Amigurumi

Amigurumi (ah-mee-goo-roo-mee)- it is the Japanese art of crocheting little stuffed things. A lot of times it's dolls or animals, but I have taken to making food (hmm, surprise, huh) and other inatimate objects.

So why would someone want to buy these things from me? I'm not sure, except they are cute and fun. They really serve no functional purpose. But who cares, I'm having fun making them and I hope that someone will have fun owning them.


An amigurumi potted plant. Never needs watering and never dies. It's practically maintenance free (occasional dusting maybe?)


An amigurumi apple a day keeps the amigurumi doctor away!


This one is my favorite. I just love the little amigurumi popcorn kernels. It's fat free...and like most fat free popcorn it doesn't taste very good. But it's still fun to look at.

Glitzy Kitsch debuts in 4 days!!!!

Ups and Downs and Really Downs

So here is how the last week has gone.

Graminator is doing better, after I took her off some of the medication that as prescribed for her. It was an anti-seizure medication that they give as a precaution to all brain injured people. She didn't have any seizures but the medication was turning her into a walking vegetable. Seriously, if I had continued it for the full month as prescribed, I don't think there would have been any Graminator left. I'd rather she risk a seizure than be catatonic. Between a reduction in her medication and some physical therapy (I love her physical therapist, she's awesome and works Gram out very hard, which has made her much stronger) she is coming back to us, albeit very slowly. Now if I could just get her to eat. She is not eating very much, and only eating that due to us spoon feeding her or reminding her to eat every 20 seconds or so. If we didn't do that I do that I don't think she would eat anything at all. If anyone has any ideas on how to increase her appetite, I would LOVE to hear it!

I got a stinkin' summer cold. I had one at the end of June and wasn't quite over it when the Graminator went to the hospital. So a week after she was in the hospital I got another cold, this one much worse than the first. I've had it for two weeks now, and it shows very little sign of going away. It's now manageable, not miserable, but I;m still full of phlem and coughing. Then Tuesday I slept on my neck wrong and have been unable to move my head more than about thirty degrees in any direction. So much fun when I cough or sneeze because of the added neck pain. Yippee.

Glitter City Sweets now has a store on Etsy. I'm trying it out to see how it works before we launch Glitzy Kitsch. Sales have been good and I'm learning the tricks. It has meant double orders this week so I'm busier than normal. Plus trying to get everything photographed for the new store. And working on more things for both stores. So busy, but ultimately rewarding.

Plus this weekend is the 48 Hour Film Festival (You write, shoot, edit and complete a short film in 48 hours) and I'm in charge of writing this thing. We will get a genre, line of dialogue, character name and prop on Friday at 7pm and I'm supposed to have the script done by 9:30pm. There are lots of fingers in this pie, which could make it very difficult to distill into a single vision. But I'll do my best. It's been in the 112º to 114º range in Vegas so shooting should be lots of fun. Whomever decided that the Las Vegas event should be in July should be strung up mid-day outside to experience why this event should really be held sometime between November and March. Just sayin'.

Okay , gotta so get the Graminator ready to go have another CT scan of her brain, so see if the hematoma is getting smaller. Cross your fingers that it is good news and son she will be back to, well, as normal as can be expected. Thanks Loyal Readers and I'm hoping your lives are full and happy!

Viva la France!

Today, in honor of Bastille Day, Glitter City Sweets introduces a new line of French pastries.


French macarons - a crispy almond meringue shell that yields to a chewy interior and sandwiched with rich, flavorful buttercream. So yummy. Available in Vanilla, Chocolate, Pomegranate and Rose - yes, rose, and trust me the incredible texture of the macaron combined with the unique flavor or roses is INCREDIBLE!


Madeleines - Proust's favorite cookie is actually a little tea cake. It's distincive scalloped shape is the reason for the crispy edges and light cake center. Buttery, luxurious and delicious. These scream for a lovely afternoon with a cup of tea and a good book. Available in the Traditional flavor (vanilla with just a hint of fresh lemon zest), an out of this world Orange and Spice (perfect with a cup of orange pekoe perhaps?) and Lavender, which has a wonderful fragrance and taste.


