going to california

i am off
to california
to stay
at
sea ranch
for a week
(previous trips
here).

can you
guess
my color scheme?





i have added
a little table
(aka "planner")
to my travel
clothes
sketches
to make
sure i only bring
things
that actually
go with other
items...
you know how
you bring
that one great
top
but then it
doesn't
match
with anything...
i hate that.
no more
with
the
new &
improved
planner table!

yes,
i am obsessive.

i will
miss you
all...
be back
next
monday!
xo

ps i am
not going
topless friday-
just hadn't
decided yet.

polaroid weekend

{friday}



{saturday}





{sunday}


my sunday
thrift store
find:





{monday}



more
polaroids
from
this weekend
here.

hope you
had
a lovely
weekend.
xo

photobooth friday

i think
this photo
must date
back to
1999.
god
that seems
long ago.
i was visiting
my friend
annemarie
in amsterdam.
i am sure
i made her
get into
the photobooth...
i can't
resist
photobooths.
europe
is great
about having
photobooths
everywhere.

it
was what
i term
my
federwisch period.
it was
the
german word
my mom used
to describe
my hair.
it means
feather duster.
mom's have
a way of
finding
the nicest
ways to say things.

i have had
a lot of
strange hairdos.
probably because,
as my less polite
hairdresser
puts it,
i have
a head of cowlicks.

. . . . .

this weekend
my brother
visits from nyc.
we plan to
go to
the
color field
exhibit
and
maybe see
this
while we
are at it.

grub will
make us
his
new favorite
cocktail,
(the lion's tail).

happy weekend!
xo

travels by train

monday
i spent
the
whole day
traveling
home by train
from upstate
new york.

the scenery is
so beautiful...



often
i wished
i could
get off
the train
and walk around
the tiny towns
i passed.

frequently
i wondered
what it would
be like
to live
in one of
those small towns.
how would
i be different?
how would
i be the same?

my travels were
plagued
by late arrivals,
missed connections,
and
i sat in
stopped
over
a river
for 3 hours
because
of a fatality
on the tracks
yesterday
evening.

i watched
the sun
go down
over
the river
in trenton.



hope you
had
a better
monday.



xo

climb!

when was the last time
you climbed a tree?
i have wanted
to climb this
tree for
years.

when
i was
little, i
often watched
my brothers jump
from a high branch
of the neighbor's
avocado tree.

i never did.
rather, i
carefully
climbed
the trunk
to the
ground.

one day
i decided
i should
stop being afraid
and
i climbed up
to that branch and jumped.



i broke my arm.

this was
one of many times
i broke my arm
trying to do
what they did.

i wonder
what that
says
about me.

xo

ruff & ready

there's
a local
thrift/vintage
store by my house
called
ruff & ready
furnishings.
this is a photo
of the front.

i never
went in there
because they
put really
junky stuff
out front
on the weekend.
one day,
a few months ago,
i wandered in
and found
that
it was
a mecca...
it reminded me
of why
i love places
like this-
i love
to just
search through
old junk
for something
that
catches my eye
and
inspires me.

it's
jam-packed
with
stuff.
perfect
for
poking around.

when
i was
a student
years ago,
i use to go to
square one
antique mall
on
sunday mornings
by myself.
it is one
of my
fondest
memories
from that time.
i have a lot
of great stuff
from that place.

this
past friday
i went to the
village
after a long
hiatus...
unfortunately
i was
operating on
low blood sugar
and wasn't
quite in to it...
also i was
with a friend
who wasn't
really into
perusing.
it's difficult
to get into
perusing
when you are
with someone
who isn't
doing the same.

but during
my quick
pre-bubble tea
run through
i found
some cool items.
here are my
friday finds:

1. 1970s
catherine holm
(cathrineholm?)
bowl



2. vintage
argus 75 camera



3. 1940s-1960s
children's books


cool illustrations.
i had some of
these when
i was little.

not bad
for a gal
running
on low
blood sugar,
no?

i am hoping
this week
brings
with it
high productivity.
i feel like
i am in
a post-exam
slump.

more soon.
until then,
xo

photobooth friday

happy
photobooth friday!

just found
some
photobooth
photos
stuck
in a
journal.

4 out of 5
siblings
in a
photobooth
at rebar
for
my brother's
birthday.

have a
great
weekend.
xo

cut the tether

{favorite birdies}

every
now and then
i make a purse
that i am
quite pleased with...
this is rare
because
i am pretty
obsessive compulsive
about things.

i am
quite fond
of this little
number


and this
is my
favorite
underbug
purse/clutch
thus far...


they are
off
in a batch
to
last waltz.



still working on
the
bugheart
architecto
purse...
but orders
have priority.

the other night
i declared
"no more purses"...
i feel
like i have
tied myself
to a tether.
we shall see.
lately i have
wanted
to crochet.
so damn
inspired
by
this
(link via camilla).
amazing.

also
the next wave
to come is
felt hexapods.
yes, that's
my next project.

but first,
i have to get
this
one
last purse
perfected.

also
i have been
neglecting
a thank you
to
the sweet
alyssa
who sent me
horace:



to help
me study
for my exam.
so so sweet.
thank you
so much alyssa!

you too
can have your
own horace
here.


