Oh man. Look at this paper I found a couple weeks ago.
I stumbled across it in JoAnn with my mom and flipped my lid. I desperately needed to buy it all up right then and there. But I settled for one pad (only because that's all I could afford at the moment -- not because of any actual self-restraint).
Here are a few of my fav papers:
These pics from their website actually really suck. The colors look horrible. But trust me -- this stuff is painfully adorable.
I have no idea what I'm going to do with this paper. I actually don't want to use it cause then I won't have it anymore. I have the same problem with fabric.
John gave me this perfume for Christmas. And it is amazing. It's pretty much the best thing I've ever smelled. I discovered it while my sister Beth was here visiting and we were frequenting Anthropologie daily. I fell in love with the Stella and she loved the Brigitte (and bought it). They are both incredible scents and make me so happy. And, bonus, John actually likes it, too.
Even though I own this perfume for my own, I still smell it whenever I'm at Anthro. Along with the other three scents. The funny thing is, and Beth agreed with me on this, one of them smells just like my grandma and another smells just like my mom. So four women of my family are represented in this line of fragrances. I like it.
So, I'm bored. John has rehearsal for much of the day. The only things that need doing are things I have no energy to do (not much sleep last night). The other things I want to do require spending money -- of which I have none -- or must be done baby-less, or result in ingesting unnecessary calories. I'm not left with many options here.
I suppose we'll go on a walk at some point. The weather today is my very favorite. Cool, a tiny bit of sprinkling, and completely overcast. It's pretty amazing. I guess I should go take full advantage of it before the 95-degree days start. They'll be here any minute.
I did get a bit of my container garden started. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, so we'll see what happens. I took some pics this morning just for you.
Dahlias
I'm also have snow peas, snap peas, peppers (a variety), beets, carrots, parsley, rosemary, sage, cilantro, basil, oregano, chives, dill, and thyme. I need to get some sort of watering system set up so everything doesn't up and die while we're out of town.
Anyhow, wish me luck. We'd better go walk up some hills now to escape the Nutella calling to me from the kitchen.
We actually got to go out for V. Day since my mom was here. Yay! Thanks Mom!
Our day included the following:
Yum.
Loved it.
This guy made us dinner. It was delicious and exciting. We saw him in the kitchen. Hehe.
I had butternut squash ravioli and John had spaghetti bolognese. They were both amazingly tasty. Though the ravioli was basically dessert -- quite sweet. For dessert I had chai creme brulee. Um...incredible. John's flourless chocolate cake was really good, too. I can't wait to go back.
I'm so excited to find out who wins Top Chef. Fabio is in the top 4. Only a couple episodes to go!
P.S. I love you, John. Thanks for being my Valentine. :)
My mama was here last week for a few days. We spent her time here going on walks, shopping, making healthy food, embroidery-ing and sewing. So, pretty much the best time ever.
For Christmas, my mom made all the girls one of these little "wonder wallets" . They're super cute and I use mine to keep all of my punch cards and whatnots that I don't need in my regular wallet all the time. Slim things down, you know.
William loves to empty wallets, which is not so convenient. So I figured it'd be a good idea to make him his own. I stole a bunch of empty gift cards from various stores and my mom made him one.
This project is so fast and easy. Especially if you just sit there and watch, like I did (I did sew on the Velcro at least...).
William has been putting corn and raisins up his nose all day. Luckily, most of them have come out on their own. One raisin I retrieved with tweezers. And one raisin is still up there. I'm waiting for back-up.
*Update: The raisin has been evacuated. I held his mouth closed until he breathed hard out of his nose. Haha.
Wow. So it took me TWO YEARS, but I've finally started this cross-stitch sampler I got from Angry Chicken's Mailorder #5. I had no idea it had been so long until I went looking for that post on her blog. She sold this mailorder in January 2007. I wasn't even pregnant then (barely). Weird.
