chonie gets ziggy

The ziggy-est. Isn't he the cutest? And look how great he looks in the sweater I made for him.


I do think that the blue in the sweater does great things for his eyes. Or do his sparkly eyes bring out the color in the sweater?


knitting details at my ravelry account.

jean beaumont

My french dad, Jean Beaumont a retired engineer keeps up a blog and recently posted a bunch of awesome photos from his childhood in the Loire Valley (and some of his courtship in Nantes). I've asked him to include more info under each photo since there aren't any at present. I've been able to glean some info with some of my favorites here:

Jean Beaumont with (I believe) his older sister Nicole. She is beautiful and has the most amazing eyes.


Nicole (?), cute dog and JeanB. I love their clothes and the way they are standing.


And speaking of cute clothes, aren't these costumes amazing?? I think this is JeanB and his sister Nicole again.


JeanB with two cousins?


Fast forward to the college years. JeanB with Jacqueline his future wife. Too bad this photo is blurry, it's probably my favorite. I love the lines of their clothes, her hair, the movement of the figures on the steps.


I *think* this is before they got married. JeanB and Jacqueline.

I'm sick today and it was a nice treat to look through these photos with inauguration coverage playing in the background. Check out more of my french dad's photos here.

now that we're rested...

Wow. That was a pretty vulgar amount of loafing back there at the end of 2008. I'm ready to get back to work and try and get some sort of regularity to my day. I took a bunch of photos of my goings-on, but man they are pretty crappy. Poladroid to the rescue! Now they look edgy and artsy and vintage-y.

During the holidays, I knit (even after I was done with the Christmas gifts). I finished this scarf for M that I started about a year ago (Better photo to come, this one is of the scarf mid-progress). Pekoe is enjoying the fruits of my labor.

A scarf-in-progress for a nap-in-progress.

I cooked a fancy Christmas dinner for the two of us to gorge out on.

My first time cooking a rack of lamb - crown or otherwise. I watched a lot of Food Network shows while I was knitting (M started to complain that he was kinda getting sick of t.v. I knew then that hell had definitely (if briefly) frozen over). Alton Brown made cooking a lamb crown roast look easy. So I gave it a go. It was so tasty. Tender, juicy, mmmm... For sides, I cooked smothered cabbage with sausage (I had a craving) and cornbread stuffing that I made up on the fly. There might have been a salad too. I can't remember. It rained hard that night. It was cozy. Our neighbors across the way were having a party with singing and dancing and occasional shouts of "Opa!" Even though it wasn't our party, that was sort of cozy too.

The weekend after Christmas we had a special guest appearance by our friend Nathan! N was in town for a friend's wedding and he drove up to see us and stay over a night. He came bearing gifts.

Homemade peach and blueberry preserves (!) and a generous bag of cookies that he calls rocks (!!). The recipe for the rocks came with his great grandmother from Germany over a hundred years ago. That rocks (yuk, yuk). They say that the rocks only get better as they age and harden. I am sad to report that I have not been able to confirm this as all the rocks are gone. I had the last two just now with a cup of joe while I was noodling around with my computer. Damn they were good.

Sadly this is probably the best photo of Nathan that I took while he was here. Maybe one more of his face on my flickr. Poladroided. But blurry. I mean artsy.

Naturally he wears cool socks.

New year's eve was quiet as well. I got sick after Nathan left. I've been blaming it on him as I've not been around anyone else except him and M. M just thinks I need to get out more.

New year's day we had a nice breakast with the preserves from N and some baking powder biscuits. I made a batch to go with a southern chicken dinner one night and decided to freeze most of the unbaked biscuits instead of having a a few dozen laying around the house that you feel compelled to eat so they don't go bad and hey, what a waste of fresh homemade biscuits. I am happy to report that they hold up well to a freezing. I just popped them into the oven right out of the freezer at 350 for about 20 minutes and they were wonderful. 'Specially with some homemade fruit preserves to enjoy them with.

