A Little to the Left

Bridesmaids Clutches

2012-02-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

I honestly can't remember if I posted anything about this already, but I'm pretty sure I didn't.

Anyway, I recently found some pictures of the clutches I made for my bridesmaids, so I thought I would share those and link-up to the tutorial I used, which was incredibly helpful to me as I had never worked with a purse frame before.

I used dupioni silk, and lined each purse with a personalized fabric that suited each lady.

This was before I had glued the frame, if I remember correctly, so don't pay attention to the gap...

Though the clutches were far from perfect, I still think they were pretty cute. I had to keep the project somewhat secret, because T. was still living with us at the time.

Sadly, I can't find the flower tutorial I used, but this one is close, although the silk flowers could not be singed.

Inside each of the clutches, I put a lovely little jewelry set from Element4You for them to wear with their dresses.

I gave the girls their purses and jewelry at our bachelorette dinner, and proceeded to get tipsy and incredibly mawkish. We went out to an Irish pub, where I had my first Irish Car Bomb, and then to Pizza Port, because my hometown doesn't have much of a bar scene. At the end of the night, my sister took me home and we watched North in bed.

Love those ladies...

Organizing Goals: Project Bags

2012-02-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit that I am not an organized person by nature. It's not that I don't appreciate an orderly workspace. Rather, I just don't know how to create a workspace that is clean AND functional. And until recently I was never really compelled to organize my sewing space, because having an orderly small-scale workspace seemed impossible.

But whenever I am in a creative rut, it feels like it would be so much easier if only my fabric stash was a little bit neater. Since we will be moving soon I think it's necessary that I a.) use up or give away a good portion of my materials and b.) devise a plan for an orderly, efficient, but still inspiring workspace in our new home.

In the short-term, I've been working on a list of projects I want to complete before I start grad school in August. I know I will be short on time after that point, so I need to take this opportunity to accomplish some things I've always wanted to do.

Yesterday afternoon I was looking through my fabric stash, which has become quite sizable over the years, and I had the idea to organize a portion of it into "Project Bags." You see, my biggest problem has always been actually using my fabric the way I planned to when I bought it. I always end up forgetting about fabric once I file it away in my plastic drawers.

So I started taking stock of all the beautiful, untouched fabric I have amassed over the years. I recently bought some vintage patterns, and some of this fabric will be perfect for those projects. This will also provide me with an opportunity to really get to know my new serger. But I also have some ideas for projects which will hopefully translate well into tutorials here on the blog.

For now, I'm just using ziploc bags to organize the materials, but I'm sure I could make them prettier if I wanted. It seems like that would just be more procrastination, though.

What is the purpose of a Project Bag? To organize, visualize, and quantify the projects that I want and need to finish.

How many project bags do I have? I currently have 7 project bags, which puts me at >2 projects per month if we move on schedule. Think that's ambitious enough??? I certainly do.

What goes into a Project Bag? The fabric/materials as well as a brief description of the project, pattern(s) used, and materials still needed.

What are the rules for these Project Bags?

I won't begin a project until I have ALL of the materials required. The last thing I need is to lose steam on a project before I have even started.
I may do the projects in any order I want, BUT I may not start the next project until the most recent one is completed.
Any fabric that is left unused by the time we move must be given away. Typing that last rule was hard! I may be lenient on that one if I happen to be in the middle of a project, but any bags I haven't touched must be given away. I think that's fair, and should give me an incentive to get to work on these projects!

I feel so much better having done this. It makes my masses of fabric look infinitely more manageable, and gives me some practical goals for the next months. What's best about this, though, is that if I manage to complete each of these projects before we move, I will have used up more than half of my stash. Even if I don't finish and have to give things away, it will greatly reduce the amount of fabric I have, making moving that much easier and giving me an opportunity to organize my new craft space before I begin filling it with fabric.

Who knows, maybe this will become a new practice for all my projects in the future. It's a very librarianish thing to do, if I do say so.

So, this provides me with a good idea of what needs to be done before we move. In the long term, I want to come up with ideas for prettier and more permanent storage. These plastic bins my mom used to buy me were perfect for a college-aged crafter, but I'm in need of something a little more sophisticated and inspiring if I'm to continue in my crafty ways.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- February 17th, 2012

2012-02-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

1. The love of my life is Miguelito, aka Mike. And Beatrice and Puppy <3

2. Falling in love is easy with the right person.

3. Marriage is pretty awesome, in my brief experience. Of course we fight from time to time, but since we've been married I feel like we are each a little more forgiving of the other.

4. The longest relationship I've ever had was 7 years.

5. The key to a good relationship is patience and taking pleasure in the small things. For example, at some point every night Mike and I look at each other and one of us says, "Can we get comfy now?" Then we go put on sweatpants. It's my favorite thing about weeknights.

6. I feel loved when I realize how patient my husband is. I've had a lot of mood swings lately, due to school-related stress and the worst birth control pill ever, and through all my outbursts and random bouts of cursing, Mike has been nothing but calm and sweet.

7. My favorite quote about love is I do not know a single quote off the top of my head, so I had to look this one up:

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

--Carl Sagan

Belated Valentine's Wishes

2012-02-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Valentine's, while fun, has never been my favorite holiday. My mom always left me a few sweets and toys as a kid, and Mike always gets me some chocolate or conversation hearts, but it feels so artificial and commercial.

This year, though, we decided we weren't going to give our money to CVS for overpriced chocolate and cheaply printed greeting cards. In fact, we didn't even celebrate on the actual day, since Mike had Monday off. And although we did spoil ourselves with a little Harry and David giftbox (the red velvet one; my lips are stained pink from all that food coloring), we decided to be less commercial about the whole day. Here's what we did:

We went to the California State Railroad Museum. I thought it would be mostly geared towards children, but it was really interesting and fun.

I liked the old surveyor's equipment.

Afterwards, we walked around Old Town a bit and grabbed lunch at Rio City Cafe.

Then we came home and made a heart shaped pizza and drank the sweetest thing, a most delicious but extremely potent cocktail.

It was nice to take an evening to focus on our love and our relationship. We definitely needed it, whether or not it was Valentine's Day.

I hope that each of you, whether single or attached, had a lovely week even if there were no hearts or chocolate involved.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- February 10th, 2012

2012-02-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

Another busy week flew by without a single blog post. But today is Friday, and you know what that means. Today's blanks were written by one of my favorite bloggers, Courtney from a box of paint. Join the link up with Lauren at the little things we do.

1. I started my blog because I wanted to record my crafts, cooking, and everyday life, in part for my family/friends to see but mostly as a creative challenge for myself.

2. One thing I love seeing on other blogs I love a good tutorial or posts that give advice, especially in the form of lists. I find lists extremely helpful in my day to day life, and when other people organize their thoughts that way, it makes it easier for me to comprehend.

3. Something I love about blogging I really love sharing my recipes. I feel more productive when my blog posts are giving something to readers rather than just talking at them, if that makes any sense. I find it kind of funny that I started this blog hoping to post a bunch of crafty things, and the area which I've been most inspired in is cooking. Five years ago I couldn't bake a potato.

4. A favorite blog post of mine is probably my stocking update. I remember when I posted that, I was feeling so creatively charged. Since then I've been thinking about making a handful of stockings over the next few months to sell on Etsy in the fall/winter. I could also offer to personalize them. We'll see...

5. Something my friends in real life know about me that I've never before mentioned on my blog is that in college I was the best worst student. I slacked so much, but always managed A's. It helped that I mostly took courses in the humanities, since they just required you to read and write. Most of my reading was crammed in before the exams, and my writing was always done the night before. I'm pretty sure most of my professors and TA's had a policy that if a paper at least had proper grammar/spelling, it got an A. Decent writing goes a long way, kids.

6. My new favorite blogs to read are Dusana Botswana (an awesome young lady who runs a fair trade shop featuring beautiful handmade textiles from Oaxaca/Chiapas), Sangui(knit)ie (who always has imaginative creativity-themed series. This month's topic is splurging and treating yourself), and Little Cloud(a university student in New Zealand who posts many cute, clever, and creative images and ideas.)

7. Some things I tend to avoid doing on my blog are I kind of have to go with Lauren's answer: negative things. It's not that I never post about negativity or negative thoughts, it's just that I try to think very carefully before I post anything that is pessimistic or self-deprecating. I want my blog to be a happy place, but I also want it to be honest. So I'm constantly trying to balance those two.

Thanks again to Courtney for those awesome blanks! I feel like I just did a bit of soul searching!

