Fashion District: Downtown Los Angeles.
I know, I said I was only going to post a photo a day, but the Michael Levine Fabric Warehouse deserves just a few more photo’s. I just got back with Emily and scored some really, really great fabrics which will be making their way to you via some aprons that I will be selling in the next few weeks at the Polka Dot Parlour.
Some really fun oilcloth:
The Dick & Jane line.
You should see the size of this place- it’s insane.
Have a lovely weekend!
xoxo
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, cut into medium sized pieces
1/3 C chopped green onions
2 1/2 C red grapes, sliced in half
2 C sliced almonds
1 can pineapple chunks
1 C Mayo*
1 C Sour Cream*
1/4 C sugar (or to taste)
2 Tbsp Curry Powder
Salt to taste
Add all wet ingredients. Add Curry. Add remaining ingredients. Chill 1 hour.
*We use fat-free and it turns out just as delicious.
Decided last minute to make some of these. (C’mon you know you want to make some, too!)
Happy end of your day. Put your feet up & relax.
xoxo
I’ve got a busy week ahead of me, so I’ve decided that I’m going to post a photo a day for the rest of the week.
Have a good one!
Oh yeah, and I did some major re-formatting to my blog last night. I guess everyone who viewed it was seeing something a little different, so bear with me while I try to fix some old posts.
Taken from the Cape Cod Ferry. Martha’s Vineyard. Fall 2006.
It was inevitable. I’ve been ‘tagged.’ I was tagged by Susan (all the way back in May- Sorry!) to tell 7 random things about myself. So without further ado:
1) My whole life, I always wanted to work at a
grocery store (and still do). When I was 7, I made this elaborate
grocery store set up in our play room complete with register &
scanner. I just like scanning things. Self check-out? Brilliant. I love how cashiers
just sort of throw item’s over the scanner & somehow, someway, they
get rung up. I can’t do it with such grace (like I always dreamed I
would) I’m always turning items over like 100x looking for the
bar-code.
2) I love cash registers. It’s the cashier in me. I just
love pressing buttons. And peoples’. And scanning things. Mom said when
I was a kid they also bought me a change belt (you know, that dispenses
coins & stuff). Sadly, I have no recollection of this and can only
imagine how cool I must have looked with that thing strapped on,
ringing things into my little cash register.
3) I just asked Chris and he said, "You walk slow". This, I cannot deny. And he says I am a "sad story monger." This is true. One too many times these words have come out of my mouth, "Do you want to hear the saddest thing???" To which he now replies, "No."
4)
I always wanted a smile like Whitney Houston’s. You know the kind of
smile where the corners of your mouth stretch back to your molars and
it looks like you have a dozen more teeth than the average human.
That’s something I always wanted.
5) I love dill pickles.
When I was a kid, my grandma used to buy me these huge vats of pickles
from downtown LA. and I would eat them for weeks. I think one year she
even gave them to me for Christmas. I couldn’t have been more pleased.
I am very picky about my pickles. I don’t care for sweet, but LOVE
Claussen.
6) I love music, but I am picky. (Chris denies this all
because of the one time he got in the car after I had been driving it and Bette Midlers, "The Rose" was playing on a radio station I had been listening to. Hey I can’t control what they play. I’m never living it down. What was
I doing in the first place listening to a station called the Heart?) I’m not so much a fan
of main-stream stuff, and my preference has no rhyme or reason. I’m
cah-razy for music from the 40’s. "4" is my favorite station on XM
Satellite Radio, but also LOVE The Trashcan Sinatra’s, am quite fond of
Saint Etienne and am quickly becoming a fan of Fuguyi & Miyage.
7)I love dark chocolate, black licorice and I wish that Diet Coke could be fed to me intravenously.
Phew. That was more than seven. I couldn’t stop myself. Feel like you know me any better? I didn’t think so. No mocking will be tolerated, especially in regards to anything having to do with supermarkets or said employees.
