Braids and Baby Cobbler

Okay, so they're not yet Anne of Green Gables worthy, but I was very happy that we could plait tiny little braids into Zöe's hair yesterday. She looks so cute and sassy when her hair is short, but it's just so darn pretty with big fat curls that I'm thinking we'll grow it longer for a bit and see how that works out. Perhaps we'll have some bigger, better braids in our future.

Yesterday I took Braids and the Boys out to pick some berries. They love searching the bushes for the perfect fruit, which are so often elusively hiding under a patch of leafy greenery. There usually unfolds all manner of contests between Them and Me, with categories ranging from Most Berries Picked to Berry With The Ugliest Bug . Since I'm a Zone Picker (as in, "yeah, yeah sure...let me just get these few here....and here....and here...") I'm oblivious to much of the contest shenanigans, so I don't win any of them. And boy did it feel a lot like Blueberries for Sal with Zöe puttering along behind me, eating the blueberries as quickly as I could put them in the basket. When she'd sneak some from The Boys they'd scold her, "Zooooooeee, take 'em from the treeeeees, not our baskeeeeeet!" Then she'd just get sneakier.

Once home, Zöe donned her Hello Kitty apron (which was mine long, long ago) and helped me make my very first cobbler with the blueberries and marionberries we picked. As a girl my mom used to play a wrestling game with her big brother, my Uncle Joe, which they called "Mountain Joe and Baby Cobbler." I always loved thinking of them playing their made-up game, and the title used to throw me into fits of giggles when I was small. And so "cobbler" has been one of my favorite words ever since. Oy, you should hear Zoe say it over and over. I swear I could listen to it all day long...So without further ado, here's our Baby Cobbler. I pretty much felt like a Mountain Joe when I was finished eating. Yum. Of course, more pictures here.

Bag-A-Rama

I made my first purse last week for our Anniversary date night. Oh my goodness...it's so much fun to make a purse! It seems so odd and not right, all inside out and hoopdey, and then you pull the whole the right side out and...presto! Like magic, it works! This is Amy Butler's Velma Bag and I used the leftover fabric from the cute skirt I made a while back. And speaking of cute skirts...I sized it down and made three more of those pretties. There's fabric for at least four others waiting in the hopper. I love that pattern!

I've been very inspired by all of the patchwork stuff I've been seeing around like this, and this, which have been inspired by this incredible book which I finally bought at Uwajaimaya on Saturday . So today I tried my hand at some quilted patchwork. My, oh my. There will be plenty more of this in my future! It's really satisfying and fun.

I Love a Parade!

After staying up rather late to make my little independent girl a little Independence Day dress, I thought I was having visions of delirium when the festively decorated wagons, bikes and scooters began making their way up our street to the schoolyard. After making some inquiries, we learned that there is an annual 4th of July kids parade which winds its way through our sweet tree-lined neighborhood. How did I miss that memo? I'm not one to miss out on the fun, even while suffering from very little sleep. So in the 15 minutes we had until the parade began we threw together our vehicles and joined the fray.

It was sweet beyond words. And while I know we don't live in Beverly Cleary's actual neighborhood, it felt like something straight out of a Ramona book. More fun photos here.

And as the sun set, that same schoolyard became a meeting place of a different kind. People came from all around hauling boxes and bags loaded with fireworks. Each one may as well have been marked with "TNT" on the side, so cartoonish was the way the roman candles, bottlerockets and mortars protruded from their containers. The neighborhood was rattled by continual explosions, the sky thick with smoke, raining showers of sparks. A little more edgy, but equally fun!


And speaking of fireworks...Happy Anniversary honey!! It's been nine incredible years of wedded wonder (14 since we first became a couple!) and the colorful explosions of sparkling beauty that I first felt when I met you, continue to fill my heart every day. I love you!

My Favorite Five Days

Yesterday marked the beginning of my very favorite five days of the year. It begins with my birthday, culminates with our anniversary and contains lovely sunshine, food, blueberry pie, fireworks, splashing, family and lots of fun throughout. Hooray for the summer! Yipee!

