Huckleberry

This one just kills me! Todd and Chris just had a little one, a boy, and he is darling little bug. They are trying to take a picture of him everyday and the latest ones he is so squirmy, the pictures are all blurs and batting and fleece tracers. I love it.
His Daddy sings this song in the car and I can't get over how funny and cute it is.

sewing inheritance

The other day Tyler was telling someone how when I want to sew something, I rarely have to go to the store because I have such an incredible collection of notions, fabric and all things I need to get my projects done. And he's right. I still like to buy fabric and ribbons and so forth, but I rarely NEED anything. That is because my Grandma and my Mom have supplied with so many lovely sewing gifts, hand-me-downs, tools, and all manner of things that are useful to me when I make projects. I reorganized all my sewing stuff before we started baby-phase-construction because I wanted to be sure I had access to the things I need during this work. While I was doing this I took pictures of some of the little piles and drawers of darling antique-y buttons, needles and so forth that I have gotten from my Grandma Pearl. I should do a feature on my awesome sewing machine next, which came from my Mom. Soon.



And apparently, banks and other business used to give out needles and sewing kits as promotionals! Cool! Maybe they will start again during this crazy recession.

Construction Extravaganza!

CLICK to ENLARGE

Wow! We have started building the baby-multipurpose-closet-reading room. Multipurpose is key because it will be the only room, besides the bathroom, that you can shut a door on. Tyler and Jacob, with Josh's leadership made a huge dent in the construction this weekend and it's crazy how much the space has already changed. I am so excited. You can already tell what it will be like to have a second floor and it is giving us SO much more space. I think Tyler and I will both be able to have our own work/creative stations. Mine will probably be downstairs behind the door and Tyler's upstairs in the living room-ish space. Hot diggity!

My job this weekend was the resident chef and go-to gal which worked out great for me. I think I have a back-up career if this job doesn't work out. More happening today, so I will be updating again tomorrow with stair stringers and decking.

Art Walk at Old Rainier Brewery

Please join us this Saturday, March 14th from 6-9:30 for Art Walk at the Old Rainier Brewery
AND
Continue the night with live music (The Whiskey Swillers, Queen Schmookwan and more) if you are in for a party.

Tyler and I will be showing pictures in our hallway gallery.

No match for stains

My Mom is a master sewer. I have mentioned it before and not only that she has an incredibly quick turn around. She asked Tyler and me what we needed for our place and since we got that beautiful table, Tyler suggested place mats. We all picked out fabric together and chose two different colors of an outdoor/awning/furnituer fabric called Sunbrella because it was so cute. Mom turned those place mats out in 24-48 hours and what you see here is one of the unexpected results. They are totally water resistant. Spills are no match for these. We are both so pleased because they are going to stay crisp and clean forever! Awesome. And, they are so simple, double-sided for a change of style and there are 8 of them. A whole set. Thanks Mom!

mighty-omen

Since I made it to the hump (Wednesday), I treated myself to a Mighty-O, chocolate with coconut glaze donut and a latte. I am flying high!

Matching baby-daddy ties

You've gotta click on this one to get the full effect.
Boy, I never thought I would get into matching stuff. I think wearing matching stuff as a kid and then rebelling against it as a teenager, just wanting to be different, made me not want to match anymore. But I done made matching ties for Tyler and the busy belly bun. What I didn't show you on that Chicago fabric post was the little fragment of tie silk I bought for the bargain price of, cough, cough (it's unbelievable), one stinky, recession-proof dollar! It turns out ties are super easy to make and Tyler loved it. He is such a good sport, always wearing and loving the things I make him. It really makes me feel good. I thought, if we can manage to straight-jacket that baby into a dress-shirt for Annie and Kevin's wedding, we can get him into a tie, too. And then, he can look just like his Daddy! Precious.

Valentine's Day Brunch + more table talk

On Valentine's Day we had some neighbors, Jesse and Eden, over for egg-in-the-holes.
And, just look at that table. I am so happy with it. We love having people over to eat because our table is so comfortable and beautiful. I was just up visiting my Uncle Paul and Aunt Rhonda (the responsible party) and there is now an amazingly beautiful bench crafted to match the table. So, one side will sit bench style against the wall and then they also got some walnut chairs to match which will be on the non-wall side. We are SOOOO spoiled!

