Are you a fan of The Princess Bride? Yes? Then, go see Stardust.
The trailer doesn’t do it justice. Laura, Isaac & I guffawed
through the whole thing while the baby slept in his stroller, good
boy. Oh, and he’s so cute!!! Truly cute.
Today’s a fun day. Laura’s painting me a poppy for my birthday and
I’m making paper things — though I haven’t decided what. We just
might have to do some shopping too.
I’m finally finding time to flip through these books I ordered ages ago. It’s a treat to browse my copy of Bend-the-Rules
and see what Amy‘s been up to behind the scenes. It’s amazing what an
undertaking authoring a book is. Potter Craft has done a beautiful job
translating her style onto paper.
Bend the Rules is
full of beautiful, often quirky photography and illustrations, and
entertaining text as you might expect. It’s magical. Congratulations,
Amy.
Simple Gifts to Stitch is a fun book to touch. The paper is
more matte and stiff and the photography is peaceful and quiet. Yes,
as a designer, I’m much more of a book browser than a book-project
maker, but if I did pick a project from this one, it’d likely be the
magic rain poncho which houses a smattering of tissue-paper confetti.
Oh, and here is the pool I missed out on in Florida. I always, always
pack a swimsuit when I leave town, but had to forget the swimsuit on
the this trip of all trips. Look at that pool! There were caves and
tunnels, waterfalls and rope-bridges. Ay, ay, ay. I thumbed through
the gift shop swimsuits twice. I was ready to splurge $150 on a
one-swim suit. Isaac even consented. My pocketbook was saved by a
late night conversation with these guys and one of these guys.
Sleeping in gained priority. That was the Hyatt Grand Cypress in
Orlando.
Then, the next weekend, we were at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for Trash
Ties. They had a wave pool! (I didn’t take any pictures. That’s
still The Grand Cypress over there — about half of it.) I walked past
it to and from the convention center each day. Yes, I packed my
swimsuit, but no, I couldn’t stay longer to dip in — I needed to get
back to the kids. Needless to say, I think we’ll be heading to a
waterpark before summer’s over. Perhaps with the wave of family coming
to town next week?
I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how much I like to swim.
… and am thoroughly enjoying my kids and cleaning. I’ve been home
for almost two days and the house is almost back together from weeks of
mad activity. I even slipped away to the doctor’s today for an x-ray.
Remember
the flower arrangement incident at Quilt Market? My foot has developed
a knobbily spot near the wound and the area occasionally sports a new
bruise with no obvious cause, making me think my foot just might have
broken that day. It doesn’t hurt to walk or run, but I am sensitive to
shoes that put pressure on the top of my foot. I had a peek at the
x-ray and didn’t see anything obviously amiss, but am pleased to have
enough breathing room to no longer neglect the mystery. I should hear
back in a few days if there are any problems. I’ll report.
Oh, and my finger is infected. So strange. No cause. It’s swollen
up and throbbing like a cartoon injury. I picked up some antibiotics
and am planning a few sleep-ins. My recently over-worked self is ready
for some good TLC. Maybe I’ll even cash-in the gift certificate for a
professional masseuse that I received a couple of Mother’s Days ago.
I have lots to share. Lots. So, I’ll pop in more frequently the
next while and try to catch up a bit. I took photos here and there
over the last couple of weeks, but couldn’t eek out the time to post.
For instance, here’s that fabric, trimmed, folded and ready to kit.
That was a job.
I’m happy it’s done and am glad to be back.
I just received some fun little pick-me-ups in the mail. These
goodies hail from ms. elinor, lowercase e. I love this little
figurine. She’s only about two inches tall. She’ll be making herself
at home on Charlotte’s bookshelf (which used to be a china hutch —
I’ll have to post about that one too).
Elinor,
well mom :), also sent some funky fabric bits, horsey buttons and an
antique mother/daughter postcard. Random and perfect. We have a lot
in common in our taste for miscellany. And, mom’s now selling my
fabric on her website. So, here’s a link for that.
It’s our babysitting night tonight. We have a co-op set-up with
three of our friends where each couple takes a turn watching all of the
kids on Friday nights. In other words, we each have reliable
date-night babysitting for three weeks, followed by one very hectic
fourth Friday filled with all the goings-on of eleven little kids. So worth it.
Highly recommended. Of course, it was on a date night that Charlotte
broke her teeth at our friends’ home. So, if you set up one of these
babysitting circles with your friends, make sure all couples agree to
some sort of basic structure — like two adults present or rooms with
bunkbeds get locked, etc. It can get pretty crazy.
We usually take the kids to the park for a couple of hours and get
them all tuckered out and then set them up with pillows, blankets and
popcorn in our loft and project a fun movie onto the wall. Sometimes
we’ll slip in a craft activity or cookie decorating. I think we made
New Years hats once. Anyhow, that’s my night. It’s actually kind of
fun.
My dad read through the recent posts about my brief trip to
Pennsylvania and my nagging hope to explore my early-childhood neighborhood,
sorted out that my one day was spent in West Chester, PA and presented
these photos to me at dinner last Sunday. 
I may not have made it to Cranberry, where I first lived, but it turns out that my father was born in West Chester, where I did go. I wish I had known. This was his first home. 
And here he is, the baby, being held by my grandmother, Bernice,
whom I never had the pleasure to meet. Third from the left is Joyce,
Bernice’s sister, the same Joyce from August’s trip down memory lane.
Two of her children, the young man on the left and the teenage girl in
the middle, are the "double-cousins" I met that same day last summer.
