New places

Why hello there. The last time I wrote in this blog it was the turn of the year. Much has changed and happened over the past few months. After many internal debates about the future of this here blog, it just sat. And sat. And sat.

I simply wanted to share the excitement, in case you were in the dark wondering whether my absence here meant that I was living a life on the streets, sleeping on sidewalks and trying to hustle my way through life with the trickery of three card monte. That is not the case, you needn't worry. I'm doing okay.

I've started a new endeavor fully focused on baking, based on the cookbook Tartine, which is written by the chefs from the Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. I'm baking every single thing from the cookbook in a year. So, please read along as I awkwardly stumble through this adventure: Tar-Tryin'

If you are on Tumblr, please follow me. Include me in your blog roll. Bookmark that page. Lie to your friends if you have to, and tell them how exciting my blog is. Actually, I hope it is exciting, so maybe you won't have to lie.

hello again, old friend

Well, it's 2011 now. I am not so sure how I will get used to this. For the past million years I've either been in school where the new year was drilled into you the first week back to school in January when you'd write the wrong date on your paper then laugh and erase it, or I was the one writing the date on the board every morning as a bold reminder of the new year. I've already referred to this year as 2010 many times. I imagine I will be stuck back in 2010 forever. It was a good year for me, so out of all the years to be stuck in I guess that's a good one. But I'm not a fan of being stuck anywhere, so I guess I'll have to wake up and recite the date a few times like some obsessed compulsive person until it gets into my brain that this is indeed the year 2011.

I've been absent from my little blog, and I opened an Etsy store and immediately took an unintentional hiatus from it. Bad timing on my part, I suppose. Eh, that's life. I'm not one to make resolutions in concrete that will be devoutly followed, then feel like a bum when I trail off the path in March. I recently read an article in Vogue's January issue, an interview with Natalie Portman. I'm going to go ahead and use a quote now from Ms. Portman.

"I'm tough on myself in terms of the standards I want to live up to, but that's also part of my pleasure: knowing you are being your fullest self. Being your fullest self is a lot of work."

This resonated with me. I think I am too hard on myself for all the wrong reasons. I feel like I'm at a point where I want to know exactly what my fullest self entails. I know it involves being the mother/wife/sister/daughter/friend I desire to be, making things, baking, cooking, relying on spell check because I apparently just tried to spell "involves" with an 'e', reading, writing, (no, not 'rithmetic too), keeping in shape, and an infinite ______________ for the rest of list because I'm still figuring it all out. That alone is a long list, and will indeed take a lot of work.

So here's to being our fullest selves, being hard on ourselves for the right reasons, and learning about ourselves and the world more and more every day.

Try-cough-ski

When I was in 6th grade, I was sure I was going to be playing the clarinet for the Boston Philharmonic when I was an adult. I actually have this written in a notebook that is tucked away in a closet in my parents' house. At this point I had been playing a year, so the aspiration was clearly attainable. Clearly. I would borrow my dad's CD's, and stack them up next to my fancy CD player. I would listen to Beethoven (pronounced BEET- Hovin'), Chopin (CHOPPIN'), and Tchaikovsky (TRY-COUGH-SKI) for hours. My dad gave me a CD of my own for Easter, since I had fallen in love with Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. In my mind it was a completely normal thing for any 6th grader to be listening to classical music in her bedroom, perusing the CD jacket of "Mad About Tchaikovsky" like it was Tiger Beat magazine or something. Yeah, I was cool.

Exhibit A: Very cool, indeed.


I haven't thought about any of my dashed symphonic dreams for quite some time. That is, until this past weekend when my sis and I took in an evening show of Black Swan. All I can say is, Whoa! Listening to the music brought me back to a very optimistic, I-am-going-to-be-an-orchestra-star, warm place. Pair that with the albeit amazing, and very creepy, and very scary plot and boom - confused paranoid feelings ensue while watching. I do like the movie, and I recommend it. I could talk a lot about it, but reviewing it would be time consuming. Just wanted to share what a crazy viewing experience I had while watching it.

