SketchChair

Sure, I like human-size furniture just fine, but it doesn't compare to my love of their 1/6th scale miniatures.

I've been staring at my SketchChair mini, flat and disassembled on top of its shipping envelope for the past week. Today I finally took a break to put it together.

It's so cute. I wish I were 1/6th of my actual size so I could sit in it.

In the meantime, it sits on the windowsill next to my desk.

Renegade Chicago

I've been busy preparing for my last event of the year! (Then preparing for my wedding!)

Will you visit my booth at Renegade Chicago, Sept 10-11? Boy and I will be there, and we'd love to meet you!

How do I pee?

Bag: Baby Ruche in Blue Turqoise

Top: Vintage, Dear Golden Vintage

Dress: Lamixx (it's a skirt I wear as a strapless maxi dress)

Boy's mom is in town. That means lots of wedding planning this weekend! And by wedding planning, I mean lots of nodding my head and agreeing while I stuff my face with home-cooked Indian food.

Last night, Aparna, Momzie (to differentiate from my Mom) and I sat down and talked wedding.

The following were my responses:

1. "Oh, I'm wearing yellow instead?", "Pretty!", "Loves!"
2. "India!",  "Italiano!",  "Vietnamese!",  "Chinese!",  "Buffet!!!"
3. "Oh yeah. Group rates for hotels." 
4. "I want a helmet of jewelry, pleaseTHANK!"
5. "I want sleeves! Can we do sleeves?"
6. "Can I leave my fingertips blank?"
7. "Just the pointer and thumb."
8. "How else do I take out my contacts?"
9. "How do I pee?"
10. "Will it stain my sheets?"
11. "Yes! Cake tasting!"
12. "Dilly Dally Dally Krisha!"




The following are explanations:

1. My Mehndi/Sangeet outfit will be yellow/pink instead of blue.  Equally as pretty!
2. Referring to all the catering we'll have for the 3-day event.
3. My only duty for the entire wedding planning.
4. Referring to the amount of jewelry I want to wear at the ceremony.
5-10. Referring to mehndi. This was obviously my biggest concern. While I will not be allowed to use bridal henna as a way to live out my desire for a sleeve of tattoos, we agreed it will go midway up my forearm. I have to keep the henna on all night, which means I probably will need someone to take out my contacts...and help me potty. Yes, it will stain my sheets.
11. We don't want a big wedding cake, rather an assortment of our favorite desserts. But cake tastings are still in order.
12. I can't sing in Hindi (or any other language besides English, forthatmatter), so I just make up my own lyrics to the tune of Bollywood songs when I need to convey my excitement in song. To make things more legit, I tag a Hindu god at the end of a line.

It's a crowd pleaser.

(Almost) Married Life

When Boy and I moved to Pittsburgh nine months ago, we were faced with a steep increase in rent to live in our nice little urban-decay-turned-fancy-loft apartment in the city. We decided to offset the increase by opting out of cable and a TV.

We only watched TV sparingly in the apartment lobby, for important things like Steelers football. But even during those times, the lobby would be full of neighbors and a small potluck and we would socialize.

Our nights, which were once filled with the sound of TV and vegging on the couch were now filled with lots of conversation and cuddling. Boy would spend hours reading while I sketched new bag designs. We'd have romantic dinners in the kitchen at the dinner table. We'd frequent the gym and explore our new city. Weekends were spent outside, visiting the nearby markets, or shopping for new things for our new apartment. We were living a new life with just the two of us. It's been romantic and exciting!



So naturally, when my brother emails us saying he's sending us a TV for our wedding gift, we had a sit-down for a serious discussion on how it would impact our new life in the 'Burgh.

It went something like this:

Me: [reading e-mail] OMG! CHRIS! TV! WEDDING GIFT!
Boy: WTF! HELL YES!
Me: CABLE!
Boy: CALLING!!!

Thank you, Chris. You're the best brother ever!

Love,
Your little sister

p.s. Now that my date-night-outfit-modeled-with-a-bag-from-my-shop wall has been replaced with a TV and our couch now divides our living room from my studio, I'll have to find a new spot to take pictures.  No worries.  I'm a trained problem-solver.

p.p.s. I can see the TV just fine from my studio (photo above of my view). Productivity killer right before Renegade Chicago! Oh noes!

Banh Mi Thit

I crave banh mi thit. It's my life source.

My mom used to pack me a banh mi for lunch in middle school through high school, and upon opening said sandwich in the cafeteria, my dear friend Sally would promptly ask for her daily bite of my sandwich and then continue with her lunch. I could have asked my mom to make an extra sandwich for her, but it was much funnier this way.

Since moving to Pittsburgh, I've been on the hunt for a good banh mi place.

