‎"The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” -Kurt Vonnegut

I think I've cooked and baked more this week than ever before in my life. It's like all my futile efforts to plan meals and have a pantry of food and the energy and time to just make food all came together with the desire to do it. Some of the highlights, crumpets, brioche rolls with dark chocolate inside, lemon tea cookies, and a yummy leftover carrot-chicken teriyaki. I've been on a roll- I remember to soak the beans and start the brown rice, I spontaneously come up with yummy cheap meals based on what's sitting around. It feels good to not eat out, and to feel creative doing something that used to be a chore.
So for Christmas this morning, I made the Brioche. I was really worried to see that it hadn't risen at all over the long overnight chill, but I think it's because I may have added a little too much butter. After shaping them and squishing some dark chocolate into the middle I let them rise for two more hours and they about doubled, so I baked them off and they were really good. The only problem I have with brioche is that they are so rich but also so irresistible that I had way too many and now I feel like I ate a stick of butter.
I'm really looking forward to the new year- I'm hoping it's calm and simple and peaceful. I am really appreciating that kind of stuff lately. I still have the big dreams, but I'm not antsy for them anymore. Maybe that's a little sad, but it just feels better being happy in the moment- and who knows, maybe I'll be an urban organic farmer.

Happy Birthday to my dear life partner Teddy! What a nice day! We ate too much and drank too much and slept in- and it really doesn't get much better than that! I guess we could have been doing all that someplace warm- that'd be better, I suppose...but I'm not complaining. The picture is old, but he really never changes anyways. He looks exactly like he did when I met him 5 (?) years ago. I love you TED!

Singer 421G

This is a my newest machine, and my first German-made singer. I picked it up at a thrift store for $25.00. It has a fold-up bed, and it's a free arm too! Plus it has all the cool stitches that my 401 has. There's a little storage compartment in the bed too! I'm pretty thrilled!


The free-arm-



The little compartment-


Cute little cam-bobbin storage.

Busy, Busy!

Kisun is helping me make berry scones for our guests. She likes to press the berries in the dough. Such a big helper! This is her new smile.

This is a fisher price scene I discovered yesterday. Interesting.


Some babies.

Sun through the rain

I woke up this morning to find some pretty amazing weather. The sun was beaming through pouring rain. It was almost surreal. I took these pictures, but they don't really capture how it was.

Alright, where were we?

Oh, that's right, sewing. Another vintage pattern, circa, oh, maybe late 70's, early 80's?
It's a Betsey Johnson design, and I'm assuming it's the Betsey Johnson.


Yes, the sleeves are poofy. They are intended to be poofy. Whether I am "intended" to wear poofy clothes is another matter, though.



I like the round neck yoke. I used the longer length option in the pattern.

All in all, I'm happy with it. I'm not sure it's something I'd pick out, but it's fun and theatrical, and it turned out exactly like the pattern cover. The fabric is vintage, picked up at a yard sale last weekend. I like the way it fits, even if it is a little mu-mu-ish.

Saves me the trip.

I learned today that Alaska is a staging ground for the end times. You know, rapture. Apparently, when the world ends and God calls us all home, Alaska is going to be where the faithful flock to wait out the chaos until heaven's ready. This explains so much! I'm planning on having a hot dog cart, and working the crowds.

I'm not religious, but this is what I think. When God calls us home, he's going to have something worked out. Like a shuttle, or maybe he'll set up campgrounds with showers or something. And, ummm, also? I'm pretty sure he's got other things to worry about besides setting up a natural gas pipeline.

My other thought is that when all the pseudo-Christians get up there, I want to see them explain themselves and why they were above loving thy neighbors, turning their cheek, and doing unto others as they wanted for themselves. Oh, and thy shalt not covet, or murder. Killing people is murder. Capital Punishment is murder. Bombing a family because they have a similar name to someone who may or may not have had connections to terrorism- ummm....murder by stupidity and carelessness. It's hypocritical to value the life of an unborn child, and simultaneously devalue the life of those whom you decide deserve death for whatever reason.

