kidding around

Usually when February hits, I get an urge to sew. I have dismissed sewing garments for myself and Ellie is now getting to be too old and cool for her mother’s fashions (boo). SO- Penny is my last victim and I believe there is still about 5 more years of sewing ahead of me.

Anyway, I decided to kick off my rampage with this adorable “Valentines inspired” skirt. I made it so we can still have months of usage, but looks festive for the upcoming holiday. The pattern? This one (you can locate the pdf file on the sidebar). I love it. Another thing I love…I used fabric I had and even used ribbon that came on a Christmas gift this year.

The skirt would EASILY take someone an hour or so, but there have been interruptions this week with sickness (3 out of 5 down) and other life events. Hopefully I can crank out a few more before Spring and be prepared!

Every year I love the challenge of coming up with creative Valentines. Sometimes it’s just cut out hearts with large amounts of glitter poured upon them. Other years we make “shrinky dink” necklaces or paper airlplanes made from maps. I know this year Ellie will probably forgo the school valentines (I don’t think middle schoolers can handle it?!) and Simon will be up for anything…maybe a comic he creates.

But my key victim is Penelope Tess. She is willing to take my ideas/control and make it her own! I figure I have about 6 solid years still of Valentine making and I’m up for the challenge to come up with something every year!

Her problem? The concentration to create 30+ valentines. We have time! I can help! Hurrah for a crafter in the making!!

Before the holidays even began, a friend asked if I could make her a birthday themed “table dot”. I was flattered she wanted one and was willing to wait after the Christmas season. It was perfect to jump into a craft project- I think this is my favorite one so far. I aimed to keep it simple and concentrate on using wool felt and use “heat and bond” with fabric I had from my stash.

Unfortunately I didn’t take a lot of time to set up shots of the completed dot. The weather is crappy and we haven’t seen sun in days, so the prospect of a nice shoot is “zero”. But I managed to take sections and photographed them so I can remember for next time…I think I may make a few to sell at my sister’s specialty shop and maybe on Etsy. What do you think?

Last week was my birthday. It’s always weird having a birthday 3 weeks after Christmas (although, as a teenager I loved the money I would get and then hit all the sales!). People get out of the habit of celebrating a birthday after coming off the craziness of the holidays…I get it. Also, the reality of life hits most of us and the winter “blahs” are in full force.

A challenge we had last week was that our refrigerator went out (Happy Bday to me!). At first, I was slightly excited because I have been yearning for a bigger fridge…what were we thinking 7 years ago? Oh yeah, one extra kid later and growing kids…you can’t really imagine what that means in so many ways.

ANYWAY, we shopped around and were stunned with how expensive they are and did not want to go in debt. With school tuition for our 3 kids still an issue we are stretched to say the least. Nathan checked out Craigslist- found a perfectly suitable and larger fridge and we paid cash…I admit, I moped. But, I’m not one to mope for long given that I am a pretty fortunate person to live where I do and have a healthy family…(Happy Birthday to me!). So, one of the lessons of “growing up” and “growing wiser” was to cancel our hotel reservations in Chicago so we could feel at peace with not going into further debt. So this post is to show that you can still have fun and get a new/used refrigerator at the same time!

We took the express train into the city and listened to one of my favorite programs on NPR. It was fun sitting side by side enjoying a great story sans kids. This story was what we thoroughly enjoyed and found relatively familiar!

We basically spent the day prioritizing food and art. Once we arrived, we took a cab to XOCO (Rick Bayless’ new place). We arrived just as they were closing for breakfast and only were serving coffee, cocoa and pastries. Hardly a problem. We sat in the cafe and enjoyed churros, coffee, and I had the Aztec Cocoa. We learned that they roast and process the cacao beans on site which gave the cocoa an extremely fruity and wonderful taste! I was in heaven, really.

Nathan was a good diabetic and ordered a lovely salad. I was the birthday girl and ordered whatever I wanted without a care…

Check out this torta… Chicken, pepper jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, and cilantro crema.

I was sad once lunch was over. We hustled to Michigan Ave. and paid homage to the Apple store and dreamt of an iPhone and Nano. We checked out The Gap and were blown away with the sales. I bought 2 skirts (I’m good, but not that good) for about $6 a piece…man alive! Nathan and I both agreed we are terrible shoppers and bore easily.

