celebrations | kimberly ah

Nov 27 2013

10 Things

Here are ten things I’m thinking about this morning before I get to work:

1. I need to be a better weekly housekeeper.

2. I should have finished cleaning out the spare room last week.

3. I can’t believe I got all of the grocery shopping done in one shot (okay, two shots if you count the fact that I had Naoto go to Jewel to grab some things on sale and our favorite ciabatta for the stuffing.) It will be a miracle if we really have everything we need for tomorrow’s dinner.

4. I’m more than excited to make this again this year. I’ve been craving it since September!

5. We got another new rug this week and I’m anxious to see how it fits…buying stuff for our home always feels so risky!

6. I’m meeting one of my pen pals in person on Friday. We’re going to Pieritz together.

7. We are making roasted cauliflower instead of green bean casserole tomorrow, but now I’m worried our meal might be too monochromatic.

8. Every weekend in December is already booked. I’m not used to being this social.

9. I’m excited to do my Christmas cards this year. Now that I’ve given up on making them myself, I can focus on writing in them and mail art.

10. I need to come up with a creative placecard idea for tomorrow…even though there are only four of us…it’s all about tradition.

Tagged celebrations, holidays, homemaking, Thanksgiving

Nov 13 2013

Easy Thanksgiving Invitations

I’m still finishing the real Thanksgiving invitations. I had to go out and buy a bigger envelope size (defeating the purpose of using up my stash, but I’m really excited about how the invitations turned out so I needed the just right envelope color!)

When I was playing around with ideas for Thanksgiving invitations (before rediscovering my stash of vintage ephemera) I came up with these as an option. We don’t have a home printer. (Ours broke over a year ago, and I after sifting through thousands of online reviews, I couldn’t make a decision. At this point, I question whether we really need one.) So I decided that my typewriter would be my printing method. I found these leftover paper leaves in my fall decorations bin. The leaves come in a variety of colors, but the ones I chose are shimmery gold. It’s not a perfect paper for the typewriter, especially since my new ribbon is pretty inky, but they worked out okay as long as I didn’t smear the ink with my fingers. The oval-shaped leaf was easy to work with but the “oak” leaf gave me problems because all of its little bumpy edges kept getting stuck as I typed each line…it’s fine though…the little tears just look like texture.

Once I was done typing, I pasted the leaves onto some shimmery antique gold cards and topped them off with a little piece of washi tape. I’m going to put them in some leftover fig envelopes (from Thanksgivings past) and send them to my brother and sister and their families. They don’t join us for Thanksgiving, but it’s always nice to be invited, right?

Tagged celebrations, crafts, diy, holidays, mail art, snail mail, Thanksgiving, washi tape

Nov 11 2013

1 Comment

Honor Flight Chicago

Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day!

A special thanks to John & Chester (pictured above) and all of the veterans in my family–dad, grandpa, uncle, cousins–who have served.

Photo from the Honor Flight Chicago website from our October 2, 2013 flight.

Tagged adventures, celebrations, holidays, Honor Flight Chicago

Nov 08 2013

1 Comment

crafty adventures, holidays, Office Supplies, thrifted, vintage

Vintage Paper Hoarder

I am working on my Thanksgiving invitations today. I have a plan and it involves using up some of my vintage paper collection. I have a giant bin of ephemera that I’ve collected over time. Many things were purchased from Saturday Morning Vintage (Xenia’s shop is so good and most of what is shown above is from a Thanksgiving paper pack that I bought this year.) and from flea markets and thrift shops. Few things in life make me happier than discovering an old box of labels or flashcards at the thrift store.

As I was sifting through my ephemera stash, I was thinking about my 2013 goal to spend out. While I’ve done a very good job wearing out my clothes, using up my stationery and scrapbook supplies, eating my Japanese snacks and hanging up my artwork, I’ve been hesitant to use up the vintage stuff…the stuff that I can’t replace quite as easily… But it’s better to let these papers live on in another form (as mail art or an invitation) than to languish in a bin, right? So I spent part of my afternoon sorting through things and pulling out pieces for certain projects (Thanksgiving and Christmas related right now) and sorting the rest by color or style. I am now prepared to use up and spend out some of my collection. I’m moving a little bit of it onto my desk so it’s handy for mail art and leaving the rest in the bin ready for the next project.

