Nikki's Vox

Movie reviews: Holmes, Princess and the Frog...

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:31:53 -0600

Sherlock Holmes was AMAZING. Neither of my parents like it, but well, my dad hates all movies and there wasn't enough pretty scenery for my mother since she doesn't watch movies for content, but only pretty pictures. Whatever. I thought it was brilliant. And wow. So. Much. Gay. Seriously. Friggin hilarious! Everyone did a fantastic job. Rachel McAdams was great, so was Jude Law, who I'm not usually a fan of. And then that one guy (one of the bad guys) just drove me crazy because every time he came on screen all I could think was 'MORDRED'. I'm hoping someone out there knows what I am talking about!
Anyway, brilliant movie, everyone should see it.

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Also saw Princess and the Frog last week and loved it. I'm such a huge fan of old Disney and have been so horribly, horribly disappointed the past few years. But this one was right on track. Hand drawn and with music. Fantastic. And New Orleans made me homesick :) I enjoyed mixing it up with the art deco number and the jazz music. A bit different for Disney. The story was fairly obvious, the villain was terrifying, but all around a good Disney movie! The Prince confused me though. His accent sounded Spanish but he would occasionally throw out Russian phrases, was from the mythical Disney kingdom of Maldonia and has a Hindu name. I was perplexed. But another rec for anyone who used to enjoy Disney. It was cute.

And I'm going to see Avatar on Monday! Finally! No one I know has really had terribly awesome things to say about it, so I'm not going expecting much, but I'm sure it'll be very enjoyable.

Oh, and I also watched an old black and white movie tonight called 'It Happened at Sun Valley'. Stay away from that movie. I found it very offensive. And the 'lead' woman was a horrible, manipulative, obnoxious harpy. I was not hoping she would win to say the least. She infuriated me. She just wanted to get herself a husband so she could cook and keep house for him. So he finds someone, is amazingly deceitful in trying to actually 'compromise' herself so that his girlfriend would break up with him. It was a terrible movie. Not even the Glen Miller Band could save it.

Hope everyone had a fantastic day!

~Nikki

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Baby, It's Cold Outside

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:27:54 -0600

So, the winter wonderland may be somewhat melted or iced over by Christmas, but this latest snow storm was GLORIOUS. Okay, so maybe it is obvious that I haven't lived in a snowy place for a while, but I love the cold and the snow. Always :) And here we are. First winter in Massachusetts and we get the storm of the decade. Brilliant!

Mostly self explanatory pics. Not much in the way of artistic. That fourth pic in is poor Frodo, totally covered. He got rescued today, no worries. Then today (pics 6 and 7), all nice and sunny, I decided that I wanted to see what a snowy beach looks like :) While I didn't trudge through the snow to get to it, I could still see it from where I was. Pretty awesome! Snow right up to the water! Not something I've seen before.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed my first Massachusetts snow storm (not my first storm, I lived in upstate New York, this was NOTHING to that, but still quite awesome!). Nothing when I went to sleep and a foot+ when I woke up! Very fun. And the streets are still totally covered, which is neat looking. Makes me feel like we traveled back in time and don't have paved streets.

But eek, the sun today means ice tomorrow morning. That'll suck.

~Nikki

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Sewing Project: Holiday Dress 2009

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:52:33 -0600

Finished my dress last night! Just in time to see Wicked today. People really don't dress around here. I don't know why you wouldn't, it is so much fun to dress up when you are going to something like that. Anyway. Wicked was fabulous, and I was very happy with my dress. I wore it with some fantastic shoes that didn't show up in the picture, some cream coloured oxford-style booties, they were different, not your typical heels, but I liked them :) My hair looked better earlier. These pics were at the end of the night after I had a hat on and everything.

