scrap and button flora. no fauna.

eons and eons ago, i worked in a furniture store. not a stuffy, everything-comes-in-dark-cherry-and-chintz furniture store, but not anything too modern either. let's say it was a furniture store for young, hip families who wanted to push tradition's boundaries and still wanted something comfy for mom to sit in when she came to visit. but that's not the point. the point is, it closed and i ended up with shit tons of fabric swatches. not really enough of any one piece to do anything grand with, but they were big enough to make some fun little accessories or patches (we were supposed to ship them back to the company, but i did what any rebellious crafter worth her fiskars would do and stole all of them). by now most of them have big chunks cut out, but i still have tons of scraps left so i decided to make a "flower" pin for my little grandma cardigan that i picked up the other day. it's pretty self explanatory. cut out some gradually sized circles of coordinating (or clashing, if you prefer) fabrics, layer them, and sew a button in the middle. i hand stitched around the edges for a little embellishment and to stop any hardcore fraying. i don't have any felt at the moment, but i'm just going to sew a pin backing to a piece of felt the same shape as the back circle and fabri-tac it to the back. it's about the size of my palm, and i'm pretty damn pleased with the cool, elderly lady effect.

ah. and now i'm off to break into a pet store, liberate some canaries.

it's good for you.

i'm going to refrain from getting too schmaltzy and mushy here, but this is a bit of a personal blog which just means you get to know that i am more that an amazing cook who is handy with a pot of glue (ahem). i made a lot of new year's resolutions, keeping up with this blog is among them. so is learning spanish, paying off specific bills (you know who you are and i'm coming for you!), and writing a letter to a friend every sunday. also, perhaps the most difficult, is to try to rebuild my relationship with my mother. you may think that the reason that i haven't spoken to her in over 6 months is because one or both of us are horrible people. not true. my mother is ideal and has always been there if i needed anything. our problem lies in an eternal personality conflict. put us in a room together and there is instant friction and usually we end up ignoring eachother in an awkward silence. so, when i got pushed into a pool over the summer and my phone was destroyed, i simply got a new one and never gave my mother the number. i am a horrible daughter. fast forward through six months of guilt and intense internal and matriarchal conflict. i knew i should get in touch, but with every month it just seemed harder and i kept putting it off until tomorrow. you know how that goes. but the moral of the story is: don't put it off. so i sent my mother an email (yes, a coward's way out) apologizing and letting her know that i hoped we could see eachother soon. i realized how much i missed her when i got her reply and immediately cried and snotted all over my boyfriends shirt. she said i was always going to be her favorite daughter (nevermind that i'm the only one) and that she loved me. so i'm going to work very hard on having the kind of relationship with her that she deserves and learn to let our (many) differences complement eachother rather than do damage. and the second moral of the story is this: make an apology you've been putting off, or forgive something you need to let go of. even if nothing comes of it, i promise you will feel better. enough sap for one day, who needs a drink?

the beautiful demon that is coconut milk.

ahhh, thai food. what a glorious cuisine. everything is so rich and brilliantly colored and flavored. and did i say richie rich milky coconutty richness saturated fatdom? because yes, that's what it is. 48 grams of fat per cup? and practically 90% of that is saturated? damn. don't get me wrong, i'm not big on going without edible luxuries. i love decadent full fat cheeses, real chocolate, and good wine when i can get them. but this is something i absolutely cannot justify, so i set out to find or create a substitute. and it worked! phenomenally!

i wanted to make a variation of the yummy tom ka soup, but thicker and more like a meal over rice. because i am a little nervous about too many experiments at once i went to the asian grocery and picked up a packet of tom ka paste (a complete bargain at 89 cents!). i know it's got some additives and way more sodium that i would prefer to be in there, but i'll try to make it homemade another day. this is the time for fat attack! i figured that some coconut flavored milk should do just as well as the real thing. and coconut flavored vanilla soymilk would be even better. so i whipped up a little batch, threw in some veggies and poured it over brown rice. so good that there are no pictures of it because we ate all of it. quickly. vague instructions below!

