crawling for yarn

while i was learning how to knit and crochet during our months of lockdown in 2020, i learned about an annual event that was held throughout l.a. county, and it was called the l.a. yarn crawl.  a bunch of independently owned yarn stores picked a weekend that they would offer fun stuff like free patterns and specials on yarn and needles and accessories and all kinds of stuff like that.  they also had a passport that you could print at home or pick up at any of the shops, and you would get it stamped at each shop you visited.  once you were done with it, you'd fill out your contact information and leave it at any of the shops and you'd be entered into a raffle for a gift basket that they assembled.

i'm reading this as i type it and yes, i do realize how nerdy it all sounds.  but i don't care.  i'm still so stoked that i finally powered through and learned how to knit and crochet after years of trying and failing, and you know i like to have all the fun stuff.  and so when i realized that there were three of the participating shops close to home, i decided that i was gonna go and have some dorky, yarny fun.

my first stop was at the yarnaholic store.  i think they had started out as an online only shop, and eventually found a tiny space to open a brick & mortar store that they'd stocked and opened to the public just a week or two before yarn crawl weekend.

the ladies in the shop were really friendly and welcoming, and were pretty excited to welcome customers into their new space.  i had a couple of patterns saved that i wanted to find yarn for, so i picked up a couple of skeins here for one of them and then hopped in the car to move on to the next stop.

phebie's needle art is located in the packing house in the claremont village - just up the stairs from the claremont chefs academy that i used to take the bean to for classes (and where she had one of her birthday parties).  i never knew it was there - but then again, i never paid attention to yarn stores before either.

and inside i caught a glimpse of the gift basket that they had put together for their raffle.

when i got to the last shop in my circuit, i found that i was going to get one extra stamp in my passport because the yarnover truck was parked out front.  bonus!

buku yarns is a cute little shop in la verne, tucked in a corner of the same shopping center where my barre studio used to be.  it's really close to the house, which is awesome and dangerous at the same time.

and since it's the closest one to me, that's where i left my passport for the gift basket raffle.  it was definitely a long shot, but i figured if there was any chance that i might win (i didn't, heh) it would be the easiest shop to get to.  

here's my haul from the crawl - so soft and pretty and colorful!

and that's a wrap on my very first l.a. yarn crawl.  i have a pretty crazy amount of yarn and patterns to work through, but maybe by the time the 2023 crawl happens i'll be ready.

maybe.  probably not, but a girl can dream.

baked goods with a homeland twist

every now and then the hub and i get a chance for a day date - whether it's grabbing lunch, heading out for some shopping or even just a midday treat.  and sometimes we stumble across something new and fun - like this place we found in chino hills.  it's called baked dessert bar, and i was a little surprised to walk in and find that a good number of their treats feature filipino-inspired flavors.  i've noticed that there are some new bakeries and restaurants out on the west side that offer grub from the homeland, but this one is a lot closer to home.

this was the first thing i saw:

halo-halo is kind of like a filipino slush.  well, not exactly, but it's made with crushed ice, evaporated milk and a bunch of random mix-ins like sweet beans, fruit, coconut, and all sorts of other stuff.  sometimes you'll see it topped with ice cream, or maybe even some flan.

luckily there were others in front of me, so i had some time to peruse their menu.

the cakes looked really fun, and there was a wide variety of different flavors of cheesecakes in a jar.

macarons are always a good option.

there were cupcakes in two sizes.  these were the minis.

and i was really intrigued by these polvoron truffles.  from the description, they sound like a variation of cake pops using white chocolate, cake crumbs and polvoron - which the girls and i made a couple of months ago for one of the bean's school projects.  i would've grabbed a couple if they'd had the red velvet or chocolate flavors available.  maybe next time.

instead, i played it safe with a box of cupcakes to take home.  these are lemon meringue, ferrero rocher, chocolate peanut butter and salted caramel.

later, we put them on a plate and cut them into pieces so we could all taste each flavor.

while they were all pretty good, the lemon was a clear favorite.  light and tangy and refreshing, it really was the best of the bunch.  the chocolate cake is nice - fluffy and not dry at all, but their buttercream frosting is a no-go for us.  it tasted oily and thick, and was kind of a dealbreaker for me.

i mean, not that i won't go again.  i'd like to return and try out some more of their filipino treats, and i'm sure no one will say no if i suggest taking a trip out there again.

finishing off father's day

we wrapped up father's day with dinner at the meat cellar in claremont.  the hub and i had been there for lunch before, but they've relocated into a bigger facility since our last visit.  their new spot used to be a hometown indie grocery store that i used to visit when i worked in the area, so i was kind of curious to see what they'd done to the place.

the old lady had called ahead to make sure we could get a table, being a holiday and all, and was told that the wait was about 30-40 minutes.  not too bad.  except that by the time we got there, the girl seemed super confused and a little frazzled and quoted us an hour and a half before we could be seated.  ugh.  and so we did what anyone else would do:  head to the bar.

while the hub and the old lady's special friend went with the old fashioned, i opted for "the boss lady," which sounded cool until i remembered that i hate the taste of fresh mint.

the old lady ordered the "coachellarita," which also sounded cool until she realized that there were bitters in it, which she also hates.  heh.

