Ella's new clothes

I tried sewing some little midget clothes last week on my staycation. Wow, learned a lot about clothing construction! They make it look so doable on Project Runway, but it really takes a lot of planning and smarts. I've been humbled yet again...

These pants were my first sewing project. Emily spotted this super cute J. Crew-ish fabric at Discount Fabrics on Irving. I learned that the waistline in front of the pants should be lower than the back to allow room for the BUTT, which should have been Obviously!


This next piece was patterned from a dress I got at Target. Aunt Lu clued me in on how to get the patterns from clothes and make templates out of them, but my first attempt was definitely not perfect. The angle of the sleeves were kind of weird. Ella looks like a little peasant girl from the late 1800s in this potato sack of a dress.

Lastly, I used a pattern from a Japanese mag I had gotten a while ago, and it turned out much better! Surprise.. surprise... However, she'll have to wait a couple more years until she can get into this. I'll have to figure out how to size up/down from patterns.

Ella Bella

Just wanted to share a couple pictures of Ella in 2 super cute outfits from her Grand Aunties.

This vintage piece was originally created for Emi by Aunt Lu a long long long time ago... 20 years may be? Still looking ever so stylish on a cutie pie!


This little sailor number is from the Ning's baby knit collection. This piece also has to be more than 20 years old. Ella rocks both vintage pieces with such ease.

Where's Timo??

Caliber is a super cool blog by local photographer featuring some of their images of SF. Can you find Timo?

My Boston Rendezvous with EMI

Emily and I met up in Boston this past weekend while I was there for work. It was a much needed little R&R session and a great inspirational reboot trip! Found tons of ideas and inspirations for projects!

We started off in Cambridge on Friday night at Bob Slate Stationer. LOVE that place! I first found it a couple of years ago wondering around Harvard Square, and knew Emi would love it just as much as I did. Found a couple of treasure there: a set of greeting cards featuring Faerie Houses by Sally J. Smith, and One Line A Day -- a five year memory book.

Then we passed by this absolutely darling shoe cobbler shop with original Art Nouveau store front.

Saturday morning we started off in Beacon Hill. I would love to live there someday...
The last time I was there, it was Spring and all the window boxes displayed beautiful blooms while all the trees had pretty little pink and white flowers. This time around it's winter, but Bostonian kept their window boxes filled with colorful evergreen, willow, and dogwood branches.


We shopped along Charles Street all morning. Bought stamps and cards and jewelry and .... A couple of the shops were painted in my new favorite color, Tiffany Blue.


We found this little Boutique called Holiday, which is just like Ambiance!

One of the shop girls designs dresses for the shop as well. This little piece is one of her designs. It's simplicity, flirtiness, elegance, and style all rolled into 1. There were so many things I wanted to buy, but not enough $$$ to buy the entire store... We also found some super easy and cute little girl dresses at another store. They are similar to the dress below, kind of a sack and ribbon dress. Just like the one I made for Katie for Christmas. Took some pictures of those dresses. Can't wait to start on them. Ella and I will have some coordinating Sack-n-Ribbon dresses!!!!

We finally made our way to Anthropologie in the afternoon and spent a good chunk of time there. That place is the ultimate destination for inspirations! Emi requested that I share this photo, so here it is!

Finally, our day had to come to an end, but it was one of the greatest shopping days in a LONG LONG time. At least for me. Thanks Mei Mei!

After I dropped her off at the South Station, I found this cemetary in the middle of the financial district. Many of America's forefathers were buried here, but I didn't have too much time to search the tombstones for names. Had to get to the airport to go home and see my little chunky.

I just have to make it through this week and I'll have a whole week off to relax and craft. Stay tuned for the Mommy and baby dresses :-)

Another separated at birth moment

Ella's nature hair style is both a little Krazy and a little Oompa Loompa...


There's a thought for this year's Halloween...

Easy granola recipe

Inspired by Roz's delicious homemade granola bars, I tried out Martha's easy granola recipe. You can pretty much put in anything you like. Mine had oat, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond, maple syrup, coconut, cranberries, and a little brown sugar. I can't believe it's so easy to make and I've been buying it this whole time!!

Great New Interios Magazine!

I was really bummed when Domino was taken off the newsstands last year. It was my favorite interior and home magazine. Many of our DIY projects were inspired by it. After almost a year, there might just be another publication that can replace my beloved Domino. I bought Fresh Home a couple of months ago and kind of just left it in the magazine bin in the bathroom and forgot about it. Recently found it under piles of other magazines and felt like I struck gold again! It's got a great layout with very detailed and easy to follow instructions. The best part is that there is a photo for very step of the DIYs. The DIY projects all look very polished and not DIY at all (unlike READY MADE). It's also got loads of great informative articles with terrific advice; many are also very environmentally conscientious as well as budget friendly. It's been a while since I read any magazine from cover to cover! The only down side is that it's published every quarter...