After a few days of blogging about food, I stumbled into a place where the farmer's market and the art world collide.

GalloGirlPhotos.etsy.com is a Richmond-based photographer who has taken some absolutely delicious food pics. Her farmer's market note cards make me wish my tomato plants were growing faster.


Images are copyright GalloGirlPhotos

I'm also completely in love with her images of Coney Island, vintage signs, and rusty bathtubs. And her birthday is near mine. And her shop name is similar to my radio name (Galaxy Girl). Geez, I feel like she's my secret twin or something.

I've always been a sucker for little things. And I'm a big fan of animals (in case you couldn't tell from my own shop name). So little animals present the best of both worlds.

I think that's why I love the jewelry of Joannarutter.etsy.com so much. The items themselves are attractive in subject matter and design, but when I saw the scale of them being held in someone's hand I squeeeeeed with delight.

Take a gander at some of her earrings and necklaces:

Images are copyright Joannarutter.etsy.com and are only used to show how awesome they are.

One of the nice things about having company visit is that is gives me the excuse to visit some of my favorite restaurants.

Cous Cous is one of these. They serve Mediterranean and Moroccan style cuisine and are located near VCU at 900 West Franklin Street. Monday nights from 5-7pm are BOGO at Cous Cous, so we were able to get lots of meze for a very affordable price. Three of us shared a hearty meal consisting of

• Mock chicken tagine with aromatic vegetables and cous cous;
  
• Mediterranean platter with garlic hummus and babaghanoush;
  
• Curry platas (like fries with a curry dipping sauce)
• Manchego fritters with mango coulis
• Sweet corn fritters with chipotle creme fraiche
• Mediterranean antipasto with mozarella, tomatoes, red peppers
• Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves...mmmmmmm.)

I'm going to have to remember to bring my camera with me whenever I go out now so that I can show off what these delicious meals look like. Go to their website to checkout their menu and some pics of the food and environment. http://www.couscous900.com/

In the last year or so, Richmond has really had a boom in the number of Farmer's Markets in the area. In addition to the traditional 17th Street Farmer's Market in Shockoe Bottom, there is also the Byrd House market in Oregon Hill, the Lakeside Farmer's Market, and a series of farmer's markets organized by The Market Umbrella at Forest Hill Park, Bryan Park, Crossroads Art Center, and Quirk Gallery.

In addition to providing great fresh produce, eggs and baked goods to the everyday citizen like me, these markets have also provided a boost to the quality of the foods available at local restaurants such as Cafe Gutenberg.

I got lunch there the other day - my first time there since they renovated - and oh my was I thrilled! There were so many great options available for a vegetarian like me! Some friends and I shared the Local Vegetable Fondue and Sweet Potato Fry appetizers. Both were delicious, but I especially love the vegetable fondue. Our sandwich selections included the Tofu Ceasar, the Banh Mi, and the Local Mushroom Panini.


All of the sandwiches were excellent, and I look forward to going back to sample more of their varied menu!

The picture is from the Cafe Gutenberg website, not my own. I just wanted to show you how good the food looks. I hope the photographer doesn't mind.

Well, it's taken me a while to get things organized around here, but I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. (It helps that I learned that the air conditioner in my studio is also a heater!)

I have to give credit to Dawn of Lark Studio for giving me the occasional kick in the rear to get me motivated. Also to EcoEtsy for featuring one of my change purses in their Eco Etsy street team blog. Inspires me to keep going.

I've been slowly adding products to my shop, and I'm very motivated right now. I'm getting ready to go on a 2-day trip, and I packed about 5 pound of fabric before I realized I was only going to have about 1-1/2 days to work on stuff. And I didn't want to have to schlep around 5 pounds of fabric, so I went back and pared it down to something more reasonable.

In the meantime, you can see some of my finished products at MonkeyDogStudio.etsy.com.