stuff:
1 can coconut water
1 cup(ish) vanilla soymilk (regular if you want, but i like the additional sweetness it gave)
2 tsp corn starch
1 packet tom ka paste (to serve 4)
a hoopla of veggies, tofu, or meat (i used cauliflower, edamame, tofu, red pepper, spinach, and carrots)
brown short grain rice to serve 4

do:
-pour about 1/2 of the can of coconut water and 1/2 of the soymilk in a pot with the paste and bring to a very low boil, just enough to melt the paste.
-add the tofu or (pre-cooked) meat and simmer for about 5-8 minutes. make sure you stir every now and then, soymilk can get that filmy thing on top.
-mix your cornstarch in with the rest of the soymilk and some of the coconut water (i still had a little coconut water leftover after i was done cooking) and add to the pot.
-throw in all your veggies and simmer until they are at the tenderness you like. i like mine pretty friggin' crunchy, so i left it on only for about 7 minutes.
-pour it over some cooked rice and it's a super delicious, way reduced-fat version of one of my favorite thai foods ever.

the only thing to keep and eye on and use your discretion in is the desired thickness. mine was still a little soupy, but the rice soaked most of it up by the end of my bowl. throw in some more milk or coconut water if you want a soup or use less if you like something thicker. good luck and clear arteries to you!

french but not elitist, miami but not bass.

i found the contrarily (new word) named san francisco trio french miami on a recent blog search. i have been running out of pleasing ear love, and living with two musicians doesn't help as much as you think it would. french miami has been around since 2006, but i can be a little slow on the pick up. they don't have a bassist but the drums are kicky enough that you don't even notice. add some synths and a dreamy, drone-y (but far from boring) vocal sound and i get taken back to the day when dance music didn't sound like i needed a glow stick arsenal, shoegaze and punk could be thrown in a blender, math rock was just for nerds, and the nerds were the cool kids. if you know what i mean, and i think you do. check out their mythpathe and hear it for yourself. science fiction is a good track, and getting lots of bloggin' between the sheets. i'm keeping an eye on tour dates as well and will keep updates going for you locals. i hope you enjoy dancing in your room as much as i do.

and as far as literary activities go, i'm reading a lot of books on food ethics. they are taking me some time to get through. but on a lighter scene, i recently finished all about lulu by jonathan evison. the story of a rejected bodybuilder's son, his two brothers, and the stepsister he falls in love with. it is heart wrenching and miraculous in a big newsprint jellyroll.

jenkies. it's a jewelry thingy.

only lately have i become a fan of cheese (whereas the maiden fan in me has been alive for quite some time). mostly soft, mold covered ones like brie and camembert...and i know you can't get the real thing here, but these impostors just whet my taste for the creamy softness that i read about on the cheese blog that i adore so much. one of my favorite things about these cheeses is the cute packaging. i'm a sucker for neat things that hold other things. mostly because i have a lot of stuff and containers make me feel organized. sadly, my cheese boxes have begun to pile up in a not-so-attractive heap in the kitchen because i refuse to throw them away. solution: upcycle. i made a few of these little bejeweled (be-buttoned, really) little treasure chests, and i really like them on the dresser; in the bathroom; or wherever you may have spare change, bobby pins, or perfume samples that you pilfered from macy's. the buttons add a nice weight to it, so it doesn't feel as flimsy, and it's super easy!

needage:
a strip of fabric long enough to wrap around your lid, cut to the proper width
buttons of any variety
spray paint
mod podge
e6000

doage:
-i spray painted the lid of my cheese box, so any color showing through the spaces between the buttons would be uniform.
-use a brush (or your finger, which is what i always end up doing) to apply mod podge to the outside rim of the container, brush some more on the back of fabric and wrap it around, making sure you press firmly all the way around and let dry.
-grab your trusty e6000 and glue buttons all over the top. i started with the bigger ones as a base and did two layers to cover some of the bigger spaces between the base buttons. i tried doing a mosaic picture with my first one, but it didn't look as good as i had hoped, and i like the randomness of the colors better anyway.




so easy and cute. i think everyone may get one of these for their birthdays this year, assuming i eat enough cheese. who are we kidding, though? everyone's gonna get two of these!

stamps full sail

stamps often look very generic, and i find that sad. i have only waited in line at the post office a few times to buy the limited first class stamps (once was for the bucky fuller one!), i just rarely see any that i like. i checked the usps stamp page and did not find many that i was enamored with, though the bette davis one is quite thrilling. here is a quick pictorial of stamps that i think are much more exciting!

faux-shionista for an hour.

yes, this is a survey. but i love it because if you use your imagination, you can pretend that you are being interviewed for an awesome fashion blog or magazine. i highly recommend it.

