Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Benedict Labre House

This is the Catholic soup kitchen where I lived for nearly 2 years in downtown Montreal. I look forward to visiting it again when we drive through. The French name is La Maison du Benoit Labre. 300 Young St. I remember getting garbage bags full of old doughnuts from a local shop. We would line a table with trays, then dump out the donuts so the table was a mountain. All the volunteers and resident students would have first pick from the squishy, writhing mass. Then we'd let in the clientele and they would rush to get their favorite, then get a hot cup of tea, and relax at a table. On the weekend I was waitress as we served 3 shifts of 45 a full course meal. I lived on the top floor - one of the gables you see on the top of the building was my room. The 2nd floor had a clothing room where anyone could get a change of clothes for free. It looked like a drycleaner's - you'd walk up to the counter, tell your size, and be handed a suit. I have many fond memories of this little soup kitchen, it was my favorite place to live in Montreal.

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Cisco at night

Tuong and I went shopping in Milpitas this evening (north San Jose) and we stopped by his old stomping grounds (Cisco). The signs have all been updated with the new logo, and they all light up at night. It looks cool.

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Wijcik kids in 1994

Mare, Marg, Pen, Annette, David, and Annette's then-boyfriend, Naveen. Kelowna?

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Cookies For Breakfast

I have one of the best neighbors on the planet. Amanda keeps us steadily supplied with cookies of all kinds. These are oatmeal chocolate chunk. We froze them and take them out 2x2. Our freezer is a cookie ark.

Thank you Amanda!

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Saturday Literati with my sis


Margaret creamed me on the first game, and it's lookng like she'll do it again. The cookies from our neighbor Amanda just finished defrosting - brekkie!

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Friday, June 26, 2009

Ro Working Hard

My co-worker's dog Ro is getting a lot of work done during dog-to-work week. Actually, every day is bring-you-dog-to-work day at Zazzle, where pooches like Ro are a common sight.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Embroidery Sampler

This is my latest carpool project, a friendship sampler done in french-knot embroidery (kinda a punch-needle look, or hooked rug) and cross-stitch. It will read "Love is Kind". Doing the research on this revealed that many young girls did samplers as alphabet lessons when they were only 6. I am going to assemble two small kits for J&E to finish while on our road trip.

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Finished! Knitted Beaded Purse.

My first project using the knitting loom. This bag has already been gifted. I'm definitely bringing the knitting loom on our long trip!

I used wooden beads to weight it down, a dragonfly button, and the inside is lined with crushed velvet.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Worst Smoothie Ever!

I had a "Orange-Mango-Banana" Vivanno Smoothie from the Barnes and Noble bookstore cafe, and it was awful! I don't know what, exactly was wrong, except it was bland, not too cold, a bit chalky, and I just couldn't choke it down. After bringing it home it lurked on the living room table for a while, staring at me from across the room. Most expensive compost additive ever.

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E's Pokemon

E gave me one of her Pokemon from Christmas. I think his name is Turtwig. He sits on my desk at work.

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Monday, June 15, 2009

First Photo of Summer Vacation

J&E are enjoying the little sandbox at Auntie Linh & Uncle Giovanni's house in ABQ.


Summer vacation has started "for real" for J&E.

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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Jean repair - adding belt loops

Why are women's jeans often non-standard? I got E a cute pair from Mervyn's before they closed, but they were a bit too loose. No problem, get a belt..., oh wait... No belt loops!

To add the loops I cut a seam from another pair of worn-out jeans into short segments. I then sewed 6 loops on around the waist using a size 14 sewing machine needle and whatever color thread was in the machine (pink, it turned out). Voila! E can now wear her new jeans.

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My next Beading project

I found some adorable magnetic clasps that attach at a 90 degree angle compared to normal clasps. I'm making my standard "Holly's necklace" with this new clasp to see if I like it.

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Friday, June 12, 2009

The funniest diary you'll ever read

Two thumb's up from both J&E is the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. As a testament to how compellimg this trilogy is (red, blue, and green), when we saw the hardcover for sale at Costco, we bought it. I can't remember the last hardcover I couldn't wait for mass market paperback. The cute vector drawings and gut-busting humor combine for a rollicking good time of juvenile fiction.

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Thursday, June 11, 2009

At the front gate

J jumped out of the car to open the front gate of Love Apple farm where we are regular volunteers. The entire 2-acre farm is surrounded by deer-proof fence. Heave!

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

We love Poog and Pokemon!

J&E here are showing off two of their favorite series at our local library. We finished all of the Akiko books sometime last year, and all 3 of us agree that Poog (the little, quiet, floating alien) is our favorite character. Or is it the little robot Gax? In any case, the space adventures of Akiko and her friends will keep tour 6-9 year olds laughing and wanting "just one more chapter!" before bed. E is showing a Pokemon video, which everyone knows is a favorite of 1st-3rd graders around the globe. No. I don't know which Pokemon is shown on the cover. E does though! Treeturtlesauromon? ;)

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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Thank you Daddy!

E got a (slightly used) iPod from her daddy for her birthday. Tonight we are going to the library to find some kid books & music that E likes so she can try it out. I'm also going to put on a couple audio books I've recorded so she can listen to me read her to sleep when she's at Grandma's.

