adventures | kimberly ah

Jun 28 2017

Adami Adventure, adventures, celebrations, snail mail

Letter Writers Alliance 10th Anniversary Party

Last month Naoto surprised me with a trip to Los Angeles for the Letter Writers Alliance 10th anniversary party hosted by Margaret from Paper Pastries. Margaret and I have been pen pals for a few years now but we’d only met briefly at Ex Postal Facto. So I was really looking forward to seeing her again and meeting her sweet family. The trip exceeded my expectations. There wasn’t a ton of time for sight seeing (especially since my Friday was cut short thanks to flight delays, womp womp) but I loved the time I spent with Margaret and celebrating ten years of writing with the LWA.

On Friday afternoon, Margaret took me to the top of City Hall for a view of LA. Then we shopped around Little Tokyo. Chicago doesn’t have a Japanese neighborhood so it was such a treat to go to these little shops and restaurants. We haven’t planned our 2017 trip to Japan yet, so I’m feeling a little Japan withdrawal so it was great to immerse myself in the cuteness of Little Tokyo. I bought some stickers and a fuurin, which is a Japanese wind chime. (I’ve been wanting one for Tanabata next month. I’ll show you soon!)

We also had Honeymee which was amazing and is making me rethink my summer treats. It’s a special soft serve that comes topped with a real honeycomb. Seriously, what a combination! It was so good and worth the sticky hands that followed.

I also got to go to Poketo which has been on my list for some time. I only bought some greeting cards but I just love their style.

On Saturday morning I went to brunch with Margaret, her husband Tony, and their adorable daughter Ellis. (Sadly no pictures of this…)

Then I killed time at the Museum of Neon Arts in Glendale. It was the smallest museum ever, but it was packed with neon signs and modern art. I liked the old neon signs the best but I was smitten with the Japanese katakana in the last piece above. (It says “neon” and was made for an art installation in Japan in 1998.)

On Saturday afternoon, a few dozen people showed up at Paper Pastries for the official Letter Writers Alliance anniversary party and letter writing social. I shopped, I wrote a few postcards, I chatted, I drank champagne punch, and I ate the most delicious cake ever–white cake with white frosting and COVERED in festive sprinkles. It was perfect. It was so amazing to see people come from far and wide to celebrate letter writing! The letter writing community is so diverse and friendly!

After the party we all went out for dumplings and drinks which was the perfect ending for a day with pen pals who’ve become true friends.

On Sunday my flight left pretty early so I just had time to finish some postcards and eat an In-and-Out burger, my first. (It was good…I didn’t get the fries because it was 10:30AM.) Burbank Airport, Bob Hope Airport Whew…it was a whirlwind trip. Now I’m home and looking forward to the NEXT LWA party, tomorrow night at Greer!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, cocktails, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, shopping, snail mail

Jun 07 2017

2 Comments

adventures, celebrations, Old Movies, what's for dinner

The Godfather

Maybe you know this about me…I haven’t seen many movies. In fact, most movies made in this century, I’ve only seen because I’ve been on plenty of long plane rides. When the Oscars come around, most years I haven’t seen any of the nominees. Recently, Ida (Best Foreign Film) is the only one I can remember seeing. So it should be unsurprising that I’ve never seen The Godfather. The movie turned forty-five this year and TCM brought it back to the big screen on Sunday (and today! Go if you can!) I knew it would be the perfect way to experience this classic for the first time.

I decided to make an event of it and host a Godfather feast after the movie. We drank chianti and enjoyed the fabulous antipasto platter pictured at the top, caprese salad, spaghetti and meatballs, and cannoli while we talked about the movie and how crazy good looking Al Pacino was in the 70s. (Especially in uniform.)

I’ve seen quite a few of the Fandango/TCM Big Screen Classics and they are well-done and not widely attended (at least around my neighborhood.) The TCM people do a little introduction and closing with some history of the movie, which is always fascinating and helps put the classic in context. I’m checking out the rest of this year’s line up to see what other parties we can plan–E.T. is coming and I haven’t seen that since the 80s so it will be like seeing it again for the first time!

Have you seen any good movies lately? (Old or new!)

P.S. As usual, not a sponsored post. And pics of The Godfather courtesy of the movie…not my own camera. 🙂

Tagged adventures, celebrations, food, vintage

Jun 05 2017

1 Comment

adventures, Forest Park, gardening

Plot 6 in 2017

We’re back in the garden again!