Oh, and I found these posters for it on some weird Internet movie poster competition site, by La Boca. I think they're nice.



This one is very nice!


And the real poster, captures the creepiness and beauty of the film quite nicely.

knock it off

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right? I've been a busy bee trying to replicate some wonderful things I've seen here on the good ol' internet. I love a good tutorial!

I saw this wreath on the cover of Readymade (and featured here on Design*Sponge) and have wanted to make one myself for such a long time! I didn't have rope, or buttons without holes in them, or those zigzag scissors...but I think it turned out alright. It's growing on me.


I saw some tiny elves that I fell in love with over at My Paper Crane (a blog/shop by Heidi Kenney - I've mentioned her before). Who knew tall pointy hats were so difficult to make?! Maybe I was just tired, which at that point I should have set them aside and finished them later. But I was so excited! Painting fine detail when you're tired is troublesome. They turned out cute, but they could have been much cuter! I think I am going to make another batch to redeem myself!


And finally, I saw the most amazing eyeglasses case in an embroidery Flickr pool that I am a part of. Aren't these completely awesome?! What a super fun gift to make! The case isn't completed in the picture below, but you get the idea!


There are still a few more projects I'm planning on trying very soon - I'm so excited to make these fake sugar cookie ornaments tonight! And these head wraps will not only keep my ears warm, but are very cute ways to hide the awkward phase I'm currently going through with growing out my hair!

plans for the winter

In my dreams the plans for my winter look something like this:


In reality, they're more like this:


We had so much fun in the snow today! Manuevering about in snowpants, a thick jacket, new boots, a hat tied around his chin, and mittens was quite an obstacle to tackle for him. Now, the obstacle for me was getting all of that on him! I just may lose 10 lbs and gain some gray hair by the end of winter from all the sweat and stress I undergo getting that kid bundled up! Still juggling so much this holiday season - new little projects and stuff for my etsy shop coming soon!

Dear Santa

This would be a lovely addition to my closet.



And I even included a link for you, Santa!

snowflake garlands!

Waking up yesterday to the month of December and a little blanket of snow was the catalyst I needed to get into Christmas decorating mode! I am constantly inspired by all the decorations that fill up the house of Heidi Kenney (from My Paper Crane) every holiday. My collection is growing, but I really need to hit up some thrift stores for some vintage decorations!

I did stumble on these die-cut felt snowflakes at Target last night - $1 for three of them. I got some red, white and green ones...


I cut off the loops they were on and strung them together with a needle and some crochet thread. I was affirmed in the success of my snowflake garland when Jack woke up this morning, pointed at it as we came down the stairs, and exclaimed, "Woo-hoo!" We're off to a very fun holiday season here in the Kastner house. I think I'm going to go back and get more snowflakes!

progress progress progress

Hello! I'm here, just so very busy! I've been enjoying busy with three (yes, three!) Thanksgivings this year...and I made two of them! More on the details of that later!

I'm now in full on Christmas crafting mode. In retrospect, I think was a bad time of the year to launch my little etsy shop, because I haven't given as much time and love to it as I'd like. I'm juggling gifts for people, along with some amazing and very exciting things for my shop. Woo hoo! Hopefully I'll get some stuff up there in the next couple of weeks.

I have many fun things to share, but I thought I should show some fabric that just arrived on my doorstep! I designed it! I couldn't wait to take better pictures, so these will have to do for now. I'm debating what to make with them - the whole idea was some throw pillows for gifts. Can't have enough of those, right? I've got more fabric that I've created and will definitely share when it's here!

another knotch on the anniversary belt

We've been married for three years now. Six years ago we were admiring each other in the Rocket Star, Dan behind the counter and me trying to get some studying done drinking a great many hazelnut lattes. Then of my best friends gave me Dan's phone number to me in my birthday card.

