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Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

The Chiffon Dancing Skirt (with Cut-On Waist!)

I got the idea for this skirt from the most recent issue of Threads magazine.  There’s an article in the issue about making a layered chiffon skirt… for an adult.  I’m totally digging the idea of riffing on commercial patterns rather than being totally beholden to them.  I made a couple of modifications to the instructions but basically followed the steps outlined to create a tiny version for Chase.  

I reduced the number of channels in the waistband down to two.  I love the simplicity of the cut-on waistband.  You just can’t get any easier than that and the look of this skirt is perfect for the application.  I may have skimped a little when putting in the elastic for the waist so I hope it fits her come spring.

I used a really simple girls’ skirt pattern.  The whole project took me about a day to complete during nap-time and after bed.  It was a fun project except that even though the fabric store has a pretty good selection of colors, I didn’t like any of them.  I managed to find some that I thought worked together but it wasn’t easy.  

Now, somebody buy me a steamer.  AND I need some ideas for what to do with some seersucker that I bought at A Fabric Place with a cute, summery print on it.  

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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Retail Therapy

On Saturday we took that family trip to IKEA. Since then I’ve been trying to put all the jazz I bought to use so I don’t have to spend the next 6 weeks feeling guilty about buying a lot of stuff for projects I’ll never get to. So far so good.

Ok, so these didn’t come from IKEA.  We dropped our car off at Sears for an oil change while we shopped and on the way up and out of the store I saw these.  My new slippers!  They’re the best.. the best!  Not to mention that all their Land’s End stuff was on sale PLUS an additional 30% off.  They were virtually free.  That makes them extra cozy.

How cute are these?  I stuffed them full of all of the miscellaneous items that float around on Chase’s dresser.  

I bought  plant stand to add a little height and interest to my not-dead plants in the living room.  I think planty likes it.

I hid a bunch of DVD’s inside the storage boxes and the baskets are full of bits of stuff that used to lie on the shelves collecting dust.  It’s hard to get a good shot but the new scheme appears to be working.  

Today we had to get out of the house for a while so I dropped some stuff off at the thrift store… and then poked around inside to replace my junk with someone else’s.  I found a cool guitar for Chase that’s just the right size for 3 bucks.  

I found this cute little wooden frog toy that Ben is trying to teach her to give massages with.  

I also picked up the slate and the counting bears but they didn’t come from the thrift store.  They’re not counting beard, they’re farm animals but the concept is the same.  I’m have some ideas for fun activities to do with them.

We got these new toys for the bath too.  Up until today, our bath toys consisted of nesting cups and rubber ducks so I thought these would be a nice addition.  They’re just foam and they stick to the side of the tub with water.  Finally, is this picture I took tonight of Ben.  I’ve been struggling with this new lens I got because it’s not autofocus compatible with the particular camera body that I have.  For some reason though I haven’t been using my external flash and have been trying to shoot with whatever lighting is available.  Well, I put some batteries in my flash and it turns out that um, I should have been using it all along.  I don’t know what I was thinking about.

 

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Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Handmade Gift Ideas :: It’s a Wrap

I sent one package out yesterday and I’ll send another tomorrow which will bring my holiday projects officially to a close.  One set of nieces are getting custom headbands on their own ring for hanging and a couple of extra hair ties.  Our nephews are getting clipboards and crayon rolls for sketching their surroundings and/or keeping a nature journal.  

This is the second time I’ve put these headbands together.  I just think that the whole concept of using a hair tie to add the stretch is totally brilliant and simple.   I think they’re cute and girls like headbands.. right?

The felt crayon rolls turned out pretty well too.  Each roll holds 10 crayons and the ribbon holds the roll closed and to the metal clip on the clipboard.

I have a few more things to do tomorrow and then there’s only a short workweek standing between me and the holiday!  I’m really looking forward to it and Chase is totally ready.  We made sugar cookies today.  

