Pretty Useful Things

Over the years it has gotten more and more difficult to think of the perfect gift for Mother’s Day. As a kid in school the teachers would sit us down in art class, throw some clay, paint, crayons and paper at us and order us to make mom something special. As a young adult full of angst and deep, deep feelings I would sit down weeks in advance of the big day and start writing my mother poetry. Really profound, meaningful poetry that I hope she never, ever shares with anyone! When I started becoming more successful as an actor and could afford to buy my mother something fancy, we started making Bergdorf Goodman a Mother’s Day tradition.Continue Reading

See Ya Later Alli-Gaiter

Garter Gaiter

In an earlier post I talked about the beautiful color dipped cowl I did as a potential Christmas gift for my 14 year old niece. The cowl ended up being way too big for her, so I had to come up with another gift that would be perfect. I ended up making her this gorgeous and extremely easy Garter Gaiter from… yup Purl Soho. I swear I am not being paid to endorse the store… though I would gladly take some free yarn if they want to throw a little love my way. 😉Continue Reading

Color Dip This

Color Dipped Cowl

I had so much fun doing the color dipped scarf and was thrilled with how beautifully it turned out, that I decided to modify the pattern and apply it to a cozy delicious cowl! I got the idea from Purl Soho’s Mountain Cowl pattern. On its own with no modifications the Mountain Cowl is glorious, but I was so in love with the color dipped effect I was sure it would be just as beautiful in a neck warmer!Continue Reading

And It Was All Yellow

My youngest daughter turned four on April 3rd and when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said she wanted to be there, and have a yellow cake. I assured her she would certainly be invited to her own birthday and I would happily make her a yellow cake!

I know Grey’s Anatomy fans love the idea of me being a baker like my character Izzie Stevens, but it’s never really been my forte. I’ve struggled to get the consistency of my batters right, my cakes baked to a nice golden brown, or my breads to rise, and all that struggle was at sea level in Los Angeles. Once I moved to Utah, the altitude proved too hard for me to conquer! I gave up completely after making a birthday cake for Josh that came out as dense and heavy as a rock! So though I assured my baby girl I’d make her a cake, I couldn’t help but think I better purchase a back up from the store just in case!Continue Reading