Joyce has since passed, at a well-lived 96 or 97, as have many of the
folks in this photo, including my father’s older brother and sister,
his uncle and his grandmother. My grandfather was undoubtedly the one
behind the camera — photography was his chosen hobby. I know, funny
that I married a photographer, but I only have one memory of my
grandfather, so it’s sadly just a coincidence.
Anyhow, it looks like I’ll have even more exploring to do in
Pennsylvania one day. It turns out my dad remembers all of his old
addresses.
Across
the country and back again in one day plus. I had just enough time
outdoors to snap a photo of this dancing flower outside the
Philadelphia airport. It’s got some serious moves — the same sort of
joyfulness I was going for with the mum print below. I was happy to
see that flowers break-dance in nature the way they do in my
imagination.
I had the limo driver take this other picture. Look at that lush green
grass and those trees. Those trees! I should have packed a picnic and
a good book.
I had a great time, though. Pennsylvania was green and friendly.
The historical buildings and countryside farms on the East — they
drive me batty — love the details and the stories. I did, however,
make it safely past the rental car booths and onto my engagement.
I’ll save the Cranberry caper for another trip.
Here’s a true find. Who starts their own shoe
company? Amazing.
These polkadotties are all Carrie Miner’s doing.
They’re called Puddle Jumpers. Carrie is a single mom of two adopted
daughters from China. She runs her shoe business out of Utah and has
an incredible story. We spoke on the phone a few weeks back and I was
so impressed. If your daughter/niece/ grandaughter isn’t sporting
polkadot mary janes yet, then it’s about time, don’t you think? Wow.
And Adorn. Boy am I late on this one. You guys have been telling
me for weeks to go check out the Summer 07 issue of Adorn for a happy
Freshcut™ surprise. You were right. They did an article where four
designers interpretted the same bag pattern, all using my fabrics. And
look, designer No. 4 was none other than the fabulous Ms.
Congdon. Lisa, is this the project you emailed me
about a while back? Wow, so look at all those fabrics there and I
didn’t even do the sewing. Yes, this issue’s still on newstands — great magazine, by the way.
Is it the first week of June already? Whoa.
I’m leaving town again tomorrow. I’m heading to Pennsylvania for a day.
And,
I’m being zapped by the nostalgia fairy. She gets me good every now
and then. I was born in Pittsburgh and spent the first few years of my
life in town called Cranberry (was that the name, Dad?). We lived in a
big yellow house with a stream running through the backyard. I rode
Spin-outs (a type of Big Wheel?)
in the basement with my brothers, ate fresh snap-peas in the garden,
hunted for turtles in the front yard, kept a glass hotel for fireflies,
walked to my tap-dance class down the street and only caught rare
glimpses of my pet cat, Zeek.
I had a photographic memory as a child — they called me "Finder Girl," because I could find any misplaced thing
by "flipping through the pictures in my mind," as I described it. I
could tell my parents exactly where to go. That memory situation left
me with unusually clear recollections of a time that most folks don’t
remember, including many memories of being in my crib. We moved away
from Pennsylvania when I was only four years old and that state’s had a
golden glow in my mind ever since.
It’s been a life dream to make my way back there to cross-reference my
memories with reality. The whole "someday I’ll take a trip to
Pennsylvania" thing. And here I am, finally setting foot in
Pennsylvania, but with no time set aside for exploring. I’m a bit
weirded out. Does this make any sense? I’m feeling a tad oh-my- I’m-going-to-Pennsylvania and a bit dang-I’m-skipping-the-dream-part — all at once.
Worthy of a post? Hmmm. Maybe not. I do think I’ll be heading
there again. Exploring my childhood haunts is on my short list of life
goals. But, I can’t deny I’ll be eyeing the rental car booth at the
airport and calculating the added expense of extending my stay.
I had myself a nice break from the computer to visit the far away land
of Outside. My friend, Katy, brought over some fresh eggs from her
backyard hen, pretty blue eggs worthy of photographing with a sprig of
lantana.
And I must have needed a serious break, because I was paparazzi-ing
those eggs like they were Lindsay Lohan. A great excuse to enjoy a bit
of sun and a rest on our increasingly green grass (we hired a yard
guy). One thing I can say about the desert is watch out for those flowers — you’ve never seen such intense colors.
There’s nothing sweeter than a new little baby. And our family now has two new cuddly creatures to get to know – one niece and one nephew, both born last week. Laura gave birth to baby Luke on April 15th. Here’s a photo of Lily snuggled up to her long- awaited baby brother. Their family went through a couple of adoption disappointments and a battery of treatments before a successful attempt at in vitro. We’re all relieved and thrilled to have Luke here. I hear Lily will even hold Luke through her mom’s entire shower. Big sisters are the best!
Rachel (another of Isaac’s sisters) & Pip had baby Harper Lee on April 12th. Does her name sound familiar? Harper Lee was the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. I have yet to see her beautiful face, but Rachel did send me some diaper photos a couple weeks back. Do you see her enthusiasm for her new little daughter in the glorious execution of these homemade diapers? I do. They’re beautiful. They make cloth-diapering almost tempting : )
Harper is Rachel’s fifth child and first girl. Rachel is such a creative and nurturing soul — and hip as all get-out. She’s going to have so much fun dolling up her new baby. I’ll have to get her going on a blog so we can all be inspired.
Laura’s been busy prepping for baby Luke the last few weeks as well. You have GOT to check out his Scotty-Dog quilt (looks like there’s a bit of it in the photo above) and matching doll, and Laura’s hand-dyed onesie remakes (there’s a tutorial too). Lots of love for these new little babies.