birthday week: indian food + spinning

thursday december 8

food: indian buffet

got take out from a really good indian buffet called karma, right next to where i ate the other day - han dynasty. the buffet was $10 and i loaded as much as i could in my container, had left overs for today. soooo good, very pleased :)

craft: spinning!

after loosing my drop spindle for two years my boyfriend gave me a new bottom whorl drop spindle for my birthday (ain't he the best? :) happily, i spent most of the night spinning skeins of roving that i had lying around for a number of years and glad to get back to them finally. i plan on doing a post of how to spin soon!

such a beautiful dye job. i bought this from a seller on etsy years ago and sadly can't remember them. oh well, isn't it lovely though?! it reminds me of a peacock.

also i wanted to share this really cool website/blog about iceland, it's called every single place in iceland. they do posts on somewhere in iceland each day, whether its a major area or the small lake in reykjavik. amazing photography and cute posts. i have to say, iceland is doing a teriffic job with tourism advertising this year. it goes to show the importance of social media these days... i only wish i knew about this blog before i went! check it out!

(from the blog, which is brand-spanking new... this is tjornin, the small lake in the center of reykjavik. there really are soo many birds there, it's insane but cool)

Birthday Week: Food + Crafts Galore

ok so i meant to post everyday this week, but obviously that didn't quite work out. but here is what i did do:

tuesday december 6

food: han dynasty (front and chestnut) - spicy cucumbers + shrimp fried rice
         wawa hot turkey in gravy sandwich + english toffee late

 i treated myself to han dynasty, which i kept hearing from random people how good and how spicy it was so i decided to get that for my lunch. i heard that the dan dan noodles were exceptional, but it was a lot more pricey than i anticipated for chinese. so i ended up ordering the spicy cucumber appetizer and the shrimp fried rice. the spicy cucumbers were incredibly surprising; crunchy, crisp, fresh, garlicy, spicy, and savory. everyone at my work keep eating them. the shrimp fried rice was...well, shrimp fried rice. but i highly recommend the cucumbers. definitely glad i finally ended up going here.

i was supposed to be taken to the tortilla press in collingswood, nj for dinner after a doctor's appointment by my mom. it didn't work out, but she ended up taking me food shopping and treating me to my favorite wawa sandwich - the hot turkey. it's a shame this sublime sandwich is only seasonal, so i try to get it as often as i can before it's gone. i also got the english toffee latte, which is great. it is somewhat special because it is sorta nostalgic for me. my dad used to take us with him to wawa all the time and get us an english toffee, so for me the warm toffee aroma in my hands reminds me of yesteryear.

craft: holiday banner

unfortunately didn't finish it so i don't have a picture of it. but i started to make a festive, glittery holiday banner for my window... details to follow :)

wednesday *my birthday*


food: ate my left overs from han dynasty for lunch and got a wonderful surprise peanut butter chocolate mousse pie for my birthday cake....it was heaven!

CHIMA brazilian steakhouse for my birthday dinner.

oh. my. god. my boyfriend and i ate sooo much! perhaps one of the best birthday dinners to date, chima really was something special. definitely a "very special occassion" restaurant, this $60 a head all-you-can-eat gorge fest is not something i will be able to do again for a long time (just because it is so pricey). i ordered one of my favorite drinks - a white russian - and headed off to the salad bar, which had everything from gorgonzola mousse to artichokes. exceptional salad bar.

then the meat.

baby sirloin with garlic. butterfly lamb. sirloin. swordfish. salmon. bbq prok ribs. beef ribs (basically brisket). sausage. chicken. chicken wrapped in bacon. filet mignon. and a few more that i can't remember. my favorite was definitely the lamb and the sirloin, followed closely by the beef brisket/ribs. WOW dan and i kept saying "i've never had meat like this!"

i gave myself the night off with crafting last night. tonight i will be doing something very special to make up for it :) stay posted!

my tote bags are here!

each year moore college of art & design chooses a piece from the recent senior show to represent the school on their annual tote bags, and they chose mine! they went with the west philadelphia print that i did this past april and they just came out. you can buy them at the art shop at moore on 20th & the parkway, or on their online shop. 

so show your support and get yo' callahan schwag!

Emerging Artists & Designers Show

 

installation shots from my senior thesis show at Moore College of Art from april 27 - May 14 2011

so grateful, i won the Kathryn Welsh Memorial Award for Textile Design

thanks to everyone who came out for the support. it was so rewarding being part of an awesome senior show.

i am also selling small 18 x 24" prints of my designs. feel free to email me if you are interested!

the next endeavor...

...south philly. 

Thesis update

just got my yardage back last week, and they are a little bigger than i thought. but then again, 3 yards is 3 yards... 9 ft... 108 inches. oh yeah, and they won't be pooling on the ground. i plan on suspending them from the ceiling so the bottom just hits the floor. 

so here i am starting to embroider the yardage. it's definitely going to take a long time, but so far i have two colors done on my west philly print. yay! still a lot to go though...

some details of the embroidery done so far. 

soooo, i absolutely have so much more work to do, BUT i'm in a good spot!

Finalized prints for thesis

so, thesis... here are the three prints that i finally finished for my thesis work. based on north, south, and west philly residential neighborhoods these back and white prints will be printed on 3 yards of sheer silk organza and will be embroidered upon. only a month and a half left! :/

thesis drawing

green line cafe and the 32 trolley on baltimore ave.

i like this: handmade journals by derrick velasquez

this past weekend i went to art for cash poor at the crane arts building in philly and i fell in love with these hand bound journals by artist derrick velasquez. most of his books are bound with found fabrics and eco-friendly materials including recycled paper, but the ones that i loved were the silkscreened ones. the top photo is my favorite, and i was soooo close to buying it but i needed to save my money and i already have enough journals and notebooks that haven't even been touched. enjoy!

hawlings have arrived!

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the franklin institute's hawk nest of the newly hatched chicks and parents are sooo cute!

Philly full of patterns

just some patterns i noticed around the corner from me and that i thought were interesting...