wee qui oui

2011-02-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

Sooo where do I find knitting needles (and maybe some yarn too) here in New Delhi?? I'm sure people knit around here, so it can't be that hard. The thought of knitting is particularly appealing right now because I'm still resting while I recover from a terrible cold and food poisoning combo- I'm certainly less weak than I was 24 hours ago, but a good knitting project or the latest issue of Vogue India would be so nice right about now, especially since I'm feeling a bit guilty about spending so much time on my laptop. The housekeeping staff here must think I'm so lazy...

Through some Googling, I did find this blog post about some fiber-y places that might be of use to me. Hopefully when I'm a little healthier I can go to check out the places she suggested for New Delhi. As for now, the luscious skein of merino wool-silk blend will have to wait. Hmph.

2011-01-31T08:03:00.000-08:00

I could probably be studying, but lately I've been spending my evenings online, blogging and organizing/posting the photos I've taken throughout the day. Since I'm not working and technically not enrolled in my distance-learning courses yet, I've just been finding interesting sites to kill my time- with the 12.5 hour time difference between New Delhi and California, I don't really get to talk to my friends and family online at this hour because most people are still sleeping or off to work!

Anyway, every now and then I come across a blog that totally clicks with me and I get obsessed with it. Tonight it's Don't Shoe Me, and it makes me so excited and inspired. The blogger, Prutha, has such quirky (I seem to like that word a lot, huh?) style- I love how she can make such unpredictable contrasts in her style, with colors, accessories, textures, everything. She knows what works for her and doesn't give a rip if it might look unusual from what everyone else wears. Seeing her have so much fun in being creative and basically, JUST GOING FOR IT has totally inspired me. I feel a little bummed that I left all my 'cute' clothes back in the States, because I decided to just bring my 'plain,' practical basics, many of which that I'll just leave here in India to make room for the stuff I want to bring back. Most of what I like to wear is probably a bit too tight to be wearing around New Delhi when I already stick out as a foreigner, so it was hard for me to try and bring other pieces that would still seem 'me,' yet also not call too much attention in the wrong way- the SoCal me just loves to wear fitted tanks with jeans or skinny cargos, but looking at what the other lady folk are wearing here, it seems a tad inappropriate.

Still, I don't want to give up and I don't want to let my 'fashion muscle' atrophy by only resigning myself to wearing the boring tees and dowdy pants that I brought- I can still have fun with my style especially when I'm not on the job, and I decided tonight that if there's a piece that I see that tugs at my fashion heartstrings, I should just get it. Already I've seen a couple things that I really liked, but stretched my brain in trying to figure out how I would wear them. I kept hesitating to get those pieces because most of the ideas I came up with seemed too 'different,' but now I just want to take the plunge. There are so many things I've wanted to experiment with when it comes to clothes (whether bought or made by yours truly) and my appearance, but I've held off because I was afraid they'd just make people think I want attention, but it's been in my head for a while so maybe it really just is who I am. I was afraid that doing more than one thing at once (like getting my nose pierced and shaving part of my head in particular) might look too extreme, but I won't know if I never try it and I think when I come back to the States to finish my studies, there will still be a period of leeway where I can have a little fun and not worry too much about people taking me seriously. Today I bought the harem pants I've been lusting after from the boutique around my house, and after looking at literally every post from Prutha's blog (I read that thing from beginning to end), I think I'll go back to Dilli Haat to get that crazy embroidered dupatta I had my eye on. I do like to wear a dupatta from time to time, but I never do it back in the States because I'm afraid of what people might think. Still, it's a beautiful sheer one with embroidery and beadwork, and I really want to pair it with a plain tank and pants, or maybe to dress up a simple coat. I don't want to stifle my creativity (especially when it comes to things I make myself), because life is too short! EFF IT I JUST NEED TO DOOOOO IT!

Crafty Love

2011-01-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

My aunt, cousin and one of my best friends gave me some gifts recently, and they were all handmade! When I received the "good-bye" presents from my aunt and cousin (on my mom's side) for my trip to India, I was so proud to come from a crafty family- we all sew, knit, crochet, make jewelry and do other sorts of crafts. It was so sweet of them to make all these goodies for me:

My aunt made me this hanger jewelry caddy. The zippered part is for bracelets, and the mesh and felt sections are for all my earrings. I probably won't carry that many earrings with me for my trip, although I will need plenty of room for bangles!

I really like the teal and orange in the fabric!
She also made me a little case with a complete set of crochet hooks.

And this yarn-printed fabric is so cute!

My cousin made me some lovely tissue paper flowers...

And she made me THESE! I love the felt plushies she's been making lately.

Then, earlier this week, my friend Liana gave me some papel picado that she'd made for me because she knew I'd always wanted some to hang up. It was perfect that she made me some peacock papel picado!

I'm glad to be surrounded by such creative people- it's inspiring, and I'm lucky to have friends and family who are so talented with making things. Plus, I get some bad ass gifts!

Bucket List Revised

2011-01-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

This Jezebel article about the author looking back on an old 'boyfriend checklist' made me go back to an old bucket list I made way back in high school. In the past, I know I've made some 'ideal partner' lists in my cheesy journals, but I can't find any old ones- the only one I found was a list that isn't so different from what I'd want now, but I knew where I kept my old bucket list. I'd sort of neglected it and was hesitant to make another one since I didn't want the accountability, but now I think, why not? Looking back on my old list, some of the stuff I put was super-cheesy, so I thought I'd put up a few items from my 90-item list, exactly as I had written them. Mind you, this was back in high school:

Stuff I can check off my list:

Do well in school (I may be getting ahead of myself since I haven't finished school, but I did get straight-A's last semester)
Go to a good college of some sort
Go on a road trip
Go to LA
See a celebrity (or two) and a taping of a show (I spotted Joel Madden and Nicole Richie at the Beverly Center and I went to see a taping of 'The Big Bang Theory"!)
Wear more skirts and dresses (living in SoCal makes this very easy)
Go to New Zealand
Get a 4.00 at least once
Learn other foreign languages
Go to England as my first foreign country and travel to ~~India~~, Japan, ~~Thailand~~, Florida, ~~Canada~~ and the Tropics (I must've written this before I traveled to Canada, as it was technically my first foreign country. Technically I've only half-finished this item!)
Sew more and sew more clothes for myself
Meet some decent guys for once (Keep in mind that that's exactly what I wrote in my list. Maybe I can cross this off now that I left high school.)

The cringe-worthy- I think it's safe to say that I'm no longer interested in accomplishing these:

Have a dream wedding with whoever I'm destined to be with ("dream wedding"? "destined to be with"? OH GOSH.)
Be ready to leave my family by the time (if) I get married (I guess I was really worried that I would have trouble leaving home but now with all my overseas interests I can't get out fast enough!)
Make a fort out of bark, play by a creek (Um, okay...)
Maybe get a white plumeria tattoo on my hip (Luckily I didn't do that because I'm kind of over white plumerias!)
Own a Lexus (Whaaat? This was definitely before I became a Global Studies student)
Meet some 'Harry Potter' cast members (eh, I could live without that)
Meet Orlando Bloom or at least someone from the 'Lord of the Rings' cast (ditto)
Get a 'Lord of the Rings'-themed mural painted in my house (At the time this sounded like the classiest thing ever. Don't judge me!)
Meet royalty (This was probably when I still fancied Prince William)

Select items yet to be achieved:

I think I have about 5+ items relating to "figuring it all out". I'm not sure I'll ever find my "calling"; I might just be meant to do lots of different things anyway.
Go to New York City
Experiment more with my hair (Kind of hard to measure, but I'd say it's unfinished)
Get a makeover (As an awkward teen, a makeover definitely sounded like the answer to my problems at the time)
Go to the original Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
Fall in love

To be added (will I regret putting some of these items in the future? Probably.):

Celebrate my birthday overseas
Experience Diwali and Holi in India
See the Taj Mahal, Kyoto Costume Institute, Golden Temple, Qutb Minar and various palaces (there are more things I'd like to see that are non-India-related, but they don't come to mind)
Read other religious texts, like the Koran and Guru Granth Sahib
Visit México, Malaysia, Indonesia and Morocco just to name a few places I want to see in my lifetime
See a live bhangra performance
Learn belly dancing

Checking back on that New Year's Resolution

2011-01-01T00:30:00.001-08:00

Last year I made a resolution to de-clutter my room and my life and despite living most of the year outside of the area of interest, I think I made some significant progress, especially in the last 2 days. Technically, the deadline for that resolution is over, but I'd like to think that today's progress can still count towards my resolution. Somehow today I was able to give away a lot of things and while I never thought it would happen, I even made enough space on my bookshelves to put away all my college books! I've been able to shove a lot of stuff in my bedroom closet now that my mom cleared out all my childhood things (she needed to go through all of them to see what she wanted to keep), which frees up the floor and allows me to store more of my college things in my room. When I look around in my room, I think I could probably live on 40% or less of what is actually in there, so despite the breakthroughs, I'm far from done.

I probably had more fun shopping in the Spring semester when I was living in LA, but I think I still bought less than what I would have normally spent- those consignment stores were tempting! Over the Fall semester I think I was a lot better about not making impulsive and frivolous purchases. Most of my expenses were for groceries, and while I did buy a couple fun things, I mainly window shopped and tried to think more carefully about what I ended up bringing home. I've spent more time enjoying photography, which has been more fulfilling than going out to shop, anyway.

Of course for the coming year I'll continue de-cluttering, but I don't think that will be my main resolution. I think I want to focus more on time management and trying new things. I've procrastinated a lot, especially in the previous semester, but with my independent research project and the papers for my distance-learning classes coming up, it'll be crucial that I work productively. I also want to spend this year thinking about trying new things because being in India will present a lot of opportunities to experience new things, make some cool friends and use my time overseas to grow as a better, wiser person. I want to be able to make more of a conscious effort to push myself to make the most of being in India, and it'll help me in trying to get my research done, too. It'll be quite lonely if I'm in a new, big city by myself with no one to hang out with so I need to get out of my box and make some friends!

OH MY.

2010-11-07T14:30:00.001-08:00

So I just realized my birthday is coming up in exactly 7 days. I still don't really know how to reflect on my past year- hopefully there's a lot to show for it. Umm... there was plenty of Bollywood movies, sewing, knitting, and photo-taking. I spent my spring semester in LA, which was a great learning experience and a fun ride- the bustle of city life, mastering public transportation and falling in love with living in a new place. I've become a more experienced driver (I only got my license at around age 20), so I feel a lot more comfortable driving around SoCal than I did a year ago.

As I've been getting older, I can sense myself becoming more at peace with who I am. It's a little easier for me now to make that conscious choice to be happy with myself just the way I am- I haven't grown any taller, become any skinnier, etc. but I'm starting to like myself as I am, and it feels nice. I'm less self-conscious about myself because I'm less concerned with what others (particularly at school) think- I like myself either way.

This past summer, I tried to make the most of my time (it would be the last summer I'd spend at home before graduating) and I took some Hindi lessons in preparation for my upcoming semester in India. The language geek in me savored the challenge, but Hindi is definitely a humbling language for me! The new alphabet, the vocabulary, the word order... AY. It's been fun to wrap my brain around all this and to learn how to read and write all over again. I find it empowering when I can feel my brain slowly making the connections and I can start to read words here and there. While it's a slow process, I'm optimistic and I know that a lot of people who are now fluent in the language were once in the same place I was. I've since forgotten a lot of Hindi because I haven't made enough time to maintain it, but I do look back on my notes every now and then. When my trip comes closer, I hope to study Hindi over my winter break before I leave...

While we're on the topic of language-learning: I've practiced my French in Montréal whilst visiting mon amie Rosa, tried to maintain my Spanish (which is a little easier when you're getting a minor in the language and have a Mexican roommate) and added a little Hindi to the mix, too.

While 23 is kind of a random age with no immediate significance, I really look forward to the fact that I could be spending most of my 23rd year in India- God willing, I'll be spending 10 months there! It'll be the longest time I've spent in one place since transferring to a 4-year university (so I am extremely excited that that place will be India), and it'll also be the longest time I'll have spent overseas.

Senioritis is a bee-yatch.

2010-11-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

This semester has been such a struggle! It's so hard for me to find the motivation to get my work done- I don't know what it is, if I'm burned out or what. Have I been in school long enough and my brain is saying "ENOUGH!"? Perhaps it's an excuse that my semester started off rough and my having to fly to the Bay 2 weekends in a row has accelerated my burnout. But seriously, I lack the fire under my arse to get stuff done. Many a night have I sat there knowing I have assignments due the next day and I simply don't care. Of course, I don't not care enough that I won't have something to turn in, but it's such an epic battle against myself to do my work. I'm just so ready to move on!

I tried to write a list of reasons I shouldn't procrastinate, in the hope that seeing all these reasons in one place would help me remember all the things that make these efforts worth it. This is somewhat inspired by Julia's self-contract to not procrastinate anymore. Shortly after making this list, I pulled my worst all-nighter ever. Well, anyway...

I should not procrastinate because:

It just makes things more stressful and I'll feel better if I just get over that initial hurdle and start on my work early. Plus, it'll feel even better if I get to finish early, too.
Better time management = More spare time
By procrastinating, I am doing nothing with the time I could've used to do something fun or more productive. Instead, I just spend lots of time doing something not super-fun (out of guilt) but not productive, either!
Some of these fun/productive things I could've spent so much more time on: studying Hindi, blogging, cleaning, sewing, shopping, cooking, reading,watching movies guilt-free and hanging out with friends
Working on stuff when I should just gets me that much closer to going overseas in the spring and eventually graduating
All that computer-time strains my eyes and my wrists. Ouch.

I may or may not do something studious and productive after posting this.

The last 6 months in a nutshell

2010-10-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

So there was a lot of stuff I wanted to blog about, but I really need to learn how to be more concise- writing detailed posts takes me a while because I want to be clear and organized, but sometimes it's not always necessary. Here's my August-October in the form of helpful bullet points:

Spent my summer sewing, hanging out with friends and occasionally moping that I was in the Bay, not LA, anymore. I think I've touched on this in previous posts.
I FINALLY got myself a toy camera. It's a Diana Mini, and I love it very much. I've mentioned my wanting a toy camera in the past, all summer and I love it. I'll definitely devote a proper blog post to that in due time. For now, you can see some of my photos on my photo tumblr!
Towards the end of my summer, I ended up spending a LOT of time in San Francisco because my paternal grandmother was sick. After a summer of not appreciating my stint in the Bay, I unexpectedly started to really love the city for what it was. It kind of made me feel more in touch with my roots and the Bay part of me, somehow.
I also felt more reconciled with my being Asian and in general, my family roots this summer. I'm still not sure how it happened- is it just a part of getting older? Spending hours pouring over family photographs, spending time with my grandmother and the rest of my family, I still can't quite put my finger on it. It's like one of those cliché movies about people unexpectedly "finding themselves" over the course of a summer.
A couple days before leaving for school, my grandmother passed away. September was a CRAZY month for me because I came to school and flew back to the Bay a few days later for the funeral. The next weekend, I flew back to the Bay for my brother's wedding. Even though I was "only" flying back and forth for 2 weekends in a row, it quickly became a routine I got used to and aside from getting behind in school, I enjoyed the traveling. Not only did I fly 4 times that month (2 round-trips), but they were in the span of 2 weeks and for two very different family occasions. I kept telling myself that if I just had 3 more weddings to attend, my life would be a Hugh Grant movie. At least the wedding was lovely and we got to let loose with a little celebrating after all that stress.
This semester has definitely been a bit different, since it's my first one back since my off-campus semester (living in LA for the urban studies program), and not being able to settle in until later on in the semester. The latter reason is definitely my excuse for senioritis and feeling so burned out in the semester already. I kind of wished I could take some time off of school, but my graduation date is already so far in the distance!
I'm getting ready to leave for India next semester. It feels like I've talked about this phantom overseas experience for a while, but now it's closer than ever! I'll be talking about that more on my Erica ABROAD! blog as more time goes on. I think I've neglected my poor abroad blog long enough, don't you think?
As October is coming to a close, I'm looking forward to next month! My birthday is in November and my mom, aunt and cousin are flying down for my birthday weekend to hang out with me in some of my favorite spots in SoCal. While I actually haven't spent a significant chunk of my life here, I spend most of my year here for school, so it's already become a significant part of me that I'm excited to share with my family where we'll just get to have some girls' time.
Also, Thanksgiving break will be coming up not long after my birthday and I'll get to spend a little time in the Bay with my family! It'll be good to see them and my friends after such a long semester. Then after that, it's only a couple weeks of school before Winter break!

Other than that, things have been busy but kind of uneventful. I can't wait for this midterm week to be over! After I turn in all my work (assuming I got it done) on Thursday I'll be watching the latest episode of "Outsourced" with a friend (yay for friends with cable tv!) and we'll be starting our new joint blog in preparation for our semesters abroad. I know, I have so many blogs and something's gotta give but I'll let you guys know when it's started up!

Days 29, 30

2010-10-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

I think it's about time I finish this 30-day challenge like over 2 months after I've started this, no?

Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned?
This challenge stretched over more than a month, but I think I've learned more about how I perceive myself and how I want others to perceive me (especially through this challenge), vs. how they might actually perceive me.

Day 30- Who are you?

I am someone who is still trying to figure it all out! It's not something uncommon for someone my age, I suppose. Right now I've been thinking about what I'll be doing when I finally graduate college; I don't even know where I will live! I feel like there are a few different roads I could've taken in my life but I don't really regret the one I'm on because it's always been hard to choose just one thing and feel confident in my decision.

Aaaaaand FIN.

Day 27, 28

2010-10-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?

I know, I know, I've been lagging on the challenge! Better late than never though, right? I wanted to do this challenge because I thought it'd be a fun thing to do over the summer and it would be cool to see the things my friends would put up for their own challenges. It can be hard to keep in touch sometimes, so tumblr is one of many ways we can see what's going on in the other person's life. I've had fun doing this and hopefully my friends have, too. : )

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed?

Montréal, August 2009

August 2010

Oh gosh, I hope I've changed for the better! I'm glad I got my bangs back. I'd like to think that as I've gotten older, I've felt more comfortable with my style and more willing to try new looks. I like pairing pieces together that make more of a contrast, such as a preppy cashmere sweater with hole-y jeans and sandals- that's what I'm wearing today. I've become slightly less self-conscious of my fashion choices and more determined to do whatever makes me feel cute or pretty, despite what others might think- perhaps going to a somewhat homogenous school where I don't really interact with a lot of the students helps me to not care what they think. ; ) I paint my nails a lot more, and I like wearing lip stains because it feels daring, pretty and low-maintenance with a high impact. I guess you can't really tell any style changes between the photos but there aren't really a lot of recent photos to pick from right now!

My 'office' for the semester

2010-10-03T02:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the cyber silence; things have been really crazy and just started to calm down. More on that later. I just wanted to share a picture of my 'office'- this is the first semester I've brought down a sewing machine to school with me and while it's certainly distracting, I love it. Schoolwork always makes me retreat to some sort of creative outlet and gives my inspiration a jump-start, so it's definitely benefitting my sewing. I'm wondering if sewing requires stress and vice-versa, since I definitely make better use of my time to sew as opposed to taking sewing time for granted, although I'm not sure I'd like to admit that schoolwork is necessary for this.

I think it's quite telling that in order to sew, I have to shove all my books and other things I'm supposed to be doing off my desk in a sad, forgotten pile on the floor. But, I do love the sight of fabric scraps and bits all over my desk to remind me of my ongoing projects. Yes, my desk is a mess, but it's become a sewing table where hopefully many things will be made. When I can, I stay up late to sew, until I keep blinking and squinting because the contact lenses in my eyes have given up and until I start making ridiculous mistakes, like cutting the wrong side of the fabric- yeah, I just did that tonight. It's so freeing to be able to make things and be creative. I find myself fantasizing about fabric and new design ideas when I should be reading or listening to the lecture in class. I don't mind losing sleep from working on this stuff, and it's nights like this that I wonder if I should've taken a more creative direction in my studies and perhaps have gone to art school or something. There are many things I would've liked to study though, so I don't feel too badly about that. However, even after all this global studies/Spanish hullaballoo I might end up opening an Etsy shop and making things, anyway. Who knows.

