an early happy birthday to you, my dear

A good deal of my friends have been moving out of the area. First there was Andrea, then Amanda, and now Aurora. Makes me wonder who else with an "A" name will be calling to tell me of their plans to relocate. Next I predict it will be Ashley to Texas.

A couple Fridays ago my friend Aurora had a temporary-goodbye & 22nd birthday party with a few friends she had become close to during her three month stint in San Francisco. All were dressed like cupcakes, and the night lead into a rather lengthy game of Never Have I Ever and comical Spin the Bottle. Back to Dartmouth in New Hampshire she goes to finish off her undergraduate work. Looking forward to her move back here next summer. Miss you, lady.

After two rather unsuccessful attempts to simultaneously diminish my large supply of grapefruits and make vegan grapefruit cupcakes, I ventured on to a dessert that would guarantee me success: vegan chocolate cake. Adding some of my homemade strawberry-raspberry jam, fresh raspberries, and frosting in between two layers of vegan chocolate cake, I created a layer cake instead. Unfortunately due to the cake being vegan, it was too moist and, subsequently, the top layer broke in two before arriving to the party. Though the general look of the cake was not up to par with my abilities, it did not, however, defile the taste. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the cake, including the guest of honor. Someone even said it was the best cake they had ever had! Success.

Note to self: buy cake carrying tray. This one I bought at the dollar store is a non-latching pile of crap.




The cake was for the going away part of the shindig, but I wanted to make something for Aurora's birthday. I searched on Craft Gossip for ideas, and found a cute owl stuffed animal to make from the celebration shoppe. Mine turned out a bit different than how it was supposed to look as I made several mistakes while putting the pieces together. I like the way theirs looks a bit better, but that mostly has to do with the color selections. All in all, I am happy with the result only for the fact that Aurora loves it to pieces...and for my first bow, it turned out pretty darn well. I believe she ended up naming it Tiptree.

Mendocino, take two

Booked two rooms at the Blair House Inn for late October. Looking forward to spending the weekend with Andrea, Ashley, Brooke, Colleen, JoAnna, and Nicole. Hope to get more of these this time.

para escribir

I created this notebook for my good friend Monty's birthday. She's an amazing woman and an ab fab writer. I know she'll put it to good use.

By the way, come to SoCha Cafe on September 22 for an art opening featuring original, hand painted Bollywood movie posters (oil on canvas). Starts at 7pm, and at 7:30pm will be screening Devdas and serving curry spiced popcorn. Come one, come all. Located at 3235 Mission Street @ Valencia.

Margot update #3 of many future ones

Gave Margot her first dose of flea meds today. Looks like she parted her hair and covered it in gel for the first day of kindergarten. All in all, she was a good sport. It was a first for me, too, as I've always had my mom apply it to my kitties. Good job, me. Good job, Margot.

goodbyes

Goodbyes make my heart ache.

This week I must bid adieu to two amazing friends of mine, Amanda and Andrea. Amanda's going off to college at Seattle University and Andrea's making her way up to Portland for a job and clean air.

I made this reversible laptop case for Amanda's going away/birthday present. I can see her, laptop in hand, walking into her favorite, hip Seattle coffee shop ready to start writing some ten page cultural anthro paper. Or perhaps a feminist response to [insert issue here]. Best of luck ladies. Looking forward to visiting you two after you're all settled in your respective homes. Love youuus.