Saturday, August 02, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Repeat Your Winners* Thursday - The B's
Burda, Blueberries and Burn Notice - A great combination!
Burda 7925 in glazed magnolia embroidered linen with just a shimmer of silver/pewter metallic. Scored at Jo-Ann's.
Blueberry Torte Squares, inspired by $2 blueberries at Super Target.
And a new episode of Burn Notice tonight.
Hooray for Thursday!
*Credit David Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Rachel's Yogurts
Eat yogurt to become calm and relax? I'm always game for a gimmick! HEB carries a few of Rachel's Essence Yogurts for 99 cents each. I liked the Vanilla Chai (Relax) a bit better than Plum Honey Lavender (Calm). The plum was a little too puckery but not distasteful. Click on the link for other flavors and the nutritional information. I thought they came in nutritionally affordable and in pretty containers. 9-29-08 update -- Super Target now carries them for 99 cents, too.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Burda Easy 7793 View A Top and View B Tank Top
Burda 7793A repeat sewing of 7793's knit tank top View B with View A's blouse top.
This practically sewed itself just looking at it. You can easily can make both in less than an hour. And that factors in playing with the Steam-A-Seam 2 in the humidity (and cleaning the gunk off the iron afterwards). The only length adjustment I made was cutting the pattern to the larger size length, about 1 1/2 inches.
Happy Birthday Beatrix Potter!
My Royal Doulton Bunnykins bank and egg cupEven Google is celebrating the occasion!
Cooking Light 5 Star Recipes - Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies
Today I'm going to try Cooking Light's Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies (page 407 from the Cooking Light 5 Star Recipes book). Back later with photos and results! If you would like to get a head start, click here for the recipe link.
The verdict? Three thumbs down. We don't like nor drink coffee, and it was really coffee-y. In the past, I have used instant coffee in a few recipes with good results; just not two tablespoonfuls! I liked the toffee chips idea and will use them again on another brownie recipe. I did bake it the extra 8 minutes other reviewers advised and the texture was good. Excuse me while I go brush my teeth! The aftertaste - Blech!
Netflix Stars - 21
3/5 stars - It was OK...we didn't love it, but it stayed and played all the way through. I think Kevin Spacey is creepy anyways, and he is creepy in this movie, too.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Burda 7925 - View B Top - Finished!
Better grab 7925 from the Burda drawers at Jo-Ann's while you can...I can't find it on the Burda website. That probably increases the odds it may not be in the new Fall/Winter Burda catalog? Which should be coming out soon, I hope. L and I have pretty much mined the current one.
I ended up keeping the extra length (8 1/4"), adding 4" side slits and topstitching a 1 1/4" hem
allowance. The top looks cuter paired with capris or pants instead of a skirt. Add some long bead necklaces and you are transported back to the 70's. The fabric was a retro-looking floral cream/black/brown linen from Jo-Ann's, trimmed with the black linen leftover from the Burda 7965 split skirt. Jo-Ann's just Red-Tagged all their leftover linen bolts, so you may still be able to find it there at your store. 7925 definitely has the potential to play nicely with other styling and designing changes. The fit really is flattering -- it is just difficult to photograph it well as evidenced by me and the pattern envelope!
View B is a cute top that doesn't look as dorky as shown on the envelope. I really bought this pattern for the pants, the top is bonus. I automatically added the 1-1/2 inches at the above the waist adjustment line, and then all the inches to the the View A below the waist adjustment line, to make sure my options are still open to not expose my midriff when I raise my arms, or go "Brady Bunch"-y and turn it into more of a 70's style tunic top. I slightly trimmed down the neckline a little lower than the 3/8" called for in the instructions just because it looked so high in the photo. I also had to redirect the bust darts upwards 1.5 cm. (three cheers for Chantelle! and Internet sales!) The neckline and armhole edges are finished with contrast bias. There's two long waistline back darts and 18" zipper closure.
Next time Jo-Ann's has 50% off notions, I'm stocking up on 14"-16"-18" zippers. This has been the Summer of Burda and long zippers!
I ended up keeping the extra length (8 1/4"), adding 4" side slits and topstitching a 1 1/4" hem
allowance. The top looks cuter paired with capris or pants instead of a skirt. Add some long bead necklaces and you are transported back to the 70's. The fabric was a retro-looking floral cream/black/brown linen from Jo-Ann's, trimmed with the black linen leftover from the Burda 7965 split skirt. Jo-Ann's just Red-Tagged all their leftover linen bolts, so you may still be able to find it there at your store. 7925 definitely has the potential to play nicely with other styling and designing changes. The fit really is flattering -- it is just difficult to photograph it well as evidenced by me and the pattern envelope!
Netflix Stars - Step Up 2-The Streets
L's rating: 3.5/5, a little too long...
Do you watch Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew? (Go SoReal Cru!) 
On purpose or by happenstance? Then you (mostly likely your teen) will like Step Up 2 - The Streets. On purpose or by happenstance. For us older generationers, think of Saturday Night Fever 2008, in both the dialogue and dancing. Some things never change. In Step Up 2, you'll see the winners of last season's ABDC (towards the end) and also MTV's award-winning "Best Kiss" scene.
On purpose or by happenstance? Then you (mostly likely your teen) will like Step Up 2 - The Streets. On purpose or by happenstance. For us older generationers, think of Saturday Night Fever 2008, in both the dialogue and dancing. Some things never change. In Step Up 2, you'll see the winners of last season's ABDC (towards the end) and also MTV's award-winning "Best Kiss" scene.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Still time to Make it Mine
Make It Mine still has back issues available, including the last one, Spring 2008. Cost is $7.95; which includes Media Rate postage (Priority is $3 more). To order, call 1-800-533-6644.
Dirty Girl
We are on the "dirty" (NE side) of Hurricane Dolly as she begins to make landfall near Brownsville later today. Even though we are over 300 miles away, we are already getting the rain bands and thunder boomers this morning.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Burda 7808 - View B Dress with View A Collar
Sometimes you feel like you hit a sewing home run - which is what happened to me with my second version of Burda 7808 - View B with View A's collar. (Click here for the 7808 View A post) Even though it is a 3 dot difficulty pattern, it is easy to sew and especially sewable when you only have bits of time available. Lately I've been waking early and sewing (and photographing!) in the morning before the day gets started full blast.
The dress just felt fun to wear today. I love the pockets, too.
Cost to make: Less than $8; even with the 16" zipper. The fabric was a dark navy or black and white micro weave shirting with some oomph to it, discovered in Jo-Ann's Red Tag section for $2/yard. Not bad.
Hello (and Goodbye!) Dolly
Yuck! So sweet it makes your teeth hurt, providing you can get a piece out intact. This is from the December 2007 issue of Cooking Light. Click here for the recipe if you are feeling lucky. While I applaud their trying to reduce the fat content, the bit of butter and tablespoon of water was not enough to make the crust behave like a crust. The hopes that a can of condensed milk would somehow seep through to the bottom and bind the crumbs fails to take into consideration - 1) the 15 ounce can in the ingredients is now sold in 14 ounce cans... 2) if the can is close to the "best used by" date, it will be too thick to do nothing but just sit on the top.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Netflix Stars - Penelope
4.5/5 stars! Very creatively entertaining with a good message! And it has James McAvoy with his bangs and accent dialed down. Coinky-dink the doofus Edward Vanderman III character played by Simon Woods bears a resemblance to Reese's former husband, Ryan Phillippe? The special features section on the costume and set design is really interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