I've started two dresses this weekend out of some grey jersey and I plan to go off to the garment district in LA to find some more dress fabric. I need some bangin' dresses for my birthday weekend in November. although I think that deserves its own post in itself.

Do you see my Diana Mini camera in the background? It's another precious baby of mine. Yeah, I need to blog about that, too...

By the way, the roomies and I finally saw 'My Name is Khan' tonight! We had a picnic on the floor in my room (after I cleared all the fabric I'd been cutting out) with the Christmas lights on and my laptop on a step stool in front of us like a little TV on a TV stand. It was quite cozy and fun! I loved being able to see the Bay area in the film and I think it's safe to say that SRK really stretched himself artistically to play a role so different from the usual films he does. I definitely teared up a couple times but there were some touching, cute moments, too. Hope your weekend is going well, too!

Day 26

2010-08-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Day 26: What you think about your friends

Part of me wonders if this is a silly question because wouldn't the answer be somewhat predictable? Like, I like these people and that's why they're my friends? Or maybe I'm just not being creative enough with this. Anyway, I'm the kind of person who doesn't have a large social circle but with the friends I do have, we're pretty close. Quality over quantity. I love that I connect with each friend over a different interest- crafting, photography, traveling, cultures/languages, Bollywood movies, telenovelas, etc. You know who you are.

I think the only types of friends missing from my list would be friends with whom I can completely speak a different language. Of course, in order to attract such a friend I'll need to do my part and stop being too shy to speak Spanish/French/etc.!

Days 24, 25

2010-08-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Day 24 - A letter to your parents

When I see this, I think of how my oldest brother and his now-wife read heart-felt letters to their parents on the day of their wedding and I think I'd want to save something this personal for a special day like that. I don't know if that makes sense, but... yeah. But, I'd like to think that my parents at least have some idea of how special they are to me. I'm not just being a typical Asian kid when I say that I have a lot of respect and admiration for them and I hope to take care of them when they are older because I love them and they have done more for me than I will ever know. I dream of the day I can fly them over to whatever country I'm living in and make them proud when I show them the life I've made for myself.

Day 25 - What I would find in your wallet

Lots of old receipts, cash, a few cards (like a Jamba Juice giftcard, a Kinokuniya stampcard and a Sephora points card), some change, and a check I need to deposit at the bank where there's a cute teller (I'm waiting to go on a day I feel I'm looking my cutest but not like I'm trying too hard). Um, yeah.

'The Big Bang Theory' taping!

2010-08-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

So in a past post, I said I'd write about the taping and while I don't like that I tend to post a couple entries either at once or in a short amount of time in highs and lows, I figured I'd be more likely to follow through on my promise if I did it now rather than never. I went to the August 17th taping with my past/future roommate Megan and while there was a long wait, I think we both enjoyed ourselves.

Even though I had to make a trip just to come to SoCal to see the taping, I'm glad I did because taping tickets are free but hard to come by and there was no knowing if I could obtain tickets for a taping when I came back for school. TVTickets.com is one of a few sites I've come across that offer tickets for tapings. Such tickets are usually free, but just hard to get your hands on if they're for a popular show. For TBBT, each person has to submit their own info for each ticket rather than ordering multiple tickets.

According to the site, free parking starts 2 hours before the taping time, and while the roomie and I arrived 2.5 hours early, there were still SO many people who had arrived ahead of us! Yikes. I wonder if one could park for free even earlier than that because we were not charged for the extra 30 minutes and we were not given a ticket or anything anyway. Somebody told us that the studio can fit 300 audience members, so we shouldn't worry about getting in (tickets are not a guarantee for getting into the taping; it's first-come-first-serve). It turns out it is only about 100 people because Megan and I were #80 and #81, and only about 20ish people after that were given numbers before everyone else was put on stand-by status. It didn't seem like a lot of stand-bys were admitted.

The wait was long, but the taping was a fun experience. I think some people are a bit disappointed after they see a taping of a show because it's technical, can take a long time and takes away some of the mystery, but I personally find the process of it all so fascinating. In between takes there was a comedian/magician to entertain the audience and give away candy and prizes, but personally I loved seeing the sets, props and all the things the crew and cast had to do in between takes and scenes, like testing the light or reviewing the script. It was so cool to see the sets lined up next to each other like a dollhouse. The foodie in me can't help but fixate on the Indian restaurant takeout bags lined up for the upcoming scene. From where we were sitting, the audience can see the apartments and the set used for the Cheesecake Factory bar, which the crew members were in as the scenes were being films on the other sets. Even just walking on the Warner Brothers lot to get to the TBBT stage was pretty cool, since I saw bits of it on 'The Ellen Show', so I was excited to see the different stages for myself and even a set near the TBBT stage where there was a fake subway entrance. It was cool to see people driving their cars and riding their bikes through this set like it was just another day at work- well, for them I guess it was.

The episode that was being taped that day was 'The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification', which is about Sheldon trying to live a healthier life so he'll live longer. Am I allowed to say that? The taping lasted about 3 hours, and towards the end I started to feel a little restless. It helped a little that they brought in free pizza for the audience so that slice of pepperoni helped to hold me over a bit. Megan and I both felt it was a long day but we'd definitely be interested to see a taping of a different show or another taping of TBBT in the future. I'm glad I made the drive out- I impulsively got these tickets and decided to make the 350-mile drive (or 700 if you count both directions!), going on my own for the first time. Surprisingly, the traffic was good both ways and I had no mishaps on the drive! At least if I can make it to another taping in the coming months, it'll be a much closer drive...

Day 21, 22, 23

2010-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Crap, I thought I was only a day behind!

Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy

Bangles. Enough said!

Day 22 - What makes you different from everyone else
I feel like whatever I say, there's still something that's supposed to be unique about me that can apply to lots of other people, too. 'Everyone else' is a pretty big group, after all. Here's what might make me different from the people around me at the very least...

I'm 4'10". I often forget how short I seem to others because obviously I wouldn't know what it is to be any taller. As I've gotten older, I've embraced my small size a little more. Sure I can't reach a lot of things, but I can crawl into small spaces and children don't find me threatening. :D On that note, it can be a bee-yatch to find clothes sometimes because I may be short, but I'm not a waif! That's partly why I try to make my own clothes now.
Some of my obsessions include fashion/costume history and more recently, contemporary Indian fashion. I am absolutely enchanted with the colors, textures, bold contrasts and beautiful fabrics I've seen on the runway. I'm still developing my personal taste in this category but I do like Pankaj & Nidhi. Usually I don't care for high fashion mags, but I can't get enough of Vogue India!
On that note, I can kind of guess fiber contents of clothing when I go to clothing stores. SO GEEKY, I know! With the way the fabric looks in the light and on the hanger, sometimes I can make a guess without touching it. I can't guess exact percentages, but I can guess what might be in it and if there is a lot of it (usually cotton or my unfavorite fiber, acrylic).
By the way, I've never been the kind of person who always knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. Ever since childhood, it's ranged from a teacher, nurse, actress, author, fashion designer, veterinarian, chef, to something-involving-non-profits-community-work-type-stuff. That's kind of why it was nearly impossible to decide on a major and even still, I feel like I could have studied other things without regret.

Day 23 - Something(s) you crave for a lot

Boba milk tea, bright colors, Bollywood films, making things and starchy foods like pasta, potatoes and rice.

marigold circle scarf

2010-08-25T22:29:00.000-07:00

It's about time I do a craft post! I finished this scarf a while back but just never got the chance to share it with you guys. Earlier I mentioned this scarf when I decided to start it over for the 3rd time. You can see my first 2 attempts in the picture below. I used a basketweave stitch the first time, then I decided to use a daisy stitch instead. The color of the yarn really drew me in (besides the fact that it was really soft, too) because it reminded me of marigolds, just like the marigold garlands and banners I'd see in 'Monsoon Wedding'.

I spent a lot of time trying to think of a design that would resemble the marigold garlands that inspired me so much, from making a scarf full of pompoms to possibly just knitting a bunch of circles. After taking a mental break, I came across the daisy stitch and I knew it was the ONE. It's pretty easy, and it's my new favorite stitch. However, after knitting it for a while, I took the scarf apart again because I decided to make it horizontally rather than vertically (as seen in the above photo) because the flower stitches would be lost on the eye when the scarf is worn and the pattern shows up sideways. So painful to rip all the stitches out!

Anyway, here are some photos of the finished product. When Rebecca and I went to a beach to take some pictures, we hadn't really prepared any subjects to photograph, so I used the scarf I was wearing as a focus. I probably should've made the scarf a little narrower and longer, but overall I'm happy with it. I love how it's soft and snuggly, and it gives a great punch of color, which is what makes any accessory of mine a favorite.

days 15-20

2010-08-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

I realize I'm very behind and I'm skipping some days on the '30 day challenge', but things have been a bit crazy and it's been hard to keep up. Well, that and I don't feel like doing all the days.

In a little more than a week, I'm leaving for school back in SoCal, but my time here seems to be cut in half because I've spent a lot of time in the city, visiting my grandmother in the hospital. Everyday is a different story with what the doctors say, but either way she is not doing well. I've been there nearly everyday and by the time I come back home, I'm pretty tired. At least I've been able to spend time on Fillmore near the hospital, where there are some shops and cafés. It reminds me of some parts of Montréal, and being in the city everyday has helped me to appreciate how unique it is. So, as you can see, I've been a bit busy. Anyways, here we go:

Day 15 - Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play

'Llegaste tú', Jesse & Joy
'Aao Milo Chale', from the 'Jab We Met' soundtrack
'Hear Me Now', Boyce Avenue
'Colorful', Rocco DeLuca
'Maya', Camila
'You Picked Me', A Fine Frenzy
'Let's Dance to Joy Division', The Wombats
'Chunari Chunari', from the 'Monsoon Wedding' soundtrack
'Força', Nelly Furtado
'Thoda Thoda Pyar', from the 'Love Aaj Kal' soundtrack

Day 16 - Another picture of yourself

Is it wrong of me that I like this photo because it looks slightly paparazzo? Don't get me wrong; I think the paps need to leave people alone, but like most people, there's something about celebrities that one can't help but find fascinating.

Day 17 - Someone you want to switch lives with for one day and why

I think I'd want to switch lives with someone who has a successful and glamorous life... And maybe someone tall, too! Okay, let's narrow it down to either an expat or a celebrity. Maybe Katy Perry, because she has a pretty crazy life right now. Or a Bollywood actress, like Sonam Kapoor- she's tall, pretty, fashionable and I really liked her in 'Aisha'.

Day 18 - Plans/dreams/goals you have

Finish school! It's taking long enough.
Have something that at the very least, remotely resembles what one would consider a career. I have no idea how I'll go about doing that!
LIVE OVERSEAS. I must, I must!
Have my life look like one big cheesy Bollywood movie. I wish sappy music could play so I know I'm having my meet-cute with the guy who's supposed to be the hero in my life, and bhangra dancers could pop out of nowhere when something exciting is happening, like my birthday!

Day 19 - Nicknames you have; why do you have them

You'll have to know me well to find those out!

Day 20 - Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future

Oh ho ho... I could go on forever about that because I have a fairly strong idea of what I'm looking for in an ideal partner. Of course, there's no one in particular right now, and it's so hard to find someone who I could strongly consider because I rarely meet a guy who has the same interest in living abroad and learning about other cultures/languages like I do. Of course, my future partner does not have to share all the same interest I have, but this particular one is a strong part of who I am and I may want to live in several different countries throughout my life. There's no way I could be with someone who wants to stay in their hometown their whole life! So basically, that's the short spiel of why I've been single since the beginning of time. I'll make the rest simple and have a list:

humble, willing to laugh at himself, joke around
intelligent, clever, well-spoken
interested in other languages, cultures, living overseas. Being at least bilingual can't hurt, either.
good with children, dogs, is respectful to his family (especially his mom!)
can accept my silly obsessions and have a respect for my interests instead of belittling them (and I will try to do the same for him!)

Of course, there are many other things, but this is the gist of it. Any of my friends who have shared some boba with me will surely know what some of those other things are!

Days 10, 11, 12

2010-08-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry I keep bunching up my posts. While the point of this is to do one activity a day, I keep missing some. This time I have a good excuse, though- I went down to SoCal to see a taping of 'The Big Bang Theory'! I'll try to write about it soon.

Day 10- Songs you listen to when you’re ~~Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad~~

Oh gosh, that's a hard one! I'm not sure I really have songs for each mood, particularly when I'm mad. It's more like I have a playlist more for what I'm doing rather than what I'm feeling. Here's a sampling:

Driving:

"Chocolate", by Jesse & Joy

The soundtrack to "Wake Up Sid"

"Ne partons pas fâchés", by Raphäel

Getting Dressed/Ready in the Morning:

"You're So Damn Hot", by OK Go -No harm in a little ego boost for your morning, right? ; )

"Some Kind of Wonderful", by Joss Stone

"Dhan Te Nan", from the "Kaminey" soundtrack

"Aaj Din Chandheya", from the "Love Aaj Kal" soundtrack

After I've just watched a mushy rom-com and I've had a rush of seratonin to the brain:

"Vuelve a mí", by Reik

"Sólo para tí", by Camila

"Again", by Bruno Mars (although pretty much anything by Bruno Mars is brilliant)

Day 11 - Another picture of you and your friends

Oh gosh, don't judge. If you look hard, I'm not the only one in Indian garb. Some of us decided to raid Swathi's closet for the afternoon. I wanted to post this one because I like the slight haphazardness of the photo.

Hey, it turns out everyone pictured has a blog/tumblr! From left to right:

Rebecca, Rosa, Swathi, Kerstin, Peggy and moi.

Day 12 - How you found out about Tumblr and why you made one

It still seems a bit silly that I have 2 blogs and a tumblr, but I've designated each one for a different purpose. My dear friend Rosa was the first to get a tumblr, which is how I heard about it. I liked how one can reblog other posts, which I thought would be a good way to keep in touch after she moved away to Montréal. I'm afraid things get a bit ambiguous at times, but I've meant for this blog to have more personal content, which can include craft-related posts. The Erica ABROAD! blog is an on-and-off blog for whenever I'm traveling. Sometimes I'll post something non-abroad too, if it seems appropriate. My tumblr is for reblogging stuff from friends, as well as posting some of my photos or small tidbits of whatever. I was thinking of getting rid of my tumblr because it seemed like the organization was a bit iffy, but I do like the reblogging feature, which is why I post some of the photos I've taken on that site- it's interesting to see if they garner any outside interest. Not too much (okay, barely any, but I'm flattered nonetheless), but I wasn't expecting much and these sites are mainly to keep in touch with friends, not to be known as an artist.

Day 8, 9

2010-08-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Day 08 - Short term goals for this month and why

Go to all the places I wanted to see before I leave for school: I wanted to go to parks, beaches, different neighborhoods in the city and the like with my friends to appreciate what the Bay has to offer and of course, snap some nice photos!
Sew, craft, and sew some more: Since I don't have a sewing machine with me throughout the scholastic year (although this coming semester I'm tempted to change that), I'm always eager to sew and bursting with new ideas by the time I come back for the summer or spring break. I still have so many dresses I've wanted to finish, some alterations to make to already-existing clothes, and gifts I've wanted to make!

Day 09 - Something you’re proud of in the past few days

I've been working on some simple cotton dresses that I've made almost completely from scratch! I made the pattern starting from tracing a favorite tank top and I made it into a dress pattern from there. It works great on its own when used with knitted fabric, but with woven cotton, I've had to add darts in the bodice and skirt to create the same fitted effect. To do this I have to put the dress on inside out, look in the mirror and start pinching and pinning the fabric. I only do one side and I'll take off the garment, measure the dart and try to add the other to make sure they're both even. With store-bought patterns, these are already added, but I'm proud that I've been able to do this on my own!

Day 7

2010-08-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

Day 07 - A picture of someone/something that has a big impact on you

Four months of living in LA has me totally enamoured with the city and city life. It's incredible how there can be so much to do, so many things to eat and so many places to go- with better public transportation, too! Plus, I have yet to find another place where I'd get hit on in 3 different languages just walking down the street. ; )

My loyalties are somewhat divided now- I'm sort of in between being a girl from the Bay and a SoCal girl! I'm slowly learning to love SF in its own way however, and the contrast has allowed me to appreciate how quirky and unique it is. I'm grateful to get to experience 2 very different ways of life within one wonderful state- either way, I love being a California girl. If I ever stay in one place long enough on the States, LA would be my top choice!

Day 3, 4, 5

2010-08-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

Oops, things have been a bit busy. Anyway...

Day 03 - A picture of you and your friends

An oldie but goodie.

Hey, it just so happens you can see Swathi, Rosa and Athena in here!

Day 04 - A habit that you wish you didn’t have

PROCRASTINATION! And pack-ratting. I waste tons of time and I really wish I could be more productive. It would also be nice if I could live more simply and stop wasting money on so many things I don't need. I really should spend more time reading, sewing and studying rather than shopping and procrastinating (which can also involve shopping)!

Day 05 - A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

India seems like too obvious a choice here so I'll go with Montréal. Like India, I hope to return soon! I was thinking about these houses today because they remind me of the Victorian houses I passed in San Francisco today.

Day 06 - Favorite super hero and why

Oh gosh, I have no idea! I used to read Catwoman comic books as a kid but I'm not sure she'd be my favorite hero (and I guess she's considered more of a villain, anyway). Can I steal Athena's and also say Sailor Moon? She was my favorite cartoon as a little girl and I think I just liked how she was a clumsy, awkward school girl who (to which needless to say, I could totally relate), yet she could still accomplish so much. Throughout the series she grows up to be a confident, empowered young lady. Not to mention, she also manages to vanquish evil and snag Tuxedo Mask as her man, too! I think I also just liked how all the Sailor Scouts had their own color scheme and cool uniforms. I was Sailor Mars for Halloween once because we both had long black hair!

Day 2

2010-08-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

Day 02 - The meaning behind your Tumblr name

weequioui- some playing around with French spelling, plus 'wee' (as in little), and (since I had just gone to New Zealand and was enamoured by it) 'kiwi'!

30-day blogging challenge

2010-08-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

I found this on Athena's tumblr and I shall partake in this, too!

Day 01 - The most recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02 - The meaning behind your Tumblr name
Day 03 - A picture of you and your friends
Day 04 - A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05 - A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06 - Favorite super hero and why
Day 07 - A picture of someone/something that has a big impact on you
Day 08 - Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09 - Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10 - Songs you listen to when you’re Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11 - Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12 - How you found out about Tumblr and why you made one
Day 13 - A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14 - A picture of you and your family
Day 15 - Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16 - Another picture of yourself
Day 17 - Someone you want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18 - Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19 - Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20 - Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22 - What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23 - Something you crave for a lot
Day 24 - A letter to your parents
Day 25 - What I would find in your wallet
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 30- Who are you?

