i cant wait to finish my owl hat so my circular needles are free to make this hat! http://hipknitized.blogspot.com/2009/12/eyelet-slouch-hat.html adorable!

here is my owl hat in progress!

i've been having so many photoshoots lately, i love it! and my classes are editorial photo, color management, and advanced studio... as in: i'm really excited for how exciting these classes look like they are gonna be! they are so creative this time!

My first attempt at cooking this meal was a success! It really didn't take that long! Forty-five meatballs were made, and there are only about 10 left. Haha!

Combined salt, pepper, ginger, into a pound of ground beef and made one inch meatballs.

Chopped up baby carrots and a green pepper.

Combined vinegar, sherry, soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken broth, cornstarch.

Started browning the meatballs...


Added the veggies...


Added the sauce...


Then ate a ton!

Christmas eve started with lunch with my dad and Gretchen at Little Tokyo in Mt Lebanon! There is some tempura shrimp, white tuna, red tuna, and scallop sushi... I don't remember the fancy names, but it was alllll amaaazing! Then for dessert we had, I think it was Mochi, in green tea and red bean flavors! I could eat there every day. Even the hot tea was dee-lish.

Then my dad showed me how to make long island iced teas!

Then we made a billion sprit cookies with my grandma's recipe!

Then we had an amazing beef tenderloin, which is basically a giant hunk of filet mignon!

And then a night of present opening and A Christmas Story!

I got a great collection of Wok cooking things, ingredients and a special hand me down copy of Creative Wok Cooking, a book that my dad has had and cooked from since I was little. Real special! I can't wait to cook the recipes I grew up with inside! I also got that cute yellow magazine rack from Gretchy from etsy, and a metal mushroom tin recipe card holder!

So, this was a very great Christmas to finish off 2009, which happens to be the best year ever!

I got these cute fabric sets with the money! The top one is yellow themed adorable stuff arriving from Japan. The bottom set is gonna be a mixed up surprise from California; the picture is just an example of what fabrics I could get. It'll be a yard (in weight) of different fabric remnants starting at at least 6 inches wide! That is perfect for pouches. Can't wait!

cottonblue^ on etsy

luckykaerufabric^ on etsy