ZiZi Designs to be Featured Artists at Gallery 141 in April!

A borrowed blog entry from the ZiZi Designs Jewelry blog... This is exciting news for ZiZi Designs!

During the month of April, we will be the featured artists at Gallery 141, a hip and exciting gallery in downtown Lancaster, on Gallery Row (on Water Street). This is a great picture, which I borrowed from their blog, because it speaks of the energy and creativity that the artists at Gallery 141 bring to the artist' community in Lancaster.

This will include:

• First Friday (April 4th)


• Art Walk 2008 (April 18th-20th) Lancaster Art Walk
  
• A Trunk Show (to be scheduled)


• And our jewelry on display and for sale at the Gallery all month long!

Check out Gallery 141's Blog!

We are busy working on new designs and building up our stock. The workshop is chock-full of great supplies and positive energy.

Check out some of the latest pieces at our Etsy site: www.zizidesigns.etsy.com

We are thrilled and honored to be heading into this phase of our endeavors! Thanks in advance to Alana and the rest of the folks at Gallery 141 for including us!

Also, MANY thanks to those who have made purchases on Etsy. We've sold 7 items so far! Very cool!!! Please continue to spread the word about ZiZi Designs and our mission.

Wedding Album Slide Show

This slide show provides a much more thorough look at the wedding. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show! We're so thankful for such wonderful pictures. Check out our photographer's website: Brooks Willet Photography

Yogurt Making!!!

I love yogurt! I can't tell you how much I love yogurt... especially Greek style, or super thick, whole milk yogurt that you need to skim the cream off the top. Delicious! I don't drink milk at all, so yogurt and cheese are my calcium staples (and some occasional ice cream, as any good Norwegian gal living in Lancaster County would agree and subscribe to as a necessary part of any healthy diet!). Anyways, I eat so much yogurt, that I really thought I should be making my own. We buy organic yogurt, and try to buy it locally, but how much more organic AND local could it get if I'm making it in my own kitchen. Of course the problem is that I don't have a cow or a goat in my back yard, so I actually have to purchase milk, but at least we're trying! I'm not sure what people would say about a cow in city limits...
Tim and I researched several web sites last night so we'd know how to best prepare our first batch of yogurt. My parents had a yogurt maker (Big Batch) that they got probably in the early 70's but haven't used for YEARS, so they gave it to us. Yippee!
We learned that it's best (and I think so far we agree, even if it's just our first batch) to use Stonyfield's Organic Whole Milk yogurt as a starter and whole milk to get the batch going. The Big Batch makes 2 quarts of yogurt at a time, which I probably go through in about a week. So, I poured a half gallon of whole milk into a large pot, and brought to a boil, and took it off the heat when it hit 185 degrees. The longer part of the process is letting it cool down, which took some patience, but we eventually got it to 110 degrees, when we knew we could add the other ingredients. Some sources we read said that you could immerse your pot in the sink with cold water to speed up the process, but then sometimes it goes too fast, so you really have to watch. We just continued to stir until we got it to the right temp, then added 1/2 cup of yogurt and 1/3 powdered milk, which we read would help it to be thicker. We transferred it to the Big Batch when it was all mixed together, and plugged it in to let it incubate over night. We are fans of tangy and tart yogurt, so we let it incubate about 11 hours. You can do it for shorter periods of time if you like a milder flavor. And that was it! This AM, I transferred my 2 quarts of yogurt to glass containers to put in the fridge. I happened to sneak a taste by licking my fingers at the end, and it seemed great! The consistency and the flavor seemed right on, which makes me oh! so happy!!!

In summary, it was super easy and all we used were the following ingredients:

• One-half gallon of whole milk
• 1/2 cup of whole milk plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup of powdered milk

Hooray for yogurt and hooray for the Big Batch Yogurt Maker that still works some 30+ years later. Thanks, mom! :)

Fondue Fun-ness - Good Times!

Last night was the annual fondue party at our home. It was the first official Johnsen Martin fondue party, since the marriage has occurred. We had a blast! It was our first big-ish party at our new home, and we worked like mules to get ready for the par-tay, and it all paid off! We even have a functional toilet on the first floor, which was my only request for my birthday... and my wonderful husband appeased me! I am sooo psyched! It's amazing what brings such joy to different individuals - some might say chocolate and roses, but I say "ahhh...listen to that flush!"

We had about 40 people here, which was fantastic! Our new home provides adequate space to entertain large numbers of people. And just wait til we re-do our kitchen/dining room area. What an amazing space to prepare and serve food we shall have. Actually, it's one of the reasons we chose this home - to be able to host friends and family and be a blessing to those who enter our casa. But back to the fondue! Yummilicious! We had a great assortment of foods (if I do say so myself)including cheese, veggie, chicken, pizza (gracias Heidi S.) and chocolate fondue, plus Ethiopian food, sushi (thanks Doug & Kelly), falafel, veggie meatballs, sweet potatoes, rice, African greens, salsa, guacamole, ravioli, cheese and crackers, artichoke dip, salad (go Heidi K.) pita and hummus and more! Delightful!

