March Giveaway: Little Pink Plum!

Our Wabisabi Giveaway for this month is from our sponsor Little Pink Plum. Janette Pasali, the creative mind behind Little Pink Plum, is a stay-at-home mom of three, living in San Diego, California. She blogs over at Jan's Crafty Nest. Her shop, Little Pink Plum, is stocked with all sorts of lovely magnets and buttons.
In her words:

It seems like I’ve been crafting with paper my whole life. When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my mother (who is Japanese) taught me how to fold a crane from origami paper and I became fascinated with being able to create things from paper - jewelry, cards, etc. Now, using my button press to make fun accessories is the perfect way for me to create and also work with paper. I am inspired by nature, animals, current trends and love using fun images as well as origami and Japanese chiyogami paper.

Some of the goodies you'll find in Janette's store:

This month Janette is offering one lucky reader a set of the adorable kokeshi magnets featured above (you may remember that we featured them earlier this year in this post). These would make lovely gifts, Easter basket stuffers, or look great on your own fridge!

To be entered to win please leave a comment on this post. You can gain additional entries by becoming a fan on facebook (1st timers only - leave a separate comment) or becoming a follower by clicking on the sidebar (1st timers only - leave a separate comment). Comments close one week from today, on March 8th at 8pm EST. A winner will be selected by random number generator and announced here on March 9th.

In addition, Janette is offering a discount  of 15% off the purchase price to all Wabisabi Mama readers, so please visit Little Pink Plum, add one of her sweet creations to your cart and input "WABISABI" at checkout.

Thanks for supporting us and other fabulous mamas! Good luck!

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Comments closed! Thanks for participating and stay tuned for the winner!

Memory Monday

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From The Wonder Years

As retrospective, a blast from the past, a remembrance, a little history...

MamaQ in her 8th grade graduation dance dress. She swears this was stylish back then. As were the glasses and matching teal watch?

If you want to play along, leave a link to one of your memories here for all to read.

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The Little Things

Today was kind of a mixed bag for me.

Got to sleep in until 9:00 am since PapaD took the little one!

But then woke up with some really weird dreams.

Made the most of late church by having brunch (Frittata with Caramelized Onions and Fingerling Potato Home Fries with Garlic & Rosemary) and found this:(It was delicious too!)

Then my neighbors dropped off a huge bag of eggs from their backyard chickens!

Then got a slightly backhanded compliment at the end of church,
"Congratulations - you managed to control your daughter throughout the whole meeting."
I wasn't sure if this was a sincere and genuine compliment or this guy's way of judging me and letting me know that I haven't been doing a good enough job keeping Lucy controlled at church when it's boring for a toddler and her nap time!

I'll just try to focus on the good little things: sleeping in, Sunday brunch, heart-shaped potatoes, and free local eggs!

February Love

I know I'm anxious for spring to come, but I must admit that February has been quite lovely and I'm a bit sad to see it go. From Candlemas to Setsubun to Valentine's Day to President's Day, there was a lot of celebrating and creating going on around here. I think that is just what we needed to get us through this last bit of winter.

Such a short, charming little month. Hope you were able to keep warm and busy (yet tranquil!).

Dear March, come in!

How glad I am!

I looked for you before.

Put down your hat-

You must have walked-

How out of breath you are!

Dear March, how are you?

And the rest?

Did you leave Nature well?

Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,

I have so much to tell.

~ Emily Dickinson

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama).

a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember.if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

wishing you a lovely weekend!

Some Thoughts on Housewifery

I've always been a bit uncomfortable about the term "housewife." I'm not sure I even really know what it means - doesn't it seem like such an old-fashioned word? Does it bring to mind some kind of 50's image of a smiling woman with a skinny waist in an apron and heels, spatula in hand? My first impulse is to become defensive when I feel I'm being categorized that way because I have such negative associations with that word. "Homemaker" or "Stay-at-home Mom" are less grating, but I kind of cringe at those labels, too.

The truth is, I left a really rewarding and exciting career when I gave birth to my daughter. I was fulfilling my life-long dream of being a professional actor and I had also discovered that I also had a talent and passion for teaching. It was really hard to leave that behind, but I have never regretted it because I REALLY wanted to be the best mom I could be and for me, that meant devoting myself full-time to raising my daughter.

My decision to stay home with Mayumi coincides with my desire to return to a more simple, creatively-fulfilling life. In addition to learning things of scholastic import I want to teach her the basic principles of self-sufficiency and an appreciation for things that are beautiful and uplifting. That means that when I'm doing loads of laundry she is there beside me turning the knobs on the washing machine and measuring out detergent. She sits up on the counter while I cook and prepare our meals; she'll crack eggs or stir batters or we'll just talk about food and nutrition. She mops after I vacuum, and we dust together. We work in the garden together. We try to do everything together, and sometimes that makes it more difficult and twice as long to complete. But there is value in that, isn't there? Does everything have to be so rushed?