 

And now some too dark pictures of Chase being all Audrey Hepburn

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Thursday, November 6th, 2008

I Don’t Like This Game Anymore

When I decided to commit to posting everyday this month I didn’t factor in 10 and 11 hour days.  For months it felt like I was just a warm body in the office and then all of a sudden my days are just stuffed full of work, flooded with papers and calls.  That’s overstating the situation a little but not much.  I was at work at 7 and didn’t call it quite until well after 5.  The good news is I’m getting plenty of good experience.  People say things to me like I know you learned this for the bar exam and I smile and nod and then become very, very anxious.  Scores are coming you know.  

I’ve also been told that I am free to bring Chase to work with me whenever.  My boss seems to think that this is a good idea.  I’d say that it’s because he’s never met her before but that’s not entirely true.  He just hasn’t had the opportunity to see Chase in a room that’s just chock full of paper.  What she doesn’t use to practice her letters will be “organized” re-sorted into new “piles” or less than gently moved to clear surfaces.  Chase is still big into letters and did you know you can watch chicka chicka boom boom on youtube in case you need something to do away from home?  She does a lot of practicing reading and writing and is starting to be able to identify and say a lot of letters, she really likes her letter magnets.  

Here she is writing.

Sometimes she likes to write with her friends around.  In this picture they’re lined up in order of preference.  The camel, woof, the cow and… the rest of them.  I think koala would be somewhere between the camel and the penguin.  She’s very particular about these friends.  The cow and the dog sleep in a miniature pumpkin bucket every night.  

 

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Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

The Anti Foodie Patty Melt

Well I totally blew it already.  I was so wrapped up in the election returns that I alternately remembered and forgot and then ultimately went to bed without posting.  So much for everyday for the month of November.  In any event, things are good around these parts.  Ben was out of bed yesterday at 6am to make sure he was first in line to cast his vote.  I didn’t get to the polls until 12 hours later but I did my part too.  We were glued to our tv (and sadly the computer too) the whole night.  So much excitement and now anticipation oh what’s to come.  

I’ve just got word from a friend that used to live in the neighborhood that she’s opened a shop on etsy.  I’ve checked it out and her stuff is super cute.  I want to introduce you to her soon… like just in time for Christmas.  I can’t do it now though because I’m stupid tired and have to be at work again tomorrow at the crack of dawn.  I should really be in bed right now.  Work is good too.  I’m doing lots of stuff that sounds important, is new to me, but specially reserved for those of us waaaay at the bottom of the totem pole.  When I get home I throw around words like oral exam, confessed judgment and stipulation.  Ben likes it.  

About those anti foodie patty melts.  Another planless dinner.  I had ground turkey in the fridge as well as some fresh mozzarella.  I ran into Trader Joe’s and picked up some of the ricotta that Erin recommended (although I now realize that I forgot the frickin prosciutto.)  I was thinking I would make a quick skillet lasagne from cook’s illustrated but remembered that we had pasta last night.  Plan b?  Burgers!  But why oh why hadn’t I just thought of that in the first place and bought buns when I was at the market?  Plan c, patty melts, because I have toast bread (that’s what we call sandwich bread at our house).  I seasoned the meat simply and made large flatish patties.  When the patties were cooked through I removed them from the pan.  Then I buttered several slices of bread and put a slice of provolone on one half and a slice of cheddar on the other.  Then, and this is the real anti foodie part, I put a squirt of ketchup on the provolone and put the patty back in the middle.  Then I toasted the whole mess like a grilled cheese.  I served it with steamed broccoli (sans tiny green worms thank you very much) and french fries from the freezer.  Chase ate exactly one bite of turkey burger but the grown folks cleaned their plates.  

 

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Monday, October 27th, 2008

Halloween! Almost.

Phase two of the peep costume is complete! I was barely able to convince her to try it on. I was seriously concerned that the whole endeavor was going to end up being a huge waste of time but she eventually let me get her into it though I didn’t get the crotch velcroed shut as you can see. It’s a little tight there I might have to extend it somehow. I don’t know, I’ll figure it out.  You can see the original post about it here.

Getting it on her was kind of critical at this point since I neither measured her before starting nor fit her in it at any earlier time. If I hadn’t been able to get it on her I would have had to start all over again. Because I could never remember to actually measure her and I was running out of time I used her monkey pyjamas (with feet!) to estimate the size.

Also, I bought her the black shirt to go under her costume and can I just say that I am so ready for her to take ballet lessons?

