Pepe rolling over

Got a new video cam for christmas! It's my new toy. Here's Pepe rolling over :)

Pepe

It's Pepe! We met for the first time at Jon's holiday dinner. Yes, he's that cute!!

Pink Tree

Every year, this neighbor will light their tree up with pink and orange spot lights. With the red autumn leaves, it's sooo pretty!!

Sig Lindberg - American Craft 1958

What a beautiful cover. Classic, yet feels so fresh and modern. It's an old cover by Stig Lindberg of American Craft Magazine from Oct 1958. Each issue, the magazine will dig into their archives to share the best of their past. I would love one of each of these little plates...

polaroid heart

An idea in an effort to be more thankful for the people in my life... from ATLA.

homemade sale sign

Before going to the Julie Vogel Sale in South Pasadena, we grabbed some breakfast on Mission and happen to see all the wonderful handmade signs for the sale up and down the street. Visually, they remind me of colorful granny quilts with touch of the typographical elements (not the heavy message!) in Tracy Emin's work. This one was at the metro stop.

holiday sales sales sales!

Gosh, lots of sales this year - and lots telling us to skip malls and support the little guys! YES! These are ones I'm going to try to hit this weekend. Must not forget to bring reusable bag!!

Unique Los Angeles - things you won't find at malls - Kumquat will be there! www.uniquelosangeles.com

Eco Gift Festival - lots of good eco gift buying! http://www.ecogift.com/

Julie Vogul's Sale - a yearly gathering of local craftistas! 2012 Fremont, South Pasadena, CA 11-5 today only

Reusablebags.com is also having a spectacular sale - bought a bunch of guy gifts. link to sale page here.

past ones i gotta remember for next year...
Uncle Jer's Friends and Family Holiday Sale
Center for the Art ER Fundraiser
Felt Club
the crafty fair at Good Magazines headquarters
Viridis Luxe sample sale
one in Silverlake that I missed, I think it's going to be weekly flea market, yay!

more Yuka Candy

I have been a helper in Yuka's kitchen with her organic candies this holiday. Not only have I been tasting everythig, I've been learning a thing or two about baking and being in the kitchen - lucky me, I think! These are the fruits of our labor - semi sweet chocolate truffles, buttery cashew brittle, dark chocolate truffles, toffee, pecan squares (my favorite!!!) and shortbread cookies. I have been cutting the pecan sqaures into quarters and savoring each bite with a cup of tea. Working together is so telling about how particular/perfectionists we each are about every detail including re-forming the shortbreads when they melt out in the middle of cooking! Each piece is seriously handcrafted - sometimes not time friendly, but definitely resulting in perfect product. One client of mine expects these candies every year!

candy box

Cute candy box from Yuka's the other night. She added her collapsible tote to the box of goodies.

swimmer stickers

You can always find the most interesting things at Yuka's house - these are tiny stickers of ladies swimming... who knew?

Chamberlain Hotel

Waiting to meet a friend for dinner in the Chamberlain Hotel lobby by Kelly Wearstler. It's amazing how this small space is so faceted and feeling so enormous.

rainbow in the sky

Snapped this rainbow in the sky yesterday afternoon. It was dry on our side and rainy on the other side of town.

new printed totes

I have 3 new roll up tote bags in the supercozy esty shop! These are the three babies I've been laboring over the past few weeks. Sold them at the Eagle Rock Holiday Fundraiser yesterday afternoon. Also had my stretched fabric, some "star" jars for fun, voile fabric I made into scarves, and little scrap fabric pom pom ornaments... Here's Satoru, my little helper, caught sneaking a cookie!

Pie Raiser

We inhaled Edith Abeyta's homemade apple pie for dessert tonight. She's "baking for art." I especially love her ceramic pieces. This is one of a pair of plates I bought from her Pie-Raiser booth at the holiday sale.

Solar Star Jar

Inspired by the homemade sun jar project, I made my own star jar with solar LED hoilday lights and a jar with a clear lid. Sold them yesterday for fun at the ER holiday sale at cost. Two girls bought one for their mother who is an astronomer! I love that!

moon and two stars

The moon and two stars I came home to last night... like friends hanging out over a cup of tea, watching the evening sun set...

