flickr photo of the day : strawberries.

Untitled by Molly | Orangette (See also: Blog).

combining my love...

of bakeries and old trailers- since I saw this post on Oh Joy I haven't stopped dreaming about my own bakery. Especially one inspired by the colors and interior of a 1964 restored vintage Shasta airflyte trailer. Perhaps someday my dream might become a reality. Perhaps. (see: Enjoy Cupcakes.)

collections : packaged well.

I fully admit it- sometimes I totally judge a book by its cover.

1. Curious Chocolate - Dark and Milk Chocolate (£4.95), 2. Amazon Nails-Cloud ($10), 3. Emmerson Room Spray (£29), 4. Bonnie's Black & Blue Jam ($10), 5. Glicerlanolina Sapone alla Crema Soap ($11), 6. Liberty House Champagne Truffles, Rococo (£10.95), 7. Memory of Kindness ($13-$70), and 8. Smith's Minted Rosebud Salve ($8)

my ten favorite spots in my city...

as photographed by some true Portlanders. (Bookmark this entry for if you ever end up visiting pdx- these spots do not dissapoint, I promise!)


Powell's City of Books, 1005 West Burnside. By far the most impressive bookstore I have set foot inside. I can get lost there for hours. Photograph by unruly things.


Clyde Common, 1014 Southwest Stark Street. Truly amazing food, gorgeous staff, beautiful natural lighting, and the best hot toddy in town. Photograph by dejvicka.


Stumptown Coffee Roasters, located all over Portland. Seriously, there is no better coffee and this is right where it all started. You can smell the coffee roasting in the air of Portland, and the staff knows how to make my day start off right. Photograph by field trip studio.


Flutter, 3948 North Mississippi Avenue. This shop is like a huge treasure chest, filled to the brim with gorgeous antiquities, handmade dresses and jewelry, old-fashioned confections, and color galore. You cannot leave here with some sort of amazing find. Photograph by anja louise verdugo.


Broder Cafe, 2508 Southeast Clinton Street. Sure, you probably know by now that I am a deep lover of anything Scandinavian, but this cafe is just absolute perfection. Not only are their displays the sweetest (little cozies on individual cast iron skillets? Yes, please), but their Northern European food is as delicious as can be. Photograph by abbytrysagain.


Ace Hotel, 1022 Southwest Stark Street. I'm sure you have all heard of it, but it's quite true that the Ace Hotel just downright oozes "cool." From its masculine vintage design to its old-fashioned black & white photobooth, it's the place to either lodge at or just come and hang out inside at anytime of day. Photograph by Nubby Twiglet.


little t american baker, 2600 Southeast Division. Look at that picture above. Now imagine the taste of chewy fresh-baked pretzel bread. Need I say more? Photograph by land camera land camera.


Sahagun, 10 Northwest 16th Avenue. Being a baker and intense lover of sweets, I have had plenty of chocolate in my day, so it should be taken to heart when I say that the extremely adorable Elizabeth of Sahagun makes the best chocolates I have ever tasted. Ever. Try her salted caramel truffles if you would like to experience heaven. Photograph by katez0r.


ink + peat, 3808 North Williams Avenue, Suite 126. Beautiful lighting and set-up, local creations, and flower displays that make you think of little European flower shoppes. Also one of my favorite spots to use my trusty old film camera. Photograph by me.


Saint Cupcake, 407 Northwest 17th Avenue and 3300 Southeast Belmont. I can be a bit of a cupcake snob, but these bakers know their stuff. Classic cupcakes with some of the best cream cheese frosting I have tasted. And of course, pink decor. Photograph by girlhula.

teri lyn fisher.

A good friend of mine just introduced me to the work of Los Angeles photographer Teri Lyn Fisher and let me tell you this: it is Tuesday night and I am sitting here in front of my computer completely salivating. Truth-be-told, I am even considering heading into the kitchen to make a pie. But it wouldn't be even nearly as pretty as the one pictured above.

some colorful sweets...

to start off your Saturday. Because photographs of macarons always seem to make me happy. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

(photographs by Caren Alpert, Helen Dujardin, and Julia Bereciartu.)

flickr friday : meal time.

Pictures of food just never seem to get old to me...

1. inspired breakfast, 2. A Breakfast in SoHo, 3. Biscuits & Cheese Breakfast, 4. glasgow, i miss you, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. proper weekend breakfast, 8. yeah..., 9. breakfast!, 10. lørdag , 11. sunday morning, 12. Treat, 13. Untitled, 14. sunday, 15. Untitled, 16. simply breakfast

ten images of inspiration : sunday suppers.

There are few sites that manage to inspire me as much as Sunday Suppers does. From the stunning photography (by Karen Mordechai) to the styling ideas to the truly delicious sounding recipes, it's a food and design lover's dream. And bluntly put, it helps get my ass back in the kitchen.

macarons are fabulous...

as shown by Stockholm-based photographer Carl Kleiner (who has an amazing portfolio, by the way.)

i just couldn't wait...

to share this recipe and photo tutorial for Nikole Herriott's shortbread buttons. They are just too clever and adorable to wait until Monday to post. Really.

pretty, pretty chocolate.

I know I have posted about Mast Brothers Chocolate before, but my love for it was recently reignited when I just found that their chocolate is now being sold a mere two blocks away from me at Stumptown Coffee. They just collaborated with Stumptown to make a brand new bar, combining their delicious handcrafted chocolate and Stumptown's best-in-the-land coffee, which is available for purchase right here. Not only is their packaging absolutely gorgeous, but really, coffee + chocolate = two of the best things in life.

(product images via shopcomposition.)

a sweet treat...

from Sweet & Saucy Shop. I love silhouettes and cookies, so this is a perfect combination. I just might have to try to make my own sometime.

a love of macarons.

I just scanned these in from this book, which was a gift for me from Paris. I guess it's just one of those days when I just want to sit back with a cup of coffee and look at sweets, especially ones this lovely. (photographs by Akiko Ida)

interior inspiration : cafes.

There are few things in life I love more than spending time in a lovely little cafe. Don't you agree?

Sources (from top to bottom): Inspace Locations, Little Building Cafe, Flickr: Sandra Juto, emmas designblogg, David Sandison, baileys home and garden, Gourmet Magazine, TAF, Pointclickhome, and Flickr: Jea Jea, Moomah.

mouth-watering treats.

This has little to do with design (other than the fact that the desserts are mighty nice to look at), but I must say that I am so very obsessed with all that is Nigella Lawson at the moment. She's an amazing writer, very sexy (and looks like she actually eats her food), and goodness, her recipes are absolutely heavenly. I guess, after having a slice of homemade apple pie for breakfast, I just have food on the brain today.





Recipes for the food shown above: Honey Chocolate Cake, Blackberry Galette, Autumnal Birthday Cake, and Banana Bread.