Handwriting Reform: It can be done!

2012-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

You may recall from last year's post about handwriting that I have insanely hard-to-read handwriting. When I print, it's always scratchy looking, and although I've had people tell me I have pretty handwriting, they all agree that it's nearly impossible to read.

Well, sometime around Christmas I decided I wanted to change it. I've always envied those who have pretty cursive handwriting,. Though I hadn't written a sentence in cursive since the SAT's (remember that part where they make you write in cursive? so weird.), I decided to relearn cursive and make it my standard form of handwriting.

Ignore the misspelling of balsamic.

I have to say that I'm loving the way my cursive is developing. It feels a bit silly, like I'm in grade school practicing my letters. But, I've seen a real improvement over the past few weeks, and it's starting to feel natural as I'm taking notes in class. Handwriting is one of those things that people think is innate, but it truly can be reformed.

All my notes this semester have been in cursive:

Do you want to relearn cursive or change the style of your handwriting? Here a few suggestions for relearning cursive as an adult:

1.) Practice, practice, practice! They say that it takes 3 weeks or 21 days to break or instill a habit, but I'd say it takes somewhat longer to alter your script. Look at every little thing you write as an opportunity to practice your letters: grocery lists are a great place to practice, because nobody but yourself has to see it. Just make sure you can read it! As you get more confident, start writing notes or letters in cursive.

2.) Start slowly. You're not going to be able to write at your normal pace if you are teaching yourself cursive. If you go too quickly, you will learn letters the wrong way, revert to your old script, have extra bumps, or just be sloppy. Take the time at first to form letters correctly. You'll get quicker with time and you'll have the handwriting that you wanted.

3.) Write on lined paper. I noticed that early on, if I wrote on unruled paper, my lines would begin to slope downward like a child's. That's because my cursive wasn't yet refined enough for me to write as neatly as I could in print. I began practicing more on my lined journal paper, and since then it's straightened out.

4.) Look for examples. Let's be honest: a couple months ago I could not remember for the life of me what an uppercase cursive Q looked like. When a skill is unused, it's easily forgotten. If you need a refresher or want to look for alternate ways to write a letter, do a google search for "Cursive handwriting" or even look through free font websites to get ideas. The Calligraphy section here has some great ideas.

I know this might seem like a silly idea for an adult, but I've heard so many people lamenting their poor penmanship that I can't be the only one wanting to change. Cursive is certainly a dying art form, so if you can master it, it can truly set you apart.

Giving into sickness and a happy update

2012-01-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

Well, fooey. After feeling a bit funny all day yesterday, I awoke straight-up sick at 2 AM this morning. I managed to get some more sleep after an hour or so of feeling restless and awful, but this morning I wandered around like a zombie and then realized I had a fever and that, yeah, I'm sick. Not just a mild little bug; I'm sick.

It's been ages since I've actually been sick. I think my commitment to regular exercise has strengthened my immune system significantly over the past couple years, but I just couldn't escape this bug.

Since college, I've always had a problem with resting when sick. I never skipped a college class due to illness, but I was sick several times during that period. I'm definitely a mind over matter type of person when it comes to physical discomfort. I always thought of it as somewhat of a virtue, but the way it prolongs illness makes it seem more like a flaw.

Already today I've done too much, even though I've been home nursing myself with honey-loaded tea. I woke up and got to work on my homework, did some dishes, called my bank, and started my laundry, and right now I'm doing a blog post. None of those tasks requires much exertion, but I'm already feeling weary and worn out. So, I vow after I finish this last load of laundry, I'm done. On the couch, TV on, tea in hand. DONE.

....but I'm still going to class tomorrow.

In memory of healthier times, here is a photo from our weekend: we set up a little candle-lit dinner on our balcony Friday night in an effort to be a bit more romantic. It was nice, if a bit chilly, but we had blankets and smiles and wine. Lovely evening <3

I almost forgot to mention, last night I found out I was accepted into my Masters program! I'll soon be on the way to becoming a librarian! Hurrah!

Two Simple Salad Dressing Recipes

2012-01-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

Before I get to the recipes, I have some creepy news. I'm fairly certain someone broke into my car over the weekend. The other morning when I was heading out to class, I opened my door to find CDs strewn about the passengers side and my ashtray, center console and cigarette lighter/adapter thingy all opened. The good news is, whoever it was did not take or damage anything (I even checked that my spare was still there.) What I think and hope happened was that they saw my auxiliary cord sitting there, figured there was an iPod or phone inside and wanted to swipe it for some quick cash.

The paranoid me is worried that they were scoping it out for something later (car theft or burglary). Thankfully, I don't leave any schedules, keys, or valuables inside my car, but it's so creepy to know some jerk was sitting in my car and trying to rip me off. After getting my car stolen last year, I've wised up a bit and I always lock my steering wheel and put on "the club" after I park., but I guess there's not much I can do to protect against break-ins.

I'm just really fed up with city living. It's loud, I can't run around here, and stupid stuff like this happens. I think this will be the year we move out of Midtown, which is sad in some ways, but it will be nice to not have strange people sleeping outside the stairwell door, trying to break into our cars or going through our trash.

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Onto happier news! When I got home from class on Tuesday, I got to work on our latest farm fresh delivery. We got radishes in our shipment, and I learned that you can use radish greens in pesto as well!

I used most of the radishes in this Spicy Radish Relish (which we had on our fish tacos last night), but I saved a couple to snack on. That's when I got the idea to develop a Peanut Ginger dressing to dip veggies and use on salad.

I thought it was a funny coincidence when I saw Elsie from A Beautiful Mess had done a post on making your own salad dressings, as I had this post in the works since Tuesday. I guess it's just a salad dressing kind of week in blogland!

The great thing about making your own dressings is that you know exactly what is going into them: there are no surprise hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup (unless you add those I guess) and you can easily control the amount of fat and calories.

So here is my recipe for Peanut Ginger Vinaigrette as well as my go-to Balsamic Dijon Dressing. I wrote these dressings in "parts," so that you can make as much or as little at a time as you like. As a simple guide, 1 Tablespoon per part will yield approximately one serving. Hope that makes sense...

Peanut Ginger Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
-2 Parts Rice Vinegar
-1 Part Natural Peanut Butter
-1 Part Honey
-1/2 Part Minced Ginger
-1/4 Part Lemon Juice

Begin by gradually mixing rice vinegar into peanut butter until mixture is smooth and liquid. Then, using whisk add lemon juice, ginger, and honey until well mixed.

This is a great dressing for Asian style salads, for an interesting slaw, or as a dip for crudites.

A note on using honey: generally speaking, you don't want to mix in honey if you are planning to keep the dressing for more than a couple days, as it tends to crystallize and make your dressing all lumpy and weird. You can substitute white sugar, or you can keep the mix without honey in the fridge and mix the honey into dressing in a separate bowl immediately before each use.

Meg's Simple Balsamic Dijon

This is the recipe I use most often. I mix it up, make it sweeter and more or less oily/vinegary by tweaking the amounts depending on what I'm craving or what else is in my salad. Feel free to tweak any or all of the proportions :)

Ingredients:
-1 Part Balsamic Vinegar
-1 Part Dijon Mustard
-1/2 Part Olive Oil
-1/2 Part Honey/Sugar
-Pinch of Salt
-Pepper to taste

Whisk vinegar, olive oil, and mustard together until smooth. Add sugar, salt and pepper. This dressing usually requires re-whisking before each use.

My favorite use for this dressing is on Spring greens with diced Fuji apples, walnuts, and goat cheese.

Happy Eating!!

Busier than normal

2012-01-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

I've been un/underemployed for far too long. So long that last week, which was not very busy to a normal person, felt pretty darn busy to me.

I started my two classes last week, Intro to Computer Science and Intro to the Library. They both seem fairly straightforward, but more work-intensive than I anticipated, so the good news is I'm sure I will be learning.

I'm excited to be back in school and happy to be learning things that I can use in my future career. Still, the first few classes were less than riveting, although I did get some serious doodling done:

Last weekend we celebrated my husbands birthday. I woke up on Sunday and baked him his favorite type of cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I think successfully baking a cake is one of the best ways to start a day. Seriously, how can you be grouchy after that?

I'm pretty proud of my first successful from-scratch cake:

I tried to write his name, but it got all blobby and turned into a heart. And then I put chocolate shavings on it because chocolate.

On Sunday evening we walked over to Tuli Bistro, just a few blocks from our apartment, and ordered from their Dine Downtown Menu. I have no pictures of our dinner, however, as that restaurant is almost pitch black. I could barely read the menu. Still, it was absolutely delicious, and we enjoyed double dessert that evening.

