One man band

I mean, one lady factory.  It's a mess over here.

V is going to a conference next week where he and his wildlife rehabilitation group will be speaking and offering their ideas on rehabilitation.  I've been busy making fabric wraps to help wrap injured birds and mini sock-type things to protect their feet.

The wraps have flaps that need velcro sewn on and my wimpy plastic 90s Singer isn't heavy duty enough to sew through it so I'm using two machines to complete the job.

My first sewing machine, still going strong for light duty jobs

A neighbour gave me this vintage Singer when it didn't sell in a garage sale she had a few years ago. It can only do a straight stitch but is super powerful, can sew through anything, and doesn't have a finger guard. 

I've made 12 wraps so far and need to make a total of 40!

Trending now

Looks like I was a few months behind on the lip stickers trend I mentioned in this post.  I read an old Glamour magazine from December and they had a whole article on leopard print, glitter, and flag lip stickers.

I am WAY ahead of the trend on coloured jeans though.  I've been going through some old photos because a friend is working on a blog project and needs some oldies.  I have been uncovering some real gems.

Here I am at 12 in my sassy red jeans.  These might have been my introduction to "designer" labels.  They were Guess brand and I felt very, very cool when I wore them (which was exciting because I was not cool at all - look at those bangs!).  I am pretty sure these jeans had a hand in getting me invited to a Valentine's day party in grade 7 where we played spin the bottle and listened to Right Said Fred.   The hostess said, "come to my party, and wear your red jeans".  I didn't wear the oversized white and neon windbreaker to the party but most likely an over sized Esprit shirt.

This photo was in my horse riding days*, 2 years before my tragic skiing accident when I broke my tailbone and could never ride again.  I say tragic because I had to bring a pillow to school to sit on in class for three months.  I wanted crutches and a cast at a bare minimum! Nobody can sign "get well soon" on a pillow with a straight face.

*Full disclosure: I am pretty sure I have only ridden a horse once.

Twenty years (!!!) and three months or so later I tried on some coloured pants at the Rack but couldn't quite get on board. I think it was the pants though, they were more like leggings and bunched in the wrong place.  You know where.  THE KNEES.

Purple sausage legs

I also tried on some green cords that V spotted on the sale rack at anthro last month.  I really liked them (fit and colour) but thought they wouldn't transition well in the summer being cords and all.  This outfit was cute but I felt too Urban Outfitters in it.

I really liked that scarf.

Also trending, men playing with remote control cars.  Is this just in my neighbourhood?  I've seen four different grown men in different areas of Tahoe Park playing with their mini cars.  It's odd.

Rare ingredients

Don't these look delicious?

Well, they weren't!  Suckered again.  Thanks SF supermarket!  I was expecting some cake-like treats with sweet filling but these were dry rice-flour-y things with the driest, barely sweet filling I've ever had.  I was worried for the whole drive home that they would get crushed under all the other groceries too.  All that worry for nothing.  The green one on the left  is coconut and the yellow one is durian.  They're two of my favourite fruits but these "treats" didn't taste like anything.  They were $1.75 EACH so I can't justify throwing them away yet.  Maybe I'll give them another chance or bring them to a potluck.

We did get lucky with some dehydrated veggie pieces that look like a cross between croutons and chips in the package. At first I thought they were chips but you add water to hydrate and cook them like meat.  And surprisingly they taste just like meat!  Just kidding.  V made his famous Cuban arroz con pollo with an extremely rare and delicious Cuban spice.  Well, it's not that rare but sort of hard to find unless you're in Cuba, or Miami, which I think is where we got our last packet.

According to the Bijol website it's a MIRACLE SEASONING and I'd have to agree because it made dehydrated veggie protein taste delicious.

We also bought this boxed cake mix which needs SIX eggs.  I thought, because the photo shows a green cake, that it was pistachio flavoured.  It's pandan flavoured.  V looked it up and told me pandan is a leaf.  I might need to add some miracle seasoning to the cake.

Alert!

I got a phonecall yesterday from Strikes bowling alley because someone wanted to let me know about the family reunion that was being planned at the bowling alley.  All this time I've had family in Sacramento and didn't even know it.

