the one-hour dress

when one of my best friends showed me this dress tutorial she wanted to make, i immediately wanted to make one too. so we journeyed together to the fabric store and made an evening out of it. she chose a turquoise knit almost identical to the one pictured, and i chose a honey (or mustard) linen blend.

from craftsylish.com

without a belt, the dress is enormous. it could double as shelter in an emergency. with a belt (and a bit of adjusting) it becomes pretty cute (although not exactly slimming with this fabric). i was bombarded with compliments when i wore it to the office.

notice that the folding is more dramatic with linen

i love you, fried pork chop rice!

one of my closest friend's boyfriend, T, has learned two phrases in chinese: "i love you" and " fried pork chop rice". he enjoys saying them together, "i love you, fried pork chop rice!".

while other people may have opted to learn more useful sentences, like, "how are you?" or "where is the bathroom?", i'd say this is a pretty good start.

fried pork chop rice is a delicious, casual (and admittedly, unhealthy) dish in taiwanese cuisine, and most people would heartily agree with T's enthusiastic declaration.  using the recipe from my chinese rice and noodles cookbook (recipes are both in chinese and english), i attempted to make my first fried pork chop rice.

dushanbe tea house - boulder, colorado

when i travel, i probably spend as much time researching food as i do attractions. we had several noteworthy meals in boulder, but the most interesting was afternoon tea at dushanbe tea house (you might remember my great affection for this tradition).

 

a weekend getaway to boulder

long weekends are excellent opportunities for short getaways, and the husband and i escaped this past labor day weekend on a quick trip to boulder, colorado. inspired by a couple friends, the trip destination was actually a surprise for him. he was very pleased and excited when he finally looked up at the display at our departure gate. there is nothing he enjoys more than time spent in nature.

it was a surprisingly hot weekend- a high of 96 on sunday, the day we took our longest hike in chataugua park. the altitude and dry air was a bit difficult for me, but it was worth it, because we saw FIVE chipmunks. yes, i counted.

the trail was about five miles long and ascended about kilometer upward.

the royal arch was the reward.  the rest of the trip was spent on more hikes, exploring the center, and of course, eating (sadly, the fires started the day we left...).
to be continued!

clutch happy.

make one of these.

it'll make you happy.

or better yet, make it for someone else, and make them happy. i did.

tutorial from noodlehead here.

mien storage box

ikea saves the day again. after many years of searching for a jewelry box that wasn't hideous, i found this gem at ikea:

the mien storage box - $7.99

while it could stand to be bigger, it's an excellent companion jewelry tree i have (also from ikea).

what the box did need was some cushion... a nicely patterned cushion. so while there are several different always i could have approached these lightly padded "cushions", i went with a somewhat unconventional route. 

as i am still excited about my recent appliqued onesies, and am currently in possession of a large quantity of felt (more on this later), i decided to once again fuse cotton fabric and felt using double stick fusible web. the webbing just prevents the edges of the patterned fabric from getting frayed, and also adds a slight rigidity.

want one too?

all you'll need (besides the box) is:

1 piece of patterned fabric of your choice 5 1/2" x 10 3/4" (i used heather bailey's pop sway fabric)

1 piece of felt of your choice 5 1/2" x 10 3/4"

1 piece of double stick fusible web adhesive sheets ( i use steam a seam 2)

follow the instructions on the package on how to adhere the pieces together (use the base of the box lid to trace the shape of the cushion), and stitch around the edges. 

a laundry disaster

a few weeks ago, i posted about this dress. promptly after i posted the entry, i thoughtlessly threw the dress into the laundry for its' first wash. when i retrieved it from the washer, i was dismayed to find that the floral detail had completely unraveled into a mess of furry thread.

apparently the dress was hand wash only. normally i read labels on new clothing (actually, typically before i buy it), but since the dress was knit, it didn't even occur to me to check.