Oleson's Mercantile with a Fairy Shopper Twist

Last night we played a rousing rendition of Store. I've loved playing Store (and Library and School...) for as long as I can remember. And even though Nellie Oleson was the Little House girl-we-loved-to-hate, I was enamored that her family owned the Mercantile. I loved to imagine climbing up the rolling wall ladder to retrieve bolts of calico for Ma, or handling the glass apothecary jars to get herbs for Ms. Beadle, or a peppermint stick for Laura. And lets not even get started on how amazing it would be to work the till. Yipes.

Jack and Max were the Shopkeepers, Zoe was Betty Q. Shopper and I was the bad, bad baby. Thankfully there are no photos of me in the act because it was ugly. I play a pretty darn good bad, bad baby (think Nellie here, or perhaps even Veruca Salt as a toddler) and the kids just think it's hilarious, which usually gets me acting like the baddest bad, bad baby they've ever seen. For the record, however, Zöe maintained her sweet mommy composure, patting my arm and telling me that it was all going to be okay, as I wailed and flailed because I'd eaten all of my cupcakes. Then she whipped out her credit card and bought me some more. That's love.

A Proposal!

No, not for me silly. I've been a married woman for almost nine years already! But my brother, on the other hand, has popped the question and Nicole has said,"yes!" I've been in on the secret for a while now. I was very kindly asked to assist in ring selection, which was so much fun. Serious and poignant one moment, giggling and silly the next. As you can see above, I think we he did quite well. Isn't it a stunner?

The two of them are in Tokyo at the moment, where Cabel did the asking. I can't wait for them to return for some good cheer and celebratory champagne! We're all on cloud nine about the whole deal. Except the boys. They adore Nicole, but they're already fretting about seeing the two of them kiss at the wedding. "Gross," is what Max muttered. I told them that if they need to, and can do so secretly, they can close their eyes for that part. This gave them much relief. I'm going to enjoy this grossing out on girls thing for as long as it lasts. I just know it'll feel like tomorrow when girls are, strangely, not so gross anymore. I mean, look at my brother. The little rat picked the lock on my Hello Kitty Diary, read about me kissing a boy, totally grossed out, and then teased me mercilessly. (He'll tell you he actually felt guilty reading it but I don't believe him...) He's getting married? How did that happen?

Anyway, congratulations Cabel and Nicole! We love you guys!

Lil' Gamers

A very funny interview with Max and Jack can be seen here, by clicking on the link at the end of the post. They are definitely following in my brother's illustrious gaming footsteps. This photo was taken way back in December at Cabel and Nicole's apartment (or compartment, as Max calls it) and was just too fitting to not be included.

Also a quick word about freezer paper stencils: righteous! I am having the best time making these t-shirts. A great Flickr group can be found here, and a tutorial here.

I found the freezer paper in the baking section of Fred Meyer. It's made by Reynolds, and was like six bucks for 150 square feet. And I've been using the Jacquard textile Paint found at Michaels. It works great! More stenciled items are sure to follow.

Spools of Thread

After reading Blair's post a while back about her new sewing studio I was totally, completely, and wholeheartedly inspired. I was also sick and tired of dragging my sewing machine and supplies out of the cabinet and setting them up on the dining room table each and every time I wanted to sew. So I bought a little desk and rearranged things in order to fix myself a little studio nook. Here's what it looked like before. This new space is unbelieveable! And the best part ever is that it's in the same room as the computer. I can stream and podcast to my heart's content. Last week it was all about KCRW from LA, this week it's Ricky Gervias. You can see some more studio photos here. It still needs to be painted, but I was just too anxious to wait for that step. I'll have to come back to that part when I have some time. But the very, very best part of all is that until I saw Blair's photos, I didn't even know that there was such a cool thing for arranging spools of thread. It's my new favorite thing on earth.


