introducing sonia!

meet sonia the giraffe!

she's very pleased to meet you :) sonia the giraffe was made as a special request from my former boss for her niece but she's so sweet that i'm planning on making her a regular in the shop.

von leben schnauzers

it took me over a year to finish the von leben schnauzers! i would get started, get hookers block, put it aside, pick it up again weeks later... repeat that several times over. but finally i just sat myself down and forced my hooks to move. the result... hee hee :) i think the hardest part was showing that they're fluffy. mini schnauzers are very very ... hairy and floofy. i didn't want to use furry yarn because my stitches become very erratic with fancy yarns. i just can't see where the loops are! but i did use a wonderfully fluffy yarn for their bushy eyebrows and chest hair. red heart baby clouds yarn has a great texture but it shreds really easily. i can't imagine crocheting an entire piece with it. but hooray they're completed and shipped off to my dearest cousin! hope she likes them :)

the perfect pear

miss m and mr j are getting married in less than two weeks! i'm so excited i could explode. for miss m's birthday/bridal shower gift, i made her a set of pears... the perfect pair. get it? :) they were made from an anapaulaoli pattern from her book, amigurumi world: seriously cute crochet. i added a bow to miss m's pear and their initials to the pears' butts so that they could tell who was who.

miss m and mr j, i can't wait to see you guys next week!

hydrangea

more fun with picnik. features used: crop, color (saturation), focal soften, vignette before after :)

seattle

oh seattle... how i love you so. i kind of want to move there. artie and i spent a few days there for our 5 year and to visit one of artie's best friends. i think i would move there just to spend more time at pike place. there's so much more to eat! i packed my bags with pastas, jams, and a few peaches too. the peaches are unreal... i was eating at least one a day. they were so perfectly ripe and juicy! oddly enough i didn't get a picture of one... probably because they didn't last too long before ending up in my tummy.

beautiful flavored pastas

look at all that fresh produce!

the most incredible french toast in the world! made from cinnamon raisin bread with butter and caramel oozing down its sides.

piroshky piroshky. even the air around the bakery tastes delicious.

the elliot bay book company. have i mentioned before that i love bookstores? :)

waterfall with a perfect rainbow

seattle at night from our friend's apartment.

quick links

best class project ever. thinking about soy candles... they have a scent called monkey fart. incredible photography, sweet stories, all around good for a giggle. don't need but still want. looking for a pretty dress. this truly is the best chocolate cake recipe in the world. where to go from here?

wonder where this goes?

taiwan

playing with picnik some more :) these are from my trip to taiwan last winter. it's so hard to choose only a handful of pictures to sum up a two week trip. kind of clockwise starting from the top left: 1. beaches of kenting... one of the happiest days of my life. 2. the sun rising over taipei as seen from our hotel room. 3. the taiwanese flag. 4. cedar trees in ailshan. 5. taroko gorge... it was like falling into an old chinese landscape painting. 6. a HELLO KITTY ferris wheel. 7. another shot of kenting. 8. chiang kai shek memorial. i feel like taiwan doesn't get as much love as other asian countries when it comes to tourism. but there's so much to SEE and EAT! you're simply bombarded with food. unfortunately, i don't eat seafood or pork (a travesty to any asian) so i ate a ton of cabbage which i now will admit is a lot tastier in taiwan. it's sweeter. and i can't get enough of chinese watercress, a vegetable (it's name is literally "a vegetable"), and pretty much any other green thing. everywhere you turn there's food... regardless of where in taiwan you are standing, you will never say "geeze there's nowhere to eat around here." and the scenery... beaches, mountains, city skylines... it's got it all. i'm hungry... can i get some beef noodle soup?