The Fastest Way to Chill Wine [VIDEO] | The Feed.

I’m searching for the creamiest, smoothest plain yogurt. | Ask MetaFilter. And I and always seeking the most French-like yogurt.

Yummy gluten free quinoa salad at Petite Elefant.

Sweet! How to Make a Chocolate iPhone – Hello Brit – Food. This is adorable, and I even have an old case I can use for this project.

pasta with garlicky broccoli rabe | smitten kitchen. This pasta with healthy green thing style of cooking is one of my long time go-tos.

Mini Furniture Waffle Iron · Edible Crafts.

Dinner for Two: Hot Hot Hot Chipotle Steak Tacos | Serious Eats.

Pretzel Ice Cream Cones! by The Cone Guys. Via Love From the Oven

Next week I’m saying goodbye to my wisdom teeth. Nothing drastic, it’s just time. In preparation I’ve been reading wisdom teeth advice and a few horror stories over at Ask Metafilter. I particularly like the question about the Tooth Fairy for adults. Here are my plans so far:

• Smoothies, green juice, ice cream, mashed potatoes and jello.
• Regular tea bags to chew on and peppermint tea to refresh. (Apparently my mouth won’t taste so good, surprise.)
• Bags of frozen peas to press on swollen chipmunk cheeks.
• My mascot, pictured above, of a plush Monster Tooth made by Sew Dorky that I bought a few years back knowing that someday it would be needed. I will hug or pummel it depending on how I feel.
• Journey on the PS3 and the awesome Amanita Design games from the latest Humble Indie Bundle.
• And to read I’ve already started Game of Thrones. I was afraid that I’d get all the characters confused but so far it’s been no trouble.
• The ability to sit on my couch feeling sorry for myself for a few days.

More information always makes me feel less nervous about new things like this. Did you have your wisdom teeth out? What do you wish somebody had told you before? Any advice on something I should have ready to go just in case?

A collection of cinnamon related goodness culled from my Food board at Pinterest.

Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust from Taste for Adventure

Pie Fries from Munchkin Munchies

Bacon rolled up in a cinnamon roll from Rainy Day Gal

Cinnamon Twists from Experimento 96

Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls from Poppies At Play

Cinnamon rolls in pretty tins from Pie Wacket. which TinEye could only track back to here but left uncredited. If anybody knows where this originated let me know. Thanks to Aryn and Liz for finding the source!

Two weeks in Italy, from Rome north to Tuscany and back. Where to go? What to do? Where to stay? | Ask MetaFilter.

mirrormirror: Vancouver in Five and mirrormirror: My Hidden New York

boston city guide | Design*Sponge.

Black*Eiffel: Travel log : Portland, Oregon. Lovely spots!

make grow gather – Posts – jem fabric store in nyc.

Offbeat Guide to Seattle Favorite Spots | A Chow Life | Foodie recipes and stories from a Seattle kitchen. Great list of spots!

I’m talking a little bit about working with ad networks tomorrow night at the Seattle Bloggers Unite meeting. Here are details:

The meetup will take place Tuesday, April 24 — 7 p.m. at Row House Cafe. Here’s the lineup of our distinguished speakers:

• Megan Reardon & Melanie Bielhe / Ad networks
• Marie LeBaron / Boutique ads
• Natasha Jarmick / Affiliate programs
• Amy Anderson / Sponsored posts

The restaurant is setting out snacks for us so there is an $8 entry fee. More details on the Facebook page. If you are hoping to learn a bit more about these things I hope to see you there!

I’ve found myself in the middle of some lack of inspiration and I decided to give into it. Recently it feels like nothing I try really works out: my very cool Easter project idea failed spectacularly (but I still have hope that I can do it for next year), I bought a pair of really comfy shoes I wanted to tell everybody about only to find that they squeak loudly when I walk, I cannot seem to capture what I want in my photographs. Graaah! Feel the power of overlapping small frustrations add up!