So all of this newfound sense of place has been inspiring. I've had this kimono/pants combination idea in my brain for quite a while now, and finally had a moment to draft it and put it together. I'm super happy with the results! I made a button hole for the first time, for the tie to fit through. This isn't much to brag about since my machine has an automatic button-holer, but I've been afraid of it forever. I used bias tape for the first time as well. That stuff is great! And it was really fun to peruse the Asian fabrics of Fabric Depot, an area I had never before explored. Of course, more kimono photos here.

Happy Jack, It's Your Birthday!

How and when did my little New Year's Baby become SEVEN? I took this photo in our LA apartment, the one with the greatest light ever. Jack's always been such a happy guy. (A story for another time...this is one of the photos that landed baby Jack an agent! It was LA after all. How funny is that?)

Ever since he could, Jack would immerse himself in his involved world of imagination. It started by playing Matchbox cars with my dad when he was about one. He would just drive them around forever, making noises, imagining. Then he got into construction trucks and we'd sit forever watching the action all around our LA neighborhood. Along came trains and that one was huge. The layouts of Brio track were infinitely more complex, the couplings of his trains intensely calculated. We've done dinosaurs, Rescue Heroes, Thunderbirds, Star Wars, Astro Boy, Bionicles, and now (ack) Pokemon. But the cool thing about Jack is that no matter what he's "into" he makes it completely his own. His capacity to create with play knows no bounds. His toys are vehicles for his imagination. The entire day is an adventure for his mind. Very often we have to "call him back" to our world, only to have him slip away mere minutes later. You could put the kid in a bare room with two sticks and he's be content for a good hour, at least.

Along with that divine imagination, he's just a great guy. He's a responsible boy, a dutiful big brother, funny, loving and kind. He's built of pure muscle, can get a soccer ball past me with his eyes closed, and is the pickiest eater I have ever known, but he makes up for that by being the best snuggler on the planet. Happy Birthday, Moondoggie. You'll always be my Baby New Year.

Happy Hands

If you live in Portland, and find yourself with some spare time on Saturday (that's tomorrow...yikes!), stop by the Happy Hands Market on 33rd and Alberta. We'll be there with lots of fun handmade goods from 12-4. I'm selling apron dresses, a few skirts, and some pennant-type fabric bunting. After that I plan on having a good stiff drink and some much-needed sleep.

Sometime soon I'll be begging my brother to help me start an online shop. Something like my gal Textile Fetish. I love these crafty gatherings, but it is tough to try and crank out a bunch of things on a mom-of-three schedule. I'm sapped. And I miss blogging.


I designed this skirt for Zöe and have made a few more to add to my dress collection for Saturday. Eventually I'll size it up for the big girls too. It fits nice and a-line, just like I wanted, falls a bit below the knee and looks very cute. The other versions have a middle panel of a contrasting fabric much like these by Rebecca.

Hope to see some of you tomorrow, and for those I don't...happy weekend!

Secret Sisterhood Society

On Friday evening my house was filled with some keen skirts looking absolutely swanky, dolled up in their 1920's glad rags. The giggle water was flowing freely; we beat our gums, hit some cards, and even smoked a few ciggys. A few of us wound up quite zozzled, a few of us won some scratch playing poker, but jeepers creepers the joint was jumpin' and everything was Jake! Hot socks, it was one ducky time!

My dear friend Sarah and I threw a Secret Sisterhood Society Poker Party as a fundraiser for our Preschool Auction. Our basement served as the perfect spot for a Speakeasy. Eric was our dutiful manservant, mixing and pouring (real Singapore Slings, Cosmopolitans and Champagne Cocktails) with such finesse that no one's glass was ever empty. Sarah's brother Noah was our dealer, kindly maintaining his patience with a bunch of chatty dolls. And everyone looked fantastic in their get-ups. Sarah and I had such fun opening the little "Who-Goes-There?" door of our front door with each arrival. They'd whisper the secret password and we'd giggle each time to see such other-era faces peeking in. Our lovely friend Colleen was a time traveling visitor from the 1950's (she looked perfect in our knotty pine basement...next time we'll have to have a 50's party) with her thrifted find of a dress so excellent we insisted she wear it. The dresses were incredible, and yet my gal Sarah and I loved pushing our costumes in the other direction, inspired by the great Marlene Dietrich. Too much fun. More party photos here.