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Recent Read-Aloud: The Time Travelers

After reading this novel outloud to J&E a couple months ago (a tale of two children who are swept acidentally back to 1763 by an anti-gravity machine), it was funy to see their brains spin over the implications of time travel. "If we travel back in time and change history...we might be orphans!" was E's revelation. Hmmm...

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Tractor Fun

I visited a farm yesterday with Cynthia and Daniel. It was a lovely 26 acre vineyard. Here Cynthia and Daniel are getting a better look from the top of a tractor.

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Monday, June 8, 2009

Camping Popup Card at Borders

While standing in the checkout line I was carefully examing the delightful array of popup greeting cards at Borders. The little camping card reminded me of our summer trip.

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Play with me!

Indy at Love Apple Farm is waiting for some ball time.

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Sun Tea

Always a treat for the helpers and volunteers at Love Apple Farm is a nice big jar of sun tea.

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Knitting Hoop

E has taken an interest in knitting, so she got a knitting loom for her birthday. "Can I bring my knitting on our road trip?" Of course!

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Sunday, June 7, 2009

Shade Garden at Love Apple Farm

Love Apple Farm has a lovely shade garden nestled among the tall Redwoods. In the heat of the summer, this area of the farm is a delightfully cool sanctuary. A water fountain in the center is surrounded by edible violets and cosmos. Ferns and other undergrowth plants flank the Redwoods, and rock-lined bark paths meandering through it all. Here, Cynthia is leading the farm helpers through a rundown of the daily chores (with Sara taking notes), which include weeding the shade garden and removing some invasive blackberries. I'm going to miss volunteering at the farm when I'm gone for 6 weeks on my road trip!

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Saturday, June 6, 2009

My Kid's Favorite Graphic Novel: "Amulet"

I got this graphic Novel for J&E last year based solely on the cover illustration and a brief flip-through. We were not disapppinted! Amulet is a heart-warming tale of mystery and adventure. Plus those little pink slug creatures are so cute! I like kid-friendly graphic novels where the kids are the heroes and it's just as fun for the adults to read as it is for the kids. I keep looking for the sequel but it isn't in bookstores yet.

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Bumming around at Borders

Today is E's 7th birthday, she requested the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday lunch, which we had and it was yummy. No trip to the C.F. is complete without a trip to Borders. Here you see T, J and E in the children's section on "the grid" enjoying some reading time.

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Friday, June 5, 2009

E's first stuffed toy

E and I made some stuffed bunnies a while back. I let her embroider the details and you can see she did an awesome job. What bunny girl isn't complete without earrings? Two safety pins did the job. E is very resourceful! We used a pattern from a book called Plush You!: Lovable Misfit Toys to Sew and Stuff, this is adapted from the Woolly Hoodwink pattern.

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Thank you Jason!

Here you see Jason pretending to be hard at work. ;) We knocked out the panel between our sections of the honey-cube so he can spy on his worker bees all day long. Seriously, I owe Jason a huge thank you for granting my wish to go on a 6-week trip. We love you Jason!

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Thursday, June 4, 2009

11 Years!

This week T and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary. I have this little sampler on my desk I made on our honeymoon - a 10k mile drive from New York to BC to ABQ. It's cross-stitch, petit-point, embroidery and tatting. I still feel slightly nauseous when I think of the hours of car-sickness I endured...

The two dates are our NYC wedding on June 1, and the BC wedding (with family) on July 19.

I missed a spot. Can you find the missing stitch?

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Marble Wall at Maker Faire

Last weekend we had a blast at the Maker Faire - an expo of all kinds of tinkering types from science exhibits to metal workers, craftspeople, creative mechanical recyclers, organic farming, and "DIY" of every sort. Here E is playing with the marble drop wall set up by San Francisco's Exploratorium.

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Lunch!


Southwestern club at the Bay Cafe is Erich's favorite at Zazzle.

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Ready for a Game of Gin

Snacks? Check. Drink? Check. Cards? Check. 20 minutes of spare time? Hmmm... Working on it...

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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Little Dulcimer Before School

J&E are giving the Dulcimer some attention before school. I've discovered another trick to get kids to practice their instruments more frequently: accessibility. Instead of being locked up at the bottom of a closet, the Dulcimer is on the living room table and gets played a lot more often.

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Double Mocha Frapp Straight Up!

I'm really going to miss T's daily espresso beverages on our trip! And the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company's Espresso Blend (T's favorite whole bean). Nobody makes coffee like Daddy!

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Beading on the go

One of my main considerations for my 6-week roadtrip is, "which crafts to take?" Rug hooking will have to wait. Portability-wise, I find beading can't be beat. Here you see a small beaded lace choker I'm working on while carpooling with my hubby to work. In addition to my fishing tackle box full of beads, I'll be bringing some general sewing supplies (mending etc) and some embroidery & quilt fabric. I also haven't tatted in a while, so I might toss my tatting shutles into the bead box too!

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Ice Cream Treat Before Disney's UP

We went to see UP in downtown Redwood City on Saturday. J&E are enjoying some ice cream before the show. It's a great movie, "That was one of Disney's most touching movies," said T.

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