Early and Late

When I was little, I think I would have loved sporting one of these shirts. Maybe nobody would get it if I wore a "31" shirt this year...

Anyhow, Makaio (my nephew) got a "3" shirt just in time for his birthday (phew!). Poor Maile's birthday was in June and she's just now getting her "1" (bad auntie!). To make sure this doesn't happen, Malia's getting her "7" shirt almost a month in advance (redemption).

All three were made with the same green polka-dot fabric (in this case, matchy-matchy is acceptable). I honestly think this might be the end of this fabric...no, I'm serious this time...

Back in Business

About 100 years ago, I bought this frame for $1 at a garage sale. I instantly turned it into a framed chalkboard, and used it... But in the last 3 or 4 years, it's mostly been sitting downstairs gathering dust.

Today, she's back in business with a new look and purpose - as a pin-board! I went down to Peapod and got me some of that new Anna Maria Horner fabric. Against my first instinct, I bought this fabric, because it matched my duvet and my rug...


But once I hung it, I just couldn't get this fabric out of my head... too matchy-matchy and maybe a bit modern for me. So the girl with the bee in her bonnet marched right back down to the store and bought this instead:


Much better, and much more "me."

Molto Focaccia!

I think I just said "very focaccia."

Well, it was very...easy, delicious, and almost gone now. And this time, I purchased the rosemary (but the fresh stolen rosemary was much more scrumptious, I have to say).

Family Napkins

My sister commissioned (I'm going to use this word as much as possible) me to make her family some reusable cloth napkins, 'cause we're green and stuff. I thought about just buying her some napkins, but that's no fun - and I think she wanted them personalized anyhow (who wants to risk mixing up your napkin with the 3 year-old's?).

I came up with a compromise:
Purchased napkins with home-sewn detailing (and stash-busting!)

(*sneeze* that's stayed-home-sick-from-work me in the spoon reflection - hi! *cough*)

I bought the napkins at Crate & Barrel Outlet for $.97, and the fabric...well, you've seen this before (lots of times). I think they will go nicely with her Tuscan-style home.

Voila!

Even More Babies

See? I'm still not over these.

The first one is a "commission" piece (how professional do I feel saying that??). And I think this might be my favorite set so far. The road trip fabric is way cool.



This one is for one of our little guys at work. He looks like a little old man (even so say his parents), so I feel it fitting to give him a necktie onesie. I think the necktie onesie may become a permanent part of my repertoire.


It's too cute - I have to look away now...

Mas Bebes

Two of my friends from work are having babies. One, a boy, and the other...well, we're waiting to find out the "flavor."

I know these are way over-done (by me), but I am still so in love with them. I'll switch it up soon, just let me get over these first.

(awesome quality photos, right?)

One Man's Trash...

I can't believe I haven't shown you my "new" lamp!!


Let me start by telling you that I found this little gem in someone's curbside discards. Yes, I dumpster dove for this baby - not proud of it. But it was right on my way home, and I was only going to look, and...but...and... I love it! Of course, I had to remove the Christmas bow, duct tape, and playboy sticker to unveil it's awesomeness (p.s. spell check is calling this a real word).

Can you even stand it??

Bath Bomb Robbery

While in Seattle, we stopped into this cutest little bath shop, Bliss Soaps. I loved their bath bombs, and I loved how you could buy petit bombs. They also had doughnut and cake and cupcake shaped bombs. I had to exhibit serious restraint (remember the size of the suitcase I took?) - especially since I don't even have a bathtub!

It happened to be buy-one-get-one-free bath bomb day, so I stocked up on 10 of them. And then the owner said I couldn't have a lopsided crate, so he threw in 2 more. In the end, I got 12 bath bombs for less than $10. I felt like I robbed the guy, but he assured me I did not.

If you're in Seattle, go to Bliss Soaps in Capitol Hill. You will not be sorry.

House of Bread

I tried the Olive Oil dough from the Bread Book and made some focaccia:

Before:

After:

Neighbor, if you are reading this, yes, that is the rosemary I stole from your garden. Thank you very much, it was delicious and well-appreciated (if that's any consolation).

Productive Half-Day

What did I do while not attending the party? There was a little stash-blasting going on.

First, I made a "much needed" tote bag (can you imagine?) for myself, for once. I bought this fabric 100 years ago for next to nothing - I think it's the same fabric that Lucky Jeans makes their pockets out of. I had no intentions of making one of these today... it just happened.

"S" for Auntie Fafa

I also made some door snakes (which I had planned on making, I just found the clover fabric first). D thought they should have googly eyes and a tongue... and so I changed the name to draft-dodger. This house used to have carpet, so all the doors had to be cut to fit. Now with the carpets removed, we have big-ol' spaces under the doors.


I used the Lotta Jansdotter Simple Sewing pattern, but let me make a couple recommendations... If you have the same used-to-be-carpet-under-the-door problem, you need to make the snakes "taller" than the 4 inches recommended in the pattern. I made mine 5 inches (x 36 inches), and they still are too short (as in, they fit inside the crack, but still allow a little bit of draft along the top). Also, you don't need a 5 lb bag of beans for one snake. I used 4.25 lbs of beans in 3 snakes! Maybe rice is different...