Update Dec 5 : So according to Kurt and my weaving teacher Carolyn, that Nov 30th night was the moon, Jupiter and Venus (the two brightest planets), historically aligned to have that cup of tea together.

my first weaving

I've been so busy finishing things up before the holidays! I finished the triangle on my weaving at home using my spork to beat the weft down. And then finally, after two 8-week sessions, finished my weaving in class. Here it is on the table. This was the first time I was seeing it off the loom. Wow, crazy. I was creating the design organically, using whatever yarns Barnsdall had on their shelves - great colors from the 70's. We decided it resembled a tall building. I'll have to clean up the loose ends and hang it in a very special place!! My first weaving!!
I twisted the ends. I love that look.

solar baked goodies

Sun Browned Brownies and Oatmeal Raisun Cookies from my new home made solar oven. I'm totally addicted to solar baking now!! Cookies called for an hour of sun, but my second and third batch worked better with an hour and a half. Brownies also called for an hour, but I did three.

So much to say about the solar ovens! Here is the one I made and cooked from basking in the sun. I seriously only used 2 cardboard boxes, tin foil, newspaper, glue, packing tape, and a turkey oven bag. The cookies I brought to Saturday's party at Adam's were a hit. Will post more about the oven soon...

Felt Club

Some of my purchases at Felt Club yesterday! Two hours was not enough...Tootie tipped me off about the brass rings from Tanya Aguiniga.

Vintage german glass bead earings from Porterness. I love how she attached the bead using both holes.

Art from Pretty Little Thieves. It's a tiny little orginal. This will go in my office!

View from the balcony where they were having the Swap-O-Rama - that'll be for next time.

nyc seasons...

I know we are having PERFECT weather here in So. Cal - it was a full moon in the high 60's last night, but there's something so romantic and exciting about this picture in NYC. It makes me understand why my east coast friends miss the seasons...

new indoor plants

These are my new babies. Please witness the fact that they are young and still alive. I am determined to give them a long happy life.

More often than not, our indoor space is more toxic than the outdoor space!! I think I knew this, but learning it again just recently made me step it up. These indoor plants naturally clean the air of toxins. Toxins come in the form of our industrial strength cleaners, our furniture that is probably still off gassing, PVC shower curtains that can take as long as 10 years to off gas (yikes!), and simply from the lack of venilation in the house.

My favorite plant is the peacock at the bottom right corner. I got these recommendations from a great book called How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office.

Jenn Morris owls!

These little owl pendants from my friend Jenn Morris are just divine!!

Urban Eco Kit

Continuing from my post a few days ago, this is the Urban Eco Kit I put together after taking Deborah's workshop. The premise behind the kit is just to be prepared when you are out and about in the city. I was finding myself lunching at home more because I didn't want to be given disposable crap. Now, I feel like I can order to go anytime without generating so much trash by the end! I must say, it's a phenomenal feeling.
This is a super basic kit that includes:

1. Stainless Steel Container - First of all, I think that a nice presentable container makes it easier to convince a person taking your food order to use it. This stainless steel one can easily handle hot food, which makes it better than plastic. I'm still using some Tupperware type stuff, but never for hot items or heating things up. Plastic leaches cancerous toxins at really high or really lo temeratures. This stainless steel is also lighter than glass, also making it easier for the cooks in the back kitchens to deal with. This is double decker container I just ordered. Deborah uses this one when she gets take out and says she's never been turned away. The only down side to this steel is that you can't heat it up in the microwave, but I've already usually eaten the food by then.

2. Insulated Stainless Steel Mug - Again using stainless steel especially for my scalding hot tea is better than the plastic versions which I've gotten rid of. My favorite new way of using it is when I get freshly made carrot juice from the natural food store or Jamba Juice. I'm not a big soda drinker, but I suppose your could fill it up at one of those all you can drink stations.

3. Cloth Napkin - This is pretty easy. So helpful when I've got to eat on the go, sometimes in my car before a workshop. I can use it a few times before washing and when I do that, I just throw it in with my darks. I also use them to wrap my utnesils.

4. Real Utensils and/or chopsticks - I hate using disposable plastic utensils! I've also seen those Bambu sporks.

5. Extras - I have to get salsa when I get a burrito. Burritos are so sad without salsa, so I am reusing one of those small plastic containers until I find a good one.Everything fits perfectly in a lunch box size basket I got from the Philippines. I've been on a mission to really consciously reuse as much as possible.

Urban Eco Kit and reusable bags sitting brilliantly in my collapsible crate in the trunk of my car.

I've benefited tremendously from taking these local green workshops and highly recommend to friends when they are ready to make changes. It's just a good cause for everyone. I'm not just trying to pimp my friend Deb, but despite all my good intentions, I honestly don't know if I would've been able to figure out how to make doing these things, creating these systems, as easy and less daunting.

