sewing inspiration

I have been sewing up a storm lately. I promise that I will post some of my latest projects sometime soon. For now, here are a few of the things that have been inspiring me lately…

LA-based fashion designer Jasmin Shokrian

Fujimori’s Treehouses

Maira Kalman

"His first thought on getting out of bed—if he had any thought at all–was to get back in again."

Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire sketches cityscapes by memory

My little sister. She ran a marathon last weekend and I am very proud of her.

risk-taking and the joys of feeling like an idiot

via luckyds

Tonight, I felt like a total idiot.

I decided to take a hip-hop class at my gym. I saw the class practicing before my yoga class on Monday and noticed that there were quite a few newbies struggling through the moves. Seeing them make it through the number was very inspiring and I decided I had to try it for myself. Well, tonight, there were no other newbies accompanying me (only dancers who had obviously earned the title ‘dancer’ at some point in their lives), but it was fantastic. I could not for the life of me get the steps down and sometimes felt that my arms were so gangly that, even if I had the steps down pat, I would still look like some sort of long-armed gorilla. At the end, the teacher made us perform in small groups for each other. I fumbled through the whole thing but still felt accomplished at the end.

I smiled while getting into my car after class and began reflecting on risk-taking and the joys of feeling like an idiot. Hip-hop is so far outside my comfort zone, but I think I will keep trying it. It is easy to come home and do the same thing I do every night, but it is harder to do something new.

Another risk-taker that I want to mention is Germany’s most popular women’s magazine Brigitte. They announced this week that they will no longer be using professional models but will instead be using “real women” as a way of combating the unhealthy standards that stick-thin professional models encourage. I think this approach is fantastic and can’t wait to see the results (I am even thinking about subscribing even though I don’t speak German!).

Anyways, cheers to risk-taking! Take a risk this week. It might be fantastic (or humiliating and then fantastic like my hip-hop experience, but this is really about the end result, right?).

Have a good Thursday!

…currently listening to Blackalicious, Alphabet Aerobics

…

…

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them. – Henri Nouwen (via white hot truth and lillieinthecity)

my mom and older sister

wo ai china (i love china)…

After talking on gchat tonight to my friend Kristina in China, I got hungry and restless. Now, this isn’t my normal reaction to talking with K, so I knew it had to be something else. I think my body is telling me it needs to travel.

My last big trip was when Dan and I went with his family a year ago to visit China and see the Olympics. It truly was one of the greatest vacations ever. Dan and I walked miles and miles everyday and I think I gained about five pounds in two weeks since I had to eat everything in sight.

Because real-travel isn’t in the cards right now, I am going to have to dream-travel with you all tonight with this blog post.

If I woke up tomorrow and I was in China, I would do all of the following…

…wander the gorgeous public parks…

Ritan Park, Beijing

Ritan Park, Beijing

Ritan Park, Beijing

Old Summer Palace, Beijing

Old Summer Palace, Beijing

Old Summer Palace, Beijing

…do a little shopping…

…eat A LOT of food (and probably a crazy amount of street food)…

…and just enjoy the craziness that is China…

(wo ye ai ta) =)

my picks…ny fashion week 2009

I must admit that I have been more than a little obsessed with the runway shows from last week’s NY Fashion Week. I have spent hours looking through all of the shows and picking out my favorite looks. If you would like to see a slide show of all of my favorite looks, click here (note that there are about 350 looks to go through, but it is so worth it to see beautiful designs!).

Here are a few of my favorites (be sure to click the images to see the full designer collections).

COLORFUL PATTERNS

Diane Von Furstenberg

Brian Reyes

Karen Walker

Tibi

BOLD NECKLACES

Vera Wang

Malandrino

LAYERS

Adam

Balenciaga

Chris Benz

Lela Rose

SEQUINS

Cynthia Rowley

Rachel Roy

Stella McCartney

Vera Wang

and a category all its own…
CHANEL

Chanel

Chanel

Chanel

the september issue

I had a “driveway moment” a couple of weeks ago listening to an NPR interview with director RJ Cutler about his new documentary The September Issue. Cutler spoke about the bizarre and fascinating world at American Vogue led by two incredibly powerful women–editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and creative director Grace Coddington.

I went with my lovely friend Ting Ting to see the film at the ArcLight on Friday night and really enjoyed it.

Culter had the opportunity to follow both of these magnificent women through the process of creating the American Vogue September 2007 issue, the single largest issue of a magazine ever published. Cutler’s access into photo shoots and re-shoots, closed-door meetings, harsh scoldings by the ice queen herself, and very personal moments with both women makes for an incredibly compelling documentary. Besides the dim and sometimes unflattering light the film sheds on the strange ways of the fashion industry, the most interesting focus was on the decades-long relationship between Anna and Grace.

Sock animals!

One of my favorite events this summer was my friend Matti’s birthday. He asked me to come up with a craft to do at the park for his birthday. Of course I could have decided on an small-amount-of-material craft like painting, but I, as usual, came up with a much more complicated option–sock animals. The book that I used for reference is Stray Sock Sewing by Taiwanese advertising professional turned sock animal aficionado Daniel Ta. His lovable and quirky creations photographed in whimsical environments are so inspiring.

