maloree in the city

My baby sister Maloree came to visit for a whole week in June. She is a vet tech, and she was attending a veterinary conference here in lovely San Francisco. So she got to stay with us, sleeping on the floor of the sewing room on our uber plush air mattress. 

Tilda waiting for sister to arrive.

Maloree in China Town. 

I picked her up at the airport on a Saturday morning. We drove back home and walked to one of my fav places- Just For You cafe, where we had lunch. Then we walked to the train to go downtown. Since her birthday was coming up, she wanted to do a day of shopping in the city. Duh, who wouldn't? Anyway- since there is SO MUCH here, I thought we could do a mini tour of downtown so she could really decide where to spend her time/money on our shopping day.

We went walking around, and ended up in Chinatown. It was cool, since we weren't really planning to go.

Mal loved this street corner with the asian building on on side, and the old church on the other.

Chinatown is pretty cool.

It was a very bright and sunny day. But Mal was still a bit cold, being used to 90 degree weather and it was in the 60's.

We spotted this funny little alcove jutting out of this otherwise boring building.

And the financial district. Home of the tallest of buildings.

We saw this lady on the train into the city, I thought she was dressed up for a bar job or something. Her and her husband were taking turns signing opera on the street. I normally don't like opera, but she was signing Carmen, which I know from watching Sesame Street as a kid.

We ended the day at Britex- the Most Expensive Fabric Store In The World.

We didn't do anything on sunday, because sunday's here are crazy and we aren't fans of crazy.

On Monday, we went shopping.

Nordstrom is HUGE.

Sister's fav- chocolate covered strawberries from the best chocolate place ever.

Sitting by a mini Golden Gate in her new Tom's.

Huge vintage sewing spools. At this strange shop downtown. Can't remember the name.

On Tuesday we went to Fisherman's Wharf.

I got all dolled up in the skirt I made for myself. 

We took the train to the ferry building, where the Tuesday farmers market is. Mal wanted to try some expensive coffee. We waited in a realllllly looooong line. And it wasn't that impressive. Too robust for me.

Mal on the vintage street car that runs to Fisherman's wharf.

We stopped at Pier 39 and gawked at the double carousel. We decided it was too spendy so we took a photo instead.

Then we walked allllll the way down to Ghirardelli square where we sat on the beach and...

Shared a monster hot fudge sundae with chocolate dipped waffle cone. Mmmmmmm.

Then we drove to the Haight Ashbury, I had never been and it's pretty much legendary. We wanted to see if there were lots of hippies smoking weed.

No hippies, no weed, just some really cool shops. I'll definitely be back.

The RVCA shop has a back room dedicated to featuring artists.

A cool/creepy mural that a group of dudes from London asked us to take their photo in front of. They offered to buy us a soda pop, and we giggled at their accents.

Legs.

I thought this shop would be really cool. But unless you are looking to dress like a hooker for Halloween, it's really not cool at all.

As we were headed to Little Italy for dinner, some lame ass speeding lady hit our car. Mal got right out and documented everything with my camera, refused to back down when the lady tried to bully us, and totally had my back and got me through the experience like a pro. Thank you, lil sis. 

To compensate, we skipped dinner and went to Trader Joe's for snacks.

Some of our fantastic finds in Chinatown.

On Wednesday we went to the California Academy of Sciences, located in Golden Gate Park. This is it, viewed from across the way from the tower in the De Young building.

We love aquariums. When I asked Mal what she wanted to do while visiting, the first thing she said was "go to a cool aquarium". 

Squiggly little jellyfish.

Gorgeous plant life.

Some dude cleaning the glass.

Some fish have perma sadface.

Angelfish.

Beautiful Koi.

Bright pink starfish.

Albino alligator.

After we were finished with the aquarium, we went into the rainforest dome.

Poison dart frogs. I wanted these colorful guys as pets back when I had like 5 tanks in my bedroom as a teenager. As far as frogs go, the poison ones are the "prettiest". 

Gah! Look how cute they are!

And at the top of the dome, all the butterflies float around you. It's magical. This one is huge, and looks like and owl's face when its hanging down. 

I was sure glad I had my 100mm lens!

Then there is the section with the taxidermy. I'm not usually a fan, but they do an excellent job.

Giraffe's are impossibly tall.

