A Lot-a Yukata, Etc

This past weekend my friend Patricia had a trunk show at Fabric Crush featuring her vast collection on vintage Japanese fabrics.  It just so happens that the house I grew up in, where my parents still reside, is three blocks away.

Saturday afternoon I collected my mom and dragged her out to the show.  I knew I was going to at least buy a yard or two, but then something happened... We were talking about the nautical decor in my upcoming wedding (which I know I have promised will not take over my blog) when Patricia got out the bolt of fabric you see her holding in the above photo and oops!  I bought the whole bolt.  She gave me an amazing deal on it because of some areas she saw as flaws in the fabric (whereas I will call them character and not think about it again).

I'm so excited!  Blue and white stripes?  Check.  Artsy waves?  Check.  Helloooo table decor!

Afterward, we wandered over to Fainting Goat on 45th for gelato.  It's the best gelato I've ever had, and I'm not exaggerating.  If you're thinking, "well I went to Italy, and the stuff I had there..." stop right there.  Yep, it's better than that.  I got dark chocolate and salted caramel.  My mom got pistachio and hazelnut.  It was all heavenly.  I was especially impressed with the pistachio, which does not taste like that disappointing spumoni pistachio, but rather the real nut.  Amazing.  Check it:

Adorable logo and delicious product. I am in love.

Did I Mention I'm a Shoe Girl?

I had to do it.  I needed them.  Few shoes call to me in the way that these did.  They are sexy, a little naughty, and oh, so delicious.

source

It's the zipper on the back that really gets me.  They could *almost* be trashy (and I'll tell you, the black ones cross that line), but I think with the right outfit, they are a great Saturday afternoon shoe.  Here's what I put together:

sources: top, jeans, bracelet

If they're worn with faded jeans, a slouchy casual top, and a funky wood bracelet, they take on a weekend-in-the-city sort of vibe.  Couldn't you see me in this outfit at King's Hardware?  Yep, me too.

I'm getting mawwied!

So it turns out I have a sneaky man in my life.  He orchestrated a secret trip to LA to enlist the assistance of my best friend in choosing a ring, chartered a sunset cruise on the sailboat my parents owned when I was growing up (skippered by my godfather), and planned a family party after the boat ride, all without me knowing!

Andrew, you were so romantic, it blew me away.  Thanks for a fantastic evening, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful future with you.

Weekend Recap

This weekend reminded me of all the reasons I will not be taking a class this summer.  I love to play outside!!  Saturday morning I woke up refreshed, did some housework, and then met my friend Allison for a run on the BGT.  From there, I went to Lake Union to meet Abby for an hour of kayaking to work on getting some tanned, toned arms and core for sleeveless summer tops.  We had a nice little tour around Portage Bay, and then decided to head over to the Arboretum.  To get there, we had to navigate through the cut that separates Lake Union from Lake Washington.  Because it's such a high traffic narrow passage, there was some serious wave action.  We paddled like maniacs to get through it was fast as we could.  Not that I was worried, but we didn't capsize.  On the other side of the cut we took a much needed breather before exploring.

Abby enjoying her victory

the view from my seat

It was in the 70s all day, and I enjoyed every second of it.  After kayaking we headed over to a bbq where I met some great people, had delicious eats, and fantastic cocktails.  Helloooo summer.

Yesterday was a little more low key.  I did some baking, cleaning, working out, and then topped the evening off with a little happy hour down on one of the lakeside patios.  We sat there with our wine and cheese, watching the sun slip down behind the hills.

on the cheese plate: St Andre, Port Salut, Dubliner

Seattle is such a fantastic city - it offers a rich lifestyle on a shoestring budget.  Doesn't get much better than this.

Rain on Me

sources: shirt, skirt (currently not available), belt, jewelry, shoes

Yesterday was a little gloomy, weather-wise, but it also reminded me of how beautiful Seattle can be in the rain.  You just have to look at it right.  When I woke yesterday morning and looked out the window, the rain was lightly coming down.  I can see Lake Washington from my kitchen window, and the gray skies made the color of the lake a deep smoky blue, with just a hint of aqua.  My outfit yesterday was sort of a tribute to the beauty of Seattle, even in inclement weather.

