Simple Pleasures

Today was absolutely lovely. I kept my promise to myself to walk downtown from my house as often as possible. I had a refreshing little lunch of miso, cucumber salad, and a veggie roll(my attempts to develop a sushi palate are going well). I perused local quirky shops and found a billfold that perfectly matches my purse and which also has about a bazillion pockets for organization. Score!
I capped the afternoon sipping a mocha and working on my french knot technique while engaged in conversation with Jill Malone about feminism, parenting, travel, and burlesque. I love those quiet days in which nothing especially amazing happens, but lots of small, wonderful interactions add up to make a peaceful, fulfilling, deeply enjoyable afternoon that just sort of fades into a cozy evening.
On an unrelated note, Craftzine linked to the most perfect Valentine's Day card ever for Mr. Bear. He's getting the artificial heart blood pump one. Don't tell him!

My Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous Loft Bed

We finally finished painting the loft bed and it is lovely! I'm so pleased with it. Mr. Bear was a rockstar. He cut out the stamps with his badass laser, cut out the plexiglass backs, and affixed the stamps to the backs(I was otherwise occupied with important knitting). He also helped me reach the tall places on the bed. And all while suffering through a marathon of season one of Jem and The Holograms that I had playing on my laptop(and which you can see in the background of the last picture) that annoyed him to no end, I'm sure. He's a trooper. As you can see, the silhouettes inside the frames are birds and bears. Of course.
Once the craftroom is completed, I'll post some before and after pictures, by which I'm sure at least I will be amazed.

Conversations

Mr. Bear: I spent the weekend building a loft bed for my girlfriend's craft room.
Mr. Bear's coworker: Oh? That's cool. Does she sew? I sew all my own clothes, see?
Mr. Bear: Is that embroidery? Nice. I want to get my girlfriend an embroidery machine.
Mr. Bear's coworker: (pause) Wow, it must be serious!

Evolution of a Loft Bed

Successfully painted, the bed has taken up residence in the craft/guest room. Having never slept on a top bunk, I was a little wary of it at first, but Mr. Bear, having grown up with a bunk bed, assures me it is quite sturdy. In my determination to cheese up the place I hung some red and white lights under the bed, soon to be joined by a pair of large red maribou-trimmed foamboard hearts from last year's Valentine show. 'Cause I secretly want to live in a Vegas cabaret.

Painting Furniture Like a Boss!

We picked up a loft bed frame at Ikea on our trip to Seattle. Unfortunately it only came in black and the rest of the room is white. Of course, I decided that we simply must paint the frame white before we assembled it. Poor, long-suffering, patient Mr. Bear got totally on board with this idea because he's perfect, and that is how in a weekend we've gotten from here:
























to here:
























Three coats of Behr Premium Plus Ultra Paint and Primer in one in Ultra Pure White, Eggshell sheen. It could probably use another coat between now and Wednesday to really cover all the black, but I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.

Celebrating a new home, and a dinner recipe

The week has been full of exciting change, new homes, and adorable dino-shaped sandwiches! Have a look:

After many happy performances at the Lion's Lair, that chapter of our story is written, and we are embarking on an exciting new leg of our journey at The Spotlight. It is gorgeous and huge and theatrical and everything we've been working toward. We all feel very lucky that they want us, and the February 12 show is going to be amazing!

I felt like indulging in a little whimsy the other day, so I pulled out my dinosaur-shaped sandwich cutter and made bronto-wiches for Mr. Bear and I. His turned out lovely, I accidentally cut off the head of one of mine.

In the interest of not wasting ingredients, I tore up the leftover bread into bite-sized pieces to make into croutons for soup. The soup being a canned tomato-basil doctored up with seasonings and minced garlic.

I bagged the bread with a dash of olive oil, some seasoning, and garlic, and shook to coat. Then I spread the bread out on a sheet of foil and baked for 5 minutes at 375 degrees.

The bread was nice and crispy.

Served with homemade croutons and a bit of shredded cheese. Delicious!

Looking back on 2010

It was an amazing year, to be sure. I reconnected with an amazingly creative collective of friends, rediscovered the warmth and acceptance of this Chosen Family, and met my wonderful partner, who has been the best gift of all. I am so incredibly lucky to have these people in my life, and to be able to participate in something so creative and affirming.