Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 448

Judge A Book By Its Cover - Just This Once

A really good book is one of my favorite gifts - to give and receive. Naturally, I was thrilled when Penguin Classics released these editions of some of literature's biggest hits with beautifully embossed canvas covers. They make book-gift-giving a whole lot more stylish! 

Designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, they make a gorgeous addition to any bookshelf or nightstand. I'm hoping to collect them all over time (and was lucky enough to receive one for Christmas last year!). Be sure to check out...

D.I.Y. Seed Tape from Giver's Log

It seems like plantable note cards, gift tags, and even ornaments have been ubiquitous the past couple of years. I think it's a great idea, and now I'm happy to know how to make something similar on my own.

Giver's Log, a blog all about creative gift giving, has a tutorial on how to make "Seed Tape." It's the same idea as the plantable cards, but you can customize this one, and it's easier to space out seeds that grow better in a grid.

 

To affix the seeds to the newspaper, you just make a...

Fabulous Fashion Find: Morelle handbags (and get 20% off your purchase!)

I love a well-made, sophisticated and classic bag! Don't you?

Well, those are just the type of bags that Morelle makes. The company was founded in 2008 and has quickly become one of my favorite lines to recommend when friends are searching for the perfect handbag. They are a great price point ($155-$295) for hand-made, 100% genuine leather bags.

 

All of the leathers used by Morelle are naturally tanned and vegetable dyed Italian leathers with no chemical application for the finish. High r...

Watching Your Weight? Pack in the Protein at Breakfast

If you've been avoiding eggs at breakfast-time, thinking that they won't help you lose weight, here's some news that will have you breaking out the frying pan once more. New research from the University of Connecticut, published in the journal Nutrition Research, has found that eating eggs in the morning can help the calorie-conscious cut 400 calories later in the day.

That's no small amount—after all, if you cut 3500 calories over the course of a week, you've lost a pound!

In the study...

Geninne's Art Store + The Process of Painting

Would you like to be inspired today and get your creative energy flowing? Good! Me too! Let's examine the process of painting to see what goes on behind-the-scenes in an artists' workshop. I loved watching this process as demonstrated by artist Geninne D. Zlatkis recently on her blog. I was so inspired by her post that I must share it with you this morning. It certainly brightened my week! But first, here are some of her completed paintings and prints.

It's important to learn...

The Best Business Card Title in the World

So I was in Houston and Chicago last week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Real Simple and to promote my book. It was a busy/fun/wonderful/action-packed week, which was 95% terrific and 5% awful because I had high heels on for about 80 hours straight. My calves may never be the same.

One of the best things about getting out of your cage and wandering loose in the U.S. of A. is having the opportunity to meet new people. Do you think most of us meet one new person a day? If not, we should...

Come Join the Fun!

Real Simple magazine is celebrating their 10th anniversary this month, and on Thursday (April 15) they are throwing an amazing party you can attend for free.

If you're in New York City, join us from 12-7 p.m. at Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall.

The party will feature: "15-minute workshops led by experts on fashion, beauty, fitness, cooking, and more. Performances by Broadway's hottest shows every hour in New York ... Mini manicures. Food tastings. Gift bags and more."

I will be...

A Moveable Feast: Chapters 1 to 7

Hi, Bookies!

So glad to hear you're all excited about this book! I found it almost too easy to breeze through, and had to keep reminding myself to slow down so that I wouldn't oversimplify it and miss the subtleties. So I started to underline passages. It made me feel like I was in college all over again! And as nerdy as I must have looked on the subway, it did help to slow me down and keep me focused.

In these first few chapters, we are introduced to the tactics and ritual-like way in which...

What are Your Moving Horror or Hero Stories?

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I moved residences using a moving service. All of my previous moves were from home to college or college to home, or a couple of times between apartments that were a 2 minute drive apart. Well, and the major move from Kansas City to New York, which consisted of two suitcases, and wine boxes mailed via USPS.

So as fearful as I was that something was going to go wrong with my move, everything turned out fine. They were early (amazing!) and the whole...

Food Voyeurism

Have you seen this feature on NYTimes.com? It is food voyeurism at its best. The Times asked readers to send in photos of what they were eating, and so far a whopping 442 snapshots have been published with captions describing who, what, and where. It's fascinating. 

The call for food photos accompanied this article about people who photograph their food - including bloggers like yours truly. It's an interesting read - especially the bit about the girl who met her boyfriend through her food...