not my gumdrop buttons!

These would be a lot of fun to make, considering how much I adore the geeky drama queen gingerbread from Shrek.

thanksgiving recap

So I pretty much went over-the-top yesterday and about killed myself.

Especially after a really bad night of insomnia. But. That's keeping in the true 'Kristin Kale Holiday Spirit', so it was worth it in my opinion. You can always 'not feel like' doing something and that's the way to slowly lose all the chances to make memories or events special. So I'd rather go a bit overboard than always let the opportunity pass me by. But that's just me.I made (ahem, from scratch): a citrus herb roasted chicken, roasted garlic & sage mashed potatoes, sauteed brussel sprouts with pecans, country bread stuffing, white wine gravy & a pumpkin spice cheesecake which hardly anyone could choke down after stuffing themselves with dinner (maybe I needed to do a better job of explaining that Thanksgiving is not about enjoying the food you make, its about ingesting the food you make. Never mind. There's always a next year.).
Eveline cut the bird (the bird is behind that dark shadowy thing on the picture. He is a 'cloaked in mystery' bird, you see).
There were 5 of us: Johannes, Eveline, Jo's father (Ernst), Philipp & myself. Philipp kindly picked out the 5 best pears he could find. He did a good job, no?
Mom & son. P's happy with his gourmet beer.

top 50 thankful list

1) That bad haircuts (specifically bad haircuts with bangs) grow back
2) After an extreme face mashing session, my husband still thinks I'm pretty
3) And tells me so
4) Dark chocolate sprinkles on hot coffee
5) Being able to walk up in the woods, free from pain
6) Drinkable water, straight from the tap
7) Craft beer
8) Literacy
9) My husband's totally rad air guitar skills
10) Newly started impromptu slow dancing when no one is looking
11) The little bubbly & crisp crust of cheese that forms in a Raclette shovel-thingy
12) Neil Young promising the 10-disc release from the archives next year
13) Hope that he won't (yet again) set the date back another 200 years
14) Picking a partner with a sense of humor
15) Laughing with said partner over everything & nothing
16) That my relatively newly formed family of in-laws has not a psycho in sight--if we're strictly counting immediate relatives, that is
17) Going on long walks with Philipp
18) The time here in Switzerland at Eveline & Jo's house
19) Finishing up the last of my homemade pumpkin puree so the pumpkin obsession can rest--until next year
20) Flipping through the new Real Simple magazine
21) Being able to hang up on my sister when I am through talking with her in under 10 seconds.
22) Having been able to watch my brothers grow up from infants to 10 & 12 year-olds; this has provided me much joy and entertainment (like as teenagers sending Jake at age 2 to tell people "fork you" because of the way he mispronounced "fork". Oh, sigh. Priceless.)
23) All the traveling I've been able to do in years gone by
24) Being able to experience Hawaii (thanks, Martin for those return flight tickets!!)
25) Living with (not to many) regrets in life thus far
26) Being able to hug Philipp with my head right under his chin--complete & utter "made for each" other dimensions
27) That Philipp does not have a lot of back or chest hair
28) My trusty real broken-in Levi's
29) Days when taking a dump before a shower happens
30) My shiny new "look at me" ipod
31) With really cool & awesome sounding headphones
32) Having numbers 30 & 31 on the tram to pass the time. Without them I would claw my eyes out, its so slow and bo-ring.
33) Cheapo Tetris hand-held games with 80's technology. So freaking addictive.
34) All the new music I've been exposed to through knowing Philipp
35) Claiming the cool points of introducing Philipp to The Allman Brothers. Totally kick-ass 22:53 rendition of 'Whipping Post'? Mark it, Dude.
36) Watching Henry Rollins dvds and youtube clips
37) Finding a perfume that does not turn me into a wheezing, cackling hag (and smells nice): Banana Republic's Rosewood.
38) Occasionally remembering to put it on before going out
39) Compulsive list making and packing to re-pack. These two things keep me content.
40) Library priveledges
41) Gifts/notes for no reason
42) Seasons. Whoever came up with that idea is ace. Just enough of the same weather then a change to prevent boredom (unless you live in Florida, that is)
43) The freedom to travel anywhere in the world with the passport I have. Can you imagine being told "no" just cause you have a certain nationality? Like you had the choice.
44) Remembering a towel before getting in the shower
45) Road trips
46) A just-right dinner at a just-right restaurant (think Robin's in Cambria, Novo in San Luis Obispo)
47) The Big Lebowski
48) Dental floss after corn on the cob
49) When leftovers fit exactly in a container
50) My family, which I love more than everything

P.S.
51). Old, nearly see-through shirts to sleep in

bundled up babies and holiday kids

Now that its getting {really} cold out, its so fun to see all these tiny babies squeezed into buntings in town. They look like little egg rolls all bundled up and so cozy. I wish Philipp could carry me around in one. Hmm. Christmas present, anyone?

On a (sort of) related note, this is an ad page from the H&M holiday collection. Don't these two kiddos look so cute? Holidays at my home will no doubt always be super casual, but don't these outfits make for a nice photo?

holy fascinator crap!