Sablés - These are a distinctive French butter cookie. Different from shortbread in that they are enriched with fresh eggs, they are a lovely crisp cookie that crumbles in your mouth. Sablé means sand in french and that sandy texture is what makes this cookie so delightful. Claim to this cookie varies up and down the French coast, but all we know is that the lovely combination of butter, eggs and sea salt is brilliant. We make ours in three flavors, Vanilla Bean, Ginger and Pistachio.

These cookies have been in development for several months, perfecting our recipes so that when you bite one of our French cookies, you truly get a taste of Paris! Here is what our French cookie fans said about our macarons:

"The beauty of French macaroons is their texture. A perfect one brings pure joy in biting into it. These French macaroons do exactly that! Beware, though: they're not just addicting, they become a religion." Tina Y., Las Vegas, NV

"Best macarons in the West! Biting into the thin, crisp shell and finding the gooey goodness brought me right back to the streets of Paris. As good, if not better, than any Parisian macaron I've had." Lauren P., Las Vegas, NV

We hope that all of our fans enjoy them as well!

An Esteemed Graduate?

Blanca graduated from Kinderpuppy today. It's a basic obedience class where she learned sit, stay, come, lie down, leave it, touch and some socialization with other dogs and people. She won a prize for being best behaved on a leash. She got a certificate and a little ribbon.

All of this makes me laugh because just a few hours before class, she brought me a present. It was a bottle of black dye that she found somewhere in the laundry room. She generously fetched it from the nether regions for me...only first she chewed the bottle and got black dye on her blanket, the steps she uses to get onto the couch, my lap and oh yeah, all over herself. My little blond puppy looked more like a Dalmatian than a Chihuahua. She had dye on her paws, in her mouth, on her tongue and just about everything else too. After trying to scrub her clean in the sink, I finally had to take her into the shower with me.

So I got her cleaned up in time for her to receive her obedience award. Don't tell on her okay? She's pretty proud of her achievements. She liked her ribbon so much, she ate it.

Walk a Mile in My Flip-Flops

So the Graminator had to be hospitalized with a subdural hematoma (okay, it was actually an epdiural hematoma, but since most people are familiar with the 'subdural' phrase, let's not get too technical, okay?

The hematoma is a bleeding in the brain. When our brains get older, they become a lot like a walnut in a shell. When young. the walnut is nice and plump and meaty and fills the whole shell. When we get old, the brain shrinks up a bit, like an old walnut and can rattle around a bit in there. Sometimes if the brain rattles a bit too much, a weaker vein or artery can break and cause bleeding in the brain. Most of the time they can't pinpoint what event actually caused the bleeding. Most likely a fall. The Graminator did fall a few weeks ago but we didn't think it was serious or that she hit her head, although to be honest, at the time I was far more concerned with broken bones, since the last time she fell she broke her pelvis. But like whiplash, it doesn't take much to rattle an 89 year old brain, so the fall is our best guess as to how it occurred.

Now this bleeding was most likely very slow an occurred over several weeks. But how we noticed was that she slowed up a bit, was a little wobbly, then she seemed to have trouble chewing and swallowing, then a bit of muscle weakness on her left side. Now keep in mind that she is 89 with moderately severe Alzheimer's. Slowing down seems, well, normal. Difficulty chewing and swallowing is a sign that her Alzheimer's is progressing to the next stage. And while the muscle weakness was a concern to me, she was lucid, able to communicate and did still have function on her left side. Since she sleeps on her left side, we thought she might have slept wrong and pinched a nerve or something. Still, these were enough of a concern that when we really noticed them on Sunday night, we called the doctor first thing on Monday. And have you ever tried calling an HMO on a Monday morning? It's probably easier to get the Vatican on the phone. But I finally got through and got her an appointment for Tuesday morning.

When she got up on Tuesday she was actually better. Less muscle weakness and a little more stability. But we took her to the doctor anyway. The doctor (whom I will admit, I don't like very well. She used to have an AWESOME doctor who has now been promoted to the head of the whole HMO. This new doctor, well, let's just say she doesn't have the most compassionate bedside manner I've ever seen. Frankly, she's a robot with a really bitchy nurse) told us that these were signs of a stroke and that we should have taken her immediately to the ER. She called the ER and told them we were on the way.

Now, I don't want the Graminator to be admitted to the hospital if it is at all possible to avoid it. She has only two to three days in the hospital before she is so weak, confused, disoriented and agitated that her recovery is greatly imperiled. So I took her to the ER with great trepidation. The triage nurse at the ER also chastised me for not bringing her to the ER when we first noticed the symptoms.