Fast forward six years, we have a beautiful son and are at a point where we are so very happy and content. We are both doing what we love and enjoying our family so very much.


While Stella McCartney got a lovely garden (and more!) the traditional gift for three years is leather and the modern gift is crystal/glass. And the ultra modern/lacking funds gift is a nice dinner and a trip to the movies to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Happy Anniversary, love.

mon petit etsy boutique

FINALLY! My etsy shop is up and a-runnin'. There isn't a whole lot up yet, but you can keep checking to see what's new by following the link on the left side bar - "Other places for me." I will be adding new stuff pretty frequently! Hand drawn embroidery patterns, finger puppets, painted and embroidered stuff for your walls, jewelry, more stationary....AND MORE!

Why Pookaneeme, you ask? As a kid my dad called me Pookie, which at some point manifested into Pookaneeme. (Poo - ka- knee-me). It always seemed a fitting name for my shop.

Check it out here!

to replicate or not to replicate?

Perhaps I was a bit spoiled after living on California's coast, but I think I'm a bit of an aquarium snob now! I had read about the 'Musée Océanique' in Monaco, and was so excited to see what it was all about. I had heard it was amazing, and it was. There were beautiful tanks and the view out into the Mediterranean was breathtaking. (But, as aquariums go it didn't have anything on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences. Just sayin')

What it did have on the aforementioned aquariums was the floor! I fell in love with the mosaics that cover the entryway into the museum. They were HUGE and incredibly beautiful! The wheels in my brain are spinning fast trying to figure out where/how I'd like to replicate this in our house!

the octopus


the crab


the ship

words words words

I find this video from NPR/Radiolab completely relevant, as we are emerging into the realm of words with Jack. We are becoming very aware of what we say and how we say it.

For a few months now, Jack has been an excellent mimic of syllables and tone. We will be outside, and Blitz will be dragging his paws, trying to be outside longer. I'll say, "Blitz! Come. HERE!" Then Jack will say, "Ba! Ba. Ba!" He points at Blitz as he commands him to come here. I can't help but laugh.

His little language of jibberish is fleshing out into repeated words that are close to the real thing and repeated enough that we know what he's telling us. And Jack is even using a few real words now too, which is so exciting! In addition to 'dada' and 'mama' we've got a string of b-words: bird, ball, bowl, Blitz (more like Bit), and Bill. He also tries to say "tickle tickle" when he tickles you, but it adorably sounds like "tucka tucka."

The most exciting development in the word arena happened when we all were in the kitchen. When Jack is trying to tell us something and the process of elimination falls short, he gets frustrated. And rightly so. Who doesn't get frustrated when they aren't able to communicate clearly? I got down to his level and said, "Jack, I know you're frustrated because you want something. Could you try and use a word and tell us what you want instead of crying?" (I knew this was a total longshot, I mean I was speaking with a 15-month-old baby! Before I stood up, in an immediate response Jack, clear as a bell, said, "Water." We bursted with laughter and Dan said, "Oh! You want some water in a cup, buddy?" Jack, with a huge smile, nodded YES!

I just find language development so interesting! Before we moved to SF, I had started my Master's program in literacy and language development. It's so exciting to watch words connect with the things that surround kids every day, and for them to surprise us with how much they already know and understand.

I think you should watch this. I love homonyms.

fall making way for winter

Yesterday was the first day that felt like fall was coming to an end. It was gray and chilly, and Dan swears he saw a flake of snow. Funny thing is, we're totally okay with that! It's been so long since we've been part of the winter season. I know I'll be singing a different tune in February, but I am seriously excited for the snow! I'm honestly more excited for Jack's first winter. Bundling up for sledding and snowmen, and warm hot cocoa when we come in from the cold. Catching snowflakes on our tongues and the crunch of fresh snow under your boots. Seeing your breath in the air and writing on the windows of the car. Winter from a kid's perspective is pretty amazing and I'm so excited to see it with fresh eyes.

