celebrations | kimberly ah

Sep 03 2015

celebrations, Forest Park, Oak Park, Postal Consumer Advisory Council, snail mail

Oak Park Post Office Turns 80

Last Saturday the Oak Park Post Office held a celebration to mark the 80th anniversary of the building. I have to admit I was a little nervous about the whole thing after our last advisory council meeting, but man, did they ever pull it off! It was really fun to see people smiling at the post office and to hear of people’s interest in the building. Because the newspaper didn’t help publicize the event (this was the only article I could find online), most people were confused about the snacks and the extra people milling around. Once we told them, they seemed really excited and thankful to have such a beautiful building in the community. Oak Parkers love their architecture! The post office put out a lovely spread. There were donuts, cupcakes, cookies, and coffee and fresh fruit, mini sandwiches, meatballs, and chicken salad…I wasn’t expecting so much variety! Fellow council member, Dea, and I worked at the popcorn machine handing out freshly popped bags of popcorn to customers. We even made deliveries to the ever-growing passport line and those customers seemed excited to have a little something to eat during their waits.

The Postmaster, Phil Crawford, gave tours of the building, sharing the history of the building giving us a peek at the second floor offices and the sorting room. (I’ll share more about that soon.)And, much to my delight, there was a special postmark!! Phil gave the council members a pre-stamped envelope with the postmark (shown above). I sent a dozen postcards out to some of my penpals and bought some fantastic new stamps. It was a great day at the Oak Park Post Office!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, forest park, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail

Aug 25 2015

13 Comments

celebrations, cocktails, Jell-O, Those Were the Days, vintage

Mrs. Roper Party

A few months ago on Twitter, I admitted that I was shopping for kaftans. I’ve been on a huge Three’s Company kick all summer, finding myself more interested in Mrs. Roper’s wardrobe than the storylines. If you’ve ever watched Three’s Company you know that every episode revolves around some sort of misunderstanding. But Mrs. Roper’s kaftans just keep getting better and better! The kaftans are so over-the-top fabulous and comfortable looking that I decided I needed one of my own. While I was deciding, we started chatting (on Twitter) about kaftans and Mrs. Roper and we all decided that we should get together and wear kaftans and lounge on the lanai. The Mrs. Roper Party was born. I didn’t need to send invitations, but I had these fantastic Three’s Company theme song postcards from Zerobird Studio, so I sent them as little reminders about the party. I had so much fun looking through old cookbooks and Pinterest for late 70s/early 80s recipes. For appetizers, Katie made crab dip, served on a groovy platter and I made a cheese ball, (I cut this recipe in half and used pimentos instead of green chiles and chopped cashews instead of pecans.) served with classic Ritz crackers. And I made a Jello mold! It wasn’t beautiful (My peach slices didn’t stay put and ended up floating around instead of making a pretty ring…rookie mistake) but it was delicious. And it was my first time using my vintage Tupperware mold and worked like a charm! For dinner we ate pineapple chicken (I used this recipe, but substituted canned pineapple for fresh, because 1970s…) and store bought fried chicken. Sidecar cocktail, Mrs. Roper Party As much as I wanted to stay on theme and make a Southern Comfort punch for the party, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I made a classic cocktail, the Sidecar. (Thanks, Kathy, for the photo above!) I was going to serve Brandy Alexanders with dessert, but we finished the brandy thanks to bartender Naoto keeping our glasses constantly filled. We had chocolate fondue for dessert. My parents gave me a vintage 1970s fondue pot and this was the first time I used it. (Fondue was so easy that I’m not sure why we don’t do it more often.)The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for lanai lounging. My only regret is that we didn’t get a full-length picture of us all in our kaftans. Other than that, 1970s entertaining is easy living. Not only did I get to throw on a breezy kaftan, but I could have made most of the recipes out of my pantry. Normally I’m rushing around buying fresh produce and chopping fruits and vegetables for party recipes. This time, I opened cans and boxes–Jello, canned peached, canned pineapple, crackers…everything just got tossed together. 1970s hostessing is amazing!
Thanks to Katie, Donovan, and Kathy for being up for a kaftan party and to Naoto for taking care of all of us Saturday night.

Next up…sometime in the future…a Golden Girls party complete with cheesecakes!

