Valerean

In the past I've worked as a bartender, so watching the kdrama XX was like stepping into the way-back machine for me. With only five episodes this is a shorter series, but it does better with characters and storytelling than some that are three times as long. XX is the name of the exclusive bar where head bartender Yoon Na-na (Hani) runs things her way while saving up to buy the place. She shares a flat with her pal Wang Jeong-deun (Lee Jong-won) who is her best friend and confidante. She's also good friends with her co-worker, Park Dan-hee (Bae In-hyuk), who is secretly in love with her. What could go wrong? Na-na's dreams are dashed when her wealthy ex-best friend Lee Roo-mi (Hwang Seung-eon) purchases XX and takes over the business. These two women have a very unhappy past and still despise each other, thanks to a one-night stand Roo-mi had five years ago with Na-na's slimy cheating boyfriend Seo Tae-hyun (Shin Jae-hwi). They've been avoiding each ...

Beau is a born photobomber. If he's awake and sees me trying to take pics of Shadow, he dives right into the shot. Life for me has changed again (this time, in the very best way.) Thanks to our new pups I go to bed every night too tired to toss and turn, and sleep without waking up. For someone with insomnia, this is as close to heaven as it gets. I miss my quilting a little, but for right now bonding with and training the puppies is more important. I've waited a long time to have dogs in my life again. Once I have them house-trained I know I'll get back to it. Not all change is good, but this time it is. This time I am grateful for it.

Avoiding sugar in my diet always limits my beverage choices, and I feel the pain of that most during the summer when I tend to drink more. I recently discovered Spindrift, a brand of sparkling water flavored with real fruit juice. It has 4 calories, and only 1 gm of carbs, so it's perfect for me. The lemon and the lime flavors taste good, too, very slightly sweet but not overpowering. I definitely recommend it as a diet soda alternative.

I'm going to frame and hang this crazy quilted block in my work room as inspiration and a stitch reference. About 30% of the patches are fraying, shattering, and soiled; and two are missing, so I'm going to do some repair work to the patchwork first. Since we have new puppies I'll have to do this a little at a time, too. My goal is always to preserve as much of the original work and fabric as possible, but I also like to add my own touches since I'm becoming part of its history. My first task was to spot-clean some patches that have been soiled. I do this with my own cleaning solution for crazy quilts (which almost always cannot be washed or even immersed in water.) Basically that's cold water plus a tiny bit of mild detergent in a bowl, and I use a corner of a sponge to apply it. I also blot dry the patch I spot-clean after each time I apply the cleaning solution so the water doesn't spread to other patches. These two patches have some staini...

I happen to love sea scallops, but I refuse to pay the exorbitant prices that restaurants charge for them. That's why I learned to make them how I like at home when I can get them at a reasonable price. Sea scallops run about $23.00 per lb. here, but every now and then our market will drop the price to $19.99, and that's when I buy half a pound, which is about 7-8 big scallops for $10.00 (restaurants charge upwards of $30.00 for 5 scallops, and most cook them too much.) I started with a frying pan and a very thin drizzle of olive oil on medium high heat; when the pan is good and hot I add the rinsed scallops, two chopped scallions, a tiny sprinkle of creole seasoning and a few drops of lemon juice. With scallops less is always better. Once I sear the scallops on both sides (this takes about a minute to a minute and a half) I deglazed the pan with a splash of water. You can also use some wine to do the deglazing if you want to go fancy; just stay away from sweet wi...

Reinvention ~ Sewing with Rescued Materials by Maya Donenfeld appealed to me because using vintage and recycled materials has been my creative goal for the last several years. After watching a documentary about the enormous problem fast fashion causes with textile manufacturing and waste I thought about how I could change my ways as a quilter. Since then I've tried to mainly buy vintage or recycled fabric, and use up 99% of my scraps rather than discard them. I fell head over heels for this book from the moment it arrived, as it's spiral-bound so it lays flat, and offers 28 different sewing projects using a variety of recycled materials. The projects are also interesting and different from what I've seen in other books on this topic. All are elegantly simple, and most seem fairly easy to make. If the reader is new to sewing or printing on fabric, there are chapters on both with good instructions in the beginning of the book. Of special interest to me is a se...

Because you can never have too many, right? This shot my guy took shows Shadow's face and markings. Except at night we let the boys roam free -- I've puppy-proofed the house -- but we don't leave them unsupervised. They stay in the office with me while I work. Like all babies they sleep a lot. As a new mom (at my age!) I'm timing everything I do according to their sleep/wake patterns, too. House training is going well, too; we're old pros at that, and have them on a good food and water schedule. Once they figure out how to bark or whine to tell us they need to go outside, we'll be set.