I’m a little late in my gardening season posts…a little behind on posting in general. But here’s what is going on in Plot 6 so far this season:Last year when we closed the garden, a woman who lives in the neighborhood gave a bunch of us garlic from her garden. I’ve never planted garlic before so I was excited to plant a few bulbs and even more delighted to be welcomed this spring with several garlic plants! It’s always fun to come back to something growing instead of just plain dirt, right? And unlike my chive and walking onions, they aren’t taking up too much space…that chive plant gets bigger and bigger every year. Ugh, and I really like the walking onions because they are tasty and grow into crazy alien-like beasts, but man…they are shading a whole corner of my plot! So far we’ve planted a few herbs (lavender and rosemary from seedlings and thyme and basil from seed,) edamame, beets, daikon, kabocha, kale, and four types of tomatoes: Brandywine, Rutgers, Better Boy, and Green Zebra. I have at least two more tomatoes on my wishlist…which just goes to show I haven’t learned from my tomato jungle disasters of the past. #YOLO Here’s the plot so far. It’s in its neat and tidy stage before things start growing out of control and the rabbits eat the tops of my edamame again. The joys of gardening!

Tagged adventures, diy, food, forest park, garden, gardening, homemaking, summer

May 31 2017

1 Comment

adventures, crafty adventures, GalaxieSafari, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Craft & Vintage Market at Friendly Tap

A couple weekends ago, I did another craft show, this time in Berwyn at the Friendly Tap & Coffee Lounge. It’s a tiny bar/coffee shop/music venue in a nearby area. The group of sellers is small and eclectic and rotates throughout the year. I’ve shopped there a couple of times and came away with some great pottery. Naoto got to wear his Galaxie Safari “uniform” for the first time. And it was the first time bringing my own table to a show, so I had to work with a little bit of a smaller space than usual. I need to figure out a better display for my unframed quotes, or just sell them framed at shows because they were a challenge to keep in order throughout the day. So many things to keep figuring out! It’s so much fun though! Merchandising is my favorite thing. Galaxie Safari, father's day card, looking sharp dad, vintage postage, desert flowers stamp In the shop, I added two new cards for dad…just in time for Father’s Day. Both did well at the show and I’m especially excited to add a few more space-themed cards to my shop!

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

May 01 2017

6 Comments

adventures, celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail, Write On

Write On Party

Last Sunday I had a few people over for a letter writing party. I ordered the Party Pack, which was kind of a party-in-a-box with pens, confetti, and Write On packs for everyone, along with other goodies like a printable invitation, a letter writing themed playlist, and a Write On calendar and tote. I hung some vintage air mail envelopes and a Japanese air mail kakejiku (hanging scroll) from the ceiling and I strung up a few more air mail envelopes to make a garland. I covered the table in kraft paper and sprinkled the confetti along with some mail things from my collection. Each person got a Write On kit and a little brochure about letter writing. On the stereo, I had all of my mail themed rubber stamps and washi tapes along with some extra air mail envelopes, postcards, and my new Mr. Zip book. (He deserves his own blog post!) For snacks, I made a pot of tea and put out some Trader Joe’s truffles, some Japanese Happy Turn crackers, and I made these little envelope pies. I found the idea here–they were so easy and even though mine looked rather imperfect, they were a really fun addition to the simple menu. It was a relaxing afternoon of chatting and letter writing. We all really wrote letters! (I finished two!!) My only regret is that we didn’t have Naoto take a picture of us writing in action, but we got a fun group shot using Photo Booth (at the top.) I think I’ve said this before, but I love letter socials. Obviously letter writing is a good solitary activity, but sometimes it’s interesting to get together and share our hobby in person.

I’m a little sad Write On is over, but the letter writing shall continue! I managed (thanks to a solid push to the finish line last night) to finish 31 postcards and letters and I’ve replied to everyone from my pile of overdue mail…whew! I need to give myself a pep talk to keep that momentum going in May!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, crafts, decorating, food, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, Trader Joe's, vintage, washi tape

Apr 01 2017

2 Comments

adventures, celebrations, In My Mailbox, Office Supplies, snail mail, Write On

Write On & National Letter Writing Month

It’s here! Already! I’ve missed writing letters, so I’m looking forward to catching up with my (oh so patient!) pen pals and hopefully writing a letter or two on the spring balcony! As usual, I’m going to set some goals for myself:

Spend out more of my stationery stash. (It’s out of control.)
Spend out my Easter cards/mail art stash. (Also growing out of control.)
Send something every day. (It’s not a requirement for Write On, but I want to keep up my momentum!)
Break out my new Letter Ledger!! (Seriously, it’s my favorite letter writing tool. Victoria of Paper & Type is a genius!)

