sock cat christmas ornaments.

I was scrambling to get my ornaments done for the 5th Annual Holiday Ornament Swap. I seem to continue with the same theme and make mini sock animals. I wasn't planning on doing so this year and try something different but I ended up making a sock cat:

MEOWY CHRISTMAS~!

bourbon praline cake for tony.

Yellow cake mixed with ground up pecans and bourbon.
Recipe adapted from bourbon praline cake.

upside down pineapple cake for rain.

Rain likes pineapple so I used Giada Di Laurentii's pineapple cake recipe.
Helpful tip: Must wear low cup top for this cake to come out proper.

birthday cake for laura.

I learned a very helpful tip:
After baking the cake, place in fridge for half hour. This firms up the cake and prevents it from ripping apart when applying frosting. Frost a thin crumb layer and place in fridge again. This helps for a smoother final spread. After a half hour, frost a final layer for smooth finish.

I was very proud of the frosting job on this cake :)

postcard from fort tilden beach.

It is a sad thing if your guilt prevents you from taking a perfectly good day off from work for no good reason. Headed to the beach at an ungodly hour in the morning with canine company. By the time I got back into the city, realized there was plenty of time to head to work. So instead of paying to put car in lot and having Shake Shack lunch in beautiful sunglass worthy weather, I'm at work. I was never good at playing hooky.

Boo.

Damn you, guilty conscience, for not allowing me a three day weekend.

postcard from nasca.

Okay. So I kept hearing we were going to Nasca. Assuming everyone was speaking with a Korean accent, I thought we were going to Nascar. Nascar? Why the hell were we going to visit racing cars in Peru? Was very confusing. But no, we weren't going to be in racing cars. We were going to be in a tiny propeller plane to see the lines of NascA... with an A. NASCA. Next time, I won't be traveling with a Korean tour again.

This is where I almost left my iPhone on the plane. Bus had to turn around, drive 10 minutes back where our guide shouted at propeller plane. It was loaded with passengers and ready to take off. *whew* Otherwise, some Peruvian would've scored a touch screen phone loaded with indie rock and the New York Times crossword puzzle app.

postcard from cusco.

Cusqueña = official beer of the Incans.
Inca Kola = official soft drink of the Incans.
Mate de coca = official tea of the Incans.

postcard from machu pichu.

[Llama, llama, llama~]

postcard from lake titicaca.

Try saying "Lake Titicaca" without snickering. Try it. Shows my maturity level, don't it?

Postcard from Bethel, NY.

8 humans + 4 dogs + food + some mo' food = 1 delicious we
This is the only kind of math I know.

I thought "away from it all" meant no cell phone reception, cable, internet connection, etc... This didn't seem to be the case as three laptops were popped open sucking whatever wifi connection available as their owners sat in front of glowing screens. My mom even managed to get a hold of me several times as I saw missed calls on crappy cell phone reception. I guess a two hour drive north isn't far enough to be isolated.

My Fuji Instax camera came in the mail a couple weeks ago. Was glad to take it out for a spin this past weekend at Stone Hearth Manor in Bethel, NY. I organized all the photos in a card holder I'm using as an album I picked up at Muji. It's the perfect size for Instax pictures! There are two main visual themes from the trip: food and dogs.

Here are some of my favorites:

It's nice to have an album to physically hold and flip through at the end. Am thinking of taking more real photos this year as opposed to digital. Am also planning on scanning old snapshots I've taken during my pre-digital camera days.

sweater for Betsy.

[She hates me...]

I heard Betsy's been shedding as her winter coat has been growing in. With all the fluff missing, she's been shivering during her walks outside. I'm opposed to clothing on dogs unless it's for functional purposes. But if Betsy is going to be wearing a sweater, she may as well look good wearing one.

I knitted thick chunky light gray acrylic yarn. Using thick yarn made the project super fast. The sweater was knitted in separate pieces and sewn together. I used the pattern for this cable knit scarf which I modified to make the back panel. Buttons are large wooden spools as the craft store strangely didn't have large wooden buttons.

It was a bit of a snug fit and needed some more work on the collar but it didn't matter. Betsy hated it :|

postcard from hong kong.

Last week was spent in Hong Kong for a sequel trip. Strangely, I felt no nostalgia. Perhaps because I wasn't able to explore anywhere outside of Tsimshatsui. I played hooky one morning and took their awesome MTR to Mongkok.

[Top to Bottom: Goldfish Market, Flower Market, Ladies Market - Monkok, Hong Kong]

Got to meet with some friends over brisket noodles and mango dumplings:

[Serious business - Causeway Bay, Hong Kong]

I LOVE C!ty'Super! C!ty'Super is Hong Kong's supermarket chain. They sell happy faced juices and individually plastic wrapped produce.
Absolutely unnecessary things I bought at C!ty'Super:

Star shaped pancake maker. Panda sandwich crust cutter.