SuperEggplant

chirp chirp

Posted on January 19, 2006 by mariko

Anna created some lovely mini prints on her Print Gocco and gave them away to a few lucky readers. I am delighted to say that I am one of the lucky readers! Check it out:

Isn’t it sweet? It’s about 2.5″ square. I ordered a wide mat for it and will frame it, too.

Posted in other crafting | 5 Comments

what up, dawg

Posted on January 18, 2006 by mariko

The Schmeebot she is currently a tad fixated on sock and glove animals. As obsessions go, she could do a lot worse. Hello, pooch!

Posted in other crafting | 3 Comments

Megan was in town over the weekend, and today she did our family a huge favor by cutting my father’s hair. She is a hairdresser extraordinaire, you see, and my father has refused to go get his hair cut for I don’t know how long. It was all long and crazy looking. His fingernails were also all long and crazy, so she clipped those, too. Afterwards we went out to lunch! My parents had noodles:

I ordered a few a la carte items, hoping for no sugar, dairy, or wheat. One of the items I got was a mixture of kim chee and natto (Japanese fermented soy beans). Natto has this weird, slimy, sticky consistency, and it is pretty stinky. Many people can’t stomach the stuff. I have only eaten it a few times, but I thought it might be a nice combo with the kim chee (yes, kim chee might have some sugar in it, I suppose, but my acupuncturist recommended I eat plenty of kim chee):

You can’t really see how sticky slimy it is, can you?

Posted in General | 20 Comments

random stuff continues

Posted on January 16, 2006 by mariko

Sorry I haven’t blogged for several days. We had a friend come for the weekend, so we were out chasing around, going to REI, Powell’s Books, eating lots of good food (but sadly still no sugar, dairy, or wheat), not crafting, you get the picture.
Speaking of pictures, we got our first piece of basenji art the other day:

I got it on ebay. It’s a drawing by Lucy Dawson, a British artist known for her sketches of dogs. I think it’s just a copy, but that’s okay. The basenji’s name is Gremlin, which is scarily appropriate for this breed.
And one more photo for you:

A marina is on the other side of the tunnel! Peter is in the process of getting a new (well, it’s old, but it will be new to him) sailboat, and he is scoping out all the sailing opportunities here in the Pacific Northwest.

Posted in General | 8 Comments

olive you

Posted on January 12, 2006 by mariko

My friend Megan gave me an issue of Olive Magazine, a Japanese magazine that I can only describe as a lifestyle magazine. I guess it’s kind of like a japonesque Martha? There’s some crafting, some food, some profiles of artists, some shopping info, that sort of thing. It’s pretty cute!

Here’s a profile of some crafter who makes little dolls. I love the hedgehog doll (I’m kind of collecting hedgehog-themed items, too, along with soft serve stuff, donut paraphernalia, etc.):

And ideas for making a basket tote much cuter by weaving in fat yarn (fuzzy photo, sorry):

And some beautiful food items. Check out those chocolate hands!

On a completely different note, I had my colonic yesterday. Let’s just say those things are not for everyone. It was quite interesting. If you’re curious about what the contraption that administers the hydrotherapy looks like, read on …

Continue reading →

Posted in other crafting | 14 Comments

groats and farina

Posted on January 9, 2006 by mariko

Egads, am I really going to talk about food again today? Sorry. It’s just that I went to Bob’s Red Mill Store today, and it was so great that I have to share. The store has every Bob’s Red Mill product you can imagine. I highly recommend visiting the store if you’re ever in the Portland area (if you’re into whole grains and stuff, anyway). Here’s one aisle:

And they have bin food, too!

Who knew there were so many wheat alternatives!
Here’s what I brought home:

I’m looking forward to trying the Brown Rice Farina for breakfast tomorrow.

Posted in General | 20 Comments

to wheat, or not to wheat

Posted on January 8, 2006 by mariko

When the right bagel comes along, what’s a gal with sinus issues supposed to do? You see, there’s this bagel guy in town. He doesn’t have a bakery or anything; he’s just a guy who is obsessed with bread. He had some at the final farmer’s market, but they sold out very quickly. I figured I was just outta luck, but then he posted on a local food board that he would have some bagels available this weekend. I e-mailed him, hoping to make it onto the special list, and today I received a mysterious e-mail with his address and three time windows for picking up the bagels. He happens to live near my brother, so yeah, I coerced him into picking up the bagels for me. The bagels got home safely, and I thought about throwing them into the freezer until my wheat restriction subsides, but then I thought, hey, these are spankin’ FRESH bagels, and they are supposed to be the best in town. Half a bagel won’t kill me! So I ate the bagel.

It was worth it, and besides, I’m sure they are organic and whole grain. Heh.
In fiber news, I met Action Hero Melissa at Bolt, a very cute local fabric store. They had a Michael Miller trunk show and thus had some really great items made with new Michael Miller stuff, including some very soft, fuzzy fabric that is ideal for sweatshirts or blankets. I bought some of the disco dot fabric in a shiny polyester:

You can see how shimmery it is. I’m planning to use it as lining in a jean jacket one of these days.

Posted in baking | 8 Comments

how sweet it is

Posted on January 7, 2006 by mariko

Some of you have asked if my acupuncturist/naturopath has me off sugar. Well, I’m very sad to say that yes, I am supposed to be off dairy, wheat, and sugar until I get better. Of course, I have already failed. Who knew that evaporated cane juice is the same as sugar (okay, so everyone except ME knew that, and I think I actually knew, too, but I was in denial). I am feeling better already, though, so I am hoping I can dive into cupcakes very soon.
In the meantime, I am making myself happy by purchasing sweets-related items. This is going to adorn our kitchen:

I have a thing for soft serve, and I was recently thinking I should start collecting soft serve-related items, so I could not pass this up.
All right, time for dessert (GRAPEFRUIT. Oh, the horror, the horror).

Posted in General | 14 Comments

blog slowdown

Posted on January 5, 2006 by mariko

I apologize for not having much blog fodder lately. I’ve been feeling cruddy, and my brain isn’t working very well, which means I have not been doing anything crafty or creative. I’m fed up with this bloblike existence, so I visited an acupunturist/naturopath. She is having me do all kinds of wacky stuff, which I am willing to try to a certain extent. I don’t know if I will blog about it, because do y’all really want to hear what a colonic was like? But anyway, I aim to get motivated soon!

Posted in General | 16 Comments

gingerbread houses galore

Posted on January 3, 2006 by mariko

Mrs. H started the annual tradition of a gingerbread house-making party long ago. As we kids moved away, I think the parties were put on hiatus. I always loved the tradition and planned to start it myself but never succeeded. Well, all the “kids” were in town, so Mrs. H hosted a gingerbread house-making party! The main difference was that the house builders were mostly kids of the “kids.”