I've got it bad...

...the sewing bug, that is. Hence, the reason I haven't posted in over a week! Sorry. But it may be this way for a while. With packing, moving, unpacking and room-painting I hadn't even glanced at my sewing machine since last summer, when I was madly making these for my friend Holly's backyard Art in August gathering.

But then a few weeks ago someone asked if I was going to be making my apron-dresses again and now suddenly, bam! I'm back at it and involved in three different crafty shows all coming up in the space of two weeks. I've concocted an apron-skirt as well, and am also working on an open-sided tunic style top. In addition to that I actually sat down, took some time, faced my fears, and figured out how to make something following a real pattern. Shazam! I made some pants and a peasant top for Zöe! Thank you, Rebecca, for kindly explaining how to put the leg inside of the leg for easy crotch seam sewing on the pants. I never would have figured that one out without your explanation!

So this newfound pattern thing has opened up a whole new world of possibilities and I absolutely can't stop thinking about sewing. Can't. Stop. When I get even better I want to make some of these! I'll post more information on the shows as the days approach, and more photos of dresses and such as well. For now, you'll just find me sewing.

Happy Birthday Zöe Dott!!!

Our sweet little monkey-girl turns two today! It's hard to believe, and seems like both a long and and short amount of time simultaneously depending on my angle of thought.

It's been a long two years with a feisty, strong-willed, independent girl who is crafty (as in the wiley sense) and gets into everything. In a house much bigger than our last one, and with two older children to care for as well, there appears to be plenty of little minutes for Zöe to find troble. She pushes chairs and step stools, piles pillow and books, to get to anything she wants anywhere in the house. Nothing is out of her reach. Yesterday I had to call Poison Control (just writing that makes me shudder) because I thought she has ingested half a bottle of Triaminic Cough and Cold. In the reinactment she showed me that she poured in down the toilet, but that delicious grape flavor was on her breath so I just couldn't be sure. Turns out she was fine and I'm now convinced that the toilet was, in fact, where it was dumped. A lesson learned. Last week she poured an entire cup of water on the cat becuase she wanted to give her a bath. In the middle of the night she stretched and reached the light switch from her crib and turned on the bright, bright overhead ceiling light, never making a peep. Apparently this light was lovely to her because she then fell asleep with it blaring from above. While coloring, she became an expert in the skill of Body Art. In mere minutes arms, legs, feet, hands were covered in marker (at least it wasn't Sharpie) bold and brilliant. The boys were never like this. At all. In fact, if you can believe this, they learned to push the chair around in order to get what they want in the kitchen from her. When things are quiet is when the imp is on the loose.

And it's been a short, short two years with my baby girl. She mezmerizes me with her excitement, passion, zest for life. She's sassy, in a good way, spirited. She holds my face in her chubby baby-hands and says, so giddy she can barely contain herself, "Look mama, come see the meow outside...now!" She runs down the street (away from me as fast as she can...) with her head thrown back, hair blowing in the wind, laughing hard. She splases in puddles until they no longer contain water. She cleans, organizes things, uses her little broom to help me in the kitchen, pretends to feed everyone and brush their hair (the boys love that one). She charms people everywhere we go with her happy smile and bouncing blond curly hair. She charms us all.

In all ways, now that I think of it, these years have flown by. The Imp and the Charmer move together in a delicate dance to make Zöe our girl. She wouldn't be Zöe any other way. Happy Birthday little Dott, we love you!!!

Ta-Da!!!

After what feels like months (wait, it was months...) of working on our house, the exterior is finally complete! You can see the "before" photo here. The roof was finished in November and the painters just finished on Monday. It feels so good to have the old place spruced up. Reminds me of the scene from Wizard of Oz where everyone gets new polish, stuffing and a pretty red bow.

The Weather-Gods smiled on us with several nice days in a row for the painters to get things wrapped up. They must have sensed my impending mental break down, because they really cranked it out. Two weeks of having all of the windows in the house covered with paper and painted over is enough to drive anyone to the funny farm. As my friend Liesl put it, " You begin to feel like one of those scary cases from CSI..."