-----------------------------------------

Day 01 - The most recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

I didn't start eating broccoli until I was 14. Mangoes and bell peppers were at age 20!
If I didn't major/minor in Global Studies/Spanish, I would have loved to study Fashion (particularly for film/tv), Linguistics, South Asian Studies and/or Global Poverty, too.
I love hot, dry climates. Maybe I was a reptile in a past life.
I don't drink coffee or alcohol (don't care for the taste of either) but I do like pearl teas and horchata.
I love the smell of certain fabrics, when garlic hits a hot pan of butter (or even raw garlic), coffee, paper and ink, books, henna paste and (cheesy, I know) puppies.
When I was born, I was about 3 lbs.
For the next two years, I'll still be moving around a lot because of school and the required international internship, so I have no idea where I see myself settling down. I might still be a nomad for a bit after I graduate!
On that note, I'm determined to live overseas someday, somehow. That's partly why I've studied French, Italian, Spanish, a smidgen of Norwegian and Russian at some point and now Hindi!
One of the besties and I seem to have a tradition going now where every time she goes to India for the summer, she'll bring me back a yellow dupatta! I have 2 now.
I'm a little old-school: I like chivalry, I think kids should be raised to sit quietly in certain places like a restaurant or church, and hook-ups don't appeal to me.
Mango ice cream mochi from Mikawaya is one of my favorite desserts right now. Oh, and red velvet cake! The color alone is sumptuous.
There's a special place in my heart for Bollywood movies/music, telenovelas, latin pop, and now maybe even some bachata songs.
I'm not very athletic, but I do enjoy skating, Tahitian dance, yoga and rock climbing.
Not sure if I really have any strong fashion muses, but I do love the way Betty mixes prints in 'Ugly Betty', the Anthropologie-esque outfits from the film, 'Penelople', Indian fashion (traditional and contemporary) and film costumes, like those from 'Marie-Antoinette'.
Food I could never tire of: French onion soup, herbed fried with garlic aïoli mayonaise, chicken tandoori, butter paneer masala with garlic roti, salt & pepper tofu, pork & soup-filled dumplings and mushroom risotto. Mm!

Dear Credit Card Bandit,

2010-07-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you for notifying me of your exploits by sending one of your purchases to my house. Apparently you're trying to start some sort of book club because you ordered multiple copies of a the same hardcover book. After calling the credit card company to see what else you could be sending my way, you seem to have gone crazy with online orders and even an account for the dating website, chemistry.com. Is that for me as well? Or is the account for yourself? In that case, are you going to tell potential dates that you're a slimy thief?

My card is shut down, so unfortunately, your book club and sleazy hook-ups have encountered a delay. UP YOURS!

Sincerely,
E. <3

Beware of Purity Mineral Science Makeup!

2010-07-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

I received a package in the mail yesterday from a company called Purity Mineral Science, although I hadn't ordered anything online recently. It's a sampler pack of mineral makeup, and there was a receipt saying that I was billed for $1 for the makeup with about 5.99 for shipping and handling. The order date was 7/20, although I knew I hadn't ordered anything that day, either. However, the receipt did not state what credit card I used to place to order- suspicious, no? The statement said that I would be sent more makeup each month and I would be billed for it. Umm, no thanks?

While the phantom order kind of freaked me out at first, I realized that if I called the number on the receipt, I would probably have to give my credit card number for a refund- what a brilliant scam! Upon some Googling on my mom's part, there were other people who had the same experience and called it all out as a scam. If you just search for 'Purity Mineral Science makeup', the first page of results already has links for people who have reported this company. Some people even received other (fake?) billing statements later on, which, if it happened to me, I would have probably freaked out and paid for it so I wouldn't get in trouble for not paying for something, perhaps not realizing that maybe the statement could be fake.

Please be careful if you get something like this in the mail! I think there are even products from this company on Amazon. I'm wondering what to do with this makeup. Perhaps it's in my shade?

By the way, recently my credit card got stolen, but I think it was just a coincidence that this arrived the day before a package came to my door that was ordered on my card- this purchase did not come up on my card when my mom called the credit card company to check up on the recent activity.

snaps of the city

2010-07-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it was, but I just ended up taking quite a few pictures today! With a normal camera I wouldn't have been interested to photograph these things, but with retro/vignette effects, I've gotten a whole new perspective on all the things around me, even when I'm just passing through a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco. All that snapping just made me feel like the main/title character from my new favorite movie, Wake Up Sid. I've posted the results on my tumblr:

the city

empty apartment pt. 1

empty apartment pt. 2

wee cards

2010-07-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

On the day before leaving for Southern California with my family for a week, I ended up on a crafty binge when I should've been packing. I spent most of the afternoon putting collages/mosaics on old binders from high school with cut up magazine squares (I love using the colors and textures I find from J.Crew and Anthropologie, BTW), then covering the collages with clear packaging tape and electrical tape to make them last longer for daily use. Reflective surfaces are tricky to photograph, but if I can get a good picture of them I'll post it later.

Towards the end of said crafty binge- and by binge I mean sitting on my bedroom floor for hours surrounded by piles of paper scraps burying my scissors and glue bottle- I used scraps of card stock to make little cards by folding them in half and gluing leftover random magazine squares on the front of the cards. I've made little cards like these before and stamped the front with a rubber stamp, too.

With the small size of these cards, they're cute, but I haven't found a use for them yet because they are just so small. If I had an Etsy shop, I would love to use them for a handwritten thank-you note when I send out sold items- I've received notes like this before in some of my orders and I think it's a nice, sincere touch. I was thinking of maybe using them as address cards to hand out to friends because I move a lot. I often write things on little scraps of paper but those can be easily thrown away by accident. A small card like this would be easier to keep track of something handy like contact information, and the small card can be kept in a purse pocket or desk drawer for easy reference. For now, these cards just remain in a wee pile in my room for the next time my address changes!

family vacation '10

2010-07-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

Want to see the rest of the photos I've taken from my trip to Disneyland/California Adventure with my family? Check them out on my Tumblr:

pt. 1

pt. 2

pt. 3

I had a blast experimenting with all the different camera apps I mentioned in the previous post

while photographing different things around the park. : )

camerascamerascameras: phone applications

2010-07-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

While I have a Droid phone, I'm still a slow learner in taking advantage of all its possibilities! I would like to consider myself fairly tech savvy, yet I was quite surprised when one of my cousins told me I could download applications to use with my camera in phone. Applications for the camera phone?? Brilliant! I ended up downloading the 3 popular ones I could find, FX Camera, Retro Camera and Vignette Demo, which is perfect because some of the effects from these apps mimic photos from the toy cameras I've had my eye one. I'll write about it later, but I'll say I'm determined to get a toy camera of some sort! Maybe a Holga or Diana from Lomography, although there are lots of other toy cameras to consider as well.

It's been really fun to play around with all the different apps I have on my phone, and I feel like I get to carry around lots of fun toys in my purse with all the different 'lenses' in one camera. I'm hoping to break some of it down in this post.

While I originally took photos of the same thing with all the different effects for comparison, some of the photos were accidentally deleted! Here's what I can show you:

FX Camera: This app has a Toy Cam, Polaroid, Fisheye, SymmetriCam, Andy Warholizer and Normal effect. I didn't try all of the effects because I was mainly interested in trying out these different apps and effects to get a feel for how my photos might turn out when I use an old/toy camera, so I only have photos with the Toy Cam and Polaroid so far.

Polaroid:

Toy Cam:

Overall, I like these two effects, particularly the Toy Cam effect, because I've realized that I'm really interested in getting photos with the bent corners or vignette look. However, there's also an app that is especially for that...

Vignette Demo: There is only one effect for this app, but it's just the look I'm going for. It's really easy to snap pictures because you just touch the screen, and you can also zoom in. You can take regular pictures as well as adjust things such as the vignetting, lighting, coloring, etc.

For comparison, I have a photo of the same thing with the regular camera app that came on my phone:

For my personal tastes, I am totally digging the vignetting. It makes even seemingly random photos look dramatic.

Retro Camera: This app is definitely useful for trying out a diverse range of cameras! There's the Bärbl, the Little Orange Box, Xolaroid 2000 and the Pinhole Camera. It's hard to keep track of which photos came from which camera, but I'll do my best to keep everything straight:

Bärbl:

Little Orange Box:

Xolaroid 2000

Pinhole Camera

It's really fun to try out the different effects since I'm not familiar with these cameras, although at one point I was experiencing some errors and was unable to take some photos. The problem seems to be gone after downloading the latest update, though. Sometimes it seems like it takes a long time for each photo to develop and you can't take another photo while the previous one is developing. If I remember correctly, I think the other two applications have either no wait or very little wait. However, if you can stand the wait, it's great to switch between the different cameras and the b+w/color option.

Since I've been having trouble deciding what kind of camera I want, these applications have been fun as well as helpful in trying to figure out what I'm looking for in a camera. I really like vignetting, so I might try to go for a camera that naturally vignettes the photos, like a Holga BC. I still don't know if I want a Diana or a Holga (or even a different camera) and there seems to be a never-ending, fierce debate online about which is truly better. There'll probably never be a conclusion on that one though, and it seems like it just really boils down to my specific needs. While the applications are really fun as well as easy to use, it can feel a little too safe and predictable. I like how my photos turn out, but I feel like I haven't earned the end results because it was almost too easy, you know? It's like the difference between making generic cake out of a box as opposed to making one from scratch. You bakers know what I'm talking about- [points fingers]

Of course, I'll still use all these apps (I'm already making a mental list of where I could spend an afternoon just snapping pictures), but I still want a fun toy camera, too!

Random realization:

2010-07-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

If I'd known I'd end up choosing to go to community college after high school, I would have just done the bare minimum for my graduation requirements and taken more classes that actually interested me! That thought just came to me as I was washing the dishes today.

Quick crafty post

2010-06-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to post a lot about finished projects because I tend to start more than I can finish, so I'm always looking for quick projects that are simple and fast. You probably can't get any faster than this! I made a bracelet out of some yellow silk cord and green glass beads. I just strung a few onto the cord and knotted them in the center to keep them in place, then knotted the ends to each other so the bracelet is adjustable (sort of like this idea but not as fancy).

Some old dresses

2010-06-30T15:58:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when I'm fantasizing about having an Etsy shop one day (and perhaps that shop will happen, if I ever stay in one place long enough), I also day dream about being interviewed as a featured seller. Every seller is asked the same set of questions, so I would wonder how I would answer them, especially the question, 'What is the first thing you can remember making by hand? How and why did you make it?' The more recent interviews don't include this question anymore, but I think it's a fun thing to reflect on.

Technically, the first thing I ever sewed was either some scraps while sitting near my mom at her sewing machine, or maybe the small pillow I made at craft time when I went to daycare back in elementary school. I remember trying to make a long dress by taping pieces of notepad paper together in a tube around my body, and then there's the crop top I sewed in the second grade that I'd rather try to forget. I have no idea what happened to said crop-top, but I will gladly show you guys some of the first 'dresses' I made. I recently found them again while cleaning up my room-

I think I made the blue chenille dresses when I was in the first or second grade. The first one below is just a square of fabric that I turned diagonally to create a hankerchief hem and I cut three holes in the middle of it- two small ones for the armholes and a larger one between the two for my head. I think I also made a poncho dress out of leopard-print fabric somewhere... *shudder*.

The other one is more complicated, and it's probably my favorite one. I'm surprised I even managed to make a cowl neckline, before I even knew what it was! I probably just took a square of fabric and cut holes on the sides for the armholes and sewed up the back. It should also be pointed out that I'm pretty sure the lighter-colored stain on the upper body is from Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream, an almost lifelong favorite of mine.

The back of the dress is kind of funny. I guess I cut another hole so I could pull the corner of the fabric through it as a closure. There's also a back seam with some crude whip stictches and a bits of ball chain. I have no idea what I was thinking with the whole chain idea...

This dress is a little more recent, and I don't really know what I was thinking when I made it. Pink embroidery floss at the neckline? Seafoam chenille ties? With the shapelessness and long length, I guess we can consider this a caftan. I got my first sewing machine when I was 12, and not long after I used it to make this dress. It was pretty much two rectangles of fabric slapped together, although I put ties at the sleeves and the sides for some shaping. I tied up one of the shoulders so you can see both 'looks'. ; )

Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of my more tolerable dresses when I finish them- there are a couple that are almost done. I'd like to finish at least one more before my family vacation, and another for a wedding I have to attend next month...

Only a Bollywood movie could inspire me this much...

2010-06-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

So I've mentioned before that I'd really like to leave my ways of cluttering behind. Things kind of slowed down since I've been gone most of the time, and I haven't made much of an effort to clean my room... until now! It's so silly, but watching Wake Up Sid has totally inspired me. The protagonist, Sid, is a spoiled rich kid who takes his privileged life for granted and spends his parents' money instead of taking his studies seriously. After flunking out of college and clashing with his parents, he is forced to find his own way. Sid's love interest, Aisha, is the complete opposite and is a determined, independent aspiring journalist who just moved to Mumbai from Kolkata. Aisha's place is a small studio apartment, but it's FREAKING ADORABLE. It's pretty much the kind of place I'd want- and I'm not just saying that because she lives in Mumbai- a place that is small and simple, but has some personal details that make it colorful and cozy. I couldn't find a lot of stills available online that showed her apartment, except for this one:

Fortunately, this still shows a lot of what I loved about her place:

-One of the walls is painted a mustard-coriander color- a nice, bright pop of color, but not overpowering. If I ever manage to clean my room well enough, maybe I can paint one side of it, too! Nevermind the fact that I only live in this house for about 4 months out of the year...

-The 'telephone line': On the same wall, some string is tacked on to hang photos, but there are also some paper silhouettes of birds to make it look like it's a telephone line. Practical and cute! I might have to do that in my school apartment in the fall.

-I'm also digging the hanging wicker chair (cozy AND fun!) as well as the low furniture and cushions. You can kind of only have stuff that low when you don't have a lot of stuff to begin with. Right now I keep having to find ways to expand upward if I want all my things to have a proper place in my room! All the clutter in my room is irritatingly excessive when I think about the more minimalist approach I want to take.

-It's not shown in the picture, but I am utterly enchanted with Aisha's BIRD CAGE LAMP. For one thing, I already like the charm of vintage bird cages, but in the movie she has a cage with a bunch of Christmas lights strung all about it and it serves as a lamp or night light. Such a brilliant idea, if I may say so myself! I really want to use that idea in my own room or my fall semester apartment. This Friday I'll be at a flea market and I would love it if I could find a bird cage like that! There are some on Etsy, but the really cool ones are at a not so cool price. For the moment, I've taken a spare vase and my Ikea lights and it's a decent substitute. If I can't get a cool birdcage, I'll probably get a Moroccan-style lantern instead- I also like vintage-style lanterns, anyway.

On the same night I watched that movie, I ended up cleaning my room for at least a good 3 hours. I did make a small amount of progress, so it's really encouraging. There are a lot of ideas I have to re-doing my room, but they can only happen if I shape things up!

Summer reading list so far

2010-06-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Completed:

If You Don't Know Me By Now, by Sathnam Sanghera: After reading Imran Ahmad's Unimagined, I heard about this book because Ahmad had reviewed it. I think I read the book in about a couple days, because it was just that good. It's really well-written, clever, funny and a really interesting look into the author's life growing up in England with immigrant parents, unaware that his father suffers from schizophrenia. I could go on and on about the book because there's so much more to it, but anyway, I highly suggest it.

Tattoos on the Heart, by Father Greg Boyle: I received this (signed!) book as gift when my internship at Homeboy Industries ended. It's a pretty quick read (it took me about 2 days), and it's another great read. Each chapter is a vignette on a different theme in which Father G shares his stories and experiences and the lessons he's learned from them. He's incredibly wise, kind-hearted, and a great story teller.

A Good Indian Wife, by Anne Cherian: My parents bought me a few paperbacks from Costco (all relating to India in some way or another- am I that predictable??), and this book was one of them. I normally don't go for fiction because I prefer memoirs, but I enjoyed this one as well. The protagonist, Neel, visits his family in India and suddenly finds himself in an arranged marriage after a miscommunication. After returning to the US with his new wife, he has to somehow balance his relationship with the girlfriend he already had (but his family didn't know about) and the woman who married him, unaware that he didn't want to marry her in the first place. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that part of the story is set in San Francisco, so there's a little Bay Area pride for ya. I'd love to see this as a movie- I think Sendhil Ramamurthy would be good as Neel.

First Comes Marriage, by Reva Seth: So I actually didn't realize this was more of a self-help book than a book on arranged marriages, but it's actually a little of both anyway. After interviewing hundreds of different women in arranged marriages, the author compiled the wisdom she drew from these interviews into advice for women who are taking the dating route. I was initially drawn to this book out of my curiosity surrounding arranged marriages (and the author pretty much had the same fascination I had so she gave me a lot of insight), but her advice was helpful, too.

In progress

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, by Farahad Zama: I'm trying to figure out what I don't like about fiction, and I guess it's because it's easier to start leafing through the book and peek at the endings. Fortunately, I've been able to resist that with this book so far. Nearly all the books I've read of late seem to somehow be related to desis or Indian culture, and I swear, it's not as crazy an obsession as it seems! The protagonist is a retired man named Mr. Ali, who sets up a marriage bureau. The story follows his growing business, the clients and his assistant, Aruna. I'm about halfway through the book and it's been pretty good, but I've given it a rest after I started checking out library books...

American on Purpose, by Craig Ferguson: I've wanted to read this one for a while because I like Craig Ferguson's The Late Late Show, and I've heard good reviews about the book. This morning I just started the book when I was laying around in bed, and getting a few laughs from it was a nice, leisurely start to my day. I'm only about 2 chapters in, but it's a good read on his life and his journey to becoming an entertainer and an American citizen.

Coming up:

Making Ethnic Choices: California's Punjabi Mexican Americans, by Karen Isaksen Leonard: OMG THERE'S A BOOK ON PUNJABI MEXICAN AMERICANS! When I was researching Sikhism for a project, I found out that the first Sikh Punjabis who came to the US arrived in California for farm work. Many of the men who were unable to bring their wives or find Sikh Punjabi women in the predominantly male communities married Catholic Mexican women. I couldn't help but wonder what the communities were like and what happened to the descendants. It was a really pleasant surprise that I managed to find a book on the topic, since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find a lot of information on something that seemed kind of unknown. While this book seems more like a scholastic piece than the usual memoirs I like to read, I'm still excited to read the book.

Culture Shock! India: Since it seems like a lot of the books I really want to read are often unavailable here, I often forget to use the library to read other books that have caught my interest. Fortunately, on a rare visit to the library, I did come across this book while I was looking for some others. I've looked through other Culture Shock! guides when I'm wandering around a bookstore, and I really like them because it seems like expat books are hard to find. Most books are aimed at tourists or at the very least, those traveling for business, so one doesn't always find the appropriate information they're looking for in terms of everyday life in a country- finding a place to live, how the utilities work, enrolling kids in school, etc. While it could be far off (or far-fetched), I would hope that I'll need this information someday. The series has guides on lots of different countries and I think they're really helpful in gaining more realistic expectations on life abroad.

Upcoming crafty endeavors: misc.

2010-06-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

After a ridiculous amount of internet-browsing, the 2 newest crafts I've discovered and wanted to try out this summer are mirror-work embroidery and woodblock printing. I admire that the two are both very old, traditional styles of embellishment, so I'm excited at the challenge of using in a contemporary way with my upcoming sewing projects.

I found a great mirror work tutorial and have been excited to try it ever since. This type of embroidery is also known as shisha, which, if one is not careful, the google search term yields results for ganja and bongs, not embroidery. ; ) Anyway, I've managed to find mirror discs at my local Joann's, but I haven't had much luck in finding flat, metallic sequins/paillettes. Surprisingly, Etsy doesn't really have those either, although there were listings for mother of pearl discs and some metal ones that I might be willing to use instead.

The craft that could be taking up the most time might possibly be woodblock printing. I have a bad feeling that I've suddenly opened a pandora's box of needless shopping for supplies and tedious work, but it's worth a try. A couple weeks ago, I first saw a listing for a vintage textile stamp on Etsy and was tempted to buy it because I love textiles, particularly Indian textiles. However, I decided to give woodblock printing a try for myself when I saw some ink pads that could be used on fabric in a store and I realized that I'd been having trouble finding the fabrics I wanted with 'ethnic' prints. So... why not just make my own?? After browsing pretty much all the listings I could find on Etsy, I settled on the small mango stamp (I LOVE mango prints!) and some border ones, too:

The stamps just arrived in the mail today and I'm so excited! I'm going to order some water-based inks online sometime this week and hopefully I can get started soon. I bought some plain, grey cotton fabric to stamp and make into a jumpsuit, somewhat like the one I just blogged about.