Then Monday night I made purple stroganoff. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but it was definitely more purple than stroganoff should be. A very nice pastel lilac, to be precise.

That's about it for now. I know I've been blogging a lot about food lately, but food is good.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- January 13th, 2012

2012-01-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

The collage above shows a few snaps from my colorful January. Our Farm Fresh produce is definitely brightening up our apartment, just check out the beautiful hue on that Mandarin orange juice.

1. The last thing I ate was a piece of pizza :x For breakfast. It was that or Mike's sugar-filled cereal, so I think I made the best choice. I usually would eat toast for breakfast, but we have no bread.

2. The last song I listened to was This Side of the Blue by Joanna Newsom. Ms. Newsom has definitely been an acquired taste for me, but at the moment I'm smitten.

3. Using the letters in my name I can spell [Meg] Gem. Margaret yields more results: rat, great, garter, gram, tram, gamer, germ, team.

4. If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick maybe...cream? Is that boring? I just feel like it looks best on me. Other colors tend to wash me out.

5. If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find my new journal that my momma got me for Christmas, my wallet, my old library badge because I can't bear to get rid of it, some feminine products, a reusable shopping bag, and a few stray advils because the bottle spilled in my bag. I keep finding them. I like to keep chapstick in my bag, but Mike usually steals it.

6. When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to start my day's knitting. I've got 4 days until my classes start, and I want to finish these damn socks. I also need to go to the store to buy some cake flour for Mr. Mike's birthday this weekend.

7. My all time favorite song to dance to is Everybody's Gonna Be Happy by the Kinks. Who could resist dancing to that?

A Foodie's Paradise + Carrot Greens Pesto Recipe

2012-01-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

This arrived at our door today. It's a our first CSA delivery. We had been meaning to sign up for ages, but just never got around to it. So I decided that signing up would be my one New Years Resolution, even though I said I wasn't making any.

I'm already in love. I broke into the box as soon as I woke up this morning (our delivery must happen at the break of dawn) and got to work rinsing, chopping, and refrigerating my fresh produce.

This is one reason why I love living in California. I have freshly picked mandarin oranges in winter. I didn't realize it until recent years, but eating is easy here. It's making my sister, who just moved to Illinois, insanely jealous that I'm receiving fresh organic produce in January.

A bunch of carrots was included in the box, and I realized I had no idea what one usually does with carrot greens. I googled and found that the best use for us would be to make a pesto, so here is my own recipe for carrot green pesto.

Sorry for the lack of pretty pictures; I didn't anticipate posting this until after I made and consumed some of it.

Carrot Greens Pesto

Ingredients:
- 1 bunch carrot greens
- A few sprigs of Italian parsley
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 T. pine nuts
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 T. grated parmesan cheese
- 1 T. vegetable stock (more if pesto seems too dry)
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt + pepper to taste

If desired, separate leaves from stems of carrot greens and parsley and discard stems. I don't mind stems in my pesto, because it's all being ground up anyway, but do as you please. Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until pesto reaches desired consistency.

As with any recipe, tweak to your tastes. Use less olive oil, no cheese and more stock for a lower fat sauce, or omit the cheese to make it vegan.

This sauce will keep for a few days, so refrigerate and use for pasta, sandwiches, or even serve it over fish or chicken.

Serving suggestion:

Instead of using on pasta, spoon pesto over pearled barley and fresh arugula. Garnish with pine nuts or fresh Italian parsley.

Civic duty ruins knitting schedule

2012-01-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

Last week was a bit annoying. I was called in for jury duty, which normally means a day of sitting around, watching bad videos, and listening to an idle (maybe retired?) judge talk for a half hour or so about how exciting it is to be a juror. It's our civic duty, and one that I usually don't mind. I've been called three times, and only voting for 5 years now. Conveniently, Sacramento has an online/call-in system where they let you know whether or not you even have to go down to the courthouse.

Well, I had to go. My first thought was "Finally I can get some knitting done!" Except they don't allow knitting needles in the courthouse. Drat. Well, then I can get some reading done. Nope.

Around 10 I got called onto a panel, meaning I was to be part of the jury pool for a trial. It was a bit exciting and interesting for the first couple hours, and the judge told us the trial was only to last 3 days at most. Well, the jury selection lasted 2 days, all because the lawyers couldn't decide on a couple alternates.

That meant that we all had to go back for a second day of jury duty. Through the whole process, I just wanted them to call me up to talk to me, and they would say, "Oh. I see your husband is a lawyer. The people would like to thank and excuse juror number x." As much as I like to think I would make a good juror, I know that a prosecutor would never let me on a jury. But I was never called up, and Ispent the whole time in the audience observing others meekly answering questions.

Anyway, the whole thing was a funny role reversal for me and Mike, because for once he didn't have court in the morning and I did. It also left my brain a bit fried, and I was thankful to spend Friday night amongst some lovely ladies watching chick-flicks at the home of The Literary Foodie.

When I saw this Lagunitas brew, Lagunitas Sucks, I instantly identified with them. The box explains that Lagunitas was unable to brew their favorite holiday beer this year, so they are packaging the same beer they already had with an apology and an explanation of why they suck.

Well, I feel similarly like a disappointment. Last week was supposed to be the time for me to finish knitting Christmas presents. And really, they were supposed to be done no later than 12/25/11. I'm a bad, bad crafter, I know, and here I am making excuses again. Maybe when I send out the gifts I will write on the box "Meg SUCKS -- Here is your overdue Christmas present."

So, I have three socks left. Think I can get them done before my classes start next week?

Retrospective

2012-01-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

With over a hundred posts, and with many of them being not exactly what I would consider quality blogging, it's hard for me to gather my thoughts and my posts for a retrospective. In part, I feel proud of what my blog has evolved into. Another part of me is constantly critical of my writing and the subjects I choose. I don't have a precise directive for this blog, which means that from month to month, week to week, post to post my blog feels different. I like the freedom to post what I want, but blogger's block sometimes has me wishing I just had a craft blog, a fashion blog, an art blog, a cooking blog, or...I dunno, a cat blog.

For me, there have been two competing concerns: is this interesting to someone else and is this true to who I am as a person? I wish that these two overlapped more often, and they do more than I think, but the truth is that image and honesty are often at odds. I see so many bloggers who post perfect pictures of perfect houses, people, children, etc. and just bask in their perfection. It seems apparent to me that they don't really live that life, but then again, blogs are public spaces, not diaries. I know that a blog is really a projection, not a documentary. I sincerely appreciated Delirious Rhapsody's recent post on this subject, on faking it, because she articulated exactly what I've been thinking as I have navigated my way through Blogland. I admire her so much for her realness on her blog, and her example helps me to forgive myself for being a real person, who doesn't quite know how to operate a fancy camera and who sometimes has to clean cat puke off the floor.

But I digress...what I really want to say is thank you. Thank you for reading, for permitting me to post whiny, whiny entries, thank you for posting kind comments. I have enjoyed my first year of 'real' blogging more than I ever imagined I would. It is always a struggle for me to know what to post, and every time I receive any sort of feedback, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside knowing that someone thought for a moment about something I wrote.

I love reading comments from random strangers, then heading over to their blogs to read about their lives. In fact, I've found some of my favorite blogs that way. Even though I have just a small following, I know that I have quality people who read what I write and who stick around even when I'm not particularly interesting. I even appreciate those who stop in for just a bit to see what this blog is all about.

So with that very long introduction, here are a few of my favorite posts from this year:

In January, I posted a tutorial for my handmade bridesmaids cards. Looking back, the formatting and photographs are just awful, but this post still gets some of the most traffic on my blog.

In March I was wrapping up my Art + Art History Workshop Series at the library, which left me and my blog a bit scatterbrained, but proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I didn't talk about it much here, but I made connections with library patrons through teaching them about my passions and learned a lot about myself and my abilities along the way.

You can see my practice Ink and Wash paintings here. That was probably my most successful class.

I completed and sent out our Save the Dates in April, using artist block, lino cut tools, Powerpoint and a little ingenuity. I loved learning a cool new subtractive technique, especially after my ceramics experience.

By May, I was struggling to design our invitations. My first concept was quite cool, but didn't quite fit with everything else. I'm still happy to have had the chance to learn a little bit about Illustrator, and I still love my graphic.

My invite re-redesign ended up being just what I never knew I wanted, and I began work on our paper rose centerpieces in July.