And then there was the issue of the wrong body color which covered about two-thirds of the house for a few days. That was the stressful incident that I referred to in my last post. What you now see as a nice leafy-green, was instead a pukey yellow-ochre-gold. I was so worried that somehow I had given them the wrong color, but in fact the paint store messed up the mixing. And good old Sherwin-Williams made it all better. It really is amazing, though. The two colors didn't look that different side by side on the wall, but when magnified the difference on the house was phenomenal.

So now it's done! And I am very happy. After many, many years of brown-on-brown this good old house has earned it's time to "pop" with vibrant color and life. I know that my grandmother (masterful color-lover that she was) is looking in on us and loving this new incarnation.

You can see more photos here.

Photobooth Friday #7: Girlfriends

Zöe and I made a trip to the mall today (Lloyd Center) to buy birthday goodies for my dad who turns 60 tomorrow!!! My parents have gotten us all (our family of five, my parents, and Cabel and Nicole) rooms at the new Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria for tomorrow night. The hotel looks beautiful and the kids are completely wound up with excitement, so it should be fun! At any rate, a stop by the photobooth was necessary today. It's been a hectic, stressful week (I'll give you details next week...) and some photobooth fun was just the trick to celebrate a beautiful, sunny Springtime Friday. Have a great weekend, all!

Jenny Love

Several weeks ago I was reading Angry Chicken, when I stumbled upon this post of Amy's. The rush of memories that struck me when I saw her Mandy photos nearly knocked me off my chair. I hadn't thought about my Jenny doll for years, and the instant aching I had for her was almost painful. As a kid I wasn't really into dolls. I was strongly discouraged from acquiring Barbies (and truth be told that was okay with me), and baby dolls didn't hold my interest at all. But when Fisher Price came out with their "My Friend" line in 1979 it was a perfect fit. In my mind the girls were just like me, and it was so much fun to dress them in their cute, cute outfits. I don't know too much about the American Girl Dolls, but I think they appeal to much the same sensibility. Not babies, not Barbies, just regular girls.

Jenny was given to me for Christmas, I think I was 10. I wanted her for what felt like forever and was completely wound up with the possibility of actually getting her. I remember my mom asking me if I was sure I wanted Jenny, not Mandy, as my curly blond hair and green eyes were more Mandy-ish. But Jenny was the one for me. I loved the way she looked with her straight dark hair and big brown eyes. We came to my grandparents' house for Christmas Eve, as was the tradition every year, for dinner and exchanging gifts from family. My grandmother always lined up our presents (for me, my brother, and our cousins Jubal and Tristan) on the built in knotty pine bench in the basement party room. I remember racing downstairs and inspecting my packages for one that might be Jenny. It was torture to wait through the entire evening to finally open our gifts, but my patience was duly rewarded. I was over-the-moon when I opened my Jenny with extra outfits to boot! I remember spending a long time dressing her, switching the pieces around, and showing my grandmother all the combinations. I've loved her ever since.

So when I saw Amy's post I immediately called my mom to ask where she might be. My parents have been dutifully cleaning things out of the basement lately and driving them out to Catlin, where I attended Kindergarten through High School, to donate to the Catlin Gabel Rummage Sale (Go Blue Team!). I was certain she was gone. And when my mom's knowledge of her whereabouts was uncertain, it was like the kiss of death. I didn't ask again. I didn't want my parents to feel bad. They are so great about saving the important things. But, lo and behold, she was found! Not a shoe missing; tights, hats, dresses, shirts, every piece just as it should be. I almost cried, and left Eric to fend for himself with a house full of kids (ours and others) while I ran Operation Bring Jenny Home. The extraction and ensuing rescue were a resounding success! Many thanks to Amy for making it all happen in the first place.

