the plushie adventure

Heyah!

The reason I've been absent is because .. well .. I've been ill. Very ill actually. Got hospitalized for 12 days. My first time ever. I ended up having to drop all of my editing work and concentrate on my recovery. Which, I have to say, aren't easy, both on the dropping the work and recovery.

But I'm much better now, and I hope it will stay that way.

Now, now .. let's not be dragged away.


On another news. I'm pregnant. Yay!

The husband is obviously very happy and I'm just coming along with him. I have to say that I'm super nervous about being a mom, and the delivery, of course. So it has been kinda bumpy for me to swallow all the facts that I am pregnant. It's seventh months now and it's probably part of the reason why I got so sick. But hey, it's a pregnancy!

And since I'm on a bed-rest, I can't really move around too much or hang around anywhere, on that matter. And it gets kinda boring and pretty depressing rolling on the bed every day. Or so to speak, since mah belly has gotten soooo big, it's impossible for me to roll. Teehee!! And the back! Oh, don't make me talk about the backpain. Which makes me have not that so many options of activities to do.


So what do I do?


I do what most people would do. I make plushies.


You know, stuffed doll from fabrics. I was gonna make a nursing apron for myself, but since I've never saw one in real close-up, I doubt my novice sewing skill would produce a decent apron. So, move on the next project!

I stumbled upon this pattern on Burdastyle, one of my favorite sewing site. I was looking for something easy to do, without much thinking or handy work but useful. So this I make.

Giraf Giraffe

It's a giraffe. It's two dimensional, made from two different colored fabrics. Just perfect for no-fuss sewing with a hint of originality. Go look with Gigi Giraf keyword. Don't forget to say thanks to the pattern uploader if you decide to make it.


Now, after that cutie, I can't seem to stop. I was planning to make a dinosaur, but failed at pattern designing part. So, instead, I made this bunny pattern.

The Depressed Bunny

... or what the husband likes to call as the alien bunny. Well, at least he agrees with me that it's a bunny. The dad calls it a spider and the mom can't seem to understand what it is. Come on, people! It's a bunny! See the ears? No?

Well, the dispute was soon over anyway since the alien bunny was followed by this little guy ...

Dino having a serious discussion with Paul.
Probably about evolution.

Yay! The pattern was not an easy one. But I prevailed! And this time, everyone agrees that it's a dinosaur. What a relief.

Now, that I'm all confident again of my pattern making, I made this after the dino and was getting mixed review on him (or her). What do you make of it?

Hint: Not an obese monkey.

update: I have uploaded the dino pattern over here. Enjoy.

foodie or no foodie

So, apparently I've been busier than I thought *sigh*


I've been doing lots of cooking lately. Lots. Actually the frequency and the variety of food are kinda creepy. I could basically cook two different food every day and they're not just sauteed veggies or soups. Most of them requires baking.

Yes. The oven type of baking.


Or steaming. But mostly it's baking.


Which brings me to scour the net for recipes and tips. And of course opening up all the dusty bookmarks on my browsers. Some are 'meh' .. some are just simply spectacular.

Two of my fave bookmarks so far are these two sites. I love these two sites because I think they deliver real recipes. The people behind these two sites are actually passionate about cooking and relentlessly inventing new food and technique just because they enjoy their work. The foods are gorgeous and they're good writers. One got a book deal from Knopf, a part of Random House. The other got it from from Chronicle Books. That just shows how good they are, ex-publishing-worker-ly-speaking.

If you're into cooking or baking, you should really check out these sites.

• Smitten Kitchen

Deb runs this site. I can't remember how I found her. Which basically saying that I've been a regular visitor of her site for a very long time. I just never leave any comments. My jaw just dropped every time I visit her site. Trust me, it's a piece of heaven on the world wide web, foodie or no foodie.

She's a mom, so you're bound to find home recipes, with a tweak. You won't find just another strudel, like other sites are offering. Like me, you will find mushroom strudels, folded into flag shaped phyllo. If you've been looking for a way to make strudels any food without looking too ordinary, she's the person to go to.

I personally love that phyllo folding, her simplest potato gratin, and her variety of desserts. It is well-indexed according to seasons or ingredients. Beautiful and detailed photos will guide you through the process. Deb got her deal with Knopf. Just in case if you're wondering what the hell is Knopf, it is an imprint of Random House publishing. Yes, THE Random House. I'm looking forward for her book :)

• Bakerella

Really, it's not in any certain order. I just typed down whatever comes into my mind first. Anyway, if you ever liked any one of those Starbuck's Pops, Bakerella is by far the first person I knew who make these cake pops. I've eyed on her creations since I was still working in publishing, wishing that someone, somewhere in my reach is good enough to develop such recipe. So I can publish them, of course. Because I know, such creativity means money.

But, that's not why we're here. She's probably one of those baker who really can decorate. I mean, I know I can bake, but can I make my cake looks as good as hers? That's a whole different universe. Frankly speaking, I love Bakerella so much that I used to hate her. I envy her creativity, but now I'm just happy living with the fact that she's just too damn good and I'm just too damn ... not that good. Her best recipes are probably the cake pops, but other cakes she baked are looking really delicious too. I tried to make my version of cake pops, but didn't quite make it right yet. So until next time, I'll feast my eyes on her site.

Bakerella got her bookdeal with Chronicle Books. And blimey, Chronicle Books is where I wanna be when I grow up my fave publisher. I based almost all my publishing project on what Chronicle Books made. Her book is out and they're available on Amazon.

Come on, look at that Winnie the Pooh pops. If that doesn't make your heart melt and your mouth waters, then something is really wrong with you!

the afternoon ride

What's the greatest thing to spend your wonderful afternoon? To me, and I have to admit that this only begun recently, it's going on a bike and wondered around the small city where I live.

I moved back here 2 months ago after working my ass off in Jakarta. I had to. Aside from I miss the tranquility that Yogyakarta has to offer, I got married to a guy who happens to work in my hometown. Talking about coincidence and being lucky!

Anyhow, I found Jakarta too busy for a woman on a leisure biking. But Yogyakarta is a whole different story. So, I ride on of these.

Exactly like this one! And it comes with a foldable basket!

Well, it's not mine. My auntie Soes bought it several years ago. Apparently Kona, the factory that made this bike, built the bike as a part of their charity work. For every two of these bikes sold, one bike will be donated to help those needed all over the world. The bike itself is named Kona Africa. Find out more about the bike and the program here. It's a really good city ride and it feels much better that this bike contribute for at least half of a bike someone is using in some part of the world. Yeayness!

The other day ride was to meet up an old friend in a small cafe in a quiet housing complex. A long chat, a big cup of butterbeer, some afternoon snack and the yellow ray of the sun.

Perfection.

frankie 42 is out!

If you can't seem to find a reason to be joyful, here's one. This Australian magazine has been the center of my magazine universe for the past years. It is basically the life I want to be. Yeah, I might sounded a tad fibbing, but I was just being honestly serious. Just check this thing out!

go and make me cry, Frankie!

And alas, the magazine doesn't get distributed to Indonesia anymore. It did a few months back, but now it's not. Subscribing will cost approximately 1million IDR. Not happy. So, my dose of Frankie goodness will probably have to reside on these pictures. Thank God, they're damn great ones too.