The pattern and design were all my own. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with that gorgeous red velvet fabric and I think it worked really well in this dress. Plus, I have a BUNCH left over, so I can make something else as well. I don't know if you can see it in the pictures, but the velvet has a gorgeous pattern/texture. I've never seen anything like it. The top is made of a creamy silk and has some fantastic buttons on the sleeves (purely for decorations). The skirt is floor length and has a godet in the back which makes a mini-train. The skirt is also lined and makes a wonderful sound when I walk :) The sash thing around the middle/top is a red and sort of sparkly sheer, randomly ruched and stitched up.
It looked more Edwardian than I was expected, but I love the way it turned out. One of the first that I completely made the pattern and concept for, so I'm proud of it. The thing fits like a glove, one of the perks of making your own patterns, and I love the way the skirt hangs.

Anyway, lots of fun!

~Nikki

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X-mas Crafts! Wood+Paint Gifts

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:45:42 -0600

Wow, haven't posted in a long time! Everything was so busy with the holidays and everything. I took some pictures of a couple of gifts that I made this year! And I had at least one present for everyone that I wasn't able to finish. Oh well. Since we had an early Christmas this year when my sister came to visit, I can post these without worry.

A key holder for my mom. Bought the wood at Micheal's and the hooks at Lowe's. I'm actually quite proud of this, I haven't painted in years and I'm so happy the rabbit turned out well! The shading was such a pain. But I love it. My mom loves rabbits, btw, and she had a metal key holder with rabbits on it but the hooks are so small that everything just slides off. So I made her a new one :)

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Yea, I'm so not ashamed that my sister and I 'get' Shakespeare jokes :P I thought it was so clever. "Exit pursued by bear" from A Winter's Tale. :D Pretty funny right??! I came up with the exit sign idea all on my own :) Just rounded the edges of a scrap piece of wood I had in the basement and started painting!

Anywho, those are all I have pictures of right now! At the moment I'm working on a dress that I'm going to wear to see Wicked this weekend. I know, cutting it close. I'm going to be SO overdressed, but I'm still so excited about it. I love making fancy dresses, I just never have anywhere to wear them. My own design and everything. I'll post it when I'm done!

~Nikki

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far!

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Tastes of Autumn: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:59:20 -0600

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Okay, so that is a picture of the S'more Cupcakes (Seriously, DO NOT replace the frosting with marshmallow fluff, it does NOT work well. Melts all over the place.) and the Carrot Cupcakes with homemade Cream Cheese Frosting. Delicious, probably my favourite thus far. These are all from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The most brilliant book ever. These have been a hit with EVERYONE that have tasted them. Gobbled up :)

Well, I've had a request for the Pumpkin Cupcakes. They were wonderful. I wasn't able to take a picture of those. But I made half with and half without chocolate chips (just add them after filling half the cups) since my mom doesn't like pumpkin and chocolate. They are a bit dense, but they were still delicious. I'll highlight the small change I made:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing
Makes 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup canned punpkin
1/3 cup oil (I split it oil/apple sauce)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup AP Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
I added 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c choc. chips
--Cinnamon Icing

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil/apple sauce, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon/pumpkin spice, salt. Stir together with a fork--don't use a handheld mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22-24 minutes. Transfew to wire rack and let fully cool before icing.

Cinnamon Icing
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (also added some pumpkin spice)
2 Tbl margarine, melted
1 Tbl soy milk
1.2 tsp vanilla

1. Place sugar and cinnamon/pumpkin spice in a small bowl. Add the margarine, soy milk, and vanilla and stir with a fork until smooth. Keep at room temperature until ready to use. The mixture should look opaque and honey brown. If it's glistening a lot or looks too liquid, add a little extra confectioners' sugar.

Assemble:
I just used a spoon and drizzled the icing on -- the book tells you to pipe it on. Whatever.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule

Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Enjoy!

~Nikki

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I'm lost somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:27:37 -0600

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A nice little hiking trip in Purgatory Chasm...