While at Eric's going away party, Boy and I met a neighbor, Aim, who told us about this awesome banh mi place two blocks from our building!!! How have we not seen this? Because it's an unmarked tent with a grill and a Vietnamese lady selling sandwiches. We were told to arrive before 2p on the weekends and before noon on weekdays because she sells out. I asked her how much the banh mi was. $6?!?!

Side note: Banh mi is always cheap. Like, $1.50-$3.50 for a 12" in all my experiences. Or free if your mom can make awesome ones and pack them for lunch. In comparison, $6 is steep. 

While walking around the Strip District, Boy and I were debating on lunch at our favorite Vietnamese place...or the $6 sandwich place. Oh, what to do. 

Fine, we caved and headed to the unmarked tent and ordered. Chicken for Boy, pork for me.



She cut two 7-8" pieces off a long baguette and slathered on some homemade mayonnaise, then took what looked like 4 servings (each!) of meat off the grill and stuffed it into our sandwiches. She then proceeded fill it with picked red onions, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, jalapenos and cilantro. She set the entire sandwich onto the grill to get it nice and toasty. It looked amazing.

And now I know why it's $6. Which is completely affordable, by the way. We were just being ridiculous.

We heavily tipped her and I said "Thank you" in my American-ized Vietnamese and skipped our way back to the apartment for pictures.



I think I may skip on over there for lunch everyday for the rest of the year.

Thanks, Aim, for the new addiction!

Hot Lava

Bag: Traveler in Vintage Rose Garden

Top: BDG from Urban Outfitters

Jeggings: Gap

Boots: Dingo, vintage from 20twentyvintage

Friends, I am reporting to you with a runny nose and a mad cough.

I'm not sick.

I inhaled some of my Bun Bo Hue. See Exhibit A.

Exhibit A: Straight from my desk.

It is so spicy. I couldn't finish half of the bowl from last night's date night because my lips were so red and burning that Boy suggested that I stop before I die.

I saved the rest of the torture for this morning.

I'm not sure when I started to enjoy really spicy foods. I remember as a kid, I asked my mom put ice in my Bun Bo Hue. She also had to wash off the buffalo sauce from my hot wings.

Now I add extra cayenne to my hot wings and like my soups straight from the volcano.

Molten.

In other news, what are you doing this weekend? It is storming in Pittsburgh as we speak, so that pretty much puts a damper (hah!) on any plans to have picnics in the park (we don't even do that).

Tonight we're going to see Britney Spears!!

Wait. That's not enough enthusiasm.

For more enthusiasm, see Exhibit B. 

Exhibit B: Straight from G-chat.

The guys were not nearly as enthused.

We could not understand why.

Candied Walnuts

I made an XL batch of candied walnuts for a going away party for one of our favorite neighbors, Eric.

I ended up eating handfuls of candied walnuts after I made them, so I think I ended up taking a M to L batch to the party.

I had to swat a few hands away from my nuts near the end of the party so I could take them home.

Just kidding.

Not really.

Yes, really.



My favorites are the small pieces of walnuts floating on a sugar island.

Candied Walnuts
Adapted from this recipe

Hmm... I just realized I didn't measure anything, so I will omit the amount of materials and just tell you how I made it, and probably did it incorrectly. Remember? Sugar + heat + I don't get along.

Walnuts
Sugar
Cinnamon
Salt
Milk
Vanilla Extract

I toasted walnuts in a pan. Meanwhile, in another pan, I heated sugar, cinnamon, salt, milk until the mixture got all boily and scary and then I added vanilla and poured the entire thing onto the walnuts. I don't think it got to a "soft ball" stage because I freaked out.

Don't do what I did. Wait until you get to the "soft ball" stage and do what the original recipe states.

You'll probably have tastier nuts.

Mine were good, though.

I won't lie.



p.s. My batik napkin is from MargotBianca. She makes great batiks. I use some for my Travelers.

Q: Are you still getting married?

Mehndi + Sangeet

I've received a few emails from some of my readers worried/curious/excited about my upcoming marriage thing. I thought I would answer some of those questions here, just in case you're wondering, too.

Q: Are you still getting married? You haven't mentioned anything about it lately.

A: Yes I am! Thank you for reminding me. I haven't mentioned it because I sort of forgot I was planning a wedding. (I've been preparing for Renegade Chicago lately.)

Q: When is your wedding? Have you been busy planning?

A: October 21-23, 2011. It's a three-day party. Like Woodstock. Minus everything except the music*. I haven't been busy planning, actually (see above statement). 

Q: What have you done so far?

A: I made and sent out invitations. Then I booked a photographer.

Boy actually had a dream last night. He said that we were at our reception with all of our family, but we forgot to call caterers and the place wasn't decorated and we were all panicking.

