every little thing

Much to do about nothing....

I nearly forgot that Missy tagged me to share my to-do list with blogland.   Since my lists are long, confusing, ever-changing and, quite frankly, depressing....I decided to make a new list centered around all the yummy foods that I'm just dying to make this summer.  I love blogs and flickr because of the new and inspiring things floating around, but it's also amazing to rediscover something you used to love, but had somehow forgotten about.  That's been happening a lot to me lately.  Many of the items below are things I used to adore, that had somehow drifted off my radar....(especially #1!)

1.)  Italian Sodas.  I was a coffee-bar-gal for a long while (way back when), and I think I drank at least  3  Italian sodas a day.  Or Italian creme sodas...any flavor.  Usually blackberry almond.  I can't believe I forgot about them, I loved them so!  I can't wait to go out and buy a bunch of flavored syrups.  It's gonna be an Italian-soda summer...oh yeah.  And, If you like ginger ale, I plan on sharing my homemade ginger ale recipe soon.  It's unbelievable.  Trust me.

2.) Homemade peppermint ice cream.  Tinted a light pink, of course.  Made with Yoder Dairy milk.  (must stop drooling...)

3.) Tomato, basil and fresh Mozzarella stacks.  Drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Dash of salt.  Tomatoes and basil from the garden.  Heaven.

4.) Strawberry jam.  I can't believe we haven't gone berry picking yet, it's just shameful.  We are now officially out of the strawberry jam I canned last year, and the season is almost over.  I gotta get on that.

5.) Granola bars.   My buddy Carolyn was sweet enough to share her chewy granola bar recipe with me last year, and they are just the best snack/breakfast/beach/anytime treat to have.  And with the endless combinations of add-ins, what's not to love?  (I like coconut and chocolate chips. Oh, and cranrasins and pecans....and dried figs.  And I always throw in some wheat germ and stuff so the boys are eating healthy and they don't even know it...ha ha!

6.)  Strawberry rhubarb pie recipe from my friend Kat.  I can't believe I haven't made it yet.  It's  sounds like pure bliss.

7.) Margaritas!  (on the rocks with salt, please.  Thank you!)

8.) Homemade pesto from the garden.  On pasta with shrimp.  Lotsa Parmesan. 

9.) Cherry tomato raisins.  I made these last year with the food dehydrator, and they were the hit of the summer.  Just half cherry or small plum tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dry them cut-side-up in the dehydrator till they're small and chewy.  I froze them and added them to pasta dishes in the winter and they were soooooo good.  Basically, I reinvented the sun-dried tomato, just smaller. 

10.) Kabobs on the grill.  Nothing fancy.  Just meat and veg grilled, over rice.  One of my favorite family meals of all time.  My mom can make a mean kabob. 

Oh, I could go on and on about food!  I guess I'll stop there.  I apologize for the lack of pictures too.  The camera batteries are recharging.  I always just assume they will run forever, but that's not the case.  Now I will tag a few other people to share their to-do lists (or any list at all.)  Play along, if you can!  If not, we will dance around you in circles and sing the party-pooper song (just kidding.)

Amber

Caitlin

Lee Ann

Felicia

So, just share you're list on your blog, then tag some more people and be sure to leave them a comment or an email to let them know they are the "chosen one." 

Back later with more exciting things:  shirring progress, gardening talk, and probably about 400 pictures of our sweet new kitty. 

Highlights

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! I want to thank you all so much for the sweet anniversary wishes, and the tumble-down-the-stairs thoughts, AND the cleaning enthusiasm, and just in general for all the lovely comments lately. It makes my day, and I'm slowly getting back to everyone. I took a long computer-break last week and, not that I get millions of emails or anything, but they are piling up a bit. So if you haven't heard from me....I'm workin' on it!

I have some new family members to introduce to you now.....

