Good morning! It’s snowing downtown in Seattle today, and my friend Kori suggested some kind of cozy cashmere scarf to feature as today’s Monday luxury. Since I’m trying to focus on sharing things I know personally, I’m going to tell you about my new favorite yarn obsession: Malabrigo (especially the Twist line). It’s a 100% merino wool and it’s seriously the softest wool I have ever felt, and comes in a rainbow of delicious hues.

I found it on a recent trip to the yarn store, when I had a direct objective that was not this. However, I absolutely CANNOT walk into any textile store without going around and touching everything, and it’s especially true in yarn shops. I’m a very tactile person. So anyway, while getting fresh with the yarn balls I found this gem in a gorgeous inky blue-black, and promptly knitted up a snuggly cowl for myself. It’s so hard to find a yarn that’s actually really soft against your neck, but this one is a total winner. When it came time to brainstorm ideas for a gift exchange for some of my besties, I knew immediately that the best present I could give was a scarf – homemade, full of love, and warm. It’s like a hug anytime! I went to the yarn store (ok, three yarn stores) and picked out a palette of bright colors, and decided to make each person’s scarf with several different colors, so they are kind of themed. Everyone’s has at least three colors in it, and all five include a sunny yellow. I tried to get a photo of everyone in their scarves but the lighting wasn’t great… but everyone said they liked them so I’m really happy! It’s kind of an expensive yarn but it’s great for smaller projects like this without too much cash outlay.

Happy Monday! And GO DUCKS!!

So here’s a new thing I’m going to do – a little lovely thing every Monday, because this Monday is a doozy, and heck, a lot of them are. May as well share something pretty, amirite?

I am calming myself down with the following two lovely things. Exhibit A:

One of my BFFs gave me a little one of these in the Wish scent this fall. I keep it at my desk and use it REALLY sparingly, it’s so special that I feel like I need to dole it out in tiny bits. It’s more heavily scented than what I use every day, and I’m usually pretty averse to super girly smells, but this is the perfect luxe floral. I got tiny ones in Calm for two girlfriends at Christmas, it’s a little more on the sea/water/spa end of the spectrum. Plus the packaging is just divine.

Exhibit B: the coffee break. No image I can find effectively espresses this luxury, but there are three starbucks in my office building as well as starbucks machines in the breakroom. A girlfriend and I walked down to the farthest one and looped around the lobby while we chatted about little things and big things. It was only 20 minutes but it was a great mental break from the monotony of data entry and shuffling cardboard boxes around. (I got a short nonfat peppermint hot chocolate. It was over $3 but totally worth it.)

Hope your Monday is a little less crazy than mine!

Love,

Abby

Oh man! 2010, on the whole, sucked balls. Can I get an AMEN? I thought in 2009 that surely nothing could suck worse than 2009, but I stand corrected. In 2010 I got laid off a SECOND time, had to temp for four whole months once I finally got anyone to actually call me back, got my heart broken, gained 15 pounds, and was so busy I couldn’t see straight. Or sleep.

With all that bitching out of the way (and trust me, I could do more, but I’ll spare you), I’d like to highlight the good things about 2010!

The job I was in at the beginning of the year was an incredible opportunity, and I’m extremely thankful for having had a job that expanded my horizons (and resume) through a fair portion of the downturn, and I liked the folks there, but it just wasn’t a good fit. Perhaps the unexpected layoff was a blessing in disguise.

It was also definitely a big year for the Hot Buns Bakery. I made desserts for six weddings (three in September!), fully catered two events (formally), provided cakes for countless birthdays and holidays, and a whole heck of a lot of goodies for special treats and people I just plain like. Looking back through my bakery calendar, which is incomplete at best, I counted over 90 cakes, a dozen pies, 160 mini cheesecakes, 80 lemon tartlets, half a dozen full size cheesecakes, and hundreds of cookies, brownies, biscotti, and chocolate truffles. That averages out to over two cakes/pies and half a gross of assorted small goodies every week. Holy crap.

The employment situation was sketchy for a couple of years, but I got called back to the Big C in May for a temp gig. Though we couldn’t work out a position that was similar to what I did there before, I did get a permanent position in the Archives department in September. It’s really great to be back at Callison and I am very thankful to be fully employed again!

I feel really great about what I accomplished this year. I am continuing to work on being more on time – I have cut it down to being 15 minutes late for the most part rather than my previous 30. (tick off last year’s resolution of “be more realistic about time”) On the time front, I said yes more than I should have this year, but I think it was a great lesson on when I should say no! I am getting better at that too. And it sounds vain, but I’ve been paying more attention to the way I dress, and I lost 15 pounds this fall – and let’s admit that looking good means feeling good.

I also feel that the second half of this year I have been more thankful for myriad fortunes in my life – and mostly for my amazing and supportive friends and family. I have strengthened friendships and gotten a few new ones, and I find it hard to express just how much these friends mean to me. If you’re reading this, I probably mean you.

I am closing out 2010 with joy and love in my heart, and gratitude for the rather arbitrary change of the calendar where we can all wipe the slate clean and start fresh. As Anne of Green Gables says, “tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it yet.” 2011 promises to bring a vast amount of fun and adventures, not least of which include the weddings of two of my very best girls AND my 30th birthday! I resolve to look for the silver lining in every disappointment, rise up to meet every challenge, and bring as much love as I can to every happy occasion! And fill up my spa pedicure punch card.