Closeup of the living roof. This is the outside of the rainforest dome.

View of one of San Fran's many, many, house covered hills. 

Then we walked across the park to visit the Japanese Tea Garden.

Cute sister.

Pagoda.

Crazy tall bridge that you literally had to climb to get over. I went around instead.

I love mossy rocks.

Lil sister instagramming. I taught her the joys of instagramming while she was here. We were SO tired at this point- we had been walking all over the city, all day long for 3 days. So we sat in the garden and had some delicious Ramune.

There were tons of pretty Koi.

Speaking of all things Japanese, at some point we went to Japantown.

I got two amazing Japanese sewing books and some pretty cherry blossom fabric. I know- I can't read Japanese but maybe I can use the illustrations to follow along. Maybe.

On Thursday, Mal had her first day of the conference. I stayed home and did nothing but rest my achey feet! When she was finished for the day, we had a cheesecake baking lesson. We made caramel cheesecake.

During her lunch break on Friday, we took the cheesecake over to Danny's work- they had just moved into a huge building right on Market street. I wanted to bake something great and take it to them to congratulate them, so being able to bake with my sister and take it over was even better!

They loved it, of course. And so did we.

Except for the fact that we got lost looking for the building- we ended up in the not-so-great Tenderloin district thanks to google maps, and Maloree got a taste of culture that nobody should have to ever get a taste of.

Our favorite ice cream shop had been closed all.damn.week. Because they were on vacation. But Friday- they were open. So that evening we walked over and got ourselves a cone!

Saturday Mal went to her conference, and after we went out to eat. Sunday was a lazy day, we all slept in and then got ready to go to the airport. We were dropping Mal off to get to her flight by 4, and we were flying out to Portland at 5. It worked out wonderfully!

Ever since she was 3, Maloree has wanted a German Shepard. She had been obsessed with animals, especially dogs, all her life. It's no surprise that she became a vet tech, she has a love and compassion for them like I've never seen in anyone else. She decided to finally get a dog of her own. The same day we all flew out, her puppy also flew in. My parents picked him up, and he was waiting for her when she got home. 

Meet Ryker. Squishable, right? Full blooded, his dad is really from Germany, and he will be a working German Shepard. She is training and socializing him everyday. This is a dream come true for her, I am so proud and I am so excited for her. And I can't wait to meet him! 

We had a fantastic time. I miss her sooooo much- it was so nice to have so much time together. It was also very awesome that we happened to live in the city that they had the conference- otherwise she wouldn't have come and stayed with us. Come back soon!

whoa

June is gone. It whizzed by.

Quick re-cap, I'll follow with photos later.

Danny and his dad (Craig) went to the US Open (golf). Craig was our first ever guest, he got to sleep on our very fancy air mattress on the floor of the sewing room. Having people that you've never lived with stay with you is off-putting. It made me weird. Plus, we live in a loft, so. No walls. Also, having my sewing room filled to the brim with Someone Else made my mind wacky. I'd think of something I needed to do, and go downstairs, and then not be able to get/do/see anything, so I'd go back upstairs. Where I also couldn't get anything done. So I would just leave the house.

My sister Maloree came to visit (for a whole week!) and go to a veterinary conference. It's been so long since I've had any type of girly time, let alone sister girly time, that we had a blast. We painted nails and went shopping and walked our asses right off. Danny was the grouchiest man alive, he was presenting a talk titled "So, you've got a memory leak" at the upcoming nodeconf, he's often the grouchiest man alive when he's preparing for something because he's a damn perfectionist. And no, I have no idea what a memory leak is either, nor do I entirely understand what nodeconf is. I miss my sister.

The day we took her to the airport to go back home, we also got on a plane. To Portland, OR for nodeconf and a teeny vacay. I say teeny vacay because it wasn't really a vacay for Danny, just me. They always have a Significant Others track- this year we went to Multnomah Falls and did a food tour. I met some wonderful ladies, I'm excited to see if we stay in touch. It's kinda a big deal that he gave a talk, some of the ladies husband's knew who Danny was and were actually excited to hear him talk. Haha, isn't that so funny? But so totally AWESOME??? 

After the last party, a party that included a punk band named "Stream or Die" made up of a few nerds that had had their first ever practice an hour and a half before they performed one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. I hate live music, I have dated "musicians" in "bands" and these nerds rocked way better. Nerds are awesome. Tell your teenage daughters, they need to know. After the performance- we all walked to a food cart lounge and had deep fried pies. 