oh well.  we drank them anyway, while chatting with the bean and waiting to be seated.  i kept looking around at the place, remembering how it looked when it was still a grocery store.  they did keep their meat counter in this corner where the actual meat counter used to be:

and then when we were finally seated (at a table that was open and available the entire time we'd sat there waiting), the butcher came over to show us the wagyu tomahawk steaks he had on hand.

we ended up ordering it along with a flatiron steak to share between the five of us, and while it was being prepared for us we ordered a charcuterie board (because we love our meat and cheese plates).

fresh cornbread and butter was a welcome sight.

and the old lady was happy to keep the wine flowing.

the chef sliced up our steaks for us for easy serving, and while both were delicious, we all agreed that the less expensive flatiron steak was actually tastier than the super pricey wagyu beef.

brussels sprouts caramelized with balsamic vinegar, bacon and hazelnuts.

garlic mashed potatoes.

we had mac & cheese too, but it was far away and i never got a shot of it.

when we were all done, the hub dared the bean to pick up the giant bone and try to chomp off a piece of meat from it.  she was all for it.

and in an attempt to atone for the long wait we'd endured for our table, our server brought us a cup of their spicy chocolate pudding.  and while it looked innocent enough, this stuff served up a major kick that came through as you swallowed a spoonful.  the bean was...not a fan.

we shut the place down, basically.  they were scheduled to close at 9, which was what time we were finally being served our meal.  by the time we were done, the place was pretty much empty.

while i thought they'd done a nice job of remodeling the old space and the food was good, i don't know that i'd be in much of a hurry to go back.  between the clueless hostesses and rather surly bartender, they need to work on their customer service.  hopefully they'll last long enough to work out their kinks and develop a good solid customer base.  considering the lack of decent restaurants in the area, i hope they make it work.

who needs clubs? take me to the sewing studio

so you know, i've been working on fun little sewing projects off and on for the last few years now.  most of my sewing skills are self-taught (or, rather, internet-taught), although i did take a very basic intro to sewing class with a local seamstress when i first brought home a sewing machine.

speaking of that lady, she had such an interesting story.  she'd fallen ill and ended up having to undergo some sort of brain surgery.  when she woke up, she magically had this perfect british accent that the doctors told her could disappear one day...or it could stay with her for the rest of her life.  and she had never even left the country.  isn't that wild?  i think about her now and then and wonder if she's still speaking like she's ready to sit down for tea.

anyway, my co-leader (who's become a really good friend by now) recently started getting into sewing too.  she's done some fun little pieces of clothing for herself and her kids, and even sewed together a few costumes for one of their upcoming plays.  she's as addicted to the sewing thing as i was when i first started.  and last week, she mentioned coming across a cute little sewing studio not too far away from us.  the owner also teaches fashion design classes at a local community college, and offers basic lessons to the public out of her studio.  my CL mentioned that she was going for a second class (out of a series of 4) and invited me to join her.  or maybe i invited myself.  i don't remember.  either way, i found myself in her car the next morning on the way to the studio.

the studio itself was small, comfy, cute and well-equipped.

now, while i consider myself a fairly decent seamstress, i'm terrible at working with ready-made patterns.  i mean, i know how to, and i've done them in the past, but i've never really learned how to do it properly.  i figured it would be a good idea to have an actual lesson where i could learn to do things the right way instead of winging it like i usually do.  the last time i attempted a project with a real pattern i ended up curled up on the floor in the fetal position in my underwear (because i'd had to try on the dress i was working on and got tired of changing out of my clothes), practically in tears and slightly traumatized from the frustration of the whole damn process.

getting started on our project - a basic pencil-like skirt with a front zipper - kind of reiterated for me why i don't like pattern work.  heh.  i mean...prepping everything before you can even sit down at the sewing machine and get down to business is SUCH a pain in the ass.  like, if i could pay someone to do the prep work - tracing the pattern, cutting it out, then cutting out the fabric and any other required pieces - and just be able to do the actual sewing part...that would be phenomenal.  but i sucked it up and worked on the beginning stages like a good student.

after what seemed like forever (and with some help from my CL, the instructor and her assistant), all of the pattern pieces were finally traced and cut out.

to begin working on the waistband, i had to iron some stabilizer (interfacing, also known as pellon) onto a couple of the pieces.  the iron i got to use was a really good one - way better than the $12.99 black & decker special i have at home.

with just about ten minutes left of class time for the session, we finally got to sit down at the machines to get a little bit of stitching done.  the machines were pretty basic models, but did the job nicely.

i learned a fun new trick to take home, too - a way to keep track of my seam allowances as i sew.  i'm usually pretty terrible at maintaining the proper allowance because - well, i'm lazy and i wing it.  but i'm totally going to use this painter's tape trick from now on and hopefully all of my seams will be nice and straight.

the studio offers lessons for adults as well as for kids - which means we're totally going to bring our new brownie troop here at some point during the next year.  in the meantime, we also signed up our own daughters to take a class together and learn how to use a sewing machine - with help from the instructors and from us, too.

not to mention, they offer open sewing time.  for $10, you can come into the studio with your projects and use the equipment and the workspace to your heart's content during regular business hours.  we joked about how this was going to be our friday night turn up...like the old ladies that we are.  in fact, i'm going to see if my friend lilcee might be interested too - this is totally her kind of thing.

TURN DOWN FOR WHAT.