I got a bit carried away with those roses during the August Break, but it turns out they were just what the wedding needed. I've heard from countless people who have held onto my roses, whether they have a centerpiece on their kitchen table or just a rose or two on their mantle.

October was our wedding, and I went down a few days early to ready everything. I updated briefly when my Wish Tree came together, and got a bit stressed about the inclement weather leading up to our wedding day. But, the clouds cleared and everything came together.

Iceland turned out to be the perfect honeymoon spot for these two cat-lovers.

In November, I said thank you to all the special people in my life. It was the perfect moment to stop and reflect on the love and kindness of those around me. We shared a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner with The Literary Foodie, her husband and her neighbor, and each of us dared to try a slice of Sauerkraut Cream Pie after chowing down on some seriously delicious dinner dishes.

Last month, I power-sewed three stockings for my cousins' children and watched more bad Christmas movies than I care to recount.

I also hosted my very first, albeit small, giveaway and cooked the craziest squash dish ever.

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Although I spent the first day of the new year shut-in with a relentless headache, I'm optimistic about the coming year: I'll be taking classes, playing with my new serger, and continuing to pursue the things I love doing. This year I'm not setting resolutions. I don't think I've ever set a realistic or achievable resolution for myself; they are always vague and unattainable. But I realize that simply by deciding I want something, I get it done, regardless of the time of year. In 2008 I just stopped and said to myself, "I'm going to start running. I'll probably lose weight." I never even said to anyone that I wanted to lose weight or be healthier. I just did it: over the course of 9 months, I dropped 25 pounds and started running every day.

The point is, I know what I want and realistically can attain. So this year, I'm letting myself just do instead of plan on doing.

And the winner is...

2011-12-31T15:19:00.000-08:00

Courtney of a box of paint whose favorite cake is carrot!

Congrats Courtney! I hope you enjoy the book :) Send me a message with your address and I will mail you the book this week.

Thanks to the people who entered!

We just got in late last night and have been running errands all day. I've been trying to keep up with all y'all in blogland since I've been gone, but I went over on my data (oops...) and not enough places have free wifi. So my first new years resolution is to catch up on Google reader.

Be sure to have a safe and fun New Years Eve!

Chicago bound

2011-12-28T18:29:00.001-08:00

We are back in Urbana for the evening. We spent the day walking around, going to a local brewery and running laps in parking lots to stay warm. I was the only one that partook in that last activity, but I still enjoyed it and some locals enjoyed watching me.

Now we are huddled up indoors with our furry friends decorating cookies and watching episodes of Portlandia. We'll be heading to Chicago in the AM.

Just wanted to remind you all that my giveaway ends on Friday! There are currently five entries, so your chances are pretty darn good. Thanks to those who entered already :)

Merry Christmas from Urbana, Illinois

2011-12-24T12:12:00.001-08:00

We are here in Illinois, hanging out with doggies, rabbits, birds and a hamster. We are trying to figure out how to make a tree from evergreen bush trimmings. And I'm hoping that this post works from my phone. Apologies if the formatting is weird.

Merry Christmas to you and your families!

Love,

Meg
A Little to the Left

Squashception.

2011-12-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

While my friends were visiting, they went over to the Davis Farmer's Market while Mike and I stayed in Sacramento to do errands. I asked T. if she could pick up some squash for me, any squash that looked good. What she did was buy me every damn type of squash that exists. Needless to say, this has interrupted my normal cooking schedule as I'm trying to use up all the gigantic, thick skinned fruits living in my kitchen before we head off for the holidays. It's turned out to be a good thing, though, because I've had to be resourceful and creative in order to cook more than one squash each night.

I've named last night's creation, Squashception: A Squash Within a Squash. I don't have a recipe, because I really was just winging it, but I'll try to describe what I did in case anyone wants to recreate it. It was pretty delicious, and I imagine somewhat healthy.

All you need is a spaghetti squash, butternut squash, onion, olive oil, basic spices, and optional half and half and cream cheese (I think it would taste fine without the dairy.)

I started off by roasting some cubed butternut squash with red onions, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper at 375 F. When that was finished (about 20-30 minutes), I blended it all in my food processor and put a halved spaghetti squash into the still-heated oven. On the range, I heated some oil in a pan, then cooked some garlic in it for about 45 seconds, and added the butternut mixture. I added a tablespoon or so of cream cheese, a quarter cup of half and half, and a pinch of cayenne to the sauce.

The spaghetti squash stayed in for about 45 minutes. I was so amazed that I didn't have to do anything to it beyond cutting it in half and scraping it out at the end. I topped it with the butternut sauce and paired it with some simple roasted asparagus.

Best. Dinner. Ever. And way easier than I expected.

And here is some simple roasted acorn squash. Halved, brushed with olive oil, garlic, salt, and rosemary, and roasted at 375 for about 45 minutes.

I never knew squash could be so low maintenance. I'm in love.

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In other news, I finally started a facebook page for the blog. If you are so inclined, you can like it in the box to the left (haha, to the left!) Or here is the link. I'm still unsure about a twitter. I really don't need another addiction.

And my giveaway will be open through next Friday. It's easy as cake to enter!

Weekend With Friends

2011-12-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

I had sooooo much fun this weekend with my friends. Two of my college roommates drove up from L.A. to visit, and throughout the weekend I met up with other friends.

We started the weekend with a drive around East Sac to see the Christmas lights. I took pictures with my phone, but for whatever reason it didn't save them, so just picture, if you will, the most exquisite, elaborate lights on giant rich people houses.

Later that night we settled in at home with hot cocoa, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and a mini Christmas gift exchange.

My friend Liz got us these hats from Disney.

We got them goofy little gifts, including a journal from Heather Mattoon's Cats in Clothes, which for whatever reason I didn't get a picture of. Pictured are some expletive bandaids and a realistic Mario T-shirt.

On Saturday we drove to Modesto to see our friend Matt perform at a Christmas show. This is before he went on, so he's a bit anxious.

Sunday we painted mugs and one bowl at Color Me Mine. It reminded me of this place I used to go to as a child, called Kids n Paint.

I dotted my mug with all different colors after being assured that the glaze wouldn't drip in the kiln. My ceramics glaze mixing days scarred me a bit.

I can't wait to see how it fires.

After we painted our pieces, we came home and constructed a gingerbread house. The paste didn't stick very well.

This was the first time in probably 20 years that I've made a gingerbread house. It was so magical it turned my tongue blue.

Here is our gingerbread man and his wife.

Isn't she lovely?

Later we met up with more friends for a fancy dinner at Formoli's. They had cucumber infused water--deicious!

The night was complete with cake and a special appearance by Santa.

Finally, we stopped by our friends' house for a little holiday party. The photos of people didn't turn out, but I got Murtry to stand still for his portrait.

What an amazing weekend! I'm so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful friends.

Later this week, Mike and I will be having our own little Christmas before we head back to the midwest. Our tradition is to get Chinese and watch Love Actually, just the two of us. It's our little thing. Anyone else have strange/cute/romantic holiday traditions?

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway! You can win a hardcover copy of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake!

Birthday/100th Post Giveaway Extravaganza!

2011-12-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday! I spent all weekend doing awesome things with tons of amazing people. There was a concert/benefit, a painting session at Color Me Mine, a gingerbread house construction, a delicious dinner (complete with a visit from Santa), and then a super fun holiday party last night.

Today also happens to be my 100th post of 2011. So, in honor of those two things, I'm hosting my very first giveaway, and the prize is aptly about cake! If you enter, you can win one of my favorite book club books from this year, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.

Protagonist Rose, develops a strange magical sense on the eve of her 9th birthday: she can taste her mother's sadness in her birthday cake. This supernatural gift feels more like a curse, as Rose is doomed to taste the intimate feelings of complete strangers, and worse, to learn her family's secrets through her mother's cooking. As someone who is endlessly fascinated by synesthesia and other natural wonders of the brain, I loved this book. It's such a quick and entertaining read. I'm so excited to be able to share this book with one of you lucky readers!

Here is how you can enter:

1.) Be a follower of A Little to the Left and leave a comment telling me your favorite kind of cake (mandatory)
2.) Mention this giveaway on your blog/facebook/twitter and leave another comment telling me you did so (This one is optional. Leave separate comments for each mention!)

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere with a postal address.

Now, since it's the holidays, and everybody is busy traveling, shopping, and wrapping gifts, I will leave the giveaway open through next Friday, December 30th. Then on the 31st, after we get back from the midwest, I will randomly chose a winner. One lucky winner will have a new book for the new year!