That’s it. Write. Reconnect. Spend out.

Join me?

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail

Mar 30 2017

3 Comments

adventures

The Women’s March in Chicago

I’ve been meaning to share some pictures from the Women’s March in Chicago for awhile now.After the election, I was feeling so discouraged. And still, most days I feel this way. I know we’re not supposed to talk about politics in public and on blogs, but for me, this goes beyond Democrats and Republicans. If Mitt Romney or John McCain had won in 2012 and 2008, I would have been disappointed, but I wouldn’t have been afraid for our country. And, while I think it’s fine to disagree, this whole “alternative facts” thing where the two sides are living in two separate realities…it’s scary. But I’m inspired by the number of people who are awakened to politics and getting involved. I have been a huge fan of politics since I was able to vote. I registered as soon as I turned 18 and I’ve voted in almost every election since then. I have always been a fan of writing to my Senator and Congressman, even the ones in “my party” because they don’t always get it right. Being in the city with 250,000 motivated, progressive, witty people gave me some hope that we’ll get through this, even if there is a lot of work to do. (By the way, that yellow sign is the ultimate Chicago burn.) So thanks to my fellow marchers for giving me a shot of hope…especially this guy, who is always beside me.

P.S. I wrote this in March 2017 but never hit publish. I retroactively published the post January 21, 2018.

Tagged adventures, election, Women's March

Feb 13 2017

1 Comment

adventures, crafty adventures, GalaxieSafari, snail mail, Valentine's Day

HoneyCraft Recap

My third craft show is in the books and I still feel like a rookie. Everything went really smoothly and all. My table is simple so my trusty assistant and I have set-up down pat, but the week before the craft show was a bit crazy. Since I’m a huge procrastinator, I stressed over getting everything done and also making time for card and quote ideas that popped into my head at the very last minute. I had plenty of cards, and even enough quotes. And the Valentine puns were a hit. Someone called them “dad jokes” which I take as the highest compliment. I used a new card display so customers don’t have to rifle through a box to see all of the designs. It takes up quite a big section of the table, but cards are my thing, so…I think it’s real estate well spent. Before my next show, I need to play around with the display and my pricing signs. When Naoto wasn’t helping in the booth, he was shopping. He bought this sweet laser cut origami cat necklace for me from Simply Anderson. Isn’t it cute? And we got a set of these alpaca dryer balls to give to my parents. They are made of hand-felted alpaca fur (I don’t think fur is the right term?) and you toss them in the dryer with your clothes and they take away the static and reduce drying time by 25%. We got some at the December show and they really do work. The alpacas are raised in Harvard, Illinois on Argyll Farm.

The best part for Naoto (besides the ramen dinner reward at the end of the day) was meeting the official groundhog of Woodstock’s Groundhog Days. He came to visit and check out the booths.

Thanks for having us again, HoneyCraft!

Tagged adventures, crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Feb 03 2017

HoneyCraft Market

In December I did my second craft show, the HoneyCraft Market in Woodstock, Illinois. It was a last-minute decision but I’m so glad I took the risk. I still had all of my stuff boxed up from the Petite Boutique and I just had to fill out some things that sold well there. It ended up being a really good show for me. The HoneyCraft veterans thought the crowd was thinner than usual but it all worked out in the end and the long drive out west was worth it for us.

Woodstock is a sweet little community with an adorable downtown and lots of small town charm. It’s actually where Groundhog Day was filmed! So every February they have a town wide celebration based around the movie. HoneyCraft Market is open during Groundhog Days and Naoto and I are heading west again tomorrow to sell Valentines and more. I have a new fixture to display my cards and it’s all stocked and (almost!) ready to go. (As always, there is a lot of last minute stuff to do…thanks Dad for the procrastinator genes!)

I’ll report back next week and hopefully be ready to post about some non craft show stuff again too! Thanks for your patience!

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, Etsy, holidays, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Dec 15 2016

2 Comments

adventures, celebrations, Christmas, cocktails, holidays, Merry & Bright

CH Distillery’s A Cocktail Story

This may be my favorite Christmas adventure of the year! I love a good theme party, so when I read about CH Distillery’s A Christmas Story themed pop up, I jumped at the chance to take Naoto on a little Christmas date. He’s never seen the movie, but he enjoyed the cocktails anyway. Here are a few pictures from our night out…from appetizers to the best eggnog I’ve ever had.