Tagged celebrations, cocktails, food, homemaking, summer, vintage

Jul 01 2015

2 Comments

celebrations, cocktails, thrifted, vintage

Vintage Ice Tongs

My parents came up to visit over the weekend and brought our anniversary gift. Part of the gift was these fantastic vintage ice tongs that they found in a vintage shop. Don’t my parents know how to score a vintage treasure? (And they know me so well…and Naoto, too, though he didn’t squeal like a school girl when he saw the box.)The tongs came in their original box, an added bonus. (And yes, I will totally keep the tongs in their box!)I love the Mid-Century style illustrations of cocktails on the handle. I think they are going to make a great partner with my vintage penguin ice bucket at our next Hasegawa Happy Hour!

Thanks, Mom & Dad! xo

Tagged celebrations, cocktails, homemaking, parents, thrifting, vintage

Jun 16 2015

3 Comments

adventures, celebrations, gardening, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Heavenly Hydrangeas

Seriously…if you can go to Japan in late May/early June, GO! Like I mentioned yesterday, hydrangea season has stolen my heart. Those gorgeous shades of blue and pink and purple, the different varieties and shapes of the blooms…breathtaking.

Our friend Jess, who lives in Tokyo with her husband and son (you may remember her from our Tokyo Cook Out), gave us so many ideas of places to see and things to do. I really think she missed her calling as a tour guide/travel agent. It was her idea to see a few gardens while we were in Japan this year…and none of them disappointed! We met up with Jess last Monday at the Bunkyo Hydrangea Festival at the Hakusan Jinja Shrine. Bunkyo hosts five flower festivals throughout the year and now it is my personal goal to see each one. The Hakusan Shrine is the home of over 3000 hydrangea plants! I am not sure I captured each one, but I sure tried. Have you ever seen so many varieties all in one place? I’ve been dreaming of a hydrangea garden of my own ever since…maybe someday!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, garden, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Apr 09 2015

1 Comment

adventures, celebrations, what's for dinner

Spicy Jicama, Pineapple & Cucumber Snack

Last month, Naoto and I lived out his dream of eating at Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless’s hard-to-get-into restaurant in Chicago. We made the reservations back in January so by the time March 14th rolled around, I wasn’t the least bit interested in going, especially considering it was St. Patrick’s Parade Day in the city and drunk people were stumbling about. But, we went anyway and didn’t regret it. The food was amazing, the cocktails blew my mind, and the service was impeccable. My favorite dish was this Mexican street snack of jicama, cucumber, and pineapple. It’s shown above on the right, along with my tasty Meyer Lemon Margarita and our guacamole. The street snack was so fresh and crisp and juicy…I really could have just eaten a whole meal of it alone. It seemed easy enough to make at home, so on Easter, we tried it out as an appetizer for Easter dinner at Karen’s.

Spicy Jicama, Cucumber and Pineapple Snack

(inspired by Frontera Grill’s Jicama Street Snack, which was inspired by Mexican street snacks)

1 English cucumber

1 jicama (ours was the size of a softball)

1 fresh pineapple

4 limes

chili powder (or Tajín, for more flavor)

sea salt

Cut the cucumber, jicama, and pineapple into sticks (like french fries). Place on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the juice of the four limes. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with chili powder and sea salt and toss again. (Be gentle, the pineapple is fragile!) Serve, standing up in a few glasses. (Old fashioned glasses work nice for sharing, or you could do individual servings in tiny juice glasses.) There should be some leftover juice on the tray. Drizzle it over the prepared servings and sprinkle with a little extra chili powder or Tajín and salt. Serve immediately. The jicama and the pineapple were by far the most popular, but I think the cucumber adds a savory touch. Plus, all three textures work really well together to make a perfect appetizer or snack. I do believe this is going to make it into the next Hasegawa Happy Hour menu!

P.S. Thanks to Naoto for modeling!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, food, homemaking

Apr 08 2015

5 Comments

celebrations, thoughts

Kimberly AH Three Years Later

our tree at 3 And here’s that tree again.

