growing up

My baby is not a baby any more... this is so true.

i need to enjoy ALL the moments.

It is a September miracle!!

ok.
i love all things yarny
is that a word? i don't know.
in my world it is.

i have a weird love for hand knit socks.
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE

may have something to do with the fact that i'm always cold, but the fact is between socks and mittens i cannot stop gazing dreamily at them wishing i had millions of dollars to buy socks and mittens and finance my goal of becoming a gift wrapper.
yes.
a gift wrapper.
i also love wrapping presents.
if i won the lottery i would become a gift wrapper.

but back to the miracle.

i am a pretty great crocheter.
knitting i can do simple things and had never successfully completed anything following a pattern.
i have tried and tried and eventually i get frustrated and give up.
years of this.

GUESS WHAT I FINALLY DID?!?!?!


A  SOCK!!!!

it is plain and simple but I DID IT!!!!

sock 2 is still waiting to be made so we will see if i successfully make a PAIR of socks but even if that doesn't happen i may frame this one!

break is over.... back in business!

i took a break from this blog over the summer because with the hectic schedule of our lives and all the ups and downs trying to deal with crazy schedule changes i just knew that it would one more thing that i had to worry about.

BUT....

coming into fall and my busy season with kabukikreations i thought i would pop back on here and see about making time to blog again because i missed it!

not sure if i will be posting as often as i used to but i will be trying my best to get in at least a couple posts a week!

first big market coming up shortly and it is an exciting one! hope to see lots of you there!

and for anyone needing the address it is 10242 106 Street NW

It's been a while.

Well I've decided to jump back into this blog because I miss it! 

Today is a pretty gloomy day. 

streetlights on during the day gloomy. 

Paired with a frustrating trip to ikea (for the second time) which will require yet another trip tomorrow I wanted something yummy and baked in the oven with cheese. 

Call me old fashioned but first thing that comes to mind is casserole. Some sort of ooey gooey cheese topped mish mash of food. 

I had zero motivation to make a trip to the grocery store so I knew my ingredients were limited to whatever I had in the house. 

Well, tomorrow is grocery day so I was scrounging. Plus Fernando is heading off to band shortly so I also didn't have a ton of time to get it done in time for early dinner. 

What did we end up with? 

Hash brown casserole! 

Yummers. 

We tackled almost half of it. 

Oops! 

The glory of casseroles is that even some of the weirdest ingredients work so well. 

This lovely specimen of casserole aka "hot dish" was a combo of hash browns, creamed corn, butter, salt, pepper, garlic and of course cheese on top. 

I was skeptical of the creamed corn and garlic but I decided to go for it and it was awesome!! 

And gluten free!

So yay for only having to make one instead of a gf version and a normal version! 

Bonus points for now having leftovers for during the week too. 

I think I may be on a casserole kick for a while now. 

What's your favorite casserole? 

Ridiculous rhubarb

It's HUGE! 

For the middle of may I think this may be a record growth even for my rhubarb which thrives on extreme neglect. 

Looks like time for rhubarb muffins and cake!! YUM

change is in the air...

the last little while has been quite a lot to deal with.

i haven't felt much like keeping up with this blog with everything going on but i'm hoping to get back to it.

lots of stress, not enough time... you know, the fun stuff.

one of the things that has been constantly on my mind and really hard for me has been Baxter's health.
he has been diagnosed with cushings disease and thankfully he seems to responding well to treatment but he's not quite where the vet would like so there's still some adjusting to do with his medication. She is optimistic and pleased with his results so far but it is really hard knowing that he's not ok just yet.
I am hoping for the best but it is hard watching him get old and this has been a pretty dramatic and fast decline so i'm hoping he rebounds ok.

so send my poor old man pup some good healing vibes and cross your fingers for us :)

the rest of the stuff... well its still a work in progress... maybe i'll post about that another day.

Another not so winning day...

i'm really struggling with winners these days...

shiny silver jogging shorts? why? they weren't my size or i may have had to try them on just because i'm sure they'd be even worse on a person than the hanger.

and BAM.
for those of you that prefer gold to silver... you're taken care of.
these maybe could be ok if the right outfit happened... but i kind of despise gold for the most part so definitely not for me!

this. see through awful static crazy material paired with super scratchy non-matching lace that i cringe just thinking about rubbing on my legs as i walk. WHY? they are not only questionable looking but potentially dangerous! OUCH.