I'm really going to try and do a post of some of the sewing I've done lately. It's mostly stuff that I've been experimenting on and I haven't moved forward with the work. Hopefully putting it up here for public consumption will prod me into moving forward. We'll see.

Happy new year, everyone!

more blast from the past: cowboy sushi hoe-down

Junior year:

Boys rollin' sushi.


Girls rolling sushi.

more blast from the past: our favorite teo photo?

Junior year at Santa Cruz. Although I believe this took place in the city at... Golden Gate park? Stern Grove maybe?

more blast from the past: the other brother

Mr. Knightly and I cleaned up a lot over the weekend. I dug up some old photos and scanned them before I packed them away (better organized this time).

He may look tough here, but he's really ticklish. Whoops. I don't think I was supposed to say that. Oh well.

blast from the past

I'm so going to get busted if the DH ever checks my blog, but look what I found over the weekend!

Kiddling photos of the DH! This one is about the age of when he could fit in a 5 gallon paint bucket. Whoops. I wasn't supposed to mention that again.


Check out the form of this deadly ninja. I always felt safe knowing I had him and the other two black belts to project me.


I always knew he was a good kid. Here he wears the uniform of the good guys in case there was any doubt.

it's good to be home again

THE D.C. LEG OF THE EAST COAST TRIP

We're back from a whirlwind trip to the east coast. It was a lot of fun, but I am beat. On the day of our flight, I spent a few hours scrubbing and cleaning so that we'd have a clean apartment to come home to. The cats were thrilled to see us again (they kept following me from room to room, but in typical feline fashion struggled out of my grasp when I'd pick them up for a cuddle).

Our first stop was in D.C. to see Heather. (I forgot to adjust the light setting for the camera before I fired off a few shots so the photos are not the best.)

Hi chew!
I made her a bag and enclosed a few goodies as a thank you for letting us stay at her place. Despite the blurriness, I think you can make out the energy of that grin.


She agreed to model the bag.


H says these are hard to get goodies in her neck of the woods.


H is for Heather


And, a clear shot of the bag put to test on the streets of D.C.


It was a little rough day for us. We'd flown in red-eye and managed to squeeze in a bit of sleep during the three and half hour flight. But traveling cross country is tough! And I guess we're getting old. We managed well enough after a little nap at H's place. Then we headed out to the zoo for a bit. This tired guy is a red Panda. Amazing, right?

His friend is walking around the misted area. Looks more like a long legged raccoon, doesn't he?


I hadn't been to the zoo during my last trip to visit H. It's just down the street from where she lives and as part of the Smithsonian, the entry is free. Incidentally, I love H's neighborhood. It's close to really cool shops and restaurants (I'd like to point out that H is known by name at the wine shop down the street. We had to ask what that meant about her drinking habits - wink), there's a subway stop just a stone's throw away and she lives in a beautiful building with really nice neighbors.

Here she is setting up our dinner table out in her courtyard.


Pizza, salad and drinks from her local wine shop.


I'm glad M got a chance to check out the neighbordhood as well. He agreed that it was a great neighborhood, that the neighbors were nice and of course ran some numbers as soon as he had a chance to open up his laptop.

Later in the evening H's neighbors Erin, Brook and Todd from Cleveland (!) joined us out in the courtyard. My photos from that bit just aren't worth posting. But it was fun to sit outside and share wine and tales with H's neighbors. They are a nice bunch and nice to talk to.

We learned from Brook that the air quality in D.C. is pretty poor and from Todd that the closest beach is about an hour's drive away. Those were the only two cons to the overflowing list of pros on the desirability of moving to D.C. The biggest pro of all of course being that we could live in the same city as H. I think that trumps all the cons.

from last weekend

I never can seem to post my weekend happenings on Monday. Mondays I am welcoming the work week with full force (ha). By Tuesday I can get around to talking about my weekends. Although, truth to tell, my weekends are generally pretty tame.

But this past weekend m and I did something exciting! We met up with my baby brother Daehee!
I seem to be grimacing in pain in this photo, but I assure you I was thrilled to see Daehee and I think the feeling was mutual. He must be stooped over to hug me because he doesn't look as tall in this photo as he does in life.

