Bead Fetish & Butterflies

The Bead Fetish is one of my favorite spots in Sacramento. There are three rooms of glass and stone beads, charms and anything you need to make something pretty.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for because I felt so overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Like always, my shopping tray was filled with pieces that could be a potential project, but I couldn’ settle on one idea.

But then, I saw the butterfly charm. It was very similar to the butterfly on a necklace I loved so much but lost, a necklace that was given to me by my great friend Viridiana. I decided I’d try to recreate it, though I could only remember it was very earthy with brown braided string and turquoise beads. They didn’t have the same string, and I really don’t even know what it’s called, but I settled on thin brown leather. I bought some beautiful colorful beads, but changed my mind later and used some green ones I found in my bead box.

I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to do it at first (and silly me didn’t think to buy enough leather so I was a little limited). But I just did something so very simple with knots and few green beads. I do like it, but I might reconstruct it one of these days when I get more leather (or find that other string stuff). Any ideas?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

books & shoes : the late edition

I still can’t believe I spent all day going to thrift stores and only bought two books. Still, it was a lot of fun and I loved scrounging through the items I didn’t buy, and hardly photographed. I got a few shots before we gave into mainstream America and found ourselves in Urban Outfitters. I didn’t buy anything there either — not because I didn’t want to, but because the price tags — however, there was tons of stuff to photograph (even if I had to keep out of sight of staff).

ing there

Have a good week. I hope it’s a short one for all of you.

pancakes & vinyl : the early edition

With a hand-sketched map, a trusty GPS, a bag of Chex Mix, 40 bucks cash, cameras and a list of Sacramento’s thrift stores, from Fruitridge to Auburn Boulevard, Maggie and I hit the streets for a full day of Saturday shopping. We were on the hunt for bargains and those special items you don’t expect to find. I’m not sure we found either (Maggie did, if you count Tom Brokaw’s memoir and several button-up work shirts). I think I walked out of the last thrift store with two books because I didn’t want to go home empty-handed. I did, however, find some new favorite things at non-thrift stores, which I’ll share tomorrow. I’ve also realized that having a camera in my hand while shopping is highly distracting and seriously keeps me from throwing everything in my basket.

First stop: fuel for the car. Second stop: Fuel for the girls. Location: Pancake Circus!

Really? “Sea food” at Pancake Circus? Is that necessary?

I love these guys. They are on IT.

I don’t like it when I try to be all incognito with the camera and then, later, realize there are people looking right into the camera. I had to crop the guy next to me out of the frame because he had that freaked out look out the corner of his eye. Ah, sorry!

After our pancakes and eggs, we ventured away from the thrift map and found a couple music stores nearby.

One had a very charming record store cat. Below, Maggie and the cat walk down the aisle while having a deep conversation about the correlation between jazz and hip-hop. Or something.

Thanks for reading, and come back tomorrow for the actual thrift stores.

One of those mornings …

… when I expect nothing more than three sleepy pooches to take over the bed. Heart.

I hope your have a fabulous Sunday full of cozy socks and crackling fires.

Here’s what I’m up to today …

-Diving into the latest issues of this and this.
-Deciding whether I’m going to make this soup or this breakfast.
-Wondering if it’s time I finally visit family here.
-Opening up this box of treasure to make something pretty.
-Loving how honest this is, and really want the new book I didn’t buy yesterday.
-Editing photos of thrift stores and pancakes and lots of fun things for this week.

Winter in the city

Tonight, I experienced a little winter magic in Midtown. It was unexpected and beautiful. And even though the ice is artificial and the icicles shining in the trees are on strands plugged into a power cord, it gave a little taste of wintertime perfection. Fathers balanced on thin blades as they held tightly onto their babies and promised not to let them fall. Teenagers on first dates held hands a little tighter than normal. A everyone dressed in furry jackets and knitted hats smiled, even as they hit the ground.

After a very, very full day thrift store shopping in Sacramento, Maggie and I found ourselves venturing back to one of our favorite places: Newsbeat, a magazine shop somewhere around 20th and J streets, where we also stopped to watch people glide around the rink. Maggie, who is from Missouri and has actually lived through real winters with snow, noted that tonight was the first night she’d every seen someone ice skating in a T-shirt. That’s California, and you gotta love it.

It was the perfect opportunity to practice photographing movement in the dark, something I’ve been trying to figure out — and can’t. Tonight, I guess a lot of my attempts were failures, but I kinda like the ones that are blurry and out of focus best. Let me know what you think.

Faux Thai pasta salad

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged any food, so I thought, why not tonight? It’s kind of funny to see this light and fresh dish, but to keep smelling holiday stuffing I’m  baking for the newsroom’s Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow (as soon as I pull that out and wash the dried egg/bread off my forehead, I’ll post that too).

So, this is kind of a Thai pasta dish I made in an attempt to recreate the Spicy Thai chicken salad from Trader Joe’s. I think I got it mostly right, except for the Thai sauce. The one I made (with lite coconut milk and a package) was way more peanut tasting than spicy, but still OK (not great).

I cooked cappellini pasta, cut some strips of a red bell pepper, chopped fresh cilantro, diced some green onion and shredded some cooked chicken. Then I tossed it all in a bowl with the sauce. I say make a sauce you like or even just buy one from a jar. I liked it because it was nice and fresh — and pasta is just good, no matter if it’s in an Italian or faux-Thai dish.

Off to check the stuffing….I love the smell of Thanksgiving, though it still seems soooo far away!

A good Tuesday for Flickr Faves

It’s no secret that Flickr is a source inspiration, whether or not your into photography. I’ve found art projects on there, recipes that I love and, of course, thousands of photos. Today, I’m in love with the TtV still-life group on Flickr. They use the old cameras with the bubble lenses and rig it up to their digital cameras. I tried to make my own with my Duaflex, but I got the measurements wrong, and I think I need to use a different lens.

