The Look of Love, Part One.

What a difference a day can make.

Something popped up yesterday so I ended up having to spend most of the day at home. Here's what my hat looks like now:

Bells, doves, and organza roses.... and I'm still not done :)

Can't finish it today. Have to paint something on a housewarming gift and run mucho errands. I'm all for adding an 8th day to the week...

Pop in, pop out. No sleep for the wicked, right?

I WILL MAKE LIBERACE CRY.

Dreams on Fire.

I've been a pretty busy bee lately, but I decided to check in really quick and give you guys a glimpse of the hat I kept talking about....

My camera's pretty shitty at getting detail, but this little blue beauty will be spectacular when I'm done. I wasn't expecting it to be so labor intensive, but my imagination knows no bounds.

Each rhinestone is handset, and this is just the base; it's nowhere near completed. It'll easily be another month or so before I'm done.

Anyway, back to work. Have to go by the suite to change the title (I think I'll nix the "esquire" bit), got more listings to do....

Like this one....And this one...

さようなら! (Sayonara!)

Kumquat.

Been super productive lately... put a lot on my plate. Got a suite address, thinking of adding a title next to my name for flair (is there a female version of "esquire"?)

Gotta have one more talk before I decide concretely to have a stand-alone site... Page design can be fun but tiring.

Hell, there were many revisions to this page before I found it suitable for viewing... and it's still pretty basic. That's probably my only hurdle right now.

Mannequins, hat completion, jewelry, and the market.

Lord, just let me have a nap.

Whip It.

Tired of the same ol' same ol', I decided to be exotic and try something new: stuffed bell peppers. Here's the recipe I used for any interested parties. I'd never had them before and figured now is as good a time as any. Most of the stuff I make is more on the vegan side, hence there isn't much cooking involved. This was a new foray for me. My kitchen looks like a can of refried beans exploded in it. Made a few observations:

1) Not all rules are made to be broken; "guesstimates" don't always cut it. Those little suggestions called "measurements"? Yeah, they're kinda important.

2) That said, there is a HUGE difference between dry weight and cooked weight (Though I still don't understand how in the world I ended up with 1.5 lbs LEFTOVER of cracked bulgar wheat. ??)

3) Coring bell peppers is a bitch (and my right ring finger will thoroughly agree)

4) Pay attention to what parts need to be cooked first so you don't have 3 pots going (two at twice the temperature) trying to play catch up

Got some blood in the bell peppers, but that's okay. They're red anyway, I'm a universal donor, and I don't have cooties. Sharing is caring :)

While I was cooking the guts (the part you're supposed to stuff), I kept spilling stuff under the grill plate on my oven. This of course set off the smoke alarm. I opened the door to let the smoke out and found my neighbor knocking to make sure I was okay (thanks, Nick) Put them in the oven for about 25 minutes per the instructions.

While they were baking, I started washing dishes furiously (I HATE a messy kitchen) and I was splashing water everywhere. My poor cat was hollering like a banshee because her food dish is by the sink and she was getting wet while she was trying to eat. I expect some retribution later this evening. I've already hidden my top hat.

(**Speaking of which, I had to halt production on it for a while. I got a little too zealous with the super glue & rhinestones and ended up gluing my tweezers together. I've got some Detachol so it'll all work out...)

Despite the hell I went through to make them they turned out pretty good. Once I was done I put on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I needed something to lighten the mood because the state of my kitchen made me want to cry (it may have to be cleaned in shifts) and now all is right in the world...

that is if I only had some ether... ;)

Layering Experiment Numero Deux

More mannequin fun :)

I like to mix to it up. There's absolutely nothing wrong with mixing prints as long as it's done in moderation (notice the subtle polka dots on the skirt vs the bold ones on the black scarf). Green and blue complement each other well (especially since both of these shades are muted); the gold belt accents the necklaces.

Like the skull scarf? You got it!

Don't be afraid to color outside the lines once in a while! :)

Eff me pumps.

I'm having entirely too much fun right now. My floor is covered with newspapers for fear that I'll get blue paint everywhere.

Books, beads, bells, whistles, super glue, scissors, paints, pearls, yarn, wire, glitter, tape...

My top hat project is turning out to be an even bigger animal than I originally planned. I can't wait to see the finished project. I'll probably post a pic of my progress next week :)

**Edit - Speaking of "eff me" pumps, I just put some on sale :)

Jolly Roger.

