When it rains, and so on

As if getting laid off wasn't enough of a gas, we got hit with some very bad news on the family front today. Geeze louise. Mourning, funeral, and spending time with family and such is just on the horizon now. But nobody wants to hear about that. Blogs are for fun, lighthearted things like materialism and decorating and such. And baking.



Don't these tarts look fine? I made them for me and mom. They were relatively simple to put together (that's just frozen puff pastry dough) and finger lickin' good. I don't even have to type up the recipe for you. Okay, even though this was in Everyday Food and they put all that stuff on the Martha website, this one isn't there. It was the April 2008 issue. Go figure.

I'd transcribe it for you here, but I don't want the Martha Mafia after me, so basically what you're doing is rolling out a sheet of puffed pastry, then cutting out four even squares. Score them one inch from the edges, then poke the middle with a fork. Bake. Saute several different types of mushrooms together, all sliced thin, and shred some pecorino romano. Put cheese on tarts, then mushrooms, then a little more cheese. Put back in oven to let the cheese get all melty. Ta da! If you want more deets that that, send me a note.

And now, from food to clothes. I don't usually blog about clothes. I go through cycles for one. I'm either wanting to spend all my money on home or on clothes. It's one or the other. And since I got back down to Austin, it's been home. On top of that, I got no place to wear nice clothes these days, so what's the point. And let's not forget, no money to spend. But I did want to show you this.



Um, cute, right? It's the new L.L. Bean catalog. I'm a J. Crew girl, like many I know. Not that I can afford it - but I do like to drool over their catalogs every season, and then I wait for the sales. I'm a Target girl too. But my family has been on the L.L. Bean mailing list since I was nearly an infant. When I was in high school, mom would show me stuff in it and I'd be like, "Yeah, that's nice." And then I'd go to Old Navy. L.L. Bean was notoriously the home of mom jeans (probably still are), and really good water repellent boots. But hello, what's this?



I know, tweed jackets/military cut has been out there for a while, but that's cute. There's even a little dog embroidered just on the inside, which is a fun surprise.



I want these - what are they, wellie warmers? - for my wellies. It says they're available on the website but I can't find them. But forget that - I think I have some legwarmers around here somewhere that I might start wearing in this fashion.

I just want to give their design dept some kudos for stepping it up, bit by bit, over the past few years. There was a shirt I saw in the spring catalog that I really liked and mentioned I might like to have it. It was never, ever in stock - always on backorder. Fall catalog comes out and now there are like 5 things I want in it. So they're either really focusing on getting their clothes more on-trend, or I'm turning into my mother. Let's not go there.

Also, I did dig out a photo of my dorm - my junior year dorm room to be exact (Haas 311, woot). And I do have a scanner. But I think I've done enough scanning for today. Maybe someday in the future, if you're good, I'd be willing to share it. It's pretty embarrassing. Something about a bedspread covered with sheep jumping over fences.. I can't recall. Yeah. E, I know you've seen it.