Root Beer Float

It's been way too hot in the valley for food. Instead, I've been eating this for dinner for the past 3 nights.

When I was a little girl, I hated root beer floats. Something about the creamy ice cream mixed with carbonated fizzy drink didn't do it for me. A few months ago, it was a hot day in San Diego. Brian and I had tickets to go see Morrissey, but were so sleepy from our drive over, we decided to get some coffee. Well, I'm not really a coffee drinker, and it was hot, and they had a root beer float on the menu! For some reason, all of the things that turned me off about root beer floats before (the creamy mixed with the fuzzy) sounded super good at that moment, so I ordered a root beer float. After ordering, I discovered it cost $10(!), so I kindly declined and asked for an iced tea instead. I snuck away to the bathroom while Brian's coffee was being made, and to my surprise he bought me my $10 root beer float! It was wonderful! And that would be the day that I re-discovered and fell in love with root beer floats.

The Hard Boiled Egg That Could

Third times a charm! Actually, I think this was my fourth time, but never the less, a charm!

I love this egg. The color, the texture, the taste... it's about time I got it right! I brought the water to a rolling boil, then slowly added the eggs and turned the heat down slightly. I left the eggs in for 20 minutes, with the water at a rolling simmer/boil. After draining, I let them soak in cold water. Now I can make deviled eggs and tuna salad, without embarrassment! Hooray!

Anabelle Quilt Tag

It's all ready to go on.

I didn't end up following any of the pencil marks I originally drew on, so those will have to be erased. I'm really happy with it. I feel so much more comfortable with embroidery now, I can't wait to start my next project! No idea what it will be yet, but I'm still happy!

Egg Progress

I can't explain it.

After 17 minutes in simmering water, my egg was still raw. I then added an extra 4-5 minutes of boiling to it, and what you get is pictured above. It was better, and tasted good, but I think I still need to let them boil a little more. Maybe next time I'll give them about 7-8 minutes. Sometimes it's the simple things that are the hardest to do.

Old School

Grilled Cheese a la 6th grade lunch ladies. Only thing missing was me in a hairnet.



This brings back memories of lunch trays and private school uniforms.
Speaking of school, only 2 days left!

Progress On Anabelle Embroidery

It's coming along quickly. I learned 2 new stitches with this one so far, the Split Stitch and the French Knot. On my last quilt tag, I did Couching, which was nice, but seemed like it took forever. I'll probably do Couching when attaching the tag onto the quilt.

On a side note, this is the last week of my statistics class. Only 4 days left to freedom. Let the countdown begin.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Chocolate Covered Cupcakes, at a Mexican Chocolate shop in Universal City Walk.

That's right, we went to city walk and Universal Studios too! It was a fun day/night and we got to meet Richard Blade, who was the nicest guy ever! It's been a hot weekend here in Los Angeles, luckily we remembered to bring our spf 90 with us for our Universal Studios trip. Unfortunately, we were a bit more forgetful with the sunblock today at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

I didn't get much, except a dress and a sunburn.

Bad Auntie

I'm horrible. I've been spelling my niece's name wrong all along, Annabelle is really Anabelle. I'm so glad I double checked on that one, because I would be really sad if I finished the hand embroidered tag, spelling her name wrong. Not good.

So far I have only started drawing things in, but it is going to have a baby rattle and going to read, "to Anabelle, Love, Auntie Annette". This is going to take possibly forever, but my goal is to have it ready in time for Christmas. I want to make 2 more for Julia and Andrew (my other niece and nephew), but they might have to wait for their birthdays next June and July.

Bad Egg

Somehow, I just can't get it right. Last time, I boiled it too much, this time not enough.

Will the third time be just right? Let's hope so. On the bright side, at least there's no green film!

Am I Done Yet?

Not yet. I kept having the feeling like something was missing on this quilt, and this morning it came to me! The tag!

I originally wanted the binding to be blue, but Joann fabrics and I both ran out of the blue, so I went with green, and I'm pretty happy with it. I might use some of the green for the tag to tie it all in.

