New business cards printed by CatPrint on #118 cotton stock and some fun fun MT paper tape from PrettyTape on Etsy.

I kind of want to get giant ILYM stickers to sneak around Atlanta. Someday, someday.

A week or two ago, we bought some downright awful apples. (Serves me right for stepping away from the ever-reliable Granny Smith variety.) I’d been on a hunt to figure out what locally-grown rainbow-ish red apples that I bought a few years ago at a produce stand, and, well, these sad McIntosh apples were not the same. I know not all McIntosh apples are mealy and tasteless, but these were. Sorry, tangent.

Anyway, I couldn’t bear throwing away (sort-of) perfectly good (ha!) produce, so I wanted to at least try to do something with the little devils. Enter a Google search, a weird want for pie, a need for something moderately not-awful-for-you, and something low maintenance, I found a “Rustic Apple Pie” recipe by Ellie Krieger. (She makes me want to claw my eyeballs out on video, but some of her stuff is very well done.) The fact that we were snowed in coupled with my lack of want to fall on my hiney while walking to Publix led me to make a few changes to her recipe. (If you want to read/look at hers, go right ahead.) I was surprised at how ridiculously delicious it was, and how ugly, yet slightly charming, it was. Want to make it? Go for it.

Pretty Ugly Apple Pie

Ingredients

1 cup of whatever flour you have on hand

2 teaspoons of granulated sugar or sugar-substitute

2 pinches of table salt

4-5 tablespoons of COLD, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons skim milk

3 tablespoons ice water

3 apples (I used 2 of the mealy-awfuls and one Granny Smith)

Juice of one lemon

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

(Here comes a ghetto part!) 2-or-so tablespoons from a low-sugar Cinnamon and Spice Quaker Instant Oatmeal (The original recipe called for cornstarch as a thickener, and cinnamon as a seasoning, but I had neither on hand, so I improvised. 4 stars for this improvisation, I think.)

Another tablespoon of brown sugar

Boiling water

Directions

For the crust, haul out a food processor. Combine the flour, salt, and granulated sugar in the food processor, just a few whirls. Then add the butter and pulse until combined. You’ll notice little sandy pebbles form. Add the skim milk and ice water, then pulse until it turns into a nice dough ball. (Hooray for a virtually zero-effort pie crust.) Flatten the dough ball a little, wrap in plastic, and pop in the freezer for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

While you’re waiting for the dough to firm up, core and slice up your apples and toss in the lemon juice. After they’re coated, add in the brown sugar and instant oatmeal mixture (or cinnamon and cornstarch, if you’re not going renegade). Mix around with your hands to combine.

By this time, your dough is ready, and you have two options. Option 1, the option of a sane person, is to roll your dough ball out, with a little bit of flour, until it’s about 9 inches in diameter. Option 2, the option of someone who accidentally THREW THEIR ROLLING PIN AWAY WHEN MOVING AND DIDN’T REALIZE IT UNTIL THEY WERE MAKING THIS PIE, is to manually smush and stretch your dough out until it’s about 9 inches in diameter. (Kind of fun, like making pizza dough.) Place your rolled out dough on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, aluminum foil, wax paper (probably not the best option, since wax paper sometimes likes to get smoky at high temps). Mound your apple mixture in the center of the dough, leaving as close to a 2 inch border as you can. Stretch sections of the dough up and slightly over on the sides, and fold/pinch the joints together.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 40 minutes. Pull the pie out when the crust is brown and the apples look cooked.

Make a quick glaze from the tablespoon of brown sugar mixed with a little bit of boiling water to your desired thinness. Pour over edges and center of delicious (and probably ugly) pie. Cut into six wedges, then try not to down it all in one day.

Ellie’s recipe has 230 calories per wedge, and I’m guessing that mine is a hair lower than that (BRING IT!), given that I omitted raisins and buttermilk. Don’t take my word for it, but I’ll bet it’s pretty dang close.

Go forth, make easy ugly pie, and eat it.

Lovely. By the creator of the Upular mash-up, which will always hold a bit of my heart.

Kristen tagged me in one of those “What’s in your purse?” dealies, and of course I’m happy to oblige. I am a purse person. I have three regulars in rotation, but my current one is the Louis pictured above. I have no idea what the bag is actually named because I don’t think it’s in production any longer. Why? Well, it’s from 1984. It was my diaper bag. Whiny (but awesome) person that my mother is did not want to carry an actual diaper bag when I was a baby, so she bought this. It was only in use for about a year, then went into her purse storage. Ten years ago, I was being nosy and found it. Mom never used it, so she just gave it to me. Score.