Hopefully, I can finish up the invitations this weekend and show them to you next week, once they’ve arrived at their destinations. In the meantime, have a good weekend!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, Thanksgiving

Nov 07 2013

4 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures

Blush & Gold Gift

My mom’s birthday was in October. We got her a gift card (booooring!) and I picked up a pretty handkerchief for her in Japan. Such a tiny gift deserved a pretty package, so I whipped up a little decorated paper bag for her present. I love packaging things for my mom because she takes time to notice the little details. It’s a fun way to celebrate the special mom that she is. I started with a little flat kraft bag and layered on anything blush and gold from my craft cupboard (aka the hardware cabinet TV stand–those drawers are awfully handy!). I always have a variety of supplies on hand for mail art, scrapbooking and other projects, so once I collected everything I needed, putting the gift bag together only took about five minutes. It was a happy accident that the pink label fit perfectly on the doily…once that happened, I cruised along layering each piece. I cheered when I discovered that my favorite glue pen was strong enough to hold the tiny gold sequins. (I see more sequins in my future.) I finished off the gift with a little piece of washi tape on the back. Quick and simple. Now if only I could get my act together to fancy up the pile of Christmas gifts…

Supplies used: kraft bags, doilies, peach & gold washi tape, vintage sequins, Rifle labels (these are my favorites!), kraft flags, Quickie glue pen, Souffle pen (not shown), flair button (not shown in supply picture, but shown on package picture).

P.S. Thanks, Mary, for inviting me to the Celebration Link-Up!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, parents, washi tape

Sep 02 2013

9 Comments

celebrations, Oh Presley!, some stuff about me

Oh Presley…

Last year, I celebrated Labor Day by mentioning Naoto’s hardworking spirit. While that is important, Labor Day has another special meaning around here. It is the day we got Presley.

Seven years ago today, our friend Bonnie gave us a tiny, scared, stray kitten that had been born in her barn. Bonnie didn’t ask us if we wanted a cat…she knew we needed a cat. The first few weeks were rough. Presley was (is) quite a handful. She didn’t want to cuddle. She hid out most of the time. She didn’t really like us. She only sat on my lap when I went to the bathroom. (Weird!) For those first few weeks, Naoto and I considered giving her back. We didn’t feel like she was happy, and we weren’t sure if we were truly cat people. (I had cats growing up, but Naoto never really had pets.) We didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings (especially Presley’s), so we mustered through. And gradually, we all got used to each other. Presley started coming around more, cuddling more, playing more. Naoto and I accepted our roles in care taking. (I told Naoto that ANY woman should not scoop the litter box, not just pregnant women. By the time he learned the truth, he was so used to scooping the box, he’d accepted it as his job for life.) We started accepting the fact that cat hair is forever.Now we cannot imagine our lives without this little beast. Presley is still a little wild and she’s terrible with guests (oh, if only they would just leave her alone!) But with us, she’s sweet and charming and only misbehaves if she feels she’s lacking attention and play time. Since I’m home more, Presley has become “my” cat, often favoring me over Naoto. (It’s okay, because most people favor him over me.) She spends time at my feet or napping nearby on her scratching box. We play mid-day fetch and chase each other around the apartment. We open the mail together in the condo hallway. She comes to bed with me and sleeps at my feet at night and wakes me up with creepy stares in the morning. (Sometimes I do wonder if she’s planning to kill me.)

I feel so lucky that Bonnie brought Presley into our lives. And, even though you might consider them “frenemies”, I know Naoto is thankful for Presley, too.

Tagged celebrations, holidays, memories

Aug 22 2013

2 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures, handmade=happiness

(Belated)

Today I’m making the drive down to shop and have lunch with my parents. I haven’t seen them since they came up to visit with my grandma (and I didn’t have the Mother’s Day gift ready then) so I’m finally delivering the gifts for both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

I worked on this embroidery project over the 30 Days of Creativity in June. The pattern is from Mollie’s blog, Wild Olive, and can be found here. I really loved stitching it–it was a nice mix of back stitching and French knots (I love stitching those knots!) and I finished it in an evening. Yesterday, I typed up a little message on blush paper and pasted it on the back of the embroidery hoop. I know there’s a nicer way to do this (where the fabric tucks around the larger hoop and the paper backing goes back into the smaller hoop), but sadly, I cut my fabric just a bit too short to make it all happen. So, I glued the fabric down to the back of the hoops and glued the paper backing on top. It looks fine, but the perfectionist in me is annoyed at the fact that it could be better. But, the important thing is, the front is lovely, the back is fine and the gift is (finally) going to be delivered this afternoon!

Here it is all wrapped up in a flat paper bag with some twine, a Martha Stewart flower sticker (from my huge sticker stash, collected over the years) and with a tiny piece of tape from Oh Hello Friend. Simple.

