I'm in charge of the apple pie

and I'm making this:

cinnamon swirl apple slab pie via Martha

new year's resolution no. 2: my new drink

the Manhattan.

 whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters, and garnish with cherry & orange peel.

mystery mondays: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

Jeremy Brett

Jeremy Brett is by far my all-time favorite actor to portray Sherlock Holmes (one of my all-time favorite characters). between his performance, the fine work of the BBC, the gorgeous sets, and the quality of the rest of the cast, you end up with mystery perfection. in The Blue Carbuncle we get an extra fun dose of Sherlockisms thanks to Brett who keeps his snark a little bit playful, perhaps because it's Christmas time, but his wit and sleuthing are still sharp as ever.

this mystery is a more light-hearted one as it's not based on a murder, but a theft. it's chock-full of charismatic characters from the valet to the royalty. I highly recommend this episode, and actually the entire series. (except for the full length features. for some reason those aren't as well executed as the episodes.)

eye candy

amazonite on albite with smoky quartz

this one is beautiful (notice I did not say amazing even though it is quite). this specimen is from the Icon Pocket, Smoky Hawk claim, Crystal Peak area, Teller Co., Colorado, USA. to give you a little scale, the large amazonite crystal on the left is about the size of a soda can.

amazonite is one of my favorites. I've self-collected Californian amazonite with Jake on a couple trips, nowhere near as colorful or gemmy, but a few hexagonal crystals to be somewhat proud of:)

woodworking weekend

preliminary plans with design inspo from Smile & Wave

pre-sanding finished product

last weekend my dad and I did a woodworking project and created a loom. it's made out of maple and took just one afternoon to complete. we had a ton of fun problem-solving together and using all his great tools - a great father-daughter project. I can't wait to get weaving now.

challenges

the face I usually make at the thought of working out

 in an effort of taking better care of myself, I started my own health challenge beginning November 1 of doing Pilates every other day. here is what I've noticed so far:

week one was sloppy and difficult
week two was easier to do more reps, but harder to make myself do it
week three doing all the reps plus added some (whoa!), and easier to make myself do it
starting to compete with myself
lost 4 lbs
more energetic
more conscious of what I'm eating to not negate workouts

things I like lately

taco night
looking at sculptures as interesting as these by Tatiana Blass
sweater tights (this isn't really a lately but an always)
this woman's voice
long phone conversations with my mum <3
sherpa-lined slippers
making (more) homemade soups like this one
woodworking with my dad

can you tell it's getting cold out?

traveling east to the wild west

Devils Tower, WY

bison & long-horn steer at Devils Tower

Badlands National Park, SD

Needles Highway, SD

Jake getting the shot at Devils Tower

me inside an old silver mine, SD

finally posted photos to Flickr from our trip out east this last September. link to your right or go here.

this week in coffee

the Moore Cafe in downtown/Belltown-ish Seattle is not a new place for me. but having Pac-Man swimming in my cup is new!

mystery mondays: To Catch A Thief

Alfred Hitchcock. Cary Grant. Grace Kelly. need I say more?

in one of my favorite Hitchcock movies we follow the story of a  former jewel thief. a rash of new robberies imitating 'The Cat's' techniques has ensued and the odds are stacked against Grant. the community, the police, and even his friends don't believe him that he's retired. who is framing him and why?

our Cat gains some unusual allies: two stinkin' rich Americans on holiday and a jewelry insurer from Loyd's of London.

the French Riviera, the late 1950s, cheeky sarcasm, reckless mountain car chases - what's not to love? 

new year's resolution no. 1: rollerskate more

 

tonight's the Super Moon, the brightest moon since 1948 which won't occur again until 2034. unfortunately for tonight, I live in Seattle under a giant blanket of rain clouds and can't see it so how about we go rollerskating instead?

eye candy

aqua nueva agate from Chihuahua, Mexico. stunning.

light

your memory is made of light - pablo neruda

art-work

illustration by katie c turner

lately I've been extremely aware of how little I've been making art. at first it felt perfectly natural. then it felt like a slump. now it just feels wrong and I hate it.

fast-forward to last night - at studio e I attended Beyond This Point with Danielle Krysa and Gabriel Stromberg: a dialogue on the creative process and defeating self-doubt. I have been a long-time fan of Danielle Krysa's blog The Jealous Curator and knew she was good people, but it wasn't until I met her and listened to her stories that I knew she wasn't just good people but my kind of people. she is exceedingly candid, open, HILARIOUS, smart, fun, and most importantly - extremely experienced working with many different types of artists. her stories were so inspiring I couldn't wait to get home and spend the next month working non-stop on artwork without sleeping or eating or anything. kidding aside, realistically, I plan on dusting off the cobwebs of my workspace this weekend.

no words

photo via Ben Zank

I've never cried before from not having my candidate win.

happy place

just willing myself to a happy place today

Mount Whitney Portal Store - home of the biggest pancakes ever (these were the small ones)

mystery mondays: Murder on the Orient Express

a despised billionaire, a famous detective, a train who's tracks get blocked from an avalanche, a murder, and multiple motives: in this 1974 Agatha Christie adaptation you get to know many characters quickly, in tight quarters, and somehow it works. I won't provide a spoiler, even though this movie has been out for over 40 years.

it's one of those a-crime-within-a-crime stories really, featuring an all-star cast, with Albert Finney as our dear Poirot. he does a fine job, albeit a little over the top, of portraying our eccentric detective, who he himself is a little over the top. (personally, David Suchet will always be my ideal Poirot.)

the film stars Lauren Bacall, an overbearing chatterbox, Anthony Perkins, Jacqueline Bisset, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Ingrid Bergman who won best supporting actress, and who doesn't love Sean Connery (or a good mustache for that matter). I highly recommend this movie for a great fall or winter whodunnit if you haven't already seen it.

Jake and I are huge mystery fans, especially Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie stories. so weekly I  plan to share details of some of our favorites, as well as some we have yet to discover.

daylight savings

falling back is such a strange day:

no matter what time you wake up, it feels weird (mostly in a good way). 

you're hungry at what seems like odd times of the day. 

throughout the afternoon you feel a little bit like you're forgetting something.

and then 6 o'clock rolls around and it's PITCH black. blep.

today we were fortunate to have a sunny day in the Pacific Northwest. here are a few snaps from in between planting yew trees, making (more) squash soup and falafel, and curling up in a big pile of blankets with an old movie.

Buttons didn't care for having breakfast an hour later

dropping off & picking up

first persimon 

saturdays

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starting off the day with heavy rains, fun sleeves and my favorite smoothie in the city - Cloud City Cafe's Clean Green: spinach, kale, pineapple, banana, spirulina, chia and almond milk.

eye candy

ladies and gentlemen, amethyst rhodochrosite from Romania: heart-eyes for days

things I like lately

Halloween costumes & trick-or-treaters

carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds with olive oil, salt & paprika

Yogi teas

scary movies (my favorite this year was the 1959 House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price)

butternut squash soup

fluorite - new specimen I'm into collecting

rosewater facial spray (seems frivolous but I love the smell & it really is relaxing)

sunny, cool, crisp fall days like today

this jumpsuit by Dusen Dusen on ban.do <3

back in the saddle again

Gene Autry style (not Aerosmith)

dusting off the cobwebs and galloping right into another year of Nablopomo.