Hello, Lover!

In between rounds of Fruit Ninja, Play-Doh fun, and having mini dance parties (ok, this last one is just me...and Dance Central), I broke out one of my Christmas presents and messed up the kitchen a bit. Nothing major. Just a lot of chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to get a feel for my new kitchen toy and since chocolate chip cookies are always in demand in this household (mainly by Brett, the Munchkin doesn't know any better...yet) I figured it wouldn't hurt to try to whip up a batch...or two...or three. Cause y'know, I gotta see how well this mixer can handle cookie dough.

I'm hoping that maybe next weekend I can really have a go at it and see what this bad boy can do. Brett had to work all weekend and was stuck doing work related things when he wasn't actually working, and since the Munchkin has yet to reach that stage where he can be occupied for longer than 5 minutes (if that) at a time, I really didn't want to try anything adventurous in case my attention was needed elsewhere...like when said three year old just needs me to watch him make his Mario stuffed doll toy (Brett was very adamant that boys don't play with dolls...they play with "toys" or "figurines") do death defying stunts off the window sill in the living room. Yeah, not really a good time to say, have condensed milk boiling away on the stove and you're waiting for the right temperature before it's considered burned. Or to have a bowl full of egg whites whipping away until it's at "stiff peaks".

Brett's still worried that I don't love my new mixer. Or even like it. I know, he's crazy. He thinks the fact that it's a black Classic stand mixer and not the Komen pink Artisan stand mixer that I've been lusting after forever, is the reason why I would shoo it away. Um...why would anyone who likes to bake, in their right mind, turn down a stand mixer? Any kind of Kitchen Aid stand mixer at that?? Yes, it's not my beloved pink. True, it won't matched the rest of my kitchen stuff. Yes, it's not the Artisan. But the thing is, I've always wanted a stand mixer to call my very own since high school. There have been several times where I myself have almost purchased the black Artisan because it was on sale at a very, very, VERY good price. But had to practice restraint due to the fact that I spent my budget on yarn. So as you can see, black was my next choice anyways.

I still remember my Mom's mixer, she's had it since the 70s and it's this weird browny green mustard colour and after how many decades it's still going strong. She used to churn out six loaves of banana bread at a time. I used to come home from school to the amazing smell of baking banana bread and find at least twelve loaves cooling away on our kitchen table. Don't worry, they weren't all for us. All my aunts, uncles, and cousins used to circle our house like hungry vultures whenever they caught wind that my mom was making unusually large banana purchases. Sadly, my mom no longer bakes banana bread. This fact makes me cry.

So I'm making it my mission this year to perfect my mom's banana bread recipe (if I can get it out of her head, that is...after over 20 years of baking at least six loaves every couple of months I'm sure the recipe has been tweaked and embedded in your brain). Another mission: to perfect the Madeleine cookie. I read somewhere that you should have a dish that you are known for. That you should pick a recipe and own it. Whilst I have yet to perfect lasagne (although, I'm rethinking that dish and wondering if I should pick something else...since technically the recipe given to me came from my friend Tyler, who seriously kills it), I think I could master the Madeleine. As if my plate wasn't full enough (ha ha ha...) I'm thinking of also getting down a marshmallow recipe down pat too. Over the holidays when the Rice Krispy treats were flying around here, a few mini marshmallows may have gone rogue. The Munchkin has developed a liking to them (yet doesn't like the regular sized marshmallows...so weird). I'm not really thrilled with him eating such soft pillows of corn by-products and stuff that I can't pronounce, and figured that if he's going to eat such things then I should make him a somewhat better-for-him version of it. Like using kosher gelatin. It would just make me feel a whole lot better about it all.