Good luck and thanks for reading!!!

My recent absence

2011-12-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

I'm very frustrated right now. Blogger isn't working on this computer (I'm in blogger in draft right now, which is okay, I guess.) I was trying to delete a blog from my feed; couldn't figure it out, so I tried switching back to the old layout. Then it just got caught up in this endless loop of "redirecting; connecting; redirecting; connecting" ad infinitum or browser-crash-um. I was ready to do a whole post about our homemade wrapping paper, but instead I spent my time clearing the cache, cookies, history, and doing a clean install of firefox. I can get it to work on any other computer on any browser, but this computer running firefox will not let me access my normal account.

My Mario/Lobster wrapping paper.

On top of that, I'm having issues getting my transcripts sent correctly. Apparently I sent them without the required cover sheet, so they're making me resend them, and now UCD is being stupid about authorizing them. For some reason, I can no longer fax my release. I have to send it snail mail. Now, nobody told me that. Rather, I faxed it twice after they told me they hadn't received anything. Then I looked through the registrar's page, and buried in a mound of bullet points was the minor detail that won't accept faxed forms. What's strange is that last time I requested a transcript, they let me fax the release and it went through just fine. But that one didn't have the right attachment. Boo.

And the cherry on top of all this crap is that a cafe served me a ceramic shard sandwich. I nearly chipped a tooth.

One of my knitting needles also snapped right in half.

So please excuse me if I don't have any interesting posts for a while. My life is currently filled with FAIL.

What's in my Workshop?

2011-12-07T09:25:00.001-08:00

If you walked into my craft room this week, you might think you made a wrong turn and ended up at the North Pole.

I've been working hard to finish up stockings for my cousins' children, all the while watching inane Christmas movies on my phone's Netflix app. Their selection is...dismal. But that doesn't stop me.

But about the stockings: last year my cousin commissioned a full-size stocking for her 11 month old daughter. This was back when I was selling on Etsy. After she received the stocking, she and my aunt asked me if I would make stockings for all my aunt's grandchildren. I happily accepted the challenge, but soon after I got engaged and was all caught up in wedding stuff.

So I was a bit behind. But since the wedding, my creative spark has been recharged and Stocking Central is in full swing.

I mix a lot of fabrics that you probably aren't supposed to. In fact, I do a lot of things that would probably make more seasoned sewers cringe.

I really love Liam's stocking. They asked me to sew a lion, and initially I had no idea how to incorporate that without it seeming too juvenile. He's the older brother, and I didn't think a cartoonish lion would go over well. But after some sketching, I think I came up with something appropriate.

What I really love about this project is that they have given me pretty much free reign. They said they wanted animals like on Paisley's stocking, but beyond that they left me free to do what I want.

As a crafter, a lot of people will ask you to make things for them. I'm happy to oblige, but sometimes their expectations can be a bit out of touch with what I can realistically make. But since both my aunt and cousin are creative types, I think they understood that sometimes less direction is better.

So that's what I've been up to!

I've also been trying to catch up on all YOUR blogs. Ever since Thanksgiving and our little post-Thanksgiving road trip my feed has gotten terribly backed up. I still have more than 300 posts to read, and that number grows by the minute! But reddit is down, so maybe after I finish my daily stocking session I will finally catch up.

Sauerkraut Cream Pie

2011-11-27T17:38:00.001-08:00

This was my first Thanksgiving away from family. We usually drive down to San Diego, but after all our wedding-related road trips, we just couldn't bear the thought of another drive down I-5, especially when we knew the road would be crowded with thousands of other drivers trying to get home. The Literary Foodie graciously invited us into her home for a Thanksgiving meal, and we sampled some of the greatest holiday cooking I've ever had. I say sampled because there was so much food, I could barely fit more than a spoonful of each dish onto my plate.

New favorite: Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts. Can you believe I'd never had a Brussels Sprout before this?

Yummy vegetarian stuffing

Sweet potato and Kale Quinoa Salad

Needless to say, we had a great meal. And we followed it up with an interesting dessert.

I know this sounds nasty, and most of you probably think I am off my rocker for having baked this, but Sauerkraut Cream Pie is my newest Thanksgiving staple. It is not to be confused with Sauerkraut Pie, which is a savory, quiche-like German dish, and is probably a little bit easier for the mind and taste buds to accept.

Where did I even get the idea to make this? It all started when I found an intriguing story online in which a jovial baker shared a recipe for Sauerkraut Custard Pie with a local family. As the story went, the family were in disbelief, thinking their baker must have been pulling a practical joke. To get back at him, they decided to bake what they expected to be a monstrosity of a dessert and bring it to the bakery for the trickster to see. Upon receiving the pie, the baker smiled, cut a big slice, and delighted in the first bite.

I read this article maybe a month ago and decided to give this pie a whirl. When I tried to refer back to the original story, I found the link was dead and I haven't been able to find any trace of it since.

Tracking down a recipe was a bit of a challenge. This seems to be the only well-rated version I can find, but I feel like the world must know about this culinary oddity. So, for those brave enough, here is the recipe (please note, this is not my own recipe, though I have made a few modifications. I take no credit; I merely want to share it):

Sauerkraut Cream Pie
Makes two pies. I only made one and cut the recipe in half using 3 eggs.

1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained, rinsed--I actually used 1 cup for 1 pie. I would recommend using much more that half a cup if you are making 2 pies.
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons flour
5 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Drain sauerkraut and rinse in cold water for about 30 seconds. Squeeze dry.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Stir in flour, cornmeal, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, and sauerkraut. Mix well and pour into two prepared 9 inch pie crusts.
3. Bake for 45 to an hour, until knife inserted comes out clean.

The pie was a surprising success! Though, our stomachs barely had room for dessert.

Small Business Saturday

2011-11-23T12:10:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to remind you all that this weekend is Small Business Saturday. Yes, we all know of Black Friday and some of you may even be rushing out at 5 AM to get the big deals. But don't do all your holiday shopping at big retail stores! Get out there and support your local shops and businesses this Saturday and always!

Sweet Dreams Pillow Cover

2011-11-20T17:50:00.001-08:00

We got all sorts of new bedding for our wedding: new sheets, new duvet cover, and a fluffy, warm alternative down. I love getting under the covers now, because I don't have to worry about our quilt slipping off in the middle of the night. We are all cozy through the night, and since we got the new bedding Bea has been sleeping with us consistently.

But we didn't think to ask for a coordinating throw pillow, and without it, the bed looked pretty bland and blah.

This picture makes it look like everything matches perfectly, but in reality we have four different shades of navy on our bed. Oh well.

So I set out to make this simple navy and white pillow cover for our existing throw pillow. It turned out better than I expected! I used only spare fabric I already had, meaning that the materials weren't exactly ideal for the project at hand. Still, it worked out great.

What I love most about our new bed is that everything is changeable. We can buy infinite duvet covers and simply switch them out when we get tired of one, and I can always make new pillow cases to match!

I'm so happy with how this came out that I'm now designing more pillow cases for our couch throw pillows.

p.s. I have a couple new buttons on the left for anyone who is interested! And of course, there is still the button made by the lovely Mrs. Biscuit!

Saturday Morning Banana Sour Cream Spice Cake -- Mommy's Recipe

2011-11-19T11:27:00.001-08:00

Last night, before bed, I got the brilliant idea that I would wake up this morning and make some banana bread. I had two overripe bananas sitting in our fruit bowl, and felt pretty guilty about not eating even one of them this week. So I emailed Mike, who was already dozing off at that point, and told him to remind me to bake banana bread when I woke up.

Even though we slept in, my loving husband dutifully informed me about the strange banana bread email I had sent him the night before. So I brought out our family recipe book (published by my oh-so talented cousin), and turned to my mama's section.

Our awesome family cook book

Now that my bread has been baked and enjoyed, I thought I would share this tasty recipe with the rest of the world! It's a very simple one, so if you are afraid of baking like I am, have no fear. It would be hard to mess this one up. The only things I changed were the whole wheat flour and the spice amounts--I add more so that the flavor comes through, but if you like it less spicy then cut the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in half. So here you go:

Banana Sour Cream Spice Cake
makes 8 servings
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
-2 large eggs
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup sour cream
-1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 cups all-purpose flour (This time I did 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat. It turned out well, but I'm not sure how all whole wheat would work.)
-2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
-Confectioners' sugar for dusting cake

In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, sour cream, bananas, and vanilla until well blended. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Fold flour mixture into banana mixture just until well-blended (do NOT over mix). Scrape batter into a buttered and floured 9 inch square baking pan.