The light mango one is from ta ta and the 3 dark ones are from TEXTILE BLOCKS.

Look, one of the sellers even left a cute note!

Upcoming crafty endeavors: sewing

2010-06-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I finally found the drapey spare sari I'd been looking for- I thought it was in my fabric stash in the craft room but it was actually hidden behind my stash of churidars, salwars and kurtis. Oops. Anyways, I'm excited that I have some colorful, Indian-printed fabric with a nice drape at my disposal and it'd be nice to use it to make some loungewear. I'm thinking pajama bottoms, but a romper/jumpsuit could be nice too, wouldn't it? Anthropologie always gives me inspiration for project ideas, even for lounge wear. So if you will, just picture with me the following:

This (said found sari):

plus these:

I really like the ruching and the double-layered skirt. The layers are a subtle but nice touch.

I haven't jumped onto the whole romper/jumpsuit trend bandwagon, but if it was in a really drapey material (and I was just wearing it around the house), then I'd be willing to give it a try. The construction looks somewhat simple, so I already drafted a pattern for a jumpsuit. It won't have a ruffle at the neckline and the straps are wider, though.

I'd seen these kinds of PJ bottoms at Anthro before, and I really like the colorful prints and the wide, elasticized waistbands. I think those kinds of waistbands keep the bottoms from looking like all the other common styles that one sees around.

Totally digging the quirky print and the cute details like the blue straps and the fitted waist. It's a simple style that might be somewhat easy to reproduce.

These images are from the Anthropologie site and I've linked them back to their original listing so you can check them out...

Now I'm kind of keen to get my hands on more sari material. The cheap Asian in me is reluctant to get any around here or online because I know I could get them much cheaper from India! Right now I'm waiting to run out before I decide whether I should give in or not...

Circle scarves!

2010-05-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a pretty vague post, I finished a project shortly after I started it, which is quite rare. I know, I'm such a bad blogger- I wrote about this ages ago! I ended up making a circle scarf out of some handy purple Cascade 220 wool yarn, and it only took me a week to make it. In high school I went through a pretty serious knitted scarf phase since one doesn't have to be very concerned with gauge or complicated patterns when making a scarf. I'm sort of over scarves now, and I prefer cowls and circle scarves- you can get the same warmth without the pesky scarf ends getting in your way. I feel like my new preferred neckwear makes me look and feel a little more grown-up, too. Here's a picture of my first circle scarf, and I'll try to add a picture of myself wearing it when the weather is more scarf-worthy:

One of my new favorite brands is Malabrigo, because there are some great bright, deep colors and their Twist line is really soft and simple. Lately I've been working with Sunset, which I absolutely love because it reminds me of marigold flowers. I've become somewhat fascinated with marigolds because they're prominent in the Dubey/Alice love story in one of my favorite movies, Monsoon Wedding. I knew I wanted to do something marigold-inspired with this yarn, even though it had already been knitted into an almost-completed scarf. Already I've knitted and frogged this yarn a couple times, but hopefully this is the last time I'll have to scrap my work.

Originally I was knitting the Malabrigo yarn into a checkered circle scarf, but then I decided I wanted a design that somehow resembled marigold flowers.

I wanted to somehow use the ideas of marigolds around one's neck like the marigold garlands one sees in Indian culture, so after a couple of failed attempts to work with that concept, I came across the daisy stitch and I knew I'd finally found what I was looking for. At first I wasn't sure if the floral design was prominent enough with the yarn I'd chosen, but even if it doesn't resemble flowers, the design is really pretty and vaguely reminds me of lattice windows. The fact that the stitch is called the 'daisy' stitch is enough for me and might be my new go-to stitch since it's simple to do but it looks fairly fancy.

While I finally found the perfect stitch for my vision, I had to take apart all the work you saw pictured because I realized that since I was knitting it in a flat piece (but would connect the finished ends to make a circle scarf), the design would lay sideways and all that nice work would just look like diagonal stripes. So, I took apart my work and I need to get my hands on some really long circular needles so I can make the circle scarf in one piece (the purple scarf I made is about 44" in diameter). I wish I could get the needles I need now, but it's Memorial Day weekend so I don't know if my usual yarn store will be open! One of the yarn ends is kind of worn soft because I kept knitting and re-knitting it, but I think I get my needles I've finally got it this time...

Photo-heavy summer fabric overhaul

2010-05-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

First off, FABRIC HAUL FROM MICHAEL LEVINE!! Man, I love that store. It's just one more reason I need to live in LA, although having such unprecedented access to a fabric paradise such as that store is somewhat inconceivable for me. Anyway, without any further ado here's what I bought (or, what Mummy Dearest bought for me me) and what I plan to do with it:
The red and green jersey fabric is from Joann's, but the blue and grey are from ML. Except for the red fabric, I want to make some cowl dresses, probably with an improvised pattern (at least in my head this seems fairly feasible considering the simple construction- with the stretchiness of the fabric, I probably won't need to worry about darts and the like. I was originally looking for jersey fabric with a high percentage of cotton, but even ML didn't really have it, so I just bought whatever was comfy and cheap. I guess if you want something with stretch, you'll most likely have to get something with a lot of synthetic in it, too. The ribbed green cotton is almost 100% cotton though, and I think the texture could give a nice casual look to an otherwise dressed-up style for the cowl dress. I haven't really worked with knitted fabric much, so let's hope it doesn't give me too much grief!

Hedgehogs! I saw this and just had to get at least a little bit and decide what to do later. It'll probably become part of a totebag or cute pouch.

The middle fabric has some great iridescence- it looks blue in the first picture but it's actually more maroonish. I initially bought it as trim for a dress I was going to make with the green and burgundy (are maroon and burgundy the same thing?) fabric, although I might use it with the blue fabric instead. I really like the quirky color combination of the green and burgundy, as well as the print. I'm starting to be drawn to colors with depth and dimension, so I really liked how the blue cotton fabric was woven with dark and light blue threads. The blue fabric is also for a future dress, but I might try to save some scraps as trim for the green/burgundy dress, too.

Normally Native-American-inspired prints and aesthestics don't appeal to me, but the festive colors convinced me otherwise with this fabric. The print was a bit big to become a dress or skirt, so I just got a yard or so and it might become a bag.

This is probably one of my favorite fabrics, if it's possible to have a favorite. I love the colors and the zigzags give it so much life, so I knew this had to be something wearable somehow. I got just enough to make a cute skirt:

This fabric's a bit thinner; it's probably cotton voile, which is what I've been looking for anyway. The thinness allows it to drape a bit more softly, which will make it more flattering. I really like the tribal feel of the print!

So I keep going on and on about how I want to make dresses this summer. I basically want to use this fabric (except for the jersey) to make simple dresses like this- I made this dress before I returned to LA after spring break out of some sari fabric. The construction is very simple, and the gathered fabric at the band produces a full trapeze shape, although I like to wear this dress with a skinny belt to cinch in the waist and have a full skirt. As promised, here's some more detailed pictures of the dress:
Sorry the dress is a bit wrinkled. I've worn it and it was just unpacked when I moved back for the summer.

Zari border... mmm. The cotton fabric is somewhat stiff, but my Indian host auntie told me that the stiff cotton fabric is very common in South India (I got the fabric from Bangalore).

Finally, I didn't make this dress but I'm thinking of altering it a bit. I really like the quirky bird print, so while the fit is not entirely flattering, I didn't want to just get rid of it. I'm thinking of cutting the bodice from the skirt and adding a waist band with the red jersey fabric to make it more fitted at the waist. This could either go really well or really pathetically.

heart-y post

2010-05-25T18:34:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's about time for a crafty post! Today was a bit of a lazy day, just lounging around in my PJs (after having slept on the couch) and I decided to watch a movie on demand via my Netflix queue ('Dance Pe Chance', starring the handsome Shahid Kapoor, if you must know) while folding a butt load of gold hearts. I was originally going to use this nice gold paper to make an origami ball, but I thought the paper would be nicer and easier to make a whole bunch of hearts instead.

I can't decide if I'll string them up as a garland as originally planned, or tape them on my bedroom wall in some sort of arrangement like the photo above. Either way, I want to use them to decorate my apartment in the fall semester!

I made 2 kinds of hearts, some smooth and some with creases. The creased ones take twice as long, but I like how the gold and the creases make it look like a hammered texture on a piece of metal or a faceted jewel.

I'm tempted to buy more packets of metallic origami paper because a flurry of colored hearts would look so festive and I just love jewel tones! Plus, at this rate maybe I could cover a whole wall...

Yes, this is actually a craft post

2010-04-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

The night before I came back to LA from spending spring break in the bay, I quickly started and finished a dress out of sari fabric. I made up the pattern (it's all made of rectangles) and it took me a couple hours- I didn't finish until 2 am, though! The dress is basically made of a band and then a full, gathered skirt and some simple straps- that's it! It's pretty easy.

The sari fabric I used is stiff cotton that's typical to South India and the fabric is slightly sheer so I had to wear something underneath, especially since it's so sunny in Los Angeles. I was kind of nervous to cut up my sari since my saris from India are so dear to me, but it became slightly easier when my scissors were slicing through the thin fabric like butter! It was also somewhat comforting to know that I'd get more use out these saris as dresses and I'd almost never use them in their original form, anyway.

Today was pretty sunny here in LA and I finally took my dress out for a spin. There's a bit of an issue with how the upper band on my dress fits (a bit wide on top, perhaps a bit narrow on the bottom of the band- did I put it on upside-down??), but other than that I'd say the dress turned out decently since I made up the pattern myself and it was my first one. I definitely want to make more of them when I'm reunited with my sewing machine this summer- it'd be perfect to have a couple of these to throw on in the summer. Something I'll definitely do differently for future dresses would be to actually use the pallu (decorative end of the sari that usually hangs over the shoulder) of the sari and place it in the front- it'd definitely make the dress look 10X nicer- I only realized this after I cut my dress from the sari fabric. Oops. With the super-wide skirt (I basically wrapped the sari fabric around me twice and gathered that amount under the simple rectangular band/yoke I made), it's a super-flared dress. Great for fat days, but I usually wear a skinny belt to keep it under control. For future dresses I would probably use 1.5 lengths of fabric instead of 2. If I can, I'll post a tutorial or at the very least, basic instructions for this dress when I make some more and work out the kinks.

I'm sorry I didn't have any pictures to show the details of this dress- I only had this quick snap that a friend took while we were out on a class field trip throughout LA. When I get the chance I'd definitely like to show a close-up of the edge of the dress- it has a nice beige contrast trim with a gold zig-zag.

Less than 24 hours to go 'til I'm on spring break.

2010-03-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Off the top of my head, here are some things that I'm looking forward to this spring break:

-Driving a car. Oh, and getting to play my music while driving! I'm particularly looking forward to being able to hear Camila's album, Dejarte de amar on a stereo rather than just my laptop.

-Cable TV. MTV Tr3s, fill me in on what I've missed! Mindless reality TV, random documentaries, movies, we need to catch up.

-Local boba milk tea.

-Home cooking. Meat and other things not present in my host auntie's health-nut, vegetarian home

-My sewing machine and various art projects

-My jewelry. I forgot to pack some for my stay in LA and my ears have been bare for way too long.

-Seeing my friends. Not sure how many will be around since our schedules are different, but there's so much catching up to be done!

-Seeing family. Somewhere out there, there are indeed people who are related to me. It feels like eons since I've seen them.

Okay, back to my paper... I've procrastinated for way too long.

no more crafty summers?

2010-02-28T13:34:00.000-08:00

This morning I came to the sad (well, sad for me) realization that I've probably run out of summers where I can just craft to my heart's content- this is one step closer to leaving my cushy life as a student and going out into the real world- aaah! Lately with my busy schedule, my brain and my hands have really needed a creative outlet: my hands want to knit and my brain is coming up with new ideas for projects, most of which I can't work on because of time and lack of access to materials and a sewing machine. Because of that, I couldn't help but think of how nice it was to have summer vacations where I could pretty much work on anything that I wanted and I could wake up, go to my sewing machine and work on anything from clothing to making jewelry into the wee hours of the night. Lately my mind has been wandering to thoughts of yarn, color and texture combinations, how to use the fabric from the saris I bought from India, buttons, zippers and the like- well, more than usual. I'm the kind of geek who loves to look at fabric swatches and yarn samples because my mind suddenly bursts with possibilities upon seeing all those colors.

Since I'm supposedly graduating in 3-4 semesters (4 if I extend my time abroad, methinks), I think I only have about two summers left- in my entire life, assuming I won't be in school ever again! This summer might be packed if I'm going abroad for some sort of summer program, like an internship or language program, plus summer school- those are a bit up in the air, but that's the plan so far. The summer after that I'm supposedly completing my international internship and research, so there goes that. When I come back from being abroad, it's my final semester (from my understanding) and then perhaps it's off to the real world. Everyone seems to be off to grad school, but I don't think I have plans for that- that's another story, though. I guess I'm just a bit sad because if I'd realized last summer would possibly be my last crafting summer, I would have tried harder to savor it. Who knows, maybe my summer plans will fall through and I may have a summer for crafting- you never know. I can't count on it, though.

Even if I may never have another summer like that again, I'm trying to be content with the fact that I'll always be a crafter. Whatever it is that I end up doing for my "career," I want to come home at the end of the day and be able to do something creative. It feels weird to say, but it's in my blood- all the women in my family knit, sew, crochet and the like. I've been sewing since I was about 5 or 6 and knitting and crocheting since I was 12. I've just always liked to make things and work with my hands somehow. I still remember being enchanted by the spinning wheels and the weaving looms I saw as a child and I hope one day I can have some sort of studio -okay, craft room- with said weaving loom and spinning wheel, my yarns, fabrics and a sewing machine. Even though there are so many projects I want to pursue that I may never get to, at least I can find time for something here and now, and in the future, too.

project post coming soon.

2010-02-23T19:42:00.001-08:00

As you might have noticed, I barely finish anything crafty that I start, but over the weekend I did finish a knitted something about a week after I started it. When I can get a good picture of it, I'll post it. I really like how it turned out, so I'll post the pattern (if you can call it that), too. Being busy with city life and school life has allowed me to seek a creative outlet, which has been really helpful in making good progress on projects. I found some awesome yellow merino wool yarn (picture to come soon as well) and I want to use it with this pattern. More later!

Current stash count:

2010-01-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

1 box of Cheez-its from the local drugstore
Most recently, some chocolate mints and homemade cookies from mom...

ohmygosh ohmygosh!

2010-01-18T16:09:00.001-08:00

I walked past the skeezy empty lot by my house and yesterday I noticed a bunch of trucks and trailers there. The trucks had a plate saying they were licensed to CBS Studios and there were portapotties and changing tents. What the heck are they filming?? I just have to know. There weren’t any people around but my homestay auntie says that they’re probably going to film somewhere in the neighborhood tomorrow or so. I’ve never seen a film set so close to where I live so naturally I’m so excited and curious! My homestay auntie also said that there’s lots of filming stuff around here so perhaps if I poke around enough I might get a glimpse of something or someone interesting! :D

Today when I was walking past the lot today, there were a bunch of cars parked there too, like the cast and crew showed up. I didn't see anyone though, so I guess everyone was out on location...

Quick update

2010-01-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

In the last week or so I have:

• Driven down to LA with my parents
• Moved in to my homestay with an Indian auntieji
• Eaten Ethiopian food for the first time in Little Ethiopia- I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I do!
• Played with the statues on the Museum Mile
• Lusted after milkshakes at the Farmer’s Market at The Grove and was hypnotized by the fountain there
• Visited a few non-profits for possible internships and took public transportation without a hitch
• Had fresh strawberries and a smidgen of luscious red velvet cake (my new favorite cake at the moment) for lunch at the farmers’ market outside City Hall
• Checked out Art Walk in which I began to really fall in love with Los Angeles
• Fueled up on In & Out near Hollywood for the hike at Griffith Park where I got to see helicopters up close for the first time and the Hollywood sign
• Chased a sunset on Sunset Boulevard
• Went to the Americana for the first time- is that outdoor chandelier just brilliant or what?
• Tried slacklining for the first time and giggled and shrieked more than I was actually able to try and walk on that tightrope.

Presently, I'm spending my MLK day with my former roomie watching 'Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham'. We may just have to watch 'Dil Bole Hadippa' afterwards, though!

New Year's Resolution?

2010-01-04T20:36:00.001-08:00

Normally I don't make resolutions each year, but Athena's list of resolutions was pretty inspiring. I wracked my brain on New Year's Eve to try and think of some resolutions that would mean enough to me that I would be motivated to keep. Perhaps I should resolve to study French regularly and master all of the verb tenses this year? Watch every Bollywood movie I've heard of? Revamp my style and take more risks in fashion? Hey, that last one does seem the most feasible...

Ultimately, if there is a resolution I'd make this year, it would be to turn over a new leaf in terms of de-cluttering and generally accumulating less stuff. Of course, people normally make their resolutions before the new year starts, but better late than never- plus, I actually feel inspired about this change, so I don't really care about coming up with a resolution a bit late. Over this winter break, I've made vast improvements to my room in terms of clearing up some of my stuff and using storage space more effectively- a visit to the Container Store has also been quite helpful in this! I can't remember the last time I've seen so much of my bedroom floor and I finally cracked through some of the tough piles of stuff that have been in my room for a while. It's been really freeing and I'm proud of myself for finally getting over what has been a big hurdle for me. This progress has definitely inspired me to keep going! There's still a lot to be done in cleaning my room and I know it's not enough to just clear out my stuff; I also need to get at the root of the problem and change my mindset, too.

Last semester I think I did a little bit better in terms of accumulating less stuff, despite shopping more because I had a car with me this time. I left with just about as much stuff as I came with, and I've been trying to really be more thoughtful and picky in my purchases so as not to accumulate (and spend more money on) things that will just take up room that I won't end up using. So, this year I want to continue cleaning up as well as buying less. I've already unsubscribed to a lot of my mailing lists to various stores (although partly because I wasn't looking at them anymore anyway) because looking definitely leads to buying, and I do want to replace my shopping tendencies with other activities so I shop less. I really should read more, watch movies, cook or I don't know, STUDY! This semester is supposed to be a busy one anyway, so I definitely need to get more scholastic. More on that later, though...

Whittled-down rock collection

2010-01-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

It seems like wordiness is a problem I still haven't overcome when it comes to blogging, but I tried to at least cut a blog entry into two with this one. I mentioned in my Erica! Abroad blog that I've been making a lot of efforts to de-clutter my room and my life. In the process, I cam across my childhood rock collection and I gave most of it away. I did allow myself to keep some of the rocks, so I chose the ones that had the most memories for me. I was really surprised that despite not seeing these rocks in years, the collection brought up a lot of memories and the strong sense of fascination I had with them as a kid. It's geeky, but for those of you who know me well, you probably wouldn't be surprised that I had a rock collection when I was little. ; )

I don't even know what some of these are, but maybe that's just what made them all the more fascinating. Most or all of the rocks in my collection are probably from those store displays in tourist stops that have a tub of rocks and you pay for how ever many rocks you can stuff in a small velvet drawstring pouch. I know the one on the far left is Pyrite (Fool's Gold), and the two clear stones above it are probably Rose Quartz and Quartz. I'm not sure what the names are for the two rainbow-y stones on the right, but I've always found them pretty. The reddish stone on the right is really tiny and I always just liked how round and smooth it was. The purple rock in the center, well... I think I just like how purple it is.