Completely off topic but topical to this blog, I've also been busy knitting away. I even had my first FO of the year come fresh off the needles last week! I have a few other projects pretty close to be done too. I'm so excited! I even wound up a few skeins of yarn when I woke up this morning. I think a new yarn winder and possibly a swift is in my near future. I've had my yarn winder for a few years now and it has served me very well, but now I think it's on its last leg of life. The poor thing can no longer handle anything heavier than a DK weight yarn (if I'm lucky), and has been winding up pretty messy cakes. You can just hear the contraption struggling to wind. As for my swift, it was my first major knitterly purchase (other than my interchangeable needles set) and it too has done its job for me fairly well. Unfortunately it can't handle the weight of yarn any more and needs the key to be jimmied with some tissue to make it stick. I think I can rig it so that it can last a few more months or at least bug Brett to make me one. I'm thinking the winder is on top of the priority list between the two and I'm hoping that with all this money that I'm "saving" from being on a yarn diet will be able to aid me in the purchase of a new winder. Anyone have any recommendations for a winder that can handle heavy use? I'd give my left nut for this one.

Anyhoo, I'm hoping to get some photos taken this week to show you some of my current WIPs and my lonely FO. The dreary grey weather that we've been having lately has put quite the damper on my photo taking opportunities. Today is suppose to be a nice day, but we'll see if I'll be able to get away long enough to snap a few pics. In the meantime, I have some yarn calling my name.

Poufs

Image via

Ever since I had spotted these on a random blog (sorry, I was link happy at the time and completely forgot to take note which blog I was reading!!) sometime over the summer, I've been obsessed. Seriously. Obsessed. I can't stop thinking about them and how I want one! Actually, I would love to have a whole room filled with them.

What are they? They're Urchin Poufs by Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma. She hand knits these eco-friendly chunky poufs that takes around 6 weeks to complete. And that's per pouf! They are sooo simply gorgeous and comfy looking, don't you think?

Image via

Here's the designer herself knitting up a pouf. Look at the size of her knitting needles! Look at that huge pile of yarn! Look at how happy she looks knitting up one of these bad boys. When I first started knitting I was all about the chunky knits. The chunkier the better, was my motto. Obviously I have deviated away from that, judging from the current pullover that I have on the needles that is being knit up in tiny sock yarn on equally tiny needles. I'm still all about the chunky knits, but have realized that I can't wear them myself lest I look like a teapot wearing a cozy. I still gravitate towards ultra bulky yarn (I seriously drool over Cascade Magnum!). So check out how Christien winds up her handmade yarn:

Image unknown

Pure craziness, huh? And just to show you how big these Poufs really are, here's the designer sitting on one of her creations:

Image via

I can go on and on and on posting photos of her amazing work and process. But I won't. As much as I would love to own an original, I really can't afford to dish out €1600 for one (or €480 for the smallest version!). So I have been searching the Internets (and Ravelry!) for patterns in hopes of making one myself. It won't be the same, but maybe it'll help me get over this obsession. I've found a few promising patterns and have a few yarns in mind that I can try out. I'm dying to cast on for one pronto, but I'm promised myself that I wouldn't start any new projects until I complete a current WIP. But the wheels are turning I tell ya. Turning!!

So stay tuned. There may be posts about poufs on this blog sometime in the (near) future!

WIP: Knitted Log Cabin Blanket

Oohh...a knitting WIP that I had completely forgotten to blog about! I'll make up for it by blogging about it now. At the beginning of last month I felt utterly compelled to knit up a blanket for some weird reason. And not just any blanket. A log cabin style blanket. I'm thinking this is due to the lack of sewing time that I've been allowed to have. I've been thinking a lot about quilts lately (must be the cool weather coming upon us), and how there are several quilts that I would love to sew up and add to my (non-existent) collection. But since I haven't been able to do much, if any, sewing and the evil troll that lives below me shows no sign of moving out, I've been left daydreaming about these quilts rather than making them.

Then I flipped through this book, which then lead to me tossing the stash and rummaging around trying to find something that I could knit up a blanket with. I didn't want to have to go and buy more yarn for this project, especially since I wanted to spend my yarn moola on yarn that would eventually turn into clothing. I went through all my stash hiding spots and discovered a big storage bag full of yarn that I had bought when I was a beginner and didn't know any better. Meaning, it was a big bag full of cheap craft store acrylic. As I've mentioned in this post, I don't think I'm a yarn snob, but after working with such lovely and/or luxurious yarns in past projects, I find that going back to the cheap stuff is extremely hard to do. Don't get me wrong, not all craft store acrylics should be treated the same, there are actually quite a few out there that are great to work with.

