This is the layout view of a quilt I just did for my friend Rachel who's pregnant with Naomi (they are really on the ball with names!).  This picture turned out clearer than the ones of the finished quilt, but you can't see how cool the free motion quilting turned out.  And since I knew the baby's name I quilted it on there.  Lately, every time I make a baby quilt I think "boy this one is turning out really lame, this person is getting crap."  And then when it's done I end up loving it and feeling very proud and happy to give it to the person.  Now that I know that's the pattern I just ignore it.  I hope this won't lead to me making worse and worse quilts!

This is the map of how, basically, I want my garden to look.  Of course I did this a few weeks ago and have already departed and enhanced.  For instance, when I created the map I was  planning to nix the purple garden (located under the white crepe myrtle) so it isn't shown.  It is now one of my favorite new spots with Russian Sage, Lamb's Ears, and some other stuff I dont' know the names of,  and I even put a little froggy sculpture that came with the house in it.  I'm not sure that I want to show a lot of pictures yet.  Because, while it looks good to me, I know it looks sort of lame to anyone who doesn't know how much sweat went into it the tiny plantings so far.  Just wait till next Spring, then it'll really take off!

I've been wanting to name my house since I moved in, but it's not much of an estate. It is only now

I've been wanting to name my house since I moved in, but it's not much
of an estate. It is only now becoming anything worth naming through
living in it. (Somehow I am not impressed with the prior owner's skill
in this area and have felt I am the one who needs to breathe life into
the place.) I stumbled upon this entry* which mentioned naming the
garden only. Perhaps I will consider this since I plan for the front
garden to be rather masculine in nature now that the back yard has
turned into such a girly party.

*
http://fortyfour.typepad.com/bookishgardener/2004/01/i_christen_thee.html


p.s. I started the Lolita socks and am now solidly into the arch of the
foot. This could take a while. But the pattern is really easy to
follow (I've never done lace before) and quick.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/artandlife/apother_story.asp?category=1404&slug=Translucent%20Concrete

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/artandlife/apother_story.asp?category=1404&slug=Translucent%20Concrete

I love this idea. Makes me wonder if you could acheive a similar
effect at home perhaps using glass marbles as the aggregate?

doesn't a daffodil sponge cake with nasturtiums decorating the top sound delightful! So many things

doesn't a daffodil sponge cake with nasturtiums decorating the top sound
delightful! So many things and I have no time. What a wonderful
weekend, I went dancing with the sexy boys at Faces, Second Saturdayed,
planted in the purple garden, made some squares for another baby quilt,
ate quesadillas on my couch.

p.s. Best friends should never be allowed to move far away. Especially
not to anywhere as lame sounding as Watertown. Doesn't every town have
water?

well I'm doing such a good job of staying in the moment that I hardly have any inclination to post. I am counting last holiday weekend as a success because of the following:

1. I wore a bikini two out of three days and managed to drive in it both times. Ever wonder why I live in California? That's why.

2. Went swimming twice and finagled my way into plant watering for a friend with a pool who will be gone in August.

3. Got a bear hug from a homeless man who got high fives from everyone else in the room.

4. Bought peaches from a roadside stand in the middle of orchards.

5. Drank honey wine by candle light.

6. Bought a new belly button ring from a guy who said I looked "breaded." (I think that meant wealthy?)

7. Planted two peach trees and a plumbago.

One thing I can't stop thinking about is these lolita socks from knitty. I know I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: I am definitely making these as soon as fall hits. Or late summer. Usually in late August/early September the frenzied summer starts to wear and I like a good reason to park it on the couch in the air conditioning. I just wonder what shoes I would wear them with? I am too wimpy for any type of heel so it's tricky.

Here's hoping you're enjoying your summer as well!

Since I'm too lame to provide a real post, I would like to tell you what happenned on my boss's rece

Since I'm too lame to provide a real post, I would like to tell you what
happenned on my boss's recent business trip, as explained by her. And
since this trip reminded me of something that would happen on Dave
Chapelle's "When Keepin' It Real Goes Bad" sketch, I will report it as
such.