I really, really shouldn't of had one, because little (well, I knew a little) did I know that I was about to be hit with food poisoning. Not from the pie, not from the fantastic japanese food that we had for dinner, but from the disappointing food tour. I don't know about you, but whist on vacation I love having to "sleep" on the toilet wrapped in a velour blanket because your teeth are chattering while you are sweating bullets and your brain is telling you that you are actually dying the most terrible of all deaths, and what the hell did this to me, don't think about the deep fried pie, don't think about the deep fried BLEHHHHHH!

So an entire vacay day was wasted on me sleeping, but it all worked out because it also happened to be the fourth of July, aka a day where nothing except the hotel you are staying in is open. Speaking of fireworks, since living in San Francisco, I now know the difference between what fireworks sound like and what and a gunshot sounds like. Not to be worried, nothing has happened, but now I don't have that typical Law and Order excuse of "I thought it was just fireworks" if the cops ever show up to question me. One night I counted 9. NINE. 

Anyway...this weekend I unpacked, (I usually take forever to do that) I started a baby quilt, and gave the cat a bath. I'm so excited to be home and be able to sew- I have a gigantic list that I need to get done asap. 

Photos to come!

ch ch ch changes...

So my old (not even a year old!) sewing machine called it quits a few weeks ago. 

I was SO frustrated- I did everything I could think of to fix the problem- clean it out, re-thread, replace the bobbin shuttle, and repeat like 167345 times and why is it not working it's not even old it's practically brand new OMG and then I totally broke down.

So my husband politely suggested that maybe I should buy a better machine. He says- If you keep buying cheap machines, they'll just continue to break. So you can either buy a new cheap machine every year, or get a good (expensive) machine that will last forever. I balked- but no no no they are like thousands of dollars, you know I don't have that kind of money whhhhaaaaaa!  He pointed out that I use it everyday, and things that you use everyday should be quality, so he talked me into going to look at machines.

They next day we went to a sewing store. I told him- I don't want to get talked into buying a Bernina- they are too expensive. Well, after looking at all the options, and test driving a few- the Bernina's were actually the best deal for the money. (And yes, the top of the line 830 is $12,000, but the one I got was way cheaper so don't think I'm bonkers, ok?) I was pretty much sold when I tried to applique some cotton on top of a square of denim folded in quarters so it was waaaay thick- and that machine puuurred right through, no problem.

So now I owe my husband money that will take forever to pay back- considering I don't actually make money doing what I do but whatever. 

I think I might be the first wife ever to have her husband talk her into buying an expensive sewing machine- that being said- I am one very lucky wife.

Opening the box was glorious. I was hesitant, I wanted the moment to last. And so excited, obviously. Danny said it was probably like when he first got a Mac instead of a PC.

She's gorgeous. 

She's gorgeous because of how powerful she is, how perfectly she stitches. How easy it is to thread, to wind the bobbin. And she's square. I like square.

I finished the project I was working on- and I finally felt like this was my job. Like now this is for real- even though I've been doing it "full time" for 2 years- I finally feel like a pro. I didn't realize how shitty my old sewing machine was until I could just sew through piles of fabric without stopping to re-thread and blow out dust to get it to stitch right. I didn't know sewing could get "more" enjoyable, but wow. 

Look out world, I've got a Bernina.

(I do have to say that my old machine, the one I bought last September- something is wrong with it, I'll be returning it. Normally you shouldn't have that many problems with it. I just figured it was human error, and not the machine which is so stupid but whatever it's over.)

tres leches cakes

My friend Jane asked me to make some dessert for her fiance's birthday a few weeks ago. He wanted Tres Leches cake, she wanted them in jars topped with strawberries and whip cream. Easy enough! 

I've made Tres Leches cake before, and although it was good, it was far from perfect. I didn't want to end up with heavy, dense cakes that turned into mush. Absolutely so sogginess allowed.

At first I was going to use this recipe from Alton Brown, but after reading some of the reviews and the recipe itself, I decided that I wanted a recipe that was more sponge-like, so it would inherently be light and I wouldn't have to poke the shit out of it to get the milk mixture to soak in properly.