It was time to head on over to the Art Institute and visit the Modern Wing. We couldn’t resist an obligatory “couple shot” with the river behind. And, what are we looking at? A nice passerby asking if we want her to take the photo. We let her, but like this shot best! Can you believe we have known each other over half our life? We were 18 and now- ahem.

The Modern Wing is GORGEOUS. So different from the older part of the Art Institute and basically all windows. They have a great area of studios for families and it’s free- you don’t even have to pay admission to create art. I love that and it’s totally accessible for all.

We decided to eat early and good thing. The place we went to was on the previous night’s news and quickly filled up once we were seated. The food was so GOOD and we will go back for sure (shaved brussel sprouts with pecorino, salted/roasted beats with goat cheese and pistachios, milk braised pork shoulder, chicken kebobs with tzatziki and a great bottle of wine…Happy Bday to me).

After dinner, we dashed to a cab and we were off to the train station making an earlier train. It was lovely to arrive home with no kids to have to tuck in (sure, we missed them) and watch a movie and be totally “Nathan and Carol” and not “Poppy and Mama”.

Thanks for reading a pretty long winded account of my birthday. Should I mention that on my actual birthday my sister had a nice lunch for me at work (I share a bday with another cook, and do you know how many other people are born on the 15th? A LOT) and my mom and sister hosted a wonderful dinner…we grilled burgers in the dead of winter. LOVED IT.

So- yep, I had a nice time and we saved some money…imagine!

It was my birthday last week and check out what I received in the mail from my sister-in-law in Olympia, WA.

This is the kind of fabric you can not just find anywhere! Thank you Heather! How did you know I was looking for some fun curtains for the dining room…this is so up my alley.

Okay, let’s get through 2009! So, after Halloween, time flew by so fast that I’m still trying to catch my breath. Obviously most of my time was occupied with work- I was really proud with how my Thanksgiving pies turned out for orders. There was Bourbon pecan as well, my personal favorite. I love pie and could eat it all of the time if I was put up to the challenge!

During the holidays, you learn to adjust your expectations and have to forgo traditions. Usually, we cut down our own tree, but with schedules and limited day light, Nathan and the kids chose this beautiful tree at our local Loews. It actually was the longest lasting tree we have ever had and the cheapest- WOW. By the time we got it in our house, it didn’t matter that we went to a store and strung it to our van. It was perfect and I was sad to see it on the curb January 2!

Besides being a crazy baker at work, I used my time off to be a crazy baker at home. I love it and consider myself so fortunate to get paid for what I love to do at home! I made these pinwheels and they turned out so cute. I did all kinds of crazy color combinations. Plus they tasted great!

For the third year in a row, I made an ornament for friends and family. I make about 25 and love this tradition I started and no matter what, I will not forgo this one. Hopefully the recipients are equally as happy and won’t let me stop.

The whole process was easy:
1. Ask your husband to use his photo shop skills.

2. Give him description of what you want.

3. Reject a few of his samples.

4. Agree on the 5th sample.

5. Print it out onto iron-on paper.

5. Sew, stuff, sew some more, and “glitterize”.

Did I mention my sister and I cranked out lots of cookies this season? A LOT. I took these shots (there are more) and plan to make ornaments similar to our family ornament we gave out this year. I think they would be well received at her shop- who doesn’t like a reminder of their favorite cookie?

I love hosting Christmas dinner. I spend a lot of my time while working, coming up with lists in my head (big surprise) and the month of December is occupied with Christmas dinner. This year, Nathan made mole’ from scratch, my bro.-in-law smoked a pork shoulder, I made cilantro lime rice and cowboy beans…it was heavenly. Oh- I made con queso too and totally burned my nose with serrano pepper juice/seeds…brilliant.

The week after Christmas we had PERFECT WINTER WEATHER.

A huge snow storm+warmish weather= sledding and we did a lot of it!

I guess it’s nice to live somewhere that gets snow.

And now we are caught up! What should I post next? I got to get my groove back.

