Getting My Craft On

31 Jul posted by

In my last post, I mentioned briefly how I bought some sewing books to take my free form sewing ability to the next, less crooked, level.  I brought both books, Sew Everything Workshop and The Bag Making Bible, with me to lunch so that I could make a shopping list before I headed to the fabric store.

The laundry list of items for the bags in The Bag Making Bible were a little intense, so I decided to make the “Tokyo Tie Bag” in the back of the Sew Everything Workshop book that only required 3/4 yards of fabric and liner.  I am just as intimidated by a pattern with a gazillion materials as I am by a recipe with a gazillion ingredients.  Weird.

The second I started sketching the bag pattern I remembered how much I enjoy sewing.  I love getting my craft on!

I put Band of Horses on my iPod and disappeared in craft land.  Before I knew it, I had cut, hemmed, listened to all three albums, and finished my first sewing project in years.  Mighty impressed…

I had a decent amount of fabric left over and I wasn’t ready to stop, so I regressed to my free form days and whooped up a skirt.

The skirt turned out surprisingly well, don’t you think?

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A Big Time Saturday

30 Jul posted by

Oh what a week!  I spent most of my spare time snuggling with the ice pack pictured below and, although my Saturday is bound to have some ice pack time, there are also a few solid tasks on my to-do list.  Most, not so fun, but what can you do.  I’ll focus on the fun stuff.

I cleaned out my freezer (not fun) and discovered a gold mine of frozen fruit that I used to make a killer breakfast smoothie (fun).  I’m usually a green smoothie gal, but this morning I put the kale back in the fridge and treated myself with sweetness.

1/2 Cup Almond Milk

1 Frozen Banana

1/2 Cup Frozen Blueberries

1/2 Cup Frozen Mango

1/2 Cup Frozen Raspberries

1 Acai Smoothie Pack, unsweetened

NO SUGAR!!!

My late night Amazon book order arrived last week, which I’m pretty pumped about.  I’ve been SO frustrated with clothing stores lately that I decided, rather than complain, I need to be proactive in this predicament.  Being a “free form” seamstress (meaning I don’t know how to use patterns), worked out well for Halloween costumes, but I’m ready to de-raw my talent!

Which means I need to find my step ladder and take my sewing machine down from the highest possible storage spot in my kitchen.  Apparently, I don’t iron much either…

Oh and then there’s the mini Nordstrom display on my dining room table!  I’m in desperate need of Tory Burch replacements (so cute, but kill my toes) and all of these bad boys were severely discounted during the Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale.

I’m borderlining ridiculous here because I think I may keep them all even though I fully intended on returning one or two pairs.  The problem is I don’t love any of them and they are all comfortable and equally as OK.  And OK is the best I’ve experienced since I retired my Torys.  Decisions, decisions.

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Filed Under: lifestyle, recipes

Bigger Byblos

27 Jul posted by

I last saw my mom when she dropped me off at the airport and took this awkward tourist photo before heading to LA.  That was twenty seven days ago.  And twenty seven days without mom time was starting to wear on me.

I shot her an email asking if we could do dinner after work and she politely declined.  Apparently this whole twenty seven day thing was affecting us differently.

No more than five minutes later, I had a new email from a completely different mom that was no longer tired and missed me equally as much as I missed her.  A new mom that had a Groupon for Byblos – hurrah!

The first thing I noticed when I walked up was a newer, larger outdoor seating area than what I remembered.  This triggered rumor memories of an expanding Byblos, rumors which were verified upon entering a gynorm, spruced up interior.

We ordered the salmon filet and vegetarian platter which consisted of hummus, grape leaves, baba ghanuj, tabbouleh, and falafel (i.e. heaven platter).  Everything tasted better this time too.  Perhaps the building wasn’t the only thing face-lifted during the renovation!

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Filed Under: lifestyle, restaurant reviews

7 Links

25 Jul posted by

Tag, I’m it!

Meghann tagged me in her 7 Links post, which is where you list 7 of your most XYZ posts and tag an additional seven bloggers and so on and some more on.

So here we go!

Most Beautiful Post: The Birthday Tourist

99.9% of FoodFash is centered around food, experiences, and light hearted subject matter.  I hunted and searched a CTRL+F’d the crap out of my archives to find something beautiful, something that appealed to the most senses and…  It turns out FoodFash steers clear of mush (whether this is good or bad has yet to be determined).  So I searched a term I frequently use, mush pot, to guide me past my first 7 Links hurdle.

My search yielded The Birthday Tourist which, surely enough, hit a mush pot spot.  As a reader, this post may not seem super mushy.  But to me, re-reading this post makes the hyper, overly-anxious today Kristin remember how I felt on my birthday: appreciative and calm.

Most Popular Post: Cheapest. Day. Ever.

I have zero insight as to how this is the most trafficked FoodFash post.  The only thing I can think of is that every FoodFash reader happened to read this post and that the economy still isn’t A+ and “cheap” was heavily Googled on January 9th?

Most Controversial Post: Halvsies

Who would have ever thought FoodFash’s most controversial post to date would be about something as simple as egg salad?!  Not I, Not I.  Sadly, this post drew an abundance of negative attention on Reddit with comments expressing that I didn’t know how to boil an egg correctly and that this was the world’s most boring egg salad.  I remember being bummed, but I also remember Sarah cheering me up by sending this little do-dad my way.  I’ve stored this image in my brain for whenever I’m faced with the negative sort. Makes ya smile, doesn’t it?

Most Helpful Post: Pantry Staples

Not only is the Pantry Staples tab a regularly visited post, it’s also one that’s talked about most amongst my friends and family.  Having this post linked on the FoodFash homepage provides readers with a quick reference to my latest foodie favorites.

A Post Whose Success Surprised You: Cheater, Cheater, Rice Cake Eater

Other than having one of my favorite blog post titles, I’m completely clueless as to why this post tops the FoodFash charts.  Perhaps this proves I am in dire need of some techie search optimization training.  Good thing I’m attending the Healthy Living Summit next month where I intend to learn tricks of the trade from 200 of my healthy living blogger peers!

A Post You Feel Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved: FoodFash Mash XIII – Sunset Cruise

Confession…  FoodFash Mashes are most likely more for me than they are for you – I REALLY enjoy making them.  And not for any other reason than I think it will be nice, wherever my life takes me, to have video footage to look back on that documents what I was doing and listening to during my FoodFash years.

Another confession…  I always finish a mash wishing I had more video footage. This was the first time I had almost enough footage to tell a story and have pretty decent timing with the tune du jour.

Most Proud Of: About Me

I had been blogging just over 16 months before writing a legit “About Me” page. Part of me can’t believe it took that long, but the other part realizes that I wasn’t ready to write this section until the exact moment I sat down to write it. It’s honest and full of self discovery.  It’s a published reminder of why FoodFash is and that, at this very moment, I am exactly where I’m supposed to be (and yes, Val, that’s a little shout out to you as well).

Thank you Meghann (so, so much) for tagging me in your 7 Links post!  It was equally as fun as it was time consuming and I enjoyed it mucho mucho.

And now, I pass the 7 Links torch to you Emily, Ethan, Kailey, Amanda, and my Healthy Living Summit roomies Krista, Emily, and Lauren!

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