romance

One of the fun things Shawn and I have gotten to do so far for our wedding is take photos for our save the dates. They aren’t exactly our engagement photos, only because we have some more we are planning to take, but they’re definitely in that territory.

We took a bunch but I wanted to share a handful of my favorites.

We wanted them to have a classic vintage feeling, and I think we definitely achieved that. We took them in various spots around Los Angeles, over a few hours one afternoon.

I had to include one funny one (although my face is quite a bit more ridiculous than Shawn’s).

Tomorrow is the day we show Brainwashed Love for the first time. So excited and nervous. Wish us luck!

Oh and in case you were wondering, all photos are by my dearest Studiodrome.

Thank you cakes

Sometimes you need to say thank you. For the times that people go way out of their way to help you. Or when someone works endlessly on a project. Sometimes you need more than a card or an email.

That’s where these little cakes come in. Because nearly everyone loves a cake just for them.

I wanted them to be a little more than just a cake though; to really communicate the message. Rather than just the typical butter cream writing on top, I thought I’d try something a little more fun.

I made some simple, colorful bunting for a coconut cake for Shawn. He’s been working endlessly putting the finishing touches on Brainwashed Love and I thought he needed a little reward. The bunting was perfect because it allowed me to completely cover the cake with coconut, which I’ve learned, makes the cake difficult to decorate on top.

For the second cake, I tried my hand at creating a fondant covered red velvet cake. I’ve used fondant for flowers and such but had not yet covered a complete cake. I sure did need a lot of muscle power to roll it out but I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, considering the horror stories I’ve heard. It wasn’t perfect, but still adorable. I stenciled on the thank you, using just plain paper that I cut with an exacto and some yellow food coloring.

I did a test of my stencil on another piece of fondant, just to make sure. It turned out  perfectly, but caused my actual cake to look a little blobby. Still a success though, I think.

Kindle cover

I am not a gadget girl. I’m just not. I am a book girl. When I first heard about the Kindle I thought it was ridiculous. Why would anyone want to read a book on a screen? Gosh. Then I finally saw one, and I fell in electronic love. I feel pretty dorky about it, but I became obsessed. I had to get one. It’s probably the best purchase I’ve made since getting a stand mixer. It helps that I’m reading a book I enjoy.

It has a lot of perks. Mostly to do with the fact that you don’t have to hold a book open. You can eat a sandwich and read a book, no problem. Yeah I’m that person. Not to mention the screen really does look like paper so that’s awesome. Also, I was pleased to find out that you can get amazon credits when you cash in your coins at a coinstar machine and they don’t deduct the 10%. Loose change has now become my book fund.

Anyway, enough of me gushing (see, I told you I’m obsessed). I really needed a case for my kindle, so I don’t destroy it when I throw it in my purse…also known as the pit of despair.

In a flash I sewed up a simple bag made out of scrap fabric. I went with a medium weight fabric, instead of taking the time to do a lining. Yes a lining would be nicer, but honestly I was feeling pretty lazy. The end product did it’s job but was just plain boring.

I’ve been working on a lot of embroidery lately and thought a few stitches would make the whole thing a lot cuter. I used a pattern from sublime stitching, even though it was just a simple spool of thread. Sometimes it’s nice to use someone else’s creative power.

It’s perfect to protect my kindle from scratches. None of theses designer covers for $85 a pop. Also, why are the majority of the covers made from leather? Gross. This case was free, and took me less than an hour to make including all the embroidery. Ok, back to reading.

Anticipation

There are so many things coming up so quickly I can hardly believe it. Just 12 days till the first screening of Brainwashed Love. I’m terrified and excited. Only a few people have seen the film at this point so it will be crazy to show it to all the people who worked on it and supported us along the way. I hope people like it as much as we do.

That also means that it’s only 12 days till October. The best month ever. I’m looking forward to watching tons of horror movies and indulging in lots of treat making. Halloween movie marathon part 3 anyone? Not to mention the annual creation fest that is making a costume, which is always a production in itself.

Also in five short, busy months, Shawn and I will be getting married. Holy crap. Even though there is a lot to plan and put together, I’m really excited. For one thing it’s giving me a good excuse to be extra crafty (as if I need an excuse). I’m making a lot of things already as gifts and decorations. I can’t wait to share all the details, but for the moment they’ll have to stay under wraps.

My biggest dilemma at the moment is what dress to wear. Let me tell you, trying to figure out what to wear for our wedding and what I’m going to be for Halloween is sort of turning my brain into a pretzel. Or maybe a tree. Hence these crazy late night photos. I got the above dress from my grandmother and still have yet to decide whether I want to use it as the dress. It has a lot of elements that I really like but I don’t know if I can alter it into exactly what I want.

I’ve been looking into finding a vintage dress but it’s difficult to find something that has all the uniqueness of vintage dress but also fits me; stylistically and physically. For example, I love this dress below but there’s no way I could fit into it’s tiny waist.

For the most part I really despise the majority of modern dresses out there. If I never see another strapless dress again, it will be too soon. I can’t believe how alike wedding dresses all are, and how insanely expensive they are on top of it. Although, I have to admit, I am kind of in love with the ruffles on this one from J Crew.

And of course, part of me wants to make my own dress. Perhaps that is the masochistic part of myself. Hopefully I’ll have things figured out sooner than later as a wedding dress is not exactly something you want to leave till the last moment.

Bagels!

I am obsessed with bagels. I mean generally speaking I’m obsessed with any bread related food item. But this year I’m in love with bagels.

The thing with bagels though is they aren’t as easy to come by as one might think. I mean you can’t just walk into a bagel shop and get a bagel topped with vegan cream cheese. Well, unless you’re in New York. Store bought bagels just won’t do.

This is my second attempt at bagel making. These bagels were made from the recipe in Vegan Brunch. My first round, from another recipe, while tasty, were over-baked and extra crunchy.

This recipe yields a light bagel with a fluffy inside and a crunchy exterior. The vital wheat gluten helps give them a nice touch of elasticity which seemed to help when handling the dough. Overall they were easy to make and easier to eat. I gobbled up at least three.

For breakfast I topped them with some tofutti cream cheese, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, a fat juicy tomato from a friend’s garden, a touch of paprika and a few leaves of basil. Delicious! They also went extra well with hummus.

I’m going to keep experimenting till I make some super fat round bagels; dense and chewy all at once. And perhaps some homemade cream cheese to go along with them. Oh the obsession continues.