One more Moore

It was so good...

 I bought Chris tickets for his birthday in June and we went last night (really it was a gift to me). I can't believe we've been listening to them for nearly 20 years. The boys were...SO GOOD. The last time we saw them was in Boston 4+ years ago. I was 9 months pregnant. We had no name for the bun in the oven. It was at the Trashcan Sinatras concert that we decided on the name 'Henry'. We had high hopes going into last nights concert that we'd feel some major Trashcan Sinatras inspiration for a name for this bun in the oven. Nothing yet- but these things take time. The only downfall was that not a single song from the album "Cake" was played, which is like one of their best albums... everyone wanted "Obscurity Knocks" but alas...nothing from Cake. My favorite TCS song? Well, that's like picking a favorite child but, since you asked, it's this. Just wanted to leave you a little Sinatras on this Thursday afternoon.

Our weekend in pictures

A trip on the trolley in San Diego.
So much to see. Resting our feet. Holding on tight. Snuggling (so much excitement can be exhausting.)

Our favorite uncle Matt.
We rode until the end of the line (Old Town), turned around and came back. A big thrill for this 4 year old. A surprise for the long drive home.

Artful Blogging

I was contacted by an editor of Artful Blogging last Spring asking if I'd be willing to write an article for their publication. "Hells, bells, YES!" I said. I've been a long time fan of this gorgeous magazine and was thrilled at the thought it. My article is about how to be more artful in your blog. For me, who is not a natural writer (I married one instead) it was a bit tough, I'm not gonna lie. I mean, I went over the deadline. It made my brain hurt trying to think of what to even say. But in the end, I think I was able to eek out a few little nuggets of goodess. I hope I was at least. While I have had patterns published in books before (I always forget to mention those in this space) I've never had my own photographs or words published. Is is silly to say that I am, oh I don't know...BEAMING WITH PRIDE??? The images look so much better in print than here on my blog. They did an amazing job putting this issue together. I laid in bed last night pouring over every single page. This is issue #3 Aug/Sept/Oct and should (I think..) already be out on newstands. I'm always able to find it at Joanne or check your local bookstore. You can see more of other artists that are featured in the magazine by clicking here. Thanks for letting me gloat. I'm sure I'll be over myself by end of day. It might ooze over into the weekend. Surely by the time Chris gets back in town. Monday, Monday at the absolute latest. Maybe.

Puzzle problem: solved!

I was cleaning out/organizing Henry's closet on Monday and found these puzzles. I almost never get them down because the pieces get everywhere (usually falling on me while trying to pull them down from the shelf.) I was ready to toss them into the Goodwill bag. Everything was going into the bag of things that 'little boys and girls need more than you do'. I'm feeling so irritable lately in my pregnant state and feeling like I don't have any room in my life for excess 'stuff'.  But the children fell in love with them all over again and begged to keep them. I am not against puzzles, just irritated with puzzles whose pieces don't stay in.
 The only solution: puzzle bags, of course. It was the only option that I could think of that wouldn't take up any additional space, but that would keep all the pieces contained (I am not normally so neurotic).  I used only fabrics from my stash (we only needed 5 bags anyway) and just purchased the cord which is very inexpensive. Little hands that can't wait to get the puzzles out of their new bags. While I was not too irritated to make the puzzle bags, I was too irritated to change to white thread. So there. At least you can see how it was done. I just button-holed the fabric before hemming and making the casing for the cord. I measured the bags this way: About an extra inch on each side and roughly 4" on the top (seen here on the far left).

Okay, I'm off to being mildly irritable.

Happy Thursday!

Summer is... Coldwater Canyon Park

Splashing for hours in the water,

contemplating the state of the world.
Dinner is totally overrated and not nearly as fun as Coldwater Canyon.

Lulu's Party Skirt

Our little friend Louisa is turning 2 and I think a party skirt is definitely in order. She's a blond haired cutie patootie and so you can imagine my relief when I found that I had just enough of this butter yellow linen in my stash to make her a skirt. Phew. I wanted to make her skirt using fabrics from my existing stash. The problem is that I don't have enough of most fabrics to make any clothing. Good thing that little people clothes don't require much. I had to make the skirt according to what I had which was only a 10" length of the yellow linen. That meant it was going to need a bit of a patchwork border (and yes, that brown polka dot seems to show up in a lot of my projects these days. It's one of my fav's and I'm sad to report that my stash of it is nearly gone!) Not knowing her exact measurements, I had to take a bit of a guess, but I think the length will be okay. She is  a bit of a tiny thing, so the waist may need to be taken in a little.  I didn't follow a pattern for this, but wrote down directions  as I went so I can pass them along to you, that is if you want to make your own party skirt (You totally do!) I'll get that up later this week. 

All packed up and ready to go. I hope she likes it!

He wanted them so badly

(Glasses from F 21)
So I bought them for him.
He wore them all afternoon while we walked around The Grove/Farmers Market. He insisted on posing with the cheese so you would all think he was Ratatouille.

One week ago today...

Pihoto from last nights 'mallow roasting at the beach.

My uncle passed away. Mom came out to stay on Saturday to take care of all the details. He was her brother. My uncle Lenn.  They were very close. There are so many things that have to be done. Paperwork. Calls to the coroners office. Decisions you never think you'll have to make. Decisions you don't want to have to make. Things that make the grieving process even harder. 

I keep thinking back to that day- remembering how it was for me and what I was doing.  I had to take Henry to the Dr. for a follow-up on some shots and then we had to drive somewhere else for him to get blood drawn. It took forever- several hours. The traffic was horrid. The 2 appointments weren't anywhere near each other.  I snapped those pictures of Henry in the glasses at the Dr's office. We came home exhausted and that night I hung out with the girls, watching a chick flick, when everything happened.

My uncle was here, at our home 3 months ago along with Mom. We went to the beach two days in a row. I can't find any of the pictures I took of him. He was feeding Kate watermelon on a beach blanket and chuckling at the crazy antics of a very curious 4-year old. We were going to go to dinner. He was a vegetarian. My Mom can't eat anything with flour. I remember laughing & thinking 'where on earth am I going to take them??' We settled on a little cafe up in Westwood Village. He had a vegetarian panini with tomato soup which he absolutely loved.

A year ago in May. days before Kate was due, he lost his wife unexpectedly. I remember being so pregnant. Here I was waiting to bring a little life into the world, while others were losing theirs. And mere hours after we learned of her passing, we received another call that my cousins 25 year old wife had passed, leaving 2 babies behind.  What was happening?

And here I am again, growing and waiting for another baby. Waiting to bring another life into the world while another life is leaving it. I think he died of a broken heart, not knowing how much he was loved. Truely loved. I think he knows now. He was kind and intuitive. He had a Masters Degree in Social Work. He cared for others deeply. He was tender-hearted and generous. The papers had it wrong. He was not a transient. It hurt to even read it. That someone would even assume, not knowing the facts, but so eager to put to print.

But we miss him and we love him. Always will.

Sacks are in the shop!

Sacks are now available! Click here!

All manner of sacks

There is a lot of 'sack' making going on around here. I was downtown in the fabric district earlier this week and discovered they'd just come in with a whole new line of oilcloth patterns.  I couldn't resist them. I haven't had lunch sacks in the shop for a while (I was a little burned out on lunch sacks) but am glad to be making them again. I'm crazy about all the new designs (the turquoise cherries are oh so good!!) I have a few of each pattern and will have them in the shop on Thurs (tomorrow) around 12:00 PST.

We are off to the beach for some bonfires, dogs,  sunset & smores
 (very much needed by the way.)

Happy Wednesday!