food + sewing room update

I've been cooking more often lately, which makes the hubby happy. Maybe it's because of our inspired + inspiring kitchen. Whatever the case may be, I made a feast last weekend. I woke up that Sunday morning with one thought in my mind: cioppino. So I set out to our old 'hood, the Richmond, and bought lots and lots of seafood. I just have to say, even though it means that I have to toot my own horn, that it turned out fabulously. So fabulous in fact that I am already planning on making it for my in-laws when they come to visit us over the holidays.



Yesterday, I made pizza with tomatoes, sausage, pancetta and mushrooms. I also bought some pomegranate which is a first. I had to go online to find out how to open it. It is yum! We will definitely buy more before the season is over.



On to other things, I've started to organize the sewing room a bit more so that I can actually start sewing in there. I purposely wanted an open cabinet so that I will be forced to keep it organized and it's also a good way to display my collections of fabric, ceramics and art. This is not the final home of the prints, this is the for now location until I get the time to hang them up on the opposite wall.

Prints from L-R: Mati Rose's Sounds of Silence, theblackapple's Miss Cupcake, Lisa Congdon's Birch Tree, thrifted vintage botanical trio, theblackapple's Acorn Twins, theblackapple's Appledress Girl.

instinctive colors

A really quick post cuz I really should be working :). We entered our home into the Apartment Therapy fall colors contest. Granted I know these are not the best pictures but we realized that we would have missed the deadline if we didn't take photos right at that moment.

Anyways, please visit and vote! More later.

shop update!

Finally, it's here the long awaited (by me, at least) shop update! I've managed to produce 3 new yoga mat bags yay! I have more on the way but who knows how long that will be? They are now available at my shop. I especially love the red one, I've also made it so that the fabric lining inside contrasts with the outer fabric. Small things like this make me happy.

I'm comin' out

Like I mentioned, this is a bit of a big deal for me. I'm posting the first picture of myself on my blog. I wanted to make sure I followed-up with all the talk that I did in the previous post so here I am. I didn't let myself back out. I'm working on the quality of the photo. This was taken with the camera propped on the kitchen counter using a self timer. I think we have a tripod somewhere, gotta find it. Also, in the morning I am always in a hurry cuz I'm always running late so.. anyway enough excuses. Here I am.

Top: Bought at Capsule Fair 2 years ago
Jumper dress: Target
Tights: Le Old Navy
Peep toes: Payless (believe it or not they are uber comfortable!)

being myself

i appreciate this post found over at bits and bobbins. it is good to be reminded once in a while to be true to who you are. i've always struggled with this ever since i was young. we have to be honest, as human beings we are always influenced by what's happening around us. it is just now that i'm older, more matured that i am finally finding my own self. i'm starting to learn not to care what other people think, or even knowing that other people are not even really paying that much attention. i'm learning to just dress up how i want, with what i'm comfortable in and with what i think looks good on me. i still falter many times, of course but i think what's important is that i try.

i joined the wardrobe_remix group on flickr. i intend to start contributing to this group soon. i admire all these men and women who put themselves out there. i tend to be on the shy side so this'll be a big step. as you may have noticed, i don't really like to show my face on my blog so this is also sort of a little "coming out". at the same time, i think it's a good way to display my recent thrift store purchases. i've made several trips in the last few months and have found a few good things, some of them for mere pennies. i'm addicted!

all in a row

Sunday was pleasant. I spent a few hours with Mati at her studio. I met her studio mates, we had yummy croissant on their rooftop and I showed her a thing or two about sewing machines. Afterwards, the hubby and I went to Ikea to continue our furniture hunt. We weren't too lucky on the furniture front but we found some dish towels, a duvet cover and a few lampshades. The find of the day, however, are these wonderful Matryoshka dolls. I yelped with glee when I saw them and I swear the people around me were looking at me like I was crazy.

The baby doll was still asleep, I didnt want to wake her up :p.

surprise!

What did I find in the living room when I got home from work the other day? The Rocker, yes The One! Ahhhh! My husband surprised me, how sweet is that? He found a great deal on Craigslist and jumped on it right away. It's an early Christmas present.

momo

Every weekend, I tell myself that I am going to finish making yoga mat bags out of that pile of cut and ready to go fabric that's been sitting in my sewing room for weeks. However, every weekend something else comes up. One of those "things that have come up" is this cute little thing:

We've adopted a dog! She's a tiny chihuahua with a big heart and an equally big appetite! We've adopted her from Muttville and named her Momo. She's definitely a cutie and has brought so much love and joy into our new home. We've always known that we'd eventually get a dog but we didnt expect it to be this soon. I just happened to walk by Bernal Beast during one of their adoption events and fell in love with her at first sight.