When I first decided on making this quilt, I said it's either going to be "really simple or kinda complicated", and it became both. It's still a simple quilt, but I added complicated touches, that were new to me.
Applique' wasn't too hard to do. All I did was buy a quilting magazine that had some instructions in it, talk a bit to the woman at Joann's, then figure it out.
A scalloped edge wasn't as hard either. I found instructions for that online! Sure, my scalloped edges are a mess, but so are my applique', so I just figure it goes together. Plus, it's all about handmade! Quilts should look a little messy sometimes, being too exact would take all the fun out for me. Plus, if I want it to look like a machine did it, I'll just buy a machine quilt instead. Though, I highly respect quilters who have the patience and talent to make their work looks so perfect. Maybe someday I'll have the patience for it, but until then, crooked edges for me.

Farmer's Market Lunch

I'm loving the Getty Farmer's Market. Today for lunch, I had French bread with heirloom tomatoes and fresh cheese.

For dessert I sprinkled some orange-infused honey on the bread with pistachios. I also got to sample some Dry Soda, which was interesting. I think I like the concept more than the taste though.

Squiggly Appliqué

The appliqué is on. I couldn't get the stitching perfectly, so I made it intentionally squiggly. I like it. Basting and quilting to come soon!

I Love Todd

And I love his book.

I'm not sure I can make half the stuff in here, because I lack the tools and the space to build them, but I'm still super inspired by the projects. I think I just want Todd Oldham to come and makeover my place instead though. Of course, I'd help and make him cookies.

The Annabelle Quilt: Applique Process

I finally did my research on applique.


I used a super thin, double-sided adhesive webbing, and fused one side of the webbing to my fabric. On the other side of the adhesive webbing, I traced a flower template onto the protective paper backing. I then cut out the traced shapes and peeled off the protective paper backing, and ironed them onto the quilt.
So far, that's all I have done. I was going to sew them on, but then realized that I might have some overlapping with sewing my quilt squares. Something to figure out this weekend, I hope.

Lettuce Wraps

I'm still sick, but now I'm sick with a doctor's appointment on Thursday. So, all is good.

Lots of crafts were done this weekend. I will try to get updates in more daily! Last night Brian and I made lettuce wraps. The inside meat is not pictured, because it kind of looked a bit like dog food. I almost couldn't eat it based on that, but they were tasty!

Sick Day

Ever since our show last Sunday, I've been trying to fight something off. Headache, nausea, soar throat... dizziness... etc.. so no work for me today. Instead, I am lying in my bed all day long and doing some laundry.

Hand washing clothes is so relaxing.

Smell The Glove

For the show last weekend, part of my job was to play tambourine. I have small hands, so the tambourine was leaving unsightly blisters. I decided to re-make some gloves, to match my dress. I started with a pair of sparkly, silver gloves, which I had around the house. I think I originally paid less than a dollar for them.

I dyed them black, using Rit. I let them soak while we went to band practice, for about 4-5 hours.

By the time they were ready, we didn't have much time left. Brian dried them off with a blow dryer while I did my hair.

I sewed on some bows, made with ribbon.

I was ready for that tambourine!

Of course, I forgot to put them on during my tambourine songs. I had tied a scarf I knitted around them part that gave me blisters, and that did the trick. I did wear the gloves all night though, and they were a hit.

If You Live In The LA Area...

... come see us play! I'll be playing the organ with the Brian Young Band!

The show is expected to sell out, so come early or buy tickets online now!

Brian Young & The Promisettes - 8pm sharp!
Coulter - 9pm
Casper - 10pm

Brian Young on Myspace
Coulter on Myspace
Casper on Myspace

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes With Non-Vegan Frosting

Inspiration At Work

During one of my walks up and down the hill...

dew drops on spiderwebs. They looked like little gems, jewlery for the leaves. It was bizarre, because without these dew drops, I have never noticed all the spiderwebs. There were so many of these little spiderwebs, almost like little spider communities splashed all around the foliage of the Getty walkway up and down the hill.

Vegitarian Tacos

I was off work a bit earlier than usual, so I actually had time to make me a proper dinner, before school.