Jack's first fall in Michigan was truly amazing! I imagine bounding through piles of snow will be just as fun as those leaves!

piles of unfinished projects...

I'm making way in organizing/decorating my crafting space in our spare bedroom upstairs. This is exciting! Especially since my parents' birthday/Christmas gift this year was replacing my broken sewing machine with a new amazing Singer sewing machine. I've already been using it every night working on new stuff that I'm pretty excited about, and to share with you!

So, as I am organizing and going through boxes of crafting stuff I began a little pile of works in progress (WIPs). The little pile grew to a big pile, and I have been feeling a tremendous wave of guilt. I imagine my little WIPs gathering together on a little island, much like the Island of Misfit Toys, all cutely animated in clay, lamenting to each other how close they each are to being completed projects...

"All I need is a few more stitches," says the embroidery stitch sampler I started a year ago.

"You think that's bad, all she did was draw me on the fabric, I feel naked!" replies the Christmas ornament regaling 'Jack's 1st Christmas'.

"We all need to be crocheted together!" weep the many granny squares that will some day be a blanket for Jack.

You get the point. I am in the process of saving these little WIPs from that sad little island of being unfinished for eternity. I feel like I have crafting ADD. So, I've documented all unfinished projects, have prioritized them in alignment with holiday projects, and will feel quite accomplished once (if ever?!) that little WIP island isn't so crowded! Anyone else have a WIP island like me?

give peas a chance

For the past two days I've been on a kick with stuffing sewn goodies with a nice combination of dried split peas and black-eyed peas. It all started with my feet cold as I stood at the stove making breakfast the other morning. Darn drafty doors! Seeing how I just got a new fancy wonderful sewing machine for my birthday I had a quick solution - door draft stoppers! Easiest thing to make ever - big tubes stuffed with lots and lots and lots of dried peas. (Probably made them a bit too wide, but they work well!)


And then I was working on an ornament I drew up last year to embroider, "Jackson's 1st Christmas 2009." Yeah, procrastination is a serious issue I'm dealing with on the regular. As I was sewing it to some super cute green and white striped fabric Dan suggested to stuff that with the peas too. Oh man, that husband of mine is full of bright ideas! I immediately fell in love and will be whipping up some more of these this holiday season! I'm even taking this one to the masses and putting it out there for custom orders for people! Let me know if you want one, think I'll be putting it up on Etsy!



Last but not least in my pea stuffing endeavors, I made some bean bags for Jack. I guess they're not technically BEAN bags, as they are stuffed with peas...but "pea bags" doesn't quick have a playful ring to it. I've had this pirate fabric for awhile now, and since Jack fell in love with the dried peas, I thought this would be a quick project that would get some serious love from the little guy. He spent the afternoon putting them in baskets, bowls, on his head, and anywhere else they'd fit. It was pretty cute to watch. I'm going to make a pirate game to go along with them! Keep your eyes peeled for that!



It's official. I'm obsessed. I'm now brainstorming more projects that involve dried peas.

it's really been 2 weeks since my last post?!

I feel like every second of the last 2 weeks has been filled with something. I'd venture to say that probably 95% of those "somethings" have been completely amazing! Dan, and two of our greatest friends in the world, Caleb and Marci Larsen, ventured to Italy, France with a pit stop in Monaco on our European road trip.

Italy


France


Monaco


We, along with our luggage, crammed ourselves into a Fiat Panda (why don't I have a picture of this?!) and spent many hours venturing from one amazing city to another, stopping in a couple quaint villages and planning how easily we could live in the countryside drinking wine, tending our gardens and having a morning cafe at the local coffee shop. I could make the longest post right now detailing the amazing things we did and saw, but I'm going to be breaking it up over the next few months.

