My brother is back!

But sadly, he will only be here for a couple of weeks. My little bro is a world traveler. Currently he resides with his darling fiance in Gwanju, South Korea where they both teach English. They'll be back to marry this fall but I hadn't seen Shawn since Bruce surprised me with a trip to South Korea and Japan last March. I got to hang with him a little last Sunday. We watched a very creepy movie called The Children. Shawn is my best horror movie buddy. I cant wait till he moves back with his new bride and we can continue our regular schedule of seeing every horror movie on the planet together. I think hes one of the only people in my life who truly shares/understands my obsession. Anyhoo, Shawn loves his home cookin' as much as his horror and since western style ingredients are scarce in South Korea (though Christina does the best she can) he has been craving pies and cakes of all kinds. My mom and I are happy to oblige.



I made a blackberry apple crisp and some artisan bread,



and tonight I'm off to the store for more granny smith apples to bake an apple pie. Moving over to the crafty world, I'll be working on some Valentines themed stuff for my etsy shop. Check in after this weekend if you need a rad hand-made gift!

Mmmmm Lemon

I kind of went a little lemon crazy last week. I made this lemon bread. DELICIOUS. Go... go to your kitchens and make it now! I added more zest than was called for and also added the zest and juice of one lime. It came out fantastic and I had one particularly guilty evening where I polished off the last quarter of it in one sitting. I've also made lemon bars of late from *gasp* a box. I wouldn't do it again. Scratch is much better except for cake. Boxed cake mix is a modern marvel. And I made some lemon cookies that were kind of bland. That's why we do this though right? We test until we find our favorites and then add them to our bakey arsenal. Luckily I have a group of coworkers who are wonderful guinea pigs for new recipes. How about cupcakes next week guys?

Babies on the Brain

I swear everyone I know is either pregnant or has small children. This is awesome in my world because knitting/sewing for babies usually goes fairly quickly and works well for my ADD personality and desperate need to be constantly working on new projects. The hat above is for Mia, the 9 month old daughter of some dear friends. I found the pattern while looking for something to knit for a new baby cousin. The vintagey vibe didn't seem quite right for them (I ended up making a little strawberry hat which is loosely based on the umbilical cord hat in Debbie Stoller's Stitch and Bitch and of course cant find the picture I took).
Right so back to the pixie hat... see the ADD kicking in already? I found this vintage pattern and I knew that my quirky friends would dig it for their little girl. To add to the old skool vibe I cut a little toadstool out of felt, added a couple of spots in a cream color and blanket stitched that puppy on there. Then because I am never done embellishing, I added a little gingham bow. Oh I also added i-cord ties by picking up 3 stitches along each of the edges. I hope her mom likes it and sends me a picture *hint hint*.

Dear Blog, I'm Sorry.

I cant believe I haven't posted since November. I was so burnt out from Christmas gift making that I had spent a good 2 weeks doing nothing but barely keeping my house clean and playing xbox with Bruce. But now, I'm back on track! I'm knitting 2 baby gifts for good friends (pics to follow). I also have big plans for sewing, mostly because of this.


Do I have the best husband ever or what? I cried. Literally, sobbed for a few minutes when I opened it on Christmas morning. I think I caught Bruce a little off guard. I have wanted a dress form for most of my life and now that I have one I haven't opened the box. This is mostly because we are in the middle of a horrible bathroom remodel.


Note to self: If you only have one bathroom, hire a professional. All that aside I'm feeling rejuvenated and ready for makins. I think 2010 is going to be a very crafty year.