New Chair, New Cushion

I sold my big computer desk this weekend. I haven't really figured out what I want to do about building my new one yet. I keep changing my mind. In the meantime, I bought a new chair for my future desk. I really wanted an Eames chair, but sadly can not afford one just yet, so this will have to do. It's a good chair, but since this is the chair I am planning on sitting in a lot for the next 2 years of my schooling, I thought I'd make a little cushion for my tushion. Using tracing paper, I made a little template of the chair's funny little base.

Then, I cut some fabric and sewed a little pillow. I left a small opening to stuff my pillow and then sew in some ties, to tie the pillow onto the chair.

I almost stopped there, but then I found this neat button.

So, I tuffet-ed the little cushion and well, it's a bit awkward, but cozy. I was a little worried that the button would bother my bottom, but it kinda disappears into the fabric, so it's a pretty cozy cushion!

Apple Tart

Every time I visit my parents, they bombard me with fresh fruits and veggies from their garden. I love it. This weekend, they had a very full apple tree and I was the lucky girl who got to take a bag of them home.

My Peach Tart came out so yummy last time, I decided to go with an apple tart this week.

One small change. Well, two small changes. First one, I forgot to add sugar! Such an important step, considering how tart these apples were to begin with. The tarts were still good, but each time I took a bite, it was like I was reminding myself of what a dork I am for forgetting one of the most important ingredients.
Now, the exciting other small change was that I made this a two layer tart.


That was exciting. Even more exciting were the little apple hearts on top.

Lots of crafts were done this weekend. Tomorrow I will post those and all my loot from Felt Club!

Don't Forget To Go!

I'll be there at opening, so I can get first pickings! Can't wait!

How To Not Boil An Egg, While Getting A Quilt Top Done

I've been doing research on the perfect way to boil an egg recently. I've heard so many different methods and decided to follow this video on www.allrecipes.com. It just seemed to have such authority, so I gave it a go. Here are the basic rules:
-In a saucepan, cover the eggs with water. Make sure they are covered with about an inch extra water.
-Bring water to a rolling boil, then turn off heat.
-Cover saucepan for 14-17 minutes.
-Drain the eggs and cool them in cold water. This keeps the yolks yellow, and prevents any green film from forming around them.
-Crack the eggs, and let them sit in the cold water for one hour. This gets the water under the eggshell, for easy peeling.

Now, the things I did wrong:
-I was quilting at the same time and I lost track of time, so instead of letting the eggs sit for 14-17 minutes, I let them sit for about 25 minutes.
-I cooled my eggs in cold water, but I know I did something wrong with this step, because my yolks had the green film around them, so maybe not.
-I didn't crack my eggs before letting them sit in the cold water for an hour, so my eggs were extremely hard to peel.
-I actually fell asleep and let the eggs sit in the water for about 2-3 hours.

With all this error, they still tasted good! Plus, I did get my quilt top done!

I've got my sandwich layers all ready..

but before I go straight to basting, I think I might play with some embroidery, and possibly applique details.

Yes, We Are Cool

An article worthy of mention, A Hipper Crowd of Shushers from the NY Times July 8, 2007.

photo by Michael Nagle for the New York Times

I have to admit, I totally have "librarian ears".

Peach Puff

Puff, tart, tort, I don't really know what to call this thing, but it was good! All I did was line up a few peach slices onto puff pastry.

Add some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, butter (I used a fake low fat butter substitute), and bake on 400 for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Add a little whipped cream and you'll have one tasty treat!

The Baby Annabelle Quilt

Months ago, I purchased fabric for a new quilt and now, I finally started the cutting.

I've already put half of the squares together. After doing a queen-king size quilt, this baby one just seems like it'll be done in no time.

Thank You, Mom

For making me a tub of hummus and giving me fresh tomatoes! Yum.

Vegetable Stew

The backbone of the stew:

Parsley, red bell peppers, eggplant, green bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, green pepper, yellow squash, lots of garlic, mushrooms.. and there was a bit more. Chopped, simmered and a little while later...

Healthy and hearty!