Happy April Fool's Day! I don't have any tricks for you today, but I do have a big 2nd birthday wish to (big)  Marmalade ! We opened our Belmont Center location on April Fool's Day two years ago and have so enjoyed every moment of it. The community, the space and just the general vibe over there is just about exactly what we are going for. Thanks to my marvelous Marmalade girls who help pull it off every day and for our amazing customers that support us and make it all worth doing. We will be celebrating with cake and champagne this Saturday at the store, but I wanted to shout out on the actual day.

In other news, here is the most recent addition to the May 2013 release. I think it might be my favorite one of all time. It just might.

It needs little explanation, I think you can all relate. It is true of each and every one of us and is hopefully a reminder of the wild, extraordinary that is inside. It is also in honor of a friend who I recently got to watch get her feathers... boy are they beautiful and boy, did she earn them!

Would love to know what you think!

xo

Here is the second installment to the May release. I had so much fun with this one, painting the flowers and imagining this wild place where everything I dreamed up would grow (my green thumb is more of a chartreuse...).

This one goes out to all the women in my life and yours who know what it takes to get things done. The roll-up-your-sleeves, finish-your-row, this-life-ain't-gonna-live-itself girls. They teach us what it means to flourish, and grow and be involved in your own getting there. Because, in the end, no one is going to do the work of becoming you for you.

And it's true. This life ain't gonna live itself.

Who would you send this to?

xo

I have been working away these last several non-spring (sigh.) days in the studio getting ready for May releases. It is really for the best that it has been not warm and not springish outside. I would have a very hard time focusing if that were the case. So, you can thank the groundhog for this next series of sneak peeks!

This one is a little bit of a reminder to myself, and to all the little voices inside all of us that say we can't or shouldn't or have no business being. I wrote this awhile ago and created the artwork several days ago, but today I was reading this post on my friend Andrea's blog and I realized that what she is talking about is exactly what I meant to communicate. Only my job is to distill it into three lines or less.

This goes out to the biggest, shiniest, brightest, sparkliest, limitation-free versions of yourself. Be reckless, sometimes you must.

P.S. This is also a tip of my hat to the graduating classes of 2013. Some of whom are near and dear to my heart and are already giving their limits a nudge. Go get 'em girls!

xo

A friend made this cake for a birthday dinner recently and I could not get enough of it. It is perfect for those of you who have a Guinness or two left over from St. Patty's Day, or you know, those of you who love amazingly delicious chocolate cake. Whichever.

I am very particular about cake to icing ratios. I don't like things that are too gooey or sweet so the right amount of sweet is magically elusive thing when it comes to baking. I will choose cake over icing any day. I know there are many folks who are the reverse. Fortunately for all of us, this recipe has absolutely perfect balance of the two. Which means I will be making this more often than may be appropriate.

The recipe is based on Nigella's "Guinness Chocolate Cake" and if you are partial to beautiful British women who make all food sexy, you might head on over to her site, because I did not change it too much.

I used a small craft Stout instead of Guinness because this particular one is a little sweeter and a little richer than Guinness. The cake does not taste like beer when it's all said and done, just has a deepness to it that is really lovely. I also made the cake as cupcakes for the purposes of sharing, but you can also make it in a spring form pan. This is a dense cake, so be aware that the center might fall a little bit in your spring form...more room for icing. I also think for best results, and if you can get your hands on it, use castor sugar or extra fine sugar, it will blend much better and keep the warm part of this recipe process moving along.

Unlike most cakes, you mix this cake over a little bit of heat in a saucepan. Make sure you use the largest one you have as it will have to contain the whole cake batter at some point... and when you add the flour with the baking soda, it will puff up a bit.

Stout Beer Chocolate Cakes

You will need:

1 Cup Stout Beer

1 stick plus 2tbs Butter

3/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Cups castor sugar (or super fine)

3/4 Cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tbs. vanilla extract

2 Cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

For the Icing:

8oz light cream cheese

1 1/4 Cup powdered sugar

1/2 heavy cream

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. grease and line a 9" spring form pan or grease cupcake tins (makes about 24).

In a large wide saucepan, pour the stout and add the butter, heat over medium heat until butter is melted.

When butter is melted, whisk in (whisk is important here) the cocoa and the sugar (together is fine).