6 month belly monitor

Click to enlarge.
More like 6.5. This is a little late, but I included an oldie for comparison's sake. If you followed Fantastisk Fint, you might recognize my old room.
Under what now seems like the tiniest coat ever, is my body fitting loosely in that dress-shirt-dress. And to the right, yes, you might notice the middle button doing the lion's share of the work, straining the slightly stretchy, but not stretchy enough, cotton. A reminder that within weeks that shirt, my favorite shirt, not just because it is so cute but also because I got it in copenhagen and Tyler loves it and it has lasted 6 whole months into the pregnancy, maybe seven, will be retired temporarily and join its compatriots in a box labeled, "PRE-PREG". I should start writing "POST-PREG" out of optimism.
Click here to see 5 months.

Pin Cushion Acupuncture

All the little discomforts of pregnancy have been catching up with me so I decided to seek some acupuncture help. It turns out that Seattle has two community clinics that accept a sliding fee payment. Community acupuncture means that you don't go into a little doctor's office, but instead keep your clothes on and get treated in a room with several lazy boys that you recline in and there are other people receiving treatment, too. I did it for a long time in Portland and really liked the atmosphere, so I thought I would try it here. I went this morning to Pin Cushion Clinic on capital hill and it was delightful. Julie Johnson seems a knowledgeable practitioner with a lovely demeanor and the office is very nice, too. I highly recommend it.

A taste of Chicago

I got that job I mentioned earlier and I had to come to Racine, WI for a week of meetings. Before going North, I spent a few days in Chicago visiting an old friend, Julie and her sweetie and seeing my parents' old haunts. These are a couple of little tastes from the visit.

The Vogue fabric store is in Evanston, North of Chicago, and is the town where my parents lived for several years. This store is amazing! Here is what I bought when I was there.

The Shermain Grill in Evanston--across the street from Vogue and what a treat. An old school diner with LOW prices. And, true to form, they know how to make a BLT, no messing around.

Oh, yea, that's a Chicago dog (no onions, no pepper) at Huey's hot dog shack. That full size pickle seems like it would be awkward but it is a burst of freshness on that grilled wieney!

Chinese, crab-shaped good luck lily

Gina gave Tyler and me this lily bulb and its crab shape was supposed to bring us good luck. And it came true! I got a good contract job (part-time) that will last at least a few months and Tyler has come into some cool, project work, too. The Lily is growing like crazy, rivaling my belly and I can't wait for it to bloom. I thought it might do so for Obama's inauguration, but that is like having your birthday on December 25th--hohumm.

MAJOR kitchen progress=Big grin!

Tyler has been such a busy bee making improvements here and as long as we are still working on plans and building-permitting for the nursery, the kitchen will get some attention.

This is what the kitchen was like before shelves started coming in. Not too bad, but I still had boxes with glasses, and all kinds of things.

Plus check out the cluttery corner behind me. Yuck!

But, Tyler went to work on that. He had an idea of what the shelf was supposed to be like, got it constructed, then we talked how to mount it.

Ta-DAA! Look at that beaut! We both agree, just that one shelf revolutionized our kitchen space. I can't help being a little greedy, though, anticipating the next round of shelves. Other side of the stove, for glassware. Ooooh!

But that's not all. This one came in a week or two ago, just below the bed/loft. And notice those white bars attached and running vertically toward the ceiling? Those are the beginning of a screen/partition for our bed-area.

Post Roast Soup

Today I was really sick of eating leftovers from the pot roast I made this weekend (which was made from delicious beef, purchased in bulk from the Carman Family Ranch in Oregon) that I decided to throw the rest of what I had in the remaining beef broth to make a soup. In the container I had some hunks of beef, about a potato and a half, a few carrots, mushrooms and a bit of sauce from the bottom of the pan.

Then I added a few sprigs of fresh thyme (also left from the roast day), along with some balsamic vinegar, a few drops Frank's red-hot sauce, and some black pepper. I also took some old whole grain bread cubes, sauteed them in a little oil and garlic to make croutons.

Finally, I mixed a little plain yoghurt with some horseradish to dollop on top for a bit of creaminess.

It reminded me a little bit of French onion soup, a rich broth full onions and mushrooms but those potatoes and the horseradish cream added a special treat. I oversalted a touch, but no harm--we just drank big glasses of water afterwards.

Candy, PART 2

After that first round of candy, I felt much more confident, so I decided to do a second back of sweets. This time I was interested in reproducing the Walnut caramels from See's. They turned out pretty darn good.