she sew fly :: i fly places, i buy fabric, i make things

Installing a pickup in my new ukulele!!

So I got this gorgeous Kala spalted maple tenor uke a few weeks ago. It needs a pickup installed if I am ever going to seriously play it on stage (I am planning to do so on March 21). On calling a recommended repair person to check the prices, I found would cost me almost as much as the uke is worth to have a pickup installed - once you add in the cost of the K&K Twin-Spot we are going to use.

Incidentally, I have a K&K Hot Spot on my Flea, and I LOVE IT. Nice, easy, warm sound.

Soooo anyhoo, we found this video online outlining the process of doing the installation at home. Between the two of us, we are pretty damn handy, so we are going to go for it! 

I think the video is pretty charming on its own.

I'll report back after the fact - wish us luck! If it works, we'll do the exact same thing on my Kala lacewood spruce baritone ukulele!

The A-Team of Wedding Planning: Brooklyn Betrothed

Another article is up on BrooklynBased.net on advance of Wedding Crashers!

The creative minds behind Brooklyn Betrothed

Through much of 2009, Sam Zuniss was having way too much fun planning her wedding. She’d assembled a group of women who genuinely loved spending time together and shared a lot of mutual respect. After the wedding, the group toyed with creating a networking organization for Brooklyn-based wedding industry professionals. Through the process, they hit on an even better idea. The seven women are now known as Brooklyn Betrothed and work as a collective wedding planner, covering almost every aspect of the perfect party.

Brooklyn Betrothed is made up of life coach Zuniss, make-up artist Anni Bruno, officiant Carissa Templeton, photographer Kristina Hill, floral designer Rebecca Shepherd, visual artist Ruth Irving and wedding planner Tammy Golson. I talked details from Zuniss this week.

KEEP READING on BROOKLYN BASED

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I am always looking for more interesting ways to eat more veggies...

    My Lunch Today:

I came across a recipe for cauliflower pizza on Pinterest - it linked to a recipe on Eat Drink Smile. I made it this afternoon for lunch, topped with broccoli, shallots and chicken sausage. Cooked it in a pre-heated 12" cast iron skillet (unrivalled for making crispy crusts)

It's fantastic!!

I mean, it don't think it's THAT great for you. It's got a bunch of cheese in it - which makes it so tasty.

But you can't deny the fiber :)

Cauliflower Pizza Crust at Eat Drink Smile

A talented designer friend is working on a new TV show...She is looking for homeowners in the NYC-ish area with one awful room in their home that needs a makeover!

Let me know if you have a room that fits the description and I'll put you in touch!

Sadly these areas are EXCLUDED: Manhattan, Long Island, Yonkers, New Jersey....that leaves Bklyn, Queens and Staten Island...

Please help spread the word!

Brooklyn Based: Brooklyn Bride

A new article of mine posted on BrooklynBased.net today:

Wedding Inspiration with a Brooklyn Edge

You have may have noticed Brooklyn is spreading. There’s the Brooklyneer on Varick Street serving “Brooklyn fare,” Red Hook bakery Baked selling its brownie mixes on Williams-Sonoma’s website, and the fabulous Union Market is opening an outpost on Houston and Ave A. As the Brooklyn trend grows, Brooklyn’s brand is becoming clearer. According to most of us, we have all the fun and serve the best food in town. It only makes sense that the borough-as-trend has made its stamp on the wedding world.

Vané Broussard, an interior designer and founder of the Brooklyn Bride blog, started off blogging to organize ideas for her own Brooklyn wedding. Over the past few years, that personal scrapbook has grown into an incredibly popular resource and inspiration for brides all over the country. She took a moment to chat with me about the blog.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

My Latest Article on BrooklynBased.net:

Back That Thing Up: Food Truck-Friendly Wedding Venues

The Schnitzel & Things truck at the author's own wedding last fall at Brooklyn Winery (which no longer accomodates food trucks)

For a foodie wedding, gourmet food trucks offer an opportunity to serve delicious meals in unorthodox locations. For folks from out of town, a food truck’s presence just screams “New York!!” For a couple planning a wedding on a budget, catering from a food truck can represent a huge savings in comparison to a traditional caterer–by 50% or more.