Correction! Boy read my blog and told me that his dream was that we were at our reception with all of our family, but we forgot to get married and we were panicking.  Apparently, I'm an awesome listener.

He suggested we spend this weekend sorting all the details of our wedding. See? I didn't have to push him at all. His subconscious did it for me without me whispering things in his ear while he slept.

My biggest contribution will be designing the mandap for the ceremony and decorating for the reception at Boy's family home. It will be an Indian + Vietnamese fusion. Lots of colors and lots of silk.

Wedding Ceremony

Q: Will you be wearing traditional Indian outfits?
A: Yes! I'm really excited about this because white makes me look fat, so I'm glad I lucked out with an Indian husband.

My future MIL, SIL and I worked together to design the outfits and they are being made now in Mumbai.

But really...I said a bunch of things that I wanted, MIL and SIL looked at me all cross-eyed, then future husband stepped in and said, "Yuck." "No." "You'll look like a turtle." "More midrift." and all of a sudden my ideas transformed into Boy's beautiful vision of how I should look for our wedding. The guy's got raw designer talent. None of my ideas were used.  I'm not good at dressing myself.

Boy picked out all the colors and described the vision.
MIL designed all the details.
SIL and I played scrabble on her iPad.

Q: What are you wearing for your wedding?

A: I don't have the outfits yet, so I don't even know! But I made some visuals so we can visualize together!

1. Mehndi + Sangeet: Blues + Silver
2. Wedding Ceremony: Reds + Gold
3. Reception: Pinks + Silver

Reception

Q: Where are you going for your honeymoon?

A: What do you call a honeymoon where you stay home and prepare your shop for the holiday season?



Image sources: a, b, c, d, e, f.  See more of my wedding inspiration on Pinterest.

*We both come from families centered around music and singing, so there will be lots of it all three days. We're excited. We love music.

My Skirt is a Shirt

Bag: Packet in Arabian Spice

Tee: Banana Republic

Silk Shirt Skirt: Thrifted

Heels: Banana Republic

I have a pile... no... boxes of thrifted, garaged saled, and stolen* button-down shirts that I've claimed I'll go back and alter/modify/redesign into something else.

In all the years I've been hoarding collecting those shirts, I've only modified three. You can see them here and here and here.

Last night, before date night, I was rummaging around on Etsy and found this great skirt on Dear Golden Vintage I wanted to mimic with one of the bajillion button-down shirts I have. It totally looks like it was made from a wool shirt, right?

Sewing at the end of a work day? Nah.

I button the silk shirt up to my waist, tie the sleeves into a cute little bow, froof out the cuffs, then call it a night. No sewing necessary.

Win!

Pose with the Packet and look like a little school girl.

Double-win!

Go out for sushi and Korean and drink an entire bottle of Soju.

Triple-win!

*I only steal from my relatives. Namely my brother and my fiance who are about to donate shirts that are too big for them and I go in and swipe them. Because I'm a hoarder interested in recycling them.

BAGGU Addiction

I think it is safe to say that I have a BAGGU addiction.

My total count to date is 23.

Pretty sure that's considered hoarding.

It all started in 2007 on a December day when I decided to switch from plastic bags to reusable bags. I got 6 that day and have been collecting them since.

Anyway.

I was reminded about how cool these bags are because my friend Nathan posted this on my FB wall:

"I was at the grocery store Monday and realized that I waste a LOT of plastic buying tons of produce... I've tried saving it to use as litter box liners but there are WAY too many bags and not enough cats at my house.

Then I remembered your blog from a few months ago and I just purchased some BAGGU's and produce bags from Love for Earth! I'll let you know how I like them :) Thanks for helping me save the planet."

And then a follow-up today saying he loves them and that 3 bags (filled half-way) replaced 7 grocery bags.

Yay!



I also converted Aparna to BAGGU, so I'm pretty sure I'm getting extra brownie points with the BAGGU gods.  

No, I'm not affiliated with BAGGU, but I would gladly accept free BAGGU bags. Or a discount. Whatever. I'm down.

This brings me to this factoid:
MOCIUN + BAGGU = AWESOME  

I'm ready to continue to embrace my BAGGU hoarding with these awesome new designs.

Kaju Barfi

Boy wants to make an Indian wife out of me before we're even married.
He requested Kaju Barfi for dessert, as though I knew what it was.
I googled it and said, "Easy!"

Although the recipe looked easy, I struggled to gain my composure for a bit because sugar, water and I don't get along. I've burned of many caramels in my past.

But this is really easy! 



Simply made with cashews, sugar, water and cardamom. And a little splash of rose water if you have some handy (I do).

This is normally adorned with edible foil, but I don't have edible foil. I'm not that fancy.