 I ended up using this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. It's a sponge cake- light and filled with holes ready to soak up all that sweet liquid. Perfect.

I sprayed each jar with Pam, filled them, using about 6 tablespoons of batter each, and baked them for about 20 minutes.

After they had cooled completely- I put the jars back into their boxes and covered them with plastic wrap where I let them chill overnight.

I also mixed up the milk mixture the night before and let it chill.

About 9 hours before the party- I tested out a few variations. Leaving some alone, poking lots of holes & using more/less liquid, then letting them sit in the fridge for 2 hours.


The best result: no hole poking, the sponge has plenty to start with.

6 hours before the party, I poured 2 tablespoons of liquid onto each cake and let it sit...

...and after a few minutes, the milk totally soaked in. I covered them again, and let them chill until it was time to deliver them to the party!

We topped them with sliced strawberries (I use an industrial slicer made for mushrooms that I got at Orson Gygi- I LOVE that thing, it makes perfect slices and so fast!) and whipped cream, them put the lids on. Most of them stayed in the fridge until it was time for dessert, but they did just fine sitting on the dessert table too. 

They were delicious. No sogginess whatsoever, and the strawberries and whip cream complimented the sweet cake perfectly. I highly recommend making them for your next party! 

a trip to the redwoods

Danny suggested that we drive north on Sunday so that we could see the full eclipse. We decided that since we were driving north anyway, we might as well go all the way up to the redwood forest and make a day out of it.

We drove about 4 hours, and stopped at the Humbolt Redwoods State Park.

Just last week, Danny's BFF Ashkan moved out here because he got a job with the same company that Danny works for. So Ashkan drove, and him and Danny were taking and laughing and being their geeky selves, while I sat in the back reading a book. Most of you that know my husband know that he's a quiet guy. So it's nice to see him interact with his good friend- to see him totally being himself in front of someone else besides me. 

There were mini fields of clovers all over.

We brought a picnic and ate our sandwiches at a cute little picnic table. I forgot how quiet a forest can be.

And the ferns- the were also everywhere, mostly grouped around the base of the trees.

We drove a little further to the next flat "hiking" trail, (I don't hike) to Founders Grove.

Massive trees were everywhere- still upright, and fallen.

Some of them twisted...

So quiet, and beautiful. I loved being there.

Action shot of the boys "hiking".

They were so funny- taking about how nature does whatever and how things happen and science this and science that, and then they'd pretend to be trees and it just totally seemed like a glimpse into Danny's childhood. They were like kids playing in the forest. I loved it- and I'm pretty sure they did too.

This fallen giant was particularly long, or would it be tall?

I love moss.

Many people had carved their names into the fallen tree trunks, including Edgar who went all in.

And there were lots of these- little "caves" inside the trees bases. I joked that if the smoke monster came through, that we could all hide in there. Ashkan laughed, Danny did not.

It was almost time for the eclipse, so we drove a little more to find some clear sky.

Danny figured out that we could view the eclipse safely if we used my camera's lenses. Good thing I brought my whole camera bag! We were just at the side of the road by an off/on ramp. I bet we looked silly standing there with lenses pointed at the sky, looking for the shadow on our chests.

There was this crazy lichen growing on the trees- some of it looked like this, and the other looked like green muppet hair.

Don't worry, I did.

So the clouds rolled in, right as it was starting. Lame. So I didn't get any actual photos of the eclipse. But it was cloudy enough that we could just look at the sun without worrying about burning our eyes out.

Then we figured out that if pointed just right, we could get a lens flare that showed the eclipse.

So we did get to see it, even if we didn't get any proof.

It was an awesome weekend. I hope to plan many more trips to the forest!

a doll of my very own

Awhile ago, Lindsay loo asked me "why you not make doll for you yet?" So I did.

Meet Penelope.

I've been working on learning how to make more detailed doll clothes, and was frustrated with not having "anybody" to try them on. So making a doll for me to have hanging around makes sense, right? I mean, I get to keep a really cute doll and make lots of cute clothes for her and OMG I am totally living out some childhood dream. Good thing my husband dosen't mind.

Looking at these photos of her- she totally looks like my grandma. Whoa.

I guess I should re-name her then.

Hello, Betty!