Someone please explain to me where Jesus said its fine to kill someone if you think they may pose some risk to you at some undefined point in the future. Explain to me where he said it's fine to hate people because their choices are "wrong" by your standards.

Standing up and saying that the war in Iraq is a holy war against evil is doing exactly what extremists do- because it's an extremist view, and one that poses just as much danger to the American way of life as extremists in other religions.

I found this darling pattern at my friend's antique store and thought I'd give it a go. No matter that it's a size 7, and I have a size 2 little monkey- this can be her kindy dress. For once, I'm prepared.


This is my first try at darts and pleats, and the plackets were a little tough to figure out, but once I did it was pretty easy. The pleats hang a little wonky in places. I think I could have pinned it a little more securely to keep everything even.

I'm happy with it, and I learned a lot. I got the fabric at Walmart of all places- It's pretty, even though it seems to fray a lot, although that may be because I pleated and re-pleated this dress around 5 times.

I had fun using my new featherweight for about half of this dress. I pulled out the 301 when things got big. The hem is over 100 inches of hand blind stitched goodness. I'm going to hunt for more vintage patterns in Kisun's size today.

A day in the life, part I

My average morning starts at around 6:30. I have a few different menus, but this one is a favorite.

Berry scones- the key to good scones is both massive amounts of butter and cream, and also the minimum of mixing the dough, even to the point where it's a tad crumbly.

Good ole' scrambled eggs.

Reindeer sausages.

Melon- usually with blueberries, but alas, we were out.


The table, set by my dear Ted.


So that's the "breakfast" in "bed and breakfast." Stay tuned for the "bed" part.

Bristol Palin preggo?

I still love you Sarah. I never have and never will vote for you, but you can come over for tea anytime!

Happy Birthday to me.

Looky what I got! Just don't ask me how much it cost. I'm in love- don't worry 301a, I still appreciate all that you do, with your belt free power and cute little handle that is oh, so convenient. I just love this little 221 circa 1951 too. I'm like the cat lady, but instead of cats I find sewing machines and sneak them home. At least they don't pee on my clothes.
And just so she doesn't feel left out, here's my black 301a.

random

1. Do you like cheese? Cheese? What's that?

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Smoked it? Noooo.

3. Do you own a gun? No. I lease with an option to buy.

4. Your favorite song? Jim Croce, New York's not my home.

5. Do you get nervous before a doctor's appt.? Not only do I get nervous, but I get strangely compliant too.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Costco hot dogs are my weakness. So cheap and so good.

7. What's your favorite Christmas song? Winter Wonderland. I sing it all the time. Almost fitting for Alaska.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee.

9. Can you do pushups? Plural? No.

10. Is your bathroom clean? No.

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Gee, I would say it's my amazingly thoughtfully designed wedding band that perfectly sums up the love my wonderful partner feels for me but....not only is there no band, there's no marriage. After YEARS of hinting. Apparently when I say, "oh, honey, no piece of paper can define our love..." he thinks I'm being serious!

12. Favorite Hobby? Manically switching between my five favorite hobbies, which are
a. collecting and restoring vintage sewing machines
b. sewing
c. knitting
d. baking
e. pretending to garden

14. Do you have A.D.D.? In light of the above answer, maybe so.

15. What's one trait you hate about yourself? A lot of the positive changes I will for myself don't really "take." So I guess you could say my lack of discipline.

16. Middle Name? Electa.

17. Name 3 things on your mind right now: My toe is cold, and also broken. My jaw hurts from gnawing on french bread earlier. I shouldn't have had coffee a 7 pm.

