just be.

and sewing!

today i finished two sewing projects. the first is my laura skirt, a variation on an a-line skirt from the design-it-yourself clothes book i'm trying to work my way through this summer. i finished the rest of the skirt a couple of weeks ago, but the ruffled hem has been giving me fits. finally, today, i took out a spool of white tulle and made a pleated ruffle, and i love it!

 

just love it. i can't wait to wear it tomorrow. AND i made a little tank top to wear with it, the grainline studio tiny-pocket tank, but without the tiny pocket. a good first top project, though not a perfect pattern, IMO. (does the notation "seam allowance" on the pattern pieces mean that i need to add that? the instructions don't say when to sew the shoulder seams. does it matter? and the bias strips aren't long enough to go around the parts they're made to go around. but these are minor quibbles.) because of the business with the bias strips, i have some bits i'll need to redo, but i'm wearing it tomorrow, dammit.

i did a simple folded hem with a graphite thread, and the rest of the edges are bound using bias tape. commercially made, purchased bias tape, at that! scandalous, i know.

i love it.

the grey and blue (SURPRISE EVERYONE) look beautiful together, i think.

cleansing breakfast

the cleanse has been going on for three weeks as of tomorrow. mostly very uneventful, which is just how i like my life. one routine i have down is breakfast. it's a little time-consuming compared with cold cereal and milk (my usual breakfast before this), but it gets me most of the daily requirements of the cleanse: raw garlic, greens, flax, lemon, magnesium, fermented food, and a raw meal (well, if you count the garlic toast as a supplement and not part of the meal). plus it's about three cups of liquid, which is good for hydrating first thing in the morning.

first thing i do is start the garlic toast, which is how i get a clove of raw garlic every day; leah says that this has antimicrobial properties. or antibacterial. or anti something. anti vampire, i guess. anyway, i put a piece of gluten-free bread in the toaster and let it get going while i assemble the ingredients for the rest of the breakfast.

i buy garlic already peeled and separated into cloves because i believe in making my life a little easier with prepped ingredients when i can. it makes getting the rest of the cooking done easier.

i then put a clove (in this case, one and a little buddy because the little buddy was so little) and some salt on a cutting board.

then i use a cleaver or a metal bench scraper or a large chef's knife to turn the garlic into a paste by mincing and smearing, mincing and smearing.

i don't worry too much about getting it too fine. i love garlic. this just sits and waits for the bread to finish toasting.

meanwhile, i start the smoothie, which has approximately one million ingredients. i put a handful of unsweetened frozen fruit and a huge bunch of frozen kale (trust me: i have tried mustard greens, collard greens, and broccoli so far as substitutes, and all were disasters, so kale it is for me) into my blender carafe.

then i peel a lemon and put the peeled lemon into the blender.

then i add the fancy-pants ingredients: magnesium + calcium, coconut-water kefir (because fermented food is apparently helpful for the gut), ground flaxseed, and raw vegan protein powder.

appetizing, huh?

i then just pour in rice or almond milk until the gaps are filled, which just makes it liquidy enough to pour and drink. somewhere around now, the toast is toasted. i spread it liberally with this faux margarine, which tastes pretty good, while the blender does its thing.

when it's finished, the smoothie looks something like this:

i pour it into a grownup sippy cup because i spill everything. paired with the toast, it's a breakfast that keeps me fed until midafternoon, longer than any other breakfast i can think of.