We met up at the Galleria in Sherman Oaks to see Batman The Dark Knight. The movie was okay. Lots of fun explosions (de riguer in my summer blockbuster screenings), really solid performance (and interpretation of the Joker) by Heath Ledger and I really like the Batman franchise generally speaking. But it was a bit of a mess as far as plot was concerned. And way too freaking long. But Daehee gave it his thumbs up and it was fun to hang out with the little one.

catching up

My goodness! Am I really behind two weeks? Well let's get this catching up started.

Two weekends ago, M and I were catching up with jenn and her friend Heidi who were in town for a work conference. We met them in Seal Beach lured by promises of a brunch place that makes french toast out of cinnamon rolls. We were not disappointed:


Heidi and jenn did it right by ordering their cinnamon roll french toast with a helping of fresh fruit . Mine just came with a scoop of butter. Oh yeah. I need butter on top of this batter laden baked bread - sprinkled with powdered sugar no less. With a helping of syrup too.


M opted for a mysterious dish called a "Pancake Sandwich" (the quotes are so legit here because it was an alleged "pancake sandwich" which we soon found to be an inaccurate description). Also with a scoop of butter, I'm now noticing.


It seems that he got over his disappointment of the "sandwich" that wasn't.


After brunch we parted ways with Heidi and kidnapped jenn for a long walk (nearly 7 miles from my reckoning and the help of google maps) to downtown Long Beach. There were all sorts of goings on along the beach. A gathering of pirates big and small, kite flyers and locals enjoying a day at the beach. I enjoyed their mod lifeguard huts.


In downtown I also enjoyed this chips and salsa joint with striped bricks. I've been enjoying red and white stripes lately.


When we walked back towards our car (another 7 miles or so in the opposite direction) we settled down at a nearby coffeeshop for more serious matters. The Adventure Bunny was scheduled for a quick out-patient procedure on his foot. Bernard the Canard looked on providing moral support.


I couldn't photograph the procedure as my hands were full, but I'm sure jenn will have some pics over on her blog. I did however capture the patient and his wrangler reunited after the procedure.


AB enjoying his rest and his still unwrapped sugar free carrot-pop.

The procedure has been proclaimed a success. As was our visit with our dear friend jenn. Come back and visit again soon, jenn! Bring NIL with you!! Let's hang out at that Lord of the Rings screening marathon in Pasadena (scroll all the way the bottom)!

dancing, this made me smile

Edited to add: Incidentally, I now have this crazy urge to travel, travel, travel.

From my long lost friend Misha:

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

You'll catch a glimpse of her on the left in Sydney, Australia. She's the one in the straw hat dancing up a storm, naturally.

That and the bit in India with the ladies in sari's are the parts that made my day.

she plots, again

So I was browsing the latest online copy of ReadyMade the other day (remember when I talked about that? Seems they have put up some additional back issues online. All for free! Check it out!) when I came across this page talking up summer camps for adults (sort of). And this bit caught my eye:

Which led me to that link. Which got me thinking (plotting)...

My understanding of how Habitat for Humanity works is that volunteers usually need to raise a lot of money to fund their trip/volunteer project (I have no direct experience with this, just a few conversations with former volunteers). So while I've always thought that this organization sounded like they were doing a very cool thing, I found the 30K startup money to join them a bit intimidating.

But it looks like the New Orleans Habitat project is run a little differently? I browsed around a bit on their site and it looks like it could be doable for me and m.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Take 10-14 days off of work.
Fly to New Orleans and put in some volunteer work with them for the first week.
Stay at their camp to help keep the expenses low.
Learn a whole bunch of stuff about home building, meet some new people, give time and willingness to a very good cause.
Week two, spend a more leisurely and touristy time in the other parts of New Orleans.

Doesn't that sound fabulous? M and I are interested in doing this trip sometime this fall or perhaps next spring when the weather is bearable (I don't recommend summertime in the south. The humidity will kill you. No, no, it will just render you so weak that you won't even have the energy to die.), but it would be super fun to do this trip with friends.