And then there was dessert! Unbelieveable... See the photos for the amazing spread! My dear friend Stephanie used her Kitchen Aid Mixer (a Christmas gift) for the first time to make her first-ever-from-scratch cake - and it was incredible! Chocolate cake - moister than moist - with raspberry cream filling between the layers, chocolate icing and rasberry and chocolate spikes for decor! Wowsers!!! What a cake! We also had great chocolate fondue, and we got good use of our friend Cristy's fondue pot, which she donated to the cause when she left for Africa, thinking she wouldn't do too much fondue-ing in Malawi, and we had cookies and fruit from our other friends. To die for! I think the secret to the phenomenal cake may have been the strongly brewed coffee that Steph told me she put in... because coffee is the nectar of the gods, or at least the best beverage out there! Yum, yum, yum!

We wouldn't have been able to pull this thing off and still be standing if it hadn't been for all of our friends helping out. A special super dooper thanks to Jennifer Gwen and Seth James who shopped, chopped, served, took coats, played host and hostess, and helped clean up. They were such a blessing (and I'm not sure they knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for the shin-dig!). We are incredibly thankful for their presence and participation!

We've added a few photos to share of all the food, friends and fun we had. We're glad to have shared a great time with all who were here and look forward to next year - hoping those who couldn't make it this year will be able to join us next time!

To dipping foods (and other things)! Cheers! :)

Lost & Found

We've now been married for 6 months and 4 days, and we're still hanging onto a few things that were left at the wedding and managed to make their way into our home. In an effort to minimize clutter AND to return lost items to their owners, we're posting some pictures of the items that are hanging around our house.

• Several serving utensils - any that are not claimed will be taken to James Street Mennonite Church's kitchen - but maybe that's where they came from in the first place?!? There's also a pair of large scissors that are missing their owner in a terrible way!
• A glass serving platter... has a hint of gold trim around the edges.
• A silver chafing dish insert (where's the rest of the chafing dish... who knows? but I'm sure someone's going to be upset when they try to use their chafing dish without the actual dish!).
• Also, my mom has lost a table cloth that was in the appetizer area around the pool - it's pink and burgundy colored... and she's sad to have it missing.

Any claims on these things, please let us know! We'd be very happy to return the items to their rightful owners :).

The Best Chinese Tradition

So I said I'd blog about my experience with my back rub in Chinatown when I was visiting my friend in NYC a couple of weeks ago... so here goes!

My friend had to attend a lecture over the lunch hour, which was located near Chinatown, so I meandered over to the streets full of markets with fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, spices, bright red colors, seafood stands, tea shops and much, much more. There were many small hole-in-the-wall stores that offered massage, reflexology, herbal medicine, accupuncture, etc. I wandered and wandered til I found the place that my friend had told me about that offered good "back rubs."

I walked down the steps, through what seemed like a Bilco door, to the basement where this shop (The Best Chinese Tradition) was located. Inside was a man and three woman, none of whom asked me what I was looking for or how they could help me. One of the women simply said "come," so I obediently followed her... into a very large, dark room with the lights dimmed and soft music playing. It was full of massage tables - rows of them! And there were other customers on the massage tables getting their back rubs. I was escorted to a table in the back corner, where I was shown a hook for my coat and my purse. I didn't know if I was supposed to undress or not, so I asked (my previous massage experiences have not been quite so modest, or public!). The woman looked terrified that I would ask such a thing and said "No! Lay down here." She showed me a sign that gave options for the number of minutes of massage, and I chose 31! Not 30, but 31! She set a timer and I got on the table as she had requested. She put a towel over me and went to town, giving me the best Chinese tradition, a back rub. At first it was hard not to be distracted by the others in the room with their sighs, oohs and ahs, but I got over that and thoroughly enjoyed my public, clothed, Chinese backrub.

The experience cost me just 20 bucks, which I'd definitely pay again. I even got a gift certificate for my friend, so she, too, could experience the "Qi Gong for Both Men and Women!"

I wonder why we don't have the Best Chinese Tradition in Lancaster... or maybe we do, and I have yet to discover it!