Anyways, in my bag of acrylics I came across a bunch of Vanna's Choice in colours that would go great together. And wouldn't you know it, they would also coordinate perfectly with the colour scheme of my son's bedroom. I wasn't quite sure how to use the colours (I only had 4), so I did some sketches and this is the one that I liked best:

Once I got the colour schematics sorted, I immediately cast on. So far this blanket has been immensely satisfying, and gives quite the accomplishment "high" that you get when you finish something. Not to mention that this simple pattern and knitting is very addictive. Each time I finish a strip, I get that rush of accomplishment before I quickly pick up stitches for the next strip. The photo at the beginning of this post is a lie. I took that photo shortly after I had started the blanket. I'm a bit further along than that now, although the blanket is nowhere near able to cover even a toddler sized bed. Mind you, I haven't been working on it steadily. My goal is to knit at least 2 rows a day, and hopefully it'll get done by the end of the year.

My plan is to use up all the yarn in the colours I'm using, which isn't much - just 3 skeins per colour, and not buy any more. So whatever size I get by the end of all this yarn is the size the blanket will be. I can't wait for this blanket to be finished! Not only am I able to practice my continental style knitting, but I get to use up the acrylic yarn that I had no idea what to do with. This blanket can help me use it up and get it out of the stash. Yay for the two-fer! With that said, I should go knit my 2 rows of the day!

Mommy Moments

I've been battling with the nastiest cold known to mankind for the past week and a bit. I just started to feel somewhat better yesterday! I'm just glad that neither Brett or the Munchkin caught it. Last thing I need is for this evil sickness to recycle itself over and over in my household!

In the meantime I've been putting off all things crafty to the hour before my bedtime, and been busy doing my Mommy duties and have been (successfully!) trying to put the Munchkin down for both naps and bedtime without having to stay in the room/holding him for hours/lying down with him. Yes, I know, all bad habits that Brett and I have developed with our son. But we're trying to break out of it and so far it's been a week and has been going pretty darn well! But now that I've said that tonight might go all wrong for us at bedtime! Brett has had a slightly harder time than me with putting the Munchkin to bed. I normally give a ton of hugs and kisses while carrying the wee one to bed before firmly claiming it's bed/nap time, putting the Munchkin into bed, and shutting the door. Yes, there are tears but I wait 5 minutes before going in for the reassuring, but the crying never goes on long enough for me to have to go in, my baby is fast asleep! Yet Brett will usually have to go in 4-5 times before the Munchkin falls asleep. Poor Brett.

I've also been trying to wean the Munchkin off of the extra nursings. My goal is to continue breastfeeding him 'til he's at least 2 years old, but would now prefer to have to nurse him when he wakes up and before he goes to bed. Lately the little one has been shunning all solid foods (except for Digestive cookies) in favor of the breast, much to my dismay. So for the past few days I've been rubbing lemons over my nipples in hopes of getting rid of the extra and unnecessary feeds. It worked like a charm for the first day, but now my son is showing his utterly stubborn side and will wince/gag/suffer through the few seconds of the lemony tart grossness in order to get his boob! I'm a little hesitant about putting vinegar on my nipples, but if I want these excessive feeds to stop, I'm thinking I'm going to have to go that route.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Pink!

A few weeks ago my dear and wonderful friend Tai, who is an account manager for Dyson Canada, emailed to announce that they were doing a Friends & Family event and this time around the pink Breast Cancer model that I've been coveting ever since I first laid eyes on it, is included! Not only did I squeal and jumped up and down like a little school girl, but I emailed Tai and had put my order in pronto. The last week had been beyond excruciating waiting for the arrival of my new vacuum. But the wait was definitely worth it.

Yesterday afternoon, my new bundle of joy arrived at my doorstep. I didn't think I could get so unbelievably excited about a vacuum! Wow, how domesticated does that sound? I've been wanting a new vacuum for what feels like forever but had always put off getting one in favor of buying fabric and/or yarn. But now that I have a little one, having a super clean floor has moved up on my list of priorities. My old vacuum really sucked, actually, no, it didn't and that's why I needed a new one. I had even made buying a new vacuum as one of my 101 goals.

