.

perfectly tender and juicy. spiced just right.

the slow roasted pork was out of this world.

again, flavors and smoky goodness shining through with 

being drowned and sloppy.

the short rib? also a hit

for similar reasons.

nothing too heavy or rich.

you can actually taste the beef.

i polished it all off with the tiniest can of coke zero

{seriously, it's small enough to fit in your palm.

i'm a sucker for tiny things.}

and gathered my thoughts.

so far, what i really like about these:

you can taste what you're eating.

everything doesn't just taste like generic mexican flavoring.

 suppose i'll go back again

{maybe even today}

just to be sure.

favorites?
hard to say.
my next order will probably be
two avocado. one pork. one chicken.
all amazing. but, when i finished the avocado
i felt like i wasn't quite ready to be done with it.

oh.

one last thing.

it doesn't hurt that the owners

named the whole operation after

their darling english bullie.

behold jacques.

photo via freep.

surprise!

i've been kind of stressing out

about having so much free time lately.

 about two weeks ago

my position at work was eliminated

and i was laid off.

i was aware of the changes months in advance,

so, it wasn't a surprise.

and most certainly wasn't a disappointment

since my position transformed into something

that sucked major MAJOR &%$#

for the past few years.

{it's surprising much energy you use hating something. it's exhausting.}

bottom line: it was a good thing.

but i'm having a hard time 

getting the jist of being able to do whatever i want to do.

i've been living in a "things i have to do" shitstorm

for so long

that i'm not sure i know how to function

in a "things i want to do" scenario.

kind of like going from drive to park

without using the brakes.

i haven't even allowed myself to sack back 

and watch shitty daytime tv

one single time since i've been home.

i'm finding the transition really interesting

in a nerdy self-discovery kind of way.

i would have never guessed 

that it would be quite so hard for me to slow down.

i assure you though

i'm totally up for the challenge.

and really looking forward to getting there.

{slowly.}

so, my friends,

i adjust my stretchy pants

and raise my giant coffee...

let's drink to change.

cheers!

photo found here.

in the absence of everything.

i just stumbled on hiroyuki hamada...

actually, it was more of a bulldozer to the side of the heart.

fuck me, these are beautiful.

they say you should only buy art that moves you.

well, i'm moved.

if you are also now speechless, read his blog. (this one especially)

you might lose motor control.

apocalypsed at \\\.

flat pack recipes.

this is not ocd. it's ikea.

they've released a baking book

and they wanted it to not be ugly.

it also frames each ingredient as crucial to the whole.

photography was done by carl kleiner.

whipped up at today & tomorrow.

back in black. and white.

 

things are not always black and white, you know.

but there are some things

in the next shop update

that just so happen to be.

slowly but surely posting some fall finds. 

new pulley listings and vintage bottles

have already found their way.

stop by and see what else is new...