Anyway, hopefully my next post will contain brand new yoga mat bags. Until then, tata and enjoy what remains of summer!

mini house update

I don't really have much to show for it yet but wanted to keep you posted on our progress with our home. We found a dining table, which was from the as-is section at Ikea. It has very minor scratches you can even hardly see them. We had to disassemble it so that it'll fit in the car but I think it's a good trade off. We got it for about $100 off.


We also found these Bertoia counter stools on Craigslist, another score I must say. I have to give all the credit to my husband though, he's the one who's very patient about going online and checking many times a day and jumping up to seal the deal. I am planning to add cushions to make them more homey. You can also see more images on my flickr set.

tgi (summer) f

One of the perks that we get at my new job is Summer Fridays. We each get 4 fridays off between Memorial Day and Labor Day (isn't that awesome?). Today was a Summer Friday for me. The goal was to make as many yoga mat bags as possible. Alas, I was too distracted by the gorgeous weather and my new neighborhood, I was only able to make a grand total of 1 bag. Oh well, 2 more weekend days to go, right?

Mati's yoga mat bag.

My breakfast, rice cakes on a pretty plate.


I spent most of the morning hanging out at our porch and making the bag. After lunch, I took a walk around the 'hood and did some grocery shopping. I'm planning another yummy dinner for the hubby tomorrow night. Here's a pic that I snapped during my walk.

Weeds can be pretty.

Ok, I'm off to happy hour with some friends and then maybe dinner somewhere afterwards? Tomorrow is the 14th Annual Hillwide Garage Sale. Hopefully we'll score some wares, I'll post them here if we do. Have a great weekend!

inspiration around the web

Been blog reading today and wanted to share delicious pics that I happened upon.

Shabby Chic dining via decor8. Love the white, white, white. Incidentally, I picked up plates at Shabby Chic during my recent trip to NY for $2 a pop! They were heavy but well worth it. Thanks again Lenny for helping me lug them around NYC and the airport. Love ya!

Shabby Chic chair via decor8 as well. I love the fabric and dont you just want to sink into the chair like right now?!

Very pretty dresses via love forever. I myself am in a dress mood these last few months and been hitting up the vintage stores whenever I can. I was just thinking during my lunch time walk that i will start a flickr set of my vintage finds.

Lisa Congdon's latest masterpiece. I love this one, there's a sense of calm, beauty and simplicity in it.

weekend report

I made some claims about grand plans for the weekend. Unfortunately, there is no finished product to show - yet. There are beginnings though, and they are promising ones.

Priming the walls.

Cut fabric, getting ready to sit down and sew! The 4 on top are my purchases from Pearl Purl (doh! thanks Lenny) during my recent NY trip.

Creativity of a different kind. I made dinner a few nights ago and this was the finished product. I used our new deep fryer which was a christmas gift from a friend.

the burning question

Well it's not really "burning" but that chair has been sitting at our house for a few months now. AT:SF posted my question that I wrote about the chair that we picked up from the street. I still haven't had time to research this at all what with all the moving, unpacking, travelling and working long hours at my day job lately.

In other creative news, the plan for this weekend is for us to paint my sewing room and the living room. I'm so excited to go to the paint store and pick the colors! Not so much excited about the manual labor, but it's part of the deal. I will definitely post the finished product here and on flickr. If I'm lucky enough to have time, I am also planning to make a few yoga mat bags to sell and also one to give to a new friend. My shop has been very empty lately and even if I don't sell any, it'll make me happy just to have more than 2 things there. I also just came back from NYC with my dear lenny, we stopped by the Purl Soho store and bought a few yards of ultra adorable fabric.

Stay tuned for finished products!

revelation, oh and i'm a pro

I mentioned in this previous post that changes were happening in my life. Well, it's time to reveal what that big change is. We moved in to a new home! We love this home, we were anticipating our move for weeks and when we finally did, it was a relief. We just have to unpack, tidy up and buy a few key pieces of furniture. We're being very picky with the pieces that we pick. One rule is that we have to love it! If it's just so-so we pass it up and move on to the next furniture store or antique shop or craigslist ad. One thing I'm really, really looking forward to is to set up my sewing room. I have a few ideas floating in my head for the walls and a few great pieces of furniture, I can't wait to put this room together!


I started a flickr set (where I am now a pro, woohoo!) to chronicle the work in progress, please make sure to come back and check periodically. I also plan to post any major developments in this blog. I want to use interior decoration and my sewing to compliment each other and inspire me to create and be surrounded by very lovely things. Wish us luck!

going, going, gone

I'm out of yoga mat bags! I've sold them all. I'm so happy - it's time to make more. Yipppeee. That's it, just a quick note :).