This little sweet-thing is from the oh-so-talented Missy.  She was swap partner in Claire's  Softie Swap.  Isn't it the most perfect little bun ever?  And he likes to stay up all night listening to the oldie's station, so he fits right in with us!  What a fun swap, oh my goodness....I just loved my package so much!  Thanks Missy!!!!!  You're work is simply amazing! 

And now, please say hello to Sydney.....

We are pretty sure that she is a "she", but this is one fuzzy kitty, and it's really hard to tell!  It's funny how the world works sometimes.  I mentioned several times, out of the blue, on Sunday that I just really wanted to get a kitten.  When we got home, my dear friend brought this little gray cutie to the door.  She was a stray and they were trying to find a home for her.  This little gal was just at the right place at the right time, because Mike scooped her up and there really wasn't much discussion about it.  I went out to buy the kitty chow.  Max cuddled with her on the sofa.  She's our little Sydney now.   And what a sweet heart, too.  She's so calm and cute, no scratching, even let me give her a bath without a fuss.  Loves the little collar I gave her, uses her box no problem.  Tolerates Max dragging her from one room to the next.   We are so happy!!!

I did manage to squeeze in a bit of sewing on Saturday.  I've been trying to weed through my god-awful wardrobe, and I found a dress and skirt to embellish.  I should have taken "before" shots, but they were both very plain, so I added some appliques from vintage fabric and a bit of trim.

I'm happy with how they turned out, and I love that I can enjoy wearing some of my favorite vintage fabrics in a form other than a bag or tote.

The yard sales last Saturday were a little lack-luster, but I did find some fun things for the Emporium, and some retro curtains that I planned to use for fabric, but they ended up in my bedroom (of all places.)

Our bedroom is actually Max's old nursery  that I painted a soft blue.  I haven't gotten around to repainting it yet, and these curtains are a very boisterous yellow and orange.  It makes for a very *cheerful* bedroom, that's for sure, but I do love me some complimentary colors....so I  guess they will stay for now.  Good for summertime, I suppose.

Oh, and this is my new favorite thrift find/toy EVER!!!

The seal a meal!  I had no idea how great these sucker were!  They seal ANYTHING, and it's really going to change the way I package things for my shops!  Observe:

The little owl trivet is completely sealed in plastic to lock in that fresh, vintage flavor!  How cool is that?  And the seal-o-meal was only $2.99 at the thrift store.  It seals poly bags, cello bags, garbage bags....everything.  I'm totally addicted to it!!!!

(told you I was easily amused.....)

smoochy*smoochy

In all the craziness this week, I almost forgot that today is our 6 year anniversary!  Really, I almost did forget.  Almost.  I had to dig into the pre-digital photo albums for some cutsie pictures of us.  I can hardly remember a time without the digital camera....I can hardly remember what it was like to not be married.  Time sho' does fly when you're having fun.  I used to wonder how long it would take for me to really feel married.   After we bought our first house?  No....not then.  After our little Max was born?  Not even then, yet.  But today, it really just feels like a done-deal.  So I'll say that six years is the magic number.  Now it's official.  (Just in time for the seven year itch...ha ah!)   And, boy do I ever love this guy.  But I won't waste my gushiness on the blog.  Mike doesn't really read it, so I'd just be boring everyone else.  Don't get me wrong, Mike is totally supportive of everything I do, and I'm sure he pops in every now and then.  But,  it just ain't his thing.  I can't blame him.  If I were a dude, a crafty, ladies blog would probably be the last place on earth I'd wanna hang out.  Mostly he teases me about it: "Why don't you go write on your BLOG...ha ha!  You have a BLOG, you're such a dork!"  and I scream, "No I don't, I do not have a BLOG!  It's not like that....it's more like a journal, and those people are my FRIENDS, they understand me.... and.....oh, just leave me alone!"   But, the tides are shifting, and Mike has already started working on his own etsy site for HIS handmade things.  One day, I'll walk in on him blogging too, it's only a matter of time.  And then, my friends, there will be some serious teasing to be had.  I can hardly wait.....