I have a weakness for sweets (luckily for me I also have good restraint), but I have a theory on Chin-Doi: these sweet little morsels of death have it in for me... and I have proof.

I went out one night for Dim Sum with a friend and tried Chin-Doi (A breaded bun filled with red or yellow bean paste) for the first time. It was amazing... it was so simple, so melty, so

fried.

I didn't care that the hot grease was burning the skin off my fingers or that my workout for the day was shot. I'd found a new guilty pleasure... at least until I had a mild heart attack later on that evening.

I'm still in my 20s (and I'm not a celebrity. RIP Brittany Murphy), I workout regularly, and I'm a vegetarian. It was totally abnormal. On the plus side, I found out I have a food allergy (not the Chin-Doi)... and survived. This was my first experience with the bun, lying on the bathroom floor, grasping my chest, trying desperately to breathe. 2 sonography tests later, I'm still here.

The 2nd time I tried Chin-Doi I was in a good mood. Did some last minute Xmas shopping, haggled where I could. Got some faux jade bracelets in Chinatown. The day was great... until 3 guys in bulletproof vests came banging at my door at 9 p.m, guns blazing. I SO won't get into it here, but thankfully it all worked out in the end. My friends know the whole story.

I want to try them again but I'm terrified. They seem to be the harbingers of ill fortune.


I'm afraid some Donnie Darko shit will happen and and a plane engine will fall from the sky. I'm afraid I might end up like Fred Sandford, clutching my chest screaming "ELIZABETH, I'M COMIN' FOR YA! IT'S THE BIG ONE!" while Lamont looks on waiting for me to kick off. Bad things come in threes.

Chin-Doi, I hardly knew ye...

11/27/09 - 12/16/09

Layering Experiment Numero Uno

I'm asking the world for some insight before I step out of the house in it...

Too much?

Not enough?

Perfecto?

If I can't find more stuff in this color family, I'll chuck all of it.

The purse is already up for grabs...

Cyclone.

It's been preached to me time and again that good traders trade without emotion.

That I need to just look at my balance "as numbers" instead of, you know: food, security, and comfort. It's a hurdle I've yet to cross.

There's a direct correlation between my attitude of the day and how my trading went that morning. That said, I've been in an excellent mood :) A stock I was sleeping on quadrupled...

Chickadees: It's long overdue that you look out for your OWN interests instead of waiting for someone to do it for you.

Fell back into routine, stopped by the used book store again. Found an awesome library discard on Shintoism (Do I trade for security or material things? Can I give it all up and live in the mountains, among nature, one step below the floating bridge of heaven?)

Get one, get rid of another.

I was wearing low-rise jeans and (unknowingly!) exposed my crack to every passerby... Meh.

They needed some excitement in their lives anyway.

Millionairess.

Ah.. NYE in Vegas... not much can top it.

I don't remember much of the night but a few key highlights:

1) Had a VIP "Chicago"-themed dinner @ Aliante Station, complete with flapper headgear (Thanks Mando! And thanks Kelly for being incredibly awesome and getting me some OJ so I could have Mimosas :) Adding a fringe dress to my "needs" list

2) Cabernet @ Pips (Hot Croatian bartender. He hooked me up with free wine. Says a lot because the glasses were shaped like fishbowls...) Texting Derrick to ask if it was tacky to drink wine with a straw. Me mistaking the bartender for a French guy and asking a friend to text me something skanky to say to him :-P

3) My mom randomly showing up asking me for gambling money (she's lucky I was buzzed, but I ended up taking some out for myself too) Me singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" as I gave it to her.

4) Managing to keep 60% of my money playing Blackjack (not bad for an hour's worth of playing, and considering the cocktail waitress was keeping me liquored up.. though that strawberry daiquiri was pretty good..)

5) Talking to some random dude about Stevie Wonder until I sobered up.

6) Fade to black. Slept through the fireworks. Woke up at 1:36, kinda pissed.

Woke in the morning to some sales, so it wasn't that bad... felt like shit ran over twice on Friday though. Watched "Valley of the Dolls" and scared my dad when I tried to sing along. Alcohol is the devil, man. Never again! (after the six pack in my fridge is done)

Another day, another dollar. Bonjour 2010...