I hope you enjoy these beautiful images, and click on the photos to see more from the photographers.

Five years old and all grown up

After waiting for soooo many years, little Miss Maddie turned 5 this week. My friend Jen, Maddie’s mamma, threw her a rockstar party, complete with guitars made out of cereal boxes, Kanye glasses, a guitar pinata, and the “Glee” soundtrack (though I think Jen bought it for herself).

Check out Maddie’s rockstar photoshoot by Jen here.

Those little girls (big brother, Chase, was DJ) rocked out all over the floor. They mixed gymnastics, line dancing and break dancing. Someone could make a killing producing a workout DVD featuring them.

One word: Yumm-O.

Maddie and Chases’ birthday present: Joe the Boxer.

How many moms does it take to line kids up for a pinata beating?

Jen’s sister Katie and I helped with the party, though I think we spent more time sneaking away with Joe and the cameras.

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

The Sunday Flea

Hello, and happy, happy Friday! I hope you all are looking forward to a nice and relaxing (and hopefully rainy?) weekend, as I definitely am.

One thing I like to do on the weekends is stroll through the local flea market. The one at Delta College is not huge, but it’s clean and you can find some good stuff, like pomegranates and pink flamingos. Here are some photos. It’s the first time I’ve photographed this market; for some reason I always feel weird photographing here. Do you guys get that sometimes?

Last week I was completely obsessed with idea of buying more Thermoses after seeing this collection belonging to Elsie*Cake. So I went into the weekend planning to find some. I found a whole bunch at the market, but decided they’ll have to wait to go home with me until I have a little more space for them.

And, drum roll, please: I walked away with these $1 pink flamingos. Oh so happy!

Have a great weekend, and splurge on something used!

And now: The (other) intrepid ones

I like to think that I can be intrepid when I try. I grew up in the sticks. I own hiking boots (or did I throw those away?). I really want the four-door Jeep. I have a dog who kayaks. And hello, y’all saw that I went camping just about every weekend in August. So I don’t understand why, when my co-worker and weekend buddy and I go explore, we always end up fumbling along a river or climbing a dirt hill wearing sandals or ballet flats. Perhaps our ability to actually do that makes us even more intrepid.

So after an afternoon of enjoying scones and antique shopping in the city of roosters, we walked down Bridge Street and found, well, a bridge (and a dock I’ll be keeping in mind for next summer). We even let Sara off the leash and she was oh-so-brave standing at the edge of the cliff, trying to figure out just how to get to the bottom.

Here are the nature photos that make me feel like I’m my grandpa taking hundreds of shots of the same ol’ pretty flower. Hope you enjoy.

A walking bridge over the American River near Fair Oaks.

I love the cliffs (that we later walked along) and all the different trees and the water. Love water.

View from the edge.

I thought this tree was so cool, half of its roots are growing in mid-air. There was a couple sitting on a blanket right under it with bongos and books.

Did you know rats live in Palm Trees? When I lived in Long Beach, I thought the palm trees on my street were so cool — until I learned that. But now I love them again.

The sweet smell of freedom, thinks the intrepid dog.

Thanks for reading! Next up: Sunday at the flea market.

A village that’s won my heart

Over the weekend, Maggie and I decided to explore Fair Oaks Village, a quaint little town I discovered when I met a school study group at  group members’ apartment here. Her apartment is in an old building over an aniques store, and it’s so adorable. The day I visited, I only experienced the Village from what I saw when walking to and from my car: The cutest shops, roosters hustling through crosswalks and a couple of little places that boasted the best in coffee and treats.

The three of us (Me, Maggie and the dog), first stopped at a little coffee shop, where we enjoyed teas, mochas and a blueberry scone (the same ones my former classmate took to every group meeting). Delish, it was. Entertainment was provided by the town’s dozens of chickens who like to tease dogs and beg for food when they’re not stopping traffic or crowing to one another.

We walked around the little town center, through its park and past the little amphitheater, where they have theater and live music. So cute!

We wandered a little more and found some new friends, Cindy, her daughter Bella and their dog Fluffy. They own the cutest little shop, Chez Flea, which operates in an old house where her husband also practices law. They invited us in, dog and all, and it was great getting to know them and talk about the famous chickens, some Fair Oaks history and shopping.

Maggie and I fell in love with them, their dog and the store. They were so nice to let me photograph areas in the shop, including the little kitchen display that I so wish was my own kitchen.

Check out all these little corners of Chez Flea. (Yes, I love linens and anything fabric.)

We said goodbye to our friends, but Maggie and I agreed we return to Fair Oaks and Chez Flea.

After a very short walk, we stopped and ate lunch at a vegeterian drive-in. Maggie had some kind of egg salad sandwich and I had a sandwich with sprouts, avocado, lettuce, cheese, tomato and more. The chickens were hilarious there, also, and didn’t seem to mind the people or the amount of dogs pulling at their leashes, nearly drooling over their own dream of chicken lunches. Maggie overheard someone saying that the chicken feel safe at this restaurant because there’s no chance they’ll end up on the menu. So true.

But this wasn’t the whole day. We roughed it (slightly) on a mountain and walked over the American River on a bridge and stood at the edge of a cliff. Those photos will come later. Have a great day!

In dad’s backyard

My dad and I were supposed to go fishing or just take a drive last weekend. But plans changed once the World Series came on. He plopped down on the couch, and barbecued during commercials. I, not the biggest baseball fan ever, went outside and just messed around with the camera. Here’s what I got. I hope you like a little look into country livin’ (even though garden season is over).