When I was a kid, growing up on Friends Ave, I
absolutely loved kumquats. We didn’t have a tree, but there was a
family a few streets down that did and I was brave enough to go and
knock on their door and ask if we could pick some. They are quite tart
and borderline sour, but wonderfully delicious. The skin is mild,
which perfectly compliments the inside. I see them at the markets here,
but I never buy them because they are a bit expensive and besides, it’s much more thrilling when you can pick them yourself.
Several months ago I started
working for a wonderful family in Beverly Hills as a personal
assistant one day a week. While I was up there yesterday, we went out walking in the backyard and there I saw the sweetest little kumquat tree. Now, I had heard about the kumquats before from one of the housekeepers who I once saw making some delightful kumquat-ginger jam. She even gave me a little spoonful to try, which was amazing. I was told I was more than welcome to pick some for myself. You mean it? I get to pick my very own?? So I did. Twenty-plus years later, I finally got to pick my very own kumquats again. It was such a thrill. I eat them whole and have been snacking on them for 2 days. They also had some loquat trees which I had never heard off before, but I picked one or two of those and I’m still undecdided on whether or not I like them. The texture reminds me a lot of an apricot, but with 2-3 medium sized seeds in the middle. I picked a few limes and two pumellos and love having all this fruit around.
The verdict is still out on this weekend. I’ve got a ton of sewing I need to get done. We’ll probably sit around and look up everyone’s hobbit name and watch this video for the 57th time. I get all giggly just thinking about it. It’s not meant to be funny- but the form on that guy. Geez. (Thanks, Marissa for hooking me up)
Faithfully yours,
Esmerelda Broadbelt of Buckland
Geez, who knew I would be such a flakey blogger? Life gets crazy sometimes and well, blogging has to take a backseat. So are you up for making some Sweet Pea’s? Grab the kids, pull up some chairs and get ready for some good times because these are a cinch to make. All you need is some colored tissue paper, pipe-cleaners & scissors. I don’t know that I have a favorite flower. I dig stargazer lillies, poppies, hmm… mostly flowers whose names I can’t pronounce. I usually go for pinks & reds & oranges, but there’s so many good ones out there, it’s really hard to pick a favorite. Sometimes, nothing beats bright yellows & purples at a picnic on a hot summer day.
About 3 years ago, some friends & I threw a baby shower for our girlfriend, Kim. We made oodles & oodles of paper-flowers, and these blooming bags (you’ll have to scroll down the page) which I hung from my dining room ceiling. Speaking of Martha, sheesh! Have you been into your local Michaels? I went a few weeks ago and her new craft line is just amazing. I picked up a handful of things but there was so much more I was secretly lusting after. She’s got great paper & stamps and I especially love all the food packaging stuff. It’s a very, very fun way to give gifts.
General Supplies:
For each flower you’ll need:
Directions:
Start with the petals. Draw a 4" circle on the tissue paper & draw 5 arches towards the center. Cut around the perimeter. Cut towards the center as marked. (It’s easiest to lay several pieces of tissue paper down at a time & cut out multiple ones at once.) For the leaves, draw (2) 2 1/2 " diagonal lines that intersect in the middle like an ‘x’. Round out the edges to look like leaves (as shown in the center of the photo above.) Cut the small circles next, which are 3/4" in circumference.
Once you have the large petals cut out, hold them in the center with two fingers (making sure not to tear) and twist each of the pieces to look like a petal (as seen in the picture on the left.) Once all the petals have been twisted, you are ready to assemble the flowers. Take a pipe-cleaner and bend down a small portion at the top (as shown.) Starting with a petal, gently pierce the center with the bottom of the pipe-cleaner and move to the top. Next, you’ll add 2 of the green leaves, and then the circle. Repeat this process with 3 or 4 more flowers.
Voila! Your very own Sweet Pea’s.
Oh, you must give the new Sarah Blasko a listen. This track is off her new album, which hasn’t been released yet here in the states (but luckily for me, a little birdie sent it to me last week). She’s just so great, I think you’ll like it.
