That's sew hot right now.

I saw this on Pinterest a while back and thought I'd be adventurous.

Source: flickr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

So I went to the nearby (scary) Ross and found an XL men's sweatshirt for $4.99 and bought it.

Before

I used a favorite fleece jacket as a guide and trimmed down the arms.

Then, I psyched myself out and got very very afraid that I wasn't going to do this very well at all and I put everything in a bag and put that bag in my closet.

 Then, my sainted mother came to town, and helped me finish this baby in a few hours.

After

Then I saw another thing on Pinterest-- heart shaped elbow patches.

We each hand-stitched one on.  While "Downton" played.  That detail was very important.  Overall, this was the best $6 investment of all time.

After the After

(Here I am with a little Tae Bo action for all you Billy Blanks enthusiasts out there)

Apple Bacon Pizza

Check it--a picture of our apple bacon homemade pizza is on Martha Stewart's website today (courtesy of our good friend Jane Maynard).

Too bad we don't have any leftovers.  'Cause now I really want some.

Because it was a rainy day, and I'm becoming my mother

Yesterday morning I went for a run.

It's been rainy the past few days, and on my way out of our apartment complex I spotted the brightest double rainbow I've ever seen (what does it mean?!).

 At one point it looked as though the end of the rainbow was at the Cheese House, down the street.  Which would make perfect sense, seeing as their sandwiches make me drool golden saliva.

I came home and knew today was the day.  As rain started noisily pouring down and creating puddles in the uneven concrete divots on our balcony I says to myself, "Self, it's time to get over your fear of active dry yeast."  And I made my very first loaf of homemade wheat bread.

I don't make bread, ever.  I'm honestly consistently afraid that I'll really mess it up and wind up with a dense brick of a loaf that will turn to glue in my insides, and it will all have been a waste of time.  Yeast seems like such a weird and fickle thing.  I looked through www.allrecipes.com to find a highly rated recipe and found this one. I halved it as follows (I didn't want to commit to 2-3 loaves without making sure 1 loaf came out right):

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (or ⅙ cup) honey
2-1/2 cups bread flour
1.5 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (or ⅙ cup) honey
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole wheat flour (plus an additional 1-2 cups as needed)
1 tablespoon butter, melted

 1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 2TB and 2tsp honey. Add 2.5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
2. Mix in 1 ½ tablespoons melted butter, 2 TB and 2 tsp honey, and salt. Stir in 1 cup whole wheat flour.
 3. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch (about 5-8 minutes). This may take an additional 1 to 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
4. Punch down, and form 1 loaf. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pan by one inch.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not over-bake. Lightly brush the tops of loaf with 1 tablespoon melted butter when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely.

 There's nothing like the smell or taste of freshly baked bread. I'm hooked. Oh, yeah, you can forget about it, Orowheat. We're through.

Doing this made me think of my Mom. I can feel myself becoming more and more like her. Maybe it's more like I'm beginning to think her way is the ONLY way to do something. I'm sure it's her genetics that require me to be watching something British (and having to do with women worrying about which gentleman will accept their meager dowry and provide them with a snazzy lifestyle in their Victorian England context) whenever I sew anything. And I'm pretty sure that she's the reason I went to TOWN on some coupons that got mailed to our apartment for some other previous tenant, and that I now have my very own "coupon wallet" (aka the J. Crew coin purse Becca got me for my birthday in 2007). And it's also because of her that I can't really be comfortable on the couch without a blanket draped over me. But there's really no woman I rather share neuroses with.

Boom! Done.

We took liberties with the pattern (and I mean LIBERTIES). But I like this more than the original pattern. All in all I'm in love with it.

A special thanks goes out to Mama Eaton who made this skirt possible.

Since my parents have been doing the whole "empty nester" thing since 2008, my Mom turned an empty bedroom into her "sewing room." There's still a bed in there. So I told my Mom to stretch out on the bed while I sat at her sewing machine. And I set up season 1 of Downton Abbey on my laptop on the ironing board. She would then direct me from her post and I (to quote Ms. O'Brien from Downton Abbey) "sewed like a cursed princess in a fairytale." We finished this baby in about 4 hours total, spread out over 3 days.

Today I finished up the last few things on my own now that we're back in Palo Alto. I made sure something British ("Emma") was playing though while I finished it up. This is partially because I got a migraine last night. I've been getting migraines since kindergarten, and missed school (on average) about once a month because of it. In high school the nurse's office basically had my emergency contact card memorized. While I waited out my migraines at home, my usual routine was to have Gwenyth Paltrow's "Emma" playing in the background (on VHS! Doesn't that sound weird?) while I curled up on the couch with my eyes squeezed shut, munching an occasional saltine cracker to tame the nausea until the pain slowly petered away hours later.

Well, last night during scripture study, just before lights out, my vision blurred in a distinct way-- the tip off that a migraine is coming. When this happens, alarms go off in my brain and it's almost like I can hear someone shouting "ABORT! ABORT!" I immediately said, "Harry! Migraine! I need Aleve and water STAT!" I may not have said that verbatim but I may as well have. He jumped out of bed lightning fast. He knows the migraine drill pretty well. I downed the pill (normally I take 2 Excedrine but I knew I wouldn't sleep at all if I took that at night), we turned off the light, and I feverishly prayed that I'd fall asleep for the migraine got too terrible to ignore.