I also have an extensive collection of Japanese food-shaped erasers, although I don't want to give that away anytime soon. Maybe if I have the time, I'll post it up here!

Lantern obsession!

2009-12-29T21:53:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted a Moroccan-style lantern and I finally found one over Thanksgiving break at the Paper Source store in Santana Row.

Other fascinations that I have include chandeliers, vintage birdcages and hand-held mirrors in vanity sets, but let's get back to the lantern- I kind of want to start a lantern collection, so I was trying to come up with a few uses for them so they don't just take up space:

Earring tree

Bangle keeper

iPod holder

Shelf for tiny books

Make-up keeper

I was also thinking of putting snacks/candy in it, my keys, camera or perhaps a neatly folded pile of tissues! I found some cool lanterns at Daiso as well, and while I wanted to buy almost all the styles there, I held back and got two:

The red one on the left $6, and the smaller one on the right was $4.

Instead of a jar, I'm thinking of using the white lantern to hold my paper stars. Hopefully once my room is clean enough, I'll be able to designate a proper space for my new lantern collection!

I have a tumblr!

2009-12-28T21:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, so a tumblr is a lot like a blog, but I started one because
1. Rosa has one and I want to reblog some of her things (and she can do the same)- it's a nice way to keep in touch!
2. I also just wanted something to share photos and tidbits. I like the reblog feature, so I wanted to share my photos and see if any of my photos would get reblogged, you know? Who knows, maybe a few people (other than my friends) might take a liking to some of them. : )

I also wanted a tumblr as a platform to mainly share some photos and to keep this blog more for long entries and the like. I plan on also having a flickr which might be a bit of overkill, but I was going to use that to post albums since there are some sets of photos that would be a bit overwhelming to post them all on my tumblr.

If you care to see it, check out my tumblr right here: weequioui.tumblr.com

Happy Holidays...

2009-12-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

For my Christmas Eve, I've just been chopping veggies in front of the TV for tomorrow's big Christmas dinner chez moi. It's tedious, but I've been watching Bollywood movies for some noise and amusement. So far I've watched 'Delhi 6' (as pictured in the background) and then 'Love Aaj Kal'. While it doesn't look like much to do, keep in mind that those carrots and green onions have to be in slivers (is that called 'julienned'?), so those carrots pretty much took me 2-3 hours or however long 'Love Aaj Kal' was. The cilantro also took a while since I had to cut each leaf from the stem. Ugh! What shall I watch next? I'm debating between 'Dil Bole Hadippa', 'Monsoon Wedding' (not sure that's considered 'Bollywood', but it's a good movie), or 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'? Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves over winter break!

I'll be blogging more soon. In the meantime, it's worth mentioning that Rosa left for Montréal today, but not without us all saying good-bye. This winter break, I want to get a flickr and possibly a tumblr started so we can keep in touch more. : )

Lucha libre randomness

2009-12-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

I found a couple lucha libre-themed items these past couple weeks, and I think they're pretty cute so I thought I'd take a wee moment out of my 'I'm supposed to be getting some papers done right now'-time and just quickly share them with you. They're pretty awesome, if I may say so myself.

Halloween is over but I'd still dress up a pet in this cute, homemade luchador mask for dogs if I could:

I came across this adorable luchador key caps over Thanksgiving break at a stationery store. Once I stop moving in and out (which require changing keys), perhaps I'll get them. On the packaging it said, 'pantalones estrechos para las llaves' (stretchy pants for keys)- gotta love the 'Nacho Libre' reference!

Today I spotted these lucha libre-style shoes online at Irregular Choice. They seem kind of impractical for my sense of style, but I am enchanted nonetheless!

PS- Sorry the pictures are cut off. I tried to upload the pictures at a smaller size, but they show up in the same resolution on my post...

Cable TV, here I come! (And other things I'm looking forward to)

2009-11-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong; I'm not just excited about being able to watch TV when I go north to join my family and friends for the Thanksgiving weekend. In the last day or two though, I've been thinking about all the things I want to watch on TV when I get back. The roomies and I do have a TV here, but we don't have any cable, so almost all we watch is Bollywood flicks via Netflix or NCIS, which I think is almost the only Western programming I've really watched. Consuming the number of Bollywood films that I do, I feel like it's definitely affected me, like being so surprised to see two characters kissing in a film! It's not like the I've never seen that before, but the films we watch have almost no kissing whatsoever!

Anyway, I could go on about my Bollywood obsession. Without further ado, let's get to that list of stuff I need to see on the silver screen:

-The Big Bang Theory: My FAVORITE show! Let's hope I did record it on my DVR, because I forgot last time I left!
-MTV Tr3s: I don't listen to the radio here, so I have no idea what the latest songs are. I always like watching the music videos on MTV and MTV Tr3s so I can come back with some new music to enjoy. Plus, it's always nice to watch some Spanglish programming.
-Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan on 'Oprah': Okay, so I've actually seen the clips from this show on Desi Hits, but I had this recorded on my DVR and I want to watch it with my mom on a bigger TV.
-Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica: I'm not sure if this gets broadcasted to the US, but the fact that this year's ceremony was in LA gives me a sliver of hope that I could perhaps catch this On Demand. I at least want to see the musical performances and Reik winning their award for 'Best Pop Artist'.
-Latin Grammys: I highly doubt that I'll be able to catch this On Demand, but it doesn't hurt to hope.
-'Jab We Met': This is my new favorite movie! I first saw it before I really got interested in Bollywood films, so it didn't really catch my attention the first time around. Also, I'm not sure the copy of the film had all the subtitles, anyway! Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor were awesome in their roles, and I enjoyed the music and the script- there were plenty of sweet moments in that film! I can't wait to watch this movie in the comforts of home, on a bigger TV, with some knitting and snacks while I'm sitting on that old cream-colored sofa that's almost as old as me.

In general, I'm looking forward to the following comforts of home, in no particular order:
-Channel surfing with mummy dearest- Even if there's nothing on, it'll be nice to hang out with my mom and amaze her with my channel surfing skills. I might be a bit rusty. Do I even remember all the channels still?
-Seeing friends and family: I haven't seen some of my 'local' friends since I left this summer, and there's always so much that I'm dying to tell them. One of the besties and I have been trying to keep in touch through texting since we can't always put aside time for lengthy IM chats, but she keeps running out of texts before the month is over! Let's hope we can catch up in person this time! As for family, it'll be nice to see my relatives and bask in the glow of that 'big Asian family' vibe. There's something about having lots of cousins, aunts and uncles that makes me feel in touch with my Asian-ness, somehow. And like the auntie I am, I can't wait to see my nephews, both of the 2-legged and 4-legged variety- my brother's French bulldog is the one of the sweetest dogs I've ever known, even if he does fart a lot. And yes, it'll be so nice to see my parents and siblings! I'm not even that far away from home yet (as opposed to say, a foreign country) but it already feels like we might as well be on different continents. Sure, I might be an adult, but I still can't wait to chill with mom and dad, haha!
-Eggettes: It's not the original boba place in town, but when you live 3 blocks away from said boba place that offers coupons with every purchase, it's not hard to get an addiction started! I like my milk tea and boba, and I like different boba places for their own versions of the drink. Some places make them really sweet, others let the tea flavor take the stage and a select few just make it kind of... gross. I shan't name names!
-Sleeping in my old bed: My apartment bed is okay, but considering it's a university-issued mattress that is probably cheaply made, it can only be so comfortable. In my old bed, there's a foam pad on top of the mattress that always feels heavenly, especially when I get into my bed for the first time after a long stint at school. I'll have left my regular pillow back in SoCal, but that's okay.

All day the school wifi has been acting up so I'll be glad to be without that for a few days, too! My eyes are constantly darting to and from the corner of my screen where there's a logo telling me how strong/weak the signal is. Whenever I'm trying to load a page (or publish a blog entry!!), I have to try and get it done before the signal falls out again! This darn bugger is so unpredictable.

Brilliant Coca-cola commercial (in my opinion)

2009-11-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

OH HECK YES. You have no idea how badly I wish my life were a Bollywood movie! This commercial is the perfect fusion of my somewhat-fluency in Spanish and my appreciation for Bollywood films:

For those of you who don't speak Spanish:
-The woman says to the waiter, 'You're here to serve people drinks, not drink them yourself!'
-The song is pretty much about how refreshing the drink is- 'I drink because it refreshes me'
-In the end, the woman asks the waiter what the song means, and he says it's about "following the [something which I didn't catch- sorry] of your spirit."

AAH IT'S ALREADY NOVEMBER!

2009-11-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

What the heck happened to October?! Each week seems to be going by progressively faster and it's almost a bit scary. Things have still been pretty busy for me, so I haven't even allowed myself much of a chance to get excited about the fact that my birthday is coming up- It's 2 weeks until my birthday, 4 weeks until I get to go home for Thanksgiving break, 5ish weeks before my research papers are due and about 7 weeks until the Fall semester ends- ack!

Even on my birthday, I think I'll have an academic commitment- I have to go to a school football game with some residents from a children's home and with my class as part of our service learning component. I've never, ever been to a school football game at any of my schools, and I still have no interest in seeing one. The selfish part of me feels entitled to be able to do what I want on my birthday, although I must admit that it's not like I had anything planned for my birthday, anyway!

I still haven't started on my 2 research papers for my Spanish classes which are due shortly after Thanksgiving break, so I really need to get cracking. I know I won't get much school stuff (if any) done over break, so I really need to do most of the work done before, which is NOW. : ( I kind of wish I could change my topic and ask the prof if I can write about the similarities I've found between Bollywood movies and the Spanish literature we've been reading, but I'm not sure I have much material to go by right now and since the papers are due soon, I should probably just stick with my current topics- Federico García Lorca's Romance de la luna, luna and the impact on literature and other culture works by the Spanish Inquisition. At least I can write these in English! I'm not sure I could get as many pages out of them otherwise- I think it's 12 pages, single-spaced...

I've just started to come out of a cold I've had all week so I didn't do anything last night for Halloween. Nothing much has been going on around here that's worth blogging, although I've also been a bit busy to blog, anyway. I haven't been able to do much crafting, except for a bit of sketching, painting and if anything, cooking. My weekend is almost over and I already can't wait for the next one!

Wish I could celebrate Diwali!

2009-10-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

I follow the Twitter accounts of some Bollywood actors, so I've been well aware that Diwali's going on. Unfortunately in my neck of the woods, there was nothing Diwali-related going on at my school or community so I could only wish I could don my churidar while one of my best friends back in the Bay Area got to go to temple. Even one of my friends, Peggy, got to celebrate Diwali at her school! Lucky gall. Check out her pics here! I've seen lots of pictures of rangoli for the holiday and I kind of wish the roomies and I could do a rangoli outside our apartment door, too!

(belated) victory fist bump!

2009-10-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

So.. maybe you already heard from my incessant tweets and Facebook updates that I won that photography contest? There was a reception where the winners for each category would be announced, and being the shy recluse that I am, I was kind of tempted not to go. I wouldn't know anyone, and I was afraid I'd feel especially awkward if I had to hang around for some more mingling after the winners' names were announced and mine wasn't one of them. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to show up at the time the reception started because there was some sort of itinerary, or if it was just a drop-in-and-mingle sort of thing, so I decided to at least show up 15 minutes 'late'. As I was approaching the building, I could see through the glass from a distance that everyone was already sitting down so I thought, 'Crap! It's already started!'

I jogged over to sit down and everyone was just going up, one by one to give a little spiel on their photo. The day before, I'd taken a look at everyone else's work and it was darn good! It was intimidating, as I felt I didn't have a chance, and it felt like that even more so when people were explaining the stories behind them. I eventually gave my little spiel and after everyone went, it was time to announce the winners. Of course, the architecture category is announced last, and the professor announcing the winners had trouble announcing the title of the winning photograph. I wasn't even paying attention because I was so sure that I wasn't going to win and that I was going to hear the name of a different entry anyway so I didn't catch that her first word was 'Inside...' She read the rest of it in Spanish (she's a Spanish professor)- 'el palacio de congreso' instead of 'palais de congrès'- and it turns out it was MINE! I went up to claim my Amazon giftcard and took a somewhat awkward photo with the professor since I felt so weird being up there and what not.

The reception ended not long after and as I didn't know what else to do, I started to make my get away. I was taken aback when someone from the school newspaper asked for an interview, so my answers were kind of awkward and generic. I did end up in the paper after all though, which was pretty cool. I was pretty ecstatic for at least a week that it all happened.

I'm still figuring out what I want to get with my giftcard! Amazon has some reasonably priced hammocks and there are plenty of Bollywood movies and books (some on Bollywood and some not) that I can get. If I want to get a hammock, maybe I better hurry up before it gets too cold to enjoy it out on the balcony...

Filling out my application

2009-10-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Since I can't seem to focus on homework right now, I'm trying to fill out my application for a program I have to complete next semester so I can at least get something done. I think the statements are kind of funny just because they seem so loaded. I have to rate myself on a scale of 1-5 (5 being something that accurately describes me) for some of the following statements:

"Do you demonstrate appropriate conduct toward members of the opposite sex?"
"Do you demonstrate emotional stability?"
Would anyone really answer '1' to these questions if they wanted to be accepted into the program? For the latter, does this mean I'm not allowed to cry, ever?

"Do you relate to family members well?"
I feel like this one is really loaded because everyone knows that some family members are just insane or incredibly irritating, so of course it's hard to relate to them!

I wanted to update you guys about details from the photo contest, but I'll get to it later. Things have been so busy in terms of schoolwork and I'll be getting into the midst of midterms in a matter of days. I normally respond to emails quite promptly, but in the last week or so I've had to let things slide just because I have so much to do!

De la canción, 'Chocolate', por Jesse & Joy

2009-09-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

(No estoy enamorada con nadie, pero...)

'Nuestro amor sabe a chocolate
un corazón de bombón que late
nuestro amor sabe a chocolate...'

El ukelele era perfecto para esta canción...

(I'm not in love with anyone, but...)

'Our love tastes like chocolate
A bonbon heart that beats
our love tastes like chocolate...'

The ukulele was perfect for this song...

Recent iTunes purchases

2009-09-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Just purchased:

'I Aorana', by Les Grands Ballets de Tahiti: This song was used every time we did drills in my Tahitian/Hula class and it's a fun song, so I was dying to find out what it was and where I could get it! I just found it tonight so I finally bought it. The percussion (great for timing your hips for oritui's and fa'arapu's) and the contrast between the vocals and the techno-ish element are pretty cool.

As for reasoning for the others: it was about time!

'Maahi Ve' from the movie 'Kal Ho Na Ho'

'Dhoom Taana' from 'Om Shanti Om'

'Chale Jaise Hawaien', from 'Main Hoon Na'

'Masakali' from 'Delhi 6'

'Des Rangila' from 'Fanaa'

'Pehli nazar mein' from 'Race'

'Electricidad' (album), and 'Esto es lo que soy' by Jesse & Joy

'Tu sei tutto per me' ('You are everything for me') by Sugarfree

'Per dimenticare', 'Sotto una pioggia di parole', 'Ripensandoci', by Zero Assoluto

I finally did something artsy-ish!

2009-09-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm suddenly on cloud 9 because I'm a finalist for the photo contest at my school! It's being held by the Department of Modern Languages and they said they'd notify the finalists by the 22nd, so when that day already passed without any emails from them, I have to admit I was pretty disappointed. I'm actually glad they were late in notifying me because I was worried I felt a little too confident about my entry, so this kind of put me in my place- well, somewhat! Part of me was just muttering to myself that they probably picked all the photos that looked really National Graphic-esque since missions trips and third-world countries are pretty popular among students here. I imagined that perhaps my Montréal photo might not stand a chance with photos of cute children in a village or something with a jungle. With any competitive stuff I feel like the more confident I am, the more disappointed I could be if things don't turn out the way I was so sure they'd be. Yet, for whatever reason, I had a good, confident feeling about the photo contest when I first heard about it.

Anyway, I never submit anything for contests, so I'm really excited about getting past the first phase but now I'm also a bit nervous about the 'competition', but at least at this point there's nothing I could do that would make me more or less likely to win. I'm quite curious to see the other submissions (like what part of the world the photos were taken!), and I'm also quite nervous about having to show up when the winners' names are being announced- I've never had to do that before and whenever I watch awards shows I pity the nominees because they have to sit there the whole time before they find out if they win or lose. Eh, we'll see!

Okay, so this was the photo I was thinking of submitting:

And this was the one I actually submitted in the end, after some agonizing flip-flopping and asking everyone's opinion:

I thought that asking all my friends' and family's opinion would make things clearer, but it actually made it hard because people seemed to be kind of split and it meant a lot to me to hear everyone's opinion. I didn't want to disappoint anyone, so it was hard to choose! Plus, people gave some really good critiques on both photos, too. I liked how the first photo had the interesting shadows, but the focus of the photo didn't seem immediately clear. I liked how the buildings just happened to match up with the window panes in the second photo (I can't remember if I meant for that to happen when I took the photo!) and I felt like I had more to talk about for that photo since part of the submission required a brief description. I was so nervous to even just type up the email to make my submission, so it feels great to make 'the first cut'.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me to decide! For those of you who are around, the photos will be displayed from the Sept. 30th- Oct. 2nd, with the winners being announced on the 2nd, I believe.

I need an injection of happy!

2009-09-23T21:47:00.001-07:00

I admit, I've been pretty impatient with people lately. Here's the run-down of the 'offenders', lol:

The girl who complained that the only Google results she could find for sources for her research paper were in Spanish- note that we were in an upper-division Spanish class that is supposed to be conducted entirely in Spanish, and all the reading in the textbook is in Spanish! She also changed her mind on the topic and signed up for the research topic I had my eye on. I know, first come, first serve, but still!

The guy who remarked in a group conversation that transsexuals were 'disgusting'. I understand that some people are uncomfortable with people whose lifestyles are considered to be outside society's idea of 'normal' and he disapproved of their lifestyle, but he didn't have to express it in such a hateful way. It's remarks like this that make everyone else consider Christians to be judgmental, hypocritical and hateful- not loving, like we're supposed to be. I was so disgusted by his remark because I found it so narrow-minded. I imagine that having a conflict in gender identity must be a really confusing, upsetting experience for a person trying to figure things out or reconcile how their physical appearance causes everyone else to identify them as something other than what they identify themselves as. Gender is socially constructed, but when someone doesn't fit into a society's idea of what a man or woman should be, I guess that's where it gets messy. I think there's a lot more to be understood before anyone makes any judgments- and even then, it's not my place to judge.

The girl in my World Geography class who didn't realize that India was a part of Asia. Not all Asians are Chinese, or something!

Luckily I found my nightguard because I can feel myself just getting tense when I think about these people! I need to have a little more grace because I know I'm not perfect, either...

Orthodontists, rejoice.

2009-09-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

It was driving me crazy that for nearly a whole month, I didn't have my retainers for my teeth. For those of you who've had braces, you can relate to how you can feel that your teeth have moved if you skip a day (or night) wearing your retainers. For me, I also have to wear a nightguard (a small retainer-like piece that keeps my bottom and top teeth from touching) when I sleep because I clench my teeth so hard, so my teeth not only moved, but they were getting a bit pushed around, too. I was so sure that I had packed them the morning I left to drive down to SoCal with my mom, but since I was so groggy that morning, I questioned if I had really packed them or I didn't realize if they had gotten lost somewhere.

The past week or so, I kept running the tip of my tongue along the back of my bottom front teeth because I was lamenting at how much they'd moved- for those of you who are retainer-less, your teeth can get a bit sore and uncomfortable if your teeth have moved a lot. While it had been over a month, I still didn't want to get replacements, either- retainers are so expensive, and I was pretty sure I didn't lose the originals for good.