As soon as Brett handed me the box, I ripped it open, quickly assembled the vacuum and proceeded to vacuum the house with the old piece of crap. Why, when I had a perfectly new one in my midst? Cause I wanted to see what a lousy job it had been doing all these years. After a thorough clean with the old vacuum, I revved up the new pink Dyson and did a quick vacuum of the entire house all over again (the little one was not liking the fact that Mommy's attention was somewhere other than on him!).

W...O...W. I made sure I did a thorough job the first time around. Apparently not! The lovely Dyson had proved me wrong! Sorry for the dirt shot, but I was completely amazed. Wow...

Yes. I'm tickled pink in love!

My boys

I just had to share this...a couple of nights ago Brett decided to read bedtime stories and have quiet time before the kidlet's bedtime in our bed. I don't know how many stories were read or what they did exactly during the quiet time, all I know was that I had (finally) looked up from my knitting to realize that Brett hadn't made it downstairs yet and all was quiet in the house. I don't even know how many hours had passed until this realization (ahhh...to get lost in knitting). When I finally checked up on my boys, I found this:

I couldn't resist, it was too cute to not take a photo! And yes, my son fell asleep holding onto a tube of toddler toothpaste. Lately my Munchkin has been obsessed with his tube of toothpaste...well, anything that's in tube form if truth be told. While most kids are seen in their strollers clutching a favorite toy, my son is clutching a tube of toothpaste. Definitely marches to the beat of his own drum... And while on the topic of toys, the Munchkin has some realy nice ones courtesy of his 2 grandmas, but who needs toys when there are stairs in the house that need to be climbed...over and over and over??! When we let him, the wee one has quite the hey day climbing up the stairs as fast and as many times as he can. Oh yes, my son is a special one.

Finished: Edwin the Elephant Storage Basket

Another finished sewing project for the wee one's bedroom! This was actually sewn up over the Labour Day long weekend but I just never got the chance to take any photos of it until now.

The story behind this basket: when I was in Vancouver in July I had quickly stopped by an upscale children's boutique in Gastown and had spotted an über cute basket made from thick canvas with an elephant applique made from maybe cotton twill? The one I saw had a pink elephant but the sales girl was quick to tell me that it had also come in a blue version, but that they were sold out and should be getting more later in the week. Lucky for me though, cause I wouldn't have been able to get it anyways since I was on a strict budget for that trip (after all, I needed to get onto the ferry!). A few weeks later a friend was walking past that very store and had snapped a photo with her cell and sent it to me pronto.

I had been thinking about that basket ever since I saw it and knew it would be a perfect addition to the little one's room. His toys are getting out of hand and the current basket that holds his treasures is no longer sufficing. I didn't ask how much the basket was, being that it was in a pricey store, I figured it had probably cost a pretty penny. So I thought I would take my friend's photo and make one of my own. I already had the materials and I've made this style of basket before, so it was a done deal in my mind. Little did I know (had I actually looked around here locally), that a baby store here in Victoria carried that exact bin and that it was actually reasonably priced. I think they were selling it for either $40 or $50 CDN. Oh well. I had fun making this project and enjoy the fact that my little one's bedroom decorations are all Mommy-made. And who knows, maybe mine is of better quality? It is definitely made with more love, that's for sure. But I have to admit, I don't think making my own was any cheaper...maybe $10 or $15 less? Le sigh.

Anyhoo, my version is made from 10.5 oz cotton canvas with the elephant made out of Eco Felt, which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. I used Stitch Witchery to put the elephant together cause I really didn't want to try to sew all the pieces together. But I did sew the elephant to the bin by machine. I used 2" wide brown grosgrain ribbon for the trim on top. I made handles out of the canvas and sewn them under the ribbon.

As I've mentioned several times before, I'm not a fan of unfinished seams. So I did a french seam along the inside of the bin and used bias tape along the bottom. I thought I would have a tough time with both of these seam finishes because of the thickness of the canvas, but was pleasantly surprised that the whole thing went without a hitch!

Like the real deal, my version also folds up nicely when not in use but opens and holds up quite well when filled with the little one's stuff. This was surprisingly a quick and easy sew. It took me less than an hour to draw up the elephant's head (not an easy task when you've never had to draw one that's 15" tall!) and took an afternoon to sew up.