19. Name 3 drinks you drink regularly? Coffee. Tea. Wine.

20. Current worry right now? That my toe will heal funny and hurt for a long time.

21. Current hate? My inability to "keep" house.

22. Favorite place to be? Home, definitely, although infinitely more so when it's a little less chaotic.

23. How did you bring in the New Year? Ummm. I can't remember. I think it was the same old day, I remember the fireworks scaring the crap out of me!

24. Where would you like to go? Japan. Korea. Berlin. Los Angeles.

"The Orphanage" was awesome. I'm a wuss when it comes to horror flicks, and I loved it. In fact, I'd say it's the perfect scary movie for people who hate scary movies. I won't give anything away, but trust me on this one, it's great.
It was out on the shelves of the movie store so I asked at the counter and they looked and they had one that was just returned. They said everyone had been asking about it, and just as I was paying someone else did, so for once I had great luck. I really really enjoyed it.

Yay for pedicures. Kind of. Nay for shoveling in front of three houses after a foot of snow has fallen at the end of April after said pedi and messing my perfect toes up.
Pedicures are weird. I like after they're done, but I hate the nipping part and I'm never totally satisfied. They're still kind of callous-y and not like a baby's feet. That's what I want- baby feet, but bigger, otherwise I'd fall over.
I also feel weird about someone having to scrub my feet. I'm not comfortable with being in that position. Today I sat and imagined life after the apocalypse, telling Kisun how I used to have my feet scrubbed in a jacuzzi tub while they brought me hot tea. How ridiculous and excessive. But in a nice way.
When I lived in Los Angeles I worked in a strip mall, and across the way was a nail salon where they'd polish your nails for like 6 bucks. My then-boyfriend worked at a little sushi place (also in the strip mall) and usually worked opposite shifts from me so I spent a lot of time waiting for him to get off work. One day I decided to get my nails polished, even though at any given time I have tiny stubs for finger nails. I ended up having them done every week or so, mostly just to kill time. That strip mall was strange. I guess it was more of an open air mall, with a movie theatre, coffee shop, bulk candy shop, 24 hour fitness center, (I think building code in LA requires you to throw one in whatever you build.), and this rad little thrift store, a dog groomers,a rad old fashioned Italian bakery....all kinds of things. It was the highlight of Torrance, which isn't saying a whole lot, but it was pretty cool. I also worked with really funny people- Luis and Giorgio, the brothers, were the most hilarious people ever. This was in a very Korean part of town, and there was a green tea ice cream shop waaay before that kind of thing was cool. There were also amazing Korean pastry shops, and these beautiful cosmetic shops where everything was written in Korean. And the only other cool thing about Torrance was this awesome little clothing store ran by this Japanese guy- all his stuff was imported from Tokyo or Paris or New York. I bought some rad things there, but my crappy ex stole it all. The best part about LA, after leaving and the weather, was that my friend Megan lived in Los Feliz, and the few times I saw her were happy and exciting- oh, and just a bit of warning- the things I said about Torrance were not meant to imply that Torrance is in any way worth going to/ through, but if you find yourself trapped there against your will, feel free to check out said "fun" things.

Haircut

I whacked it all off at Trendsetters. The girl I got was really nice and did a good job, but when the teacher came to check the hairstyle, he said, "you know what I'd do is xyz, do you want me to just do it?" I said ummm, yes, please, just because I need someone to dominate my hair style, otherwise it ends up in a ponytail forever. So, there it is. I really like it. Especially for 10 dollars- it's way better than my 75 dollar haircut last year. So now I have a gift certificate at Allure to use on something other than a haircut.

Not too much new on the crafty front. I got all the sewing stuff over to the B&B but have yet to start a new project. I do have Kiki's socks to finish.