Of course, when I do look for my retainers, they're in the place I least expect it- my empty suitcase in the far corner beneath my bed! I couldn't find them with my toiletries when I had unpacked, and I was so sure that my suitcase would yield disappointing results as I knew I'd taken all my clothes out of it when I unpacked. While I was disappointed at not finding my retainers in any of my boxes or dresser drawers, at least I did find the mechanical pencil that I thought I had lost. Out of desperation and hope however, I decided to take the trouble to lug my suitcase out and lo and behold, my blue retainer case had been hiding under the lining in my suitcase! Tricky little bugger. After a sigh of relief, I immediately popped my retainers in my mouth- of course they barely fit since my teeth moved so much. Tomorrow I'll probably have a smoothie for a meal because my teeth will be so sore and tender from being jutted around that I may not be able to bite things! I'm just so relieved though, and I once again learned that I need to be patient and open-minded because things can pop up when I least expect it!

Sandwich OBSESSION!

2009-09-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, my sandwich obsession is getting sooo bad! I've been eating up all the communal bread-for now on I'll just buy my own loaf because that's not fair to my other roomies to buy bread for everyone when I eat about 3-5 slices a day! For breakfast lunch and dinner, it's pretty much been chicken sandwiches made with my roomie's sandwich press. I've tried to at least vary things a little though, so I've made pepperoni pizza-type filling (à la Hot Pockets) and starting today, pulled rotisserie chicken with mozzarella cheese and basil pesto!

Again, the lighting in my apartment hasn't been cooperating with my photography attempts, so I'm sorry these aren't exactly my best works:

(There was actually a better shot of the sandwich on my kitchen floor, but when I inspected the photo more closely, you could see a big fat hair on the ground right next to the plate! Not very appetizing, so I just went with this one...)

Sudden hammock craving!

2009-09-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Have I always been this impulsive? I was just walking back to my apartment from some grocery shopping when I spied a hammock hanging in a neighbor's porch. All of us have 2 hooks hanging from the ceiling so we can store our bicycles, but these guys used them to hang a hammock, which I thought was brilliant. For a long time, I've just always wanted a hammock and in the few times I've been able to use one at someone else's house, I really enjoyed it. Not only are hammocks incredibly comfy, but they're also quite peaceful- unlike hard chairs, a hammock surrounds you at all sides when you sink into it! I've always wanted a hammock but never really had the right place to put one until now so I got super-excited when I realized the balcony would be a hammock-friendly place. Plus, it's perfect because we have a great view from here! I've already done a quick survey on Etsy and Ebay, and there are hammocks for less than 20 bucks, with free shipping on Ebay. There are also some $30-ish hammock chairs which are comfy as well and probably better made. A hammock chair kind of reminds me of the one I got to sit in when I was visiting someone's house in India, although I'll probably end up with the long, regular-type hammock because I want to be able to lay down in it. I'm so excited! I'll probably order one soon, especially if my RA confirms that the hooks are strong enough for a one...

I see hammock potential in this...

Midnight rendez-vous with a chicken sandwich

2009-09-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was a bit hungry when I went to bed and while I try to avoid eating anything too closely to bedtime, this time hunger was a bit too hard to ignore. I just ended up tossing and turning in bed while my mind could think about nothing but food! In the last couple days I've become quite enamoured with my roommate Megan's sandwich press so all I was thinking about was more ideas for sandwich fillings, mainly taken from existing Hot Pocket flavors like pizza sauce with mozzarella cheese and small chunks of pepperoni (sure the pepperoni would be greasy, but it would add so much flavor to the warm, gooey tomato sauce and melted, creamy cheese), taco meat and cheese, ground beef and cheese for a more cheeseburger-y version. I also thought of pesto with sun-dried tomatoes and grilled mushrooms, leftover Kahlua pork or sautéed kielbasa sausage... Oh, how the wheels in my mind were turning!

As you could imagine, such thoughts were not quite conducive for falling asleep. Finally, I recognized the truth that I would just have to give in and fix myself a snack. And what else would be perfect for making a hearty snack in the late evening than a sandwich? Stir-frys sizzle way too much, microwaves beep and smoothies require an obnoxious blender. Sandwich presses on the other hand, only let out a quite sizzle if the cheese or any other moist filling comes in contact with the grilling plates- quite perfect for fixing something savory without disturbing the roomies!

As the fates would have it, there were two petite rotisserie chicken drumsticks in my refrigerator that I'd bought that afternoon solely for the purpose of making pressed sandwiches. It's actually kind of nice to cook and eat late at night when everyone else is asleep: the neat white kitchen counters seemed to complement the almost dead quiet that allowed me to just be with my thoughts and my food. I can see how people develop unhealthy relationships with food and become emotional eaters, as I found the quiet in combination with snacking to be quite comforting. Cooking and eating only encouraged my insomnia and night-owl habits however, like I was some little kid who wasn't ready to go to bed quite yet- snacking was fun, and I didn't want it to be over! I at least snuck back into my room to get my camera and take pictures so I could share it with you guys. As I got into bed after my sandwiches, it sort of felt like I had my own little secret as no one else knew I'd gotten up to fix myself a snack, like I'd had some sort of rendez-vous.

For your own rendez-vous (whether it's at night or in the daytime), all you need is some rotisserie chicken, some mayo, whole-grain bread and chili pepper flakes:

I like my roommate's Trader Joe's-brand of whole-grain bread because it's surprisingly sweet. I use Hellman's lite mayo and I just bought my chicken from the deli section at my local grocery store. It's easiest to separate the chicken from the bone and shred it when the chicken is still hot. With just chicken as filling, the sandwich could still be a bit dry, so I put mayo on both inner sides of the bread halves and I sprinkle crushed chili pepper flakes on one of the sides. It doesn't take lot for the bread to toast and the chicken to sizzle in my roommate's sandwich press, maybe about 2 minutes. A panini press or even just a non-stick pan with another pan or a foil-covered brick to flatten the sandwich could also work if you don't have a sandwich press. I hope you enjoy!

Not-so-Chinese Chinese food

2009-09-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

I think I came across this video via Jezebel.com, but I can't quite remember because I just bookmarked the video to watch for later. Anyway, Jennifer 8. Lee gives a short 16-minute presentation on popular Chinese dishes that aren't Chinese in origin. It's pretty interesting and amusing. Included are the fortune cookie, General Tso's chicken and chop suey... Check it out!

Summer doesn't have to be over.

2009-09-12T17:30:00.001-07:00

I heard that it rained in the Bay Area several days ago, but over here it's still been really hot and sunny. Whatever the weather, a smoothie is always nice! I actually wanted to post my smoothie recipes on a blog before I actually had one, so I copied and pasted from my facebook note, but added a few things here and there:

For most of my smoothies, I use a staple recipe that works on its own and then alter it from there with other fruits that I have on hand:

For my staple strawberry-banana smoothie, I throw the following into a blender:

4 large strawberries
1 banana, peeled
1 scoop of plain yogurt, about 1/2 cup
1 applesauce cup (I buy those packaged cups of applesauce, but if you get a jar of the stuff, I guess it would be 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup orange juice or almost any fruit juice you have on hand
3 ice cubes
optional: a few chunks of extra soft tofu for calcium and protein- the flavor is almost undetectable

Depending on your blender, you may want to put the ice cubes and strawberries (and any other firmer ingredients) first so they'll be processed more.

All the non-fruit items are approximations because I don't measure them exactly; I just throw things in, visually guess the amount and take the resulting consistency into account.

I normally use that recipe for all my smoothies but these are some other things I use with the above recipe:

-1 peeled mango

-Canned peaches

-Canned peaches, pineapple chunks, no strawberries

-Canned peaches, canned pears, chunks of peeled clementine oranges, no strawberries

When I'm throwing everything in the blender, I try to think about which fruits have a stronger flavor (like strawberries) that tend to take center stage on one's palate and which ones have a milder flavor (like canned pears) that can be easily lost if paired with large amounts of the 'stronger' fruits, but for the most part, you can't really go wrong with just plain experimenting! I approximate everything and my smoothies come out a little different every time, but that's the fun of it. If you come up with any cool alterations of your own, let me know!

Bollywood shopping list!

2009-09-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last night while my roomie Megan and I were watching 'Dil Chahta Hai' (Megan seems to adore all the Khans) when I started to browse for some Bollywood movies. I started off at ErosEntertainment.com, since it's a major distributor of Bollywood DVDs and there are some pretty good deals. I actually ended up buying 'Om Shanti Om' for 6.99 and 'Billu Barber' for 8.99 (yes, both SRK films.. it seems like I have so many of his movies!), which by American standards, I'd say that's really good! It didn't occur to me until now that I should look on Ebay for some good deals since I try to avoid that website as much as possible, knowing that I could go crazy finding anything and everything on that site. Anyway, while Amazon has Bollywood dvds for 13-20 bucks, there are lots of movies on Ebay (the legit copies, mind you) as low as 3.99! Target doesn't even have movies for that low a price. I'm guessing the exchange rate between rupees and USD probably has something to do with the more than reasonable prices for Bollywood movies in this neck of the woods, and fortunately it allows me to go crazy with indulging my infatuation-nay, obsession- with Bollywood movies. If I could major in 'Bollywood Studies', I would! Anyway, here's the list of films I have my eye on from Ebay, in no particular order:

Chak De! India: Another SRK film. It sounds like a feel-good film, since he plays a has-been athlete who revives a women's field hockey team and in the process, redeems himself.

Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham: My goodness, I still have trouble remembering the title. A lot of Karan Johar's films used to have lots of K's in the titles, and when I was first getting into the films it was nearly impossible for me to remember all of the names! This is one of the films that I hear a lot about, and I think even my picky friend Swathi likes this one, so I feel like it's one of those films I need to see not only to enjoy, but to keep up with Bollywood stuff in general.

Dostana: When I first heard about this movie I really wanted to see it, because it sounded like it would be a fun and funny one to watch. If I recall, the reviews for it weren't bad, either. I hear Abhishek Bachchan can be pretty funny, but I've only seen him in 'Sarkar Raj', so I'd like to see his comedic side through this movie. The plot is basically about 2 guys who pretend they are gay in order to rent an apartment but both end up falling for a girl.

Bhoothnath: I saw this cute kid's movie when I was in India and I wouldn't mind seeing it again. The plot sort of reminds me of the 'Casper' movie as it's about a kid who moves into a haunted house with his family and befriends a ghost. It's probably worth noting that Amitabh Bachchan plays the ghost named Bhoothnath and SRK plays the kid's father.

Kismat Konnection: Swathi, her family and I wanted to see this movie when we were in India, but alas, kismat was not on our side. Still, I want to see this movie, and I've only seen Shahid Kapoor in 'Jab We Met' (yet another movie I want to buy), anyway. I think Shahid Kapoor plays a guy whose potential love interest may be his lucky charm, supposedly something along the lines of 'Just My Luck'.

Rock On!!: This movie about a rock band came out after Swathi and I already came back to the States, so I didn't get a chance to see it yet. I hear the soundtrack is really good, and people were not only impressed with the film, but that the lead, Farhan Akhtar (he wrote and directed 'Dil Chahta Hai', actually) did his own vocals despite not having any previous experience as a singer. Sounds like a film worth seeing!

Delhi 6: Abhishek Bachchan plays an NRI who goes back to India and reconnects with the culture, I believe. The plot interests me as well as the soundtrack: I read somewhere that A.R. Rahman believed this was his best work yet, and this was post-'Slumdog Millionaire', mind you! While I haven't seen the movie, I do like his song, 'Masakali'.

Love Aaj Kal: I was at least able to see this movie in Montréal, and I can't wait to show it to my roommates. It's from the same filmmaker who made 'Jab We Met', so people were pretty excited about this movie when it came out. I enjoyed it, and I give it extra points for part of the film being shot in San Francisco. I was so excited to see Union Square and the SFO airport in the background, yet slightly bummed that I couldn't have caught a glimpse of Saif Ali Khan or any of the movie stuff when I live so close by! I could go on about how I'd love to see movie sets and the like, but perhaps that could be another post. ; )

'Jab We Met': I do want to own this movie, as it's a pretty sweet one. Shahid Kapoor is a burned out corporate guy whose life gets turned upside-down when he meets Kareena Kapoor's spunky, talkative character, Geet. I particularly liked the house party scene when Geet's family celebrates the two characters' arrival, and the idealistic, optimistic part of me wanted so badly to believe that Indian families always had such parties!

Piccies from my wee road trip back to school

2009-09-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned before, packing up to go back to school was madness! I was a bit surprised by how much time it took up and yet, I still forgot some essentials. Needless to say, the chaos of packing, driving and unpacking took up a lot of my time so I haven't really been able to blog until now. I still haven't even unpacked everything, but I wanted to at least blog and upload photos while I was still in a bloggy sort of mood. Not quite as elegant as my Montréal photos, but here ya go:

LOTS of language textbooks, plus some mags from India. I'm hoping to review these in my spare time, particularly when I'm in a retail therapy sort of mood as I really want to stop buying so many things I don't need... Plus, in place of something I could have bought, I could be a step closer to multilingualism!

A churidar and sarong I brought. I might wear the churidar for Halloween, or perhaps if I'm in a silly mood on one of many Bollywood movie nights. I brought a sarong as I found some nearby hula classes that I hope to take this semester.

Poor Beaker had to be crammed into a small nook with all the textbooks! Meep!

I was so nervous that all my crap wouldn't fit in my car, but surprisingly, it all fitted with a wee bit of space to spare! While it was tempting to cram a sewing machine in there, I know I'll be returning with more stuff than I brought, so I left things as they were.

[Siiigh] CBS studios is right by the Grove and every time, I wish I could take a studio tour or see a show! Maybe one day.. : )

Finally, another craft post:

2009-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yarn stash! Mummy dearest and I wound some skeins to take with me to school. There's an air of excitement when I see a big pile of skeins as there's just so much potential. ; )

Our ball winder and swift. We're just hardcore like that.

Things I forgot to pack

2009-09-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

I spent hours packing for the trip and I'm a little disappointed that I still managed to forget some pretty important things! It's sort of surprising partly because I felt like I've racked up some experience in packing for trips so these days I rarely forget the essentials. It seemed like I had been so thorough because I went through all my things to leave behind things I didn't need, and I took an inventory of all my clothes. Yet, I've begun to realize I'll still need to have my mom ship some things once she gets back.

In the past 36ish hours, I've realized I've forgotten the following:

Contact lenses: How could I forget these?! I have my current pair, and they're supposed to be replaced this Monday. Oops. I'm going to try and wear my glasses to make my contacts last a couple more days... If it's any excuse, I normally don't need to pack spares for trips because I'm not gone for very long, so they're normally not on my mental list. Plus, they're in my bathroom cabinet so out of sight, out of mind!

Retainers?: Crap, I never forget these! I can't seem to find them, so I'm not yet sure if I brought them as I haven't unpacked everything yet (I dropped off my stuff at the new apartment but I've been chillin' with my mom for the weekend).

Sneakers: I haven't worn any in months so I forgot that I even owned some. I've been living in flats and sandals exclusively, but who knows, I might need some shoes for a workout or a super-casual day.

Most recently, my nearly complete application for next semester's away program: In writing to a friend about my undergrad program's semester away in Los Angeles, I realized I left my application at home! Darn it, darn it, darn it. Yes, I could print out another one, but it's several pages long and I already filled out most of it. It's due in about 5 weeks but I'll need to ask a prof and RA to fill out the recommendation form, so I know I should do that soon...

Commence pondering and pensiveness.

2009-09-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I'm going back to school on Friday?? I can't! I admit, I feel 50/50 on going back, and I know, it's probably natural and inevitable to have my doubts. At then end of my first semester, I reluctantly accepted that perhaps the university to which I transferred was probably the place I was meant to be. While I still grumble about how long it will take to graduate from this private, religious institution located somewhere in SoCal that I will not mention for privacy reasons, I think the program I'm in will give me the preparation I'm looking for- internships and homestays away from campus (with one of them being international) will surely stretch me in ways that I need to grow. Also, I wanted to go to this school because I had questions about the intersection of faith with what I was learning and I wanted to find answers.

Still, a complaint I still have (alongside other students past and present who see it too) is that the environment on and near campus can be such an isolating bubble. At least for myself, I feel like I have to operate in two modes because the way things function at school are different from the way things are in the rest of the world. Even just leaving that 5-block radius, I feel strange and realize that I have to go into the mode reserved for what seems like the 'real world'. Being back in the Bay Area for the summer, spending time with old friends and being around a far more diverse environment (ethnically, socio-economically, religiously as well as in terms of opinions and background), I'm reminded of the other interests and facets that existed in who I am and it leads me to question once again if I made the right choice. Am I really able to be myself at this school? I go back to wondering what could have been with the other schools I considered and if I'm getting the real education I wanted- not the one on paper, but the things I've really wanted to learn. I dwell on the things I believe my school may not be able to teach me and I wonder if I'm on the path I meant to be- just because it's a Christian school doesn't mean that it's a part of God's plan.

In attending a private, Christian institution, I have been led to ask big questions about my faith as well as the institution of Christianity. After acquainting myself with Christian culture, part of the experience can be compared to the sobering moment one has when they realize that their parents aren't perfect; while they have a position of authority, they've made and will continue to make mistakes because they're human. It's not that I don't believe in God; it's more that I've begun to look more closely at some interpretations of how to follow God. I have begun to see that while God is perfect, the institution of Christianity is not because it's at the human level and humans are far from being perfect. Still, in seeing the cracks and crevices up close, part of me wants to distance myself while another part of me wonders if I should stay and try to change the things I question and don't agree with. Again, I begin to wonder if I should have gone with a secular school. It's cheaper, more diverse and (sadly) more accepting.

I think part of my resurgence in doubting my choice is just that I don't want to come back to another semester of the depression, isolation and frustration that I dealt with in my challenging adjustment to transferring to another school. A part of me reassures myself that once I go back, I'll be reminded of the positive things I'm sure I've overlooked. It'll be nice to be back in class (maybe I just feel that way because a trickle of friends have already gone back to school and I just feel left out- I'm sure I won't feel that way when it's midterms!). There are still things that I miss about living in SoCal. I have strange cravings for shopping at the Fresh 'n' Easy and the pesto and ciabattini bread I find there, and it'll be nice to see my roomies again. Girlie movie nights are definitely in order and it'll be nice to unpack and use the snazzy things I found at the Container Store for my apartment, like the plastic drawer I bought especially for my yarn stash. We'll see, I guess.

My new Bollywood morning playlist

2009-08-28T22:19:00.001-07:00

Some peppy tracks I could use to get me out of bed:

'Dhoom Taana' from the movie 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Bollywood Hero':

SRK is donning a ridiculous pirate get up but I'm willing to overlook that.

'Chale Chalo' from 'Lagaan':

One of many great works from A. R. Rahman. If these guys could take on the Brits, one could surely drag themselves out of bed, no?

'Mahi Ve' from 'Kal Ho Na Ho':

I wish I could go to a party in which everyone is wearing all the colors of the rainbow and participating in a choreographed dance! Cameos by Kajol and Rani Mukherjee couldn't hurt either.

I know, I know- they're all old songs. I've been stuck in a bit of a time warp since I came back from India a year ago, so I'm only familiar with the movies I saw there! It's been pretty hard to keep up with the with all the latest movies- the library only offers so much and I have yet to get myself over to the movie theaters that actually play Bollywood films around here. I'm determined to catch up somehow though; so just give it some time!

pencil skirt!

2009-08-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Guess which one is the store-bought one!

The black skirt is the American Apparel pencil skirt (although I trimmed the hem to make it knee-length) and goes for about 32 dollars. I basically turned the skirt inside out and traced the shapes onto the blue fabric (which set me back 4 dollars for a yard) since the construction is pretty simple to copy. They're just basic flat shapes so it was easy to do- there's just a folded piece for the waistband and the front skirt piece is the same shape as the back one.

