School is amazing and scary and hard and very, very rewarding. And part of being back into the academic swing means actually manifesting the role of graduate student. It’s much more serious than undergrad, you see!

About a month-ish back, I had the great privilege to attend a conference at Connecticut College, titled “Undocumented Hispanic Migration.” It was seriously AWESOME and was so relevant to my research. I met lots of people and had a great time.

But when it was time to exchange information, I had my snazzy business cards, but something was off. They’re still pretty snazzy, but the whole writer/editor/designer/photographer label just didn’t fit my role at the conference. Sure, I still actively do all the fun writing/editing/designing/photographing stuff, but now that I’m doing anthropology-related networking, I thought it’d be appropriate to have the proper representation.

More business cards!

After doing some research, I settled on a company called MOO, which works in tandem with Flickr. I was instantly enchanted with their mini cards, and equally smitten that I could choose several photos for card backs, and then design the front portion myself.

And the results?

The box was pretty darned adorable!

They even included little dividers!

Et voila! Here’s a close-up:

I love these, and they’re an excellent representation of my work. On the front is my info, and on the back, one of seven different photographs taken either in Mexico or Arizona, which is the geographic location of where I focus my work. They’re pretty small, but I’m hoping they’ll make a big impression on people when I go to the AAA Annual Meetings this year in Philadelphia!

Have I told you? The refrigerated pizza crusts that everyone around here sells is one of my favorite things. I keep a few in the freezer, then unthaw them for a delicious, quick homemade meal in minutes. And yes, pizza may not be the best thing to eat all the time, but once in a while, these are great and you can load them with lots of veggies and other goodies to your liking. And it’s all way cheaper than delivery.

A few months ago, I made a barbecued turkey pizza and loaded LOTS of goodies on it. It was seriously awesome, and I’d been dying to make it again. Think classic barbecued chicken pizza, only significantly better.

I was ridiculously excited when I got this package in the mail. The last few months, I’ve had the privilege of working with Tribal Moose BBQ, which is a company based out of Sublimity, Oregon. I’ve read extensively and written about (and read lots of raving reviews) of their cranberry-based sauces, but had sadly never tried them. I was a very sad panda.

So guess how happy I was when the owners sent me a freaking awesome sample pack with all their sauces?! Tribal Moose specializes in four sauces: an original barbecue, a spicy barbecue, a steak sauce, and a ketchup. And yes, they ALL have cranberries in them. (And guess what? ALL of the proceeds from the ketchup go to the Salvation Army. How cool is that?)

In any case, this was a perfect time to do a remake of my utterly fantastic barbecued turkey pizza!

First, grease (or spray) your cooking sheet. Then toss your pre-made pizza dough, and squish it in your pan. Then give a good squirt of Tribal Moose BBQ sauce. I used the SPICY because I’m crazy like that.

Then put a bit of mozzarella on that pie! Cook some ground turkey (yes, I said ground turkey. It works well! And it’s cheap and not greasy!). Then, if you like mushrooms, I highly recommend piling them on like I did. MMMM!!!

Now here’s the GOOD part. The one my mom finds questionable, but I swear to you it’s good. De-cob (or whatever) an ear of fresh sweet corn, and put it on top of everything. If you don’t have a fresh ear of corn, feel free to use the canned stuff, which is what I ended up doing. I’ve had this pizza both ways now, and the fresh, raw stuff has a much better, sweeter, and crisper taste and feel to it. But they both work. Top it off with a little bit of cheddar. Don’t be afraid to just pile it on!

Pop your pizza in the oven at about 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

Et voila! Are you totally jealous? Look at the ooey-gooey-delicious-crispness! OMG, YUM!!

And if that wasn’t enough, take a look at THAT goodness. If you want, eat it with some fresh avocado on top.

So basically, my first brush with Tribal Moose was exceptionally awesome. I don’t make a habit of intersecting work and private life, but I had to let all y’alls know about this stuff, because it is genuinely really, really good. The cranberries lend a really delicious, sweet-yet-tart flavor to the already delicious sauce, and let me tell you–the spicy–it is spicy! Yess!! One of my friends who tried the sauce (she’s a vegetarian, so she had it with some cheese pizza) said that too often you buy spicy barbecue sauce and it just isn’t spicy. This had a FANTASTIC kick, that actually took me off guard. But in a good way. This pizza was so good!

If you don’t live in Oregon and can’t get to the several Safeways and other stores that carry Tribal Moose products, get your butts to their website. Their sauces come in a sweet 20-ounce glass bottle, and go for a very reasonably $3.99. LOVE!!!

Next up: Down-home oven fries and Tribal Moose cranberry ketchup! (Can we say NOM, please?!)

Congratulations, Megan! The numbers have spoken, and you are the winner of my most recent giveaway, sponsored by alight.com.

Please check your email for details!

Are you on LiveJournal? Did you find me through Fatshionista?

First of all, I LOVE YOU!

Second of all, did you know that this blog is specially syndicated for LJ users?