As part of my downtime I’ve decided to declutter the house, Spring cleaning for the house as well as my brain maybe? Shown above is a collection of keys that both Scott and myself have somehow collected over the years. With the exception of one we have no idea where any of these keys might work. There was a Nissan key in there and neither of us has ever driven a Nissan. That padlock was from my high school years and I couldn’t remember the combination even back then. So I’ve tossed the keys and my house became that much literally and figuratively lighter. High five, it’s working.

I’m making slow progress because I’m a very lazy person at heart. It’s overwhelming because this is the first place I’ve lived in for more than two years at a time as an adult and, predictably, I’m finding the amount of stuff you can shove into closets and forget about is incredible. Turns out I’m way better at shedding stuff when faced with the imminent threat of having to carry it all to a new home. These days it’s easier to pull everything out of a closet, toss a couple things and put it all back in, only a little more orderly looking this time. All the work and sense of satisfaction with none of the desired results!

I really need to get motivated, like Hulk Smash! style motivated. So far my plan is:

• Highbrow: Watch and re-watch this TED talk by Graham Hill on less stuff equaling more happiness. I found this though a article by Jessica Adamiak that I will revisit when I need to remember bullet points.
• Lowbrow: Watch episodes of Hoarders because nothing will inspire a craving for minimalism in me faster. Maybe I’ll write a prescription for myself to watch one per week.
• Read Dinah Sanders’ Discardia. It’s in Kindle forrmat as well as good old fashioned book. Something I like from the first chapter: “Your first Discardian act should be to let go of feeling bad about what you haven’t gotten done by now.” Done! (I know Dinah from way back, hi Dinah!)
• Rearrange my digital life as well. I need to set up a schedule (shudder) for backing up my iPhone, computers and cameras. And back up those back ups somewhere not in this house. I also need to rearrange and weed my bookmarks, Google Reader lists, Twitter lists, Gmail labels and be a better Facebook citizen. My hands feel heavy just thinking about all these things, but I know they’ll break me out of my current “I wonder if The Hairpin has posted anything new?” form of comfort surfing. Or at least I hope.
• Remember that trash and recycling pick up is early on Friday mornings. Remember that on Thursday afternoons.
• Acknowledge that crunchy snacks are a vital part of the process for me. Trader Joe’s Crunchy Curls are on the top of my list.

But I also could use help! Do you have any good motivations? Resources? Playlists? Scare tactics? Share, I beg you, if only so that I know I’m not alone in my sea of half-emptied closets.

These are my new earrings, geometric hoops from Pico Design. They are inspired on the HDM pavilion in China but I see the Asteroids game when I look at them. Stealth Asteroids!

Lovely watercolor maps at Kottke. The maps are so amazing.

Airplane Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style. These are awesome. Via The Hairpin.

Lively Ivy » Blog Archive » Leggo my Lego. This reflects how I view the new Legos for girls as well.

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM. Aaaaaaah, a collection of good news. Via swissmiss.

Banksy on advertisers – we are all angry. Eff yes.

The Subversive Charm of Day Drinking – NYTimes.com. I linking to this for the Bartender Rock 101 list at the bottom, but the recipe for The Jessica drink looks awfully nice. Via The Hairpin.

The Beauty Department: Gold Leaf Manicure.

The Best Generic Beauty Products You Should Know About – Makeup, Skin Care & Hair – MSN Lifestyle. I’m looking specifically at the Umberto Beverly Hills Volumizer Thickening Spray from Target that they recommend here.

What are your favorite eyeshadow/makeup tutorials? | Ask MetaFilter. The answers here hit all of my favorites and all the ones recommended by friends.

The Audrey Hepburn Makeover | The Hairpin. This makeover cues my eyebrow envy. I saw a very eyebrow-y Greek preteen with her whole Greek family last week, she was striking but seemed very awkward and I immediately made up a whole story where she grows very tall in the next year and ends up as a famous model by age 19 and eventually succumbs to drugs only to hit rehab and be a Bond girl in her mid-twenties. I may have been overthinking it.

Fallen Princess: Andrea Linett Book Alert!. Oooh, my favorite Sassy editor tells me about another Sassy writer’s upcoming book. I hug the internet while at the same time wishing it would make more money for everybody.