I haven't done any cross-stitch for years and years (more than 2 years, obviously) and I forgot how much I like it. The counting with this particular project is a bit tedious because it's on 28 count linen over two strands...so you kind of have to do math and double things and check everything a million times (at least I do). But other than that it's so relaxing. You just sit there. Pretty fun. Yes, when sewing one is just sitting, too, but it's different cause there's a lot of getting up and down to iron, etc. Plus you have to use your foot.
Anyway, I'm excited about this little project. I'm intending for it to be framed and matted in white to hang over William's crib. But then I realized -- there are earthquakes in this land. And I don't want my baby getting bonked with framed embroidery in the middle of the night. So, I'll have to investigate my hanging options and see what's up.
Update on the hand-quilting adventure: I don't think I'm going to be doing it. I've been practicing (or, attempting to practice) on some scraps and it is hard, yo. I've researched countless websites and videos. And, knowing me, if I do start hand-quilting this, it'll never get done. I'll be too frustrated and the quilt will never again see the light of day. I gave it a valiant effort, but I think I'll leave the hand-quilting to the Amish.
1) Rainy and grey outside 2) A well-napped mommy and baby 3) Vegetable Masala burgers from Trader Joe's 4) Baked Sweet Potato Fries 5) A mug of chai 6) Pushing Daises extra features 7) Plans for some paper cutting
#1 Okay, so I got all excited about this Fontifier thing -- it makes a font of your handwriting! Morgan turned me on to it and hers looks so cute!
However, I have a freaky cursive-print combo going on and my font looks nothing like my handwriting. I'm so disappointed. I wanted a carafont so badly.
Let's compare, shall we?
Exhibit A: My actual handwriting
Exhibit B: My so-called font
Clearly, my actual handwriting is far superior. The "font" looks like a 9 year-old boy's handwriting. Oh well. Please try it yourselves and let me know how it turns out! (Christen -- your handwriting would be perfect for a font! Please oh please! And share it with me!!)
#2
This is my favorite dessert right now. Dang they're good. And only 60 calories. Woot!(Unless Trader Joe's is lying to me again...)
#3 And last, but certainly not least, look what I got! Thank goodness for the invention of DVDs so this preciousness can be preserved by me forever.
Anyone want to come over and mourn the loss of one of the few pin-pricks of light in this cruel world?
Dudes, look at this calendar John got me for 2009 from Paper Source (now open in the The Oaks mall! It's actually a huge problem for me. I could spend the entire day there. And have.)
At first glance, it just looks like a really beautiful and lovely calendar.
However, on the back of each month, you find that there are stencils for fun projects!
Each month can be cut into pillow boxes, gift tags, bookmarks, etc.
Fun, environmentally friendly and gorgeous! It's basically one of the most perfect creations ever. I really hope they do this calendar every year.
P.S. Look at February!! I can't stop looking at how the weeks/dates/days are all perfectly in sync. The month starts on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday. It's just so yummy. I wish every month had 28 days. It's so tidy and nice and organized looking. Who can I talk to about arranging that?
So it's February already. Wow. How weird. And I think we've just skipped right over winter here and are going from summer right back into summer. How disappointing. I am definitely meant to live in chillier climes.
But anyway, I'll save it for my weather blog...
Here is the doll I made for our friends' daughter who had her first birthday last week. It's another Olive doll from thisWee Wonderfuls pattern, the same one I made for William's birthday. I am just so in love with these dolls. They are so easy to make and it's so much fun choosing their outfits.
(Please excuse the bad photos.)
I hope Makayla likes her Olive doll as much as William likes his Olive and Archie dolls. He sleeps with Archie every night and loves giving him hugs. Right now Olive is chilling with Spaceboy on the little toy piano. Will gives them kisses and then plays a little tune.
Please click on the photo to see the full-size version. It's totally worth it. This kid just kills me.
This kid also just graduated out of the "bucket" into a big kid car seat. So far he loves it. Now he can see out the window and see us in the front seat. Plus, it's so super-cush. I'm a little jealous.