If you’re hooked into LiveJournal, add me to your Friends entries; all the syndication information is right here!

xoxo

Etsy is a dangerous place for me to peruse. So it almost worried me a bit when I decided to reopen my store the other day.

And, of course, that meant that I immediately went and bought some really sweet bracelets from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Estudio Martita.

Since you already know that I unabashedly love Mexican people and culture (and foooood!), it’s not much of a surprise that I just love the artwork and jewelry that comes out of Estudio Martita. A self-proclaimed folk artist, Martha Rodriguez creates handmade pieces that reflect her vibrant heritage, from embellished boxes to the skullie bracelets above to the mod-version of classic santos bracelets (left). And with Dia de los Muertos approaching soon, her store is the perfect place to stock up on beautiful, affordable accessories.

Martha is also a superstar when it comes to communication, which is always great (especially when it complements truly awesome, quality art products); I have a fatty wrist, and she so nicely custom strung me my last bracelets, and was super quick with shipping. I can’t say more positive things about with my experience with Estudio Martita, and I hope you guys check her out!

Wow, you guys! What a busy month it’s been so far. Thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway sponsored by Jen’s Fashion Plus! And because you guys are so awesome, I’ve got another super fantastic giveaway for you today, sponsored by the folks at alight.com.

The prize? Win a one-time-use $50 gift card! What I love about this giveaway is that not only are alight.com’s products totally affordable (most are $50 or under!), but you can peruse the site and find something you really, really love. They’ve got literally hundreds of fantastic dresses and more, a wide array of brands, and a good selection of sizes.

Josh, a site representative, sent me the gorgeous Blue Plate dress you see above. Since it’s getting cold here already, I’m going to have to wait until the spring to get the most use out of it (I love the designs, but it’s going to be hard to dress this one for snow!). Alight.com has TONS of Blue Plate boho-chic clothing! It’s only one of the many possibilities for you to spend your $50.

Okay, I’ll stop talking now. You want to know how to enter.

To enter, all you need to do is comment on this post. You have until midnight (EST) on Friday, 2 October, to enter, and a winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Monday, 5 October. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.

You want extra entries? No prob!

You may earn up to FIVE extra entries by doing one or more of the following:

1. Re-Tweet: By tweeting this, I am entering to win a $50 gift card from @alightcom and @daniellepdx! Enter here: http://wp.me/phyW5-9Z
2. Follow us on Twitter: Follow alight.com (@alightcom) and myself (@daniellepdx), and then comment back here letting me know you’ve added yourself.
3. Become a fan of alight.com: Add yourself to alight.com’s Facebook fan page, and then comment back here.
4. Add yourself to alight.com’s mailing list: While I don’t normally encourage people to do something like this, you will totally receive a discount code for your first order when you sign up, then comment back here.
5. Feature the giveaway in a blog post: If you own your own blog, mention and link to this giveaway for an extra entry!

Good luck to everyone, and thank you for entering!

It’s just the books. They’ve eaten me alive. (And I actually have two more on the way!)

I love me a good curry. Especially a masman curry, with the delicious peanutty flavor. Did you know it’s pretty damn easy to make on your own? It is!

First, you’ve got to start with a great curry paste (my favorite is Mae Ploy brand), which you can find at any decent Asian market. Then you get your veggies, a protein (chicken or tofu works fine), coconut milk, and rice, and that’s it! A great, hearty dinner is served.

While you can put pretty much anything you want into your curry, my favorite combination so far has been fresh sugar snap peas, fresh mushrooms, fresh onions, fresh zucchini, fresh cilantro, and chicken. Literally, to. die. for.

Sound good? Here’s all you have to do:

1. Saute fresh garlic with your vegetables until they’re a bit brown. I like my veggies a little more crisp, so I just like to warm it up.
2. Add half a can of coconut milk to your vegetable mixture, and then a generous spoonful of curry paste, and a spoonful of peanut butter to taste. Add some lime juice for acidity, and then bring the pan to a simmer.
3. Add the other half can of coconut milk, and continue to simmer until your mixture is a lovely creamy brown-red color. Mmm!
4. Once everything is heated, spoon over rice, and add cilantro on top. You can eat it with potstickers, too, if you fancy it!

Curry is a great quick meal, and reheats well.

Now go get some!

Thank you to everyone who entered my most recent giveaway, sponsored by Jen’s Fashion Plus. While you’re all winners in my book, there’s unfortunately only one winner for this contest.

The random numbers have spoken.

Congratulations, Asrah! You will be hearing from me momentarily. You’ve got 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Thanks for playing, and stay tuned! I’ve got another superfantabulous giveaway coming up soon!!

A few days ago, I was reading one of several hundreds of pages of stuff when my ONE AND ONLY highlighter started going out. This was not good.

So I ran out to the store to get some new ones, and I got some really freaking spiffy Sharpie liquid highlighters. A TEN pack! Yeahhhhh!!!

I love office supplies, specifically pens and other writing utensils. It’s a weird quirk I have, but maybe you know someone like me? In any case, I’m now a happy camper. Check out these babies:

Yeah, that’s what I thought. Awesome.