OKAY PEOPLE, LISTEN UP: Spend a month or so taking care of her and then tell me how to do my job. Wipe her ass on a daily basis. Get her to eat more than two bites. Lift her in and out of the shower. I spend 24/7 with this woman, looking after every function, to ensure she is safe, happy and healthy. Since she got out of the hospital the last time (where, after only two weeks, she had pneumonia, a huge bedsore, a staph infection, wasn't given her proper medications and couldn't walk) I have had her care for the last two years in which she has GAINED weight, walks daily, reads her paper most days and has maintained her health at a good level, all while having a debilitating, and eventually fatal, brain disease. So if I'm not perfect, I'm still doing one hell of a job, while giving up pretty much every semblance of a private life. I haven't been to the movies in over a year. I never hang out with friends. What little time I do have for myself is devoted to running my business. I buy her food, diapers, bed pads, meal supplements, pretty much everything but her medications, for which I am reimbursed (for my time and supplies) the princely sum of $800 a month. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. If she were in a nursing home, that would cost more than $800 A DAY.

So when she exhibited a change in behavior that was concerning, but not severe, I made the reasonable move to take her to the doctor. Should I have rushed her to the ER? Maybe. But the same symptoms that indicated to the doctor a possible stroke, could easily have been simply due to age and Alzheimer's. In fact, as one ER doctor told me, if I had rushed her to the ER before her symptoms started to resolve (by Wednesday her functions were at 98% of baseline) they probably would have given her unnecessary medications and brain surgery. Instead, because the bleeding had stopped and was in fact healing, they kept her for observation and repeat CT's then released her HOME. So I'm not saying that I did the right thing, just that I did the very best I could under the circumstances.

So please, while it's really easy to armchair quarterback, please keep in mind that we are all human. No one is perfect. Most of us are just doing the best we can. There is a way to educate and inform without the sanctimonious, judgemental crap. I'm just saying.

Spilling Guts

I know it's been a while since I have blogged, claiming the excuse that am too 'busy' but I realized that without writing I have all of this stuff built up that I need to purge from my soul. So let's play, catch up, okay?

The Graminator just got home from the hospital. After noticing a bit of unsteadiness and inability to swallow correctly, her doctor told us to take her to the ER, suspecting a stroke. It wasn't a stroke but it was a subdural hematoma (brain bleed). No surgery (at 89 that was just not a can of worms we wanted to open) just medication and repeat CT scans in her future. But now we have to fight to get back to where we were. It's a constant struggle and some days I feel like I'm drowning.


My beloved Java passed away in April. She was fifteen years old and acted like a puppy for all but the last three weeks of her life. I was devastated when she died. I still miss her. I have a new puppy, Blanca. She is not a substitute for Java, but a new companion. She is terrifically smart. She does not destroy my shoes (but my library books are a bit more dog eared than they should be) and she LOVES to rip Kleenex into little tiny pieces. Under my desk looks like a snow storm. I would keep her from ever getting another tissue but the Graminator leaves them everywhere. Puppy heaven.

The cutest puppy ever!

Business is going well. Cookies, cupcake, cakes and marshmallows are selling like...well, hot cakes! I'm introducing a line of French pastries on July 14th (Bastille Day). A national retailer has ordered (and ordered and ordered) samples of the marshmallows to sell in some of their upscale stores. I have stopped holding my breath because of all of the changes they have requested (new package size, new labels, etc) but it has still been an interesting process and quite flattering because of all the samples they requested from many marshmallow companies, I was told that mine were the best. Nice compliment.

Here's the new marshmallow packaging.

And French macarons!

Mom and I are working on a new business venture, working on a handcrafting business. We will be up and running, selling our products on Etsy, next week. I have had a blast learning new craft techniques. I am now crocheting, knitting, making jewelry, sewing and upcycling new and vintage clothing. Now if I could only get three more hours into a day, I would be set. But it helps to fill some emptiness that I'm too afraid to examine or define.

The first necklace I designed. It's called "Blue Roses"

I have to go check on the puppy and the patient. But I will post more soon, whether I still have Loyal Readers or not, because I have missed the venting of my soul. If you are still out there, Loyal Readers, I missed you!