So. Who's with me??

heather's visit

Isn't H lovely?


She bought those yummy daffodils for the kitchen on her way back from her morning run. They smelled fragrant and were so pretty.


Casa c+potion was honored to have special guest H over for the weekend. She was in town for a conference in downtown L.A. so we picked her up Friday night and took her to Olivera Street for dinner. I've only been to Olivera Street once for Dia de Los Muertos. It was fun. A little kitschy-touristy, but kinda off the beaten path. I think most folks who come tor sight seeing in L.A. head to the Hollywood walk of fame, our beaches and maybe a theme park or two. I don't think as many people know about Olivera Street. I'm more or less a L.A. native and I only just heard of it a few years ago.

We went to La Golondrina for dinner which is where we went the last time I was there. I love how their menu features dishes that you don't normally see in Mexican restaurants. M feasted on Cochinita Pibil which was a succulent pork dish marinated in spices and baked in banana leaves. Mmmm. H opted for the chile rellenos de jaiba which was stuffed with seasoned snow crab and served with roasted mushroom and chile chipotle salsa. Holy cow! And I ordered what I'd had the last time I was there oh... 5 years ago? A seafood enchilada that was so yum.

On Saturday, we had a quiet morning of pancakes and strawberries for breakfast and just chilling around our neighborhood. H wanted to experience what a day in the life of jean and M was like. So I took her round to the thrift shops that I drop in on once a week. I almost walked out with a new(old) leather jacket and H considered a few sweaters, but we left empty handed after all. We stopped off at Beard Papa for some coffee and cream puffs (it was sort of an international food weekend when I think of it).


And then back home again for more chillin'. I was still recovering from my cold and kinda wiped out from all the excitement.



For dinner we took H to a little Lebanese joint a little ways from our neighborhood. Our waiter remembered us (or M mostly~I think someone might have a little crush on my husband) commenting that it had been a while since our last visit. It was crowded, the food was good, we left full and a little sleepy.

At home, we relaxed with some wine and a brainstorm session on a new script idea that M was working out.

Some of us (I won't mention any names) contributed a bit more to the topic than others)

Sunday we had ideas for a bunch of different activities. A stroll through either of The Getty Museums, watching Juno at our favorite new movie theatre, checking out ethnic grocery stores, various beaches to share, a new obsession to fulfill, oh I feel like I'm forgetting something...

We decided to figure it out - over lunch (of course).



While waiting for our movie to start, we strolled around the neighborhood and found this little gem nestled in an otherwise inconsequential looking nook.


It was the roof that caught our attention.


Sorry, the photos are a little tough as it was assaultingly bright that day.

H pointed out how the roof of this cottage gives consideration for the tree planted against it.

The movie was excellent even a second time around. And we'd explored a few exotic grocery stores in the area too, but I forgot to take pictures there. Then we piled into the car and headed west to the ocean.

We showed H the canals in Venice. The homes are fun to look at because they are colorful and close together and every single one seems to feature a porch or a deck or a patio that makes you long for a sit-down with a beverage of your choice. And all I remembered to document were the ducks. Thank goodness for the internet.

The canals aren't far from the beach so we took a walk over there too. The elements weren't optimal for beach-going, so bright! So windy! I told H that her hair looked like it was just one giant lock frozen in an alarming amount of hairspray.


And the birds looked like they were suspended by wires.




We went home after that (with a quick stop at the market for dinner supplies) to hang out for the rest of the evening. We do enjoy a lot of hanging out.

And the last few memorable bits not worth going into detail, but 5 years from now when I look back fondly on this weekend while reading old journal (blog) entries? I'd like to remember this stuff:

Hi-Chew
Pocky Men's (oh really?)
Discovering and trying to incorporate bu(t)(t)lust (sorry, you had to be there) for the whole weekend
Text-messaging with Bruce
Trading funny video discoveries
Egg-in-a-hole


We miss you H! Come back and visit soon!