
Breakfast and knitting at Curio Confections.

I like these little white scissors from Muji, the cover means I can throw it in with the yarn without worry.

And while I'm at it, it amuses me that the Muji travel sewing kit only comes with white, gray and black thread.


Then a stroll through the Arboretum to look at blossoms.

And Sunday we decided that despite how much I like my bamboo tongs*, we really should get a new toaster.
* Dwell recently asked me about my favorite kitchen item and I went on and on about my bamboo tongs.
· comments [10] · 03-8-2010 · categories:mumbling ·

Please allow me to be dramatic for a moment. I just found out that the Petrie sofa from Crate & Barrel is no longer available (sort of) and I'm upset. It was perfect, soft fabric, just firm enough, deep enough. Scott and I sat in a lot of sofas and it was clearly the winner for us both. People, I love this sofa and we've been saving up to buy one for two years. Just last week we talked about finally getting to place the order for it. We were excited, a milestone! We would finally ditch our futon and sit on actual furniture like real adults! (We can pretend to be real adults.)
Today I was cutting through the store and decided to visit the couch (I do this a lot, I'm embarrassed to admit that) and found a "Limited Stock" sign hanging on it. I asked about this and was told that the company that makes the fabric (the nice, soft, not scratchy at all fabric) is no longer manufacturing it, I think they might be going out of business. So now the Petrie is only being sold in the natural and brown fabric, and only what they have left in stock (we only really wanted gray, with my clumsiness white would last about ten minutes in our house, oh look I just dropped pizza sauce on the futon* and I just don't get excited over brown). They are looking for a replacement fabric, so there is a faint glimmer of hope, but with my luck the replacement fabric will be something durable but scratchy. It looks like I'm stuck sitting on this futon (which I bought in 1998 (!!!) when I had my very first solo apartment in Cleveland, that's like two thousand internet years ago) until I find new couch love.

While I'm wallowing let me also mention how sad I was to discover that Teva is no longer making the Kena style flip flops. These had the squishy rubber flip flop sole but didn't have straps that went between the toes and were the answer to my prayers. I showed restraint in not buying dozens of pairs and now I wish I hadn't shown said restraint. I have one pair and I'll have to make sure I use them well. In the mean time EileenSideways on Twitter has encouraged me to try the Olowahu style. As a fellow nothing-between-the-toes person she says she can tolerate them. I trust you Eileen.
Ok, my pointless pity party is over.
* Not kidding about the pizza sauce. Ok, so maybe I should be eating in the dining room instead.
· comments [53] · 02-7-2010 · categories:mumbling ·
I'm pulling images off my various picture taking devices. My current on the go camera isn't so great, so please consider these something more like picture notes:

Spiced hot chocolate from Sweet & Savory, sipped while chatting with Tea. I had also ordered a latte before remembering the hot chocolate so when we parted I was very! caffeinated!
(p.s. Her book The Butcher and the Vegetarian: One Woman's Romp Through a World of Men, Meat, and Moral Crisis is coming out soon and the book tour kick off event is Feb. 8th at University Bookstore here in Seattle.)

This is a reversible black and red fabric I've been meaning to make something from. It's expensive though so until I have a solid idea I just go visit it at the fabric store.

I bought fancy carrots for dinner one night. I'm still very much in love with tossing them with olive oil then sprinkling with ginger, cumin and chili powder and roasting them. Never though I'd like eating roasted carrots so much.

Scott playing bass with Explone at The Crocodile!


Trophy cupcakes, both coconut themed. The one with swirled icing was a Samoa cupcake, yum.


Light fixture and new wine wall at Delancey. If you live in Seattle and have not eaten there yet I continue to encourage you to do so. Seriously great.

My long time favorite drink, The Jasmine: 1.5 oz gin, 3/4 oz lemon juice (about one half a lemon), 1/4 oz Cointreau, dash of Campari, shaken hard over ice. It's not sickly sweet (despite being pink) and tastes a bit like grapefruit juice.

I got a sneak peak of a book Kristen is in, Crafty Superstar, at a meeting of Grassroots. update: You can order an autographed copy (now with swag!) from Crafty Superstar.

Olive oil, taken during some rare sunlight.

Moss growing on top of the map structure on a hike at Cougar Mountain.

The water bottles at my local market always catch my eye. This poppy design in particular is one I stop to admire.

I very deeply hooded shirt at REI that I'd like to make a sweater version of.

Amy Karol (aka. Angry Chicken) came to town with her book Bend The Rules With Fabric and I got to see some of the items in the book in person. It was great to meet you in person Amy! I also got to meet The Black Apple and ask her all about appearing on the Martha Stewart show. I also got to meet Wise Craft and ask her all about her family's Komforte Chocolates business. (Ramen Noodle! Tortilla chip and lime! French toast! You love these already.)

Silver faux birch vases on clearance at Joanns that I wish I had bought.


The pictures above are horrible, and I apologize for what they are doing to your eyes, but I really wanted to capture this detail. The skirt here is at Gather in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle and I loved it except for the fact that it was wool and, to my sensitive skin, unbearably itchy. So I tried to quietly take pictures of the ribbon detail, which I intend to use on a skirt soon.

A leige waffle with bacon, brie and basil from Sweet Iron Waffles. I was ready to dislike this restaurant because their website looked suspiciously slick, but the waffles are delicious and they use lots of local ingredients, including Sheherd's Grain Flour, and use the same super-huge pearl sugar that I used when I made liege waffles. Eaten while having a sanity-restoring visit with Maggi.

Me trying out new clothes for our trip to Paris during a shopping trip to REI with Scott. We were out to track down the perfect jacket for him. He switched favorites mid way through which resulted in us visiting four stores in one marathon day, but coming home with the grail, I mean jacket. (It was on clearance and unavailable on the website and the madness took hold, we couldn't stop until we had the object in our hands.)
My lesson from the day? I need to re-learn how to get out of a car while wearing a skirt.
· comments [27] · 02-1-2010 · categories:mumbling ·