Love and stomach bugs.

I left work early today because I kept having waves of nausea every few minutes. I tried to make sure I got done everything that was important; clients who needed contacting were called or emailed, reports written, and the front desk covered. Whew. I then got in the car (along with the new breadmaker that's going to change our lives forever!) and headed home to sleep it off.

It turns out, Lou was in the same state, and she'd left work a little before I did (apparently we share everything, stomach bugs included). We glanced at each other for a second, and knew it was agreed: bed. Now.

I woke up from a nearly four-hour nap to the smells of cooking.


Homemade vegetable soup. Lou is amazing.

Lou was cooking soup and making croutons out of stale bread. I grabbed the strainers and made us both a cup of tea to go along with our soup, and we had a nice sick person's meal together.


Tea strainer set: something i can no longer live without.

A note on tea: I've discovered that going to the gourmet tea shop and purchasing loose tea by the ounce is actually significantly cheaper than buying boxed tea bags or even loose teas at the grocery store. It's also much tastier. Who knew? And since it's taken the place of my nightly beer or two, we're saving quite a bit of money.

Tomorrow I'm hoping I'll feel well enough to bike, and that the weather will allow for it. I'm itching to take a walk with my camera, but it's just not been an option many days recently. Hopefully tomorrow will bring nicer weather and a well-rested, healthy me.

It is now time to turn on a space heater, pile some blankets on, and snuggle on the couch for the Lost premier.

snow and domesticity

It's snowing here in Philly. I was hoping for some sort of real break in the weather but it's not looking likely. Tomorrow is supposed to be below 30 degrees, and it's supposed to rain or snow well into the night tonight. I'm really hoping the roads will be cleared--at least to some extent--so I can bike tomorrow, but it's not looking likely. I'm an adventurous biker, but I've had a few spills on icy roads, and I'm not willing to risk it anymore.


An iron rail around the corner from my office


Tree and snow through foggy lens.

Weather like this makes me wish I lived somewhere less urban; somewhere the snow sticks around a while and doesn't turn into grey mush the second it hits the ground. In the city you have to love the snow as it's falling, love it resting on tree branches and walls--everywhere else it's just slush, waiting to take you out with one misstep.

Enough whining about the weather. After making a few stops downtown for herbal tea (I'm quite obsessed with rooiboos teas currently) and a strainer for making almond milk, I came home to a house that smelled like corn tortillas. Lou is at it again:


Lou taking a homemade tortilla off the frying pan.


The end result: soft tacos. Not gorgeous, but delicious.

All the frugal blogs she's been reading have had this amazing side-effect: making our own (fill in the food item here.) Not just tortillas, but seitan, veggie "hamburger," our own almond milk. I was greeted with a glass of almond milk when I got home, and it was absolutely wonderful. Lou (because she's a genius) added a touch of honey to it as a sweetener, and it's better than any brand I've tried.

This weekend, we're actually going to try our hands at making our own laundry detergent. I'm pretty excited. The blogger Lou got the recipe from describes it as "a five-gallon bucket of green slime." Sweet! It'll be like a grade school science project. I'm pretty psyched.

Not exactly the bluebirds of Springtime...

These little guys are out in full force today.

It's finally above freezing! I just spent ten minutes outside with only one layer of clothing on, and can still feel all my extremities. It's wonderful!

The birds of the neighborhood obviously agree with me, because they're all over the place. I'm not sure where they've been holed up the last few days, but they're definitely happy to be out and about. This particular flock flew from tree to fence to street to roof and back about four times in the ten minutes I stood outside. The little guy in flight in the first picture seemed to be their ringleader-or maybe just the most nervous of the bunch.

I'm thrilled for the slight letting-up of the cold. I miss my bike. I miss the intimacy of being alone with the city streets, as weird as that might sound. I do a lot of my thinking and observing from the seat of my bike. It's my "me time."

Yesterday was a nice day despite the cold. Lou and I lazed around for part of the day, then went on a whirlwind shopping trip, hitting three grocery stores and CVS. I know, crazy, right? We're trying to be frugal, which involves a bit of shopping around. It wasn't so bad. We came home and Lou made two giant vegetarian shepherd's pies while I did dishes and kept her company. She made TVP from scratch for the first time instead of buying prepackaged fake "hamburger," and it turns out to be really easy and significantly cheaper.


Topped with Asiago cheese for added nutrition, obviously.

Lou is currently making her own corn tortillas from scratch for the first time. I'm pretty excited about this.

I've started to realize that this blog might end up being about more than just photos of Philly and bicycle commuting. As things are changing for Lou and I, there might be more about living frugally, vegetarian cooking, and just general randomness. It will remain formatted around photography. It's just sort of taking on a life of its own right now. Stay tuned.