Taking an amazing vacation like this means being away from Jack. Whoa. There was a serious ebb and flow of missing the little man. There were many times we'd say, "Aw, I wonder what Jack's doing," and even a few times where we were so wrapped up in what we were doing where a thought about him would pop in my head and it would surprise me that I hadn't thought about him in a few hours.

Seriously, this bundle of all kinds of cute is impossible not to miss!


Most of the time, he was on the forefront of my mind. I was constantly on the hunt for little trinkets for him, clothes that I wanted for him, etc. I would see other little kids, which would give me a good dose of cuteness which would dull the ache of missing my baby. And of course, there were a few times where it hurt so bad being away from him. I felt guilty, and often wondered how he'd react when we got back. I mean, he's just barely past 1 year old, and knowing what he's thinking it a constant guessing game! Would he be mad at me for being gone so long? Would he not want to go home with us because life was fine without us? I know this sounds crazy, but they were honest to goodness concerns. The daily schedule that is so routine for us was something I missed. Mornings cuddling on the couch, conversations at lunch, the laughter, the random hugs and kisses, reading books and singing songs at bedtime...Our last night in Marseille, France was rough. We'd had a long day walking around, exploring, etc and I was exhausted and I simply couldn't ignore the ache in my heart. I just wanted to cuddle him and for him to know we still existed. I pestered my family throughout the trip to show him our picture regularly, and I called my mom that night in tears telling her I wanted to come home and once again asking her to show Jack our picture.

The few really hard moments were totally worth it. I think it was a wonderful thing for us, and for Jack, and my family as well. It was quite easy to temporarily fall back into the routine of not worrying about going to bed early in order to be ready for Jack's morning wake-up, to be totally okay with another glass of wine, to eat a meal without having to cut up/feed Jack, to carry a SMALL purse with my phone and my wallet and some lip gloss...

While Dan has gone away on business trips I've never been away from him like this! A big reason was because I've been breastfeeding and leaving for an extended period of time when I've got "the goods" on me isn't really doable. Weaning was a very natural and gradual process for us, and Jack was done nursing the week before we left. The timing was perfect. My parents and sister were so excited to share the duty of watching the little ball of energy for the 10 days we were gone. He is such a chill guy, and he was great for them. He's at the perfect age where he just goes with the flow. It was so good for his Nana, Poppy and Auntie to have so much quality time with him - especially at a point where he is just now exploding with curiosity, his jibberish language which is making more sense every day, and a true sense of exploration. They even lucked out and got to take him trick-or-treating in the spider costume I made for him, and from what I hear he was the hit of the party!


We came home, and while he did cry (from shock, perhaps) in the morning when we went in to get him, he wouldn't let me put him down for a long time. A vacation was wonderful for all of us, and we can all attest to the fact that absence truly makes the heart grow fonder, even when you didn't think it was possible.

up, up and away

We're heading back to Europe in about 24 hours. Back to Milan for a handful of days, as that's where Dan's motorcycle expo is, and the catalyst in our European get-away. We're then driving the French Riviera: stopping by Monaco for a trip to the aquarium perhaps, a night in Cannes, a few nights in Marseille, then making our way back to Milan. I brushing up on Italian and French, I'm so ready! Now packing light, as I've been directed to do, is a very difficult task. I'm seeking the wise consult of others: Marie Claire, and even Rick Steves is rounding up some advice for ladies who are seeking light suitcases!

While it will be so very nice having time away from home, to lounge, be out late, drink as much vino as my little heart desires, to nap whenever I feel like it, to drink espresso late in the day with no worry of needing to fall asleep so I can get up with Jack, etc, etc, etc...I am going to really miss the little guy! I hope me missing him doesn't get in the way of having a good time! I know he's is great hands, it's just that I've never been away from him! Absence makes the heart grow fonder. That's my mantra!

CIAO! See you in a week and a half! I'll have some great pictures, I promise!

easy peasy spidey

I made Jack's costume while he was napping today. His naps are just hour (he sleeps 14+ hours at night these days!), so I had to be quick and efficient! I gathered up a black sweatshirt, two pairs of girls' thick black tights, some bubble wrap, yarn, scissors and thread.



