The 3/50 Project- get in on it!

Modern Seamster

Check out this new magazine called Modern Seamster... the first issue is available as a .pdf online for free and it's going to be published quarterly. Click on the image on their home page to download it. I don't think it's a print magazine, online only but that's cool. I have too many print mag subscriptions anyways. Fun!

Variegated

Now that I'm on my zakka sewing kick (pictures of attempted projects to come soon), I'm searching for and hoarding nice cotton and linen fabric. Non-polyester ginghams and checks and high quality linen are kind of hard to find. Almost non-existent at Jo-Ann's which is sort of our only fabric shop in Long Beach. That's why I was so excited to come across Variegated's Etsy shop this week. They have huge remnants of beautiful linens and really nice egyptian cotton shirting fabric, and at really great prices. I ordered this bundle of gray fabrics and they were delivered 3 days after I ordered them, super fast! Best part- they were bundled and tied with a black satin ribbon and a lavender sachet made from their linens tucked in. *Swoon*

We're not allowed any more furniture.

I was so excited on Thursday because I won an eBay auction for this Danish Modern bookcase/room divider piece for next to nothing. It was a pick-up only piece so that's why I think I lucked out. It was fairly close by, in Ontario, so Jeff and I went and picked it up on Saturday morning. The idea was for me to give Jeff the rolling orange bookcase that we got as a wedding gift from Susan Bowen that I had in my sewing room, for his ever-expanding doll collection. I needed more storage in the sewing room so I thought this Danish bookcase would be perfect. And it was, except for the unfortunate fact that it wouldn't fit around the corner of our narrow stairwell to the upstairs. Jeff and I sweated, swore, and scraped ourselves up trying to wedge it in there but it just wasn't meant to be. It was literally half an inch off from fitting. Sigh.

So Plan B: IKEA. Oh IKEA, how you always come through for me. I found an even better storage cabinet there in a finished pine that matches Lily's bed nicely. We thought we were again having bad luck when we found out the Carson IKEA was out of them, but the Costa Mesa store had them in stock. I wanted to get it over with so we were about to head straight there when we swung through the As-Is section to see what they had. Wouldn't you know it, they had the exact cabinet I wanted, and even with the glass doors I was too cheap to get! It was the floor model so it had a couple scratches but nothing I wouldn't have done anyways just putting it together. And it was 50% off!! We loaded it up and it made it upstairs just fine. I stuffed it immediately with all of my goodies and it makes me so happy to have a place for everything. Jeff is pretty excited about his doll case too. :)



We went through a few options for the Danish piece and ended up putting it in the TV room, mainly because our TV fit eerily perfectly into one of the slots. We like the Yeti showing through the holes.



We took a break from it all today to visit my Anthropologie to pick up a gift for Carter, Gina and Brian's son. He turned 2 today and had a rockin' party. Almost as rocking as the vintage cheetah wallpaper I wrapped his gift in:

Is it weird that I took a picture of Anthropologie? The window display and plants were pretty!

Maravilla Gardens

On Friday, Jeff and I were invited to a reception at Maravilla Gardens in Camarillo by our friends Matt and Jana who are getting married there this year in September. It was awesome, all the wedding vendors were there to advertise their goods so I got to eat about 34 samples of cake, a bunch of appetizers and entrees, and lovely sangria. We had a blast. Mandy and I are doing the flowers for Matt and Jana's wedding so I went to scope out the surroundings and to talk with Jana about what she envisions for the flowers. Luckily she's not too picky. Mandy is the florist, I play the assistant. Here are some pictures of the gardens:




After Maravilla, we went back to Matt and Jana's to sample their options for their "signature cocktail" for the wedding. The hands-down winner was the pomegranate martini. Delightful. Even more delightful however, was their new couch. They found this gem at a thrift store and I'm seething with jealousy over it. It's upholstered in probably the coolest fabric I've ever seen on a couch. It reads like a lilac floral patterned motif but when you look closer you see it's awesomeness. Check it:

Grab your pardner and doe-c-doe!

I just love freebies on the web. This super cute graphic designer blogger doe-c-doe created these free downloadable pdf's of gift tags and birthday tags using scanned images of vintage buttons and trims! So awesome. Download the buttons here and the trim tags here.

