Adria's Crib Mobile

So I mentioned a few days ago that there remained a few projects that I had hoped to finish up for Adria's nursery and I am super excited to be done one of them!! :)  Found some inspiration from etsy/pinterest and came up with owls and flowers to match her color scheme and tie in with the tree mural behind her bed. l had all the felt already so it cost me NOTHING and she is thus far completely infatuated with it so I'm happy!  The little owls took me longer than I thought they would - but that seems to be the case with most things these days!  

Have a great day! :)

My 'AHA' Moment.

So I've begun training for my post-baby can't fit any of my clothes so gotta run like a million miles half-marathon, rapidly approaching May 20th - (you may notice that this post is the follow up to "I wanted to eat three loaves of cinnamon friendship bread' true confessions yesterday.  yeah.  gotta be honest - I kinda go back and forth on the whole 'healthy lifestyle' thing...)  


Anyway - I was at the gym, feeling awesome and completely self-assured as I completed mile two and had yet to find full floods of sweat running down my back.  And as I ran, the sun began to set, and I caught a glimpse of a beautiful winter sunset.  I ran with reckless abandon, enjoying the fresh white snow as it gracefully fell.  Darkness was quickly falling and as daylight slowly faded outside, and yet the gym lights remained on behind me,  I moment-by-moment began to slowly make out my own reflection in the full window panes in front of me.  Now, you know how people often talk about their 'AHA' moment.  The moment when suddenly something becomes clear.  How they were walking in a fog and suddenly they were faced with amazing unmistakable clarity.  The crossroads in their life where they were met with complete and undeniable honesty.  So, as the darkness fell, I believe I was given a gift.  For it was at this moment that the window in front of me slowly transformed before my eyes and began to take on all the properties of a mirror.  A full length pane of mirrors but two feet in front of my very eyes.  But something else was also transforming before my eyes.  This graceful fawn effortlessly leaping through the meadows, mother-of-three regaining control of her body and not taking prisoners, toned, tight, controlled, athletic wonder, well...  


she was running about three machines down from me. and I.  I was this kid....

But I gotta ask.  Like I have done a few 5 km races, a 10 km, even a half-marathon over the years.  I have logged countless miles.  My loving husband and best friend serving as my biggest supporter - cheering as I would cross the finish lines.  And not one person. no one.  not one mention?? kinda makes you re-evaluate a few things.... :)


although this is not going to stop me - despite what self-respect may suggest.  I'll probably stop silently judging the strangers staring at me as they pass by on the street...

Cinnamon Friendship Bread

Tried a new recipe yesterday afternoon.  I found it on Chef in Training and it was calling my name.  I was kind of excited to read that it made THREE loafs too and had every intention of removing the "Friendship" part of the recipe and keeping them all for myself my husband. Ummm....yeah... It was pretty yummy.  Kinda like a lazy-man's cinnamon bun - but totally love the almond glaze on the top for something a little different.  And I was even big enough (yet still attempting to be smaller - ... you getting that?  that little play on words I did there??)   to give two away to friends. :) 

If you check out Chef in Training - definitely try out the Cafe Rio Chicken and the Cheese Enchilada Stack too.  They were big hits with the family!  Have a good one...!

Grocery Bags

so this is me perusing the Internet looking for a little something that I could do for fun, and once again overestimating my skills and free time.  

Needless to say, Sew4Home is pretty generous in their whole mantra "Step-by-Step Tutorials Make Sewing Easy".  Two days later,....I completed my first "EZ" Grocery Bag.  You see, I think it's the "EZ" that threw me off.... kinda made me think of "easy"??  Apparently that was not the correct acronym.  yeah. not sure where they were going with that.  

The good news is that I have a seam ripper and was gifted with the opportunity for personal character development as my patience may have found its natural limits.  Also good news....this went from a 'gift' to becoming a valued heirloom.  'cause there is no way I'm giving this treasure away! :)

 I must confess that, as I had already cut out the pieces for a second bag, I did sew another one and it went much much smoother.  Actually only took me over an hour.  But the wound is still fresh, so I think this pattern is going to be 'shelved' for a while...

Fabric Baskets

For several months I have had very good intentions of trying a fabric basket.  I finally put my intentions to action and found a great pattern on Sew4Home and gave 'er a try!  LOVED it!  It was super easy and I only had to pull apart one of six so for this amateur sewer I'm pretty proud of those stats. :)  I tried a few different weights of fabric - from cotton to outdoor canvas, and really liked the more 'tumbled' look of the canvas, but the cotton worked out just as well with the firm interfacing.  I did two for Adria's nursery with some scraps left over from her quilt for diapers and socks, 

a couple for my laundry room to bring in a little more color in to the room in progress, one for my guest room - just cause I had some scraps in that fabric and I was on a roll, 

and another random canvas one - which is my personal favorite, and might find its way into my sewing cupboard or I could always give it away....cause then I could make MORE!    

Yeah, got a little excited about the fabric baskets.  Actually had to stop myself.  

the baby needs a room.

In anticipation of our baby's arrival, which may or may not have occurred about four months ago, (but really who's keeping track of my blogging delinquency right, ahem,...Trina....) we did prepare a new little nursery for her.  I, probably a little too confident in my belief that it was a girl, went ahead with a color scheme that could have proved to be a little problematic had my 'gut feeling' been off,...but it all worked out perfect! :)  

The tree mural was an addition to the room started to pass the time because she was late and I was bored.  BUT, it turned out super cute and I'm really happy I took the plunge.  It also gave me a place to hang some cute black and white pictures of her little newborn fingers and toes which I love!   

The quilt was a super sweet gift of love from my mom.  I picked out fabric and a pattern online and had them sent to her  and she graciously sewed the countless - (well - 'countless' to me because I didn't have to do it!) pieces together.  ;)  But it turned out so beautiful and I am so happy with it!  Something I definitely could not have pulled off!

So - this is where our princess hangs out.  There are a few more projects I would like to add to it, but we're happy with it for now.  I don't think I've ever had a room "done" so why start now right??