I wish you all the beauty and gratitude that this year could possibly bring. May 2011 be the best yet, for all of us.
Love,
Abby

Hey guys!

So I’m really excited about my new project: the Hot Buns Bakery Cake of the Month! If you buy subscriptions you can save some bucks – or just decide on a monthly basis if you want one. It’ll be a great way to hone my volume-baking skills, and a great opportunity for you to not have to make decisions but still get a delicious cake! I’ll still happily take orders for other cakes during this time, so if the flavor of the month isn’t your bag, you can still get your favorite thing. Just email me at hotbunsbakery [at] gmail.com !

Cheers-

Abby

Announcing the Hot Buns Bakery Cake of the Month club!

This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, but wasn’t sure how to implement it. I was thinking people could buy three, four, or six months (or a whole year!) of cake for a monthly delivery. Some folks were concerned that one a month was a little too much, and I can see that. So I will just announce on the first of the month what that month’s cake flavor will be, and folks can decide if they want to get it on a monthly basis.

Cakes will be a standard 8″ at the going rate of $40 and can be picked up on the third Saturday of the month. Delivery may be arranged at my discretion for about $5.

I think this will be a fun project! I’ll commit to 6 months of it and see how it goes.

Cheers!

Quick update on the shoes: after going ten rounds I finally got these bad boys. Two days before the wedding. Moving on!

I am starting to get really excited about quilting season! (there are two seasons: playing outside season and quilting season. sometimes they overlap) The summer has been so crazy busy but now it’s slowed down – just this one last wedding this weekend – and I have time to nest again. I’m working on a couple of wedding/baby quilts for very special friends, and then I have a few almost-finished projects for myself that I’d like to get on the bed. After that I just have a whole bunch of beautiful ideas that I’d like to turn into reality!

No current progress shots but until I do, hop on over to our quilting collective’s Etsy shop, and help us make room for new ideas!

xoxo, abby

Hi guys,

My beautiful friend Jenni is getting married in a few weeks and I found this glorious dark teal dress to wear to her wedding. I’ll be in wedding party photos and her colors are aqua, sage, and grey. I wanted to get some grey pumps for fall anyway, so this is a great excuse. Help me figure out which ones are best… I’ll give you a hint, four of them are on sale and the one I like best isn’t. Murphy, I shake my fist at you!

xo, abbs

You know when the same thing happens to several people around you and it seems like EVERYONE is doing it? Well, all of my super inner-circle Seattle ladies are engaged or married. I’m truly happy for all of them – they’ve all got really terriffic fellas. That being said, I’m coming up on 29 next week, and while I don’t view myself as an old maid, it’s been a while since I had a serious relationship, and a long-term grey area situation awkwardly ended recently. I definitely am not getting married anytime soon. I’m also giving tons of gifts to my friends (and really quite happy to do so), and wondering when it will be my turn for fluffy new towels and flatware that isn’t from Target.

I still want all the stuff I posted about in my guest blog post at Undeniable Style, but bridal registries are all about housewares, so here are some home-building items. I don’t have a ton of stuff for the bedroom because a) it’s usually just got clothes all over the floor and there’s not much room for anything else, and b) I make all the quilts so I don’t need any quilts or blankets!

As a birthday present, my mom is going to help me paint my bedroom next weekend. I picked out a robin’s-egg blue six years ago before I even moved into this condo, and still love it, so that’s what’s going on the walls. I think cheerful yellow linens would go beautifully with the walls and all of the quilts I rotate through. I’ve also been using little stools for night stands since the beginning of time and it’s time to upgrade those too. These are classic, have a drawer to hide chapstick from the cat, and match my dresser.

In the bathroom, of course I need big cushy fluffy towels. I have been drooling over these towels at Macy’s for at least a decade, and the chamomile color would go well with the honey, oatmeal, and ruby granite in my bathroom. I’d also like a big print on the wall – this one from Love Song Photo would be absolutely perfect. It reflects the colors of the granite countertop AND recalls an absolutely spectacular weekend spent at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.

For the kitchen, I’d like some nice solid flatware (Crate and Barrel) - mine is currently an assortment of crap I picked up at Fred Meyer and Target. Completely unsatisfactory.  I also have exactly one steak knife that I stole from my brother, which I think he inherited from his ex-girlfriend. I should probably have some of those, and why not make them pretty colors? My wineglasses are also terrible ones from Target. I’d really love some diminutive Italian style ones – I don’t think I’m quite fancy enough for good stemware yet but I’d still like an upgrade. Plus these would take up way less room in my already overcrowded cabinets. Perky tablecloths are always fun. For everyday use I have Fiestaware in assorted colors but would really like some simple whiteware for dressier occcasions. Barring that, I want a crapload of cafe au lait bowls for everything that the fiestaware bowls suck at. And I’ve always wanted one of those cow-shaped milk jugs, even though I can’t imagine that I’d use it that often. Something I would use all the time, though, is a set of Silpat mats for my cookie sheets – you wouldn’t believe how much parchment I go through!

So remember, my birthday is next Friday, October 1. I also have an Amazon.com registry, wink wink. 

xo, at