Yes. Yes I'm crazy.

ok. my phone is packed to the gills with photos. 

like over 12,000 photos.

ridiculous.

but in the process of going through and deleting some so i can make room for my phone to be updated i found this gem from before christmas. 

HAPPY PERFECTION.

SWOON

best matching wrapping paper seam EVER.

spring colors! and no winter boots!

is spring finally here?

i hope so!

I'M READY!!

You can't break me Mother Nature.

it is cowboy boot season.

i don't care if it snows.
NOT GETTING MY SNOW BOOTS BACK OUT!!!

Mr. Sketch for the win

fairly certain mr. sketch markers will survive the zombie apocalypse.

for real.

this marker is from when i was in grade 5 or 6. 

depends which year was new marker year for me.

ps. that was a LONG time ago

these markers still smell awesome and are coloring like new.

i would love to see a crayola marker do that. they barely last a month before they're dying a slow painful death.

i'm actually super happy i have another full box of the old ones stashed because if they're like all other things, the new ones aren't nearly as good.

plus they changed the smells. 

that seems wrong,

Bringing Kobe's blanket back to life. Finally

i did this a while ago but forgot to post it...

this was kobe's favorite blanket. it was the first bigger blanket i actually ever completed and it was almost immediately claimed by my little princess. for years it resided in her favorite basket chair and it was falling apart because i had no idea how to assemble a blanket and was told by someone to use regular sewing thread so it wouldn't show. bad idea. the threads were breaking all over the blanket and there were gaping holes everywhere. it was such a mess because it was covered in cat hair and once she was gone i just couldn't deal with it any more and stuffed it in a bag. i finally dug it out and spent an evening restitching the blanket and popped it in the wash.
its not perfect, its not super beautiful, but i was SO happy to snuggle under it on the couch once i took it out of the dryer. and chico approves too :)
so glad i finally resurrected this cozy comfy blanket.

chico kept me company on the blanket the whole time i was fixing it. must have still smelled like his buddy.

Wtf egg?!

ever have something happen that makes you question all things logical?

THIS

boiling eggs and when i'm done i see a floater... thinking oh, one of the eggs must have been cracked and it leaked a bit... 

upon closer inspection... IT IS THE ENTIRE YOLK.

INTACT.

HOW?!?!?

it somehow squeezed out a near invisible crack and just happily cooked along side the eggs.

i don't get it.

HOW?!?

Winners... Not so winning!

don't get me wrong....
i LOVE winners.
the feeling of finding something awesome is pretty hard to beat when it comes to shopping here...
but its a gamble.
sometimes you win...
sometimes, NOT SO MUCH!


maybe you love these things... but for the most part i am blown away at how all the fashion mistakes of the past are rearing their ugly heads.


first.... the one piece um.... romper? is that what you call this?
i do not know who can really wear this and it be flattering. its like a big sacky pair of overalls.
and FYI, do not attempt this unless you are short. i tried this on and could not even stand up because it was too short and as much as some may defend this outfit (clearly people like them because they're buying them) camel toe looks good on NOBODY!

these.... at first i saw them and was like "hey these are cute" and i love crazy patterns... but then i actually picked them up. they are like a crotch poncho! they were a weird synthetic woven material that seriously could not possibly be comfortable if its actually warm enough to wear shorts!

the jantie.
seriously? these were panties made out of denim. there is no inseam.
i don't think these could be worn without lady bits sneaking out! sad. i loved the material!

this.... a maxi dress? i think not.
its like a bad nightgown dressed up with a collar.... and i don't think even a belt could save it. i'm all for sacky dresses cinched with a belt... but this just sends me right back to aproximately 1995 and not in a good way!

pajama jeans to the next level.
i've been seeing this style popping up all over the place but i've yet to see anyone wearing them let alone making them look good. essentially these are pricey 80's/90's sweatpants trying to be real pants.
maybe without the elastic at the bottoms i'd be able to take them seriously... but really? why elastic ankles??
and this monstrosity.

and this monstrosity....

looks like kind of a 80's pattern skirt.... NOPE.

this is shorts.

made out of silky 80's fabric that i'm betting would be ridiculously staticky once you took about 3 steps. i came to that conclusion after pulling it out of the rack made it stick to the clothes behind it.

where does one wear a skort?

why would one even want to wear a skort?

sometimes the best of both worlds ideas are just really bad ideas... this seems like its falling bigtime into that category.

pick ONE.

shorts 

or a skirt.

not both combined into something like this monstrosity.