Run--do not walk--to your local H&M and buy this if they have it--only 10 freaking Euros?!

morning thankful

After a really terrible night of {no} sleep, I am thankful for dark coffee and this album (a proper thankful post forthcoming):

fall leaf votives

These are easy to make and look pretty. The full post here.

pretty packaging

I love this gift wrapping. More ideas from Design*Sponge here.

spider as payment

This is probably one of the funniest things I have read all year. Catch the full discourse here.

a bell for Herr Trummer

All the babies in the Kale family were given wind-up musical silver Christmas bells for their first holidays by my grandmother. Its not fair that Philipp does not have one of his own now that he is an official member of the club so I found one on ebay! Yay! So excited about that, because these are limited and hard-ish to find. And I scored it for only $9.99:
His is stamped with the year '1978' and plays 'White Christmas'. So sweet. Now I just need to steal my '1983' one away from Mama and we'll be set.

snowing!!

Yay! For real snow! Bring it on, Big Man. Philipp and I romantically watched it falling from the window until I ruined it by saying something totally not funny and/or inappropriate. Typical.This is Johannes' car. His Batmobile is in the shop.

on being a millionaire

Top ten things I would promptly do upon winning the millions (from the lottery of which I do not play) that have nothing to do with philanthropy:

1) Send Philipp on a gigantic record buying spree for everything conceivable on his "to buy" list and then some.
2) Pay off our Scion
3) Buy Mama & Daddy an RV
4) Take an enormous road trip through every state I care about (ahem--sorry Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin & the like)
5) Buy a huge chunk of land in the central coast of California
6) Build not too big house on said land
7) Buy Johannes a huge chunk of land in the desert
8) Pay off Martin's house
9) Fly all of my family here for Christmas
10) Brew beer!!

What would be your urgent non-philanthropic ten?

one from the road

From what feels like a long time ago, right before Philipp and I met, May 2005--my first cross-country trip; the feeling was one of having a whole life before you. P.S. I still feel this way.

This one's for my sister and for myself, I guess. Some lyrics from a song my Daddy raised us on. Its sort of an anthem for us Kales, I suppose:

Ramblin' Man by The Allman Brothers Band

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man,
Tryin to make a livin and doin the best I can.
And when its time for leavin,
I hope you'll understand,
That I was born a ramblin' man.

Well my father was a gambler down in Georgia,
He wound up on the wrong end of a gun.
And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus
Rollin down highway 41.

I'm on my way to New Orleans this mornin,
Leaving out of Nashville, Tennessee,
They're always having a good time down on the bayou,
Lord, them delta women think the world of me.

new clothes {happiness}

So yesterday I finally got around to going to Zara to find some things & use my gift card from Eveline from my birthday. I found these two pieces, which I love and could not resist showing off:Disregard the fact that that first photo looks like I have only one leg and am holding a light saber.

license plate map

This is a cool map of the US of A made from license plates. Spotted on Stephmodo's blog.

retro aprons

How much more fun would baking be in something like this retro apron? Get your own from etsy seller Boojiboo.

beer books

I'm probably just as excited about the birthday books I got Philipp as he is. BEER.

airstream chic

Photographer: Nicole Hill (nicolehill.blogspot.com) for Rubberball Productions
(rubberball.com)

Inspiring photos taken from Domestic Reflections blog. Originally from A Little Sussy blog. Would this not be the perfect solution to my perpetual wanderlust and love of all things domestic? I think so. I spent several camping trips hanging out in one of these, as my aunt & uncle had one for awhile.

converse

A cool shot of our favorite sneakers of all time. Taken from this flicker user.

journey journal

I stumbled across this cool 'journey journal' while looking at maps on Etsy. The front features an outline of the US and Canada with tiny holes in major cities to chart your course with fasteners and ribbon.

Inside are several pages to document your journey day by day. This looks like a fun way to remember the details of any adventure.

Available from this seller.

birthday wrap-up

Whew. This week went by so quickly that I only just found the time to process some of the pictures from Philipp's birthday. Philipp took two days off and we had a good time just the two of us during the day and later went to a show that some people P knows from Canada were putting on in some squat in Basel. That made me feel real punk rock, even though I kept putting my sleeve over my hands so as not to touch anything! ; )Our day began with the customary eating of my homemade Chocolate-Espresso cake for breakfast. Mama sent a single candle to put on the top since they cannot be here this year and Martin sent a 'Happy Birthday' banner to help decorate as well.
I had fun putting together a basket of goodies for him. A few shirts, a replacement track jacket, some socks and most importantly:
Coffee from Starbucks, a grinder and a drip coffee machine to satisfy Philipp's coffee addiction. It has a timer on it, so coffee is raring to go at 5:45 when he gets up. This made him incredibly happy since he's been missing USA-style coffee since we've been back.

That's all!

WWNYD?

Oh my god. I must have one of these. No matter what anyone says, the Mr. and me are THE biggest Neil fans on the planet. Somebody in Montreal please please please pick us up one.

hula seventy home

Blogger Hula Seventy's home tour here.

the birthday boy

What do you say about someone who is so close to you that any words you choose would inevitably fail miserably at describing what you feel?

