Heading West

Tomorrow I fly out to Seattle to join Abe for 5 glorious days in Washington. We are going to a wedding on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands for the weekend and then we'll head back down to Olympia for a couple nights at his dad's house.

I am renting a car from the airport and driving to the ferry in Anacortes. The islands we are going to are practically in Canada. I'm very excited. Here is my driving route:

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On a sad note - very, very sad. My Sven's won't be here on time to come on this trip with me. I had 5 outfits planned around those boots. Life is truly like a box of chocolates.

Craft: Hippie Necklace...No, Actually a Headband

Last week I went to some bead stores with the vision of creating a hippie necklace. I wanted to braid suede lacing and then attach a stone to the braid. For once I actually had it mapped out pretty well and bought the right materials, but the actual construction was problematic.

See, my gorgeous amethyst stone broke while I was trying to fit a gold hoop through the hole. My fault because I was definitely forcing a too-small ring into the space. So sadly, the amethyst stone is now stationed in the bathroom amongst my aloe plants.

But I still had a perfectly good braided suede band that I fashioned to a gold hoop. It didn't work as a necklace, but it looked kind of cute as a headband!

I just attached a hook and eye so I can take it on and off easily. Voila.

Blue Steel.

Craft: Making a Pillow from Recyled Materials

My mom was here this weekend and I took her to Ikea for the first time in her life. It was very exciting. I tried to curb my desire to by things I don't need, but one thing I coudn't resist was the fabric. Ikea has some great fabric and I wanted to pick up some for my new pillows. I chose the Gunilla fabric in turquoise and some rainbow fabric.

So last night I decided to practice making my new pillow covers and make one for our bedroom.

I tend to save a lot of stuff people would normally throw away (glass jars, oatmeal canisters, take out containers). Abe is the same way except he just avoids accumulating things. I, on the other hand, save everything that comes my way with the idea that some day I will use it.

I had an old, feather bed pillow that I had stashed away a couple months ago when we got new pillows. I decided to take out the feathers and make a fresh pillow insert.

First, I needed a case to hold the feathers. My mom had bought me and Abe a new dust ruffle from Ikea so I took our old dust ruffle and cut four 14"x14" squares from the netted fabric that stretched across the box spring.

Next I had to remove the feathers from the bed pillow and fill up the case. I don't really recommend doing this. It is messy, dusty, and just not a good idea. It's kinda gross actually. Oh well, what's done is done. I sprayed a little tea tree oil on the feathers in an attempt to sterilize them.

I did this when Abe was at work because this would not fly if he was home. Fly...feathers...get it?

I filled up one case with the feathers and sewed it closed then I put in into another case and sewed that one closed - extra protection.

Now that I had my pillow form I got to work on the pillow cover. I used the Gunilla fabric for the front and rainbow fabric for the back.

And here we go - a new pillow for our bedroom!

Hot Hands, Chili, Boots & Mom Time

This week has been a little slow for me. I am trying to update my website and so that is taking up my evenings and I haven't had time to do projects. My mom is visiting this weekend so I'm going to recruit her into helping me get ahead with crafting. After all, I learned everything I know from her.

Last Sunday my friends, Andy and Maria, had people over for dinner because our other friends, Alex, Becca and baby Ella, were in town. Alex brought a huge sack of assorted peppers from their garden.

Dave trying to judge the weight.

Last night I made chili with these peppers and my hands are still on fire from handling them - 14 hours later!

Tonight I have rehearsal with HEXA from 8-10pm and then I have to go home and do laundry. My mom is coming tomorrow at 1pm so I'll have a little time in the morning to clean up the apartment.

In other big news..... I bought the black Sven's! Yesterday I went to this store on the Lower East Side called Valley and tried them on. They didn't have the exact ones I wanted, but they ordered them for me and I should get them next week.

Baked Alaska aka "Hockey Mom Surprise"

Last night I had some friends over to watch the Vice Presidential debates. It turned out to be a much more interesting debate than the Presidential debate last week, and I was really pleased with Biden and his nice, white teeth. I loved that whenever Palin would skip the topic at hand half the tv screen would just turn blinding white with Biden's smile. Go, Joe! Don't take that crap.

Just a little Italian/Hungarian appetizer board.

In honor of the debates we decided to make Baked Alaska. Believe it or not, this is not salmon casserole. It is ice cream and cake!

If I was to make Baked Alaska it was decided that I needed a Palin up-do, which Meredith was happy to create.

Meredith is a really good hair stylist. Very avant garde.

The meringue didn't really work out so we only put it on the top. It ended up being more like marshmallow, which is totally fine with me. It might not have been the prettiest Baked Alaska, but looks aren't everything when you taste so darn good.

If you look over the top you can see Russia.