October 31

The school costume: I had to lengthen Miss Muffet's dress a little to give her a bit more leg coverage. 'Twas a trifle too sexy for a very-long-legged tween to wear.

Tonight's trick-or-treat costumes:

I made Rhea's devil dress. Lauren cobbled together her 'look' with a lot of help from Daddy and his stage makeup box.

October 22-25

A week ago we were revelling the splendour of Yosemite National Park. We laughed, squabbled, rode (bicycles and mules), walked, shivered, gasped, stared, and loved. A family vacation to remember.

{Bear, pooping}

October 18

The youngest girl is now 12. Tonight we celebrated!

Getting ready to light the candles.

Mimi, her nanny from back in her toddler days, joined us. Lauren is now taller than her!

And the big sister, who used to only be a little sister, is here to share the joy. Big sister-little sister. It's all good.

October 16

Marina del Rey

Main Street, Venice Beach -- you're almost my kind of place. Lots of little boutiques and artsy establishments, pretty street lighting, plenty of dinner options. Just a tad too chichi to be a regular Hashi hangout. Tonight, after visiting the very cool Urban Craft Center (now that is my kind of place!) we ate quesadillas while Rhea read to me from the local rag. I am absolutely LOVING hanging out with my girl.

October 15

Exhibit B: a crib-sized quilt for a new wee one. It was my first attempt at all-over machine quilting, and I think it turned out OK. Lauren fell in love with it, and has asked that she get one of her own instead of pyjamas on Christmas Eve. Or maybe as well as pyjamas.

October 14

Rain. Blessed rain. (Photo by Rhea.)

October 13

Inspired by Sew Mama Sew's Scrap Buster Month, I've been digging into my crate of scraps and stitching some Christmas gifts. Usually I spend all year making gifts, but for 2009 my focus was FEED. With a job that keeps me away from home for 12 hours a day, and a full day out of every weekend spent cooking and entertaining, my time and energy for crafting has shrunk. Thus the dearth of Hashi-made gifts accumulating in the bedroom trunk.

Of course I still love to give handmade, so in past weeks I've been trolling etsy with my loved ones in mind. But Sew Mama Sew called to me with their October theme, and of late evenings have found me, after the next night's dinner is cooked and the kitchen is cleaned, at the sewing machine.

Exhibit A: a child's scarf, lined with slinky soft minky, and trimmed with vintage pom poms.

October 11

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I'm here, having fun, making stuff, but I just don't seem to get photos taken in daylight hours. Soon I'll do a big update and show you what I've been up to, but for now I'll just share pictures of my beautiful girl, about to attend her first Hollywood party.

One of the (only?) things about me that really disappoints my lovely husband is the fact that I'm just not into his profession, and all that goes with it. I attend industry parties with him, but it's not really my favourite thing to do. So when the Dexter wrap party coincided with Rhea's visit, it was obvious that she should be his date. She spent days in a tizzy about it, beyond excited. And she came home very, very happy.

Ah, the allure of Hollywood. I am glad that it meant so much to her, and glad for Josh that he could give a young lady such a special experience.

I love my family :-)

Desiderata, day three

Speak your truth quietly and clearly.

The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.– Francis Maitland Balfour

Desiderata, day two

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Things that don't help:

complaining
mental replay of previous annoyances
wanting to be right

Things that help:

smiling
letting others go first
offering to help those who bug me
dropping the sarcasm
reminiscing over old photos and happy memories

Desiderata, day 1

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Things that don't help:

listening to the news.
reading the news.
facebook.

Things that help:

my beautiful commute.


eating outdoors by candlelight during the evening power outage.


staying out there after the lights came back on, to play cards and enjoy each other's company.

breathing deeply.