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I haven't done one of these posts in quite a while, so without further ado, I present this week's Gallery:

1. Hello. My name is Beth, and I'm a fontaholic.

Are you one too? I have - no joke - 1,574 fonts installed on my laptop. While I love them all, I find it a bit overwhelming trying to find the perfect font for a project, especially when I'm forced to scroll through a tiny little menu in MSWord with nearly illegible samples of each one. Not to mention the fact that my version of Photoshop doesn't even SHOW the samples in its menu...

Several years ago I spent hours typing out my own master list - the title in the corresponding font.

Pain. In. The. Neck.

My old list is outdated - I've acquired many more fonts and lost some of the originals in various computer crashes and upgrades - and I have been dreading trying to update it.... So, I was terribly excited to find this handy free download, which allows you to print a sample page of all of your fonts with one click of the button. Fantastic. You can also use the freeware to organize all of your fonts into type categories (handwritten, sans serif, calligraphy, etc.), but I'll save that project for another day.

At any rate, my new list is coming in handy, and I'm really glad I didn't have to type out all 1,574 font names manually... 2. In Which I Was Cheered Up by a Little Birdie From Home.

Since we're away from home for only four months, we found a furnished house to rent. While it was nice not to have to pack much, I do miss feeling like I'm in my own space with my own artwork on the walls.

Therefore, I was delighted to find this (not so) little number on my doorstep the other day! My Mom was kind enough to send me this awesome bird cage inspiration board I've been hunting ever since I passed it up at T.J. Maxx last year... I'm enjoying its addition to my temporary "studio" space. Next to it is a "star" I created out of one of those old fashioned folding rulers - another item that has been on my wish list. I found it for a great price at the Williamsburg Antique Mall last weekend. Let me tell you, if you like antiquing, this is the place to go... aisles and aisles... Happy day. 3. In Which My Opinions Regarding Garbage Disguised as Miniature Cabbages Were Altered...

First of all, let me tell you that I have purchased, cooked, and consumed (at least half of) three cartons of Brussels sprouts in the last three weeks. While this may not strike you as remarkable enough to feature in this illustrious gallery, I should probably tell you that up until this point in my life at the ripe ol' age of 31, I have, to the best of my knowledge, unwillingly consumed only three individual Brussels sprouts in the course of my life - each of which was followed by poorly-disguised gagging noises and much wrinkling of the nose.

Little balls of garbage, that's what I thought of the wretched things. While I'm not normally that picky of an eater, this was just the one vegetable I couldn't handle. Ironically, I even really WANTED to like them - I mean, hey, they look like cabbages you'd find in a garden tended by mice in a Beatrix Potter book. But no dice, I could never eat one without nearly dispatching it back to the dish from whence it came... until now.

My friend, Carrie (who formerly shared my distaste for the things), recently posted a recipe on her blog that her sister had given her. This recipe changed her opinion of the vegetable, and now, it has changed mine. When Brussels sprouts are prepared like this, I can't get enough of them... Here's the link to the recipe on Carrie's blog if you'd like to try it yourself. I used Craisins rather than apples in mine and loved the sweet little zing it gave the recipe. Here's a picture to give you an idea.... (incidentally, this dish is delicious paired with bratwursts, fried onions, and sauerkraut). It just goes to show you that, when completely disguised as bacon and fried onions, anything becomes edible.

Thanks, Carrie.

That's all I've got!

Have a lovely weekend...
Posted by Beth Stone at 9:00 AM