A Proposal!

No, not for me silly. I've been a married woman for almost nine years already! But my brother, on the other hand, has popped the question and Nicole has said,"yes!" I've been in on the secret for a while now. I was very kindly asked to assist in ring selection, which was so much fun. Serious and poignant one moment, giggling and silly the next. As you can see above, I think we he did quite well. Isn't it a stunner?

The two of them are in Tokyo at the moment, where Cabel did the asking. I can't wait for them to return for some good cheer and celebratory champagne! We're all on cloud nine about the whole deal. Except the boys. They adore Nicole, but they're already fretting about seeing the two of them kiss at the wedding. "Gross," is what Max muttered. I told them that if they need to, and can do so secretly, they can close their eyes for that part. This gave them much relief. I'm going to enjoy this grossing out on girls thing for as long as it lasts. I just know it'll feel like tomorrow when girls are, strangely, not so gross anymore. I mean, look at my brother. The little rat picked the lock on my Hello Kitty Diary, read about me kissing a boy, totally grossed out, and then teased me mercilessly. (He'll tell you he actually felt guilty reading it but I don't believe him...) He's getting married? How did that happen?

Anyway, congratulations Cabel and Nicole! We love you guys!

Lil' Gamers

A very funny interview with Max and Jack can be seen here, by clicking on the link at the end of the post. They are definitely following in my brother's illustrious gaming footsteps. This photo was taken way back in December at Cabel and Nicole's apartment (or compartment, as Max calls it) and was just too fitting to not be included.

Also a quick word about freezer paper stencils: righteous! I am having the best time making these t-shirts. A great Flickr group can be found here, and a tutorial here.

I found the freezer paper in the baking section of Fred Meyer. It's made by Reynolds, and was like six bucks for 150 square feet. And I've been using the Jacquard textile Paint found at Michaels. It works great! More stenciled items are sure to follow.

Spools of Thread

After reading Blair's post a while back about her new sewing studio I was totally, completely, and wholeheartedly inspired. I was also sick and tired of dragging my sewing machine and supplies out of the cabinet and setting them up on the dining room table each and every time I wanted to sew. So I bought a little desk and rearranged things in order to fix myself a little studio nook. Here's what it looked like before. This new space is unbelieveable! And the best part ever is that it's in the same room as the computer. I can stream and podcast to my heart's content. Last week it was all about KCRW from LA, this week it's Ricky Gervias. You can see some more studio photos here. It still needs to be painted, but I was just too anxious to wait for that step. I'll have to come back to that part when I have some time. But the very, very best part of all is that until I saw Blair's photos, I didn't even know that there was such a cool thing for arranging spools of thread. It's my new favorite thing on earth.


So all of this newfound sense of place has been inspiring. I've had this kimono/pants combination idea in my brain for quite a while now, and finally had a moment to draft it and put it together. I'm super happy with the results! I made a button hole for the first time, for the tie to fit through. This isn't much to brag about since my machine has an automatic button-holer, but I've been afraid of it forever. I used bias tape for the first time as well. That stuff is great! And it was really fun to peruse the Asian fabrics of Fabric Depot, an area I had never before explored. Of course, more kimono photos here.

Happy Jack, It's Your Birthday!

How and when did my little New Year's Baby become SEVEN? I took this photo in our LA apartment, the one with the greatest light ever. Jack's always been such a happy guy. (A story for another time...this is one of the photos that landed baby Jack an agent! It was LA after all. How funny is that?)

Ever since he could, Jack would immerse himself in his involved world of imagination. It started by playing Matchbox cars with my dad when he was about one. He would just drive them around forever, making noises, imagining. Then he got into construction trucks and we'd sit forever watching the action all around our LA neighborhood. Along came trains and that one was huge. The layouts of Brio track were infinitely more complex, the couplings of his trains intensely calculated. We've done dinosaurs, Rescue Heroes, Thunderbirds, Star Wars, Astro Boy, Bionicles, and now (ack) Pokemon. But the cool thing about Jack is that no matter what he's "into" he makes it completely his own. His capacity to create with play knows no bounds. His toys are vehicles for his imagination. The entire day is an adventure for his mind. Very often we have to "call him back" to our world, only to have him slip away mere minutes later. You could put the kid in a bare room with two sticks and he's be content for a good hour, at least.

Along with that divine imagination, he's just a great guy. He's a responsible boy, a dutiful big brother, funny, loving and kind. He's built of pure muscle, can get a soccer ball past me with his eyes closed, and is the pickiest eater I have ever known, but he makes up for that by being the best snuggler on the planet. Happy Birthday, Moondoggie. You'll always be my Baby New Year.