At times I have felt guilty that there are many parents out there who don't have the "luxury" of staying at home with their children. I know I am truly lucky in that way, but to be honest, it's not as if my husband is making buckets of money and i'm indulging in consumer whims and/or sewing decorative yo-yos all day (though I'm not critisizing anyone who does that). But to be fair and completely honest, I do choose to allot some of my time to nurturing the creative soul within me. I thrive on creating, I need to create. I lost some of that power and opportunity when I left my day job and now I find myself seeking it through traditional crafting arts like knitting and sewing, or through gardening, or just by decorating my home and keeping it clean and organized. My favorite are the days we don't leave the house and instead, we lug out the sewing machine and spend the day making doll clothes or sewing a dress for a beloved cousin. Or we create a card-making factory with paper and glue and stickers all over the place. We could certainly just buy things and it would take less time and probably less money. But then Mayumi would never learn to sew a button or the value of good craftmanship and she may take for granted the time and effort and funds it requires to make a unique, beautiful something for someone she loves.


I recently read this post from Shivaya Naturals where Heather voices some gripes she has about people who marvel at all the free time she has to do crafty, creative things. Her concerns resonated with me and I just wanted to publicly lift my torch beside her and say "amen, sistah." This housewife is also just trying to make this world a happier, more beautiful place - starting right here at home.

Memory Monday

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From The Wonder Years

As retrospective, a blast from the past, a remembrance, a little history...

1983

1984

 1985

 1986

  1988
 
Dad thought this would be a good way of documenting our growth in our new house. It is fun to look back and see what we were like and how we changed... makes me want to find a place in our house where we can do the same thing with our little kid(s someday?).

If you want to play along, leave a link to one of your memories here for all to read.

Oishii: Tempura

The Japanese are known for a particularly healthy diet rife with fish, vegetables and rice. But don't let them fool you--they like their deep-fried foods as much as Americans do!

One of the most popular fried foods in Japan is called tempura, or deep-fried vegetables (and sometimes seafood).

Pretty much any vegetable can be made into tempura, but my favorites are shredded carrots, corn kernels, chopped onion and sliced sweet potato. All you have to do is dip the veggies into tempura batter, fry on medium-high heat for a few minutes, drain excess oil and serve with tempura dipping sauce. Recipes for the batter and sauce are below (but if you're lazy like me, just buy them in the Asian foods section of your grocery store). 

Tempura batter

This is the recipe for homemade batter, but you can also find batter starter kits in the Asian food section of your grocery store. 

1 egg

1 cup ice water

1 cup flour

1. Beat egg in a bowl.

2. Add ice water to the bowl. 

3. Add flour to the bowl and mix lightly. Do not overmix. 

Tempura sauce

This is the recipe for homemade sauce, but you can also find ready-made sauce in the Asian food section of your grocery store. 

1 cup dashi stock
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tbsp suger

1. Heat mirin in a pan.
2. Add dashi stock and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Serve.

Mmmm. So good and so bad...

Preparing for President's Day

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

~Abraham Lincoln

I laugh to myself when I think of this quote because I tend to be the type to open my mouth (and insert my foot), removing all doubt in the minds of my listeners (or readers!). But at least I can laugh at myself!

We've been having some fun preparing for President's Day:

- reading President's Day by Anne and Lizzy Rockwell, Our Abe Lincoln by Jim Aylesworth (illustrated by Barbara McClintock, one of our favorites!), Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas, George Washington's Teeth by Deborah Chandra, Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln by Judith St. George, and Abe's Honest Words by Doreen Rappaport.

- fieldtrip to visit sites that honor Washington and Lincoln. Having the fortune to live in DC, we went to the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument before stopping at the Lincoln exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History (you can check out their online exhibit, too!). And on Monday, admission to Mt. Vernon is free, so we'll hit that up as well.

- making snacks in honor of Washington and Lincoln: pretzel log cabins and cherry desserts (like these cherry coconut cupcakes)

- working on our President's Day lapbook (we used materials from homeschool share and squidoo).

- playing math games with money, particularly pennies and quarters!

- making tri-cornered hats out of black construction paper (it doesn't get any easier than this!).

I love focusing on holidays and building traditions around them for our little family. I heard some of my friends complaining that in their children's schools they are putting a lot of focus on black history month (which is wonderful!) but ignoring President's Day (which is tragic). Just by the simple study I've been doing with Mayumi I've developed a much deeper love and respect for Washington and Lincoln and I hope that I can pass that, along with patriotic zeal for our history, on to my daughter. If you have any other ideas for President's Day, please share!

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

~ George Washington in an address to the Continental Army before the Battle of Long Island (27 August 1776)

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama).

a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember.if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

wishing you a lovely weekend!