the perfect bite size cookie

Is it one of those strange pregnancy cravings? Everything in the Mexican food aisle looks absolutely yummy to me lately. And these tasty little morsels live up to their box appeal. Can't stop popping them into my mouth. I'm imagining them stacked upon a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (that thought didn't occur to me until I got home - and I was too pooped to go back to the store, so that thought will have to wait) Or how about with a dollop of icing smooshed between two wafers - what a sweet sandwich that would be?!? Sweet tooth! I have a sweet tooth like you can't believe. I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship with these cookies. These wonderful galletas con grageas...muy bueno!

creative clutter

Talking to my aunt on the phone the other day, she mentioned how she admires my organization and my habit of working on projects without creating a huge mess in my path. Ah...smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors. Here is my work space after finishing up a wholesale order over the weekend:

Such a mess!

Shelves filled with supplies I don't use - time to go through it all! Ironing board got in the way of a bottle of paint - oops! Hardly a clear work surface anywhere to be found. Sure, some things are organized - but then there are little pockets like this old hat box filled with lace and trim that hardly closes because it's so full. Stuff everywhere! And what you don't see: little bits of paper and felt all over the floor after I'd stopped trying to hit the waste basket, an over flowing waste basket, cups of mucky paint water and a computer station with an inaccessible computer (thank god for the laptop in the kitchen!).

But you know what? I couldn't work in one of Martha's sterile work rooms. Where's the creativity in that? Looks pretty, but hardly serves as a work space if you're constantly worrying about putting things back in their assigned places the very second you're done using them. There's a limit to the level of anal behavior that is allowed in a creative space - I believe. I'm even proud of the paint splatters on the floor in the garage. If we ever leave this place, the folks who move in will know someone had some fun here. (I think my dad tries to scrub that paint off every time he comes over - it drives him nuts, the drop cloth king)

But even I must admit it's time to clean up. My next big project to tackle: sew a slip cover for our sadly stained sofa that WILL not slip. I'm sick of adjusting that thing! All upholstery fabric is 50% off - no time like the present!

i've got sunshine

It's my lucky day. An afternoon to silk screen and a Cary Grant movie marathon on TV. And to top it all off, it's date night tonight! Going out to see "Little Miss Sunshine" - the trailers look hilarious. Looking foward to it.

time to go pee pee?

I've been absorbed in the hell that is potty training. If I'm not washing underpants after accidents, I'm helping him go on the potty chair (about 20 times a day) or pulling my hair out because he didn't tell me he had to go (even though he just went 5 minutes ago). Argggggggg!

On the off chance that someone (other than my husband) actually checks this here little blog, thought I'd post something resembling anything that I've actually managed to work on this week. I revised the bottom of my felt booties to include this little window for a Buzzing Bog critter. Yeah - it's taken me all week to do this. 3 minutes here, 4 minutes there...I swear, the day he actually is potty trained will be pure bliss.

sushi for those who like their fish fried

Awhile back, I purchased this felted sushi kit from misshawklet.



I FINALLY got around to making my sushi. They made a wonderful addition to my beach hat for Hawaii! I certainly got a lot of comments and smiles. My sushi roll made quite a few slices - now I'll have to come up with some more creative uses.

memory books

Trying to catch up with my posts! Here are some photos of the finished memory books I made for the family. Top left photo shows the inside cover with the swatch of fabric cut from one of my Grandma's skirt. I included a little letter explaining the process of putting these books together, some Hawiian history and stories and photos of my Grandma through the years on all of her returns to the islands. I'm really glad I did these - I think everyone loved them. There were so many emotions that day - I know we all felt good about taking my Grandma back home, but in another sense - I don't think any of us really wanted to let go.

a little aloha - click box to play

a land called Hanalei

I've been keeping a long list of the things I've been meaning to post over the last couple weeks...and now it's a bit overwhelming. Well - let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start.

:: Kaua'i ::



Wonderful - but how could it not be? I had a couple days of overwhelming moodiness - sure I can blame it on the human being growing inside of me - but mostly I just regret feeling sad while being in my favorite place in the whole entire world...ah...beautiful Hanalei. To me, there is just no other perfect place. Sure it gets a lot of rain - but in Hanalei style, who cares? Where you gotta be anyways, eh? That beautiful bay surrounded by lush green cliffs and a sleepy little town surrounded by taro patches. Maybe someday after the kids are grown and I'm retired, once the grandkids are off to school, maybe then we'll buy a little house in Hanalei for the winter of our lives.