Are Crest White Strips worth it? | Ask MetaFilter. I refuse to give up coffee and red wine, so teeth whitening will be a part of what I do.

how to manicure at home – Petit Elefant. I’m so bad about keeping my cuticles oiled up, but Allison gives me hope that I will be able to do justice to an at home manicure.

My 12-year-old wants to get her ears pierced, and I’m wondering about the pros and cons of having it done at a doctor’s office versus at the mall. | Ask MetaFilter. I had my uneven ears pierced unevenly at a mall when I was 11 and the result is a 1/4-inch difference. After having my ears re-pierced at a body piercing shop a few years ago I agree with the majority of this thread and would recommend a piercing place many times over a mall place, edgy shop appearance and all.

Spa Week is next week, April 16th to 20th. I never thought I’d be a spa person but getting a massage (that I paid for) at Camp Mighty last year and having a half massage/half moisturizing treatment at Penterra Spa in Kirkland (WA) this week (which was soooooo good and, full disclosure, complimentary) I think I’m gonna have to admit I’m a convert. During Spa Week you can get $50 treatments which is a nice bargain. If you’re on the fence I encourage you to try it while the price is good. Which is next week so get on that!

Salty Sesame and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies — Joy the Baker. Mmmmmm.

The best artichoke dip recipe | helenjane.com.

A Fresh Look at Food Coloring – FineCooking.com. How to color food from edible sources. Via The Kitchn.

What’s In Your Well? – Voracious. Solid spirits for mixed drinks, good information to keep around because booze is very expensive here in Washington state.

The Easiest Poached Egg Recipe « i am a food blog. Slow poached in the shell. Via Tracy over at Pinterest.

Kale and Quinoa Cakes — Joy the Baker.

Sprinkle Bakes: Like Porcelain, Royal Icing Nests.

Last Minute Valentines – The Crafts Dept. I’m way late on this one but the pop-up pixel heart card here is amazing.

Behind the Scenes at Martha Stewart @Craftzine.com blog. Thanks Meg for the inside looks!

// Between the lines //: Leather and gold bag :: the DIY instructions. Really great instructions, via Dismount Creative.

Thanks to Cakies, I made a flower crown | helenjane.com. So adorable!

By Hand: a lifestyle magazine for people who make and do by Susan Gibbs and Jeannie Bloch — Kickstarter. Darnnit! I’m late to this party, so a belated huge high five to By Hand magazine for holding such a successful campaign, cannot wait to read the magazine!

The Farmer’s Nest: How to Make Liquid Hand Soap from a bar of soap {DIY}.

A bunch of fabulous Easter stuff pulled from my Pinterest holiday board.

Neon eggs are all over (don’t forget that neon food coloring can be found in grocery stores) and these from Oh Joy are fabulously simple.

Similar and just as easy, these gold dipped pink eggs from Fabulous K are stunning.

These are sweet – carrot shaped cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. Over at Hostess With the Mostess.

Clever cheesecake inside of chocolate eggs is fairly grown up while keeping the eggie happiness. Made by Raspberri Cupcakes.

I love the tumbled look of these Gilded Eggs from Pencil Shavings.

Easter surprise carrots! An oldy but a goody from Martha Stewart.

This washi tape paper mache egg from Traveling Mama is nice and very simple because it’s based on a paper egg from a craft store.

A Whole Lotta Nothing: World travel with the unlocked US Verizon iPhone 4S.

Three Practically Perfect Days in Seattle « Tea & Cookies. Everything I love in Seattle is here in Tea’s post.

How to Blend in at the Pub | From China Village.

The Sylvia Beach Hotel « Tea & Cookies. This hotel sounds incredibly delightful, thanks for introducing us to it Tea!

A CUP OF JO: Travel fantasy: Rainbow hotel. We passed this hotel, The Saguaro, when we were in Palm Springs and it looks even more colorful on the inside. I did not realize it was created by the same people who do the Ace hotels.

7 Must-Try Sweets at Chelsea Market, NYC | Serious Eats.

Traveling Sicily – Thoughts & Tips » delicious:days.