Afternoon walk

Morning View

Heading to work in the mornings, this is my view when I park and step out of the car--adorable homes and a peek of the bay. It's such a lovely way to start out the work day! I heart living here.

Satisfying a Craving

I don't miss the traffic or lines or lack of trees, but I sure do miss the LA food scene! What does it take to satisfy a craving for a warm bowl of delicious ramen? Well, in LA, it takes the effort to make several decisions: what kind of ramen do you want, which restaurant do you want to try, or how far are you willing to drive? When one lives in a town lacking in the quantity of cuisine choices, and sometimes quality of cuisine, you don't have a choice. This is what it takes:

1.5 hours of driving + 1 hour of waiting (on a list behind 25 other groups)

And was this effort worth it? Oh boy, yes it was. I won't be making a trek like that very often, but it was so worth it this one time to satisfy a craving that has been nagging at me for a while now (I blame watching too many episodes of The Mind of a Chef: Season 1!) 

Crafting lately

I hadn't sewn anything in a very long while, so a recent request from my sister was great motivation to dust off the sewing machine again. She wanted a pillow case for her eye pillow, and without a pattern to follow, I had to create my own. It was challenging and fun and I'm pretty happy with the results! I couldn't decide between two different designs, so went ahead and made both pillow cases--one with a button closing the top and one with an envelope flap...

With the machine out and ready to be used again, I plunged into my basket full of untouched fabrics to see what I could sew for my next project. I had totally forgotten about this fun camping-themed fabric I bought a while back! It was perfect for a project that had been at the back of my mind for a while--a bag to hang on the side of my camping chair. I always have books, magazines, and other miscellaneous things that I want within reaching distance while sitting in my chair and wanted to make a vessel to hold it all. This was another good project to flex my pattern-making and sewing skills, and below is the result of my creation. The straps button onto the arm of my chair and there's even a pocket inside for my phone, which you can't see in this picture. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out too!

Well, with two projects under my belt, I was getting on a roll and plunged into a few more. Made a hat for my nephew, which has become an annual tradition--he has gotten a new hat every year for three years now. Here's the beginnings of it...fun fabrics!

Tried making mary janes for a friend who was pregnant with a little baby girl. I downloaded a free pattern from the internet and didn't quite love the results. The sizing was a bit off (which may have been my fault, I forgot to check the printing settings) and there were exposed seams. At least they still look pretty cute in this picture...

And lastly, I made another sunhat, for a friend's little boy. I think the quality of my work and my skills have been improving with every project I've made. Now, what shall I make next?!...