Since I am too lazy to go rummaging around for the camera, I'll have to post pictures of the memory books I completed for the family later. Yeah, they're still in the cam. Lazy lazy lazy! Still unpacking, still catching up on the household routine, still a little behind on everything because my mind just cannot grasp the fact that we're not still in Hawaii. Taking my Grandma's ashes back to her hometown was very bittersweet. In her last days, she kept asking to go home (to Kauai). So she's there now. I hope she's blooming into a beautiful ginger or plumeria blossom, dancing in the waves on a white sandy beach and raining down on those magnificently wind-carved cliffs. The island has a completely new meaning for me now - and I have an entirely new reason for going back. She's there.

More pics and chatter about everything else later!

hunk of meat

I'm finally getting my energy back! Hello second tri-mester - I LOVE ya!

We have a friend we've known since high school - he comes over every Sunday night for dinner and to watch whatever's in-season on HBO (Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, Entourage, Lucky Louie...). His birthday was over the weekend, so we had ourselves a little celebration ~

Whenever there's cause for a special dinner, I'm always jealous of everyone's love for steak. It's so easy for them..."oh? promotion at work? we're eating steak tonight!" I HATE steak. If I eat red meat at all, it has to be ground and covered with ketchup, taco sauce or cheese. I'll have a hamburger maybe 6 times a year. But it has to be In-N-Out. They've gotta be THIN. If I weren't so lazy, I'd be a vegetarian. I generally don't like the taste of any meat. A sandwich must have one thin slice of deli meat and a ton of cheese. Chicken is best to me when it's been marinating in teriyaki for hours. But steak, unlike chicken and pork, just tastes too bloody for me to enjoy at all. So - when everyone else is drooling over their thick steak on the grill, I stand there with my boring chicken breast - same as any other night. But this time I splurged. I've discovered my steak equivalent! And it ain't cheap. Lobster! Ah! I broiled my $15 lobster tail marinated in olive oil, salt+pepper and garlic, then drizzled melted butter over the top - now that's a celebration!

As my days before our trip come to a close, so does my preparation for the Carlsbad Art In the Village which happens the day after we get back, August 13th in downtown Carlsbad, CA (North San Diego County). Here are some of the soft blocks and diaper pouches I've been working on:

Aloha!

current project

I decided to make memory books to give to all the relatives flying over to Hawaii for my Grandmother's memorial. (16 total!) Using the fabric I dyed with the red dirt (from the town she grew up in), I used the gocco to make the image for the front of these little books:

In Honor of

Yosuka Shirley Yonomine Jensen

1921 - 2006

Kauai, Hawaii

August 2006

These pieces of fabric will be sewn onto felt covers with some other fabric acquired by cutting up one of my grandma's skirts. It took me several days to make the first cut - the thought of cutting up one of her precious skirts was horrifying to me! But, then reality sunk in...she was so tiny, I don't think any of us could ever possibly wear it and my mother insisted it was the right thing to do. Rather than having it just sit in a box in somebody's garage, it will be part of something that everyone will be able to enjoy. Here's a picture of her in the skirt:

Just off the plane (see all the leis?) to visit her family that was still living on the islands - holding my mom, my aunt at her side. The tag of the skirt says Miss Hawaii on the front and the manufacturer on the back is Kamehameha Co. I still feel like I've committed a crime cutting it up. Vintage island clothes seem to be worth something these days...but what's done is done.

The covers will slip over little photo albums, In the first few slots I'll insert some stories about the history of the town she grew up in, Hawaiian legends and a description of ancient Hawaiian beliefs about the spirits of our ancestors - what happens after death. Then maybe some photographs of her - and the rest will be open for everyone to include the pictures that they take on this trip.

Stay tuned for some pictures of the final product!

delish!

Strawberry Sorbet

1 lemon, seeded + roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1. Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Puree the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

cravings

One thing I'm experiencing, which I remember from my first pregnancy, is my gestational super-appreciation for books. I read a lot the last time I was with-child and I sure am burning through books this time round as well. Finished and loved On Beauty. Now I'm a little more than half-way through The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. And it just got really good. I've hit that point where I just don't want to put it down. And while I'm tempted to take the little one to the park and plough through to the end, I'm opting, instead, for savouring each little bit slowly - as if each page were a delicious piece of chocolate from a box of the world's most fabulous confections - don't want to consume it all in one sitting!

[Which makes me think of these wonderful chocolates we got from a chocolatier in belgium. Wish I could remember the name of that place. I'm sure I could order some online if I could just remember the name of that place.]

[[Which makes me think about how my last pregnancy had me craving delicious rich things like ice cream and chocolate and this one has me craving frozen sweet treats like sherbet and sorbet. I've been trying since last night to make strawberry sorbet, but it is so hot that the bowl of my ice cream maker thaws before the sorbet has had a chance to freeze! Now I'm doing it the old fashioned way - it's in the freezer where I'll give it a good stir every couple hours. Tonight we eat sorbet!!!]]

bun in the oven

Pillows!