A man woman and child board a flight to Minneapolis. The family seems
normal enough with the exception of the man wearing his jacket on his
shoulders like a cape. The child is about six years old. After they
are seated, the flight attendant asks them to please leave the plane for
reasons unknown to onlookers. The woman and husband decide they should
be on the flight and that this is a good time to keep it real. "No,
this is our flight, we're not getting off. We're keepin' it real."
The flight attendant explains that she will call security if they do
not deboard immediately. At this time the family could have deboarded
the flight and could possibly have received a free upgrade of some type.
But instead they said: "No, this is our flight, we're not getting off.
We'll stand up if we have to." So the security staff comes, and in turn
the Air Marshalls. The man and woman are asked to leave the plane. At
this point the family probably could have deboarded the flight and been
detained for a short time only. But the man and woman decide to keep it
real. They refuse to leave the plane. The Air Marshalls cuff the man
and woman and the child follows his cuffed parents off of the plane.
Apparently the Air Marshalls were keepin' it realer.

This is a super cool picture taken by Philippe of his wife Soojin taking a picture of me. I don't know why but I love this picture. Together Philippe and Soojin comprise Jade Studio Photography and were such a pleasure to sit for: so nice, and so professional. If you are ever getting married in the Bay Area you should definitely try to get them to shoot your wedding, and they do portraits too. How often can you hang out naked with people you've never met before and feel totally comfortable?

Well, I've been doing a buttload of gardening/swinging a pick ax. The top picture is my inspiration for the leftover cut and broken tiles from the patio, mainly because they were already stacked there. So here's a couple pictures of what I have planted so far: plants & more plants. These plants include but are not limited to honeysuckle, hydrangea, rose of sharon, hibiscus, 3 Meyer lemon trees, mint (well controlled I hope), oregano, delphineum, butterfly bush. More to come. I also pulled a scraggly rose from the side of the house and plopped it in the middle of the herb garden because roses are herbs, right? I also picked up some extra delightful crap from garage sales to turn into garden art. And just in case you've started thinking I'm really as cute as I think I am in my cute pictures, here's one for the "oh, that's why," files.

How could I forget!!?

How could I forget!!?

Happy Summer Solstice everyone in the Northern Hemisphere! Enjoy the longest day of the year and feel free to dance naked around a bon fire or anywhere else you please!

Well now it's June, going on July so of course I find myself seduced by all things Autumny. I tend

Well now it's June, going on July so of course I find myself seduced by all things Autumny. I tend to be like this, a few months a head of myself even in summer, my favorite season. I don't know why it is so hard for me to stay in the moment! Anyway, I guess a lot of people are feeling like they have trouble enjoying because look what I found:

Keri's summer plans

because she in turn found:

Jen's list


So here is what I will do:

1. Tend my garden all summer. Just watch me!

2. Pretend I live in Tuscany. I have already planted 3 lemon trees.

3. I will leave doors and windows open all night and take cool baths.

4. Drink beer and eat olives and spanish sardines.

5. Take time off to be with Julie while I can.

6. Eat peaches.

7. Work on quilts when it's too hot outside in hippy summer dresses.

8. Plant honeysuckle and mint.

9. Stay up late when it's hot.

10. Be with my favorite people at Lake Berryessa.

11. Eat tomatoes with olive oil and basil.

12. Enjoy the patio at night.

13. Drink herbal iced tea out of glasses with ice in them.

14. Swim in everyone's pool who invites me.

15. Learn to make pie crust with my grandma.

16. Skinny dip. I have only done this once and I loved it. I hope I will have the nerve to do it again this summer.

care to check out the Designs on the White House finalists:

care to check out the Designs on the White House finalists.
My favorite is probably the "Don't drink and Vote," just because I like booze based humor. My serious favorite is probably the "If George Bush doesn't scare you..." one. I will definitely be buying one as soon as the finalists are chosen. Can't wait to wear it to my workplace full of conservatives on casual Friday!

this is probably my cue to read it:

this is probably my cue to read it:

http://www.rejoycedublin2004.com/

coincidentally it is written on a piece of paper on my desk to read it
soon

Did you ever wonder what I would look like as a sci-fi diva? Well here you go. I was trying to take another self portrait for my "look how hot I am" series but it turned out more grainy/too much flash. But I think I look pretty cool in molten metal or whatever. And, speaking of how hot we all are, I really liked this article from The Morning News about being confident with your natural assets.

