THAT'S More Like It

How Jenny got her groove back!

I'm crafty again! After a year of feeling lousy with pregnancy, then the newborny stuff, there are signs of craftiness in my house.

Look!
(By the way, that iron is the scum sucker that caused the nasty tear-shaped burn on my left arm.)

I finished this little sweater for my niece and sent it off for her birthday. I wish you could see the little purple flowers a little better. They are fun!

I baked a pound cake. It's a BUN....TTT. BUUUNT! This kek has a hole in it! This was for our Neighborly Fondue Night, which was Super Yum! Chocolate and caramel fondue. Oh, mercy.

Oh, and by the way, it's really, really flippin' good. Like Sarah Lee ain't got nothin' on me. An aside: WHAT is with the new skinny graham crackers?? Sad day, guys.
And back to happy things, LOOK at this baby. You know you wanna nibble on his cheeks. Admit it.
By the way, that little hippo toy he has there is a gift that a friend gave me from a cute little company called Little Alouette. Isn't it cute??

A little autumnal pixie dust

I had a lovely visit from my old boss and his wife. They brought these gorgeous flowers to congratulate us on Søren's birth. Did they remember I love Fall??


And yet I live in a semi-arid desert--land of perpetual summer.
But apples are lovely just now. Time for an an apple crisp?
Except how can I take these apples from their rightful home?!

It's beginning to look a lot like Autumn

Oh, wait. No it's not.

How Julius killed my KitchenAid

I thought an Orange Julius sounded like a delightful afternoon treat for Lucy and me (and, well, Soren too, come to think of it.). But apparently this blender is NOT Ultrapowerful, as stated on the unit. One ice cube killed it. ONE. My brother says it serves me right, as orange juliuses (is that how you pluralize that?) are foul. But he has opinions about food, and has ever since his body was powered exclusively by yogurt.

So do I go to the trouble to get this thing fixed? Do I go to the trouble to get another one? Suddenly this sometimes-used appliance seems essential. What if I need to make a cream-of-something soup?? Or emulsify a hollandaise sauce? Or blend a margarita, for the love of all that is good!!

What's left of the pie (tart) that rocked

Book club was here tonight. The lemon meringue tart was awesome, and I will be waking up in the middle of the night to have some, just so you know. Usually I'm an all chocolate/caramel/ice cream girl, and not into the fruit stuff. But if I want it in the middle of the night, it's good.

By the way, the book was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," and it gets one of my best reads of the year. I highly, highly recommend it!

In Which I Think I Am A Genius But Am Sadly Mistaken

Well, there are always lessons to learn, aren't there. Today I got bit by the sewing bug again, mostly because I had a gift to finish (I'll post a picture after the gift arrives in its new home!). I thought, aha! I shall make a bib with stretchy fabric and a hole in the middle wherefore a small head mayest be popped through with ease. Alas, I am not a genius, but rather one who does not always go back and check her work when doing math. The bib turned out seriously wavy and wonky.

However, I DID come up with a cute idea for lazy applique! I cut out stars using a cookie cutter as a template. I pressed down hard on the fabric to create the outline on the fabric, and voilá! A star! I used pinking shears to cut out the shapes, then top-stitched them onto my bib fabric to create the applique. I think it turned out SUPER cute, and intend to make a slew of little bibs this way. It's a great way to use up leftover fabric, which I'm kind of in the mood to do. I've got more than I need just now, that's for sure! However, next project: shopping bags for my sister. These are gonna be cute, people. CUTE!


See, here's the cookie cutter, and me thinking that chalk rubbed on it would help with the outline. Not so much--gonna try a little flour next time. Pressing down to indent the fabric. This worked relatively well.
My stars, this is cute! Are you seein' the vision with me here?
Aaaaand, death of a Genius. Serviceable, but not gift-able. Try again, please.
And just so's ya know I can make cute stuff, here's some proof. The picture turned out fuzzy, but I had to post it anyway.

My little printable downloads orgy

This is bad for me. Oh, so bad. I stumbled onto a cute printable download and, well, one thing led to another and I think I downloaded about 20 printable downloads. Envelopes! Cards! GIFT TAGS! And the piece de resistance, a printable mini-folder!! People, you must have this, too. It's too cute not to pass on. But don't go nuts. It's 12:05 a.m. See what this has done to me?

Hanging out

I'm inspired by Susan's latest post to change my own post... it's been up there too long!

Here's what we've been up to lately:

Just hanging out, getting to know each other.
A visit to the San Joaquin Valley.

Looking at raisins drying. The smell of drying raisins and burning grape trays IS fall to me.
Grafitifying Grammie's driveway.
Finishing Søren's baby blanket. It's big and cozy... I might steal it!
Hard to see my pattern here, but here it is anyway.
Celebrating 10 years since our first date! Ate in the same booth as that date! No more Chinese food there, though--it's steak and seafood now.
Emptying out the toybox..."These are your birthday presents, Mom!"