belle epoque

I feel like I’ve driven all over Northern California with my sister and my niece during this little blog break! It is so different visiting places with a child. Napa Valley in particular, because of course wine tasting is out of the question (unless you want one of your party to be extremely bored!). And you know what? I actually liked it even better this way.

We stayed in Calistoga, where I bathed in a huge tub of squishy, sulphurous mud, which was an entirely strange and unique experience. If you have the chance to try it, do, just because it feels so weird!

Calistoga was conveniently located for a visit to one of only three “Old Faithful” geysers in the world! It was awfully impressive:

And if the wonder of the geyser wasn’t enough for you? There were also llamas in residence:

and a pen of the famous Tennessee Fainting Goats:

They were uniquely unmoved by the geyser, and blithely ignored attempts to scare them enough to make them pass out. I was busy feeding one when a man came by and yelled, succeeding only in scaring *me*.

And right down the road from the geyser? A petrified forest!

The problem with pictures of petrified wood is that it looks just like bleached driftwood. But when you get up close and notice crystals growing in the bark and realise that in fact it is rock that looks exactly like a tree? And it is several million years old? Amazing. But sadly difficult to capture on film.

Of course we also did a lot of swimming in the hotel pool and very, very good eating (if you find yourself in Yountville needing a restaurant, do try Bistro Jeanty or Bouchon. You won’t be sorry!). I brought the girls to the airport this morning, and now the house feels so empty and quiet! But I’m heading to the Alameda Point Antiques & Collectibles Faire tomorrow with several very fun people, and I’ll be back in the studio (aka the guest room) momentarily to get to crafting!

Those little onesies got me thinking… I wear cotton jersey shirts too! So how about one for me?


Yay for balloons! And now I get to see how it wears and washes for myself so I can make sure I haven’t been giving gifts that fall apart. I may embroider little lines connecting the balloon to the basket, or maybe I’ll just go ahead and wear it as is.

And even though it is *so* 2004, I have wanted a tiered skirt forever. Every one I’ve tried on has been too sheer, or had an unflattering fit (it is all about where the first row of gathers hits your hip). So I made my own, which (surprise) is both too sheer and doesn’t gather quite where I’d like. So as not to scandalise you, I am wearing a slip in the picture.

While it isn’t the skirt of my dreams, it is very comfortable and will be lovely and cool on a hot day!

I’ve tried to squeeze all of my crafty time into the morning, since I have a ton of non-crafty stuff to do today. My sister and niece arrive for a week-long visit tonight, so I probably won’t have much time for either crafts or chores in the next few days. There will, however, be lots of time devoted to fun and giggling. Happy Friday, and happy belated Solstice!

p.s. Things I’m loving:
*Bitter Betty’s “Personality Plus” post.
*The beautiful baby clothes at bara
*Green Kitchen’s awesome free Patchwork Cat pattern– so cute!
*The brilliant Simple Socks pattern at Madeline Tosh (even though I haven’t finished my afterthought socks yet!)
*Thinking about what I’m going to make for Bitter Betty’s Handmade Fabric Swap!
*Being completely unsurprised to find out that I am an exclaimation point. (you don’t have to sign up for the service to take the quiz)

Thanks for the sweet comments on yesterday’s post! You are all so nice not to give up on me when I disappear for nearly a whole week without warning.

Today I got back to the business of crafting, with a pattern I’ve been meaning to use for awhile now. I love inverted pleats, and when I was down in LA a few weeks ago saw the dearest drop-waist dress at the shop of one of my very favorite designers, Megan Kinney. I’ve signed up for another 6 months of Wardrobe Refashion, making it a no-no to even consider buying the dress, so to cheer me up, my kind friend Mikah said to me “Hey! You could definitely make that!” And so at the earliest opportunity (i.e. today) I broke out the pattern nearest to what I wanted, Vogue 8020:

There is a lot to love about this dress. It goes together easily, the pleats are just pleaty enough, i can’t resist a boat neck… but, this thing is HUGE. You can’t really tell in the picture (I think), but it is definitely the wrong size, even though I usually fit exactly into the size I cut out, which, incidentally, is the smallest size in this particular envelope, making cutting the pattern down a size a scary and daunting task for me. Boo. I didn’t want the dress really fitted, since the one I loved at Meg had a slouchy feel, but I do wish that the princess seams were more in the right place and it wasn’t quite so wide across the shoulders. I used my serger for a lot of it, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m not reading the seam measurements right on it (i.e. perhaps I was sewing .5 inch seam allowances by accident?). Anyway. It is comfy and I will wear it happily, but when there is a 99 cent pattern sale at Joann I will get it in the smaller sizes and try again.