Aaaaaannnnnd her bun. Yes, that is the very popular top knot ballerina bun that is so very popular right now and is the hairstyle that I wear most days. I just HAD to figure out how to do it on a doll. It took me 2 days to figure out, and I practiced on a smaller doll first, before doing it on her with very expensive but oh so worth it hand-dyed yarn from a local yarn shop. Each strand of yarn is individually hand stitched on her head. It sounds so tedious, but it's actually kinda fun, and totally worth every minute.

She's a little top heavy, and that bun is as big as it looks. Damn cute, right?

I'm totally into peach right now, so I gave her a peachy striped peasant top and a grey paper bag skirt, and of course matchy peach shoes.

Fairly simple pesant top.

I tried to make a similar grey paper bag skirt for myself, like same fabric and everything, and failed. Failed so bad. BUT. I do have to say that it was totally the patterns fault- it was written wrong. It said to add 2 inches to your waist measurement, when it clearly needed DOUBLE your waist plus the 2 inches. But the large buttonholes for the tie are damn perfect, even though I can't get it over my hips. It might fit a broom. 

Right before I went back home, I successfully made a paper bag skirt for myself. (from a different pattern) And it's gorgeous. It's a not so deep navy blue non corded corduroy, the drape is so fantastic and wonderfully unplanned- it was on sale so I bought it and I wanted a navy skirt so I used it and I couldn't have picked a better fabric. I'll have to take some photos.

my love is true

...what I made for Danny for our 4th anniversary.

Told you I've been itching to embroider lately! I can't seem to get enough- I just want to do more, more!

BTW, where am I going to put all of these??

(if you are interested in the pattern, it's by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. I've bought like 10 new patterns from her, as well as some new embroidery scissors. Her site rocks!)

a master of architecture

I've know Mike since I was 15. (Stop counting!)

I've seen him grow, so so much. From his punk rock days to his mission, starting the architecture program, falling in love with Nan, getting married, having his firstborn son, and now to graduating, winning a prestigious award, getting a job with an amazing firm, and also a second baby on the way- I have to say that he has accomplished almost everything he has ever wanted. To say that I am proud is such an understatement.

He already has the "I've had enough damn photos, stop it right now" face, and the picture taking has just begun!

Walking the stage.

Nan made him a traditional Hawaiian tea leaf lei, with white carnations. She graduated from BYU Hawaii, so it's special and important to her.

This was such an emotional event- they have sacrificed and been through so much, it was amazing to be there and feel the love all around.

Annnndddd Nan is the only one participating in this family photo op.

The graduation was during Van's nap time- but he was happy to be around all of his favorite people. Look how his sweet yawn turns into a mischievous nose crinkly grin!

Those lashes.

While Mike was getting more photos taken and talking to people, I chased Van around the campus. You could tell he's grown up there- he led me all around the big room with all the projects- pointing out each one like he was a mini tour guide. Then he led me down the stairs and outside, to the grassy hill, where we played with all the other kids until it was time to go. He was so good for not napping! He's such a sweet kid- a total boy, but considerate and cautious.

Then we were off to the celebratory BBQ held at Mike & Nan's house. I made two amazing desserts for the event, and totally forgot to take photos of them. One was a white chocolate caramel cheesecake and the other was a peanut butter pie.

Such a cute family!!!

Van was totally into my camera- he just kept looking into the lens hoping to see what was making all those clicking sounds...

...which gave me a great opportunity to snap some great photos of those gorgeous blue eyes.

With grandpa Doug.

After dessert- most of the family left, but Nan's parents and I stayed until it got dark and we chatted and blabbed. I had so much fun catching up with everyone- it's like I never left. It's like that with them- Mike and Nan- we stay on the same page even though our lives get busy and we don't talk as much. But when we do it's like we never stopped. You know?

I am so happy I got to go to the actual graduation. I thought for sure it would be limited to family- so I didn't even ask Nan if I could go when I booked my flight. We got to spend the wednesday together before the graduation- and she mentioned that it was open admission and I was so excited, it meant so much to be to be there.

Nan's parents, Mikes family- his mom and step-dad, his dad and step-mom, sisters and niece and nephews, all coming together to celebrate and congratulate Mike and his many accomplishments was unprecedented. Every single person was so happy and so full of love. I have never seen all of them so comfortable and happy to be around each other before, it was incredible and amazing and I will never forget it.