Bake until top springs back when gently pressed and a skewer inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 to 35 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar before cutting into squares. Serve warm or cool from pan.

You can double the recipe and bake in a bundt pan for 45-50 minutes.

Now, the final step is very important--eat and enjoy!

Yummy!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

This post is part of the Give Thanks Link-Up Party organized by After Nine to Five, Julie Ann Art, and AdelynSTONE.

If you'd like to share your own thankful thoughts, head on over and link up!

This comes on the heels of our wedding, when people really showed us their love and generosity, so I feel that I have more to be thankful for than I can adequately express. That also means that I have TONS of photos for this post! Yay!

My thankful thoughts after the jump...

My Husband, Our Wedding, and Our Honeymoon.

Man, do I love that man.

I wasn't one of those girls who fantasized much about my wedding dress, my engagement ring, or anything else wedding related. In fact, I didn't even think about what went into a wedding until my sister got married last year. But as our wedding was happening, I understood it was all perfect. The photo above made me realize something: anytime something goes wrong, big or small, I'll have my best friend here with me to see me through. Our venue made our wedding much harder and more stressful than it had to be, and they neglected several of their duties including providing us with a knife for our cake cutting. But still, we just floated through the day. We tried our hardest not to let their shortcomings interfere with our fun. Seconds before this photo was snapped, I was freaking out and mouthing the word "Knife??" in confusion to the catering lady who just stared at me blankly. But Mike was patient and just told me to go along with it. So this photo shows us just rolling with it, feeding each other the icing corners of our top cake that we had scraped off with forks, and still having a blast. We honestly had no clue what we were doing.

I'm grateful that the two of us got to go on the adventure of a lifetime in Iceland for our honeymoon. It was such an enchanting place, and although not all our family and friends really understood the appeal, they all chipped in to our honeyfund and made it possible. When it comes to traveling, I feel like the two of us are the same speed: we want to see and do as much as we can, but often on our terms and only seldom with tour guides. Plus, we know when we need a night to relax, eat pizza, and watch pirated episodes of America's Next Top Model. And we did just that after a day of climbing Iceland's smallest mountain.

Our Friends.

These are the people that watch your cat when you are gone. They're the people that go to the pumpkin patch with you. These are the people who will cook Thanksgiving dinner with you, because in this town, you're the closest thing to family. They help you keep tradition alive when you are far from your family, and help you start traditions that will memorialize this new phase of your life.

They will fly out to your wedding, stand in their places, do what they're told. They know how important this day is to you, and no matter how silly they think your new wife is, they won't screw it up.

They will drive you to your early morning hair appointment, finish your breakfast for you when your nerves are too high, and ask their boyfriend to be disc jockey for your ceremony. They will giggle with you, calm you down with stupid jokes when you are freaking out before the wedding. They will wear makeup, even though they don't know what foundation is, and will even don a dress they may not like so much in front of all your friends and family. And they will be smiling and laughing the whole time.

They will take care of everything while you are freaking out about remembering your vows. They will put your centerpieces in their places, make your reception hall beautiful, drive your stepmom around before and after the wedding. And they will do this without expectation of reward; they do all this just because they are good people and they care about you.

These are your friends.

My Family.

Nobody understands you quite like a sister. She grew up where you did, so she knows what it was like unlike anyone else. I learned tricks from my sister. I learned the true story from her, because unlike my parents, she knew when I was old enough to not need the constant sheltering/protection.

When we were little, we fought, of course. But as she matured, she became not just a sister, but a role model and a friend. She had to struggle through everything first, and she made sure to tell me what she learned. Her experience and willingness to share made my life easier. She has always given me the wisest advice. Katie, this is what I meant to say in my toast last year, so hopefully it finally makes sense.

I bet you can guess who is my mom and who is my mother-in-law.

I grew up with the most reasonable mothers in existence, I think. She rarely raised her voice; I bet the last time was probably when I was 11 or so. Seriously. She understood that adolescence sucks, and being an overbearing parent doesn't help. She was there when I needed her, but respected my privacy and empowered me with the trust that I would not royally f*** up. She was a patient and loving parent (still is.)

This year, I spent a lot more time at home than I usually do, and I had a lot of fun doing mommy daughter things as adults. I think we got fish tacos about 10 times this year, always splitting a beer, and laughing at how they had spelled her name on the receipt (Sherrin, Sharren, they get creative.) We shopped an ungodly amount, looking for wedding outfits, makeup, etc. I always have fun with her, and she never fails to laugh at my dumb jokes and mumbled sarcasm.

Now I look forward to our phone chats. We talk art, we discuss books, we joke. I love my mommy.

My Stepmom is one of the most selfless and sweetest people in my life. I know that not everybody gets along well with stepparents, which is why I feel so lucky to have a stepmom I love and who loves me back. I couldn't imagine growing up without her. She had this sort of stabilizing effect on my dad, and when she moved in, his place started to feel more like a home and less like a rented apartment. She and my dad had a beautiful marriage, and she will always hold a special place in my heart.

These three strong, intelligent women are my family and I couldn't be more grateful for their love, guidance and support.

This Life.
I love living in Sacramento, even when I hate it.
I love going to the park for my run and seeing all the happy people having fun and returning soccer balls that roll into my path.
I love having a craft room and the ability and reasources to be creative.
I love reading, meeting with my book club, and sipping hot chocolate while talking about this month's novel.
I love lighting candles in the evening, snuggling with my husband, and watching Thursday night TV.
I love that cat that sleeps at my feet all night and begs me to throw her mouse for her before bed.
I love it all.

Lastly, I'm thankful to my brother-in-law, who took all those beautiful wedding photos! He has been a great presence in my life for several years, and he really rose to the challenge of documenting our wedding. It means the world to us to have wedding photos that were taken with love by someone we care about.

I'm dreaming of a new journal

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have this crazy love for brand new, empty notebooks. I love having something blank to fill in with drawings, musings, and ideas. But I realized recently that I haven't bought or received a new journal in quite some time.

I think it started in college, when I found that years of collecting and half-filling notebooks had left me with a glut of blank pages, and I determined to fill those in. Somehow, all my notebooks found their way back home to my mom's house or into the dumpster between apartments. And looking around now, I only have a travel journal, which somehow filled up with sad sentiments, and my class notebooks, which invariably fell apart during their quarters in use.

So I've been eying journals on Etsy. I need something nice and sturdy, with binding that will hold up in purses, backpacks, and suitcases.

I'm loving this Beetlejuice journal from n3do on Etsy. I would feel pretty awesome pulling this out in the middle of a cafe to jot down some ideas.

Or, if I wanted something prettier, I could go with this lovely tri-fold journal from BlueToad.

Lastly, I love this journal for its retro-vibe and spacious pages. From angelicquirk on Etsy.

Wedding Tunes

2011-11-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

It took us a while to figure out exactly what songs we wanted for our wedding, but the whole time we knew they had to be untraditional. Music played such an important role in our early relationship and getting to know each other, and every time I put on an old album it takes me back to a different place and time with Mike.

While my grandma and our four moms were being escorted to their seats, we played Razzle Dazzle Rose by Camera Obscura. The song has such an understated excitement, and every time I hear it now I remember all that nervous energy I had in the back room, wondering how many people are out there, did they set up the umbrellas, will Mike be able to make his way back to me so we can walk together. This song gave and continues to give me such a rush of happy anxiety, which is the only good kind, I think.

Magic color-changing bridesmaids dresses!

As my bridesmaids walked down the aisle, we played Piazza, New York Catcher by Belle and Sebastian, a song which I was totally unsure about before the wedding. Then we remembered that it was the first song that I sent to Mike over AIM when we first started dating. On the day, it sounded lovely and we received so many compliments on our music choices that I don't regret a thing, not even a song about baseball that asks whether Mike Piazza was gay.

Mike and I chose to walk down the aisle together to Benedictus performed by Simon & Garfunkel. The recording is so timeless, a bit on the untraditional side but still very wedding appropriate. I'll never forget that feeling when we walked out to see all those smiling faces. I could only glance at them because seeing them all there made me terribly nervous, but it was a great comfort to be holding onto the arm of my best friend and now-husband.

None of these will ever be the same to hear. I love that our big day can always be relived by listening to some of our favorite music. Each of these songs now carries a new memory, their meanings are forever altered in our minds.

This is just too much...

