I'm losing my mind a bit over these brilliant pie lollipops from Luxirare.

Thanks go out to Wendy who emailed me the link, and I also spotted it over at Cakespy.

Too hot to cook? Too hot to even prepare drinks that require shaking? I can relate, it's hot here. (Seriously, it was 103 in Seattle yesterday. Nobody in Seattle has air conditioning. Temperatures over 90 get old really fast.) The only thing to do is buy a bag of ice and some grapefruit juice, make some Salty Dogs and sit in front of a fan.

Salty Dog
• salt the rim of a glass
• fill glass with ice
• one part gin (or vodka), three parts grapefruit juice
• retreat to cool area

If you're not a salted rim sort you can skip it, that is called a Greyhound. There are conflicting reports on whether gin or vodka is the proper spirit to use but, let's face it, it's too hot to give a damn.

These Plate Bowl dishes (no, seriously, that is what they are called) are my new perfect picnic plate. And probably a Let's Eat In Front Of The TV plate as well. It's got tall sloping sides, but enough of a flat bottom that you can cut things. We used them for salads yesterday and the sides prevented my cherry tomatoes from rolling off the edge and across the floor. Win!

The first summertime Urban Craft Uprising (big huge indie craft show) is happening here in Seattle next weekend. If you're going I want to advise you to seek out the booth for Dave Sheely Designs. He makes most excellent resin rings embedding things like sea shells and beach glass. However, my current favoritest thing of his are the Esther pendant necklaces shown above. If you have a chance ask him how the Esther rings came to be.

Urban Craft Uprising is this Saturday and Sunday, August 1st and 2nd, from 11 to 5 both days at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. What better way to hide from the Blue Angels show?

Wow, a lot of people came out for the Yarn Yard Sale. We had been worried that we would just be dragging all of our stuff home at the end of the day but most everything was sold. I'm so glad, thank you all for giving our stuff good homes.

Sadly, I also sold some buttons I didn't mean to. If anybody knows the lady who bought my bag of buttons could you have her get in touch with me? My grandmother's buttons, which have a lot of sentimental value, were mixed in with them. I'm a fool, I know, and should have kept them safer. I'm heartsick over this.

Above is some of the fabric I'll be selling at the Yarn Yard Sale this Saturday. Getting ready for the sale is taking a bit more energy than I anticipated. I have more fabric remnants than I thought, besides the ones on my shelves I found a few bundles in my closet I had forgotten about. (Which is weird because they were all folded tidily and tied in ribbon, I have no memory of doing all that work.) I sorted them all out, refolded into smaller squares and stacked them into bundles like so:

I have ten bundles to sell, each with 27 fabrics (a few repeats) that are all roughly fat quarters. How much should I sell them for?

I'll actually sort of miss them, they look so cheerful all stacked together.

So, to recap, this Saturday (that's tomorrow) I'm participating in a yard sale where we'll mostly be selling off the fabulous yarn we've accumulated and love but realize we won't use. In addition to some non-wool yarns (All Seasons Cotton! Blue Sky Cotton! Comfort! Some weird chunky slub yarn from Daiso!) I'm also selling fabrics, ribbons, purse frames, crochet hooks and whatever else I find as I excavate my studio room. The sale is tomorrow, if you live in Seattle please do come by and see what we have.

Yarn Yard Sale!
Saturday, July 25th
starting at 10:00 a.m.
9504 40th Avenue NE, Seattle, 98115

yard sale map and Google map

Spicy, Citrusy Black Beans Recipe | Simply Recipes.

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On Beyond Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers | Ask Metafilter.

CakeSpy: Look To The Cookie: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Timeline.

The Great Omelet Hero Quest « Pink of Perfection.

angry chicken: a fruit-filled cookie-cake type of awesomeness.

In the Freezer: Turkey Chili « Pink of Perfection.

Do you love really pretty yarn? Do you make things out of nifty fabric? Do you live near Seattle? Come to our Yarn Sale! Details:

Yarn Yard Sale!
Saturday, July 25th
starting at 10:00 a.m.
9504 40th Avenue NE, Seattle, 98115

A few weeks back found some friends discussing our yarn stashes. They are, not unexpectedly, breathtaking in scope and ability to fill storage room in our houses. So we hatched a plan to have a yard sale for our yarn. We'll also be selling some fabric yardage and collections of viable remnants.

We'll have lots and lots of yarn for sale. We've been discussing amounts in terms of multiples of lawn bag sizes. And this is good yarn too, yarn that simply couldn't be left behind but we've come to painfully realize won't be made into anything while it's in our care. We have plenty of matched dye lot yarn in amounts large enough to make a sweater. I have lots of nice non-wool yarn, and two of the sellers used to work for a yarn store so you know there has to be some special stuff in there.

If you see any of us buying yarn from somebody else's table please, stop us. We need to be stopped.

Afterwards you can stop by some of the Wedgwood neighborhood offerings, the Black Pearl to pick up some spicy green beans, stop and buy some fruit at The Fruit Lady stand on 35th Ave NE at around 80th (near the Wedgwood post office), swim at Matthews Beach, and walk your dog or yourself at Magnuson Park. See? Full day, yarn and all.

update: Here is a map!

Ninja Umbrella-- Better Living Through Design. Cute, and dangerous.

Please help find silver drinking straws! | Ask Metafilter.

Bike crush. « Chez Shoes. Asking for opinions on the Forge bicycles made specifically for Target stores, anybody? I want to know too.

Earth Angel, at Outblush. It's a, no kidding, hand crank vibrator. Wowsers.

swissmiss | Sky Planter. I have a place for this in our dining room, I wonder if I could get an orchid to grow upside down like that?

Cool Tools: Homegrown Evolution.

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Woolly Wally Five. A modular wall gardening system, at Outblush.

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