The blue skirt turned out a little bigger than the black one, but it fits the same because the fabric doesn't have as much stretch as the black one and I think the stitching itself in the AA one allows more stretch as well. It's my first time working with knitted fabric so it was somewhat challenging at first. In the end, I'm happy with it though, and I saved 28 buckaroos!

Lesson of the day:

2009-08-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

Cars are more resilient than I thought. Whew!

Random snap post #2

2009-08-02T12:25:00.001-07:00

My iPhoto library is chock-full of photos I've wanted to share with friends but never got around to, usually because of timing. I just thought it'd be a fun thing to do since I have lots of photos that don't ever see the light of day. : )

I love photographing close-ups of interesting colors and textures. This is one of the photos I set as my desktop background when I'm in a bling-y mood. I took this one from a temple in Bangkok, Thailand. There are so many temples there, but I think it was the one with the Buddha statue made out of jade. That particular temple had a lot of interesting designs and it was super-sunny, so I was able to get a lot of good photos that are still some of my favorite ones today.

tricky armholes and Etsy goodness

2009-08-01T21:31:00.001-07:00

I haven't done much to get ready for my Montréal trip today, but I finally returned to my green dress and ended up buying some cute things on Etsy.

It might be a bit of a stretch to try and have a finished dress to wear on my trip, but I finally got through the armholes on my dress. I've never had to do armholes before, so I was having problems making the fabric lie flat with a curved seam. It turns out that I just needed to clip the curves a bit more, which worked wonders. Problem solved, thanks to mummy dearest, of course. I still have to hem the skirt, attach it to the bodice and install the zipper though, so I'll only finish it in time if I crack down on things. I still have some laundry to do as well as packing up all my stuff, so I'm guessing I can't sleep in until noon tomorrow if I want to get everything done. Oh yeah, and my family is coming over for dinner tomorrow night- even less time than I thought I would have to get everything done.

Okay, on to the goodies I've bought. I have to leave for school before my local art and wine festival comes around, so I sort of felt like I was entitled to some things I've been eyeing on Etsy. I usually look forward to buying my unique, handmade jewelry at festivals like this, so I was a bit bummed that this year I wouldn't get to see all the cool stuff that talented artists have to offer. I like Etsy because it's like one big, almost infinite craft festival so it's a decent substitute. Nova Designs had a weekend deal of 25% off orders over $50 and shipping was free! With the discount, I ended up getting my oxidized nail studs for free since I ordered it with 3 pairs of colored studs. I also ordered a really cute iPod case that was on sale for 15 bucks. I don't know if my 2nd generation 20 GB iPod with the black and white screen (like the ones in calculators!) will fit in it because it's made for iPhones and iPod Touches, but I've had my iPod since I was 16 so I know I'll replace it with a more current model when it finally croaks. I think the only reason it's lasted so long is that I don't use it much and I mainly just use it around the house. It hasn't taken many bumps, so it's still working just fine. Since I've had it so long I'm attached to it despite the fact that it's old school, but I also look forward to being able to watch videos and use applications (it would be so nice to tweet and play Word Warp) on my iPod!

iPod case (and photo) from tovicorrie's shop, Beautiful Skin. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Modern Colored Mini Bud Studs (and photo) from Nova Designs. I won't tell you what colors I ordered yet because some are gifts...

Black Silver Nail Studs (and photo) also from Nova Designs

It's been a while since I've ordered something from Etsy sellers, so I'm really excited about getting some handmade goodies.

Soundtrack (if my life were interesting enough to be a movie) pt. 2!

2009-07-31T17:03:00.001-07:00

The whole list was too long because I wasn't decisive enough to narrow it down! So um... here ya go.

'Don't Ask Me', Ok Go: Like 'Colorful', this song just has attitude. Perhaps it'd be a good one for the part of the movie in which I finally find my voice and retaliate in full force? Just seems like a fun song to kick butt in some way!
'Quien decide es el amor' (Who Decides It's Love) by Reik: It's hard to pick just one Reik song, but I guess I like how this one conveys how helpless one could feel trying to go against destiny. Big conflict, huh?
'Vivo en sueños' (I Live in Dreams) by Reik: 'vivo en sueños que no despertar/ estoy harto de imaginar/[...] ya quiero despertar' (I live in daydreams/I'm tired of imagining/[...] I want to wake up already) Okay, so I just had to squeeze in one more by Reik! Their album, 'Secuencia', is chock-full of super-poetic lyrics that make me glad I studied 4 years of Spanish in high school. Like the previous one, it's angsty and dramatic but perhaps this one would be more appropriate for a soundtrack to my life because it's all about daydreaming/imagining a love with someone and lamenting that it doesn't exist in reality. Hm, being someone who daydreams about lots of stuff (even what to have for lunch), I can relate!
'Kings of the Wild Frontier' Adam & The Ants: good for an angry scene in which I throw all caution to the wind and smash stuff (again, this is if a film about me were dramatic and interesting), or maybe a chase scene. We could also just go with something silly, like a ball pit!
'Viajar contigo' (To Travel With You), by Alex Ubago: One of my favorite songs from this guy. The music is upbeat, and the lyrics tell a good story of a guy trying to go on his way of finding his loved one.

Possible songs for the end credits- the film would have a happy ending, and to keep from being too cheesy with a slow, sentimental song, I'd want an up-tempo song:
'Jai Ho', by A.R. Rahman: Maybe this is too cliché because it's super-popular and it was already used in the end of 'Slumdog Millionaire', but it's a great, catchy song! I'm a cheesy person in real-life, so it wouldn't be below me for my co-stars and I to end my epic film with a similar dance sequence, yellow dupatta and all...
'Nada es como ayer' (Nothing is Like Yesterday- I hope that translation makes sense) by Motel: To me, the music has attitude, and the theme of the song could be appropriate to saying good-bye to something.
'Super Duper Love', Joss Stone: We might have to throw in a little grooviness to the mix and Joss Stone is awesome. For entertainment purposes, I would totally rock out to this.
'La vie passe' (Life Goes On), 'Tant qu'on rêve encore' (something about dreaming again? Sorry for letting you guys down on translating this one!) from the comedy-musical, 'Le Roi Soleil': Okay, so not very up-tempo, but the beautiful music and vocals could end things on a sweet, sentimental note. Yeah, I know I said a slow song might make things cheesy, but I like these songs!
'Ceremony', New Order, 'The Melody of a Fallen Tree', Windsor For the Derby, 'I Don't Like it Like This', Radio Dept.: All from the 'Marie-Antoinette' soundtrack and I bunched them as one item since they all have a cool vibe. Um, perhaps I could bite off scenes from the 'M-A' movie and be in a horse-drawn carriage in a forest or countryside with one of these songs playing? They could also close things on a mellow note in the end credits...

Sorry if you end up getting dead links for some of these. I tried to link to official videos on Youtube when I could, but some were not-so-official, so they could have been deleted later on due to copyright stuff. You're a big kid though, and you can Google or Youtube some other versions on your own. Also, sorry if my translating skills suck. Some of you native speakers could have probably made things sound a bit smoother. : )

An unusually productive day

2009-07-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

Despite sleeping in really late, today was just one of those days where I got stuff DONE and I was on some sort of crafty high. It's days like these where I just bounce from one project to another that makes me wish I could live happily ever after as an entrepreneur with a store on Etsy.com. Here's a breakdown of my day:

11:47- finally get out of bed. On my way to the bathroom to wash up, I spot my old bottles of window cling paint. I also see an old booklet in my recycle bin that has a plastic cover sheet I can use the paint on. After cutting off the plastic, I sit down in my crowded, junky room in my pajamas and draw out some window clings. PS, my kit is from klutz.com.

??:??- I finally wash up. Upon putting on a t-shirt, I suddenly become inspired to take in the seams to make it more fitted and less frumpy. I put in on inside-out and start pinning the sides, although I eventually just draw the seams with some marker instead. I realize I should probably eat something, so I get a tamale steaming (I like the chicken and cheese ones from Trader Joe's- Mm!) while I'm at the sewing machine.

2:00-ish- Enjoying my tamale, watching some dvr-ed episodes of The Nanny and getting my Internet fix. I also do a wee bit of crocheting. Turns out I bought the wrong yarn for my yellow clutch and I decide to just make it into a wee handbag since I don't feel like making the clutch anymore. I might make some ribbon or fabric straps or stick some felted wool balls somewhere. Seeing some bags made entirely of felted balls on Berrysprite's blog has inspired me.

3:00-ish- After enjoying my tamale and leftover potatoes with carmelized onions, I want some boba but decide to make some ice cream instead. Despite my fears that the tablespoon of apricot/pineapple preserves will just end up in one clump while everything else becomes ice cream in my ice cream making-ball, it actually turns out really nicely and using milk instead of cream top tastes even better. Who knew that 2 cups of milk, 1 tablespoon of preserves and 1/3 cup of sugar would make such good ice cream??

Since I'm already in the kitchen, I decide to finally get around to making some lip balm with a recipe I wanted to try. I'm still figuring out which ingredients I'm allergic to, so this time around I make a small tin of lip balm with coconut oil and mango butter. I figure I'm not allergic to coconuts or mangoes, (although I don't know what exactly is in mango butter) so I wanted to see if a lip balm out of just those two would work. Without the beeswax, it didn't immediately solidify, but immersing the small tin in some cold water did the trick.

Despite finally reviving my inspiration to sew, my craft prolificness (?) ends here as I spend the rest of the day packing up since my parents and I are flying out to Anaheim tomorrow. At least while I'm looking for a new knitting project to bring with me, my inspiration to knit is also revived as I have to dig through my yarn stashes and I'm reminded of how much cool yarn I have! : )

Anyway, I guess my point is that it was nice to be able to just spend the day working on projects, bouncing around between different things and being able to work on almost any project I wanted! There were so many things I wanted to work on that day, like finishing my green dress and making a hat or legwarmers, but I wanted to get my packing out of the way. I wouldn't mind being able to work on projects and be able to just craft for hours like some full-time sellers on Etsy do. In a lot of the interviews with featured sellers, sellers often describe a common daily routine in which they craft nearly all day long in between photographing and posting merchandise, shipping them as well as answering emails and the like. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a store on Etsy and in general, to just be an entrepreneur. I used to pretend I had my own store or business as a kid, and these days as I'm still confused and trying to figure things out, the idea of paving my own path (as well as setting my own schedule and being my own boss) sometimes seems like a good idea because things don't always look like they'll fit. Sometimes I also wish that I'd taken on a more art-related major or gone to an art school too, but at the same time I feel like my interests are too varied to pick just one thing to focus on (I still want to eventually get some formal instruction, though!). Doing something like that sometimes tempts me as an escape from the challenge of having to finish school and figure things out, but either way, I think that ultimately, finishing school first would be a good idea. Of course, if I did start an Etsy store or anything of the sort, you'd hear about it here first!

On another craft-related note, here's a look at my 'office':
While my mom and I do have a proper craft room, I only use it for sewing and I normally do all my other crafts on the couch in front of the TV. Yesterday I had everything I needed to practically spend the whole day planted on the couch. Sadly, I pretty much spent most of the day there. Anyway, you can see my crocheted rectangle, my dear laptop (useful for facebooking/tweeting/emailing when I'm taking a break from crafting and some unassembled bits for another origami ball. My collection on my bedroom window is uneven and desperately needs at least 1 more to make it look a little more balanced.

Also, I'm quite happy that I've finally found a use for one of the souvenirs I bought from India! I fell in love with this blue bowl but this whole past year it's just been sitting in my room. While it is meant to be a decorative piece, I felt like it wasn't quite being appreciated just collecting dust on my bookshelf. It makes a perfect container for my origami project since there are so many small pieces. : )

¡Crafty time!

2009-07-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Summer school is finally over! Perhaps now I won't be so sleep-deprived now. I feel like I don't even know what to do with myself now that I can do what I want without the guilt that I should be working on assignments instead. I'm running on 3-4 hours of sleep today, so right now I'm kicking back in front of the TV and blogging to take a break from crocheting. Perhaps I shouldn't blog too much because I'll need to save my hands for making my yellow crocheted clutch. I would take a picture, but it's just a yellow rectangle, so there's nothing special to look at yet. When I'm done though, I might want to add a lining because I always like a pop of color, even if it's just on the inside. I have that same philosophy for clothing like periwinkle lining for my lime green dress I've been sewing.

Anyway, I finished nearly half the body while watching one of my favorite movies, 'Penelope'. I love the fairy tale element and I particularly admire Penelope's costumes. She's quirky and colorful like Betty from Ugly Betty, but she has a great vintage look like she's out of an Anthropologie catalog. I wanted to watch 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic' to get my Bollywood fix, but it's about 3 hours long like a lot of other Bollywood films, so I wouldn't finish it until around 8! I'm a couch potato, but I wasn't keen on the idea of being there that long. I've already been on this couch all afternoon! Let's try to salvage some dignity here. I might though, at least pop in 'Nanny McPhee'. It's one of my other favorite films that I like for the costumes as well as the fairy tale touch. Everyone in that film has awesome, fun, colorful costumes (as well as the set!) that totally reflect the playful personality of the film. And as always, I like how costumes can reflect how the characters are growing and changing as the film goes along. I kind of like Simon's knitted blue sweater- boat neck/split neckline, moss stitch, and it's a nice, bright shade of blue in the film (it looks kind of duller in that photo). Here's a super-high-res close-up to see the details. Darn, I guess I'll have to watch it! I could try and get some research in on how to make Simon's awesome sweater!

I want my needles!

2009-07-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

I was helping a friend interpret some knitting patterns she wanted to take up and after a dry spell I want to get back into knitting! It was one of the few crafts I could do at school, but I didn't really knit in the last few weeks before I left since it was packed away. I missed being at my sewing machine (well, my mom's very nice sewing machine) so when I came back for the summer I just dove into sewing since I could always knit later. Now though, after getting some needles and yarn into my hands to show her some stitches I wanted to start making a little lap blanket of my own! I helped her figure out a pattern for a simple but cute chevron-pattern scarf as well as a lap blanket that actually didn't use hard techniques to achieve a fancy-looking design. I usually don't like to knit large objects like blankets because knitting can be slow at times for such pieces, but a lap blanket wouldn't be too bad and I was already imagining how nice it would be to have a small, cozy blanket to take off that slight chill when I'm reclining on a sofa to watch a movie in my new apartment this fall.

After some googling, the most attractive candidate is a kid's blanket from Knitty.com because it's so colorful and fun. The downside is the slightly small needle size (to me, size 5 is small) and the striping means weaving in lots of ends (I hate that!), as well as some actual work to attach a lining, but one could also argue that the lining and orange piping are one of the things that really add a nice, polished touch to the blanket and can also keep the piece from being too stretched (sometimes knitted things can stretch out because of the nature of knitted stitches and the weight of the piece/garment). Perhaps when I get over the guilt of already having some unfinished knitting/crocheting projects, I'll start that blanket. Or, I'll at least do some smaller projects that I'm convinced I'll be more likely to finish. Crocheting + something small should be quite do-able! I might start this yellow clutch because it's fast and I've been wanting a clutch but haven't gotten around to sewing one yet (I need some fusible interfacing!).

I do have one blanket that I've made, although I don't think I could have made it so big if I didn't crochet it since crocheting can be much faster than knitting. Technically, I haven't finished it though, because I still haven't gotten around to weaving in all the ends! Yeah, I hate weaving in the ends that much.

Random snap post #1

2009-07-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

My iPhoto library is chock-full of photos I've wanted to share with friends but never got around to, usually because of timing. I just thought it'd be a fun thing to do since I have lots of photos that don't ever see the light of day. : )

Meerkat! I went to the San Diego Zoo some months ago and the sunny day yielded lots of great photos. I'm usually not that great photographing animals or small children because I don't snap my camera immediately (I'm used to shooting scenery where I can take my time), so I was glad to get this shot of a meerkat and I like the look in his/her eyes- kind of helpless, kind of adorable.

Soundtrack (if my life were interesting enough to be a movie) pt. 2!

2009-07-19T00:53:00.001-07:00

Songs I wish were appropriate for the soundtrack to an biographical film about moi... Really more a bombardment of random music.

2009-07-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

My friend just emailed me the name to a song we really liked as we were lamenting not knowing the name when we first heard it in our hula class. We spent half the trip back home raving how it would be a perfect song to a generic, cheesy-but-romantic Hollywood-formulated film in which the heroine discovers her passion for hula, but must overcome the obstacle of being accepted by her hula peers as she is an outsider (perhaps she is from the mainland or just isn't Polynesian? We haven't figured this out yet), but proves herself, winning a dance competition and the heart of her love interest (of course, unlike her peers, he believed in her from the start). The song, as we now know it to be 'One Foot on the Sand', by Justin Young, would have been appropriate for the cliché scene in a movie when the conflict of the plot is resolved and the protagonist and his/her love interest finally get together. Perhaps after the competition, the heroine is strolling the beach in contemplation and comes across said love interest. It only takes for their eyes to meet for them to both know they have feelings for each other and they smile. Of course, there's a sunset in the background, and they live happily ever after. Cheesy, I know! We often think up plots full of ridiculous drama for music videos, telenovelas and Austen-esque films. Blame it on the telenovelas and Bollywood films and generic rom-coms we like to watch so much!

-+-+-

When I was reading an article on Jezebel.com on stars we'd want to play us in a movie about our lives vs. the actors that would be a more accurate representation of us, it was kind of an interesting idea to think about what we would want if we could have it our way versus how things would actually play out. That dreamy Hawaiian song as well as the article made me start thinking of a dream soundtrack for a movie on my life, if it were actually dramatic and interesting enough for Hollywood to come a-knockin'. Since I'm all about the what-if's, let's just have the songs I'd want if we were aiming for something grand, okay? With some of the songs, I have a clear idea of how they could be used, while others I just like and would want to try and use them somehow.

(This is a long list, and I guess it's not really aimed to be aaaall about me, but just something fun to imagine and to point you to some of the music that I like to have playing in my head. : ))

'One Foot on the Sand' by Justin Young: You shouldn't be so surprised this made the list. :D I imagine this song has a lot of potential for lots of different stuff, from just driving somewhere to give the impression that one is taking a literal journey and a metaphorical journey into personal growth. Kinda cliché, but I guess I'm a cliché kind of person.
'Daydreamer', Adele: I like the melody. This song is the opener to her Adele's album, and it'd be a good one for the beginning of a film, no?
'Imparable' (Unstoppable), by Tommy Torres and Jesse & Joy: The piano bit almost makes my heart skip a beat. Romantic music, great lyrics and Joy's vocals are always bee-yoo-tee-ful.
'Kal Ho Naa Ho' (Tomorrow May Not Be) sung by Sonu Niigam, or its instrumental version:These are some of my favorite Bollywood tracks ever. The music is so beautiful, and while I only know a handful of Hindi words, the vocals are soothing.
'Modern Nature' and 'All Luck Ran Out' by Sondre Lerche: I feel like it's unoriginal to want 'Modern Nature' on my would-be soundtrack as it was used in the end credits for 'Dan in Real Life', but it's a happy-go-lucky song about what else- love! I like 'All Luck Ran Out' for the music and that it tells a story. The plot of the song probably wouldn't fit in because it's about criminals, so maybe we can just stick this in the end credits?
'Pyaar Ke Liye' from 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic': Yet another one of my favorite Bollywood tracks. I don't know where in a film about myself that this track could fit in, but the music is beautiful and dramatic, as well as nice and happy.
Opus 36 from Dustin O'Halloran: Okay, so this is from the 'Marie-Antoinette' soundtrack, but it's one of my favorite instrumental pieces ever. There's a bit of sadness to this beautiful piece, and I always imagine it being set to some old black-and-white home video of someone who is no longer alive.
'Colorful' by Rocco DeLuca & The Burden: This is just one of those songs I really like because it seems to have attitude. It's passionate and from the music to the lyrics, there's a distinct personality. I don't know if this song could fit in my dream autobiographical movie but then again, this is my dream soundtrack...
'Sálvame' (Save Me), by RBD: Yeah, I just had to throw some RBD in there! When a friend and I were sucked into the whole 'Rebelde' series, we half-mocked, half-admired the almost distracting way songs from the show's cast were used in the show. This is one of many songs by RBD that could be used with something angsty and dramatic.
'Ne partons pas fâchés' (Let's Not Leave Angry [?]) by Raphaël Haroche: While I can't follow all the lyrics, I love the plucky bits and the frolicking melody that puts me in a silly mood. Whether in real-life or not, I could skip around on a sunny day to this just on the music alone.