Wow, what a neat landscape! The place is in the middle of no where, but we've noticed the signs for some time and decided that hey, with a name like that, we have to check it out! I'm honestly surprised they let you climb in there. You have to clamber over and jump on rocks and whatnot. Seemed like it could have been dangerous, but I've been climbing on rocks since I was a kid. And wow. I was just stunned by the scenery the entire time. Massive rock ledges to the side of you and all these rocks you had to climb over in the middle, surrounded by forest. Very, very neat. I would definitely go back, it was a lot of fun. Different areas and rock formations had different names too, like 'Lover's Leap' and 'Devil's Pulpit'. Really awesome :) I could totally see them filming part of a movie out there or something.
We left my mom behind at the beginning, which was a shame because it was really neat, but she couldn't make it, especially with the shoes she was wearing.

~Nikki

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Autumn Colours Part III

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:06:17 -0500

More pictures of trees. I just can't help it! The colours are so beautiful! These are just from a short walk I took around my neighborhood.

The second one in is an old abandoned factory a little down the street. Awesomely creepy and overgrown. I love it.
The colours have been awesome, I'm a little obsessed, obviously. But a storm came through yesterday and blew all the leaves off the trees. The ground is completely covered in leaves, which is actually kind of neat looking, but not nearly the same. Fall seems to be nearly over now!

~Nikki

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Plus couleurs d'automne

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:57:04 -0500

Some pictures of when my sister was here to visit last weekend! Right in the height of fall. The colours were gorgeous. The first day we went to the Shakespeare Company (in western Massachusetts) and saw a play, Hound of the Baskervilles turned into a comedy, Monty Python style. It was HILARIOUS. Anyway, it rained that entire day, which was a bummer, because that part of the state is gorgeous. Well, I got the first shift home to drive and guess what? THERE WAS A SNOW STORM. I kid you not. SNOW. Everywhere! Fantastic :) I'm the only one in my family with the patience to drive through the traffic and snow, so it was probably for the best, but because of that, I don't have any pics of it. Very awesome though. First snow of the year! Even if it wasn't directly here. The rest of the weekend was gorgeous though.

These are from a trail by the ocean. Fantastic weather, but the ground was a bit wet (notice the flooded trail. Also not helped by the tide). Once again, fantastic colours. I really love fall.

A couple pics from our last day in Boston.

Oh oh! And my dad just got new internet service. SO glad to finally have some speed!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

~Nikki

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Sewing Projects: Fall Swing

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:20:45 -0500

I've had these pics sitting around a while so I thought I would post them! This is one of those franken-patterns. Much adjusting was done, but it turned out just like I wanted it to when I bought the fabric. The fabric is wonderful, btw. Nice weight, texture. I enjoy it :) I wore it on a tour of the cemetary (morbid, I know) and got some comments on it. Always a nice feeling when someone comments on your clothes or asks where you got it when you know they didn't know that you made it yourself!

Pictures taken right after I got home, so I still have jewelry on. The neck is just a regular V neck. Sleeves are bell sleeves with elastic at the ends. I moved the zipper on the pattern from the back (I HATE back zippers) to the side, made the skirt fuller and longer, and didn't line it. Also had to make the whole thing smaller by nearly 7 inches. Really, why bother putting measurements on patterns at all? It is absurd.

Anyway. I finally got laces for my Ren Faire type vest, even though I probably won't be going to a ren faire. I'll wear it when I hand out candy to kids on Halloween when I'm staying at home with nothing to do. Also finished a fall weather vintage dress that I started AGES ago and finally finished hemming while I was watching hours and hours of Heroes last week. So I'll take pictures of those :)

Next order of business is to work like mad on Christmas projects that I haven't started because I've sort of had a creative brain freeze. But I'll start! I swear! No jacket making until presents are done!

~Nikki

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Premières couleur d'automne

nobody@vox.com(mystico_tala) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:33:45 -0500

Just a bit of fall colour here on the South Coast. I've seen some gorgeous trees and colour while driving, but I haven't been able to take many pics. Maybe I'll go out for a drive in the country sometime on my own so I can stop and take pics. There are some gorgeous scenes along the freeways, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get to them.

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Oh, and there was a ginko tree in the cemetery. It hadn't turned yet, but I plan on going back to snap some pics. I remember the ginko trees in Beijing, they were spectacular.

~Nik

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