{cool details}

tomorrow,
i think
i will go to
value village.
it's been
too long.

have a lovely
end of week!

xo

felt 'n bake

{oatmeal buttermilk bread}

this weekend...

b . a . k . i . n . g

i am obsessed
with the
macrina cookbook.
it was one
of
my favorite places
to go
when i lived
in seattle.


f . e . l . t . i . n . g

i made
8
of
the same color
clutches
for an order.



and
a few
for
last waltz.







i came up
with
what grub
called
the
perfect bugheart purse.
2 other architects
who came over
this weekend
commented on it.
funny,
because
it was
a prototype
of a
purse for
a very stylish architect.
photos
to come.

hope you
had a lovely
weekend.

xo

all about green

{uniform studio}

first,
thank you
for all
your wonderful
words of
congratulations.
it means
the world to me.
really.

. . . . .

when she
gave me
this scarf,
martha said
she was worried
that
i didn't like
green
(i showed up
wearing
all gray).

little did
she know
it's my
absolute
favorite.

and her
green
is really
the
perfect green.

i feel
that this
piece
is
a wonderful
representation
of how
her architecture
and art
come together.
the structure
of this piece
is brilliant
but it is also
a soft, beautiful
item to wear
(and practical,
you can throw
it in the dryer!)
although i think
i could just
stare at it
on the wall.

. . . . .

i met-up
with
martha
and
emily
for dinner
last night.

it's
amazing
to meet
blog chums.
something
about getting
to know
a person
through
this strange
medium
of the
internet...
and then
meeting
them in person.
it still
takes me
a little
getting use to...
like going
on a blind date.

martha brought
her friend
cynthia
(who,
like martha,
is
also a
searchlight artist).
it was so
inspiring to
talk to them...
especially
to talk
about
their
experience
with
being involved
with
the craft council
and how
to "market"
your work.
something
that is still
a mystery to me.

time felt
so short...
so much
i would have
liked to ask...
but soon
it was over
and i had
a train
back to dc
to catch!



i snapped
only 2
poor photos.
emily
took much nicer
photos
(check out
lunar eclipse
photos)!

thank you
emily,
martha,
and
cynthia
for such
a wonderful
evening!


{a cuff from martha}

i hope all
of you
have
a great
weekend.
it's the first
weekend
i have gotten
in a long while!
i plan to
do some baking
(the proper
cooking
for a scientist,
no?).
xo

i passed!

{at central}

so tired,
but happy...
because
i passed.

thank you
so much
for all
your
encouragement!

xoxox

winter color

i'd like
to be
a girl
of greys
and
beige
and
whites.
but
my heart
always
gravitates
towards
color.



happy saturday.
xo

valerie's textiles

a textile
for
shash's textile week.

this is
a crewel skirt
that
my grandma bought
in mexico
{i think}
in the 1950s.

i wore it to
a party
at
the textile museum
and
the museum people
went crazy over it.

this book
introduced me
to crewel.
then irealized
that this skirt
was a great example
of traditional
creweling.
someday
i will learn
how to crewel.

.. .. .. .. ..

i never knew
my grandmother
valerie
well.
she died
when i was 5.
she was
very crafty.
she
knitted
and
embroidered
and did all
sorts
of amazing things
{like dumpster-diving}.


my grandma in the skirt

she was
a very stylish lady.
my mom
has given me
many of her things
(usually
the things
too bright
or
too funky
for my sister).

i wish
that i had known her.
i wish
that we could have
traveled to france
{her birthplace}
together
and
knitted together...
so many
"i wish"s...

some day
i'll have
a daughter
and
i will name her
valerie.

have
a lovely weekend.
after monday
i will be
human
again.
can't wait.
xo

slow down

{a friend
send me
a tiny vintage tank
from japan}

monday
i awoke
and
i couldn't
get out of bed.

not sure
what i did
but my back
was messed up.
i spent the day
on the floor
trying to study
holding
my books
over me.

it was scary
and
with the
impending exam
it was
even scarier.

strange
how your body
sometimes
tells you
to
slow
the hell
down.

grub took
care of me
and i am
walking around now.

tuesday
i could sit
up
and to cheer
me up,
grub made
me
mexican
hot cocoa.




i have a thing
for spicy
cocoa
and recently
i have
had
some great ones
in nyc
at
cocoa bar
and
chocolate bar
(creative names,
huh?)

there's
nothing like
a little cocoa
to say
i heart you.

so i drew up
grub's recipe
so you could
make it
for
someone
you heart
tomorrow.

here it is:


{click for bigger size}

hope you
all are well.

xo

brave canary

11 more days
until
my last
big exam.
i am scared.
i feel like
i don't know
a damn thing.



this is what
i do when
i am stressed.
i knit.
a lot.

xo

numero uno

this is
uno.
he's
a present
for
my labmate's
boy, kai,
who turned 1.



it's a
jess hutchison
pattern.
i am slowly
working my way
through
the book
lisa
sent me.

this weekend
my friend
rebecca
let me
take
photos
of her
in the
underbug skirts
for a store.
{they are
too small
for me
and she's
photogenic.}
she's
so cute.

here's
a couple...





happy
mid-week.

xo

ps
this has
got to be
the most beautiful photo
i have seen
in a long
long time.