collections

Not quite ready to show a full tour of our home yet, but I couldn’t help but share just a little. It seems we’ve become quite the collectors. Or rather, so many of the little creatures and knick knacks hiding in our closets have come out into the light.

Busy busy days ahead. More to come.

oh hi

My goodness it’s August and I haven’t posted a thing. I don’t really have a reason for that. It’s just so. Was feeling a little guilty about it though so I thought I should pop in and say something. There’s been lots swirling in my mind lately and maybe it would be best to write it down. Perhaps.

Things are good, you know? I just seem to be tumbling through time and living life with not much to report. No big announcements. And while Shawn and I have been doing a lot of fun stuff (checking out the new Mohawk Bend, going to an amazing all night movie marathon, having Seabirds at Verdugo Bar) I just haven’t felt like writing about any of it. I haven’t really felt like writing about anything.

Mostly I just feel like sitting on my couch and reading. I just joined Good Reads and though I’m just starting to add books, feel free to add me, as I can always use book recommendations.

I pulled a muscle in my back/shoulder a few weeks ago and then decided to go to my aerial class anyway and ended up hurting it much worse. It’s been weighing on me as even now, it hurts nearly all the time. I’m afraid it won’t be healed enough for my last class in two weeks when I’m supposed to perform. This saddens me greatly.

On the other hand, some major personal accomplishments have happened in the past two weeks. For one, Shawn and I cleared out a storage unit we’ve had since we moved in together years ago. It feels so good to be rid of it, as if somehow a leash has been untied from us. Not to mention I’ve made a major dent in some of my personal debt. Such relief. I can’t wait till it’s completely gone and the weight of financing a movie and going on a too expensive honeymoon are washed away.

As I’m writing this, I am realizing that this blog is 4 years old this month. Though I barely posted a thing that first year, so let’s say it’s 3 years old in earnest. Pretty crazy. I’ve been thinking a lot about where I want to go with this blog. It is one of my true loves. At the same time it needs a little more direction and attention than I’ve been giving it as of late. Frankly, for the past year I’ve been using the blog as a way to put off other projects. Blogging can be so instantly rewarding whereas other creative endeavors take a great deal more work and the gratification can come much much later if at all.

So that’s part of what this post is, seeing where I want to go, with this blog and my life in general. It is not easy to push yourself that extra mile to make the things you want happen, and despite reminder after reminder that I have to do exactly that, here I am, nearly in the same place I’ve been for awhile now. Except now I’m married, which is the coolest. There is that.

Here is what I know. I like security and routine; therefore, I worry a lot. I need to let go of that. I need to stop letting myself get so caught up in the details of life, quiet my brain and let my creativity be free again. I busy my thoughts with with distraction (is the kitchen clean? when can i fit in this appointment?) and need to sweep out these cobwebs and put other things in the front of my list instead of trivial bits of time consumption. I need to lose control a little.

I need to trust in myself. It is easy to let self doubt poison the good things you do. It can tinge things that are perfectly fine a strange shade of worthless. I can only be myself. I am only capable of my best, which is pretty damn good. Best not agonize over whether things are “right” or not. They are or they aren’t and that’s that.

I’ve been struggling with what direction I want to put my energy towards. Eternally indecisive. The truth is I know what I want and I have always known. It has just never been clear how to get there (or where exactly there is). I have to remind myself that everything is gradual and life can give me what I want if I just ask for it.

It’s too hard to think about a plan for the future in the long term for me. It makes me anxious. At some point I think it won’t. For right now I have a plan that lasts a few months, enough to give me loose guidelines and goals but without too much pressure.

Would you like to hear the plan?

My plan is to celebrate Halloween.

That means October is off limits. That means I can fill that time with any costume making, treat baking and movie marathons I want. It means magical rejuvenation and exhaustion all rolled into one. It means no extra-curricular work. It means I have to finish some writing projects by the end of September. I means I have the rest of this month and a bit more to figure out an implement a plan to make it possible for people to see Brainwashed Love. It means a lot. And I’m excited.

Dinosaur in the museum

Dinosaur in an elevator from miss alix on Vimeo.

So we were visiting the Natural History Museum one night and this dinosaur just got loose. It was crazy. Luckily someone took him back to the dino lab.

I think he’s pretty cute.

Plant Based Parties

This Saturday, Shawn and I attended a launch party for Plant Based Parties, a vegan catering company here in Los Angeles. We knew it would be awesome, because Jennie Cook, the chef behind the event made an amazing feast for our wedding.

We were delighted to find a fantastic tasting menu with a variety of things to sample. I started with a little plate, trying to pace myself.

First up was a beet burger slider, zucchini walnut fritter with avocado crema and a polenta bite. So good. I am officially obsessed with beet burgers, but these had the perfect balance of beety goodness and moist, seasoned filling all wrapped up in an adorable slider package. The zucchini fritter was crunchy and paired perfectly with avocado crema. The polenta bite? Perfect. Plain and simple.

We filled our plates time and time again, as every dish was delightful. Here are a few more samples: Old school ratatouille, onion baghi, asparagus tart and quinoa cake. Each was carefully prepared with a superb balance of flavors and textures. I was a big fan of the quinoa cakes as they were simple but deeply satisfying. I could see myself eating them every day.

We also had zucchini cannelloni, double stuffed potatoes, black bean tempeh piccata and the onion baghi again. The tempeh piccata was definitely a favorite, as it was crispy and just slightly spicy. I loved the fresh taste to the zucchini cannelloni as well. Oh and did you notice that pizza up top? Did I mention there was a giant dragon pizza oven. Delicious thin crusted pesto pizzas baked while we ate. Read More

Renegade Craft Los Angeles

This past Saturday we went to the Renegade Craft Fair for the first time. I’ve only ever heard good things about this fair and was not at all disappointed. It was held in Los Angeles State Historic Park, and despite being rather warm out, it was nice to spend a summer day outside enjoying such great craft work.  It was so inspiring to see all the creative things people are making. Here is just a small fraction of the stuff we saw.

I loved these clocks from Black Forest Clockwork.

These ceramic bowls and jars from Paulova Ceramics were just beautiful. I couldn’t decide which ones I wanted though.

There were lots of lovely terrariums. These hanging ones were from Planted, but there were also some gorgeous ones from Terri Planty with fun little figures in them.

These cross stitches from Kattuna were just too cute.

We saw this screaming bunny when we came in, and later saw a girl walking around with it. Glad he found a home, since he looks pretty grumpy.

If you are ever thinking of getting me a plant, may I recommend one of these? I kill plants like it’s going out of style. These are handmade by Shannon Gerard.

Unicorn coat hook? Amazing. Made by Architecture Jones. They also had some lovely prints and knobs.

I have always admired these paintings by Mincing Mockingbird. I bough an owl print to add to the owl art wall I’m working on.

I also bought an adorable necklace from Made by L’Moore, here modelling one of her creations.

So I possibly spent more than I should have overall but it feels good to support handmade artists (and get original stuff). I’m so glad to be living in a time where there is a resurgence of handmade things and people really value crafted goods. I’m thankful for places that promote crafting with lessons and community as well as these fairs that let so many people make a living from their work.

Afterward we stopped for some beers downtown. Shawn had a full liter of beer. Oh boy.

Me? I had a ginger beer.

 

Perfect way to spend a Saturday.