Taking Pictures Yourself

In the past, I usually take my kids to Kiddie Kandids Photography to capture their milestones. They have done a pretty good job in capturing smiles on my kids, but lately, I am finding that the high prices are not worth the pictures taken from a high school or college student with no professional experience. They are pictures that I can do myself. I am also not that fond of the pre-drawn backgrounds as much as getting actual outdoor pictures.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister asked me if I would take her engagement photos. Although, I am not a professional, I was delighted to capture their love behind the lens of the camera and at the same time, saving them hundreds in the process. I thought railroad tracks would be a nice backdrop since the tracks seem endless just like the love they have for one another.

With cameras in tow, we marched through shrubs, got bitten by mosquitoes, and sweated up a storm (thankfully, that isn't captured in the photographs) to get the perfect shots. Hopefully, I was able to capture their loving relationship.

Here are their favorites from the 10Gigs of pictures I took.

I think I was able to get a few good shots of them. What do you think? The best part is the price tag of FREE. Before you call up a studio to book an appointment, try seeing what pictures you can take yourself. You might be surprised at what you capture. You may end up saving money in the process.

Into the Cold in the Middle of Summer

I was out in San Jose once again this past week. It's strange coming from 100+ degree weather to 50 degrees. I didn't necessarily pack for the outside weather as much as I packed for my day at work. It's June, so you would think summer dresses and skirts are in order, right? Not for me. I've made that mistake before. What were in my luggage were sweaters, sweaters, sweaters, and did I mention sweaters?

I am in my very heavy wool coat, and thick scarf. Crazy? What's crazy is when I get into work, I will have added gloves and a hat to my ensemble. Underneath the coat are two more sweaters and a shirt. Still, I wasn't warm enough. I work in a lab and it is so cold that a parka is necessary, that and doing a few jumping jacks to warm up every so often.

My workplace in CA is as cold as a meat locker. What I find funny are those that join me in the lab and chuckle at my wardrobe. An hour later, I usually don't hear any more chuckles, but rather, hear offers for my gloves and hat. How ironic it is for me to travel miles to the sunny state of CA, only to freeze to death. I am happy to finally be home where the weather is nice and warm and where my job here doesn't require me to pack a heavy coat.

Flourless Fried Chicken

Whenever I go out of town, I generally prepare dinner for the nights that I will be out. I am the cook in the family, unless you call my husband ordering take-out or getting Micky D's making a meal. I spent this past weekend cooking up a storm.

One of the kids favorites is my Fried Chicken. I know, not the healthiest of meals, but I am always sure their plate will be clean with this one. At one time, R. was allergic to wheat so I decided I would make it flourless and it turned out to be one of the most requested recipes in my home, especially by A. my youngest.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

SEASON your chicken with the ingredients listed above.

I generally start out with salt first. Then I add the other seasonings simply by shaking it right on top, rotating the chicken so that every part of the chicken is coated.

Once it is seasoned well, fry it up in HOT vegetable oil for approximately 25 minutes.

Make sure the oil is hot before adding the chicken so that once the chicken is added, it sears the exterior surface, making the skin crispy as well as sealing the interior of the chicken to make it moist. I usually rotate the chicken once in the beginning after it has been seared on one side.

After about 25 minutes, the chicken should be ready. Check with a thermometer if you are unsure. Remove the chicken from the oil and dry on paper towels.

Add some sides, and its the perfect kids meal in our home. This week, I prepared some steamed rice and roasted corn to go with the chicken.

A. didn't have a problem eating here.

or here.

Sand Box

I've always wanted a sand box for my kids to play in, but Mr. N. thought it would be too messy. He didn't want the kids to get sand into the pool. This all changed when he saw the kids playing in the huge land of dirt and rocks the pool builder left for us.

We finally got around to filling our sand box with actual sand and within seconds, the kids were ready to jump in and play.

Here is A. intently watching R. build his creation. Who knew ten bags of sand could make kids so happy.

Reupholstering MB Chair

Ten years ago when I helped my hubby (boyfriend at the time) move out of his new apartment (back during the good old college days), we found this chair on the curb. Some one had thrown it out because one of the wheels were broken. I told Mr. N. that I wanted it. He said I was nuts, but was nice enough to wheel it back to his apartment for me. All I had to do back then was bat my eyelashes a little. It's a little tougher to get what I want now :)

I know, its pretty dated. I started out by removing the remaining three wheels off the chair legs so that it would be level to sit on. The next thing that had to go was the hideous striped fabric.

The main reason I took the chair was because it had clean lines. With that, it will always remain timeless.

I reupholstered it with this floral print. I love the fabric and still do. The colors have gone in every room I needed it to be in and despite the numerous room color changes, this chair remains to blend well.

After ten years, it remained clean and impeccable of any stains until A. started walking. I don't know what he poured on it, but it has stained my chair. It smells like maple syrup which is yummy, but that yumminess doesn't look so pretty.

I asked my hubby if he wanted to replace the chair with something new, but he said it was too comfy of a chair to get rid of so I should work my magic. It's been like this for a year now and I finally got a chance to reupholster it again this weekend.

To reupholster furniture like chairs and sofas, you can either take it apart and reupholster the chair pieces or make a slipcover for it. It would be ideal to be able to take the chair apart if that were possible. However, I didn't want to destroy the integrity of the chair so to reupholster this chair, I am basically making a permanent slip cover. This can be tricky, but with a little patience, you can do it. I have made dozens of slip covers in my day and I still manage to learn something new every time I make one.

Start out by wrapping your fabric around the chair. Cut your pieces out accordingly. To keep them in place, I pinned them right onto the chair.

Pin the pieces together, making sure it is taut and there is no puckering.

Continue to lay the fabric and pin until the entire chair is done. Next, hand baste the pieces together. What I have learned in the past is that sewing this piece together on the machine going off of pins and needles can be cumbersome and take twice as long.

Spend the extra 30 minutes hand sewing the pieces and removing the needles so that when you get to the machine, it is basically connecting the dots. Sewing it will be easy peesy, not having to worry about which direction to sew because some pins have fallen off. If the chair tapers at the bottom, do not sew all the way down because it will be impossible to remove the cover to sew.

I have left the bottom half (part that starts tapering) unsewn, while sewing the rest. Afterward, slowly remove the cover, making sure you don't bust any seams.

Sew the pieces together and slip it back onto the chair.

Now for the details. I decided that I don't want a skirt like the original chair had. Instead, it will just have a clean line at the bottom.

To do this, lay the chair on the side.

Pull the fabric taut, removing any wrinkles or puckering and staple it to the chair.

Start in the center and work your way out. When you reach the legs of the chair, make a cut right next to the leg.

Staple down the fabric to the side of the leg while folding up the fabric that is in front of the leg.

For the opening that you purposely left unsewn, pin and then slip stitch.

Voila! A new chair for the fabric price of $35.00.

For the piping, I used the reverse of the fabric. It turned out to be the perfect choice. I originally wanted the piping to be more fun with a pop of color, but in the end, I wanted this chair to withstand another ten years. Hence, that is the reason I went with the neutral color in twill fabric. I will use the pops of colors with accent pillows and accessories.

All it needs now is a pretty ruffly decorative pillow and a throw for that perfect reading chair.