Whisk until totally combined. Turn heat down to low.

Beat the eggs into the sour cream and vanilla thoroughly then mix into the warm pan (mix quickly when adding eggy things to warm things).

Mix baking soda into flour and whisk the combo into the pan. Your mixture will puff up a little, keep whisking, keeping sides of saucepan scraped.

Pour the batter into your spring form pan, or spoon it into cupcake tins.

Bake cake for 45 mins. Cupcakes for about 25 or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely.

Once cake is completely cool , mix up the icing in the food processor.

Spin the powdered sugar in the food processor until the lumps are out, then add cream cheese and whirl. Finally add the cream and spin until it is spreadable.

Ice cake/cakes to your liking and lick the bowl.

Be prepared to fall madly in love.

xoxo

Yesterday, while driving I heard a story on NPR that made me sit in my car well after I had arrived at my destination to finish it. I know you have done something like this. I see people sitting in their cars all the time, seeming distantly engaged in something, maybe laughing out loud or crying. I know the type. They are story people. When I reflect on it I am touched and feel more rooted in the notion that we have, as a species, always connected through stories, and likely always will...technology or no. We will find a way.

This particular story was a feature from The Moth Radio Hour and was an autobiographical story written by and read by Jen Lee. It was about many things, but among them transition, transformation, community and personal identity. The clarity of her voice and her humor lured me in, but the personal connection I felt to her journey and the wisdom of her experience made me sit in my car well after.

I could personally relate to Jen's story in a pretty literal way, but I think there is a way we can all relate.

You can listen to her story, "Targeted", here. It is worth 8 minutes of your time.

This past Sunday I watched Brené Brown's episode of Oprah's Super Soul Sunday (watch it if you can!) and though the whole thing resonated, something she said really hit home. She said: "Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism."

That rang my bell. And made me think of all my righteous moments, the moments when I am absolutely sure that I know what's good for everybody and how things should be done, ( I am a text-book Taurus) and I wondered where I set my vulnerability down. Jen Lee's story rang that same bell in a way that made me laugh. I am grateful for the lessons from these women today. And grateful that I am in this experience, not in charge of it.

I would love to know what you all think. I am sure there are some feelings out there...

xo

If it feels like I talk about this event every year, it's because I do. It is my favorite event of the year, and since tickets go on sale on March 20 (the first day of spring...although Mother Nature didn't get the memo on that in Boston...) I thought I would once again do my best to talk you in to finding an event near you, (or one far away) and having a night, and a dinner, to remember!

I am in no way affiliated with OITF, they don't really even know I exist, even though I totally stalk them and this year will mark my 4th dinner (which is nothing! I have met people that have gone to 15+!) I am just a huge fan of what they are doing and have had some of the greatest experiences attending their dinners. And I'm a share-er. I think you would love it. You can read more about my first time here.

The concept is simple. Local Farm + Local Chef + Uber Local Ingredients + 200 strangers and a bunch of tables = magic. The OITF team travels the country on a bus for the better part of the year making these love connections and putting on single-night feasts in every nook and cranny of this fair country (and some abroad!). Al fresco rain or shine (fortunately I have lucked out with glorious evenings), the gatherings bring together local food and farm to table enthusiasts from near and far. Each is a unique experience, but all will bring you closer to the richness of what we eat and where we eat it from.

The venues range from farms in the plains to beach coves that celebrate the gifts of the sea. I have eaten in a peach orchard, a field that ran into the Pacific Ocean and a farm down the street. The table is always the same but the food on the table and the people in the chairs is magnificently different each time.

(Photos from last summer's dinner at Allendale Farm with Chef Tony Maws (not pictured) Pictured: OSIAF founder Jim Denevan)

Events and locations were announced here on March 1st, but tickets go on sale in two phases tomorrow March 20th starting at noon EST. Tickets sell out fast. Like, in some cases ...minutes. So my suggestion is to pick a friend, pick a place and just go for it! You will never ever regret it! Maybe I will see you there!

xoxo

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Dress for Happy.

Hi all! Lacy here!

The great musical Annie said  "It's what you wear from ear-to-ear and not from head-to-toe that ma-ha-ha-tters!" I'm going to politely say it totally matters what you wear from head-to-toe. The way you dress can be completely happy-making!