Well, I have a little secret that is largely responsible for the lack of energy I've been experiencing lately. And if you're a close friend, please don't feel dissed because I didn't tell you in a more personal manner...frankly, I just haven't had the energy for anything - not even a simple e-mail! That's right folks, I'm pregnant! We waited the standard 3 months before letting the news out. It's been good so far - but this comatose state I've been in is unique from my first pregnancy. Of course I was working in the office back then, so maybe I just forced myself to plough through it. In any case, Hawaii in a couple weeks will be a very nice treat. I think I'm up for just sitting back and watching the morning rain shower pass through. Unfortunately, I will not be able to partake of the mai tais. Boo hoo! Hawaii without mai tais!?! Who ever heard of such a thing?!? I've been enjoying blended drinks of the non-alchoholic variety lately - what with this heat and all. Smoothies, virgin strawberry margeritas, slurpees. I've never gone to 7-eleven in so many consequetive days to buy slurpees as I have this past week. Yummy, chilly goodness! So I'll just have to enjoy plenty of virgin mango margeritas, paypaya and passion fruit smoothies and banana slurpees while in Hawaii. Come to think of it, I had my very first slurpee ever while in Hawaii. I must have been around 5-years old and my aunt came with us. She got my sister and I a slurpee and taught us to use the spoon/straw (is there a name for that? "spoonula" rings a bell - or am I totally making that up?). We stirred and stirred ours so that it would melt because we thought then it would taste like a melted popsicle. Ha - so funny that I just remembered that. And, wha do ya know, my aunt will be on this trip as well! It all comes around, it all comes around.

I did manage to finish up this big ol' batch of pillows this week though. 15 of them! At the very least, I'll have pillows for the Carlsbad show coming up in August. I have two more weeks to crank out some more silk screened bibs, soft blocks, pouches and additional pillow designs. I just can't count on my energy level being up, though. Each day is a new beast. I desperately need naps during the day (sometimes even right afer breakfast!) and I'm in bed by 9:30pm. Um, hello? Like, I know my body is busy creating a human being, but can I have just a few of those hormones for myself so I can make a stupid pillow?

We are obviously very excited for #2 to bless our home. Robbie wants a brother - so at this point, I'm putting aside all my girly instincts and hoping for a boy as well. Hey, I can be June Cleaver! Names names names...that's what everone asks. If it's a girl, we've got a dozen names to chose from. But if it's a boy, we're really stuck. Robbie Clem's name (Robert Clement) is just dripping with meaning for us (Robert = my dad, Robert Zimmerman, Robert Frost, Robert Kennedy...so many great Roberts Clement = Tom's uncle), so it's hard to come up with another name that has as much meaning as this one. Guess we threw all our eggs in one basket with that one. It's easy to pick a name, but to pick a name with history is a whole nother ballgame. We joke and say it'll be Clement Robert, or Clem Robbie. How insane would that make us? So I think we'll just wait and see what this litle lime turns out to be. (we call it a lime, because this week it is the size of a lime...last week it was fig...week before that walnut..."how's the little walnut today?" Tom would ask)

Wow...that's more writing than I've done in weeks! Guess I'd better attempt to get my day started. Today we're off to the horse races! Company picnic at the inflield in Del Mar. I want to cut some felt flowers for my hat. Gotta wear a hat!

red dirt dye

from here...

to here...

A little red dirt goes a looooooong way!

daydreaming

Where I want to be right now ~



Island of Kaua'i

North Shore

Ke'e Beach

End of the road, where the lush cliffs take their dive into the ocean - wonderful snorkelling spot where you are likely to come face-to-face with a green sea turtle. A little rain shower might move through - but that doesn't mean you have to get out of the water. Just come up for a taste of some freshwater raindrops, then go back under to continue exploring the reef. Those with little patience might not enjoy the drive here. It's a winding, 2-lane road with several 1-lane bridges. Live aloha, offer to let oncoming traffic go first! But here's what you do: roll down the windows so you can inhale the tropical air flavored by sweet flowers, moist earth and lush landscape and put some Iz on the stereo. This way, the drive could take some time, but what's the rush? This is Kaua'i!

I have a renewed excitement for this trip because my husband's work schedule cleared, allowing him to go to. Now I just want the day we see that green island in the blue ocean as we start our decent to be here. Still 3 weeks away. And, honestly, I need the time to work on my projects. The Carlsbad Art in the Village is the day after we get back from our trip. So, time to get busy, I suppose. Ho hum. It's hard to not sit around and daydream about being right there right now!