And then, well, I had all these left over beans, so there's a nice little pot of chorizo pinto beans a-simmerin'. Dinner...

Happy Birthday Karen

Sidebar: Some of you are worrying about me because my blogging has been sparse. I promise, I'm OK...just a little unproductive these days and nothing much to show, but getting back in the groove. Sorry to worry you - I have some things in store for you this week.

So this past week was my good friend Karen's birthday. She also just bought a house with her husband (YAY!!). They had a housewarming/birthday party today, but I am home blogging instead of attending the festivities because I thought it was yesterday. D & I enthusiastically showed up with my little tiny gift on the wrong day. Uh, woops! They are such gracious hostesses, and so we got to have a nice chat and personal tour of the new digs - lucky us!

So, back to the little tiny gift... instructions on the invite said, "Absolutely no gifts whatsoever." So, I brought a "present" instead. Besides, I had bought this cutest little fabric FOR her when I was in Bainbridge Island. I simply couldn't NOT give it to her.



Karen can wear this while riding her little black moped....or not. I hope you had a lovely birthday and a fabulous party. Thanks for having us, and congratulations again. We are in love with your new place.

Yummy Plummy Jam

I love helping people offload their excess fruit. Plum jam from my favorite Amy Butler Jam cookbook.

I wish I could help more people...

For Karen and Mary

Mary (and Molly, Phoebe, Jack, Emily, & Hannah), this is for you. I saw this in the Olympic Sculpture Garden and had to take the photo. See, Mary is my "other mother" and is/was my mentor when I thought I wanted to teach Montessori. While I decided to go into nursing instead, I still adore her and basically want to be her. WWMD?


Karen (and Monica), this is for you. Karen, I had a Mocha Generra (hello! delicious!) in your honor and thought about the good ol' days with Dr. Barnes.

Monica, I miss it too...

No matter where you are in the world/country, you just can't get away from your friends...and how sweet that is.

A Bon Voyage Was Had

Guess where we went?


No, this does not explain my 1 month lapse in blogging, but let it mark my return...hopefully. D and I just got back from Seattle for a little impromptu vacation. We had a lovely time with perfect (borderline too hot, if you can believe that!) weather. I think might have liked it a little.

We mostly just walked around and visited obligatory tourist destinations. Oh, and I happened upon a (kick ass) quilt show - totally unplanned, I swear! We LOVE the space needle and took about 5,000,000,000 photos of it (I only posted 3...you're welcome). My favorite was our little morning trip to Bainbridge Island. You could make me live there, and I would be OK with it.

From the sculpture garden:

By night:

Sidenote - we agreed to carry on our luggage. It should be noted one of us was a lighter packer than the other. Can you guess which suitcase is whose?

It's Actually Happening

This is the quilt I promised D for Christmas...last year. Maybe I'll finish it by this Christmas.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Denyse Schmidt Ice Pops quilt comin' from this corner of the world...

Pickle Season

It's that time again.

Er, was that time... The pickles are gone - consumed by one gaggle of PICU nurses in minutes.

I'll have to make more.

Basket o' Heaven

For all you bacon-lovers out there, hold onto your hats.

At the Alembic bar on Haight Street, we stopped for a Dark n' Stormy and we were pleasantly surprised to find Bacon Cracker Jacks on the menu! We, of course, had to try it.

It was ridiculicious & I call it....Dinner.

And in true Cracker Jack style, there was a prize hidden inside...a little tiny plastic poisonous frog. How sweet.

Olallieberry Picking

Nearby to Costanoa were several U-Pick berry farms. Lucky for us, olallieberries are in season! I called it farmer fantasy camp, and I just loved it!

We probably (accidentally, I swear!) ate 2 berries for every 1 we put in our basket, but I made sure they wouldn't weigh us before and after. Thank goodness.

D got into it too.

We only paid $3 for 2 full pints of berries! It's almost criminal, really.


And lookie what we made with the fruits of our labor: Olallieberry cobbler - ooooh, so good!

S'Mores 101

How to make the perfect s'more a la Sara:

1. Get your Honey Maid graham cracker and Hershey's chocolate squares ready (these brands are specific...you can try others, but I find that these produce the most nostalgic deliciousness. Nothing compares.)

2. Roast your marshmallow over the red embers (avoid homemade/posh marshmallows - awesome for you if you make them, but not good for s'mores. Use Jet-puff or similar brands.), turning until it poofs up and starts blistering brown. Check for doneness by wiggling the marshmallow on the skewer back and forth a little to make sure the whole thing moves as one gooey mess. If there's a hard little lump that doesn't move with your 'mallow, back to the embers it goes.



Now, at this point, you can move to the cracker, but if you're me, you'll stick it in the flame one last time for a nice little scorch. I like mine charred a little bit. This probably comes from years of failed browning, so it's just become an acquired taste for me. Plus, it's much easier to like a burned marshmallow, because there's a better chance of burning it than achieving that perfect golden color.

