You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Hello again...



Life has been hectic this year!  So much has happened in a relatively small amount of time, and I don't really know where to begin.  Several of our friends moved away, had babies (or are still expecting some!), and sadly there were a couple of divorces too.

While I know two of those things will happen to us eventually, I couldn't help but feel a pang of "outsickness" as friends disappeared one by one.  I love the feeling of packing up and heading off into the unknown, and I fully intend to "have a midlife crisis" and live overseas at some point when we have children, just like my parents did when I was younger.

In the meantime, however, we're enjoying our life here.  We love our home, and we have an amazing family of neighbors.  I've been doing really well at work too--I've had TWO raises in the past 6 months, which is supremely gratifying :) 

I haven't had much time for sewing lately (soon, soon!), but I somehow found time to become a cooking-gardening-pickling-juicing, laundry-detergent-making, cloth-napkin-using lunatic ever since we started eating clean last summer.  I'll have to update you on all my random kitchen experiments next time. :) 

 I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

Dragons & Jewels

A couple friends & I went to a small Chinese New Year celebration last weekend.  Our favorite local jewelry designer, Mae-Mae from M Squared Jewelry, was there to tempt us with lots of beautiful new goodies!  I ended the afternoon with a few new pieces to take home with me, and memories of lions and dragons dancing in my head.

Fact:  Asian kids are the cutest kids.  It's science.

And of course, the jewelry!

Tiny vintage elephant & faceted goldstones

Love the length of these

Another giant stone necklace!

See you again soon--I'm just finishing a new pocket skirt, & I can't wait to show it off.  There's a good chance I may blind someone when I wear it to work, which is reason enough for wearing it, don't you think?

Itty Bitty, Ooey Gooey

I made these baby cheesecakes after seeing this incredible recipe on the Joy the Baker blog.  I didn't have time to make caramel from scratch, but Cajeta was a deliciously messy stand-in.  I hadn't had cajeta since my college years, but an old roommate & I used to smear it on cookies or Bimbo brand pound cakes before class.  Breakfast of champions, right?  The mind reels.

Did I mention there's a ginger snap crust under all that deliciousness?

(These cupcake liners are the BEST.  "If You Care" is kind of a guilt-trippy sounding label, but you don't have to use cooking spray at all, and they aren't in silly pastel colors.  Amazing!)

Bon Voyage Kelly!

After a bit of a social drought, my girlfriends and I all got together to send off our dearest Kelly in the usual rowdy style.  I hate to sound super old, but drunk bar crawls are extremely rare for me these days.  Usually, my idea of a good time is a delicious meal, occasionally a glass of wine, and messing with bits of fabric.  Or watching cheesy anime series on Netflix, which my husband hates.  Haha! 

I haven't been blogging at all these past few months, but now that work is less bananas I will be back more often.  I can't say that my posts will all be style-related, but if you still want to keep up with my cooking, sewing, traveling shenanigans, I would love to have you!

P.S. Kelly:  Please start a blog so we can keep up with your new life as an Alaskan!