Zakka!

From wikipedia:
"Zakka (from the Japanese 'zak-ka'（雑貨）or 'many things') is a fashion and design phenomenon that has spread from Japan throughout Asia. The term refers to everything and anything that improves your home, life and outlook. It is often based on household items from the West that are regarded as kitsch in their countries of origin. But can also be Japanese goods from mainly fifties, sixties and seventies. The interest in Nordic design or Scandinavian design, both contemporary and past, is also part of this zakka movement. Zakka can also be contemporary handicraft.

Zakka has also been described as "the art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane". The zakka boom could be recognized as merely another in a series of consumer fads, but it also touches issues of self-expression and spirituality. Cute, corny and kitschy is not enough. To qualify as a zakka, a product must be attractive, sensitive, and laden with subtext."

Oh how I love that. Over the weekend I got my Zakka Sewing book in the mail from Amazon and pretty much every project in the book is awesome and easy to make. I can't wait to get started! Here are the projects I'm going to start with:

We should play hooky more often

Jeff and I had a lovely day yesterday, and thanks to all our friends that called/texted/commented sweet words to Jeffy. We woke up late-ish and drove to Newport Beach to spend the day. We had baja bowls and about 8000 chips at El Ranchito, walked around Balboa island, and had some drinks at a restaurant on the water overlooking Balboa. Then we went shoe shopping for some new kicks for Jeff and then to the dollar movie theater in Irvine to see Coraline. It was really good. The boxes of whoppers, hot tamales, and gummy worms that we ate? Not so good. Went home and made dinner and watched The Biggest Loser and then a few more episodes of Lost (we got sucked in. It's like freakin' quicksand. Jeff likes the plot, I like Matthew Fox.). We relaxed, talked a lot, walked a lot, and ate a lot. We needed it.

Island kitty! So friendly...

Bougainvilleas bloom like crazy in Southern California. This one would make my dad envious.

The view from the restaurant. Perfection with a Bahama Mama.

A day to remember

Today is the one year mark of Scott's passing. It's hard for us to believe it's been a year already, and that we've done the "year of firsts". Jeff and I are taking the day off today, to go down to Newport and have lunch at our favorite Mexican place, a beer at a restaurant Jeff and his dad went to when he came down to visit one time, and then to see Coraline at the dollar theater. We've both been wanting to see that.

I think Scott's up there rigging the weather, because it's a gorgeous day. Cooler than yesterday thankfully and the beach will be perfect.

We miss you Dad.

I love the Yeti blog

This is funny... our wedding was profiled on the I Love the Yeti blog. Check out the post here: http://ilovetheyeti.blogspot.com/2009/03/yeti-wedding.html

Best...brother....EVER!

Jan surprises me sometimes with totally random and awesomely thoughtful gifts. Apparently he saw my post about the Zwicky poster and decided to recreate it for me in photoshop and then print it out on Honda's super nice printers. He color matched everything too so it's sort of a spitting image of the original. He even framed it! I love it, and I hung it up in my sewing room of course. It's pretty much the raddest thing ever. Thanks Jan!!

Anthro scores!

Sales at the Torrance Anthropologie are the best. They have a whole room devoted to the sale clothing, and bookshelves and a big table for all of the housewares on sale. Erika and I went on Saturday to try and buy her the floor model Ditte sofa. We've both been in love with this beauty for awhile, and now that Erika is about to move into a new place and is in need of a sofa, this one was perfect. It was discounted from about $3500 (!!) to $750 and because it's a friends and family sale, Erika was supposed to get an additional 40% off. Super cheap!! We thought it was a done deal so we stole Jeff's truck and headed out. When we got there, this little snotty kid was playing with a toy on it and rubbing his face all over the cushion. We shooed him away and started inspecting. It was dirty and a little roughed up, but wabi-sabi cool. Then the salesperson crushed Erika's dreams by telling her the 40% off didn't apply to damaged items, which apparently this was. Lame!

