caffeine: friend or foe?

Posted on May 21, 2007 by mariko

Hey! Sorry for my long absence. I’ve been busy trying to catch up on orders, and to all of you customers out there waiting for your packages, thanks for being patient! We are working as quickly as we can, and hey, we’d better be quicker, because I have TEN boxes of fabric waiting in my living room, and I am expecting quite a few more this week. Yup, superbuzzy is going to drain your wallets (here’s a teaser–fairy tale fabrics part deux!)

espresso concentrate.JPG

So anyway, one of the only things that is keeping me going at this point is coffee. Peter and I switched to decaf several years ago, but a couple months ago I started sneaking some regular coffee into my decaf (shhh, Peter doesn’t know), just enough to, ya know, perk me up. Now it’s moving into iced coffee season, and wonderful superbuzzy helper Melissa just introduced me to Stomping Grounds, which makes espresso concentrate! You just splash in some milk and ice, and voila, iced coffee! It’s quite tasty. I still kind of want to get a toddy, but until I do, I’m sticking with this concentrate.

Posted in food | 18 Comments

I am such a lame blogger

Posted on May 14, 2007 by mariko

I don’t really have many valid excuses, other than I have been too exhausted form allergies to do anything crafty or worth blogging about. Now, though, I DO have a good excuse–we just posted a superbuzzy update, and y’all are trying to put me in an early grave. Ha ha. Actually, I am still blown away by the enthusiasm of our customers, but maybe I shouldn’t be, considering my own fanatical delight every time I open a box of fabric.
So I usually have the mail carrier pick up all my packages (and any of you out there who do much mailing should do the same, unless you actually ENJOY standing in line at the post office), but I was concerned about the postal rate increases, so I decided to take some packages to the post office Sunday night.

stack of boxes.JPG
These are boxes from BEFORE the newsletter went out. Some wise customers noticed we were adding some new fabrics here and there before sending out the big announcement and shopped accordingly. Let me tell you, at 10:30pm there aren’t many super normal people at the post office.

Posted in zip | 19 Comments

I went to Salt Lake City and forgot to take photos

Posted on May 8, 2007 by mariko

Hey, so Kelly and I are back from the big trade show in Salt Lake City! She remembered to take photos on her final day there, so head on over to her blog if you want to see some. The trade show was really quite fun (except I almost passed out the first day because of migraine issues, then Kelly’s cold got really bad), and Salt Lake City treated us pretty well (except for the cold rain and wind pelting me as I trudged back to the hotel with my migraine). We had some good Italian food (thanks for the tip, Silvia!) and also some good Chilean food. I even found good coffee! And the company, of course, was great.
A couple token shots:

patchwork pillow.JPG
Recognize some of those fabrics? Yup, we carry them!
bunny and bee kit.JPG
We’re planning to carry the kits for these little guys. Aren’t they cute? There are some great kits out there. We carry a good number of kits, but to be honest, they haven’t been selling as well as we had hoped. Where’s the kit love, people?
We’re gearing up for a big superbuzzy shop update this week. There is some pretty fantastic stuff, if I do say so myself, so this update is sure to be the death of me, but hey, we have a good little helper now, so bring it on!

Posted in zip | 6 Comments

weebles wobble

Posted on May 3, 2007 by mariko

Aren’t these little matryoshka amigurumi cute?

matryoshka0001.JPG
They are from the book Little Tiny Amigurumi, which is available from superbuzzy.
Anyway, since I am trying to figure out this whole crochet thing, I thought I’d attempt to make one of these little guys.
matryoshka amigurumi.JPG
Aiyaaa! Pass the Visine! My eyes, my eyes! They are so bloodshot! Well, I didn’t have the proper felt material for the eyes, so I made do with what I have. It doesn’t look at all like a matryoshka. I still think it’s kind of cute, albeit in a creepy way, but whatever. Peter looked at it and asked, “What the h*ll is that?” and then he suggested giving it to Deedle to rip to shreds.
Hey, so Kelly and I are off to Salt Lake City for the big trade show! This means superbuzzy orders placed between this very second and Sunday won’t ship out until early next week. Have a good weekend, and I will try not to drink too much in Salt Lake City, ha ha.

Posted in other crafting | 14 Comments

misc nonsense

Posted on May 2, 2007 by mariko

Superbuzzy has been keeping me super busy, so I apologize for being so spotty in my posting. Yesterday I had this goal of getting the boxes of product out of the living room, but then the UPS guy showed up with TEN more boxes of fabric! I should sell tickets to the lifesize maze!
Kelly and I are heading to Salt Lake City on Friday for a big trade show. I have been checking the weather reports, because, I don’t know, that’s what I do (I check the weather and look for food tips when I go on trips), and can you believe it’s been sunny and in the 80s, but when we arrive a cold front is going to hit, and it’s supposed to rain and/or snow and be cold! As a Pacific Northwesterner with a bit of seasonal affective disorder, I was disappointed by this news. I even bought some cute walking shoes for the trip, but they will stay home:

new shoes.JPG

Anyway, we are gearing up for a pretty big update next week. In preparation I picked up some more candies to include in the packages:
omake candy.JPG
I got a few packages of some weird, filled marshmallows. They might be gross, so take that as a warning.
All right, I need to wash the dishes and get ready to watch Lost. Today was (well, still is as of this moment) Action Hero Melissa’s birthday, so we went to a new restaurant to celebrate. It was pretty tasty, but Melissa’s meal was kind of bland. I hope it’s not a sign of things to come when she is old and can only eat boiled foods.