I know it seems weird to talk about, but I think about this blog a lot. It’s not a job for me, but it is a place that gives me a bit of a routine, sometimes a bit of a purpose and, most importantly, a bit of connection with like-minded people. I feel like “the blogging landscape” has changed so much since I started reading Angry Chicken back in 2007. I loved reading blogs back then, probably because they were new to me, but also because people were just sharing. Sharing their art works, sharing their homes, sharing their ideas, sharing their recipes… Sometimes it feels a little self-indulgent to share, but it also feels wonderful to find other people who have the same interests in mail or cocktails or Japan or gardening. So, thank you again for sharing this space with me, for visiting and commenting and reaching out the old-fashioned way.

Cheers to another year “at home“!

Tagged celebrations

Apr 05 2015

1 Comment

celebrations, holidays

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

Happy Easter, Happy Spring, Friends! Today is a perfect spring weather day in Chicago so I’m out and about mailing some letters and planting the rest of my seeds for the balcony. I hope whatever you are doing today is equally enjoyable and relaxing.

Tagged celebrations, holidays

Apr 01 2015

13 Comments

celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail

Write On In April…

Just when I thought I couldn’t handle another month-long letter writing challenge…well, here I go again. I heard about the Write On Campaign on Instagram a few weeks ago and I signed up for a free kit, so now I’m obligated, right?

In all honestly, I’m really looking forward to April, which is actually the “official” National Letter Writing Month. I’m looking forward to getting back into the daily habit of writing and catching up on my growing mail pile. And, I just found my original welcome note from the Letter Writers Alliance. March 29th marked my five year anniversary as a member of LWA. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than writing letters!

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail

Mar 31 2015

1 Comment

celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Going Postal Birthday Gifts

A certain mail-lover had a birthday last week and Naoto really hit it out of the ballpark (or should I say the post office?) with my gifts. He went with a postal theme and shopped on Etsy for some ideas and ended up choosing an upcycled mail bag purse, a postman rubber stamp, and an envelope necklace. I was thrilled with everything! The purse is made from an upcycled old Dutch mail bag. He ordered it from the Stiksel in the Netherlands and gave it to me with the idea that I could make it into a traveling mail pack. I love this idea, but I will probably carry it as a purse sometimes, too. I love that it has a “patina” and it’s the perfect size for both mail supplies and daily trips to the store. The next gift was a mailman rubber stamp from Pictureshow. Isn’t he dreamy? He reminds me of John if John was a mail carrier in the 1950s. Look at that overflowing mailbag of letters! It stamps like a dream and I love how detailed the image is. Here he is on a new Postcard Race. (By the way, I’m still doing some postcard testing…updates coming soon!) And last but not least, Naoto gave me an envelope necklace from MonyArt. The envelope charm is kind of rustic looking and I’ve been wearing it every day.

I love a good theme gift…way to go, Naoto!

In addition to the mail stuff, Naoto came home with a stunning bouquet of flowers. Those orchids…sigh…I’m reminded that spring weather is around the corner (even though it snowed seven inches on my birthday eve!)

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, vintage

Mar 19 2015

3 Comments

celebrations, Those Were the Days

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad’s birthday. To celebrate, I’m sharing a story I wrote back in 1986 called Mike the Phone Man. I think we were finishing a segment on tall tales and we were assigned to write one of our own. I wrote about my dad, who was a telephone repair man. Here’s the story:

Once there was a telephone man. His name was Mike. One day something magical happened to him. Somebody wanted their phone fixed. And then one thousand more people called and he fixed them all at once. And then came pay day. Mike got one thousand dollars. And the next day he got called out to fix a line. And it was an eighty foot pole. And he climbed it in one second! And he got one thousand dollars again. And the next day he had to go fix another line. But the weather was very bad, But he walked and fixed it perfectly. And he got payed one thousand dollars. But the next day was Saturday and everybody went shopping that day but Mike went to the electric shop and bought a wire for Mrs. Jenken’s phone and it cost 12 dollars but of course he had it. When he went to fix Mrs. Jenken’s phone he had to go home for lunch. That night the magic went away and the next day he didn’t do so great but he was happy anyway. So he, his wife, and his two children lived happily ever after. THE END

Happy Birthday, Dad! Let’s celebrate with Portillo’s & Old Overholt! xo

(The story was written in second grade and, in case you’re wondering, I got an A in spite of the fact that I started every sentence with the word and.)

Tagged celebrations, memories, parents