Kaju Barfi
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients
2 c cashews, unsalted
3/4 c sugar (I used half of the original recipe I looked up)
water (enough to dissolve the sugar)
cardamom (a few pods, finely chopped with my razor-blade knife)
rose water (just a splash, optional)

First things first. Why did I use half the amount of sugar? The first time I made this, it was too sweet for us. The sugar does give the barfi a more crystalline structure so it has a nice little bite to it. Reducing the sugar gave it the slight chewy texture of traditional barfi (according to Boy). 

Finely powder cashew in small batches with a coffee grinder.  Small batches will avoid making a sticky/oily mess (think peanut butter, except you don't want that).

Mix sugar and water in a large pan (I used a wok; I'm Asian) on medium heat until it turns into a nice syrup (no need to caramelize based on my experience).

In another pan, ever-so-lightly toast freshly-powdered cashew. Add cardamom to toasting cashew. Add cashew/cardamom mix into syrup and stir.

Add a splash of rose water for fun and stir to incorporate. You'll end up with a dryish "dough".

Plop "dough" onto oiled surface. Let it cool a bit and work it! It will never come together like a dough dough (no gluten or anything to hold it together). Just work it until it cools enough to roll with a rolling pin (or a wine bottle if you don't have a rolling pin like me). 1/4" thick works fine for me.

Use a pizza cutter to cut into diamonds or squares. You can use cookie cutters and make them into whatever shape you'd like. Don't go moving around the dough and stuff after you cut. Leave it be and place in refrigerator to cool and set. In 30-60 minutes, you will have a nice fudge-like cashew treat!

I'll go all Bobby Flay on you.

I've been goin' all Bobby Flay lately.

Really. I'll find any reason to grill something. Mostly meat. Then I'll get all territorial about what I cook, like, "Nuh uh, that's my [chicken] leg!" and swallow it whole.

Fortunately, Aparna is vegetarian. She brought over veggie burgers and I grilled them for her. Then I ate one, too.

Last Friday's menu: BBQ Chicken, veggie burgers, grilled peaches, pineapple and corn. I ate the veggie burger before I took a picture of my plate. I had to. I was in mid-fight for it.

It was delicious.

I'm still full.

Tried and True

Bag: Mini Ruche in Dark Navy Leather

Dress: Sample from Lamixx

Cardigan: LOFT

Shoes: ModCloth

Earrings: PacSun

I'm thinking this is definitely something I can do each week. Like a, "What I Wore on Thursday Night to Date Night + Modeling a Bag from my Shop" blog entry.

I'll need a catchier title, though.

Based on last week's date night experience, we decided to go with our tried and true Vietnamese spot. I usually order the Bun Bo Hue. That I did. Though I asked for it to be a little less spicy. The owner shot a confused look at me. I know, right? I never adjust my orders. I always order this and eat it as it is. But but but. I was dressed up and didn't want snot and sweat dripping all over my outfit.

They delivered.
It was amazing.
As always.

I almost picked up the bowl to drink it up, but I decided it was not lady-like.

On a side note: I love these heels. They make me feel like a giant. Or a model. Though I'm only 5'7" in them, so I'm still short of model height. This is the closest I'll ever get. No, I take that back. I do have 6" heels. That gets me a little closer. Yes, indeed.

I've been absent...

Please excuse my absence, friends. I've been cleaning and organizing the studio and my home.  Once in a blue moon, I enter what is called The Cleaning Zone. It's unstoppable, so I let it run its course. Boy likes this.

You see, ever since Anna of Doorsixteen mentioned this beautiful home for sale in her neighborhood, I got into this, "I want a house!" frenzy.

I browsed homes for sale in Pittsburgh. 
I fell in love with this one*.
I proposed it to Boy.
He liked it, but told me we're not buying now.
I asked for a new dining table instead.
He agreed to one before the wedding.
I said yay.

While this may sound like a really good tactic for getting things, I found that I don't want to buy a home (at least not yet). I just want to feel like I'm at home.

And a homey home for me is a clean home.

Thus, I went through all my belongings and split them into three piles:
1. Keep
2. Toss
3. Donate

It took 6 hours to clear out our general closet (12.25sqft).

1.55% of our loft.
Yikes.

At this point, you're probably thinking, "Okay, so what's that picture have to do with this post?"

I'm glad you asked.

I am cooped up at home all day working that going to the kitchen to prepare food really bums me out. Mainly because the kitchen has a clear view to the studio, which reminds me of all the work I need to do (downside of having your studio in the living room). So I am taking my food prep outside to the grills in the pool area of our apartment. Yeah. Way better with a view to the Allegheny.  Behind me, the view to the apartment and pool.

Bonus: Saving $$$ on our next electricity bill!

*They kept the original chalkboard from when it was South Side Schoolhouse. So cute, right?