Posted in General | 13 Comments

rice balls

Posted on April 30, 2007 by mariko

Hey, I actually did some sewing over the weekend! It was mostly hemming shirts and pants, though, so I won’t bother sharing the details with y’all. A couple of you asked about how to make rice balls. I found this little visual tutorial here. It omits a little bit of information: you want to wet your hands so the rice doesn’t stick to them. Most people also sprinkle some salt on their dampened hands for flavor enhancement. If you want to put something in the center of the rice ball, such as a pickled plum or seaweed, scoop the rice onto the palm of your hand and gently flatten the rice. Place the morsel in the center of the rice then sort of fold up the outer edges around the center before proceeding to number one of the tutorial.

Posted in cooking | 12 Comments

perfect foods

Posted on April 27, 2007 by mariko

The whole pink cookie thing got me thinking about perfect foods. To me, the pink cookie is pretty close to ideal, but Peter? He won’t even touch one. He is so grossed out by the pink cookie that he will not even TASTE one. His loss!
I have a long list of perfect foods. Here are just a couple:

omusubi.JPG
Ahhh, the rice ball. How I adore the rice ball! You can put just about anything inside or around them. They are perfect, compact nuggets of tastiness. When Peter and I lived in Japan, I could not go a day without eating rice. If I did, I would start craving it. I suppose this is why Peter nicknamed me “rice burner.”
And I guess this is an obvious one:
bakery bar cupcake.JPG
Cupcake! This particular one is from Bakery Bar. They make the most gorgeous cakes.
Other perfect foods? I think soft ice cream would have to be on the list, green tea ice cream, certain coffees and teas, pickled eggplant, maple bars and cream-filled donuts from the now defunct Hillsdale Pastry Shop, pulled pork, oh, I don’t know. It’s such a long list! So what are some of your perfect foods?

Posted in food | 42 Comments

the ongoing saga of the pink cookie

Posted on April 25, 2007 by mariko

Some of you may be aware of my obsession with the pink cookie. The ultimate pink cookie, the one that serves as the prototype, is the pink cookie from the Rocket Bakery in Spokane, Washington. Some similarly obsessed friends have searched high and low for a recipe for the pink cookie. I even wrote to Bon Appetit magazine, asking if they could get the recipe. Heck, I even wrote to the Rocket Bakery! No luck.

uncle seth cookies.JPG
I had heard rumors that Uncle Seth’s pink cookies from Seattle were pretty tasty. I always keep my eyes open for pink cookies, but Uncle Seth’s proved to be elusive here in Portland. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found a whole stinkin’ box of these at Costco! It didn’t take long before it jumped onto my flatbed cart. My assessment? Uncle Seth’s cookies aren’t quite as delicious as the Rocket Bakery’s, but they are still pretty tasty for a shelf-stable pink cookie.

Posted in baking | 13 Comments

you say tomato

Posted on April 23, 2007 by mariko

I don’t have much time to do much these days, but I was able to squeeze out a little time to crochet a wee tomato amigurumi.

tomato amigurumi.JPG
I found the pattern on a Japanese store site. The PDF is located here. It was not horribly difficult, and I think the little guy turned out pretty cute. Big thanks to Sara for sending me some amigurumi eyes!
I haven’t talked about superbuzzy much lately, but it is buzzing along like crazy and keeps both Kelly and me super busy! I have a bunch of fabric waiting to be unpacked and added to inventory. I opened a few of the boxes, and I think you superbuzzy shoppers will be pretty pleased!

Posted in knitting | 15 Comments

cupcakes make a party

Posted on April 21, 2007 by mariko

My father’s funeral service went pretty well, and it was kind of fun to see everyone, despite the rather somber circumstance. The outpouring of support has been pretty incredible and quite unexpected, and we are grateful.
I inherited my sweet tooth from my father, so I think it’s appropriate if I now turn to the subject of cupcakes.

lillie cupcakes.JPG
My friend’s daughter Lillie turned 11 last week, so we celebrated one night with cupcakes. She requested the Cookie Dough Cupcakes from the Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook, so that’s what I made. They have chocolate buttercream frosting, and I have to say they were really quite tasty and easy to make.
Read on for the recipe!

Continue reading →

Posted in baking | 8 Comments