Before

This is a picture of the barren wasteland I call a backyard, and my newest canvas for self expression/backbreaking work. I have been a bit stalled creatively lately since I have several projects bouncing around and only one budget for them all and I just couldn't decide which was the most important. So I put it to a group of friends and they sagely decided that I should garden first so the plants could get to growing while I worked on other things in the future. And they're right: if I put up a wall in my house it will be exactly the same in 2-10 years, but trees and shrubs will awesome by then (I hope). So another post with no point since even when I put everything I have planned in it won't look like much. Mainly we will use today's post as a comparison to posts I will make in the future i.e. year's down the line. Next year I hope to point to this archive with satisfaction!

And for something actually entertaining to likeminded people, well at least the really dorky ones: here is the first installment of what I plan to be another recurring feature: Kitty Porn (worksafe).

If there was ever wallpaper I needed, this is it. See 'Syrie.' Now if only I could get to New York

If there was ever wallpaper I needed, this is it. See 'Syrie.' Now if
only I could get to New York . . .



via
Apartment Therapy

Wishes

Wishes

Can you believe that if I bought everything on my Amazon wish list, it
would only cost me $205.26? Plus shipping and handling of course, but
still. That really makes me think that I should just try to buy all of
it the next time I have some extra cash to spare. I wonder what this
means? Should I wish for more things or should I be happy that I
already have everything I want except for what I could get with an extra
$205.26? Of course if I had real wishes I would probably never use one
for anything on my Amazon wishlist no matter how much I want that book
about jam or Weekend Knitting.

In my attempt to participate in the Amateur Gourmet's Bring Your Gourmet to Work Day. I have failed rather miserably. Since yesterday I happened to be at Trader Joe's right after reading his Pasta Pesto Peas entry I decided to grab a bottle of pesto and a bag of whole wheat penne and sort of go at it. And by "go at it" I mean I boiled the pasta and then dumped the pesto in there. I don't really like peas so I didn't put them in. It turned out pretty boring but I am eating it at work and I'm glad to have brought my lunch since I'm on a restricted budget due to buying a couch with a chaise and a half (1.5 chaises) stuck on the end. I've been living pretty happily on alternating cheese veggie sandwiches and peanut butter banana sandwiches, but this was a nice change of pace. So maybe the failure wasn't miserable, just not exactly "gourmet." Or maybe kind of gourmet, but heavy on the "amateur." Anyway, it keeps reminding me of this salad I used to buy at the CoOp downtown that was basically pesto penne but it also had little bites of chicken and chopped up sundried tomato in it. But with all these fancy ingredients we're sort of getting away from the whole point of eating less expensively. Here's hoping your gourmet experiment is more stunning than mine!

p.s. Last night I unearthed a seriously fuzzy and thick spider (like a baby tarantula with a giant body and stubby little legs) about the size of a ping pong ball hiding halfway down in my pile of steer manure bags. It was something I never would've imagined living in North America and I really wish I hadn't seen it.

This is a picture I happenned to stumble upon of my craft table in ultimate chaos in my old apartment. It made me feel kind of nostalgic and happy and like I need to get to fiber arting a whole lot more than I have been.

life is trippy sometimes:

At a party this weekend I met the nephew of this woman who is a Spy. He in turn is some kind of crazy theoretical scientist and he brought his granddaughter who is a ballerina and totally looks it (I made her eat one of my cupcakes). Here's what he said about me in his thank you note: "Julie, I enjoyed talking with your friend from Sacramento(?)-the one who made the cupcakes. She looks like a Pre Raphaelite painting."

There is actually no point to this post except that I was tickled that this cool old guy with the fascinating stories liked me!