I was so happy that so many party-goers were on board for my experimental project. On a few picnic blankets in the middle of the park, we spread out our materials: socks, stuffing, buttons, yarn, pipe cleaners, fabric scraps, notions, and, yes, a sewing machine and free-standing battery to power it.

(A very interesting way to sew. I think I still prefer a table.) =)

It was so much fun to work with everyone on their projects and to see what different creations each person came up with. Sock animals are not difficult to make, but they do require some care to give them the personalities they need.

I have to admit that I am more than a little bit obsessed with my man Frank. So adorable eating his dirt n’ worms…

stuffed squash–the cutest food

This is a recipe for one of my favorite dinners of late.

Alex’s Cute lil’ Stuffed Squash

Ingredients

• Love
• Happy face
• Round squash (I used 4 round-ish squash)
• 1 package (about 3 lbs.) ground meat (tofu will work too-I used ground turkey for this creation)
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese (or 2 cups if you are as obsessed as I am); another 1/4 cup for sprinkling the top
• 1 cup finely chopped cooked carrots
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic
• Any other veggies you would like (kale, spinach, celery, etc.)
• Basil
• Olive oil
• 1/2 cup of butter (I like Smart Balance)
• Salt and pepper to taste

[Excuse the pictures. They are only from my iPhone.]

First, start with your squash (I used beautiful squash from my CSA box. The green squash is called “eight ball squash” and the white squash is a type of “sunburst” squash.) Scrub the squash clean and then cook them in the microwave for about 10 minutes in a small dish with about 1/2 inch of water.

Heat oven to 400. Cook the ground turkey in a skillet alone and set aside. Cook carrots, chop, and set aside (I cheated and cooked my carrots in the microwave.) Then–like almost everything I make–get the garlic, olive oil, and onions going…

After the onions cook for a couple minutes alone with the garlic, add the chopped carrots to the mixture. If you are using other veggies, you can add them to the skillet at this time too. Add salt and pepper as you like. While that is cooking, cut the tops off of the squash and scoop the insides into a strainer. Let the insides sit in the strainer in the sink and keep shaking it to get most of the liquid out.

So cute.

Mix the cooked ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion/carrot/garlic mix, and the squash-insides together in a large bowl. Add about 1/4 cup of melted butter and mix again. Then add the Parmesan cheese.

Now stuff ‘em! Pour the rest of the butter over the top of the stuffed squash and then sprinkle a little bit more Parmesan cheese on top of each.

I had a lot of leftover stuffing so I just put it in a pan to cook on its own. (Of course I drizzled it with butter and Parmesan too).

Then, bake your cute little squash in the oven at 400 for about 40 min. Check the squash with a fork periodically to make sure it is tender enough and doesn’t overcook. Fork should go in easy once it is good and ready.

Mangia!

Let me know if you try it!

“back in the saddle again…”

My apologies for such a long hiatus from blogging. My summer really bogged me down (both fun and stressful things), but I am now ready to get my life back together. July was a fun month filled with friends, road trips, beaches, concerts, etc. August gave me the smackdown with a not-so-fun move sandwiched between two weekend Vegas trips and followed immediately by a 22 day flu.

There couldn’t have been a better time for the museum I work at to shut down for facility maintenance, “forcing” all employees to take a one week paid vacation. Last week, my man Dan and I made our way up through California, stopping to see my family in Fresno and his family in Danville. Then we flew to Spokane, WA for my lovely friend Michelle’s wedding. More on that in a later post.

For now, I am a little tired. I will be back with more tomorrow. Post topics in the queue include stuffed squash, homemade wedding programs, garment sewing classes, felting, more great Italian food, new season of Project Runway, upcoming sewing projects, and much more! Feels good to write. Can’t wait to write more soon.

Muah!

[image that came up when I Google Image searched "happy" (which is what I am)]

my search for the best italian food in los angeles, part 3

La Strada International Deli
Location: Barrington south of Sunset, Brentwood

I first came to La Strada a few years ago after hearing about their delicious sandwiches. I now love this deli and the never-ending list of paninis named after streets in Los Angeles and Rome that hang proudly on the back wall. La Strada was opened in 2004 by Rebecca and (Roman-born) Simone Totti after the pair moved back to Los Angeles from Italy. Following the tradition of naming paninis and other menu items after neighborhood streets, Rebecca and Simone Totti decided to take this tradition one step further and name the establishment “La Strada”, meaning “The Street” in Italian.

My only problem with coming here is that I always take too long to decide what to order and almost always default to something with prosciutto and pesto sauce

I don’t have a picture of the prosciutto panino, but this picture of the “Sunset Strip” sandwich (Oven-roasted turkey, domestic swiss cheese, avocado, cucumbers, sprouts, iceberg lettuce and sliced tomatoes on multi-grain bread–$7.45) is making me want to accidentally forget my  homemade lunch tomorrow and make a quick trip to La Strada for some fresh deli slices.