more PitchFest

Here are some wonderful pictures taken by Carolynn Broeke, professional photographer. It gives you an idea of the scale of the room.

night market

The Richmond night market.

BBQ Squid... Japanese Octopus Balls... Bubble Tea.. Oh my! Definitely worth a trip for the food. Yummy.

my latest purchases

I bought these two beautiful tea cups on sale at this shop in LA.



I also bought these from the local asian supermarket. I am completely obsessed with the kinoko (mushroom) set and the fairytale tea cups. Obsessed I tell you! Look at how cute they are! I'm not made of stone people! Here is the official website so that you can see all of their cute products.



We went down to Main Street this afternoon after having lunch with Blue Skies, Blue Olive and Jeanie Ow. I found this beautiful blue teapot made of tin. I love it. I am either going to use it as a vase or as a planter.

last few snaps

Here is the last 3 pictures from our trip. I feel like I have been gone forever, but it has only been a week and a half. It was weird to hear the sound of rain outside the window today. Where did the sun go? Isn't it almost July?

This weekend is all about cleaning the house and catching up on work...


Taken in downtown LA. I love the Los Angeles street sign.


Beautiful sculpture of the ocean in the newly renovated Sea Tac airport during our 3 hour layover.


Vancouver at night.. a view from above.

pool party

Monday, the day after the event, was spent lounging and splashing in the pool for a number of hours. I'm not sure how long we were in there for, but enough to begin getting pruny. Fun times.

second to last day

Today is a balmy 84F =) It's funny how quickly we have acclimatized. Since we arrived, the weather has ranged between 94 to 104F which is 34 to 40 C.

Monday was spent exploring Los Angeles' Chinatown. It was very different than the one in Vancouver. Kind of beat up and very few grocery shops lining the streets. They had a huge open air market, but most of the stalls were filled with imported clothes, underwear and toys made in China. Not the best, but glad we went. We had dim sum with Kim at the Empress Pavilion in Chinatown. It was ok. Vancouver definitely has the best sushi and dim sum hands down!

Last night we all piled into the car after spending several hours in the pool and made our way to Glendale. We discovered a huge shopping complex that is very similar to the Grove (same shops), but larger! We had dinner at the cheesecake factory and then rolled home. Literally! Have you ever been there? The portions are HUGE. Rob and I shared two dishes, but barely touched one and made a slight dent on the second.

Well.. its time to go home...

Carolyn left last night. Lorene and Jess flew home this morning and Kim is catching the 4:30pm flight. Our flight is at 6:45pm and we get in around midnight. I can't believe it is already time to leave! Although I am sad to leave, I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and I miss cleo so much!

GAP

Why are we in LA? We are part of the team that produces this.

porto's

Porto's is a famous Cuban bakery here in Burbank. Absolutely delicious! See the cakes pictured above? $23 each! We are talking big, huge, intricate cakes!! Their staff is also amazing. I ordered 12 items for the event and she didn't even have to write down anything!



Yesterday was day 1 at PitchFest and after a few bumps, things smoothed out nicely. Its hot here. I mean... HOT. Even people in LA are complaining how hot it is. I have basically been enjoying the hotel's air conditioning for the last two days. It was so hot outside that it started a car fire. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me as hotel staff ran over with fire extinguishers and the fire truck arrived. However, here is a picture of what was left. Poor car next to it got it too!



A picture snapped somewhere on the highway between Burbank and downtown LA. We were off to pick up some photocopying.

today's view

Somebody was practicing their helicopter maneuvers this morning. Round and round for about an hour.

the Grove

Lorene, Jess, Carolyn, Rob and I all jumped into the rental car and drove through downtown Hollywood to the Grove. The Grove is an outdoor shopping plaza that is a cross between Vegas and Downtown Disney. Don't get me wrong though, the Grove is lovely and they have an excellent Farmers Market (original Grove) next door. Signe first introduced me to this place last August when we were in town for site visits. I knew that this was definitely a place that I wanted to come back to. If not for the ambience, then definitely for the Forever 21 store!

our house

There are currently 6 of us living in this beautiful house up in Burbank. Two more staff members arrive today, so this 3 bedroom place is going to be bursting at the seams.


Yesterday we made a trip to Little Tokyo. What a great place!! There is a great Japanese market and bookstore with so much kawaii items! Loved it. There was even a Beard Papa's with Beard Papa sandwiches? We thought that was a little weird. Beard Papa's in Aberdeen only has maybe 5 different items maximum. The ones here have a huge selection plus boba teas and no line ups.

The plan for today is maybe head over to the Grove for some forever 21 shopping or maybe chinatown. I miss noodles and rice - haha.

a plane with a view

After working two 14 hour days with the Arts Umbrella Recital last weekend, we woke up at 3AM to catch our early morning flight to Los Angeles. One of the volunteers from PitchFest picked us up at the airport and we weaved through (horrendous) traffic arriving in Burbank 45 minutes later. Rob and I rented a car for our stay and thank goodness it came with a GPS system! I'm not sure it shows us the best route, but at least it gets us there!

