crafting hope...

Into the mail they went last week. Boxed in a recycled box and protected with torn pages from the free magazine from outside the post office. I had plans on cute packaging and a pretty note, but time came down the the wire and I just had to get it in the mail.

It's still so inspiring to hear about the previous Craft Hope success stories. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this great way to give. Doing something I love for someone who really needs it. I can't wait for the next project to be announced.

Now off to do a little sewing for me - got to work on those pillows.

SEND+MORE=MONEY

My phone was ringing off the hook yesterday at work. Mostly it was Comcast calling to ask if I still needed them to come out. My internet went out over the weekend and I'd scheduled an appointment for Thursday for them to come fix it. So first they called to ask if they still needed to come and then again to see if I wanted to schedule a sooner appointment. (They ended up coming yesterday and I'm up and running again... but that is not the point of this story.)

The third time my phone rang it was my dad. "Hi Megs," he said. "I'm leaving in a couple minutes to come down there." I was quite puzzled. #1 - my dad lives 6+ hours away from me #2 - I hadn't heard anything about my dad coming down here. So I asked, "Come where?" thinking that maybe he had my confused with someone else. "In a few minutes I'm heading down to Long Beach," he said. "And stopping at Matt's for the night." {my brother who lives in San Jose.} Cool! A surprise visit from my dad. It was my excitement for Monday.

He got in around 7:30 - brought me my bike. I'm talking myself into riding to swimming in the morning. Is it to sketchy to ride half asleep in the mostly dark? We went out to sushi and had fun working out some logic problems.

As a kid growing up my dad would always have logic problems for us to do. I remember learning how to work them out. And weekends spent at the kitchen table working out puzzles made out of cereal boxes - easy ones for my little sisiter, harder ones for me and Matt. One of those things that makes my dad my dad.

...
In sewing news, I put together the pillow top for one of the couch pillows I'm making. I was worried about the fabrics I choose for the off-centered log cabin. Not quite sure if they went together. But now seeing them together I'm really liking it. What'd ya think?

easy, peasy

It's so nice when flying by the seat of your pants actually works out. Earlier this week I thought I'd try something new for dinner... without a recipe. And low and behold, it worked - eliciting a "This is pretty tasty" from Lukas.

First, this week I've had green beans coming out my ears. Extra from the week before and a big bag from Lukas's mom from her CSA box. Also, I had some peas too. I immediately thought stir fry, but I didn't want to do same old boring stir fry. So instead I added some udon noodles and a little teriyaki with chicken. And it did turn out "pretty tasty".

Here's what I did...

First - heated a frying pan with a little cooking spray and added the chicken cut to bite size. Then I sprinkled on some seasonings - lemon pepper, garlic, and italian seasoning {if I'm remembering correctly}. Once the chicken was mostly cooked and nice and browned I added in the green beans and peas. After another couple minutes I added the udon noodles and drizzled on a little teriyaki sauce - really a little goes a long way. Stirred to mix and let it heat through and that was it. Seriously, it was that easy.

Happy weekend!

pfffth

I've been thinking for days now how to write the perfect witty post about my new sewing machine, but it just hasn't come to me. Maybe that's because instead of getting sleep or exercising or eating I've been staying up to all hours getting to know it's ins and outs. Well, not all nights but most definitely that first day I brought it home...

I'd done my research, first narrowing it down to Pfaffs. I learned to sew on my cousin's vintage pfaff. I loved how solid it was - a tank. Most recently my old machine was up at my parents' house while I was staying in Santa Cruz. I had the chance to use Lukas's mom's pfaff. When I got my machine back it just wasn't cutting it any more. It felt so clunky.

Some people might buy their first new car when they get their first real job, I began fantasizing about sewing machines. One that would make a quite hum, not be a pain with tension, sew through the thick fabrics that would send mine into a tail spin. Two features I thought would be cool to have, but totally not necessary, were needle up/down and automatic tie off.

I made a little trip to a shop that carried Pfaffs for a test drive. I was looking, not buying. I'd had my eye on the Select 4.0 - a solid, mechanical machine with a good stitch selection. But, the sale's lady is well, a sale's lady and just had to show me the next level up machine - a computerized one with those extra features I'd already been eyeing. Good thing it was way out of my budget or I just might have come home with it.

When I got home I emailed another shop that I knew had Pfaffs for less then the store where I took my test drive. They didn't have the any more of the machine I wanted but he did have a used one that was just a model older. And the kicker... it was within my budget. I waited on pins and needles for the shop to open on Tuesday. Then I watched the clock at work (I did take off a little early). I drove into the heat of the east bay to check out this sewing machine.

And it was good. I gave it a try, liked, and bought it. That night I stayed up late fixing the curtains I'd made earlier this year. Boy those two unnecessary features (up/down and tie off) sure are wonderful. Maybe not necessary, but sure make sewing a breeze.

weekend review

Two day weekends always feel so much shorter when they are proceeded by a 3 day weekend. This weekend has gone especially fast since I've spent most of it sleeping. And boy did I need my sleep.

I got my workout in by the way of running around after Lukas. For the first time in ages we went up to Davenport for the sunset. It was not a relaxing trip. We hit up three different spots, rushing around to get it all in before the sun set. It was pretty spectacular though. I ran around in the sand, trying to catch up to the fast walking Lukas. Almost ate it on the water rocks and came back with half the beach in the folds of my pants.

