scribble. pen. ink.

happy valentines day!

2012-02-13T22:58:00.001-06:00

valentine cookies

2012-02-13T01:21:00.006-06:00

my new favorite cocktail

2012-02-05T11:14:00.000-06:00

danny's mojitos no. 2

2012-01-31T22:29:00.003-06:00

lazy afternoon

2011-12-26T13:58:00.000-06:00

Linzer Raspberry

2011-12-25T16:09:00.000-06:00

I brought my family a box of these cookies from the Austrian Bakery for the holidays. YUM.

Happy Holidays!!

2011-12-23T10:06:00.001-06:00

Barrelhouse Flat

2011-11-30T15:50:00.002-06:00

Last weekend, we stepped back into the early 20^th century and spent an evening sipping cocktails dating back to the prohibition era. The Barrelhouse Flat is now my favorite bar, and it’s within walking distance from my apartment which makes it even better!

happy birthday mozz!

2011-11-17T21:05:00.000-06:00

pear and cranberry gingersnap crumble

2011-11-10T00:18:00.000-06:00

adapted from smitten kitchen.

good morning

2011-10-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

sunday lunch

2011-10-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Maxwell Street Market

breakfast

2011-10-13T21:17:00.001-05:00

The Coffee Studio

my my my you're like pelican fly

2011-10-10T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today I had the day off, so I drove up to Northwestern to spend the afternoon with my sister. It was the first time I used my car in a couple months, so of course, I got a big fat parking violation ticket. After that unfortunate discovery, we went to Kafein, where she studied, and I enjoyed a white chocolate mocha.

leaves

2011-10-09T10:26:00.000-05:00

sour patch lovers

2011-10-05T01:01:00.000-05:00

I really love sour patch kids. I pretty much can't live a day without eating some. My addiction to sour patch kids began in college, when I spent all my time in studio. The only way I managed to stay awake during the 3-hour critiques was by having a cup of coffee in one hand and a baggie full of sour patch kids in the other. Nowadays, I just buy my sour patch in bulk and ration them out daily, in order to prevent myself from scarfing down the entire bag in one sitting.

pumpkin spice latte

2011-10-02T23:24:00.000-05:00

It's officially fall...my favorite time of year! Every year I mark the beginning of autumn with a pumpkin spice latte. I normally pick one up from Starbucks, but this year I enjoyed my first latte of the season from my neighborhood coffee shop, Noble Tree.

for stephanie

2011-09-25T23:15:00.001-05:00

I am so sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog lately (I've been busy moving). This is the most recent addition to my new apartment in Chicago!

cherokee street

2011-07-28T15:03:00.000-05:00

good morning

2011-07-27T16:13:00.000-05:00

south grand

2011-07-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving St. Louis soon, so I thought I would draw some of my favorite neighborhoods around here.

beach

2011-07-20T16:06:00.000-05:00

pretty

2011-07-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

for andrea

2011-07-17T14:23:00.001-05:00

Adhitya

2011-05-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting very much lately! I have been a bit busy, but I would like to share with you my latest project! I recently bound a book for one of my second graders, Adhitya. Throughout the year I wrote little stories that incorporated some basic sight words she needed to work on. All the stories followed the adventures of two best friends named Bobo and Ellie. Adhitya loves to draw, so I wanted her to do the illustrations. I gave the final book to her as an end of the year gift, but here are some pictures I snapped of it beforehand!

amaretto sour

2011-04-08T17:59:00.001-05:00

This is my all time favorite drink.

chocolate pavlova

2011-03-09T15:47:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this pavlova recipe and decided to try it out. The cake looked so pretty when it was finished but it made a bit of a mess once I started slicing it. However, it’s definitely worth a few messy plates!

donuts

2011-03-07T22:05:00.000-06:00

Bates Street

2011-02-15T18:28:00.000-06:00

yum

2011-02-11T13:33:00.001-06:00

paints

2011-01-28T12:44:00.001-06:00

untitled

2011-01-15T11:05:00.001-06:00

italian cookie tray

2010-12-24T11:07:00.000-06:00

yummy!

2010-12-17T23:57:00.000-06:00

Bottsie and Bobo

2010-12-16T12:22:00.000-06:00

First Snow!

2010-12-13T12:21:00.001-06:00

super cutie

2010-11-07T15:41:00.000-06:00

window

2010-10-30T17:37:00.000-05:00

Dale & Danny

2010-10-17T23:48:00.000-05:00

One of my best friends, Dale, got married this past weekend! It was definitely one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to. She and Danny are perfect for each other...and I can't believe I actually just admitted that fact, being the cynic that I usually am. And I also can't believe that she allowed me to design and illustrate her wedding programs!

plants in our apartment

2010-10-01T19:27:00.001-05:00

balloon race

2010-09-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

Today Rebecca and I drove around the neighborhood chasing after the hot air balloons while singing along to Taylor Swift.

balloon glow

2010-09-18T16:43:00.001-05:00

Last night my roommates and I went to the Balloon Glow in Forest Park!

view from my window

2010-09-12T19:11:00.000-05:00

Mozz

2010-09-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

brown paper bags

2010-09-05T22:59:00.000-05:00

When I lived at home I used to make my sister lunch and doodle about our day on her brown paper lunch bags. I found a huge stash of these in her room last weekend.

steel cut oatmeal

2010-08-27T14:24:00.000-05:00

sleeping in

2010-08-25T13:31:00.001-05:00

Kanzi

2010-08-22T12:59:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I read a Time magazine article (Inside the Minds of Animals) by Jeffrey Kluger about the intelligence of animals. Kanzi is a 29 year old Bonobo who uses a glossary of words that he points to so he can communicate with others. The word for kale is not in his vocabulary list, so instead he calls it slow lettuce because it takes more time for him to chew than regular lettuce.