Something that did work out perfectly today was a healthy little salad I threw together at lunch, so I thought I’d share. My new favorite grain (yes, I have one) is red quinoa. I like it better than the paler kind, though I can’t pinpoint why. I had a bunch left over after dinner last night, so I made it into a cold salad for lunch, which was delicious and very satisfying:
Red Quinoa and Feta Salad
1 cup cooked red quinoa, cooled (roughly 1/2 cup uncooked if you don’t have leftovers, just follow the directions on the box)
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 sweet grape tomatoes, halved or quartered into bite-size pieces (you don’t really have to count, and you can use one big tomato if you want)
4 T crumbled feta cheese (I like the kind with mediterranean herbs from Trader Joe’s), add more to your taste and need for protein
4T balsamic vinaigrette (i make mine thusly: 2T balsamic vinegar, 8T olive oil, 1t dijon mustard, 1t sugar, 1/2t salt, 1/2t pepper, all in a screw-top jar and then shaken until emulsified), you can use more or less as you like.
*Optional: baby spinach leaves or arugula for a little bit of green
Mix the first 4 ingredients in a big bowl, pour over vinaigrette, toss until nice and combined, then eat! You could add roasted or grilled zucchini, eggplant, asparagus– whatever veg. you have on hand, and also substitute mozzerella or tofu for the feta if you wanted.

I have homework to do tonight (!), so I’d better get to it.

That was a way longer blogging/crafting break than I intended! I am now officially 30, and thanks to Moondoggie (aka best husband EVER), coming back to you courtesy of this little treasure:

Yay! I am SO happy to have a Mac again after several years with a regular PC. It is astonishing how much easier and more intuitive just about everything about this computer has been so far. And it came with a printer/copier/scanner, so I’ll be able to show you collages and other flat-hard-to-photograph stuff too! Hooray!

On the opposite side of the technological scale, I spent several hours yesterday searching out a very specific kind of pencil- specifically a red, eraseable pencil for a copyediting class I’m taking. It has been so long since I bought school supplies that it was fun to go on the quest for just the right thing which was surprisingly difficult to find. I finally came across the Prismacolor Col-Erase at Dick Blick, and promptly bought 6, along with a sharpener and extra erasers. How to make sure I don’t lose track of my very specialised copyediting supplies? A custom travel kit, of course!

Shut.

Open part of the way…

All the way open!

Whether these supplies will make me more detail-oriented remains to be seen, but at least I shall be prepared!

Man, it is busy around here.  Typing and family-tour-guiding kind of busy instead of sewing kind of busy, so no new crafty stuff.  But I still have to eat!  And I’ve been trying new recipes that for the most part have worked beautifully, which always makes me want to share.  So, real quick:
*Eating at the awesome Persian restaurant in LA inspired me to find a recipe for the yummy cucumber yogurt dip I tried there. And, voila, thanks to all recipes, Maast-o Khiar . There are several different takes on it over there, but that link is closest to what I did, though I only used one clove of garlic, and added a bit of shallot. I thought it might need some lemon juice, but once it sat in the fridge for awhile it was just perfect without any additions. Toast up some whole wheat pita pieces and you’ve got a totally delicious summery snack.

*A lovely friend of mine recently took me to The Berkeley Bowl, where I’d never been before. If you live around here and love food and haven’t been, definitely make the trip! We got some Japanese eggplant and I went on and on about how I love the eggplant at the sushi restaurant down the street but have only ever made nasty eggplant and so have given up on the vegetable all together. Well! She found a delicious recipe that makes the eggplant taste EXACTLY like the kind at the restaurant. I tried
it myself this past weekend and it was the first eggplant ever to turn out yum coming out of my kitchen. I am not sure where she found it (she wrote it down for me), so I can’t give credit, but here it is:

Cheryl’s Yummo Eggplant
A few Japanese (or Asian, or Chinese, different stores call them different things, but they are long, thin eggplant which taste sweeter than globe eggplant) eggplant- maybe 4-6 depending on how many people you are feeding
1 T brown sugar
1 T minced ginger
3 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1/2 t Asian sesame oil
1/4 tsp cornstarch
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 t vegetable oil

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cut eggplant lengthwise and score. Brush with 4 t vegetable oil and grill 5 minutes until lightly browned (I do not have a grill– I have an amazing contraption called “The Griddler” which is a fancy Cuisinart version of a George Foreman grill type thing. So, use one of those, or a grill pan, or just saute it cut side down in a regular pan until it turns golden). Meanwhile, mix together all other ingredients in a little bowl. Place eggplant on foil cut side up, pour the sauce you made over it, wrap it all up in a little foil packet and place in the oven for 10 minutes. You can serve it as-is, or cut it into little yummy cubes. I served it with a Vietnamese chicken dish from this book, and it was the perfect accompaniment.

I have crafty things brewing in my brain which hopefully will take tangible shape when things calm down a bit around here.  Hope you are all enjoying lovely summer weather and happy eating too!

I’m getting a lot more out of my new favorite fruit thanks to your helpful comments on the last post about peeling and cutting a mango! Thank you!

I’ve been occupied with writing work this week, with no time to drag out the sewing machine and stitch anything at all. Which may be why my posts have been few and far between- I feel like I’m cheating when I blog without something to show for myself.