1. What is fashion/style to you?
it's a wearable expression of who you are. style is something that never dies and never goes away, otherwise it's just a trend.

2. Describe your style.
haha. tomboy chic? i'm a big fan of jeans and chucks, usually paired with a tshirt or loud polyester shirt and a corduroy blazer or vintage cardigan/grandma sweater. it's kind of a mix between a 5 year old boy, a 50 year old professor, and an 80 year old lady.

3. Your favorite look/fashion style/genre.
i love women's fashion from the 40's through the 60's. everything was so structured but still really feminine. i also like the garage band style in the 60's and 70's. tight jeans and tshirts with sneakers or ankle/beatle boots, very laid back and casual.

4. Fashion style/look that you are into lately.
eh. i haven't seen too much that i like lately, but i haven't been keeping up very well. on a lot of the street fashion blogs i look at it seems that everyone is going out of their way to wear the most ridiculous clothes and look like they got dressed in the dark.

5. Your favorite fashion item.
a really great vintage cardigan in a bright color, my favorite right now are yellow and mint green. ooh, and my new spectacles!

6. What plays the most important role when you’re choosing your outfit?
the distance from the bed to the item and if it's clean enough for another day.

7. Least favorite look/style/fashion item.
too much neon, wearing an outfit straight off a mannequin or advertisement. clothes that are way too tight or too big.

8. Does your style change often?
not really. i'm willing to throw a new idea into my regular outfits every now and then, but i usually go back to my staples.

9. A girl’s wardrobe essentials?
jeans that fit, a pair of chucks, a pair of peep toe heels, and a great blazer.

10. Your fashion motto:
don't try too hard.

11. Your fashion role model/icon.
i love katherine hepburn. she wore what she wanted and everyone else be damned.

12. Your favorite brands?
i'm a thrift store junkie, so i end up getting whatever fits and looks good.

13. What do you do when you see somebody wearing the exact same outfit that you are wearing?
i've never had that happen. i guess i would laugh and go out to my car where there is usually a second wardrobe in waiting.

14. Do you like to follow the trends often?
not unless i like the trend, which is rare. i did recently buy a pair of leggings though.

15. Your fashion secrets/tips:
wear what's comfortable and what fits; don't wear too many trends at once; and if all else fails, grab a glass of wine and stand up straight, it's instant polish.

16. Your favorite fashion model?
i couldn't name one even with a gun to my head.

17. Favorite fashion mag?
i don't read magazines, but a few blogs i've liked of late are this-a one and this-a one

18. Do you like to give fashion advice to other people?
just the boyfriend.

19. The best look on opposite gender?
i like the old british preppy look. or a striped tshirt and jeans. yow.

20. What is the most dominant colour in your closet/wardrobe?
denim? i have a lot of jeans.

21. Favorite fabric/texture of clothes?
corduroy or sweater knit. (i just wish i could learn to do it myself.)

22. Favorite clothing details?
i like nice buttons or contrast stitching.

23. Favorite print?
paisley or stripes. a loud floral or geometric print on a polyester button up will always have a dear place in my heart.

24. Your favorite no-fail clothing items?
straight leg dark wash jeans, sneakers, and a plaid western shirt.

25. What do you “collect”?
vintage robes and nightgowns. the flowy, sheer, satiny, movie star kind. they make me feel like an extra in valley of the dolls.

26. How do you take care of your clothes?
if i can't throw it in the washing machine, i don't buy it.

27. Favorite shopping spots/places?
good smelling thrift stores, with the occasional smelly one thrown in.

28. What is the oldest item in your closet?
i know i have some items that are from the 60's. they still had receipts in the pocket!