3. Now move your marshmallow (blow it out first, if ablaze) to the graham cracker + chocolate side, use the non-chocolated graham cracker to help secure your marshmallow while you remove the skewer.


4. Squeeze the sandwich a little so it oozes out the sides, lick it off, and go to town. I love how the chocolate stays a little bit hard.

I probably had about 6 s'mores in 2 nights - but when you get them once a year, and this is in your top 5 favorite foods of all time, you just gotta go for it. I was, indeed, a happy camper.

Posh Camping

I think the official term is "glamping," and we did it this week. We went to Costanoa for a little R&R after a 7-day work stretch (for me) and a year-long work stretch for D, who just finished chief residency. Besides being a frigid icy tundra (slight exaggeration) on the California coast, per the usual in the summer, it was quite an awesome experience.

Each tent cabin is outfitted with a queen-sized bed, heated mattress pad, down bedding, towels, reading lights. If this is roughing it too much for you, there are also wooden cabins or a lodge you can stay in. And don't worry about bringing food, because there's a lodge you can dine in. There is hiking, biking, kayaking, and yoga offered at the site too.



The "comfort stations" (aka, bathrooms) have heated concrete floors, hot (free) showers inside and outside, a sauna, and a fire place with adirondack chairs. The groundspeople set up all the logs and the matches so all you have to do is strike a match and light the fire. In 5 minutes, you're stuffing s'mores in your face.

Yes (Jenelle), I know this is not real camping.

Next time, I want to stay in one of these 2 cabins - they were in Sunset Magazine. And when it's as cold as it was, you need all the greenhouse effect in that tent you can get!

Recordable Television, I Love You

I'm not an "animal person," but I can appreciate the feeling of being welcomed home every day, unconditionally....because I feel this way about my DVR. And you know how sometimes kitties leave you "treats" (read: dead mice and birds) on your porch? Well, it's kind of like that when you have a show waiting for you when you get home...except better in so many ways.

I used to DVR Oprah, but this just got too out of hand...backed up shows 'til Kingdom Come. I had to cut that habit, though she was definitely my most loyal of all DVRs.

On my DVR menu (this is where you see that I am both a child and an old lady in one - diverse, I call it):

The Office
Idol
So You Think You Can Dance
A couple of sewing/quilting shows
John and Kate + 8 (Team Hannah!)
Hell's Kitchen

I think my list covers my need for good humor, a little voyeurism, education, and strict entertainment. Plus, I like to think of it as Pop Culture homework - and I've always been a great student...

Sorry Ladies, He's Taken...

After a 6 hour bus ride from San Luis, look what I come home to...

A lattice-top cherry pie (yes, he made this - crust included - from scratch):



And a panzanella salad:



I was too excited to photograph the grilled flank steak, but trust me, it was delicious. I'm so lucky!

Satisfaction

Is there nothing more satisfying than plucking produce right out of the back yard? (I love how I say "satisfying" as if I did any of the work besides the actual plucking - Mon, it's all you, I realize this.) I'm staying with my sister and she grew these beauties. I'm just so impressed!!

Can't wait for tomato season!

(never mind that I'm in my pajamas...I just woke up from a nap. Lif is hard.)

Scrappy

Remember this quilt kit I bought last year in Sisters (last year, at band camp...)? I seriously only bought 2 kits, but they are giving me an entire YEAR of projects. (I'm going again in July - Danger!!)

Well anyhow, I was browsing Flickr and found a few awesome brick path-ish quilts. And while I wanted to make one with cool, fun, new fabrics, I just couldn't do it. Not with an entire BIN of perfectly good, coordinating fabrics lying around. So, I did a little stash-n-burn.

This is top is completely made of leftover fabrics from that kit - enough for a whole entire quilt (crib-sized)!! I made a modified version of the brick-path to maximize my scraps. I'm not sure why there was so much excess in the kit...maybe I was supposed to make something else with the kit and I missed it, or maybe the quilt was supposed to be bigger, I don't know.

Anyhow, I feel good about utilizing some of my stash. Now I can just go out and buy MORE! (that is so not green, forget I said that) I think this line of prints has had its season with me.

It's probably cheating to post about this once before and once after it's completed, but that's how I roll. See you in a couple days!

City Chic Baby Blankie

The blankie is done & I love it!

Clearly, I'm a novice, so I don't know if "real" quilters wash their quilts before giving them as gifts (yes? no? anyone?) ...but I think it's the right thing to do, considering how many places a quilt is schlepped and laid out on its way to completion (future recipient, I'm talking places like the living room floor, don't be grossed out!)- especially if for a baby. Plus, I think it looks so much more awesome and lovable once its washed and wrinkly.

Just try to get me to resist polka dots - I dare you!

And I found this awesomely soft (and green!) bamboo-cotton blend print for the backing at PeaPod. I have never been so decisive.

I think I need one of these for myself.