Etsy: Coming Soon!

I'm finally working on getting my Etsy shop set up and I'm super excited. First thing up for sale will most definitely be some embroidered tea bags!

In other news, this evening was spent processing film and printing contact sheets for a project that I am working on for my Senior Art Show (photos to come, to be sure!). So me and my friend Taylor are printing and printing and smell like fixer (which claims to be odorless...) and are really tired because neither of us can stay awake past 10:30. Yeah, "lame" I guess, but I like my sleep.

If you live in the L.A. area, specifically near Eagle Rock, and you don't already know about Auntie Em's Kitchen, you must go there and be SURE to get a cupcake!


The Red Velvet Cupcakes are especially tasty.

Ta!

Tea: A Drink with Jam and Bread!

Well it's a very odd Memorial Day weekend here in Southern California. It was cold(ish). Although the gloom and possibility of thunder storms destroyed my plans to go to Surf Camp, I did have a nice weekend. Saturday was basically devoted to Prom--which I can't believe I actually went to. Anyways, it was fun getting my hair and nails done--I now have a cute little 30s crop cut (see here)--and I suppose the Prom itself wasn't too bad. Dancing is fun, but I must say that I never thought it was possible to grind to the Jackson 5 until that night.

Anyways, Sunday I made my very first yeast bread...without a bread maker! I really had no idea that it would take 7 hours, but yeah, it did. I made a Honey Whole Wheat Loaf from CookWise and it tastes pretty good, especially when toasted with some marmalade and a nice cup of Earl Grey on a cool Spring morning!



In other news, my mom recruited me to photograph some Mountain Mint for her newspaper article (she writes native plant gardening articles for The Claremont Courier, a local newspaper in Claremont, CA). So we brewed up a pot of hot water with mint and some honey, and it was actually really tasty. The pictures don't do the colors of the "tea" justice though; in reality the water was an amazing shade of chartreuse.

It's really quite a refreshing drink, and its perfect hot or cold. I recommend it!

So now I'm off to Out of the Closet and The Salvation Army to look for a bulletin board and some other stuff for an installation piece I'm doing for the Senior Art Show. Wish me luck; thrifting can be so trying sometimes...

Fashion Sho'

As promised, I come baring photos from my school's Spring Fashion Show!



I made 2 dresses, one for the evening wear theme, another for the "sheer" theme. The show itself went smoothly, for the most part, but it was SOOOO damn hot. For nearly 4 hours we were behind stage, eating those Melting Moments cookies, and sweating. Anyways...


This is Allison, my lovely lovely model, who so graciously put up with wearing my way-too-low-cut dress with lots and lots double-stick tape.


From the back...(I'm sort of really into the whole racer-back look)


And some more lovely models. The one in the middle is Taylor, modeling my second dress very bravely. I bought the orange/purple-paisley fabric in India and it is so incredibly starchy, but fortunately I like the stiff look that it gives the body of the dress.


And some models from afar!

Originally, our department chair had set up the runway outside of the gallery (which was at an airport hangar in Santa Monica, in fact) on a minuscule, L-shaped, 6-inch high carpeted runway...which was more than pathetic. Fortunately, someone complained about our DJ's music being too loud (which is pretty odd considering that they have to deal with full-on 747s flying overhead) and our show got pushed inside. So instead of the dinky catwalk, we just had the models walk on the floor between the seats, and it worked out really well!

And now I'm sitting here watching So You Think You Can Dance, because I'm a loser who likes shows like this and American Idol (omg, David Cook > Archuleta! Yesss...okay I'm embarrassing myself).

So Sweet

Okay, so I've been on a baking spree/binge, whatever, for a while now. The most recent recipe? Chocolate Chip-filled Melting Moments (recipe found ici)



And the best part is, they literally melt in your mouth. Ugh, I could eat ALL of them. But instead, I'm bringing them to the Spring Art Show today, but exclusively for the selected few (including myself!) who are part of the fashion show. All of the designers and their respective models have to arrive about 3 1/2 hours before the show actually begins in order to prep. What better way to prep than make all of the models fat! Ha, okay bad joke; I kid, I kid...

Anyways, I'm pretty excited about that. I have 2 pieces in the fashion show, and a photograph in the actual gallery art show. I will post pictures ASAP! I'm pretty happy with both of my dress, but I just hope that one of the dresses won't cause a "wardrobe malfunction" (it's low-cut...think belly-button [just kidding, a little]).

And in other news, I want this book so bad.


Okay, I have to go buy Birkenstocks now for my poor, painful feetsies.

Tea and Cookies

Today was one of those perfect days, filled with simple pleasures...and lots of baked goods. I woke up at eight, which I once would have believed to be a violation of the laws of weekend sleeping, but as of late, I have been thoroughly enjoying. But there was a reason for my early-bird-ness: I had to make some cookies for a friend's birthday, and also for another friend, as an apology for a rude mistake of mine :[. I browsed by favorite food blogs and chose this recipe (thank you!)



They were quite easy and really, really tasty. However, I made mine a tad too large, which, although doing so didn't affect the taste, sort of left me wishing that I had made them smaller and more button-like.



So, because I made the cookies a little on the large side, I ended up with much less than I had expected to produce. And this proved to be a slight problem, seeing as I had to have some for both of my friends. Thus, I had to make a sacrifice: no cookies for anyone else in my family. Haha, my dad was sad, but I think he will survive.

Then came the tea party, which was ideal. Here's what I mean:





Yeah, pretty nice. I guess when I have my "End of School/Pre-College Tea Party" I will have a tough act to follow.

Now I'm off to make my mom her Mother's Day gift. Yay for embroidered pouches!
Ta!

Quinoa!

So, I guess I've been cooking a little more than crafting as of late, but hey, whatever I have time for...



I made this today (thanks to 101 cookbooks, again!): a blackberry and walnut and cinnamon and delciousness quinoa recipe! And, I got to try out the new, but actually used, ceramic bowls that I got at a garage sale on Sunday! I've been looking for nice bowls and cups and stuff for my dorm, and when I saw these I had to get them. And then the Quinoa recipe came along, and obviously it was a perfect combination.



In regards to the actual end results of the quinoa, the blackberries weren't so fab, but on the whole, it was such a perfect breakfast/brunch/lunch meal. And yeah, quinoa...it really has a knack for filling you up. I guess its all the protein or whatever, but the point is, I ate way too much and now I understand how "less is more" DEFINITELY applies to this recipe.

In other news, I'm making my second dress for my fashion design class and it's coming along swell. Part of the dress is using this gorgeous fabric I got in India, so I can't wait to see it finished! Pictures to come...

Lemon and Yogurt Scones!

I love tea.

And everything associated with it: brewing it, serving it, making it look all pretty, etc. So, seeing as the school year is winding down, I have planned a cute little tea party for some friends and myself at my house. Scones, I figured, were a must. So this weekend was a test round for the scones, and I must say they did quite nicely! I think I'm going to put more lemon zest in them, because you couldn't quite taste it enough, and I'm also going to make them a tad smaller, because despite how much I love monster-sized scones, I plan on making a lot of other finger food to go with it, and I don't want people to fill up too quickly!

If you are interested in the recipe, it can be found here (and thank you to the writer of the aforementioned blog!)

In other news, it's really warming up, which is nice because that means more dinners outside. I can't wait until summer...popcicles, sno-cones, running barefoot, the smell of hot sidewalks wet from sprinklers. So nice and nostalgic. The only thing that freaks me out is the idea of being COMPLETELY OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL. It's a little surreal, and a lot scary. college...College...COLLEGE!