Yay? Nay? Suggestions/ideas? I'd be curious to know what'd make your soundtrack...

Um, you know what? This is much longer than anyone is really willing to read. Let's break this up in 2 parts...

Short-lived reunion with The Sims

2009-07-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

For a while I'd been tempted to put my old Sims game on my laptop because it's fun and I already have my whole world and everything that is dear to me on that laptop, so why not? I was also pretty hesitant since I already spend so much time at my laptop, though- time management is already an issue for me and I spend more time than one should on Etsy, Youtube, Facebook and the like, so adding a computer game that could easily take out hours of my day wouldn't be the smartest idea! What finally pushed me over was spending the afternoon with a couple of my cousins, who are totally into video games. Not only did they have the latest Sims 3 game, they were also hooked on the Nintendo DS and our walk around the mall opened my eyes to some DS games I'd be willing to play! I didn't want to get a DS anytime soon though (I could imagine bringing it with me back to school and never getting anything done!), so I decided to content myself with just re-installing my old Sims game.

I can't remember the last time I played The Sims, but it's been several years and the back of one of the cases says the game is from 2001, if that's of any indication. Yeah, that's right, I have the old-school Sims with the not-as-fancy graphics! I couldn't help but be slightly relieved that my Mac laptop wasn't accepting the disc for installation (the last think I need with me at school is frittering away hours of what should be homework time), although I wasn't ready to give up so I ended up installing the game on my dad's laptop! I ended up playing until 1 am last night (I think it was for 4 hours... SHAME.), and today I managed to install the expansion packs, although after a while the game kept CRASHING. Kind of annoying, but now I'm glad that the constant crashing has discouraged me from playing because I need to work on some homework and get back to sewing! I'll probably un-install the game before the summer is over. : /

de-cluttering

2009-07-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

One of my goals this summer has been trying to de-clutter my room, as I just have way too much stuff, to the point that it disgusts me. I really want to live a simpler life, but it seems to take 10 times longer to get rid of the stuff than the time it took to put that stuff there! The key might be taking it one little bit at a time, object by object. I've also tried to be strict on buying things since I shouldn't be adding to my clutter and I know I don't need it! Today I finally hung up some origami balls I made and managed to clear the wee bit of space on top of my bookshelf where the balls used to be. I'd wanted to hang them from my ceiling, but never got around to it since I can't reach the ceiling, even if I'm standing on a chair. I got the idea to hang them from my curtain rod instead, and it didn't look half-bad.

Sorry the pics are kind of dark. I tried to play around with the aperture on my camera, but they were still dark. The sun was setting, so there was only so much I could do!

At least I'm really happy with how this one turned out, especially with the lighting.

Culinary exploits.

2009-07-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Mashed potatoes or ice cream? You decide.
Now that my cough is pretty much gone, I'm letting loose on my sweet tooth. I got an ice cream-making ball from Costco for about 13 bucks and I finally got to try it out. I'd made ice cream before, and it's tough work because I had to churn it myself and the ingredients were enveloped in a super-cold bag of ice, making it hard to touch it for very long! This ball kind of tackles the problem as you put the ice cream ingredients go in the aluminum chamber and the ice goes on the outside. The ball isn't too cold to the touch, and having it all in the ball makes it easier to churn it. I just rolled it around on the carpet while I watched TV. You can kind of justify the sweet, rich ice cream when you've worked for it!
The instructions have extra recipes, but I just tried the basic one for vanilla ice cream. It called for 'light cream', so I was a bit confused by it and so I think I bought the wrong kind of cream that didn't have enough fat in it. The consistency was more slushie-like and not very ice cream-y, but it was still good. I'll definitely have to try the strawberry and coffee recipes with a richer ingredient like heavy cream!

otro concierto

2009-07-12T20:07:00.001-07:00

I went to my first concert in a bar to see Boyce Avenue. I normally don't watch videos on Youtube for covers on songs (while there are some good ones, there are also lots of BAD ones!), but somehow I came across Boyce Avenue's covers on songs from artists like Leona Lewis and Chris Brown, and I really liked them. Their original stuff is really good too, and I'd suggest 'Hear Me Now' and 'On My Way'. Since none of my friends could accompany me to a bar yet, my mom went with me. I don't think she'll care to go to a bar again, but I had a good time. My friends had better hurry up to be of age so they can go with me next time!
As promised on their Twitter, they sported some mustaches for the show. :D

Hula classes

2009-07-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

The other day I had my first hula class and while I was a bit nervous at first, it turned out to be a super-fun class!
I was so intimidated when I was waiting for class to begin because the class using the studio before us was some sort of kids' hip-hop class. Sure, the kids in there weren't super-great (not that I know much about dancing), but nonetheless, they were doing some fancy choreography and I began to wonder if perhaps this place was too hardcore for me. I am, after all, quite rhythmically challenged and not athletically inclined. Plus, my overactive imagination began to wonder if perhaps the beginners' class was a continuation of the previous beginners' class session, so what if everyone else knew what they were doing except me?! It wasn't hard to picture myself looking like a loser while everyone else was churning out the moves like pros. Fortunately, things started off nice and slow and in no time, I was having a great time. I wasn't half-bad doing the moves individually, but when we had to start doing 2-3 moves all at the same time, that's when I started looking a bit pathetic. Nonetheless, it was so fun and the next morning I couldn't stop thinking about the class. I want to practice what I've learned outside of class as I not only want to improve, but I also just enjoy it. Alas, my back and hips were so fatigued, so I'll have to rest a bit before I can start practicing!
I was surprised at how much we covered, both in hula and Tahitian, but at least there's plenty of stuff on the internet to help me remember the names/moves.

Almost there!

2009-07-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't blogged in a while, but now that my camera's batteries are replaced, I can make a post with pictures. I'm almost done with the purple dress and I'm just a hem and a tuck away from having my first dress of this summer. The green dress was on hiatus when I wanted to see if I could get some piping in the right shade of blue, but yesterday's trip to the fabric store did not yield what I needed. After I already attached the bodice to the skirt on the purple dress (and trimmed the seam), I realized that some purple piping would have looked nice, but alas, both dresses shall be without piping.
Last Saturday I spent all afternoon just cutting out the pattern pieces for other dresses I want to make. It sort of felt like I wasn't doing much because I was in front of the TV for hours, but the TV was just on for noise and I figure I would have spent all that time cutting out the pieces later on anyway. I ended up cutting out 4 patterns, leaving a huge pile of scraps! It doesn't look big in the picture, but trust me, it was a lot and my thumb was sore from all that cutting afterwards.

These are the 4 patterns I want to start next. The second from the left will probably be my next project, with that quirky tomato fabric I told you about (second photo, in the middle). The shift dress pattern next to it will be out of the blue bird's feet fabric (third photo down, in the middle) and I haven't yet decided what I'll use for the ones on the far right and left. The peacock fabric I like so much might be enough for the dress in the pattern on the right, in either the style with straps or the one-shouldered one.
As for the pattern on the far left, perhaps I should venture into slippery gauzy fabric for that one. I rarely see sheer polyester fabric that I like at Joann's, but in the sale section there was a bolt of fabric that was navy blue with white cherry blossoms on it. I didn't buy any since I didn't know what I'd do with it or if I wanted to work with such slippery stuff, but I keep thinking about how much I like that fabric and it might work with that dress!

v\

I love the color/pattern of my fabric! I got in in the sari/Chinese brocade section. This sort of stuff is a bit slippery and frays quickly, but I tell myself that if I just use enough pins and an easy pattern, this can be a one-shouldered party dress (from the pattern on the far right) in no time. The one-shouldered style reminds me of how saris are draped over one shoulder, so I'm excited to make this dress. I just hope I can use the side borders strategically so they won't get lost in the seams or end up in a weird place on the dress!

Joann's doesn't have a super-great fabric selection, but there's still lots of cute cotton prints that catch my eye. I had to hold back on a lot of them, but I let myself get this one since my 40% off coupon couldn't be used on the on my green fabric. It'll probably end up as the dress with straps from the same pattern.

I'm over my cold but I have a lingering cough. Of course, just when I can't have sweet/dairy things (they trigger my cough), I'm craving them! I've really wanted some Cinnamon Toast Crunch lately. I've also just wanted to eat yogurt and ice cream. My cough is nearly gone at this point though, so I'm going to get a milk tea boba with a friend this afternoon!

A peek at my second dress

2009-07-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

The other night I was in a good mood to start a second dress so I cut out the pattern pieces and fabric. Shortly after, I also found the zippers I bought for both fabrics and so now it'll be one less thing to stop me from finishing the dresses. I pressed the seams for the straps on the second dress, as pictured:

I can't remember the number/brand of the pattern I'm using right now, but it'll be a simple dress with a fitted bodice and slightly flared skirt if it helps to visualize it.

In non-crafty news, my Hindi textbook finally arrived! I ordered one back in May, but it never arrived. The seller kindly gave me a refund and I reordered it from another seller. The cover is soft, so it's nice to be able to just bend back the cover and the leathery texture gives it an old-school feel. I looked at the first several pages and man, it'll be the most challenging linguistic endeavor yet! Hopefully I can still get something out of this that'll help me pick out more words from the Bollywood movies I watch.

Almost done with my dress!

2009-06-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I'm sick with a cold, but the good that's come out of it is that I got some sewing done on that dress I posted about. All of it has been pretty easy so far, and I'm almost done. I couldn't find the matching zipper I bought when the fabric was intended for another dress pattern, so there's only so much I can get done until I get the zipper I need. Plus, I started getting tired. So, I decided to leave things at that for now and I at least tried to press the seams, although the ironing wasn't very thorough. I tried to snap a picture or two:
Bodice and skirt, not yet attached.

Close-up on the fabric. I tried to get some good lighting, but the color of the fabric looks a bit duller than it really is. I love the colors and the print! I want to try and get some blue trim or piping somewhere to bring out the wee bits of blue in the print.

Let the dress making begin! *Once I finish my homework.

2009-06-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

I was looking at some vintage dresses on Etsy.com and as I'd feared, looking at vintage clothing on Etsy has just become another thing that I can become easily addicted to. It's particularly nice when one does find a vintage piece that is in all the right measurements! That just makes it even more tempting to buy, as I try to tell myself that the dress listed was just meant to be for me. I was particularly tempted by the following dresses:
What is it about me and bird-print dresses?
I normally don't wear much white, but...
It's red! It has a fitted waist! Need I say more?
So impractical and not my exact size, but it's a red party dress!
I don't even like the 80's but I had to make an exception for yet another impractical dress

At least all that temptation and craving was channeled into motivation to finally start on one of the many dresses I've wanted to sew this summer. I looked through my stash of fabric and patterns and settled on New Look 6750, as a brief look through the instructions made it seem manageable to get through. The cool thing about this pattern is that there are 2 different bodices, 2 skirts and 2 sleeves you can mix and match, so I went with components B and D- a sleeveless bodice with a split neckline and the slimmer skirt since I didn't have enough yardage for the flared skirt (the fabric I used was meant for another dress pattern). I cut out the pieces today while watching "Run Fatboy Run", and I pinned all the skirt pieces together. When bits of fabric are pinned together, it's particularly tempting to just sew them right then and there because everything's in place to get started- lots of easy seams, all ready to go! Alas, I folded up the skirt panels and put them aside so no one gets poked by the pins while walking through the living room (luckily there are no kids around or I couldn't be lazy about leaving my stuff out) because I have a bit of homework due tomorrow for my summer health class. : (

In other news, I want to get my hands on If You Don't Know Me By Now, by Sathnam Sanghera. I heard about his book through Imran Ahmad's blog, as I recently finished (and really enjoyed) his book, Unimagined and he had a post about reviewing Sanghera's book. Unfortunately, the book can only be bought from booksellers on Amazon (last time I checked), and it didn't even come up on a computer search at Barnes and Noble. Hopefully if I order it from a bookseller I can get it from a seller that also carries Love in a Headscarf, by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, although it looks like it's only available as a Kindle book right now. Both are a bit tricky to get since they're originally published in the UK, so at least with the more recently published Headscarf... book, I could try and wait to see if it will be published here.

Anyway, I wanted to read these books as lately I've been more interested in reading more autobiographical stuff, particularly from the perspective of people from other cultures. Recently, fictional stories just haven't been appealing to me at all, which is somewhat disappointing as I still have some fictional books on my shelf that I haven't even touched yet.

There's been a heatwave lately, so right now my hands are sticky. I need to get to some homework, and maybe I can get to some sewing, after!

dolly dress

2009-06-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

I sewed the snaps on my doll dress and now I guess you could say it's done. I wanted to try making a pattern for something more challenging (as in not a pillowcase), and I wanted to try and practice working with gathers. Maybe I just need more practice or I should just go more slowly, but it's hard for me to stay-stitch the gathers. I decided to make the dress one-shouldered along the way as I remembered that my doll's head is too big for the dress to be slipped over, and the straps were a bit skinny to be messing around with snaps on them. Still, her arms are stiff, so it's hard to slip the wee strap over it. Other than that, it's just a simple bodice and gathered skirt.

False start on my road to dancing like Shakira.

2009-06-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to taking belly dance classes this summer as Shakira makes it look so fun and I have a special admiration for her since she's petite like me. Today a best friend and I were going to start our belly dance class, although we sort of changed our minds. I'm not sure I can say we changed our minds as we're both so indecisive, but ultimately we decided not to go, so I guess you could say we changed our minds.

We got off to a rough start when I exited the freeway too early, even though I'd taken the correct exit so many times before- I think I was a bit frazzled with having to drive to a slightly new place as I'm still not an experienced driver, and I feel self-conscious when I'm not driving alone in the car. At least my passenger was patient with my sucky driving. I was a bit nervous when we had to take the scenic route to the gym, as I was afraid the detour would make us late, and by the time we got to the gym I was a bit frazzled. It turns out that the price for the punch card (the price just for classes and not purchasing a gym membership) was 50 bucks higher than the price on the site (I guess the instructor didn't update that change), so after bouncing between "What do you want to do?"/"I don't know, what do you want to do?", we just decided to content ourselves with our future hula classes. Plus, I have exactly the number of weeks left here as I do for the weekly classes, so the trip to Canada would force me to either lose a class or try to make it up at another gym.

Since we needed to register for our July hula class in person, we were going to head over to the school to sign up since we were already out, although we decided to put that on hold since we could drop in and try a class tomorrow before we commit to a whole session. On a whim we ended up just getting some boba! I guess I should know better than to mention my cravings as said bestie just eggs me on and indulges me. Yesterday I'd already had a milk tea but Eggettes gives a coupon in every receipt so we went over to get a last-minute drink before I dropped her off. I've never stepped out in gym clothes (although then again I never go to the gym) but it seemed funny that with Eggettes being right next to a gym, we could at least give the illusion that we'd just worked up a thirst from a workout with our gym clothes. Tomorrow night we'll try to actually attend a dance class, I guess! : )

this and that

2009-06-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry this blog hasn't quite hasn't seen much crafty action yet. I started a summer class so I haven't really worked on any of my projects because I feel too guilty to work on them when I have homework and reading to do! I'm almost done with a doll dress I started on though, so once I sew on the snaps I'll post a picture. I also revamped a shirt and played around with pintucks, so I'll post that once I'm finished with it, too.

In other news, I guess my Erica Abroad! blog will be updated sooner than expected! I thought it would have to be on a bit of a hiatus since I don't have any travel plans, but at the last minute my parents let me get some airfare to go to Montréal to visit my friend Rosa and I'm super-excited. I'll be there in early August so you can expect to find some posts there this summer. I love going to Vancouver, so I can't wait to fall in love with Montréal, too!

Have you heard of the 'triangle of death'?

2009-06-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

I was at the doctor earlier this month and he told me about the 'triangle of death'. It sounded ridiculous when he first mentioned it, but it turns out that it can live up to its name! He was telling me that picking or scratching at blemishes at certain parts of the face can actually get you a deadly infection because there's a certain area of the face (the 'triangle of death', as he called it) has veins that are connected to a part of your brain so if you get an infection there and it travels all the way up to your brain, you could die. So, the moral of the story: don't pick at 'em!!

¡Reik en concierto!

2009-06-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

I don't go to a lot of concerts but 2 weeks ago (yeah, sorry it's a bit late) one of my best friends and I got to see Reik in concert! They've been one of my favorite groups since high school and they're just as good as when they were here a couple years ago. It was my first crowded, sweaty-type of concert, but at least some of the girls in front of me were short and they smelled okay. There was some bra-tossing and stage-jumpers, but I guess that just means they've made it big, right? ; )

Fabric-y goodness

2009-06-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

On the way back home, we stopped at the Michael Levine fabric store in LA. It's our favorite place because it's HUGE and has practically every bit of fabric imaginable! It's quite overwhelming. This time around my goal was to mainly get fabric for some clothes-related projects I wanted to get done this summer:

Left-right: Blue cotton voile, peacock-printed cotton and a floral printed cotton. I've wanted to make something out of voile because I like how it's light and gauzy, although I've already wrinkled it a bit. I want to make a summer top out of it since it will drape nicely, but it could also make a nice skirt, too. I love peacock feathers, so I wanted to make a nice dress out of the middle fabric as I really liked the blues and the touch of metallic, but there wasn't enough yardage on the bolt for the dress I wanted to make. I just bought the remaining 1.5 yards to decide what to do with it later. I liked the floral fabric because of the colors, but I just bought a little bit of it to make a bag or something.

Top-bottom: I couldn't help but notice a bit of an aviary theme that tied some of my fabrics together! The teal fabric with little bird footprints will be a simple shift dress with half-sleeves and I was tempted to make a dress out of the duck fabric, but I decided to just get a yard of the stuff to either make a skirt, top or bag. I've been wanting some quirky prints since Ugly Betty has been inspiring some of my fashion sense, but I think the ducks could have easily been a bit clownish for a dress.

Top-bottom: The blue and orange fabric is one of my favorites! Bright colors, a little bit ethnic, but not like some of the really busy, large ethnic prints that one sees a lot. I found a cool dress tutorial in which you sew the dress without a pattern (which sounds like my sort of thing since I can't read patterns well and sometimes things make more sense to me if I just estimate this and that along the way), so I bought a generous amount of that fabric to try it out. The tomato-ish print fabric will be a dress from a Simplicity pattern (I think it's v-neck, fitted waist and full skirt), and I hope the colorful, quirky print isn't in the same department as the duck fabric in which it could look a bit silly. The tree fabric is another one that I just bought a little bit of and will decide what to do with it later.

With some of the fabric that isn't yet destined toward a particular project yet, I have plenty of ideas in mind:
it's technically a fanny pack but too cool to be considered one
This crocheted neckline top could work well with the voile or the ducks
cute handbag! The floral print would look good with that...
This pencil skirt tutorial calls for a stiffer fabric, but ducks or a matryoushka-print fabric would make an interesting contrast with the preppy, formal vibe that goes with pencil skirts...
I kind of know how to install zippers now, so this boxy zipper pouch would be a cute little project in almost any fabric!
I want to make some clutches this summer, and if I can learn how to install purse frames, I could make some really cute ones!
Last but not least, some spats are in order! I have some nice lime green linen I want to use, but some of my cotton prints would make a quirky lining for them.