So what did our first day hold? Well.. we settled in, made a run to Target and Costco for the house, did a bit of work, had a nap, went for a swim, a bit more work and then heading to bed. I promise tomorrow will be more productive! More staff arrive tomorrow afternoon so this place is definitely getting busy! Oh yeah.. and Jenny (we met at last years' PitchFest popped in. I love her. She is so cute!)





This is the view from our office.

The weather here is wonderful. It goes between HOT to nice and toasty. I am so happy that the air conditioner at the house works again! I have a lot to do tomorrow, but hope to make it to Japan town. Bob (co-producer) mentioned something about dim sum in Chinatown.. drool.

There is a fire station down the hill from where we are staying and they have the most gorgeous sculpture of a tree that is made of iron (will take a picture this week). There is also a house with llamas, a peacock and a rooster (we think there is only one, but could be more) down the hill so in the day we hear the rooster and at dusk the peacocks start doing their thing.

I am super tired and just rambling, so will write more tomorrow. Goodnight!

cat cakes

Spent the evening doing laundry and finishing up this order of cat cakes. They have been securely packaged and will be on their way to a pet store called Scalawags in Kennebunkport, Maine.

It feels good to cross things off the overwhelming to do list!

We are off to spend the weekend working on a contract for the Arts Umbrella which will pretty much swallow our next two days. Then we are off to LA on a 6:30 AM flight Monday morning. I'm sure glad that the Tim Horton's is open 24 hours.

Faux birds are cute. Real birds are scary.

Today started out with breakfast at Joe's with Melba, Brent, Drew and their friend from Mexico. We then headed to Paboom on West 4th Avenue and picked up this cute little birdie for our mantle. I am all for faux birds, but when it comes to real birds.... I think I would pass out. That's right. I have a fear of birds. You know how some people can't stand spiders? That is how I am with birds. I mean.. the little ones are ok.. but the worst are pigeons! I can't stand them. I can't even go through the stuffed bird section at the museum. All of them looking at you while you pass through their exhibit. When Rob and I were in London, we had to pass through the bird exhibit to see the rest of the museum. I had to close my eyes while Rob lead me through.

whipped cream + strawberries = yum!

I made strawberry shortcake for dessert last night. The shortcake part turned out to be more like a biscuit then one of those golden sponge cakes you find at the store. Nonetheless, it was quite delish! You can find the recipe here.

Yesterday was also filled with some crafty goodness. I made this with a 99cent frame from Dressew.



Here is a picture of the table that I found on the street. It has 4 holes on the top where somebody screwed in a cushion, so I made a small table overlay with trim to cover the holes.



and if that wasn't enough... I finally started making my sewing machine cover. Here are the pieces of oil cloth that I cut.



Its good to be back on the machine!

tortillas for all!

I received quite a number of emails for the recipe (people actually read this!?), so I decided just to post it.

Happy tortilla making!

Flour Tortillas – Makes 8

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil
2/3 to 3/4 cup warm water

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, oil and half the water. Stir and continue adding water until the dough comes together, but is not too sticky. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

If you have time at this point, cover the dough and let it sit at room temp for 30 minutes (or up to several hours) to let it relax.

Divide the dough into 8 balls. On a lightly floured surface, press each ball into a disc and then roll it out as thin as possible. It should be about 7 to 8” in diameter.

Cook the tortillas one at a time in a dry skillet set over medium heat, until it blisters and brown spots appear. It should take about a minute per side.

Trust me.. you will never buy store tortillas again!

Side note: I’m not sure where this recipe is from as I had clipped it about a year ago and shoved into my recipe drawer.

for sale and wanted

Update: Cart has been sold. Thank you!

I almost forgot to post this...

Since we moved into a smaller place last May (whole floor of house to 1 bedroom apartment), we had to get rid of a few things.

For Sale:



I use it for events all the time and it has been a lifesaver. Seriously, who needs to carry heavy things when you can just load them onto the cart and roll! Unfortunately, there is just no room here and we have decided to sell it. Price - $30.00.

Stats: 29 in. (73 cm) x 18 3/4 in. (47 cm) platform. 4-in. solid rubber caster wheels: 2 fixed, 2 swivel. Quick release folding steel handle for flat storage. Capacity: 330 lbs (149 kg). Made of steel. It has a scratch on the rubber on the bed.

Wanted:

I am looking for a provincial style dresser. Preferably white with handles (can be changed later) and no more than 3 feet wide. I found one in Vancouver, but I believe it is a lingerie dresser as the drawers are very thin. Looking for something that costs no more than $75. Found a beautiful one in Salem, but it was huge.

Something like this, but a bit wider maybe not as tall.