a quilt in progress, part 1

A little over a month ago I finished writing up a 30 by 30 list, that is, 30 things that I want to do/accomplish/experience before I turn 30. As of right now, I have yet to mark anything off my list, but this past weekend I started one of them. One of the things on my list is to make a quilt. I've been interested in quilting for over a year, but until recently I just couldn't muster up the courage to dive in.

The weekend before last my parents were in town. I took my mom to the big (and I mean 4-stories big) fabric store downtown. It's a bit overwhelming and intimidating when you're flying solo, but having my mom there was much more reassuring. She's experienced in sewing herself, so it was helpful to have her lend her expertise. Plus it's just more fun to fabric shop with another person, to get their opinion, to have another perspective.

She helped me pick out and limit down the fabrics I chose to make my very first quilt. And here they are!

I decided for my first quilt to do something slightly smaller in scale, so I chose to do a lap quilt for my living room. The color scheme in the room isn't that well defined, but there are some oranges/rusts, golds, tans, and blues. So those are the colors that I tried to keep in mind when picking out fabric.

The quilt pattern I chose is a pretty basic pinwheel design. So my first step was to cut 80 squares, which I will then cut into triangles. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't take me longer to cut out all the squares. Having the mat, ruler, and rotary cuter were lifesavers. I can guarantee that if I had had to cut those pieces by hand with a pair of scissors, my quilting hobby would have ended in a matter of minutes.

My next step is to cut all these squares in half to make 160 triangles. But then comes the fun part of designing the pinwheels and creating different color combinations.

a late christmas present.

For Christmas, Micah gave me a subscription to Food & Wine. It said my first magazine would take 6-8 weeks to arrive, and they were not kidding. However, the first one has finally arrived, and I was so excited when it did.



I spent the following morning looking at all the pretty pictures and reading over the amazing-sounding recipes. And, when I got up for a brief moment, Nora decided that she had had enough of me paying more attention to the magazine than her.



Magazines like this one are best when read on a full stomach! I'm hoping I can incorporate a recipe or two into this week's menu.

julia child does it again.

It was a couple years ago that Micah bought me Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and we made a night out of making our own delicious French food. It has now become somewhat of a tradition to pick out new recipes each year for Valentine's Day and I'm pretty smitten on the idea. I have never been overly excited about this particular holiday with it's oodles of red and pink and cards and chocolate and weird stuffed teddy bears. So, instead of braving the crowds to get a table for a meal out, I quite like spending the time creating something together. And, it has been our experience that Julia rarely let us down.

This year we decided to spend a little more time on dessert. So we went with a light and airy chocolate mousse, chilled in martini glasses of course. My only comment about the mousse is that it was more of a mocha mousse than chocolate. The recipe called for 4 tbsp of strong coffee, and we either operate on a different scale of what strong coffee is or the recipe calls for too much, because it was way more than a subtle hint. Slightly (and I do mean slightly!) disappointing when you're really wanting chocolate, chocolate, but once it was accurately re-named as mocha, it tasted better.

The main meal was your basic meat and potatoes. The potatoes in this picture look a little like tater tots, my opinion is that they were much better than tater tots, as they were slathered with butter and chives. The steak had a red wine reduction sauce, and was also served with garlic butter. And the salad was simple with cucumber and mushroom and goat cheese.

It was the perfect way to celebrate with the person I love most.

Golden Gate Bridge.

Last weekend, Micah and I went to Mill Valley to visit some friends. Mill Valley is North of San Francisco, so our most likely route was over the Golden Gate Bridge. I love the this bridge. It does not matter how many pictures I take of it, I always want to take more, whether I'm crossing it or viewing it from a distance. And believe me, I have no shortage of pictures of this bridge.

It is majestic. It shines. It has this power that takes over me and makes me want to keep snapping pictures to try to capture it's greatness. And yet no picture ever seems to do it justice. No picture ever seems to demonstrate the contrast of such a single, massive structure to the thousands of buildings, large and small, that make up the San Francisco skyline.

I seriously wish I could do this bridge justice (perhaps if I were using a fancy camera and not just my phone). I think it's just one of those things that you have to witness in person. In reality, I don't see the bridge as often as one might think for a person living in SF. But, I guess that just makes it extra spectacular when I do.

the little things.

This week at work has been pretty hectic. In fact, since the beginning of January it's been all around chaotic and in the midst of all the new work, I'm still finding my rhythm and routine. Sometimes, it feels like I've been at my job way more than just 3 and 1/2 months. Sometimes it feels like I've been there forever. And, then there are times when I ask so many questions in a day one would think I'd never done the type of work in my life. Oh well, I can still blame things on "the learning curve," at least for a little while longer.

A couple little things that have made my week better are:

1. Granola Cups



Foodgawker has done it again and they have ingeniously connected me with a new favorite. These granola cups are great. Like a healthy cupcake in the morning. Lately, starting my day on time has been a challenge. Why, oh why, do I keep pressing the snooze button!?! But, these little bites of wonderful granola and yogurt and fruit are splendid, and seriously helped me get up earlier than normal this past week. I'm not ashamed to admit food can motivate me to do something.

2. Cheese, Crackers, Fruit, and Nut Spread



I don't know if I love anything as simple so much. Chunk of cheese, cut up some apple, toss in some almonds and crackers, and I am a happy person.

Sometimes it's the little things that help make it through a busy week.

It's 2012 and I've been thinking.

It's two thousand and twelve and I've been thinking a lot about the new year and new decisions and ideas and new experiences I want to have. It's two thousand and twelve and I've been thinking a lot about last year and the accomplishments, challenges, and changes it brought and how those experiences carry with me into this new year. It's two thousand and twelve and I've been thinking a lot about this blog and how it hasn't seemed to really fit into my life and whether I want it to fit into my life and what would need to change in order for it to fit into my life (if I want it to).

You see, lately this blog has felt a lot like a chore and I don't like chores and especially in the last 6 months I've been particularly good at avoiding this chore. I've had moments where I want to just delete the whole thing, to not post bits and pieces of my life for all to see. But something stops me from throwing in the towel. And that something that stops me is the other blogs that I read, the inspiration of their ideas, the power of their thoughts and the vulnerability of their emotions, and the general idea of being connected to other peoples' worlds through even the mundane aspects of life. And to be honest, I really love and hate that connection all at the same time. I hate it because it's not tangible or personable, it's not words spoken between friends. I hate it because in ways it reminds me of the lack of (geographically) close friends I have, and the difficulty of building a new support network. But, I love it because it facilitates "knowing" new friends and staying connected to old friends (and family) when time is short and space is great. I love it because it gives voice to my thoughts and provides a record of my experiences. I love it and I hate it and it is two thousand and twelve and I'm still thinking about how to resolve those two feelings.

So, I'm not going to promise anything. I'm not going to make any grand resolution to blog more. I'm only going to try to be more honest with myself about how I can use this format to stay connected but not feel empty at the same time. It's two thousand and twelve, a new year, and I'm going to keep thinking.

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Much pleasure thou can'st give me;

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Much pleasure thou can'st give me;

How often has the Christmas tree

Afforded me the greatest glee!

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Much pleasure thou can'st give me.