Cute dresses

You can get 20% off full priced items at asos until Sunday with the code CUPOFJO (Jo's blog is one of my daily reads).  I've never bought anything from them but I am always tempted when I browse.  These pretty dresses all caught my eye this morning.

Perfect bike riding dress

I like the details on the sleeves of this dress but could do without the weird flap in the back.  Maybe it would be cuter if the model were wearing tights.

I know I'm too old for a dress this sweet but it is really cute

Happy Monday

How was your weekend?  I didn't find a single deal thrifting in Vallejo.  There were some cute vintage white pyrex mixing bowls that I thought were 30% off but when I discovered they weren't I deemed them overpriced.  I am missing them a little bit but it's not like I'm short on bowls.

This was one of the highlights of thrift shopping.

I'm guessing the theme is Valentine's day for the one on the right.  Not sure about the one on the left.

Vallejo marina

After our thrift store adventures, we went to a bar near the marina instead of My Office because I read on yelp that someone had been shot and killed there in February. Turns out it was February of last year but still.  We played it safe and watched the locals sing awful karaoke and had pizza at Napoli's.  Delicious.

It's seriously spring now and  I'm on the fence about sunscreen again this year.  Last summer I wore it the whole time and was as pale as can be and still got wrinkles.  I suppose it will make a difference in the long run.  

(side note: did you see Lindsay Lohan on SNL?  What has she done to her face?  Plastic surgery is (currently) a mystery to me but it's even weirder when people under 50 do it.  I thought she looked older because of it.)

I always wear sunscreen on my face in the summer and use Clarins self tanner for a bit of colour.  If you apply it correctly, it won't get streaky.  It's the best one I've tried.

Some ladies and I enjoyed the sun yesterday and drank a fancy cocktail in the garden.  I wore jeans and was too hot and it made me think about summer dresses and sandals.  I went to the Rack to see if they had any springy stuff out yet and there wasn't a single cute sandal to be found.  I tried on a couple of silk blouses that I was keen on but they were out of my no-income budget.  I got some cheapies from Old Navy instead, including two striped items from the sale rack.  I just can't quit stripes.  Please don't intervene.

  

Glitterific

It's Friday! Party time!  We are going to Vallejo to go thrifting, wander around the waterfront and possibly have a beverage at My Office.  What a great name for a bar.  They have a ping pong table, a bright blue drink called adios motherf*$&r, and a patio with lawn darts (safe?).  The last time we went a dude was selling pirated adult videos.

I am going to dazzle the locals with these beautiful nails.  Two kinds of glitter polish.  POW!

Mornings

I'm loopy in the mornings.  I'm usually recovering from a dream and feel disoriented.  This morning I woke up wondering about all the different foods that the Queen of England had eaten in her lifetime and thinking about how all the different food and health trends affected her and the cooks in her castles.  Then I pictured a ginger glazed chicken.

I think I've been watching too much Downton Abbey.

When I finally rolled out of bed, I looked online to see if there were any royal-type cookbooks and THERE ARE!  I requested them both from the library.  The first, was published in 1971 and has prized recipes from royals around the world and the other is from 1998 with recipes from English royals.  I love the cover of the first book.  Who wouldn't want a spread laid out in the shape of a crown?

I also found a more recent book by a royal pastry chef who moved up to be Princess Diana's personal chef. 

I requested that one from the library too.  ROYAL OVERLOAD

Pomp and circumstance

Has anyone flipped through or made recipes from these books before?  I'm especially excited about the pastry sections.  I do love a good royal pastry.  My go-to pastry and cake recipe book is the St Michael Cakes, Pastries and Cakes cookbook that was my Dad's (and maybe also my Grandma's?)  It can be bought for the unreasonable price of one pence on amazon UK.

Did anyone watch America's Next Top Model last night?  I caught the last thirty minutes.  I was glad they didn't cut the Scottish girrrl because I like to hear her talk.  What was with the flag lips?  You can buy them!

I don't know anyone who want to but you can here