When we got back I was beat. I took a little nap to hopefully get back to normal, but it was hopeless. Ten minutes into the movie we started I was down for the count. And I slept pretty solidly till 9:30 the next morning.

Today I had a little sewing party with a friend from college. I made the pillow case from Weekend Sewing. I think the dimensions are off a bit on it - maybe. Got to look up to see if there's an errata about it.

The other fun activity of the weekend was test driving sewing machines. Here's the one I think I want but got to do a little more shopping around.

Enough of this rambling post!

Monday, Monday

Monday morning I was running late.  I was late getting out the door.  The train was late getting into the station.  I had to run to the post office to send off a package before heading into work - making me even later.  And then to top it off I HAD to stop in at Starbucks for a coffee - 5:30am swim practices have been getting the better of me.  

To say the least I was feeling a bit frazzled when I stepped into Strabucks.  I was happy to notice that there was only one person in line in front of me.  I glanced at the treats behind the counter.  Thinking maybe I'd get a bagel, but seeing those were all gone. 

Wow, I thought, that guy in front of me is big.  A split second {I mean this literally} after this thought went through my head my eyes got wide and I recognized the man standing there - Randy Johnson, pitcher on the Giants.  His nickname... The Big Unit - yeah I'd say it's fitting.  I'm pretty sure I got this goofy smile on my face.  There was none of the usual second guessing that usually accompanies a celebrity sighting.  I knew immediately that guy was Randy Johnson.  It couldn't have been anyone else.  

I debated asking for his autograph for Lukas, but everyone was leaving him alone.  I didn't want to be a bother so I followed their example.  Instead, I took detailed mental notes on everything he did.  Here's the run down.

He asked for a glazed, old-fashioned donut.  Smiled when he said, "Got to get my breakfast of champions."  Then he put cream in his coffee and sat down to read the paper.  

I'm sure you really wanted to know Randy Johnson's Starbucks routine.  

I left in a hurry to get to work, hoping Lukas would be up and online so I could tell him all about it.  Gosh, he took forever to get up Monday morning!  Well, maybe he didn't and I was just anxious to tell him my exciting story.  Oh it was so cool! 

bowl food

bowl food, noun.  1. a meal most entirely eaten from a bowl or bowls 2. second only to basket food on the "Lukas list of great dinner foods"

When we have hamburgers I'm always at a loss with what to do with the extra hamburger meat.  Since there's just two of us and one package of meat usually makes 4 patties either we have leftovers or ...  

Then came the brilliant idea of taco salad.  I thought about how this was going to work for several days - worried that it would be too dry, the lettuce would get all wilt-y.  Just in the end I just jumped in and did it.  They turned out so yummy and it was so simple.

First I got the rice cooking.  For the rice, I heated it in a bit of olive oil just till it got a bit toasty.  Then added water (2 cups to 1 cup rice), about 4 cloves chopped garlic, and roughly 3 tsp. Caldo de Tomate.  {I use a teaspoon to add the Caldo de Tomate, but I am totally imprecise with my measurements.}  This cooks for about 20min covered, turned down to simmer the water away.  

While this is going, I chopped up half an onion and threw it in a skillet with a bit of cooking spray just to keep it from sticking.  Next I added the hamburger meat and just let this cook really good.  I've been using home-made taco seasoning lately - cheaper and no yucky preservatives.  Plus, I can use however much I want and am not left with half open packets.  {I didn't quite have all the ingredients this recipe calls for, but I didn't stress that small issue.}  Once the meat was mostly cooked I added the seasoning - to taste.  

To build the best taco salad... I chopped up Romaine lettuce by this "fancy" method.  {ps. it works really well!}  I added everything in layers from bottom to top - rice, taco meat, lettuce, and tomatoes.  I must recommend fore going the fork and eating this with a tortilla chip.  Simple, yummy - a great weekday meal!

{Please ignore the fact that the picture shows the taco salad on a plate.  Bowl food does not photograph well so I did this up on a plate.  It's just for the picture though so please, eat this in a bowl!}

 

a little of this

The days just seem to pass quickly by.  Already it's been almost 4 months since I moved and started this new job.  I have all these half written posts floating around in my head.  Just to get them out, here they are in list form...

::woodies on the wharf was fun.  Such pretty, old cars made my eyes go all googly-eyed.  Thanks to harsh, hazy light Lukas let me take over the camera.  I happily snapped away before it got too hot and too crowded.

::humans are a unique breed.  The other day in the city I saw a guy on rollerblades.  Now this is not that odd of a sigh except that this rollerblader was wearing cut off jean shorts, a jeans jacket and an Indiana Jones hat.  Oh, I just couldn't help but smile.  

::had to smile too at the guy that rode by on a bike the other day with a toaster oven strapped to the back.

::in garden related news... the strawberry plant is covered in berries that are covered in a hard fuzzy grey shell.  What's up with that?  The little tomatoes are growing and I still have yet to kill the watermelon plant. 

::sewing projects are starting to stack up.  Here's what's on tap if I ever find the time...

- filter case for Lukas - pillow case {much needed} - lunch sack

::That's it... I think... The End!