Anyways, we still scored some awesome items. I got two pairs of pants (one discounted to $12!) and two shirts, more mini latte bowls because I'm obsessed with them, a mini colander for berries, a fantastic measuring pitcher/vase, and a Marimekko shower curtain for the downstairs bathroom. All for under $150. Not too shabby. Erika also walked away with probably the cutest little hibatchi grill I've seen in my life. It's dark green on the bottom and light green on the lid. So sassy I wish I got a pic.

Flea market fun

Yesterday was the huge Long Beach Antique and Collectible flea market and it was SUCH a beautiful day. Too beautiful. Like pale skin scorching beautiful. I was pretty well protected (I wear like 4 layers of SPF 55 every day) but I still got a little pink. Boo. Jeff and I went with Erika and despite all the treasures that were there, we only bought one thing. A yeti doll from Star Wars for Jeffy. He was pretty excited though.

Another flea market find that will be an amazing score for someone (someone which should have been us but it was $75! Too much for novelty...) was a Chewbacca madeline mold that we came across. SO WEIRD! Who would make dainty little madeline cookies in the shape of Chewbacca's face?? Pretty awesome though you have to admit.

TWEET!

via SwissMiss
But really the opposite. I'm blogging to tell you I tweeted. That's right, I'm a twitterer now. Jeff shamed me into having more of a social networking presence. I just don't want to be antisocial. Tell me if you are a twitterer too so we can follow each other! I searched for Mandy Haak and it asked me if I meant Sandy Hall. No, I did not. I searched for Erika Flynn and found an Erika Flynn, but not MY Erika Flynn. livmcmillan was already taken by my arch nemesis so I am now livcmcmillan. Take that Other Liv.

Momma wants some new jewels!

Well not jewels really, necklaces. I just spotted these beauties made by Erica Weiner and swooned a bit. My favorites are the scissors, the gold button, and the gold twig bracelet. So many choices!! I have her handcuffs lariat necklace and the winged migration necklace in brass already, but the brass is looking a little worn and I'd love to upgrade the winged migration necklace to a nicer silver. Her prices are really great for such unique and handmade pieces... I think I'm going to start saving my pennies for one or two of these...

The Master of Fine Art, Keith Bormuth ladies and gentlemen

Last Thursday before my mom came into town, Jeff and I went to our friend Keith's MFA thesis exhibition at USC. It was titled "Brushing off Patterns" and was awesome. Congratulations Keith!

Did everyone have a nice Easter?

We did! We had a lovely brunch at the house with Erika, Jerod & Karen, Jan, and my mom. We made ebelskivers and lots of mimosas and then dressed the cat up. FUN!

Save the Apis melifera!!

That means save the bees! Anybody that has been paying attention knows that bees are being threatened by colony collapse disease and seeing as how bees are responsible for pollinating over 100 types of crops nationwide, it's kind of a big deal. I have done my part by buying and enjoying Haagen Daaz's Vanilla Honey ice cream. It's been hard, and a sacrifice, but gosh darn it those honeybees are worth the effort. With Earth Day coming up though, and Anthropologie reminding me of the honey bee plight (their store windows and displays this month all circle around bees, with gigantic hive and honeycomb formations made of recycled materials), I want to do more. I checked out www.helpthehoneybees.com and downloaded their super cute Bee Book. Everyone needs to download it and give it to a kid. It has a lot of cute games in it. It also has a list of plants that bees like that you can plant in your yard to attract them and help them prosper. I'm going to try planting gardenias, mint, thyme, and jasmine around our house.

Go bees!

Amazing!

On our way back from lunch today, Jerod and I saw a beautiful egret (is that what these things are called? I could only think of crane and Jerod came up with egret- sounds right) swoop down in front of my car and land in the grass by the road. He was so gorgeous we pulled to the side and took pictures. That's our office building behind him.



And then right in front of our eyes, he stalks and snatches a lizard from the bush! It was amazing. I felt bad for the lizard of course because I'm a bleeding heart animal enthusiast/lover but it was a pretty awesome display of the food chain. The egret swallowed the lizard whole and you could see it thrashing around in the egret's throat!! Totally gnarly. Pictures (not too graphic but I bet my mom is scrolling on past them):