I cut off the legs of the tights, being sure to save one of the tops for later. I decided on stuffing the legs with bubble wrap because a.) it's light, b.) it makes fun noises when the legs move, and c.) that's what we had lying around the basement.



I used the tops of the tights for the spider head/hat. I gathered the top and tied it with some yarn. I cut out some round pieces of white felt and sewed on some black buttons for the eyes. The eyes were then hot-glued to the hat.



I tucked in the ends and used a needle and thread to stitch them to the seam of the sweatshirt that he'll be wearing inside-out. (There's a T-Rex on the other side)




My little spider loved all of his arms! I was thinking about attaching the arms to each other, but as it turns out I like the way they all kind of flop around as he walks.

He'll be wearing some warm black fleece plants for his first real round of Trick-or-Treating, just had to have him try it on for size! This was so easy to make and would totally work for any age!




and one from Dan's moped photo studio... (don't mind the dirty socks!)

costumes! costumes! costumes!

My sister's Halloween costume party was last night, so I can finally unveil the costumes I was working on for the past few weeks! I should apologize for the pics - low lighting is not conducive to iPhone pics!

My sister was Lady Gaga. She started the night out in a shiny silver dress, a curly wig, and a mask. Very Gaga-esque! THEN, she changed into Lady Gaga's meat dress that she wore for the MTV VMA Awards.


I must say this is the coolest looking thing I have ever made! I wanted to be close to the construction of the real dress, while actually using real cuts of meat throughout the one I was making.



I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out! The T-bone headpiece and the boots are my favorite!


Going along with my sister's pop star theme, I went as Katy Perry. I also had two looks. I recreated the dress she wore in her controversial Sesame Street appearance, that was cut from the show as she was showing too much cleavage in the opinion of many parents.


Mine was far less controversial, but pretty funny, nonetheless. I did have to explain it to some people who were not completely up to par on pop culture news... They thought I was Katy Perry on her wedding day.


I also had to pay homage to her blue wig that she donned a few times, so my second look was more comfortable and a nod to my days as a California Gurl.


I also whipped up some salt and pepper costumes for my parents. Easiest costumes to make EVER! I dyed some chef hats gray, and hot glued some black dots on them, as they were the lids to the shakers. I bought some clear plastic "fabric," cut holes for their heads, and then hot glued some sparkly white and black felt pieces I cut out for the salt and pepper. Add and 'S' and a 'P' and VOILA!


Yay! Halloween is so much fun! Still not nailed down on what I'm doing for Jack's costume! haha I have a week left!

who doesn't love stationary?

I am such a procrastinator! I make honest efforts to remedy this. Often. I started thinking about Halloween costumes in, I don't know, like July or something. And here I am, a week away from my sister's big Halloween party, and am almost done with 1 costume OUT OF 5 THAT I HAVE AGREED TO MAKE!

On another note along the same topic, we're heading off to Chicago for a wedding this weekend. Very excited! Classic ME style, the wedding was 4 days away and it hit - "D'oh! What are we going to get them?!" They didn't have a registry, and even said guests really didn't need to get them anything. But I wanted to! I instantly recalled the beautiful and genius work of my friend Rosanna who runs her own lovely letterpress studio, The Iron Curtain Press, out of Seattle. Being under some crunch time I decided to use a custom project as inspiration that she beautifully whipped up for Ben Gibbard and Zooey Dechanel's wedding! (as evidenced here, here and here) I put my own spin on it with stamps and paper punches. Pretty happy with the results. I guess it all boils down to the fact that I always function best in a pinch in the final stretch of time available for a project. (The part of my brain that is in charge of procrastination just said, "Resistance is FUTILE!" Weird.)





And when I was without some stamps I wanted, I improvised with an X-acto knife and some pencils.




All ready for the bride and groom!