I was recently sharing a beer with a stranger in an airport. I love airport drinking, love it. I feel so grown up sitting there with myself on a journey drinking a beer or having a glass of wine! We were in the security line together and then ended up seated next to each other at the airport watering hole so naturally we struck up conversation. I was dressed in bright purple leggings, ruffled mini dress, bulky gray sweater and half booties. I admittedly looked a little over the top but was totally comfy and proud of myself for being so bold with color. She looked comfy, sophisticated and put together in her jeans and sporty Adidas top and diamond stud earrings. She said that looking at me in line she wondered what I did for a living and complimented me on my fun clothes. ...Said I looked like someone with a story. Well, it just so happens that I have lots of them and so does she!

As we sat and talked she shared how she started off in corporate America where she had to dress in complete suits each day. Not separates. Suits! She looked at me and said, "I owned a brief case!" with this tone and look on her face of utter disbelief that I will remember for a long time. She was dressing for the job and every fiber of that tasteful suit was strangling her. I commiserated about my time spent in the cubicle and talked about how I ached for a life where I could wear stretchy pants everyday if I wanted to. Enter my yoga studio days where I did just that. Though for all those years I kept a pair of slacks (that were too tight and added to the misery of their place in my closet), a suit (that was too big), several sensible button downs + closed toed shoes 'just in case.' The day that I finally let go of those clothes I was free.

Now each day I dress myself in clothes that make me happy. Some days I look preppy, some days I look like a hipster, some days a bit like an orphan but always I'm comfortable and dressing for myself, for my life and for my happiness. I believe that clothes define stages in our life. They symbolize how we spend our days, our money, who we lend our time to and who we are.

What are your clothes saying about you? Are you proud in them? Comfy? Happy?
Could buying a pair of jeans that actually fit right here, right now save you some sanity + heartache?
Is there anything taking up space in your closet that you can let go of?

Clearing space brings literal + emotional room for more!
More happiness + more clothes that feel like this version of you.

To your happiness + to jeans that make your ass look amazing (we all deserve a pair or two of those)!

xo, Lacy

Lacy Young is a professional happy person ©. You can find out more about her on her blog. 

Good morning! Happy daylight-savings Monday (she says groggily...) I don't care how you shake it, I would suffer through greater things than a lost hour of sleep to have it be light at 7pm. But I'm a real trooper...

Actually, not so much. I have been a little under the weather this past week, which has landed me in bed for most of it and not doing what I was supposed to be doing like blogging, and making new cards for the spring release and (gasp!) Christmas. Yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year pretty much all the time over here... I think it's why I have such a hard time putting my decorations away.

Last month I did the smartest thing I ever did and took a vacation in February. I can't believe I have never done that before! It is the tail end of a very hectic time in my work schedule, smack dab in the middle of Coach's basketball season and unreasonably cold and crappy here in Boston. Why not GO SOMEWHERE ELSE?!

I realize that I am very late to the game on this. No need to point out how many cruises you've been on or how that's why schools in the northeast get "February Break". I get it.

But MAN was that a good idea!

Since I was traveling alone, and looking for some R&R, my trip was very 'me' focused. For the first part of it I had the pleasure of getting to go to Miraval in Tuscon, AZ. I was there on the highest recommendation of a friend and a very fortunate 'deal' from a coupon site. My trip was delayed a day courtesy of one of the blizzards, but oddly, everyone (including the airline) was extremely accommodating and I arrived like I was meant to be there.

Miraval is an exceptional place. It is nestled in the Catalina foothills, close to nature and bathed in sunlight. The view of the snowcapped mountain peaks is only interupted by huge palm trees and their series of perfectly heated pools. The staff has the glow of actually enjoying their work and loving the people they work with, and not a stone of service is left unturned. The culture is rooted in their core philosophy of mindfulness, which sets an amazing tone for your time there. In that spirit, cellphones are all but prohibited on the grounds (except in your room and in designated areas) which means that you actually talk to other people, introduce yourself, and get to know someone new.

