Deals for Deeds lauch party!

David's buddy Evan just started up this awesome new site - Deals for Deeds. it's a daily deal website that donates a portion of every coupon you buy to a local charity. sweet deals for us; visibility and money for local organizations that are doing great things for DC.

ACKC is the deal of the day and was also the host of the launch party last night. open bar, free food and chocolates, awesome organic sodas, singing and dancing - it was clearly the place to be last night.

{homemade, organic sodas}

{vintage seltzer bottles}

{david and jamie on a chocolate high}

{ackc}

go get your coupon! this place rocks.

new tunes Tuesday. Round 9. hello and goodbye to Britpop edition.

i thought it would only be fitting to introduce you to one of my favorite bands of the genre on the day (give or take a week or so) they decide to call it quits. so long, dear Supergrass. you were there for me all the way from 6th grade sleepovers through dance parties in our M Street kitchen. your tunes shall be missed.

{beautiful people, supergrass}

{strange ones, supergrass}

{moving, supergrass}

onion breath

what Virginia looks like outside of Arlington... my weekend of farming:

{gorgeous view + farmer Attila introducing us to his land}

{tilling and planting rows and rows of onions and leeks}

{weeding the garlic patch}

{the greenhouse}

{farm buddies Blue and Ruby}

{me and Ruby chatting with the chickens}

i recently joined DC's crop mobbing group to start on my path to working in agriculture. it's a group that started down in North Carolina, and once the story hit the New York Times food section, it took off in cities around the country. the crop mob brings together a group of people interested in agriculture. we contact local, small organic farms and spend 1 or more Saturday's a month helping different ones out while learning farming skills of our own.

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our day on Mountain View farm in Purvellville, VA was spent learning about composting, greenhousing and storing vegetables, planting onions, leeks and beets, weeding the garlic patch, sharing in a potluck lunch with produce from the farm, running around with the chickens, goats and pigs, and hanging out with the owners' adorable dogs and 15 month old daughter.

i even got to bring home some leek bulbs (which may or may not still be in the pocket of my dirty khaki pants... at the bottom of my laundry basket)! i'll let you know when they're ready to turn into dinner.

new tunes Tuesday. Round 8. Wicked Liquid.

{gayngs, the gaudy side of town}

JUST KIDDING! but on first listen to this, knowing that this supergroup's members include the likes of Justin Vernon, Megafaun, and Solid Gold, i was expecting nothing close to the smoothness of this sound. pretty liquid, aint it? enjoy all of the groovy, r&b jams when Gayngs' full album comes out on may 11th.

also, since i was absent for the post last tuesday, please allow the most exciting music news i've seen this year to make up for it.

♡ sweet D

my new favorite dessert

i should probably admit first that i was not the baker of these here sweets. i had my first taste a few weeks ago after jamie and i discussed how absolutely terrified we were to bring mountain dew in our house, let alone pour it over a dessert. we pressed on, though, and i have a new favorite evening treat - apple dumplings.

after our first try, i have been spoiled and sugar-hungry and have had jamie make them 3 more times to satisfy my whims. good friend, good friend.

{dumplings, pre-oven}

{(not so) secret ingredient}

{dumplings, just out of the oven!}

{warm and ready to eat}

Apple Dumplings (makes about 10 servings. recipe from The Pioneer Woman)

2 whole Granny Smith Apples
2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
2 sticks salted Butter
1-½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Cinnamon, to taste
1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

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::start by peeling and coring the apples and cut each one into 8 slices

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::roll each apple slice in a crescent roll and place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan

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::melt butter in a saucepan, dump in the sugar and barely stir. add vanilla, barely stir again - you want the mixture to be lumpy and grainy

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::pour entire mixture over apples then pour mountain dew around the edges of the pan

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::sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top

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top will be crispy and flaky, bottom - gooey and buttery, and you'll want to make these every week. ENJOY.

new tunes Tuesday. Round 7. The Morning Benders.

{the morning benders, promises}

The Morning Benders' second full-length album, BIG ECHO, is a group of short, catchy, jangley, sing-a-long-y, indie beats. they combine their San Francisco coolness with some hazey vocals, and a Brooklyn edge (a la Grizzly Bear) in the cavernous instrumentals. and being produced by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, it has that near perfect studio feel (also, a la GB) that may just be better on the album than at a live show.

this album is perfect for some early summer, weekend-nights-on-the-deck listening.

two more favorites from the album:

Cold War

All Day Day Light
♡ sweet D

island time

{driving into town}

{another sunset over cinnamon bay}

{not a bad end to our all day hike}

{surfboards at cinnamon bay}

{so excited for red stripes and conch fritters!}

{fresh coconuts, booze, pickup truck}

{the coconut i got paid 50cents to eat}

{mmmm, free coconut}

{eerie sunset swimming}

we all made it back to the District in one piece after our 5-day jaunt to St. John! ahhhhh, days of beach lounging, sun bathing, babe watching, hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, notreallyshowering, and camping on white sand beaches - island adventures may need to become an annual thing. (see future post for tales of coral fighting, sea urchin wrestling, 3rd degree sun burns, and spiders the size of my head)

a perfect sunset

{sunset, cinnamon bay}

we're back from our trip and with so much to share!

here's a little taste for now