I found myself with this dilemma yesterday afternoon as I sat trying to compose a letter to give to Philipp today on his birthday. The longer I sat, the more I realized how the more someone or something means to you, the less you seem to have to put words to it. The more describing what they mean to you feels like grasping at the wind or trying to hold an ocean in your hand.

Who he is and what he brings to my life is so much larger than anything else I've attempted to describe that I feel like what one must feel like when trying to explain to a blind person a New Mexican desert, the sunrise over an Oregonian beach, snow capped hills towering over the Rio Grande, a packed street in downtown San Francisco, the ragged bluffs over the Big Sur stretch of highway or any number of things that are far too beautiful to not stop and savor them for what they are.

My largest hope in life is that I will always savor the moment with you and stop often to acknowledge how lucky I am.

Here's to many more birthdays to come.

Happy Birthday, do you know how lost I'd be without you?

war's end kiss

This article made me remember my favorite print from year's gone by. Its probably a favorite of a lot of people, but its special to me all the same.

nina simone

Kick ass clip of Nina Simone singing, " Ain't got no...I got my life".
Also, apparently she was born only 45 minutes away from my hometown.

I love the lines "I got my blood...I got life."

volcano

I love this picture Tobi snapped of us in the moment so much. Its just us laughing at something; a portrait of how we spend our days.

He reminds me of who I am when I've forgotten.

laptop lunchbox

From flickr user Amanky's lunch

I am oddly overly excited about ordering Philipp one of these lunchboxes. I toyed with the idea of buying him a stackable bento box, but after researching it (dork) these look like the better solution. They're made in the USA (you must mean China, right?) with certified non-toxic plastic that can be microwaved, unlike most bento boxes. Plus, its compact and I like the idea of popping open the lid and seeing everything you have to eat. I get excited about making lunch for my husband because I know what he would eat from the train station otherwise. Control freak (yet not without benefits, mind you).

hello from my face

Since my face has not made an appearance on this blog in quite some time, here you are. And, ahem, my eyes are not black. They're blue. Contrary to what my lack of photoshop skills would have you believe.

three garlic pasta

This three garlic pasta recipe looks heavenly. I would jump into a a barrel of roasted garlic and eat my way out, that's how much I love the stuff. So would Philipp.

Update: I ended up making this for supper and it was good, except I made the mistake of adding a portion to it without making more sauce. Live and learn, I guess.

fossil bag

One of Philipp's friends' girlfriend came to our party last weekend with this bag. I was really digging it. I think I might have to scoop one up for myself. Its the perfect size, not too giant like most stylish bags are these days. And I like all the pockets on it.

candy countdown

I love this idea I saw on Ohdeedoh. Its a creative & fun way for you to control all that Halloween candy intake by making a calendar for the month of November. Each day your child gets the certain amount of candy you want them to have. Think of an advent calendar without any specific countdown and you've got it! Another picture here.

Obomb

...AND WE DID!
(So to speak... electoral college & all, you know.)

I guess I lied when I said that was the last you'd hear of politics on my blog. Truth be told, I am really happy about the outcome of the election. Even though I am not holding out for some massive change to the struggling classes, I feel its the best step in the right direction for our nation as a whole. I feel really positive about what this win represents to the international community and that it was an obvious win only makes it better.

houseboat

One one of our family trips to the NC coast as a child, we met this traveling team of actors who sailed around on a boat, stopping at various port cities along the way to perform. I was in love. From then on I had a fascination with living on a houseboat.

To my delight I found this post on Apartment Therapy about a really cool modern house boat. Check out the full post here.

peaceful room

How peaceful does this room look? I love it. Perfect for winter days. From this home tour on Design*Sponge.

little wing

Its a word, a picture or a feeling. Gets you hooked on a song real bad. Becomes the soundtrack to your life for the time being. Makes you feel understood.

I'm feeling 'Little Wing' off the Hawks & Doves album.

All her friends call her Little Wing
But she flies rings around them all
She comes to town when the children sing
And leaves them feathers as if they fall
She leaves them feathers as if they fall

Little Wing, don't fly away
When the summer turns to fall
Don't you know some people say
The winter is the best time of them all
Winter is the best of all.

pumpkin carving/halloween/our party

Determined not to miss out on this year's Halloween, I decided all four of us were going to carve jack-o-lanterns on Friday evening. It was a lot of fun carving pumpkins with 3 first-timers. Here were the results:

From left to right: Philipp's, mine, Eveline's, Johannes'

Philipp had a lot of fun putting together these spider pumpkins:
We had them crawling up the stairs for the party.

Just some more of the decorations from the party.Our friend Irene could not come but still brought this delicious cake she baked herself. The decorations were hilarious--the statue of liberty, Switzerland, pumpkins, a cowboy, a giant diamond--everything possible was on this cake!And cousin Caro along with Sami looked so stylish I had to snap a picture of them coming in the door.

bright and colorful bathroom

This is a really cheery bathroom. I like the sink especially. Catch the full house tour here on Design*Sponge.