birthday gifting

i put together a crafty gift box yesterday for my best friend's president's day birthday. included were goodies from bedford cheese--a hunk of manchego and another of humboldt fog (that's cool for goat cheese), homemade wild blueberry jam from sidehill farm, rosemary crackers, and a little dollop of nutella. i also got a nifty cowgirl card from catbird, a pair of ranunculas from sprout, and there's a miranda july book tucked away at the bottom called learning to love you more, found at spoonbill & sugartown.

my idea for the box came from a recent trip to marlow & daughters, where they had put together "valentine's day packs" on slabs of cardboard that included an assortment of items from their shop that would provide for a nice, simple dinner for two.

what i ended up buying there looked like this (after i marinated it):



i mistakenly bought 1 1/5 pounds of faux rib-eye, as we called it, for 2 people. half of it is now resting gloriously in my freezer. but more on that later.