And, in case you’re curious, for Father’s Day we got my dad a Blackhawks cap and these fancy County Fair Field Notes (the Illinois ones, of course!)

Off to central Illinois for some thrifting and dining!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, crafts, diy, holidays, parents

Aug 15 2013

Honor Flight 50

Last Wednesday, Honor Flight Chicago flew its 50th flight of World War II veterans to Washington DC. I’m not sure if the women who founded the Chicago organization in 2008 ever thought it would take off and grow the way it has. Now, over 4,000 World War II Veterans have been honored with a trip to see their memorial in DC and we have many more on our waiting list to fly on future flights. The urgency of our mission is not lost upon any of us…

Most of you know that I’m in charge of collecting and organizing the “Mail Call” surprise on the flight. (If you’re new around here, please feel free to click the link for more details.) We are always looking for extra letters from both kids and adults to fill out the mail packs of Veterans who don’t have family to write mail. If you’re a letter writer or a card maker and you’d like to participate in thanking a veteran, please feel free to send the mail to our new Honor Flight Chicago Mail Call address below. (I used to get the mail sent to my home, but now we have a mailbox at the local UPS store to collect things…I enjoy having a tiny bit less mail clutter around here lately!)

Honor Flight Chicago Mail Call

c/o Kimberly Adami-Hasegawa

159 N Marion St #375

Oak Park, IL 60301-1032

Logo and 50th flight picture courtesy of the Honor Flight Chicago website.

Tagged celebrations, Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Aug 12 2013

6 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures, homemaking

Shark Week Cake…& Party

As I mentioned Saturday, we went to a Shark Week Party this weekend. So much fun! Shark-fan Stacy decked out the apartment with hundreds of paper fish, shark decorations, shark-themed food and drinks, Sharknado! on the ceiling (if you haven’t watched it…you should!) and a shark-themed Brett, who sported these fabulous shark footie pajamas. Pictured above is a blurry Naoto at the Bloody Mary bar…he was studying the shark poster for the quiz later that evening.

Ever since the Shark Week party of 2011, I’ve been filling up a Pinterest board of all my favorite Shark Week ideas in preparation for another party. I fell in love with the idea of this cake*. So I spent Saturday baking a cake and making frosting. I never bake, so it always makes me nervous that the cake won’t rise or it will taste terrible…and cakes are especially stressful because you don’t really know how bad or how good things are until you cut it open at the party…

Thankfully everything worked out and the cake was quite tasty. I made this cake. I’ve made the cake a few times (but never the Cloudburst Frosting). I always use Hershey’s Extra Dark Cocoa Powder. It makes a nice, deep, dark chocolate cake that works well with all sorts of frostings. I decided to be daring and try to make the Cloudburst Frosting for the first time. It was surprisingly easy, though it did take all day because of waiting for the milk/flour mixture to cool down. But most of that time was waiting, not hands-on. The frosting was good–not too sweet or too buttery–like a slightly elevated buttercream. And it really was easy enough to become my new go-to recipe. (You know, for when I bake again next year…)For the toppings, I used Teddy Grahams, gummy sharks, vanilla wafer cookies, peach gummy rings, cocktail umbrellas and a toothpick with a typed BEWARE OF SHARKS sign. I giggled the whole time I was creating the little shark scene…Sigh…every week really should be Shark Week…

*Sadly, I cannot find the source for the original cake…both inspiration pins (here and here) only go to a picture. If you know the source, please contact me and I will include it!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, diy, food, homemaking, Shark Week

Jul 11 2013

1 Comment

cocktails, summer manifesto, Uncategorized

Cocktail Perfected: Vesper (-ish) Martini

The Vesper is another classic cocktail that’s been on my list for some time. Naoto brought home some Lillet on one of his many trips to the liquor store during his surgery recovery (he was drinking vicariously through me) and it’s been sitting on the bar cart just waiting to be opened.

So, when I decided to have our neighbor friends over to watch game six of the Stanley Cup Finals, I decided it was time to try the Vesper.

The original vesper was invented by James Bond in Casino Royale in 1953. It contained gin, Lillet and vodka. But I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t “water” down my good gin with vodka. So I left it out. I found this suggested variation here and I thought it worked nicely. I tried it with two different gins–North Shore No. 6 and Leopold’s–and for this, we (the neighbor friends & I) enjoyed Leopold’s more.

Vesper(-ish) Martini

2 oz dry gin

3/4 oz Lillet Blanc

Add to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake (or stir) until thoroughly chilled. Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon peel. Enjoy while your team wins the Stanley Cup.