photo friday

we lost power on friday night,
after the storm.
it didn't come back until tuesday afternoon,
then flickered off again thursday
for a little while,
before coming back on.

photo friday

dive right in

It's been a while, I know. I'm not sure how to catch up on the amount of time since I was last here, but let me just dive right in.

Last night, I got to participate in an arts showcase, full of DC-local artists. The local director found my Etsy store and invited me to show my photos - originally in the May show, but I felt like I needed more time than that, so we agreed on the June showcase.

Shortly after that, or about when ticket sales opened on May 1, I started to become a wreck. It was, after all, my very first art show and I had tickets to sell. But I took the steps I needed to: figured out which pictures to show, ordered the prints, decided on how to display them, chose my space for the show. All the while I was all over social media trying to promote the show. I watched my showcase report neurotically, waiting for the slow uptick in ticket sales. I had many small anxiety attacks over it.

Finally, somehow, the night arrived. After a minor disaster involving my display, the show opened and the people came flooding in. Suddenly I was surrounded by family and friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in years and years. Everyone who stopped to look at my photos complimented me on them (okay, well, some people glanced and moved on, to be fair). I am so, so grateful to those who showed up, and to those who supported me from afar.

The night was a success - I sold some pictures, gave out my business card to some folks, met some other local artists, and generally felt confident that my art was good, that it spoke for itself. The process was sometimes a hassle, my body ached from standing for four hours, and I had what Daniel termed an "art hangover" this morning, but overall definitely worth it.

photo friday

photo friday

indian lake.

between the table and the kitchen

I don't remember when, exactly, it happened, but around the end of July I found a recipe for vegan cinnamon rolls. I mentioned this, casually I'm sure, to Daniel, who pounced on the idea. I made cinnamon rolls for Christmas a few years ago, and they were (if I may say so) pretty damn good. I was excited to find a recipe that was not only vegan but also mentioned Cinnabon in the post.

An aside: when I was young, my mother and I would go on shopping days, and we would almost always get a roll or two from Cinnabon in the morning. In college, far from my mother, I recruited one of my best friends to go on Cinnabon expeditions with me. I have similar fond memories of meatballs subs from even younger days at the mall in New York.

Anyway. I was excited, Daniel was excited, I bought all the necessary ingredients. Let me remind you: this was the end of July, maybe the beginning of August. I did not make them. I kept on not making them, for various reasons. I started a new job, so I didn't want to use my precious weeknights for such a time-intensive project. I was tired. I didn't want to be stranded by myself in the kitchen for such a long duration.

It's like I had forgotten how much I love baking.

So when Daniel suggested I start making the dough while he made dinner on Sunday night, and I felt myself warm up to the idea, I made myself do it. I ran back and forth between the table and the kitchen, with its woeful lack of counter space, proofing yeast and melting margarine and measuring flour. As soon as I had the dough in my hands, I remembered. I remembered how much I love making food, how much I love baking in particular.

We ate dinner while the dough was rising, and Michael came over to hang out. He and Daniel sat around in the living room while I flattened the dough into a rectangle, melted more butter, spread the cinnamon-sugar over the melted butter. I filled pans full of a melted butter and sugar mixture. I waved off the offers to help and finally I rolled the dough and cut it, filling three different pans full of rolls. Then into the refrigerator and onto washing some of the mountain of dishes I had made.

The next morning I slept in a little, still waking before Daniel, and tried to quietly pad around the apartment until it was time to put the rolls in the oven. It was a great way to start the holiday.







Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Here at VeganYumYum

A note: heed the warning not to add liquid to the icing. It does, in fact, come together with a lot of elbow grease.

rabbit rabbit

oh, september.
i'm so glad you're here.