Thank Heavens (no, seriously though-- I feel like this was an early Christmas present from Heaven) this morning I woke up, having slept right through the migraine.

Sorry, Universe. You lose.

I guess since I still HAD a migraine last night I felt compelled to watch "Emma" today while I hemmed my skirt and attached the hook and eye to the back. It somehow felt right.

Coming up next: our end of the summer trips to Duck Creek and Monterey Bay. Here's a preview:

Sushi and French Raw Silk

My parents have been serving in the local Single's Ward for a little while now. Recently my Dad organized a Sushi Night. A member of the ward is a world renowned Master Sushi Chef, and he agreed to teach a little class on Sushi Basics.

We set about chopping cucumbers and avocados, using our bare hands to work with the rice and seaweed, and using bamboo rollers to shape the final rolls unto squares and rectangles. The chef and my Dad spent hours preparing spicy tuna and crab filling, as well as perfect tangy sweet sushi rice. I felt like I belonged on Food Network.






When the Master Sushi Chef walked by and I asked how I did, he paused, shrugged, and said, "Yeah, it's okay."

He told me and Harry about a restaurant he's opened in San Francisco. That's at the top of our priority list for when we get back.

In other news, my Mom and I finally got up the guts and courage to do something we've been talking about for ages. We spent a Saturday morning in the LA Fabric District this past weekend.

I've read on lots of blogs about the incredible amount of fabric available for wholesale prices in Los Angeles. I did some research the night before on the must-see places (namely, Tex Carmel, Michael Levine, and the Michael Levine Loft) and on where to park. I checked traffic projections and determined the best way to get there, and the best way to get home (two different routes. LA traffic is a cruel and unpredictable beast).

On Saturday morning at 8:00 am, we gritted our teeth and set off for the district. My Mom is a very accomplished seamstress, and I think this trip for her was a bit like taking a person who is obsessed with fish to the biggest aquarium on earth. I think the wheels in her brain began turning so fast they may have left skid marks on her cerebellum.




I did find exactly what I wanted- a dark orangey-copper-ish french raw silk. I love this material. Both my sisters had wedding dresses made of raw silk-- and so did Princess Diana. It's delicate but stiff, and rough to the touch, and looks as though it's got a lot of runs going through it, but in the light, it has a beautiful glow. I did some haggling, and got it for $10/yard. This fabric usually runs somewhere around $45/yard. In a store nearby I found a perfect crocheted lacy trim.



We ran up the street to the Michael Levine Loft. I'd read about this place-- it's a sweltering room that looks like an old attic that's full of boxes of discarded knits. Everything in the room is $2.50 per POUND. So you can load up on endless amounts of fabric and if it's lightweight, you can walk away with tons of it. We got about 10 yards of different colored knit fabrics and it cost under $10. Sha-blam!



The last stop was Michael Levine. I read it's a good place to go to last, because while they have incredible deals, they do run a tiny bit more expensive. Their selection is mind-boggling.



There was another skirt I wanted to make that is comprised of rows and rows of lace.



I found beautiful lace in both black and white and $1.00/yard. I pounced and bought 7 yards of each, and spent about $5 more on white poly-cotton for lining.




All together, I think I spent about $35. For what will become a raw silk skirt, 2 lace skirts, and a cardigan. Assuming I don't mess them all up!

The Sarrison download.

The last few weeks have been busy!

I've been really blessed to be able to find work-- since the company I worked for since we moved here dissolved, I've only had about 2 total weeks of unemployment. I'm currently working nearby in Mountain View and I'm really enjoying it! I'm on a recruiting team for a technology start-up company, something I'd never done before. It's so funny to look across the room at the Assistant/Receptionist's desk and identify so much more with what she's doing, and yet I have my own completely different projects that I work on. It's been a nice change.

Other notables: We saw. The. Paul. Simon. In. San. Francisco.





Memborable songs: "The Sound of Silence," "The Only Living Boy In New York," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," "Still Crazy After All These Years," and the song that I haven't been able to get out of my head since the concert, "Dazzling Blue."

We went kayaking at Shoreline Park with some Law School friends. It reminded me how weak I am, mainly because of the sheer amount of sweat I produced while rowing.




We were also able to skip down to Irvine at the last second for Merzy's delicious little baby's blessing. I was so thrilled I got to spend a few days with Jude. He's such a dreamy and loving baby. Bonus: Because Harry's brother married my sister's husband's sister (it's aaaaall very confusing), we got to see some extra Reynolds and Hayes people, which is always a magical delight.
















The weekend included copious amounts of snuggling, giggling, biking, morning walks, South Coast Plaza (we always-- ALWAYS-- meet up by See's Candy in my family, as evidenced in the pictures), and a flatbread pizza concoction made by my Dad that involved grilled fennel, eggplant, pork, dill, celery seed, and heaven.

Also, we made another blueberry pie for the Ward Bake-Off! It's the recipe that we swear by- so good you almost have to repent for it. And no, it didn't place (probably just as well. My inordinate amount of baking pride needed a good leveling)-- not even 4th or 5th place. More pie for us, sucka!




That is it. In a nutshell. Things here are winding down, and we're getting ready for our summer of love in LA where we'll get to be neighbors/party with these kids! Woooooooot!




I'm ready to stop blogging now. XO.