I admit to being a little lost at first in the dining room by myself with no 'device' to hold my gaze and purpose... something to keep me interacting ....but then I realized that what it was keeping me from doing was interacting. We use these things to interact, but also to avoid interaction. To avoid engagement with the people around us. It is certainly a self-preservation mechanism while we are waiting for a bus, or need to not be bothered on a crowded street or on a plane with a chatty neighbor. But when we get used to only engaging with those that we select, I think we miss out on a ton.

Over my 3 days at Miraval, I met so many cool and interesting people with some really rich and interesting backgrounds. At first I made it a little challenge for myself to sit quietly with myself and engage freely, but after a day there, it became something I saught out. I was chatting with everyone! It was like we were all on vacation together, and the community that the resort was able to create throught that one policy (as well as the many fun and exciting group activities) was impressive at the very least.

I filled my time during the three days with trips to the beautiful spa (breathtaking, really) to feel taken care of, hikes in the mountains to feel connected, delicious meals and great conversations to feel nourished, a couple of classes to feel challenged, naps, to feel rested and many many deep breaths to feel grateful. It was the greatest gift I have given myself to date. I highly recommend something like it.

When I got on the plane to head off to the second part of my adventure, I blew a little kiss to those mountains and that place and thanked it for myself back.

The photos above were taken on my first mornnig hike in the Catalinas. The night before was very cold, and what you can't see in the photographs (but that I wish desperately that I could have captured) is the billion tiny diamonds of frost that covered every tiny thing in the valley. It was spectacular! Being my first time in the southwest, I was of course on the lookout for new critters... I saw lots of roadrunners, jack rabbits, quail and even wild pigs (javelinas)!! At night I heard the healthy packs of coyotes howling and one girl I met saw a bobcat and her cubs. I was sorry to miss that. I am such a nature nerd.

Have you ever had a place or experience that you felt gave you yourself back?? Want to share?

xoxo

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BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Thank you for all of your organizing tips and for taking the time to enter!
Random number generator has picked the following winners:

Jenny Hurst & Kathy Gallagher you are the proud owners of a new, spectacular book! Please email your mailing addresses to: info@curlygirldesign.com and we will get these right out to you! Congratulations!

Hello! Happy Giveaway Day!!!

One of our darling Sweetheart Sponsors and dear friends Jo Packham of Where Women Create, Where Women Cook, and Where Women Create: Business magazines has an incredibly beautiful new book out. She has sent me a couple of copies to give away to incredibly beautiful YOU!

This book; the Book of Organization - The Art of Creating Order, which I have been lucky enough, as a contributor, to have had on my coffee table for a few months now, is cover to cover visual eye candy. It is like having personal tours of all the best creative studios and getting a private peek at how people 'stack their stuff'!  You will be impressed, intrigued and inspired to go find clever drawers to put things in!

You will even get to see a really old photo of me in 'Little Marmalade" with a really bad haircut! Wins all around!

I can't wait to send two of you this lovely. So! To enter, just leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite tip or trick for organization! I love to hear this stuff! You had better hurry though, my Mom is trying to stick a copy in her suitcase as we speak!

Winners will be chosen Friday March 1st at 12noon EST.

Good Luck!!

xo

Hello! So sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I have been on a marvelous and much needed adventure and been spending time with my sweet Mom who is in town at the moment. I will fill you in on my trip once my head stops spinning from it.

A few weeks ago we were talking about new traditions and I was going backwards through 2012. Well, I got to fall, and I literally gasped. I love everything about fall. Every. Last. Thing. Including, but not limited to these. So as I sit here in the dregs of winter (we got a fresh coat of snow yesterday), trying really hard not to complain about it (my resolution every year... I will not whine about winter...I will not whine about winter...) I looked back at some of my Instagram ( @curlygirl510 ) shots of the magnificent fall that we had (really, it was one for the books) and I am reminded of the beautiful cycle of things.

So to honor my pledge to not whine about winter....I will sing about fall!! It was beautiful, and full of peaceful mornings, hikes with friends, walks with my mom, adventures with Lucy, Election day, yummy pumpkin-flavored things, fun outfits and breathtaking color. I am grateful for it, and know that we could not have a fall if there were no winter.  (see, I'm coming around...)

Maybe next year I will have a collection of winter photos. That may be pushing it though. Help me! What makes you love winter?

Stay tuned this week! I will have a great little give-away, and some pretty fun product updates!

xo