Busy bee

The past two weeks have been jam packed with playdates/coffee-dates, day-trips, parties, job hunts and daycare tours. Also, I will be doing my first 5k run in two weeks and I've been training whenever I can. In between all that fun stuff, I have been running my little sweatshop like a dog (me being the only employee). Thank goodness for my mother in law who is my best customer. Here are some recent orders that I had fun working on.





I am a fabric store junky and since the local fabric store is in the same shopping center as my gym, I am kind of a regular. Here are some new coasters I felt compelled to make. Some of the fabric is new, some old but they are all super cute.
They are all now available on etsy. Click on the link at the top left side of this page.

A Few Hours in Brooklyn

We took Desmond to visit his Aunt Julie in Brooklyn yesterday for the afternoon. Although we didn't make it to my favorite spot, McCarren Park, in Williamsburg as planned due to the ridiculous fall heat, we were lucky enough to try some new places. Here's a taste of Saturday with the Joneses.

Aunt Julie and Devoe's apartment where we were greeted with a traditional Duffield snack spread. And Desmond got to check out one of Aunt Julie and Devoe's interesting trinket collaborations.



This was a fun kids playground (didn't catch the name) where Desmond swung his little heart out.




My sweet darling Drew was kind enough to wait outside with Desmond in the heat for probably close to a half hour while I fell in love with every single card and piece of stationary in my new favorite book store, Word.


We ended the day with a late lunch at Papacitos, a yummy vegetarian friendly Mexican restaurant.


Then we hit up the local Salvation Army and we all scored. Success! So naturally we rewarded ourselves with some sweet treats at The Garden foodmarket.
A perfect ending to a perfect day. I always love the time I get to spend with my sister especially when there are no set plans and we get to just breeze around and do whatever our hearts desire at any given moment.

I love you Julie. Thanks for a splendid Saturday.

Craft of the Day

This project was inspired by Marisa at http://www.newdressaday.com check her out. I've held onto this lovely shirt for probably ten years. I found it at a town-wide yard sale for a quarter. Yes, that's right, $.25. I really love this shirt but probably wore it twice. Here is the before shot.


And here are some close ups of the reason I can't wear it. There are holes in the armpits and the fabric around the v-neck is tattered and frayed.



The arms came off, re hemmed the edges, tidied up the neckline and voila!


Off to dinner with my boys to the local pub to visit Maura.
*best shot while trying to wrangle the boy and get out the door.

This is Fall

Disaster Cake 101

I love baking. Here is the deal though. I can't deliver the whole package. It's either aesthetics or taste but usually not (ok, never) both.
They will look like a 5 year old's creation and be so yummy or look wonderful and be almost inedible. Case in point, my latest disaster cake. So I didn't actually make this one from scratch and maybe baking karma kicked me in the butt for that. Yes, I made a box cake, but in all fairness, there is something to be said for a boxed triple chocolate cake with chocolate icing. So in celebration of Vicki's birthday I decided to make her a simple super chocolaty cake. While icing the top layer my cake started to split into three. WTF? It's not like I've never iced a cake before. Anyway, I panicked as I do when almost every time I bake. There was no way this was going to be patched. Shit was a hot mess. So I reluctantly cut off two of the chunks and stared at what could only be described as a jagged 30% slice of pie chart. The only option in my failure-induced mind was to shape it into lips and outline it in pink icing. Baking another cake wasn't an option and since I was already almost a month late celebrating my best friend's birthday, how is an irrelevant shaped cake going to be any worse. And because she has such a knack for making people feel good, she said she loved it. I love you Vicki. So without further ado....

before (note the fork: I was sad and chocolate cake fixes sad)




disclaimer: I don't condone this type of decorating. I just made lemonade from the proverbial lemons.

Camping

This past weekend we went on our 30th annual family camping trip. The weather was PERFECT. It was the best intro to fall I could ask for. And the best part is now there is a second generation of cousins joining our wonderful annual tradition. My cousins and I are now witnessing what our parents did 20-30 years ago. While it is difficult to pack and travel with small children, it is so satisfying to experience this beautiful family tradition from a different place in our lives. And I can appreciate all that we have learned from our parents for having kept this tradition going all of these years. I look forward to 30 years from now, when our children continue what our parents created for us. I can't wait for next year when there is yet another addition to our incredibly lovely family.

New product!!!!

Mila

One of my oldest and dearest friend's youngest daughter Mila. How sweet right?

Sam

Rocking my new favorite fabric.