cookie weather

Last week, I was in tank tops and flip flops and battling armies of ants that continuously found paths of entry into my kitchen in their attempt to escape the heat. This week suddenly brought gray, drizzly skies and with them an itch to bake some cookies. Crispy, chewy chocolate chip cookies.

Tonight I got home to a chilly apartment and finally got around to baking those cookies to warm the air a bit. I then promptly ate a couple in the name of taste-testing as they came out of the oven--I had to make sure that they weren't over-cooked! Now if only I could get down to working out some cards and other items for the upcoming holiday season.. my craft fair deadline is approaching mighty quickly!

Did the autumn chill hit you as suddenly as it hit us here in LA? Apparently the gray skies are short lived though, as it's supposed to hit 80 again this weekend. Figures. I guess I'll just be sitting around eating my cookies until it warms up again.

hello autumn.

Yesterday a couple of girlfriends and I went for a field trip to the Norton Simon. I had especially wanted to go see the Hiroshige exhibit. His work is amazing! I love Japanese woodblock prints, and highly recommend you go see the show if you can, it was so lovely. I also loved strolling through the gardens there, and we may have done a bit of shopping afterwards. It was a splendid Saturday afternoon.

Today I'm taking it kind of easy. The plan was to try to work on some new things for holiday, but I am feeling particularly uninspired, so instead I am making things in the kitchen. Roasted procrastination peppers, anyone?

i want summer back

Okay, I am one of those people that has a hard time picking a favorite time of the year. But I've gotta say that this year, I feel like I was swindled out of a proper summer. Oh sure, there were proper summery moments, like dancing the evening away on Catalina in celebration of a friend's marriage, or spending a few hours on a stretch of sandy beach in San Diego, but still. I want more! By Los Angeles standards, we did not have much of a summer. And now it's halfway through September already! Unbelievable. The season simply slipped through my fingers.

But I intend to make the most of my autumn! I've already taken a bread-baking class, which was perfect and lovely and made me discover a need for a pizza stone. Next up will be a 10-week course at Art Center, which I'm super excited about! More on that later.

But. I am even more excited to let you all know that Renegade is returning to LA in a couple of months for its first annual Los Angeles holiday fair! What! Seriously. I need to get down to business if I want to participate in what will surely be a great weekend of crafty fun. I'll keep you all posted!

in my ears

I love this new track from Vampire Weekend--it's like the perfect aural antidote to dance away the cold-weather blues.

Ahem. *Not* that I dance. And, not that it's cold here in Los Angeles right now. It was 80-something degrees all weekend! But don't hate me because you're somewhere colder--just have a listen and you'll dance it out and feel better:


Bonus! You can even download the track for free right now here!
Can't wait for the album to come out in January!

there are changes afoot

Rain, glorious rain!

We needed it so badly and finally it came--the gray clouds rolled in and suddenly the sidewalks were slick with rain that hadn't fallen in months! Here's to hoping it continues.

I have a feeling that this exhilarating shift in seasons nourishing our parched town will also help to jump-start my creative work, and help me to get myself back in to the rhythm of things. I have been neglecting my card-making! There are many, many ideas I am itching to put down on paper and a few will be applied into projects in the coming weeks--stay tuned for shiny new items to appear soon in my etsy shop!

I have been getting back in to drinking mugs of hot teas, they are just so warming from the inside out, and the perfect end note to what was a harrowing week. My current drink of choice is rooibos, full of antioxidants and delicious in these slightly cooler evenings.