PLEASE!

Foto Friday - Runway kitty

Where did this come from?!

do you ever find things in your house and wonder WTF?

this gem was in my basement.
i have no idea how it got there. it is not at all my size and i had to keep it. i think this not so little kitty is going to end up a pillow!
too epic to donate to the second hand shop.

foto friday.... woah daddy!

Because I needed a longer to do list...

I have a big case of craft distract. 

Do I need more things to try and cram into an already packed schedule? Hell no! But of course there are times when I literally can't help myself and I HAVE to try something. 

This is one of those times. 

I get asked a LOT why I'm not selling dinosaur planters or the miscellaneous cute little cups full of succulents... Well a couple reasons. But right this moment? It's cold. I stopped selling them in the winter because every single time I did I would wrap the heck out of them and warn people to keep them out of the cold as much as possible before getting them home... Inevitably there would be angry emails/calls the next few days from people who walked their plants home in -25 weather or forgot the bag in the car for a few hours then expected me to fix their frozen dead plants. 

So they became a spring/summer thing. 

And then I just didn't have the time to take care of hundreds of extra plants. 

That aspect of it was time consuming in itself! 

There's a bit more to why but I think that's enough detail for now. 

BUT....

TaaaaaDAAAAAHHHHH!

Immortal cup-o-succulent! 

No watering no sun no green thumb required! 

More to come soon! 

january 2015 "real" reads

one of my new years goals was to start reading some "real" books... as in not silly fluff books which is pretty much all i've read since hugo was born.
soooo....

here are the two i have read so far.

this book.... Life of Pi
i had super high expectations and to be honest.... i don't get what all the hype was about.
i didn't hate it, but didn't love it.




















THIS.... i LOVED
i was sad to finish it.
i found myself not wanting to put it down.
super interesting and i enjoyed how it was written. a lot.

new year.... new goals.

i don't think i really like the idea of new years resolutions.

it doesn't seem right.

i'm making goals.

nothing so grand as to deserve the title of resolution.

i had a resolution last year.
knitting a pair of mittens.
THAT
deserved the title.

i had battled my knitting needles for years trying to make a passable pair of mittens.

FINALLY

VICTORY WAS MINE.

will i start making tons of mittens.... NO. likely not.


so back to the real reason of this post.

2015

what am i going to do?
what do i want to do?

• first goal is to read a "real" book every month.

i have been really bad for reading nonsense fluff books since hugo was born.
really bad.
i don't get the time to read that i used to and i find it difficult to read a book that makes me think when i only get a few minutes here or there to pick it up.

i started my goal off with a bang.

i ran out of library books and actually started reading Life of Pi.

and finished it.

more on that in another post.
part two of this goal is to hold myself accountable by blogging the books i read.

• second goal is to learn how to knit cables.

• third goal is to start selling online again. etsy? not sure.... made urban? want to try. 

i haven't focused on my online sales since hugo was born. i'm hoping to find a bit of balance and somehow get that back up and running.

Fingers crossed!

what are your goals for 2015?

we survived!

well, by we i mean ME

christmas season is crazy hectic for us... birthdays and christmas all rolled into a little bundle of crazy... 5 birthdays and 3 christmases all rolled into one month plus a week.
last birthday rolls out january 8th and then we get a little break. just a little one.

as hectic as it was, this is the first year in a long time i was REALLY excited for christmas. watching hugo get more and more excited the closer we got to christmas really brought the magic back to it for me. he LOVES christmas. he loves the decorations, the cookies, the magic... everything.

he was so sad that we took the tree down yesterday.
it would have been down sooner but i just didn't find the time. lucky for him. he got to enjoy it an extra week.

new years wasn't as much of a thrill for him other than he got to hang out with his little cousin and play while we pigged out on cheese fondue so that was a win win for all of us.

new years resolution from last year....
http://kabukikreations.blogspot.ca/2014/01/my-one-and-only-new-years-resolution.html

i did it!!!
hugo was the recipient of these little mittens and he LOVES them.
it took me nearly the whole year to do it but I DID IT!!!

hugo wanted out to try these bad boys out!