notes

1. This is the strangest honey-cake I've ever made. It's practically *fluffy*. Next year I'm likely going back to my tried-and-true favorite from the Joy of Cooking, which is probably not exactly "traditional," but is dense and dark and sweet and absolutely drippingly sticky.

2. My hands are thoroughly thrashed from burning man. It doesn't help that I've been doing things for the last week that require my hands to be clean and dry -- and therefore haven't been putting much moisturizer on during the day. Soon I will be done handling negatives and invitations and I'll be able to engage in the constant lotion-application I prefer. The little burns across the knuckles of my left hand from last week's delicious fritto misto experiments are healing nicely, though.

3. Sure signs of fall at my house: We get home from Burning Man. The weather turns grey and drizzly. I start making vegetable soups. The temperature-dial for the heated kitchen floor begins creeping up.

Mmmm. heated kitchen floor. I'm almost looking forward to running errands in the rain so I can come home and lie down on the floor...

seeking sitter recommendations

(some of you have been asked this already.)

As I think many of you know by now, Ethan and I are planning a commitment ceremony for the beginning of November.

There are over a dozen kids on the invite list and about half of them are toddler-ish. We're planning on providing childcare for any twelve-and-unders during the ceremony. Do you have any child-sitters in Seattle to recommend? (pros would be nice.) We'd be willing to pay whatever their going rate is and they can partake of the buffet at the reception once the ceremony is over and the kids are released back into their parents' care. They should have their own transportation to and from the venue. I'm aiming for one sitter per every two or three kids.

At the absolute very least I do have to find somebody to watch any kids that come in from out of town (like my two-and-a-half-year-old niece, since my sister is participating in the ceremony).

(what I *really* wanted was something like this, but they're not technically babysitters and the ages of the kids in question are too diverse.)