DBC Weekend

What a weekend!  It was DBC-tastic.  Kate, our San Francisco outfit, was in town Thurs night through Sunday evening for some quilty fun, but we didn't limit it to just sewing.  We spent all day Saturday up in the Skagit Valley with the Seattle moms enjoying the annual Tulip Festival.  I thought I'd take you on a little floral parade through the highlights...

...and of course a group photo of the DBC members.  Poor Kate and Abby were trying to stay as dry as possible. I, on the other hand, felt invincible in my rain jacket and boots.

What DBC reunion would be complete without a fabric store excursion.  We visited The Quilting Loft and Fabric Crush where we picked up some beauts.  Here's my loot:

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, so we spent the morning photographing our finished quilts to be uploaded onto our etsy shop.  We still have to edit down, but here's a sneak preview of our hard work:

That's Kate looking positively nautical on our dock.  She's such a great quilt model.  A couple of hours later we relaxed on that same dock with barbecued chicken and a few Mexican bottled beers.  The sunburn on my shoulders was totally worth it.

Ode to the Early 80s: Wallingford's Tweedy & Pop

I was born here in Seattle and grew up in a little two-story craftsman in Wallingford, before it was a desirable area of the city to live. My earliest memories of the neighborhood were the mom-n-pop stores on our main street: the cobbler, the bike repair shop, Fuji’s Five & Dime, and the health food store that reeked of so many exotic dry herbs and potions that my younger brother and I held our noses every time we were forced to go in there with our mother. A shabby Radio Shack anchored one of the few intersections marked by a traffic light, and just a little further down the street sat a drugstore that no matter how many times it was repainted still looked dingy and tired.

Over the years, the run down drugstore became condos, the Radio Shack became an Irish pub, and the various other shops became restaurants, bars, high end dress shops, and chain coffee joints. The one relic that remains today is Tweedy & Pop’s Hardware Store. In the early 80s they had shiny red Radio Flyer wagons in the window, which in the wintertime would temporarily be replaced with wooden sleds for sale… not that Seattle got snow often enough to warrant the purchase of a sled. Most of the winter those sleds would hang there collecting dust, but on those rare occasions it would snow enough in Seattle to cover the ground with a healthy layer, the entire city would come to a halt and those sleds disappeared from the window of Tweedy & Pop’s before noon.

Without fail you’d see the lucky kids, whose parents had also understood how important it was to trudge to the store at first light for a sled, racing down the side of Kite Hill at Gasworks Park. The less fortunate kids, no less determined to capitalize on a snow day, improvised with garbage can lids, cardboard boxes, or whatever they could find. Some kids had old sleds from the last time it snowed three years before. My brother and I had an old wood sled with metal runners we’d drag down to the park; it wasn’t as shiny as the new Tweedy & Pop models, but it had a simple steering device and fit both of us kids (and sometimes a mom or dad) and we used it with pride, gloating in our seasoned preparedness for snow.

Today, Tweedy & Pop’s Hardware features plastic pink flamingos in the front window year round, struggling to stand among precariously balanced lawn mowers, long-handled shovels, and metal wire garden edging scattered on the floor of the display. It’s an explosion of hodge-podge items jumbled together, cluttered enough to make even a frat boy cringe, but I like it; whether it’s my tendency to root for the underdog or nostalgia for the good old days taking its hold on me once again, I look at this trainwreck of a window display with a certain affection and wonderment once reserved only for the windows at FAO Schwartz downtown.

Most of my childhood is preserved now only in grainy photos or has been reduced to items that can fit in the box in the back of my closet, but there’s something wistfully comforting to know this old hardware store, a link back to my days as a loudmouthed barefoot hellion, is still plugging along, providing its customers with odds and ends the way it has for years. I know that in my lifetime this shop will close, but until that day, I’ll keep rooting for it to hold out as long as it can.