Have a lovely week!
xoxo
You guys. I had such a fun night last night. I came down with a bug a few days ago and have been feeling totally under the weather, so going out last night took some major convincing! Fear not, I was convinced so off we went to the taping of the DWTS finale & wrap party. The taping was good, but the wrap-party was so much fun! We got to go & rub shoulders with the cast & crew (or ‘talent’ as they are often refered to.) Now, know this. I am
not phased by celebrities. I can honestly say there isn’t anyone that I have any desire to meet (ok, Ina Garten, that would be awesome), but I don’t hold ‘the talent’ up on a pedestal or anything. Being at the wrap party was very fascinating though. One celebrity was a bit of a wallflower, sitting alone at a table. The empathetic part of me just wanted to pull
up a chair and go sit next to him, like I probably would have if he was
your average joe. I just didn’t want to be obnoxious, but looking back we should have pulled up the chair. Celebrity or not, who wants to sit alone? You could tell the guy was pretty much uncomfortable the whole evening. Next time, we are pulling up the chair. Celebrities are just like average people, trying to
find people to talk to so they aren’t standing there alone, ordering drinks from the bar (people were very impressed with our orders of diet coke & seltzer water), or squeezing into the photobooth to have their picture taken.
I think it’s been a good 15 years since I’ve been in one of these things! It was fun to see ‘the talent‘ squeezing in, too. Because they, just like us, wanted a little photo to remember the night by.
I talked with Paulina, who was/is just really adorable. I mean what else are you supposed to do when you are stuck in the crowd of people with no where to turn? It was so, so, fun. The club was
very cool, and the food. The food was incredible. Fresh lobster & tenderloin, delish! Anyway, just wanted to share.
It was a great, great date night with my sweets (which we don’t get to
do very often.) And now, well, he’s unemployed, so we got that going for us.
Flower tutorial tomorrow, I promise!
xoxo
It’s a good thing that this little birthday crown
didn’t take me more than 10 minutes to make, because a certain Von
Cutemeister refused to wear it. "All done! ALL DONE!!" he kept saying over &
over everytime the crown came within a foot of him.
Lemon Tarragon Cupcakes? Well, that’s a completely different story. He was more than happy to get all warm & snuggly with the cupcakes. There is always room for cupcakes in this house. (And can I just say that this cake stand was one of my best thrifting finds? I found it a few weeks ago & it spins around and has a big lid, just like in in the old cafes/diners! I’m in love…)
And his little friends, they were so sweet, they all wore their party hats (maybe it’s a girl thing? Maybe it was the flowers…) This year, I wanted to do something very low-key. Just a handful of friends. Just cupcakes and ice-cream cones. I didn’t even send out invitations. Just a call late in the week, "Do you want to come to the park for an hour on Saturday night?" Talk about stress free. I only had to make the cupcakes & party hats. How easy is that?
Here’s 2 years in review:
At the hospital the day after he was born 5/21/05
Here’s a picture from last years birthday party when he turned 1:
And a picture from Saturday’s party with some of his friends. 
Just try to block out the garbage can & grills. Gads. There was no way I was going to make these sweet kiddo’s move to the other side of the table for my photo. I think it’s funny that the birthday boy is the only one without a party hat. He looks like such a big boy here, ice cream on the chin & all. Sob.
Embroidered on the back of Henry’s favorite cap are the words "The Odds are Great." I love that. I love being reminded that his
odds are great. He’s part of a family who loves and supports him. He
can be anything he wants. He has so much potential. The odds for him are great. When Henry was
born, we sent out birth announcements with this quote printed on them:
"We should say to each:
Do you know what you are?
You are a marvel. You are unique…
you may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven.
You have the capacity for anything"
PABLO CASALS
I just love that. It rings so true for all of us.
Happy Birthday, Darling Henry! From what I remember, being 2 is pretty darn amazing!
xoxo
p.s. I promise my regularly scheduled blogging will return next week. I’m finally getting back into the swing of things & have got a fun flower tutorial to share!
