Kaoru Marie

OMG WHEN IS THIS SHOWING COMING TO THE STATES?!!? I started reading Tilly's blog " Tilly and the Buttons " earlier this year and found out about ' The Great British Sewing Bee ' ( don't click the link unless you want spoilers! ) through her blog (because she was a contestant, how cool is that!?). I remember thinking, "oh man, I wish I could watch this show". Then the other week Gertie mentioned watching the show on YouTube , so I checked it out over the weekend and was totally hooked. COMPLETELY HOOKED! Except there are only FOUR episodes and at the time only 3 had aired. I missed the start of the recent Project Runway season so I haven't been watching. However, based on some reviews I have read recently it sounds like this season ain't so good. I had been getting a bit bothered at the amount of blatant advertising and the contestants seem to get wackier and less relate-able with each season so perhaps it's a good thing I missed this...

I just couldn't resist any longer. Over the weekend I finally bought Ayumi's book, ' Patckwork, Please! '. {side note: my husband can't stop saying it like this: "Patckwork? PUH-LEASE!" He's also the guy who will always say, "I have Du-puis" when we watch a hockey game involving the Pittsburgh Penguins and the announcer mentions Pascal Dupuis. Also, he never fails to say, "I guess he's just in a bit of a pickle" when we watch a game involving the San Jose Sharks and the announcer mentions Vlasic's name. *sigh* he's such a goofball, but aren't we all ;) } We spent Saturday afternoon at The Grove and Farmer's Market having lunch and picking up some goodies. There is a Barnes and Noble at The Grove so I insisted we stop by since I may have checked earlier in the week if the book was in stock (it was!). It took a bit longer than I anticipated to find the book because a sneaky stock person placed it in the knittin...

Bailey turned 1 year old yesterday (in human years)! We adopted Bailey in late June 2012 from the LA Animal Shelter. I walked by every cage and while most kittens were sleeping or mewing incessantly, little Bailey was the only kitten who walked up to the front of the cage and even stood up on his hind legs. I knew immediately that he was the one meant for our little family. Here is a side-by-side comparison of a photo taken about 1 week after we adopted him and another photo taken today. According to WiiFit (yes, this is how we weight ourselves), he went from 4 pounds to 12 pounds!! (He actually topped 13 pounds a month ago.) Bailey has grown considerably in the almost 9 months we've had him! I used to think it was adorable when he would splay across my neck while I was sleeping. Now, I can barely breathe when he does it. He also used to be tiny enough to sleep on an extra pillow behind my head, but not anymore :( Sometimes he has too much energy and he definitely knows h...

Completed Sewaholic Patterns Minoru Jacket ! Ahhhh, a finished object! I'm thrilled I finally finished something other than a skirt (especially since I can count on one hand the number of times I wore a skirt last year). I thought I was going to finish the Cambie dress first, but after buying fabric for the Minoru Jacket I couldn't wait to get started on it. Here is what it looks like all zipped up: I have no idea why I'm making that expression. My dad has an uncanny ability to capture my best faces. Here is a description of my sewing process and any alterations I made: I opted not to make a muslin because (a) Sewaholic patterns are pretty close to my size without major alterations, (b) Lauren of Lladybird made one in a Size 0 without alterations and her posted measurements are close to mine, and (c) I am way too lazy to make a muslin. I cut a size 2 for all the pieces, but I did some major shortening to accommodate my height (I'm 4'11"). I shortened ...

I'm not the biggest fan of April Fools' Jokes. However, this year I thought there were some good jokes done by big companies. A friend alerted me to Sony's Animalia Line , which includes Kitty Headphones and Dog TVs. Then later in the day a different friend shared REI's April Fools' Joke on Facebook: [caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="500"] REI April Fools Joke 2013[/caption] AWWMIGOD! COULD THIS BE ANY CUTER?!!?!? I about died from cuteness overload. Here are a couple more items for your adventurous kitty: My Bailey could really use a tiny little machete! I had to take screenshots of the website just in case it gets taken down in the future, especially since the "deal" is only valid on 4/1/2013. Here's the official announcement from the REI Facebook page : I can't stop cracking up when I look at that sweet little kitty in the ad. Oh man, how I wish it was possible to take my c...