To celebrate the completion of Queen Frida and my psychedelically colorful bathroom, I decided to make the theme of the first Supper Club party “Unibrowed Mexicans Take Brooklyn.” I had 10 people over on 10-10-10 (Happy Birthday Brian!) for a taco bar extravaganza.

I made taquitos, chicken, fish and 3 kinds of salsa + trimmings for the taco bar. Friends brought chips, guacamole, mole, churros, corn, Coronas, rice pudding, ice cream, and…mustaches!

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pin it!I went all out. I made paper flowers and cut paper flags and place mats.

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This was the perfect occasion to put my extensive hot sauce collection to use. I have about 15 kinds of hot sauce.

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I made corn/bean salsa, tomato/pepper salsa, and mango/tomato/avocado salsa

pin it!Paola kindly provided the mustaches which easily doubled as unibrows.

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10-10-10!

I started a massive drawing of Queen Elizabeth about 3 years ago after watching Elizabeth the film on Netflix. I know it’s merely a 2 hour film summarizing the life of a very complex woman with a 44 year reign, but I loved Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of the Virgin Queen. Her life story was riveting and her personality ambitious, harsh, and utterly relatable. ;-)

I worked on this drawing very sporadically between 2008 and 2010, and decided last week that she had been sitting in my living room without a face and without appendages for far too long. I have no idea where I mustered the motivation and stamina, but I drew non-stop for the last 3 days (18 hours on Monday alone), and I’m relieved to be done. This is my most ambitious 2 dimensional piece to date. I think my arm might fall off.

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I learned to crochet when I was really young. When I was in elementary school, there was a brilliant after school counselor who realized that yarn art is a great way to keep kids like me occupied for hours on end. My best friend, Neelima, and I would spend hours crafting ornate doilies and pot holders. Nowadays I usually make hats for friends. This is the first one that I made for myself.

While I was in California, I stocked up on yarn, because I’m not down with paying $15 for a tiny ball if it’s going to cost me $50 to make a whole hat. I’m currently on a crocheting binge. I’ll probably make a dusty purple scarf next, so stay tuned for that.

Useless fun facts:

1) Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune has her own yarn line called “Vanna’s Choice.” It’s sold at Joanne Fabrics (If you’re wondering, the yarn I used for this beanie is Lion’s Brand Organic Cotton and NOT Vanna’s Choice. I didn’t even like any of her yarn.)

2) They FINALLY opened a good ol’ Michael’s Arts & Crafts on Columbus x 99th. It warms my heart to know I have easy access to stamps, Styrofoam balls, and cinnamon scented “silk” flowers.

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I spent the last 3 months in California helping my parents renovate their house. I have tons of pictures that I will post soon. The first room to come together was my Mom’s little home office. It’s only 10′ x 10′ so in order to maximize floor space, I wanted to use wall-mounted shelving. I couldn’t find anything that was just right so I made a trip to IKEA and picked up some basic “Akurum” cabinets and embellished them myself with wood trim from Lowes. (Which is WAY cooler than Home Depot. Why didn’t anyone tell me?!)

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Originally I had intended to make the cabinets black and white, but when I hung them, the contrast was making my eyes hurt.

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I re-sanded and re-painted the cabinets gray.

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And found the PERFECT knobs at Ace Hardware.

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