Since then, it’s posed as my book-bag, a makeshift camera bag, art bag, and giant catch-all. I love the size and the cross-body strap. It’s in fabulous condition and one of the many reasons I collect LV. Invest in excellent goods, and they’ll last you a lifetime. Anyway, we’re not going to go into my “BUY LV” spiel. Let’s look at what random stuff has collected in my purse.

I’m lazy, so it’s not labeled, but I’ll try to list in some sort of orderly direction. How about clockwise from the wallet.

1. Big LV Damier wallet. It’s way too full, and I rarely snap it closed anymore. Sometimes doubles as a random clutch.
2. Chanel denim quilted eyeglasses case. Nothing in it because my glasses were on my face. Duh.
3. SBB train ticket
4. Luzern Theater Spielzeit. Heavy use of HFJ type inside. Big fan.
5. Big squared MiquelRius notebook. Cheaper than a Moleskine and 300 pages. Sorry, Moleskine. I cheat on you sometimes.
6. Holy Taco receipt. A few months old, so all of the ink is faded off.
7. Small LV Damier Papillon pochette filled with grayscale Prismacolor markers
8. Random Tombow brush pens, a GT Alumni pen, and a hot pink Sharpie floating around
9. LV Monogram key fob with an excess of keys and mini grocery store cards
10. Hair-ties
11. MUFE concealer palette. Best ever.
12. Business card case, currently empty because I’ve given them all out.
13. Tampon
14. Thermometer because I’m always sick.
15. Smith’s Minted Rose lip balm. Favorite.
16. Glide floss. I have a flossing addiction.
17. Coal Powderliner, the best eyeliner ever
18. Old-ish Chanel pressed powder compact. I use it mainly for the mirror.
19. Nars Multiple in Orgasm
20. MUFE Neon Orange lipstick
21. Nars lipstick in Funny Face
22. A 20 CHF bill and miscellaneous coins that fell out of the stuffed wallet
23. Two fortunes that fell out of my wallet. I keep every fortune I ever get. It’s a bit strange.
24. A zip-top bag with an emergency Xanax and Adderall. I frequently forget to bring my afternoon meds with me, so this is a backup.
25. Last but not least, a 4 gig CF card

There you go, all of the stuff that’s in my purse. I’m proud that there isn’t a lot of trash in there, but I have a ton of receipts shoved in the wallet, so I guess that’s cheating. Oh well.

Now I suppose I should tag people. I choose Colleen, and, well, maybe everybody else too. GO. What’s in YOUR purse?

In case you have a case of the… Thursdays… watch this video. I think it’s virtually impossible not to smile starting at around 2:00, though I suggest watching the whole thing. Fun stuff. Never fails to make me laugh.

The lovely Kat of Rock ‘n Roll Bride did a feature on us today! Go visit! Right now! 85 never-before-seen pix! (Click on the thumbnails to see them large-and-in-charge!)

I’m all fluttery in love with them all. Thanks, Kat! (And Mr. Miller!)

And so it begins. This, my dears, is the last teaser-not-full-wedding-recaps post before recaps begin. Why? Well, this afternoon our amazing photog, Matt Miller of Our Labor of Love sent over some pictures. And boy, are we ever happy with the results! Understatement of the century.

So, please enjoy these snippets of us getting ready, playing photoshoot, and having a blast at the reception.

L-O-V-E. Go over, see the full set, and give Matt some love.

Cannot wait to share E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

Have a favorite shot out of this bunch? Share! (Then maybe I’ll let you know what my favorite one is!)

First up is Katie’s blog, Ruffles and Truffles.

She wanted ruffles integrated in somewhere, but pretty much gave me free reign to do whatever, and, well, I did! Top ruffle, bottom ruffle, stripes, circles, banner… Fun stuff. Go and read her awesome blog!

Next up is Colleen’s new blog, There comes a yes.

Colleen and I are partners in crime, so I took her pink and turquoise request and ran with it. I know she is a giant lover of chevrons, and I’m convinced that the flame-stitch will be the new chevron, so I did a chevron-flame-stitch lovechild. Hard lines + bold colors + fun script + classic serif = good times. Go visit her blog. You won’t regret it.

Whew!

If you’re interested in procuring my design services, shoot me an email!

OMG again. Just tipped off that Ashton Kutcher twittered (and facebooked!) our wedding video. This is just nuts.