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Sunday, October 26th, 2008

New Shoes and Art Blast

Chase got a pair of new shoes today.  When I’m not in the market for new baby shoes I see tons of cute styles in all the stores but as soon as I’m actually ready to shell out for them I can’t seem to find anything that will do.  We tried Nordtrom yesterday they had a couple of different styles but they had might as well have just had two pairs of loafers, one in brown and one in black in terms of available cuteness.  I ended up buying an ok looking pair for way more than I wanted to spend because any price is too much to pay for something you don’t actually want.  I feel the same way about buying stuff you don’t need because you have coupon.  Anyway, they’re super cute and what I was looking for, I’m happy, she’s happy.  

I’ve been buying Stride Rite shoes for her since she started walking and I’m really happy with them.  The shoes, while not fabulously cute, strike a good balance between appearance and comfort.  The shoes are both sensible and durable and I haven’t heard any complaints from the wee one yet.  They make all of their shoes in wide widths that accommodate her fat little feet.  In spite of all that I still sometimes, as I do in all similar circumstance, question whether or not it’s really worth the extra money.  I have decided that it is.

I base my conclusion on a pair of patent leather mary janes that I picked up at Target.  The shoes are cute but they’re the first and only pair that gave her a blister.  The shoes are the right size but as soon as they were on she started complaining that she didn’t want to walk.  Sure enough, there was a blister on her foot by the end of the day.  That was enough to satisfy me, particularly since I discovered the Stride Right outlet at Arundel Mills.  Lots of good deals there and plenty of selection. 

Our neighborhood has many faults BUT today I was extra happy to be here.  We stumbled upon Art Blast at the BMA which ended up being a totally awesome way to spend an absolutely beautiful fall Sunday afternoon.  It was nice so we walked over to the playground.  We could hear loud music that sounded like a concert.  After swinging for about 2 minutes she decided it had to be investigated.  Of course, by the time we got down and up the other side of the park the band was playing their last number but no matter; the whole street was closed off and set up for big art projects to celebrate the museum’s newest installation.  We ran into some friends, did a little sidewalk chalk and then a big drawing that we turned into a button.  Have I mentioned that I’m really big on having fun for free?  

I haven’t posted a recipe in eons but I have one, maybe two in the works.  In the meantime, I made this fake trifle.  There’s no recipe for it.  It’s just a quick way to use up leftover cake.  I had intended to make a luscious version that I saw on Everyday Food but when it came down to it I just needed something sweet and quick.  I just cut the cake into small pieces and layered it in the cup with whipped cream, topped with berries and a little more cream and ate.  It was good though and looked really nice… made Ben jealous that I didn’t make him one, hee.  

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Friday, October 10th, 2008

Elated

Really, I am.  I just got an email today informing me that the jumper I made for Chase a while back was selected for publication in this book!  I can hardly believe it and I’m so totally thrilled.  Law school really got me thinking about getting published somewhere.  I always thought it would be something accademic but this is much cooler.  So now I’m waiting for the fabric that’s been selected for the book sample.  I have to finalize the instructions and remake the jumper using that fabric.     

Oh, and I can post again because Ben hooked me up with a loaner computer until mine is back from the shop.  This thing is a beast!  We use it as a print server and… wait, I shouldn’t say anything bad about it lest it konk out on me too.  The point is I can check my email again and that makes me happy.

On the work front things are pretty good.  I’ve been tasked with a lot of lawyer type things to do lately.  I think I crossed that invisible threshhold that moves you from the new kid to co-worker.  Not a single thing changed between this week and last but all of a sudden I have lots of work to do, email to write calls to return.  A little down time is nice but it’s also good to feel like there’s a purpose behind schlepping your butt to work everyday.

I posted a while back about this quick little headband project I found on someone’s blog.  I can’t give credit where credit is due because I have no clue without my bookmarks where I found it.  It’s a cute project though and I’m going to make more.  It’s not the best picture but it takes about 100 years to upload a single photo so it’s abotu as good as it’s going to get for now.

From Project

 

I was also tagged by Kayris here, so without furtrher ado… Six Random Things

1) I have a bionic nose.  I can smell anything… anything from far, far away.  I used to have bionic ears too.