A Serious Addiction...

to Queen Bee Creations. Someone who will remain unnamed asked, "How many handbags does a girl need?" The answer: many, many of these beautiful bags would be fine, please! Which is why, when I found myself with some girlfriends at the very crazy Queen Bee "seconds and one-of-a-kinds sale" on Sunday, I walked away with two excellent, ever-so-slightly imperfect bags for the price of one! Hip Hip Hooray! Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee has something really fantastic going on here. Each of her new designs gets better and better. And now, a line of baby gear! How many handbags can a girl buy?

Photobooth Friday #6: Us

Oh, how I love this man. It's pretty hard to believe that it was fourteen years ago that we took these photos. So much life we've lived since then!

It was my Senior year at Scripps College, in Claremont, California. I'd just returned from my study-abroad in York, England and getting back to London was just about all that was on my mind. I was serving coffee in The Motley (our campus fueling spot) when he ambled in. We chatted over the counter about music, The Gypsy Kings, and I was smitten. I remember stocking the coolers with soda and lemonade, all the while watching the reflection in the glass of him, sitting outside laughing with his friends. They were Grad Students. I loved his face, his glasses, such a smile, an easygoing manner, his laugh. We met again at an art party where he made me laugh and laugh. And when the evening was ending and it was Southern California cold, he offered me his shirt to keep me warm. I had to laugh again, and happily accept his asking permission for a kiss with such sweet Midwestern manners. We've been together ever since. I knew then that I wanted to marry him. I knew then that he'd be a fantastic dad. And he surpasses my expectations as a husband and a father with each and every day. I've loved him from that very first moment.

This photo was taken in the Photobooth on Balboa Island. It was the only place outside of Claremont that I knew how to get to, and even then I recall getting very, very lost. The 10 freeway, to the 210, freeway , to the 5 freeway? We got a lot better about getting around in the 10 years we spent in Los Angeles after we were finished with school. But nonetheless I think this may have been our first outside-of-Claremont date. Dinner at BJ's Pizza, a walk on the pier, photos in the booth, video games, and a ride on the Ferris Wheel. I was giddy with happiness, excited for our future, both arms around his waist as we tried to walk along. And I still am. Although now my arms have so many sweet little hands to hold, and I have to smile remembering our awkward hugging hobble of being just two. Only in my most glittery imagination could I envison all that our love would create, shining in that one brief flash-bulb moment when we stepped into the booth for our photo.

Pure Zöe

This is Zöe. Absolutely. Completely. In her element. Loving life. She's a game of chase with screams which have no end. She's a ride down the hill going way too fast. Careening out-of-control yet laughing from her belly all the while. Pure. Fun. Crazy. Love.

Photobooth Friday #5: Voyage into the Future.

Max, Zöe and I went on a wild goose chase yesterday looking for a photobooth. We tried to follow this lead, but ran into a dead end. There the photobooth sat, alone and broken, in an "employees only" section of the store. So sad. It would have been sweet if it had worked out, as it's super close to our house. But no such luck. An employee told me that it's been broken for months, the repair company is in Texas, and it doesn't matter anyway because due to the chemicals in the film development process these types of old school photobooths are illegal in Oregon. What? Is that true? I must investigate...

So we headed to the mall to try one of the new digital booths. I'm still not sure how I feel about the new ones. I tend to be very resistant to change and everything about it was just so different. Rather than spinning the cool blue stool to get the perfect height for the frame, there are buttons for adjusting the view of the camera and the bench is fixed. There is a monitor where you can see yourselves, but the lens is below that. Max was able to understand that he needed to look into the lens instead of at the monitor, but Zöe was too little to grasp that concept. She had a blast looking and laughing at the three of us on TV. That's okay, though. I was impressed that she actually sat there and made the appropriate silly faces at the appropriate times!

So with more practice (Jack was very unhappy that he missed out) and fine-tuning I think that this new one will work out fine, especially if it's my only choice. Yet, I can't help but feel nostalgic for the good old photobooth days. Something about the crazy noises that went on inside the machine while it was developing always made my imagination race. I would secretly imagine an army of little dwarves in there, feverishly etching our images onto the paper in a flurry of dwarfish activity. At least that was always worth a giggle.

More photobooth giggles here.