spring brunch
Easter brunch. Not a celebration of a religious holiday in our home, but a little celebration, nonetheless. An excuse to bring out the fancy china and a new bunny table cloth given to us by Shawn’s sister.
We feasted on cheezy broccoli quiche, roasted carrots, fresh berries, red flannel hash, sausage, gravy and molasses cake. We followed up brunch with a few rounds of Carcassonne.
Afterwards, I did a bit more painting to confirm my color choice for the living room. I’m still undecided. The shade I like seems perfect in the evening but possibly too light during the day. I’ll have to think on it some more. Meanwhile, Shawn rearranged some furniture, making our living room feel much more open and streamlined. Now we just need to find a cute bar cart.
flea market
Another weekend gone in an instant. For a few days with not much planned, they ended up being really enjoyable. I started Friday night making almond cake and watching Jane Eyre which is pretty perfect for a Friday evening if you ask me.
We spent Sunday with Shawn’s brother and sister, strolling around the Pasadena Flea market. We weren’t looking for anything in particular but it was nice to just check out all the things. I’m always pining over some pyrex set or crystal punch bowl. Years ago I was much more fearless in my photo taking at the flea market, but I found I was a lot more shy this time around.
After our flea market adventures, we headed out to Inn of the Seventh Ray for brunch. I still can’t get over how peaceful it is up there. Good food and relaxing atmosphere, always a favorite for special occasions and family visits.
The time change felt like it gave us an extra hour at 4pm or so as light flooded in our apartment. I guess spring is really here. St. Patrick’s day is just around the corner too. When did time start slipping away so quickly? Busy weeks ahead and though March seems like it just started, April will be here before I know it. I need to come up with a strategy to balance relaxation and creative work in my free time. Have anything that works for you?
farewell 2012
The end of the year is here and it becomes a time of reflection, looking back on how this year has changed us. This year has been an odd one, with so many great highlights, but also a transitional undercurrent that hasn’t necessarily been the best. Looking back is helpful to focus on what was accomplished and celebrated rather than noticing what is the same.
In January we went to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival and also so I could attend Alt Summit. Both were such great experiences, I was lucky to meet so many great people at Alt and see many of their blogs bloom into great successes. We’ll be attending Sundance again in 2013, and without the the conference at the same time I’m looking forward to seeing even more films (I can’t wait to see Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Upstream Color among others).
In February Cute and Delicious got a huge makeover from the wonderful Anna Dorfman. One of the best things that has ever happened to this blog for sure. Shawn and I celebrated our first anniversary of marriage. We also made a little Valentine’s Day video.
In March we visited Austin for SXSW for the first time. It was tons of fun; we ate at some great restaurants and I fell in love with the airstream where we stayed. Then, when we returned, we had our epic Mad Men Party.
April was a time for making things including ice cream snowballs, a quick(ish) summer dress, refinishing our butcher block, and my favorite, a tiny toast quilt. I also rebound a my deleted livejournal to printed book. Plus I made this list of movies I want to live in.
In May we started filming my first short film which took up most of my time with scouting and planning. I made a striped nightgown (which reminds me it’s time to make a winter version). I also made a fancy brunch for Mother’s day.
In June I gave our kitchen a mini makeover which made my life oh so much brighter. We went to the Los Angeles Film Festival and saw tons of films. We photographed a wedding together. We recreated the Pure Luck menu including the infamous Jackfruit Carnitas. I made two quilts, a queen sized chevron quilt and a mini quilt. I watched the Venus transit from the Griffith Observatory. Last but certainly not least we had an epic Twin Peaks marathon with tons of pie and donuts and good times.
We traveled to the Northeast in July for a friend’s wedding and visited a Shaker village. We celebrated the 4th of July with fireworks and sparklers and chickens. July is also when I first spotted some stray kittens in our neighborhood (that would soon become part of our family).
Finally in August I caught all the kittens, had them fixed & vaccinated and found homes for all of them, including our home for miss Weetzie Cat. There were lots of baby showers to attend so I knit a sweater and cap as presents.
September meant making a ton of bumpers for Fantastic Fest including Doctor Meow which ended up being selected as a finalist and playing before the premiere of Frankenweenie!
We held our annual Halloween Movie Massacre in October and watched 24 hours straight of horror movies. There were lots of treats and craziness and it was a good 5th year. We also carved pumpkins!
November was particularly busy as I started out the month working for AFI Fest, which was loads of fun and also exhausting and challenging and wonderful. We celebrated birthdays at Disneyland and finally released Brainwashed Love online.
And here we are in December. I made some wintery terrariums and even made a vegan Yule log. I even dyed my hair pink and orange.
I’m looking forward to 2013 and all that it might hold. We’ve spent the last day or so reorganizing our apartment, a bi-yearly activity and it feels really good to have things in order and be able to start the year fresh.
I don’t have a resolution but perhaps I’ll come up with one in the next few days. I’m hoping 2012 is full of exciting and wonderful surprises.
halloweens
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Hope everyone has a spooky All Hallows Eve filled with candy, black cats, pumpkins and ghosts. And possibly a little bit of pumpkin spice ice cream.
Halloween Movie Massacre 5
It’s that time of year again, time for our annual Halloween Movie Marathon. In fact, this was our 5th year (be sure to check out some of the past years), and we clocked in at a full 24 hours straight of horror movies.
While I usually go nuts with food, I tried to keep things simple, preparing desserts the night before, and designing the rest to be easy to make by popping in the oven. For sweets I made my favorite pumpkin spice cake and some bone shaped sugar cookies (and a sad version of the classic ghosts). Our friend Scott made a vegan King Cake which was super exciting for me.
On the savory side, I made buffalo cauliflower and giant pot of macaroni and cashew cheese. Shawn set up a hot dog station with all the trimmings. We also had French bread pizzas at some point and lots of chips and queso and popcorn and even caramel popcorn. Alas, I have no photos as photography is difficult during dark screenings.
In the morning, I made a bunch of breakfast sandwiches modeled after the Badass Breakfast Sandwich from Locali: maple dipped English muffins, vegan sausage, cheddar Daiya and spicy mayo. They were a hit, and will certainly be a staple in our home for weekends to come.
For decor we opted for lots of creepy lighting and a few key horror elements. I filled terrariums with vegetable specimens and jars of candy were labeled as disturbing fare. We had a handful of skulls and a bunch of pumpkins. One of the most exciting pieces was a drink dispenser held up by boney hands, a Halloween gift given especially for this event. We of course filled it with cold brewed coffee to keep the movie watchers awake. I also painted a few Halloween themed masks just for fun.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but watching endless horror films without sleep does very strange things to your mind. It’s no surprise we found ourselves walking down dark hallways with axes, doing zombie crawls across the floor or drilling holes in someone’s skull. No surprise at all.
Ready for what we watched? Here’s the list:
1. Carrie
2. Near Dark
3. The Descent
4. Triangle
5. Ginger Snaps
6. Poltergeist
7. The Woman in Black
8. Phenomena
9. The Loved Ones
10. Final Destination
11. The Omen
12. We Are the Night