Snow (or fire?) on the trees

Today we had our second snow storm of the season - not bad, since we're half way thru January! I had a call to respond to at the hospital, and when I got home we tackled the shoveling. It had started to rain, but I thought the brilliant, white snow on the dogwood trees in front of our house looked so pretty with the white lights left over from holiday decorating... I don't like to take down decorations 'til after my birthday :)... so I wanted to take a picture of the lights and the house, but I'm learning that nighttime pictures, especially in the rain, are tough without a tripod. You can see a sampling of my pictures - one looks like there are flames coming out of our trees and one looks like blurry white lights. Nonetheless, it's very pretty and gives me a reason to appreciate snow, even when I grumble as it falls to the ground. I'd never survive in Alaska! and to think... I'm Norwegian!??

25 Hours in New York

I made a trip to NYC this past week - not for it's glamour or to sightsee, but rather to spend some time with a very close friend who's grieving the loss of a friend who just committed suicide. I was only in New York for about 25 hours, and despite the fact that I didn't go with any intentions of sightseeing, we certainly managed to chalk up some interesting experiences, just by the nature of being in the "Big Apple."
Shortly after I arrived, we went to visit a local falafel restaurant, where one can get a super yummy falafel sandwich for just $2.50. This place has a signature hot sauce which is one of their 'claims-to-fame,' which we accidentally used a little too generously. Ooops! Heartburn...
My friend lives in a communal Quaker home in Manhattan, and I met some interesting housemates of hers. They are teachers, dancers, potters, business folk, models, international exchange students learning English, writers for Japanese newspapers and much, much more. They live together, sharing chores and housework. Thursday night is my friend's night to clean up after dinner, so after a delicious organic, gourmet meal in the house's dining room, we went to work on washing and sterilizing all the plates and utensils and cleaning up the kitchen. I have a whole new appreciation for industrial sized sinks and water sprayers - and so do my clothes that ended up wet!
In times of such terrible sadness and lack of understanding about life, there wasn't much I could say to my friend that would ease her pain or help her to understand why someone would take their own life. Mostly I was just there to love her and be with her, listen to her recount the stories of her friend's life, cry, laugh, or just be silent. Life seems so fragile... And so many people are broken, yet we aren't even aware of the pain and suffering they're experiencing inside.
Our time together was spent walking the streets of NYC, hopping on the subway, walking past homeless people who were asking for money (and my friend always gave them the loose change she had in her change purse), stopping by coffee shops, or looking at old photos of her friend who just died. I took some snapshots of some of the images of New York that I experienced in my 25 hours there, which you can see above. I'll have to share my experience with "The Best Back Rub" in Chinatown in another entry... coming soon!
My prayer for my friend is that she would feel God's love and PEACE surround her in these difficult times, that she would be able to REST in the assurance that God is GOOD and MERCIFUL. May she know how to process her thoughts and her grief, and may she know how to interact with other friends and family members who are suffering as well.
Romans 8:35-39: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

One year ago!

It's amazing to consider what's occurred in the past year. Last night, Tim & I celebrated the one year anniversary of our engagement. At times, it seems like just yesterday, but it sometimes feels like we've been married for years, especially when we realize all that we've experienced in our brief period as husband and wife.
In the spirit of tradition, we ventured down to first Friday last night. It was cold outside, but as long as we kept moving, we were fine. We went into a few new galleries that we had never visited, and as creatures of habit, we also went to some of our old standbys, particularly Gallery 2, which is where we got engaged. It was quite different a year ago - the weather was warm and muggy, and I had disappeared outside to get some fresh air, while Tim was trying to propose to me inside. How was I supposed to know I wasn't following along with plans?! Anyways, last night it was cold, and people bustled inside to experience the warmth.
We had a dinner reservation at Carr's, a place where neither of us had been. It came highly recommended by my friend, Stephanie, and we'd have to agree with her, now that we've had a lovely meal there. The food was unique, very flavorful, colorful, delicious, and the presentation added another level that made it top notch. We took some pictures to commemorate the event. We were feeling a bit goofy, which was good after a long week at work.
Our last stop of the evening before heading home was to Gallery 141. It's sort of like a coop with a variety of artists. I had been in the day before and spoken at length with the owner. She invited me to consider being a "featured artist" for a first Friday followed by a month with my stuff on display. Sounds like a great opportunity, but something to definitely talk about (with Tim, Heidi - my jewelry partner - and others) & pray about before making a commitment.
I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for how the Lord has radically altered my life in the past year and a half. He's given me a wonderful husband, whom I love more every day, and He's also placed many challenges in our pathes, which have grown our love for Him, our love for each other, and our recognition of our need to fully rely on Him and trust Him! I celebrate this with great JOY!

A glimpse of a few items from my Etsy

For those of you who didn't know... for the past two years, I have been making and selling jewelry to support a friend who works as a missionary in the Middle East. I've just started posting my items on Etsy. Here's a glimpse of some of my things. Feel free to pass the word along. Also, you can check out my blog for ZiZi Designs Jewelry (the pseudonym under which I make jewelry :)). There's a link for both at the side of the page -- Look left!