2013, onward and upward
Finally into 2013. New job, new apartment, new routines, new foods, new wine. I hope that the rest of this year is as good as these first few days.
I participated in the Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange for the second time this year. I put in my bio that I was interested in pretty hankies and scarves. The ideas I had in my head were more along the lines of these and this. And my Santa sent me this: a bacon and eggs scarf.
Touché, secret santa Redditor. Bacon is deliciously beautiful.
My second favorite family (behind my own) had me over for New Year's Eve. We drank, played games, and ate far too much. It was perfect.
I love Colleen.
Because my family never celebrates Christmas on Christmas day, I had the holiday to myself. So I decided if I wasn't going to get that traditional Christmas dinner, I'd make a bunch of things I wanted. I ended up with a menu of cinnamon bun bread pudding, tator tot poutine with roast beef, and flan. Far and away the best thing I made that day was the cinnamon bun bread pudding. It's a cheat recipe; it uses canned cinnamon buns. But it was really tasty. And pretty!
I'm still trying to get back into the swing of creating things. I have a huge ongoing list of things in my head that I, for whatever reason, haven't really touched. Pajamas are always on my to-make list for Christmas, and I had a great time whipping these up while watching episodes of My Drunk Kitchen. Full disclosure: I have a big crush on Hannah Hart. But these are what I came up with for me. Love that bicycle fabric. It does not have any give however, so they are currently sitting on my sewing table awaiting a gusset.
Here are the PJs I made for the girls. I sewed the pants from scratch and appliquéd the shirts. I was worried about the pants fitting, since I didn't have access to any of their clothes while making them to make a pattern like I did last year. But I winged it and they came out really well. The white pants Leah is wearing are perhaps the best made garment I have ever sewed. I'm really really proud of them.
I came across, in quick succession, a number of articles about the Japanese custom of carrying your own hand towel. Apparently in many places in Japan paper towels and hand driers are just not used, because most folks carry around their own personal towel. I had never thought of it, but I thought that was a pretty ingenious idea. I checked the fabric I had on hand, however, and none of it fit the idea I had in my head of what towel fabric should be. So I took some time to sew up another useful item, hankies. I had a bunch of fat quarters from a project I did a couple of summers ago, cut them into squares, and just sewed the edges of them down. Other than the fact that the fabric is still quite stiff (stupid quilting cotton) I really really really enjoy having these. I keep one with me at all times, and other than feeling super dorking while I use them, I really like the idea of reusing something rather than throw it away. Once I can get some nice terrycloth or something equally absorbant, you'd better believe I'm going to start carrying my own hand towel.
And because I'm really liking this right now:
No matter what happens now
I won't be afraid
Because today is the most perfect day I've ever seen
I participated in the Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange for the second time this year. I put in my bio that I was interested in pretty hankies and scarves. The ideas I had in my head were more along the lines of these and this. And my Santa sent me this: a bacon and eggs scarf.
Touché, secret santa Redditor. Bacon is deliciously beautiful.
My second favorite family (behind my own) had me over for New Year's Eve. We drank, played games, and ate far too much. It was perfect.
I love Colleen.
Because my family never celebrates Christmas on Christmas day, I had the holiday to myself. So I decided if I wasn't going to get that traditional Christmas dinner, I'd make a bunch of things I wanted. I ended up with a menu of cinnamon bun bread pudding, tator tot poutine with roast beef, and flan. Far and away the best thing I made that day was the cinnamon bun bread pudding. It's a cheat recipe; it uses canned cinnamon buns. But it was really tasty. And pretty!
I'm still trying to get back into the swing of creating things. I have a huge ongoing list of things in my head that I, for whatever reason, haven't really touched. Pajamas are always on my to-make list for Christmas, and I had a great time whipping these up while watching episodes of My Drunk Kitchen. Full disclosure: I have a big crush on Hannah Hart. But these are what I came up with for me. Love that bicycle fabric. It does not have any give however, so they are currently sitting on my sewing table awaiting a gusset.
Here are the PJs I made for the girls. I sewed the pants from scratch and appliquéd the shirts. I was worried about the pants fitting, since I didn't have access to any of their clothes while making them to make a pattern like I did last year. But I winged it and they came out really well. The white pants Leah is wearing are perhaps the best made garment I have ever sewed. I'm really really proud of them.
I came across, in quick succession, a number of articles about the Japanese custom of carrying your own hand towel. Apparently in many places in Japan paper towels and hand driers are just not used, because most folks carry around their own personal towel. I had never thought of it, but I thought that was a pretty ingenious idea. I checked the fabric I had on hand, however, and none of it fit the idea I had in my head of what towel fabric should be. So I took some time to sew up another useful item, hankies. I had a bunch of fat quarters from a project I did a couple of summers ago, cut them into squares, and just sewed the edges of them down. Other than the fact that the fabric is still quite stiff (stupid quilting cotton) I really really really enjoy having these. I keep one with me at all times, and other than feeling super dorking while I use them, I really like the idea of reusing something rather than throw it away. Once I can get some nice terrycloth or something equally absorbant, you'd better believe I'm going to start carrying my own hand towel.
And because I'm really liking this right now:
No matter what happens now
I won't be afraid
Because today is the most perfect day I've ever seen