Progress (?)

If you can call "falling down the attic stairs and almost killing myself" progress, then, yeah.  Don't worry!  I'm OK!  Bruised a little, scraped up a tad,  but Ok.   Most of the damage was done to the tops of my feet and ankles, which makes no sense to me at all.  The worst part is that I wasn't even carrying anything huge and heavy...like I usually am.  I just tripped on my own foot.  I am Jack's total lack of coordination.

Since I still do not have anything fun and crafty to report, I am posting my first blog re-run!  I shared this recipe way back when no one was reading my blog, and I really feel it deserves more attention.  I love this Ginger Tea Bread so much and I know you all will too.  It's is very posh and refined, perfect with your afternoon tea.  If I wasn't hobbling around the house cleaning, I'd make a loaf right now!  Enjoy everyone!  Go and have fun baking without me  (*sniffles, winces in pain...and limps off  to clean the kitchen.)

Ginger Tea Bread

Sift together:

2 3/4 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. ginger (don't skimp)

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. cloves (i never have ground cloves, oops)

Cream together:

1 C. softened butter

1 C. sugar (white or brown)

Add:

2 eggs

1 C. molasses

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well

Add:

1 C. boiling water

Mix till combined.  Pour into greased  loaf or mini-loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Be sure not to over cook.  Let cool completely and enjoy with cold milk. Yum.

The loaves puff up then deflate quite a bit, but don't let that scare you.  Also, the outer top will be crusty at first.  After it cools, put into a zip lock bag and it will all become soft and gooey.  It's utterly amazing with a touch of homemade apple butter, if you happen to have some lying about. 

*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*

Not the blog, but just about everything else.  I small bout with stomach flu has set us back a bit.  Mostly, though, it's the time of year when I decided to rearrange every stick of furniture in the house, and attempt to throw away everything that isn't nailed down.  Spring fever hit a little late this year, but now it's roaring in with a vengeance.  I can't say when I'll be back...hopefully I'll get  the house back together soon!

I'll try to pop in for some highlights this week, but it will probably be slim pickins' around the blog for a bit.  Don't fret.  I'll get it together eventually.  Remember how I said I didn't do the multi-tasking thing?  Well, I wasn't just whistlin' dixie.   I must completely focus on this mess if I'm ever going to conquer it.  With luck, I will return organized, refreshed, inspired, and all that good stuff.  (I have to think positive, right?) 

Just a few goodies....

I've got a good bit of new things over in the Emporium now.  I still have more to list, including fabric bundles, sweater-felt scraps and greeting cards.  But, this will be it for today.  I really need to ease up on the thrifting...I've been going crazy lately.  And, now I'm yard saleing Saturday too!  Stop the insanity! 

And I don't even want to talk about Top Model last night.  I don't even want to talk about it.

Go, NATASHA!!!!!

It's the ANTM finale tonight, and although I haven't been really that into this particular season, I'm still super excited to watch the last show!!!!   Natasha is the clear winner in my mind, but I really think it could be any of them at this point 

Speaking of finales, I may as well go ahead and say a few words about the Gilmore finale last night that I wasn't planning on watching, but I let my curiosity get the better of me.  Sometimes I look back and wonder why we (me my mom and occasionally, my sister) were even  into it at all.  Is it just me, or did that show totally go down the tubes after Jess left?  (Kippy, remember how we loved Jess and Mom loved Dean, and we would argue about it?  Good times..)    Don't get me wrong, I liked Logan....I even thought  he was fairly cute, but the chemistry between him and Rory was just absolutely nonexistent.  My sister and I would collapse into giggle-fits every time they kissed.  It was like watching two dolphins make-out.  (Awkward...) 