Thanks for your kind comments. I do love hearing from people! (I really do.) It feels good to update and know this documentation will be treasured by my kids when they get older (or at least by me when they are on their own).
Anyway, let’s pick up the photo tour…our fairy garden is still being cultivated (although today it is covered in a thick blanket of snow, poor fairies) and this Halloween we decorated with ghosts and pumpkins. It was fun to learn this summer that a few of my neighbors have told me that they enjoy watching our garden change throughout the seasons. Really?! Someone else noticed? Perfect.

I decided to not be a “scroogey” mother and actually dress up for Halloween this year. Well, it didn’t take much to transform myself into a cardinal…do you agree?

After having to postpone a trip to see family visiting other family in the midwest (Nathan had H1N1), our wonderful Washington State family made the quick trip from Michigan to Chicago. The kids loved connecting with their cousins- a rare and special treat.

Of course, the adults enjoyed chatting too. I am so happy that Nathan was able to hang with his brother too.

With working more, I am TRYING to give up control and have the kids do more around the house. I mean really, do I need to put away my 11 year olds socks? NO. So, here is a perfect example of my older 2 raking and me spoiling them.

I often dread Halloween and costumes and candy…but then I have a change of heart and get into the costume planning with the kids. Didn’t they look cute? Man, I can not even imagine being outside and posing on a day like today!

Oh, and you didn’t think I would be the only adult dressed up on Halloween in this house did you? Mr. Shack. was lured in with his very own blue jay mask!

As I was reading through people’s blogs today, I asked myself, “why don’t I do this anymore?”. I may not be producing a lot of craftiness or have words of wisdom to bestow on my friends, family, and readers in the bloggy world- but I do love documenting my life through photos, and to be truthful I have done a terrible job since I stopped posting.

So, if you don’t mind I will be charging up the engines again here at “kidding around”. Maybe I will change the layout (needed for sure), maybe this will motivate me to get my craft on (although it really hasn’t stopped), for sure I will share meals that my family loves and whether you like it or not…photos of the everyday which includes my kids, dog, and the infamous corner of my dining room where all lighting is perfect.

Let’s catch up on things since September (this will be a 4 part series, lordy I could have included a lot more photographs).

Penelope began Kindergarten and created this adorable self-portrait of herself. This kid loves to make stuff!!

I co-hosted an anniversary party for my sister and her husband. They celebrated 10 years of business this past September. The party was a blast. All staff were invited and were asked to bring snacks and dessert. The easiest and tastiest party ever!

I began making a foot quilt using vintage sheets. What’s a foot quilt you ask? You know, a quilt at the end of your bed for your feet, of course! Still working on it…

We continued to enjoy Lake Michigan through September. Last visit was to celebrate my niece’s 3rd birthday. I am counting the days to go back!

I chaperoned a middle school field trip with Ellie’s class. We took a walking tour of Chicago’s famous sculptures. I loved it and actually have an album posted in Facebook if you are interested in going on the tour.

Saw old friends in October…anticipating their first child’s birth this month! So nice to re-connect with people you care for…

Simon began soccer this Fall. We had an extremely wet season with many games cancelled, but he had a blast and I THINK Nathan had fun too.

And of course, fairy wings were created…

See you tomorrow!

It’s a new school year in our house and with that brings a big change. My youngest is now in school and although I’m excited for her it’s been sort of sobering for me. I know so many of you can relate.

Anyway, things around this blog may close up. I have had such a fun 4+ years, but I just can’t keep up with posting and all the other unbelievable, creative blogs out there. Time marches on…

If you want to keep up with me and are addicted to Facebook as I am…I’ll see you there!

Last week I hosted bookclub.

Every year I remind myself to keep it simple and just buy some cheese and call it a day.

Well, then I start scheming in my mind and start scouring my cookbooks and Epicurious and I changed my plan! It’s not like I entertain routinely…I’m not sewing…I NEED TO DO SOMETHING CREATIVELY…and on goes my justification.

SO what did I serve?

Corn fritters with chili lime mayo.

Carmelized onion dip with blue cheese (served it with vegetables…broccoli from our garden!)

Edamame and Arugula Crositini (photo above)

Cheese Straws (from Smitten Kitchen)

Ice Box Cupcakes (from Smitten Kitchen)

I have to say, it was all so delicious and totally enjoyable to prepare all these treats. Now next year, just chips and salsa…’cause everyone likes that, right? Maybe I’ll add a trilogy of homemade salsas, make my own chips…uh oh…