The B & B is up and running. I had my first guests this week! It's a nice soft opening because I still have so much to do to get the other rooms going but the Queen room is ready and the rest of the place is all shined up. I really like this work, but it keeps you busy and it seems like there's really always something to do. I'm looking forward to getting a little more comfortable cooking awesome breakfasts. I was a little nervous about meeting random people and chatting them up but I got it really easy as my first guests are really nice and interesting. I think people who tend to stay at places like this are by definition a little more open and easy-going, but i may be biased! Yesterday I made a frittata and today I made breakfast burritos. They were really good. I made extra for me and Ted and we sat at a nicely set table for once and ate sans baby, who was still asleep. At 28 I have finally figured out the secret to breakfast potatoes: (chop, boil, cookie sheet, bake) (oh, and salt and oil too.)
Things are good here- the weather is nice, the house is clean, the baby is happy. Haven't been sewing to much lately, but get this! I finished my socks. The next pair will have a taller cuff, but hey, a sock on the foot is worth two on the needles. I just started the heels on a matching pair for Kiki and I made her a heavier pair of wool socks a few weeks ago that turned out pretty good too, and I didn't snap my wooden needles like toothpicks this time either! Thank goodness for Brittany wooden needles- I've broken 4 needles, and each time they send me a replacement for free and pay for shipping, even when I insist on paying. They're slightly expensive, but oh so nice in the hands, and the price is more than justified when you knit like a gorilla and snap needles all. the. time.
Well, how's that for an update! Maybe I'll take some pictures of my beautiful new temporary home soon so you all can see what I'm up to.

if you're into epidemic dieases...

...and who isn't, right?
I like to go to the library without a plan of what I'm getting. I usually just peruse the New Fiction and New Nonfiction sections and grab whatever seems interesting. This book, The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump, was one of those finds. It chronicles the spread of Cholera in London in the 1800's. Overall, it was a really cool glimpse into English society and its medical establishment. In addition to elaborating on the backstory quite a bit, it really did a good job of highlighting a little known pioneer of epidemiology, John Snow. I had never heard of him before reading this book, and knowing how much he contributed, I'm surprised. Anyways, I'm not sure if toward the end I was just harried and unable to comprehend basic sentences, or if the story cohesion kind of fell apart toward the end, but I kept losing my train of thought in the last third of the book. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the former though- I can be a little, well, spacy. All in all, a pretty rad story.

Middle Way Breakfast?!?

Yep, that's right, this morning I treated myself to breakfast at the Middle Way Cafe. It was a test breakfast, and they won't be serving breakfast regularly for a little while yet, although I'm not sure of the exact date, but... Anyways, I walked in to see everyone I know with children sitting at three tables squeezed together (except for the children, which were scattered on, under and around said table...) It was pure chaos, but the happy gleeful kind, at least to us. I'm not sure what our neighbors thought, but oh, well. We had fun.
Everything looked good. I got there late so I got to watch everyone else's food come. Huevos Rancheros, Eggs Benny, and this one awesome dish that was like eggs benedict with artichoke hearts instead of english muffins. I can't recall the name of the dish. It was presented so elegantly, and I almost regretted getting the Shepherd's Omelet, until it came, that is. Holy Moley, it was good. Usually, breakfast is disappointing because I always think, I could've made that at home, but this was beyond my casual kitchen skills. It was filled with goat cheese, spinach, roasted red peppers, and caramelized onions. There was a side of breakfast potatoes that were lacking for nothing in taste or texture, and a garnish of fresh pineapple and honeydew. I'm sure as more fresh awesome produce becomes available and in season, that may change, but it was really great.
Not only is that restaurant beyond kid friendly, it just has the nicest light ever, on account of the exposure on both sides of the space. And all the awesome art is still up.
I think the thing I really like about it is that it's nice enough to really be a special place to go, yet casual enough to stop in for a coffee cake and a drink and go. Think Sacks (as far as breakfasts and ambience goes) and a not so much focus on "arranging" on the plate, mixed with Snow City minus the ridiculous crowds and that West High 1993 class reunion feel. Midtown is really where it's at, and I never thought I'd hear myself say that, but it's true! Next up for review, Yak and Yeti, the new Indian/Himalayan place on Spenard across from the Carousel. I can't wait!!