In other news, I've been thrifting WAY too much these last few days, and I desperately need to do an Emporium update later tonight.  So, if you are in need of 70's kitchen ware, vintage greeting cards, fabric, or leather stamping tools (what was I thinking?) , then do drop in the shop later this evening, or tomorrow morning.   I'm planning to get some new lovelies up in the Studio too, I'm shooting for Saturday.

I'm off to practice my runway walk now, happy Wednesday all!

Phase One

In which I cut myself some long, in-my-eyes, Frenchie bangs to give my look some "edge".  I'm not sure exactly what "edge" means, but it's very important to Tyra, so I'm doing my best to oblige.  Do I look French yet?  Hmm.  Maybe a little (in a trying-too-hard kinda way.)  I think they need to be a bit longer, but my hair grows super fast, so they should be perfect in a week or two...I'll be completely blinded by them, hooray!  I've had bangs before when my hair was much shorter, and bobbed.  I think I went through the phase that I'm sure many others have, if I cut my hair, maybe I really could look as cute as Audrey in Amelie.  (*No ones is as cute as her, it's pointless to try.  She has perfect knees, too.  My sister pointed it out to me once, and I still can't get over it.  Best knees ever.)  So, my hair is shaping up (sort of) and I'm working on the clothes-bit, doing an overhaul of my pitiful wardrobe.  Since I can't really afford a fabulous shopping spree, I'll be thrifting it up for snazzy new duds.  (I'm still hoping and praying that I'll be cast for the "What Not to Wear" show....that would be really great.)  I have some decent clothes, but many of them need altering, including this stunning red polka dot Italian dress that would really complete my French-inspired, sex-kitten look.  Actually, I'll probably look ridiculous, but it's just so fun!  I really do adore being a girl.  So, please excuse the vain posts for a while.  I'll get it out of my system soon.  My blog really is all lover the place, but that is a fair representation of my myself, and I guess that I can live with that.  I was going to do the "my blog is like a box of chocolates" analogy,  but I think I've put you all through enough for one day.

**Phase Two:  Perfecting my sorry make-up applying skills.

Is it a skirt yet?!?!

Almost!  But, it's gonna be brown and aqua and that just makes me so happy.  Yes, I'm still all about the shirring (it's even taken over my banner.)  And hopefully I'll have some completed garments to share later in the week.  This weekend was filled with family fun , and not much sewing.  Also, I had to finish up some interesting projects that I'll tell y'all about later.  One of them involved me taking silly, contrived pictures of myself "working in the studio".  These really crack me up:

"Oh, hello!  you surprised me!  I'm just working on a project, snipping random pieces of fabric....la de dah....."    So silly!  And I still haven't taken in the dress I'm wearing, so it fits like a potato sack.  Speaking of clothes.  I've been inspired lately, to take a bit more interest in my personal appearance.  I've always loved clothes and dressing-up, makeup and girl-ness.   The problem is, that I'm a TERRIBLE multitasker.  When I had my little Max, I got pretty overwhelmed with being a mom, and some things just had to give.  Namely, my appearance and housework.  And, I'm sure you other mums noticed too, that no one looks at you when you're holding a cooing cherub in your arms.  I'm not saying I turned into a troll or anything, I just took a little sabbatical.  But, Max is older now and I'm ready to get back into the "fashion groove", so to speak.  One of my fist baby steps was to join Wardrobe Remix on flickr.  I haven't posted yet, but maybe later this week I can wear my new shirred-by-me skirt and strike a pose that even Tyra would be proud of!  I'm so excited.  (I'm  gonna be fierce.)

This is  my 100th blog post, which is pretty snazzy!  (I also feel like I should apologize for all the spelling and grammar errors lately.  I'm getting lazy with the spell check, and that's just shameful.  I promise to straighten up!)

Guest Photographer, Max Krueger

I love that he caught me doing some serious multi-tasking:  weeding the garden, talking with my mum on the phone (thinking about shirring.....)

It's Friday everybody!!! Hooray!  Happy Mother's Day, and have a fabulous weekend!!!