{Sweet Lord — Bond is a great conversation piece! From your comments I discover I am in the minority. Many of you would rather curl up next to Sean Connery. Who knew?}

A bit of photographic evidence from the Bond Birthday Bash:

Isn’t the birthday boy adorable? Love this guy. (He’s also the brains behind the design of this site.) Happy Birthday J!

The Tolars — 007 style. (It looks like she’s shooting the kitty — when props collide!)

Amanda, working in.

As is her sweet hubby. (Notice the bruise from his snowboarding accident weeks ago. Yikes!)

The Mattadors smokin’ by the fire.

Shay and David, smiling pretty.

And what is it about a man in a tuxedo that automatically makes him hot? I swear you could put a walrus in a penguin suit and he’d get my attention.

Three cheers to theme parties. Nice work Min!
~K

I hit the Glendale chocolate festival yesterday with O. His photos are pretty remarkable considering the fest was essentially a dozen tents, a lot of chocolate and a dastardly amount of inappropriate eating. I think he managed to capture just about everything worthy of a photo. Regardless, the caramel coconut apples? Yee-ow. I had one bite and am pretty sure I can still taste it.
Yum.

Then there was Bond. Min threw Jason a truly fantastic 30th birthday party with a 007 theme. There were fantastic Bond girls, casino games, lots of martinis and a shot of tequila or two for good times. The spread of food was delicious; both Min and Jason love to cook. Plus, the theme was extra fun because nearly everyone dressed up. We are a group who like our themed parties and reasons to dress the part. Last night there were men wandering around in tuxedos and women in sparkly gowns. {Photos to be posted manana, including JT playing the role of a kitty-carrying villain.} We played Bond trivia games, during which I discovered the answer is nearly always Sean Connery. {Unless the question is, “Which Bond could eat crackers in your bed? And then the answer is most certainly Daniel Craig. Oooh Daniel Craig.}
Yum.

Or he could eat chocolate in my bed. Who is your favorite Bond?

~K

{Update: I’m an idiot and posted the wrong project. Eek! Finny selected the BEDSIDE ORGANIZER AND EYE MASK — NOT THE BATHROOM CADDY. Oops, my bad. Read on.}

Dear Finny,
Have such a good time skiing this weekend! I am slightly envious. As you know, I don’t really do snow, but I love me a lodge! Anyway, I hope you have lots of fun with your hubby on the slopes.
When you get back, we’ll have to chat more about the projects you have selected for the February In Stitches theme: the bedside organizer and the eye mask. Ooh la la! Just think how fancy my bed will look when I get all my magazines and pens and journals and stuff organized. Schweet. And that eye mask? Did you know that there is a rather annoying street light just outside of my bedroom window and four nights out of five I sleep with a pillow covering my face? An eye mask seems much more Jackie O — and therefore, I’m in love.

And so it is announced: the February In Stitches theme is: the bedside organizer or the eye mask (or both for the ambitious sort) with a bit of embellishment. Spice these babies up with ribbon, buttons, embroidery, stamping, etc…

Now, on to other news. Guess who the winner is for the January document duvet project? Selected at random was Mrs. Rachael. Bravo! Aren’t you impressed with how these ladies took on this document duvet? Wowza!! Love the variations and the creativity that came through. Nice work to you all! Rachael, your prize will be in the mail pronto.

Happy weekend Fin!
Kelli

Dear Finny,
Man, oh man, how I wish you were here. I need you, a pitcher of Ace Pear, a veggie burger and about four hours on the patio of Four Peaks. And of course, a cab.
Rather than drinking away this crazy week, I’ve taken to some Butler therapy. Me + In Stitches + a pattern June says is “easy” + a bunch of shabby chic fabric. And lookie what I made?

It’s a kimono robe for a certain February birthday girl. I like the blue fabric, but am not so sure about the trim. And as for this baby being easy?

Well, June is a master seamstress and I am not. {Have you seen her latest projects? Talented!} This was my first sewn garment and the shoulders are a bit wonky. So, I just added a bit of recycled bias tape and a bit of extra so you can hang the sucker up. What do you think?

While I was at it, I made a couple wristlets — because I’m a bit addicted and have that giant eBay zipper stash to go through.

This wristlet, I must say, is a fantastic example of recycling. Remember when I tried making those baby dresses from pattern? They were for baby Pia — the newest addition to the 6.5 family. Well, they were a disaster and ended up in my scrap bag — only to be turned into an African pouch. My mom ended up making the dresses anew for me when I visited at Christmas.

Got to love my mama. She is so darned good behind that sewing machine. Speaking of, what’s the February In Stitches theme? We’ve also got to select January’s winner from the flickr gallery.
You sure you can’t come over for the weekend?

xxoo,
Kelli

p.s. I bought the new Norah CD today. It is so, so good!

Have you read Michael Pollan’s latest essay about the state of gastronomy in the US? It’s called Unhappy Meals and is worthy of the 16-page printout. {Pollan also authored Omnivore’s Dilemma, which I took to heart.} If you like to eat and wonder why it is so easy to get fat in our culture, he explains it quite well.
A couple of quick quotes I thought were rather well written and insightful:

“The story of how the most basic questions about what to eat ever got so complicated reveals a great deal about the institutional imperatives of the food industry, nutritional science, and journalism… Humans deciding what to eat without expert help — something they have been doing with notable success since coming down out of the trees — is seriously unprofitable if you’re a food company, distinctly risky if you are a nutritionist and just plain boring if you’re a newspaper editor.”

“The fate of each whole food rises and falls with every change in the nutritional weather, while the processed foods are simply reformulated. That’s why when the Atkins mania hit the food industry, bread and pasta were giving a quick redesign, while the poor unreconstructed potatoes and carrots were left out in the cold. Of course it is a lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a potato or carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over, the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming about their newfound whole-grain goodness.”

Mr. Pollan, if I could invite you over for dinner tonight, we’d have acorn squash, bean soup and a nice salad with soy ice cream for dessert — all in moderation, of course. And maybe a bottle or two of wine and lots of conversation on how to motivate the masses to read the ingredients, grow your own food and eat less while enjoying food more. Consider yourself always invited and keep up the good work.

~K