2011-11-11T11:45:00.001-08:00

Bourbon Pumpkin Pie Milkshake from How Sweet It Is

Wouldn't this make a great breakfast? Okay, maybe it's more appropriate as a dessert, but I really need to try this.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- November 11th, 2011

2011-11-11T11:02:00.001-08:00

A photograph from the viewing deck of Perlan in Reykjavík.

1.   My favorite new blog of the moment is After Nine to Five. I just discovered it. I love that Ashley seems to have something for every day (Wordless Wednesday, Food Day Friday), but she still mixes it up from time to time.

2.   Something I am thankful for is my Sacramento friends. I know I've said it a million times before, but it is so hard to make friends after college, so I'm thankful to have so many awesome people in my life.

3.  Something that made me laugh this week was not to get too political, but I must say Rick Perry has been rather amusing this week.

4. An item that is currently on my wish list is interchangeable knitting needles.

5.  I am excited about Thanksgiving with our friends and going to Illinois to see my sister for Christmas!

6.  If I were a color I would be I feel like I've answered this before...while my favorite color is yellow, I would probably be purple. Enough blue to seem calm, but a dash of passionate red in there.

7.  My favorite way to spend a chilly fall day is by going for an afternoon run (running in chilly weather is the best) and then coming home to tea, candles, and snuggles on the couch.

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This is my 90th post this year, which means I'm only 10 posts away from 100 posts for the first year of my blog! I think I can definitely do 10 posts over the next 7 or so weeks that remain in the year.

I'll have to have SOME sort of special event for my 100th post, maybe a giveaway? Hmmm...

Our Weekend

2011-11-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

We took it easy this weekend. It was our first weekend alone, at home, as a married couple, and it was lovely. The weather has really started to feel like autumn (thank goodness!), so we spent a lot of time cuddled up with blankets.

Here is what I've been up to, in photos:

We've been counting down the days to Thanksgiving! I took the photo a few days ago. I believe Thanksgiving is now 17 days away. My cousin made us this adorable chalk board as a wedding gift. She is super talented, so if you like what you see you should check out her Etsy shop. Her earrings make great Christmas gifts!

We built a fort for Beatrice in our living room. I'm not sure what prompted me to do this, but she loved it!

{Via}

We watched The Trip this weekend. It was hilarious and a bit depressing at the same time. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are brilliant. They do back and forth celebrity impersonations while eating at gourmet English restaurants. It's a bit of comedy sprinkled over a somewhat sad story of ego and alienation. This American did have to turn on the subtitles during certain scenes. Foodies will appreciate the dish descriptions and kitchen scenes. We got the DVD in the mail just as it was added to the instant library, so if you do Netflix you can watch it streaming now.

I've been baking A LOT. Pictured are some biscuits we had with dinner last night (they tasted a lot like KFC biscuits) and some double chocolate oatmeal cookies that I made today. Yum!

I've been working hard on our Thank You cards. This is one of the things that nobody ever tells you about getting married: the thank you cards take FOREVER! I think I have about five left. I've been trying to write some personal, thoughtful things in them, so that might be why it's taking so long. I bought the cards in-store at Paper Source while I was in San Diego, but you can also find them here. Aren't they pretty?

Lastly, I've been trying to brush up on my knitting skills in time for Christmas. This is just an acrylic hat I'm doing for practice, but hopefully I'll be able to wear it if it looks nice enough.

That's all for now.

This week I'm hoping to write some posts about the details of the wedding. Tomorrow marks one month since the ceremony!

Halloween Special -- Death of a Pumpkin

2011-10-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we carved pumpkins!

We have no place outside to set up a jack-o-lantern, so we kept it inside...

our hot and apparently very humid house.

Stickers are fun.

I really wanted to see if I could keep him until today (Halloween) , if only to see what state he would be in.

But he just kept getting worse...

Oh dear...

Then Friday I relented because I didn't want us to die from toxic mould.

GLUURUUGHHHGUUALLL

The end!

Fill in the Blank Friday -- October 28th, 2011

2011-10-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

1. When I was a kid I wanted to be a singer/songwriter when I grew up. I think it's quite common for us shy folks to have stage fantasies.

2. As an adult, my dream job would be a full-time crafter or perhaps a librarian who puts on lots of craft programs.

3. W hen I was younger I wanted to be just like Tori Amos. I seriously loved that woman.

4. The childhood Halloween costume that I remember most was when I was Michelle from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. I was an awesome eleven-year-old.

5. My favorite childhood toy was my paper doll collection. My friend and I spent hours upon hours drawing and cutting out paper dolls. We had every personality imaginable.

6. The time I got into the biggest amount of trouble when I was a kid was when I stood on a soccer ball. And I mean I got myself into trouble by breaking my arm; nobody punished me because I think a displaced arm is punishment enough. I honestly never really got in trouble for anything in school, and hardly ever got in trouble with my parents.

7. I get daily inspiration from the changing colors around me. I loved Iceland because the sky was such a different shade at sunrise, midday and sunset. And here, I love looking out the balcony door at the sunset over the city. The silhouettes of the buildings against the pink and orange sky is spectacular.

Play along with Lauren here!

I've been in a really sniffly funk this week. Coming down from the high of the wedding and honeymoon and being sick has made me inexcusably lethargic and moody, but I'm hoping to start next week on a better note.

Iceland: Land of Fire and...Cats?

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to all the kettlingar(Icelandic for kittens) of Iceland. Thank you for your hospitality and affection.

We met so many sweet little kittens on the streets of Reykjavik and out in the suburb of Hafnarfjörður. Some of them were shy, some were aloof, and some were quite affectionate.

Here are some photos of our furry tour guides (with a bunny thrown in for good measure):

This cat came and sat next to me at the bus stop.

A cold kitten.

There are lots of good hiding places in Iceland.


Can you find the kitten? It's tricky. Click below for the answer...

Visions of Autumn

2011-10-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

It still feels nothing like autumn outside, but inside our apartment it is starting to feel a bit cozier. And it's a good thing, because I'm at home feeling pretty sick today.

Earlier this week I made an autumn garland and some pumpkin spice muffins. I also picked up some pumpkin scented candles and fall-themed beers.

Last weekend we went to a vampire ball and then the pumpkin patch with The Literary Foodie.We carved pumpkins and watched Cujo, which I had never seen before.

So I'd say we're doing pretty well on autumn traditions. I'm still dying for some cold weather, but I know it will come eventually.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- October 21st, 2011

2011-10-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Fill in the Blank Friday is from Lauren's Blog - The Little Things We Do

1. Nothing says fall like brisk weather, which we definitely don't have here. Iceland was perfect, in the 40s and 50s.

2. My favorite autumnal tradition is carving pumpkins and crunching leaves on the sidewalk!

3. My favorite fall treat is hearty soup. For a couple years I was making the most delicious curried butternut squash soup. I'll have to bring it back this year, but it is such an ordeal.

4. Fall makes me think of when I first met Mike. Now it will always make me think of getting married.

5. Autumn free form word association, go! Fiery colored leaves, damp sidewalk, pumpkins, gourds, cold nose, sweaters and scarves.

6. My go-to outfit in the fall is tights under everything! As long as it is cold, and it definitely is not. At least I got to rock my fall wardrobe in Iceland.

7. My favorite fall holiday is Thanksgiving. Even though I'm a vegetarian, the holiday made me realize how sweet and accommodating my family is. My poor aunt has had to edit nearly all of her recipes for me and my sister, but she does it happily. This year I think we're having our own Thanksgiving in Sacramento, hopefully with a few friends.

If you'd like to play along, just visit Lauren's blog.

And...we're back!

2011-10-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Mike and Meg sitting atop Asfjoll, "Iceland's Smallest Mountain"

Whew!!!

It's been an amazing two weeks. I can't believe all that has happened.

We had a wonderful trip to Iceland and I have so much to write about! Really, I have so much to post about. So this might turn into an all-Iceland blog for a while, with a dash of wedding posts.

At Hellisgerði in Hafnarfjörður, a park which is said to be home to many Hidden People.

I think I must have taken close to a thousand pictures in Iceland, and I'm being completely serious. Today I found an accidental video on our little camera in which I can be heard saying to Mike, "I want my camera." Lord knows how many times I said that on the trip.

Gullfoss, meaning Gold Falls. It was overcast so it didn't look very golden.

Needless to say, it's going to take me a while to sort through it all. I'm hoping to order a photo book or two of our wedding pictures and probably one for our honeymoon photos. But there are so many companies to chose from, and I don't know which one works best. Right now I'm thinking of going with Blurb.

Have you ever designed and ordered a photo book online? Which website did you use and how did you like it?