You won’t necessarily get five kinds of hors d’oeuvres or a chocolate fountain, but you’ll balance that with the novelty of a fresh-fried schnitzel served out of a window under the stars. Many event venues are catching on to the growing popularity of the quirky food-mobiles, and are welcoming them with open doors.

It’s still a little hard to find food-truck friendly venues via Google, though, so I went to the sources, and chatted about catering weddings with a handful of the busier trucks: Schnitzel & Things, Wafels and Dinges, Rickshaw Dumpling Truck and the Bistro Truck. Like Rickshaw’s Kenny Lao, food truck owners seem to really like serving at weddings, and are honored to be a part of the special day. “It’s amazing and always really fun,” says Lao.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST

Ok, ok one more thing: Me Made Mittwoch

I am wearing a new shirt today! I made it with some sweet fabric I picked up at SewMoni in Ridgewood, Queens. The pattern is adapted from 1/2010 Tunic Dress Pattern on Burdastyle.com. I narrowed the neckline, shortened the sleeves, eliminated the neck slit. FYI I have about 6 of these now. My new get-used-to-it shirt.

Me Made Mittwoch is being celebrated today in Germany. I didn't know I was participating until just now!

My New Ukulele: Kala Spalted Maple Tenor

It recently came to my attention that I needed a new ukulele. I love my lime green flea, but after a few years hard playing, it's looking a little worse for wear. I'd now like to keep it reserved for my songwriting workshops, as it occasionally gets whipped across the room by an unsuspecting student. Plastic FTW!

For live shows, and for more fun at home, I wanted something with a richer tone and a gorgeous wood*.  I love my lacewood spruce Kala Baritone for it's warm tone, and felt pretty sure that I wanted another Kala. My man and I spent a lot of time searching around NYC for something good. Even though ukes are so popular that the backlash has already come and gone, it's still hard to find something good in the city. I eventually found what I was looking for on a site out of - you guessed it - Hawaii. A Kala spalted maple tenor uke with a solid spruce top. It's got that gorgeous wood*, and the spruce top is a no brainer for a rich tone. Yayyyy!!

It seems that Kala ukuleles arrive from the factory with the action a little high (judging by my bari and the comments of my retailer) so I was happy that the guys at www.theukulelesite.com do a nice set-up in house. At under $300, I also think this uke is a bargain for the quality of the instrument*!

*That's what she said

Click through for a couple more photos!

The inside of my head

I was hired to play a small private event yesterday - a gift from an event planner to his biggest clients. J. Walter Hawkes recommended me fore it. Heard him? You should hear him.

Thom Lussier of Cafiero-Lussier Event Design put together the prettiest, girliest tea party in the offices of a PR company he often works with. Coffee, tea, rosé champagne...and a yellow cake with pink icing cake that seemed perfection to me. Thom says they make the cake in their own kitchens. I couldn't recommend it more. The cake itself is not-too-sweet, dense and moist, but somehow still airy. The frosting was soooo rich and thick...tooth achingly sweet. The perfect combo!

I was able to enjoy a slice myself after my performance...

So the BEST part of the party was that Thom hired me to play solo ukulele. That is a nice opportunity for me in itself, but he also asked that my repertoire be made up of quirky pop tunes! I was in HEAVEN. If you know me, you know that I am happy to spend an evening sitting in front of my computer looking up chords to 80's music and hosting a one-lady sing-a-long. When the hour-long show was over, I still sat in my cushioned window seat (!!!) thinking "Is it over?? Already?? But I have so many more songs!!"

So Thom, thanks for the gig, and the cake, and a fun Valentine's day afternoon!

Below I included a list of the songs I put together for this party. I kept adding and adding. I didn't get to most of them, so if you need a solo ukulele pop singer for your soirée, please let me know. I have so much more to give!  

XOXO

PS I just bought Peony and Jasmine from Collette Patterns. Yay!

PSS It was also a good hair day!

Click through for the song list

I think I might actually start blogging again for awhile!