Sumi Ink Club

Fabulous Smockshop and Sumi Ink Club collaboration.

Composting: Phase 1 Out of the Garage

After 6 months of sitting in the garage, my compost bin is out!! I guess, I wanted to be more informed and now that I am, I'm realizing that it didn't really matter because all you need to know, you can learn in about 15 minutes. I kind a tossed everything in there like a salad which I'm not sure is completely right, but I am excited to experiment as I go.

Election Day 2008

No matter who wins tonight, I am happy about how this election has brought light to the honor and excitement found in public service. We really do have a responsibility to serve our communities in any way big or small, because of the simple reason that whether we like it or not, we are all interconnected. Cool buttons from my friend Emily.

9:30pm
“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America." Congratulations to our new 44th president Barack Hussein Obama. I feel privileged and humbled to make this moment a part of my history.

time to *VOTE* tomorrow!!!

blue eggs

Gorgeous (and real!) blue eggs from local author Jeanne Kelly at the Little Flower Candy Company. She wrote Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden. Found out that each chicken lays the same colored eggs, so these are from 5 different chickens!

The Sustainable Kitchen

Been attending excellent sustainability workshops by Creative Green that will continue through the fall. This past Saturday was The Sustainable Kitchen. The first part was talking about each person's relationship to food. What had we eaten in the last 24 hours and what did it mean? I happened to carelessly stuff pieces of tofu in my mouth using my fingers half sitting in my chair while trying to explain something to my mom with my mouth full. This boiled down to lack of mindful eating often resulting in over-eating. On the flip side, I had also got off the freeway to get a carrot juice even though I knew it would mean getting stuck in traffic because I felt myself coming down with a cold. It was in this case that I slowed down and listened to what my body needed.

The second part was about food, our kitchen set ups, and ways to be sustainable throughout our busy urban lives. Talked about organic on a budget - what foods we really should buy organic and which ones don't need to be. In general, thick skins mean more protection from pesticides. Just some of the other things discussed were safe pots, the microwave, plastic, food storage, and even solar ovens.... On my immediate list - slowly changing out my teflon pans to stainless steel or iron and starting a small herb garden.

I've been greening for the last year or so, but it seems that I'm still far behind! I like that Deborah, the teacher who happened to live as monk for 7 years, always says to leave all judgment at the door. There is no room for feeling bad. She recommends keeping a green acknowledgment list to focus on the things we have done!

Menu planning is also key to a sustainable kitchen - we must accept that no matter what, this requires extra time. This morning, we went to farmer's market, came home, made a fresh from the market lunch, used last week's tired veggies for vegetable stock, and then prepped washed and stored all the produce for easy access. So far, this will be our plan every Sunday and we will do our best keep it! Above is the photo of the veggie stock in crock pot. May be a little too many onions, but I hope to use it to make carrot ginger soup this week.

Mr. T

"I pity the fool!" The best Halloween costume last night!

being crafty

Just some of the crafty things I've been making lately -- lacy crochet, super mini quilts, the eco bag from the Eco Bag book. Testing out different things for the holiday sales.

my own to-go container

I did it again! This is the second time I got my food to go in a container that I provided! This was was the tofu cabbage salad at Blue Hen. They were super nice and didn't have any problems using my container. Last week I did it at Senor Fish and they were equally as easy going. Because this practice is clearly a new thing in general, it was better to go to the restaurants when it wasn't crowded.

I have recently put together my Eco Kit. Will have to do a post for that.

Collapsible Recycled PET Bag!

Finally - an ultra compact, collapsible bag made of *recycled* PET by ACME Bags!! There have been some really well designed, fresh looking collapsible bags out there like Baggu and Envirosax, but they are made of virgin plastics. I have been waiting for something like this. Yes, we are preventing the use of the horrible plastic grocery bags by buying the virgin PET versions, but ultimately, we want to recycle and reuse materials or use bags made of things like hemp and cotton that can completely biodregrade over time. Plastic takes literally hundreds of years to breakdown, and even when it does, it is not able to enter back into nature's cycle. Plastic is truly forever, so let's reuse it!

Recycled Watering Can

Been using my new watering can made out of a recycled jalapeno can. Love it. It was a souvenir I bought here when we were in Santa Barbara.

Barbie

Recently had a craft afternoon with Yuka... and Barbie!