Kimono & Cupcakes
Where I blog about Kimonos, cupcakes, and other things I like. Oh and also my life.
Knitting-related:
Knitty Knitty Bang Bang (another lovely lass who enjoys knitting and Kimono)
Baking-related:
Cupcake Bakeshop (lots of great links from here too!)
Coconut and Lime (fabulous, all-original cupcake recipes and more)
Friend sites:
Osaka Ben (Tattoo-heavy)
Kimono shops/sites:
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Please excuse my delinquency.
You know how it is when so many things are happening that you don’t know where to start in telling people about them? Especially when most of them aren’t that interesting to anyone but yourself? I think that’s why I’m so bad at keeping this blog up-to-date. In my defense, goings-on since I last wrote have been unbalanced in the kimono-to-cupcake ratio, so maybe subconsciously I was waiting for things to balance out before I updated.
Anyhoo, cupcake action to date has gone as follows: 2 successful recipes (Elvis & Magnolia Bakery’s chocolate cupcake) and 1 successful semi-experimental recipe in Ohio, and 1 since back in Japan that was a semi-failed experiment; extremely tasty, but awful-looking. The original recipe was a lemon cupcake with berry filling, and they would’ve turned out great, had I not become overzealous with my “adjusting” of it; the problem though, was that the sugar used even in the batter was powdered sugar instead of granulated. Though it makes for a wonderful
Thursday, March 20, 2008
An overdue update with inadequate info
Because I can’t sleep when it would be great if I could, I guess I’ll go ahead and update the ol’ blog. I’m going to skip over my Taiwan birthday trip for now, but there are a few photos with some text about it on my flickr site, if you’re dying for details. For now, I’m just going to write about the most recent cupcake/kimono activity that I can remember.
We can start with the photo at top; how awesome is my outfit?? This yellow kimono is one of only two in my collection that are actually long enough make the obligatory fold (o-hashori) that sticks out from under the bottom of the obi sash. I bought this (for cheap!) at a flea market that I went to with Rachel and her family when we were in Kyoto. My chief complaint about it is that since it’s silk, it slips around a lot, making it hard for me to keep the neckline nice and flat. Oh well.
Speaking of the Obi, I bought this one for only ¥1000 (about $10) on Yahoo auctions. Versatile and fabulous. The most exciting element though,
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Birthday!!!
Well, my second favorite day of the year finally rolled around (although I did nearly forget about it, if you can believe it). I have now turned 30 years old. I prefer to call it by the roman numeral XXX. That sounds a lot cooler.
Anyway, I did a good job. I slept in, did some knitting, watched some tv (I finally got one--for 30 bucks!), and then got dressed up to begin my festivities. Me and Kei didn’t really have any plans, but I’d told him I’d like to just do a bit of window shopping and then maybe get some dinner and drinks.
So around 3 o’clock yesterday I started putting on the getup I’d picked out the night before, the one you see in the photo at top. This kimono and obi were such a find, in a surprising place to boot. Together they cost about US $140, which is a steal. The kimono is not only long enough for me to wear properly, but it is also in perfect condition. Really nice crepe fabric. The obi (誕生日帯.jpg) was the expensive part, as is usually the case. Heavy silk in a
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Yes, I know what it looks like.
Whew! Sorry it’s been so long since I wrote any updates. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to write about, I just didn’t feel like it.
Today I feel like it because I have had two major culinary triumphs in as many days, and they both happened because of food homesickness. If you didn’t know, I really like to cook, bake, and eat. One of the things that make me homesick is not being able to procure proper comfort food here. I mean, there are Japanese foods that comfort me, but when I am homesick, I need comfort food from home. So the only obvious thing to do in times like the aforementioned is to make whatever it is I’m craving (provided what I’m craving is something you can make at home). The hard part is you usually can’t find exactly what you’re looking for in ingredients here, without going out of your way to a specialty import foods store. Sometimes I can make do and take solace in the fact that whatever I made was good even though it wasn’t the same as what I wanted. This
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Extreme Knitting!!!
Wow, it’s funny how your level of contentment with your own life can change from day to day. Most of this week I was totally bummed out because I’m staying in japan for Christmas, but today I am stoked. I can earn a living without leaving my house, I have plenty of time for knitting, I get to play guitar with Jesse all the time, I made new knitting friends (girls! finally!) yesterday, and I’m a prize-winning knitter for the second time in my life.
What was that, you ask? Prize-winning knitter? That’s right, homeboys. A knitting cafe and gallery located serendipitously nearby my home had a contest for handmade articles. Knitted, crocheted, sewn, jewelry, all original pieces welcome. They had a big party last night at which they announced the winners, so all the staff and guests could have a chance to vote on the entries. There were so many nice things (even a wedding dress) and I didn’t really see anybody checking mine out, so I was surprised when I won. Yay! (^-^) 2nd place
Name: Betsy
Interests: Knitting, music, cooking, baking, Kimono, travel, TV
Location: Osaka, Japan