But even when I don’t have time to deal with the larger-scale mess of a sewing project, I need my craft fix. So this week it has been all about tiny jewelry projects, a few of which are in my etsy shop.

Earrings are possibly my favorite jewelry item. They make an appreciable difference in an outfit without being annoying (unless they are heavy or pinch, boo), they are small so you can pack lots when you go on vacation, and you can use the very best materials without breaking the bank, since you only need a little of everything to make them.

From Camilla I learned that the wonderful jewelry designer from whom I got these earrings has opened up a shop on etsy. Perhaps it isn’t good business to steer you away from my work, but Designalicious jewelry is just gorgeous. Like so much handmade work you can buy online, it is impossible to appreciate how beautiful it is in person in even the best picture, so if you see anything you like over there, buy it and be assured that when you get it you will be happy.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it lately but my new decade birthday is exactly a week away! I’m all about celebrating every possible chance I get, so there will be much revelry in the schedule, including a visit from family this weekend. Perhaps there won’t be much sewing, but I’ll be gathering up ideas for projects to try when everything settles down a bit.

Any of you out there thinking that I haven’t give you a garden update lately?  And that this is probably because I killed all of my plants already?  The short answer is: not yet.  The long answer is…

The tiny pink parade rose I got around Mother’s Day is huge and bushy and getting ready for another bloom. Rosie, the yellow parade rose I bought on sale in the fall you can see on the right. She has also grown very tall and recovered from her case of powdery mildew thanks to the nice man at Smith and Hawken and some organic pest & fungus killer.

Despite a little heat wave that turned their leaves brown, the sweet peas are hanging in there and steadily making their way up. No blooms yet.

I cheated a bit on my tiny herb garden by buying plantlets from a nursery (sage, rosemary and thyme, for the parsley I’ll plant seeds eventually). The trick is keeping them alive, and I’m confident I can do that, at least until they are big enough to provide leaves for salad dressing and marinades.

Hey, who’s that in the bougainvillea? That is a genuine Pookie&Figparasol bird. I can’t even tell you how dear it is in person- how small and soft and perfectly stitched. And the talent? It runs in the family. I am also a huge fan of her sister’swork, of which I am very fortunate to own several pieces. It is also even more wonderful and intricate in person. Amazing! When I make a little wall gallery I’ll take a picture and show you.

So, that is the end of the garden report for today, and the beginning of the meme! Joyce very kindly tagged me for the “7 Random Things” meme, so here they are:
1. I’ve been wearing perfume every day for the past two months. I used to save it for special occasions.
2. I’m really liking mango with lime juice lately, though I need to perfect my mango cutting technique.
3. Organization is the bane of my existence. I’ve been trying to get organized since I was 12 or so, and every scheme I come up with fails. But I’m still trying.
4. I didn’t eat eggs until I was in my twenties. Just didn’t like them. Still don’t like them runny in any way.
5. I went to all girls’ school from the age of 5 to the age of 18. I didn’t love it at the time, but now I know it was just the right thing for me.
6. I am one of three Gemini women in my family (mom, me and my niece)- family get togethers are total talkfests.
7. I know all the songs from the movie Grease II, and no, I won’t sing them.

I know the rules require that I tag 7 people, but you were all so great about doing that 49 things meme that I’m not going to press my luck! I always like hearing random facts about people, though, so if you want to share one or two in the comments, please do.

Yay!  I can show you the baby stuff I made last week now that the adorable mother-to-be has seen it. Embellishing onesies with fabric applique? SO cute and fun.

And because I’m an outfit kind of girl, I made two wee onesie & trouser sets for various adventures like surfing and sailing.

If you like to sew and know any small people (or people having them), get yourself some baby patterns and go nuts, it is seriously so much fun and so satisfying to make wee tiny things! Plus you don’t need to commit to huge amounts of fabric, and you can use favorite scraps for appliques. There was also an arts and crafts portion of the shower (a hostess after my own heart!) where everyone made sweet wooden picture frames and onesies embellished with fabric paint-pens. An extra pack of slightly larger onesies escaped decoration somehow, so I got ahold of them for further onesie madness chez belle epoque. Hooray!

I always enjoy L.A., even though almost all of my trips have been super short (hardly ever more than 2 nights). Typically I am with nice people who drive me around and take me places so I don’t stress out about the traffic and figuring out where I’m going. For this trip, Camilla printed out a very efficient and excellent list of places to visit and how to get there (she’s awesome), so I got to trail along with her and look at pretty things. I’ll let her write about the highlights as far as shops were concerned, since she did all of the research.

One thing I will recommend, though, is going for Persian food at Shaherzad. Oh my gosh, it was AMAZING. The mother-to-be had been telling us about this restaurant for years, and it lived up to every mouth-watering word. Yum.

Before I get back to work, I want to say how thrilled I am to see how you guys are using the tutorials! If you’ve made something and haven’t posted it to the Flickr group yet, please do. Thank you, and GREAT job, to Rebecca, Laura, Carmen and Joyce, who have shared their creations over there- they are very inspiring.