I think that is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Rachmaninoff

2010-08-19T12:56:00.001-05:00

Whoah Whoah Whoah! (Lollapalooza 2010)

2010-08-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

I had been looking forward to this weekend all summer and I can’t believe it’s already happened! Last weekend I reunited with some of my college friends for Lollapalooza in Chicago. I am so happy I had the chance to see them again before we went our separate ways around the country. We got to see amazing performances by some of my favorite bands including Metric, Hot Chip, Yeasayer, MGMT, Spoon, Stars, Arcade Fire, The New Pornographers, and Phoenix…just to name a few. But by far, Lady Gaga’s performance was the most dramatic and entertaining, with quite a few breaks for wardrobe changes, of course. Even though I know she scares many people…I won’t deny the fact that I may have a little crush on her.

We entertained ourselves during the hour-long train rides into the city with Andrew’s magic trick performances and card games.

We became pros at sneaking in our lunches.

We were forbidden to take off our wristband for three days. And then when it was over I didn’t want to take it off.

Since I am so short, this was my view for most performances.

Staking out spots by the front of the stage is hard work. I don’t like standing for long periods of time so I tried sitting on the ground until performances began, despite the fact that people think it’s okay to walk on top of you.

I hate crowd surfers. They stick their dirty feet in my face.

Janna and I tried out both the truffle oil fries and the sweet potato fries.

“The Spikey Things” a.k.a. our meeting spot.

Danny's Mojitos

2010-08-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

The other night my friend taught me how to make the best mojitos. After half an hour of slicing, squeezing, stirring, and muddling, we finally enjoyed them outside by the pool. They were definitely worth the effort. I would post the recipe for you…but it’s a secret. And yes, this is my second post about mojitos in less than two weeks.

m&m's on the floor

2010-07-31T15:17:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when you rush to clear off the kitchen table too quickly.

oak street beach

2010-07-29T18:33:00.001-05:00

bitty goes dorm shopping

2010-07-27T16:37:00.001-05:00

New York City!

2010-07-25T14:51:00.002-05:00

Cubana Café

Sweet Revenge

basil for my pizza

2010-07-06T17:41:00.001-05:00

I’m not going to be posting much for the next couple weeks or so because I’ll be out of town. But I will try to sketch while I’m in NYC and Chicago so there will many posts when I return. Don’t miss me too much!

Amilcar and José

2010-07-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

my dad's garden

2010-07-02T13:45:00.000-05:00

Shoes

2010-06-29T20:52:00.000-05:00

My new shoes that I love and can't stop wearing!

Chocolate Cream Pie

2010-06-28T19:40:00.000-05:00

My sister requested that I bake her a chocolate pie. And I did since I am pretty much the bestest sister ever. Here is the recipe:

Crust:

1 1/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs or chocolate graham cracker crumbs

5 tbs. melted butter

1/4 cups sugar

Filling:

1/3 cups sugar

1/4 cups cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

4 egg yolks

3 cups milk

5 oz. melted bittersweet chocolate

2 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate

2 tbs. softened butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

3/4 cups chilled heavy cream

1 tbs. sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together crumbs, butter, and sugar and press on the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until crisp, around 12-14 minutes and cool on a rack.

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a 3-quart heavy saucepan until combined and then whisk in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat while whisking constantly. Reduce heat and continue whisking for another minute until the filling has thickened. Whisk in chocolates, butter, and vanilla. Cover surface of filling with tin foil or wax paper and cool completely (about 2 hours).

Spoon filling into crust, cover and chill pie for 6 hours.

Before serving, beat cream and sugar until it holds stiff peaks and spoon on top of pie.

bitty steals my earrings

2010-06-25T21:09:00.001-05:00

Summer

2010-06-23T10:14:00.001-05:00

Family Portrait

2010-06-22T13:12:00.000-05:00

For Rebecca

2010-06-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

Crooked Tree Coffeehouse

2010-06-18T09:19:00.000-05:00

I decided to try out different coffeeshops around Dallas, and just discovered my new favorite: Crooked Tree Coffeehouse in Uptown. We almost missed it at first because it’s in an old house. It has a combination of mismatched chairs and tables, sofas, bookshelves and boardgames. And free Wi-Fi.

Tea

2010-06-15T10:55:00.000-05:00

Disgruntled

2010-06-10T15:57:00.001-05:00

Lemons

2010-06-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I crave lemons.

Arkansas

2010-06-07T23:25:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of sketches from Andrea and Clayton’s wedding.

Dale and her strawberry limeade on the road back to Texas. Our bridesmaid bouquets are sitting in the cup holders, stuffed in water bottles.

Andrea’s last night as a single lady!

Crowder, OK

2010-06-06T21:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven’t been posting for a couple days! I just came back from a wedding in Arkansas and I’m too tired to post anything worthwhile. But…here is something I drew while we were at a gas station in a tiny town in Oklahoma. We tried to get out of there asap so it's unfinished!

Sangria!

2010-06-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

Apparently the sangria I make is too strong. Everyone had to dilute it with water. So then I made coffee, which also was too strong and had to be diluted with water as well. I still think they were excellent.

My Very First Post Ever

2010-06-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

So I have finally decided to start posting.

In order to motivate myself to continue drawing after graduation, I have decided to post at least one sketch everyday (or maybe every other day) over the course of the summer.

This is my sister Kathryn. She is always banging on the piano. Sometimes she bangs because she’s frustrated and sometimes she bangs because it’s the nature of the piece. Sometimes she gives me a headache.

She also has a lovely blog, which you should visit: Toast and Nutella.