Sneak Peek

2011-10-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a little preview of our wedding photos. This one is from my little point and shoot that I handed off to my friend J.

We just turned in our certificate and we're heading to Iceland in just a few short hours! I will be back with lots to post about on October 20th!

Dispatches from San Diego (AKA Wedding Central)

2011-10-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

We're almost there! And it's starting to feel like it. Today, Mike and T. are driving down from Sacramento, and Mike's brother and one of his groomsmen are flying in.

I just have small tasks left. I've been buying gourds and pumpkins for random decor. Yesterday I trimmed the manzanita branch that will be our wish tree. My mom's friend, who lives up in the mountains, kindly brought it down to my mom for me. The bushes are abundant on her property, so she looked all over for a good, branchy branch. I think it's perfect:

Somehow, it feels like everything is taken care of! I'm proud of myself, because I am usually a major procrastinator. Yet I've managed to get most things done on a reasonable schedule . So much of that is thanks to the help of so many wonderful people. I think one of my favorite things about the process of getting married is the way it connects you to others--people open up to you about their wedding, their journey, and their love. Everyone is excited for us but also excited to relive their own experiences. Special shout out to The Literary Foodie, who helped me with my centerpieces and provided much support and advice (and produce.)

Now if only this storm would pass and the sun would come out!

A preemptive apology

2011-09-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go ahead and say sorry now, because I know I will barely have time to check in over the next few weeks. I will try to keep up with everybody's blog, but my comments may be sparse and I honestly don't know whether you will see another post on A Little to the Left until we near the end of
October.

Yesterday, the stress really set in. I don't know why yesterday, and not last week. Maybe because it has finally sunk in that the wedding is less than a month away.

Last night I was tossing and turning, dreaming about conversations with our cake vendors an the catering manager. Itching mosquito bites woke me up at 2 AM, and I started to go through all the things I would need to do today. I was awake for another hour or so, making mental lists and nearly scratching the skin off my legs.

But despite all the stress, I couldn't be happier or more excited than I'm currently feeling. I saw T. in her whole bridesmaid getup (dress, shoes, bouquet) and I just started beaming. My mom finally found an outfit to wear that evening, and let me just tell you, she will be the most stylin' Mama of the bride ever. I've also decided on my "something blue," and now all I need is something borrowed.

Mike and I went out to dinner to commemorate our first date on Sunday, and they played all the songs we used to put on mix CD's when we first started dating. We didn't ask them to, it just happened. And it was perfect.

The Decisive Moment

2011-09-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Although I'm currently only equipped with my cell phone camera, I think the August Break had a lasting effect on me. I can't stop seeing the world photographically. I'm not the greatest photographer, but I find that every now and then I can snap at just the right moment to get a lovely shot. Everything has been so pretty here, but this humidity we're having is causing me to melt (I read it's going to be 76% today! This is unheard of in San Diego.)

I'm just about to take that lady to the dentist. Just a couple more days until I return to the dry heat of Sacramento.

Back to my Birthplace

2011-09-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

I am in San Diego, for my 6th (maybe 7th?) trip this year. It seems absolutely insane to have traversed the central valley so many times in less than a year and I'm starting to wonder what this wedding has already cost us just in terms of gas and one-way plane tickets. It's better not to do the math.

We drove down Friday. The hatchback was loaded with our crazy centerpieces:

There were a few casualties along the way, but not in the way you'd expect. I was sure our bags would crush some, but that is clearly not what happened. Here's the story: I used a low-heat glue gun to affix the buds to the stems, and apparently the rear of the car reached a temperature comparable to my glue gun. If you just touched a flower it would drop off. Not all of them fell off, and they've since cooled. So I'm going back with a higher heat glue gun and reattaching the poor flowers' heads.

Now they are resting atop our baby grand, where I quite like them because I've been playing the piano incessantly since we got here.

I think they look lovely there, but I am also insane.

These must be the most documented paper roses ever to exist. I've probably written 5 posts about them by now, no? You all must be sick of it...

So, my plan for this week: hair consultation, see some old friends, dress fitting, reattach roses, and run, run, run (because it's 72 degrees here every day!)

Tuesday Tune -- If You're Feeling Sinister

2011-08-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

I rediscovered the song while driving back from picking up our wedding bands today. It's been at least a couple years since I've listened to it. Enjoy <3

And, if you'd like to play along, link up at Luisa's blog: It must be (so)... liberating

I've been neglecting the August Break

2011-08-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

But I'm pretty sure the point of it is to take it easy with blogging, so here are a few shots from my phone (because I always forget I have a nice camera).

Went to hang out in S.F. with T.

Summers are a lovely shade of gray in San Francisco

On the river in Sac, about 30 degrees hotter than S.F.

Bea toes.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- August 26th, 2011

2011-08-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

1. One of life's most simple pleasures is cookies. I needs them.

2. Dealing with rude people at work makes me want to punch someone.

3. I like Beatrice because, she is goofy.

4. Masticate is a funny word.

5. If I had to choose one beauty product to use for the rest of eternity it would be rose water.

6. I'm happy that I get to leave the country soon (Honeymoon!)

7. I would never grow my hair out longer than it is right now. It's such a pain.

As always, if you'd like to play along head on over to Lauren's blog.

More treasures

2011-08-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

A painting by my great grandmother.

A couple weeks ago we went down to San Diego to do some wedding tasks. While staying with my mom, I was tasked with going through boxes of my dad's things left behind by my sister. My sister and her husband moved to Illinois a few weeks ago and at the same time my step mom moved into a new condo, so, the three of them had to empty out my dad's house, which meant going through hundreds of boxes of my dad's things. They weeded out the things that weren't so important, but there were so many things that they couldn't bear to throw away. When I visited, I narrowed down those things to the most important family heirlooms and what we could realistically fit into our apartment. Among the treasures:

-My dad's stamp collection, including a stamp book originally belonging to my Nana

-Three paintings by my great grandmother

-My dad's Cub Scout handbook

-Some sheet music which I believe belonged to my great aunt

I tried not to go too crazy when deciding what to keep. I have the hardest time letting go of material objects, especially when they hold some sentimental value. But now I feel happy and a little bit more at home with these relics in our apartment.

Family Treasures

2011-08-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

From my dad's old stamp book.

Fill in the Blank Friday -- August 12th, 2011

2011-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

1. My most favorite birthday was the first birthday I spent with Mike. He was heading back east to visit family for the holidays, but he decided to stay a bit longer so that he wouldn't miss my birthday. We ordered Chinese food and watched Love Actually. It has sort of become a tradition now.

2. My worst birthday was my 8th or 9th. I had some friends over to my dad's apartment, but they had to leave early because I started feeling sick and feverish. As soon as they left I began throwing up. Not fun :(

3. My favorite birthday memory is I feel like this was already covered in question 1, so I'll chose another favorite birthday, except it wasn't on my birthday. I was home after my first quarter at Davis and my two new friends (and now bridesmaids) L. and T. came to visit me in San Diego. We had vegetarian food from Sipz and went to the Pannikin for coffee. Then, when I returned to school, they got together with some of my other roommates and threw me a surprise picnic! It was one of the sweetest things friends have ever done for me, and that's how I knew we would all be good friends for a long time.

4. The best birthday present I've ever received was time spent with the people I love.

5. The best birthday present I've ever given was I'm not sure. What I may think of as a stupid present, someone else may think of as a great present and vice versa. I think what I'm planning on getting Mike for his birthday next year is probably going to be the greatest thing ever.

6. Birthdays are about making people feel special and loved.

7. My favorite age so far has been ? I feel as if I have said this before, but I don't think that age has happened yet. I feel too young to be taken seriously but too old to be dumb and carefree, so I'm waiting for an age when I'm still young but actually viewed as an adult. Maybe that will never happen.

Just a side note, what's up with people you never hear from wishing you a happy birthday on facebook? It's nice and all, but it honestly feels like the only time they ever acknowledge my existence.

August Break Day Whatever

2011-08-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

I'm in San Diego. I haven't been updating because we've been running around doing wedding errands and dealing with rude and opinionated chefs. I guess there was really only one of those.

Anyway, here is a big photo dump to make up for my absence.

The drive down. My phone's camera makes things slanty when in motion.

The Gaslamp.

We went to Belmont Park to ride the rollercoaster.

Taco surf for fish tacos and blurry fingers. They were delicious--the tacos, not the fingers.

Mike had enchiladas de mole.

Sleepy old Carlsbad.

And finally, a dead rattlesnake.

August Break Day #5

2011-08-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

229.