2) I don’t like candy and ice cream and I don’t like chocolate.  It’s not so much that I don’t like it.  I can eat a nice piece of dark chocolate or a scoop of vanilla every now and then but I’m a fruit desserts kind of a girl.  I’ll always pick lemon bars, apple pie or strawberry shortcake over any of the above mentioned items. 

3) I am so addicted to my morning coffee that if I don’t have it by 9 I’ll either a) kill you b) be too weak to kill you but really say really bitchy things c) be so weak that I can only yell bitchy things at you from a horizontal position.

4) After 8 years of higher education I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up and I secretly love being a student.

5) I have a lot of Indigo Girls CD’s… a lot.

6) I know the lyrics to almost every song on the radio.

I have a few more things to write about but there’s a bottle of Coke upstairs that’s calling me.  We can’t buy soda for this very reason.  If it’s here no one can rest until it’s gone.  Hopefully I’ll get to writing about this past week’s menu plan tomorrow and start thinking about one for next week.  MommyK, I’ve got some turkey on deck too… we need to brainstorm.

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Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

The Suede Mini

I love this skirt.  There’s nothing special about it.  It’s just a slightly tapered tube with an elastic waste… but I love it.  The best part about it is that I didn’t actually buy the fabric.  I probably never would have picked a micro suede for Chase but someone gave it to me and now I think it’s cute and ironic.  She was really excited about it too.  She actually let me take pictures of her.  This is new over the last couple of days.  All of a sudden she’s all standing at the top of the stairs saying ‘cheese!’  I don’t know what changed but something clicked somewhere.  

I hate… HATE rolled hems.  To avoid turning the raw edge under a 1/4 inch I used hem tape.  I’ve never used hem tape, I didn’t take any time to even really think about how one might go about using hem tape.  I don’t even know why I had lavender hem tape mixed in with my stuff.  The technique is definitely something to investigate it made having a finished look on the hem so stinking easy.  

I topstitched a little detail around the hem in green.  The skirt is supposed to go with the cute little kimono style top (Vogue7894) that I cut out of this sweet turtle print.  I’m psyched to finally put this top together but he fact that I bought it years before I had any concept of Chase because I loved it so much is adding a little unnecessary pressure to get the job done… well.  Hopefully I can get it done this weekend.  I took the night off tonight for Project Runway.  There were almost as many tears on that show tonight as there were the night and day before Chelsea’s wedding.  Damn, I still need to write about that too.  Gotta put it on my to do list for tomorrow.  

 

And I’m thinking a lot of skirts this fall, we’re going to need more tights or better yet leggings.  Where can I get cute tights or leggings that won’t break the bank?

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Monday, September 15th, 2008

Oh, Target

The place is so evil.  I went in for a case that will hold the portable dvd player over the back of the passenger seat.  I got the case, and a cartload of other nonsense too only to get home and find out that I bought a case for a 7.5 inch dvd player not an 8.5 inch one.  That being said they have a lot of great deals on stuff right now.  They are practically giving away school supplies.  They had great Faber-Castell products, things like watercolors and these cute chunky eco-friendly colored pencils, on clearance for a song.  I picked up one of everything they had for our trip and a bunch of cutsie notebooks for drawing.

 A quick swing through the clothes turned up some really cute dresses and a sweet pair of patterned tights that miraculously match all of them.  AND I found a headband that she approves of and doesn’t rip off her head.  

The most interesting thing about today was that Chase was perfectly happy to run the pre-trip errands that I had to take care of today.  Lately she none to happy to be strapped into her carseat and fusses like mad in stores.  Today though, not a peep.  I did stop at the playground before starting the errand-running but I swear it’s not the first time that I’ve tried that.  It was so nice to be able to think for once in a store or in the car.  I vaguely remember when it was like this all the time.  Now I have to make yet another trip to return the case I bought today and I feel like I’m probably pushing my luck to spend yet another day errand running.  

I wish I had something to write about the great things that I did today but aside from taking care of the shopping I was a total bum.  I barely even made dinner.  We’re expecting a ‘delivery’ tomorrow though so I won’t be able to do so much slacking.

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