I'm thinking of making another one, but lined in vinyl, to use as a laundry hamper. But we'll see. I have a ton of things on my 'things to make list', and so I'll just have to add that idea to it too!

In the meantime, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the wall behind the basket. It's a big, empty, eggshell white wall that is begging for some spicing up. I was hoping to find some suitable artwork that is within my price range, but so far have come up with nothing. I have also thought about wall decals, but after some research, have discovered way too many to make a choice! Ahh...if only I could spend as much time decorating the rest of the house the way I do on the kidlet's...

Finished: Munchkin's Portrait Swatches

I've been meaning to make these ever since we moved into our current place but just never got around to it...'til now. I got the inspiration from The Purl Bee blog, which had a tutorial on how to make these. When I first saw the tutorial my first thought was to make some to put in my sewing closet to give and keep me inspired. But then I found out that we weren't allowed to paint a single thing in our townhouse unless approved by our property manager, who basically won't let us paint. Period (she had several bad experiences with previous tenants painting rooms outrageous colors). Even the simple idea of just painting the room's accents chocolate brown was nixed! So I've been trying to find ways to decorate the munchkin's room that didn't involve painting (right now his walls are bare...ugh!).

Work in progress

So one of the solutions was the portrait swatches. I had originally wanted to spell out my little guy's name, but thought that was too cheesy and preferred the idea of different sized hoops rather than a uniformed one. I used the left over dark brown paint that was used to paint the munchkin's dresser and bookcase to paint the embroidery hoops before stretching left over fabric that I'm using for his still unfinished zig zag quilt. I decided to make 2 swatches with the Zoo print fabric cause I love it that much. To even it out though, I made one in the larger size and the other in the smallest, 4" hoop.

I was having issues with the nozzle to the bottle of my fabric glue, so I used regular old Mod Podge to glue the fabric to the back of the hoop. The rims on the inner hoop were so small that I questioned my gluing ability, so to make sure the fabric wasn't going to go anywhere I waited for the Mod Podge to dry before adding another thin layer of it to where the outer and inner hoops meet. These were pretty quick and easy to make and was quite the lovely project to do while taking a break from sewing and knitting.

I had actually made these a week ago, but didn't get the chance to hang them up 'til yesterday. Brett helped me put these up cause not only am I vertically challenged, but I wanted to make sure they were placed the way I had envisioned them to be in my head. I'm really happy with how these turned out, and the best part? When either the little one or I get sick of them or if I feel like re-decorating his room (before he discovers how he wants his room to look like, that is!) these are super easy to take down and be replaced with something else. No re-painting required! Yay! I like these so much that I'm still thinking of making a few for my sewing closet, using some of the fabrics that I absolutely love but am too scared to cut into.

Ahh...what a gratifying project! Now, what to do with the other walls in his room...?

PS: Sorry for the crap photos...the day was ugly and so it had casted bad shadows and made the room kinda dark. And I couldn't really get a good shot of the swatches dead on from the front without it looking all weird and stuff. Hence the side views. Oh well!

Stewing

I haven't been crafty lately. I'm experiencing a bout of "Mommy burn out syndrome" and have reverted back to the ways of when we first brought home the baby...as in I've been doing nothing but nursing and trying to sleep when the baby (finally) sleeps. I've been thinking about projects though. Those that I want to do and those that I need to finish. Just waiting and hoping for my exhaustion levels to subside a bit and for my "high-need baby" to calm down and gain some independence so that I can gain my sanity back.

I did manage to make a stew yesterday though. The excitement of receiving my Le Creuset dutch oven made me do it. I was keeping tabs on the shipment of my LC DO via the UPS website and had bought all the fixings needed for the stew over the weekend. The day I got the DO I immediately marinated the beef chuck, which was the first step of the Ina Garten recipe I was using to christen the LC. I've never marinated anything before...and definitely have never marinated any kind of meat before...and now I know why:
It doesn't look appetizing at all! It had kinda grossed me out. I think if I was marinating the chuck in anything other than red wine I'd be fine, but the wine was a little too reminescent of blood. Hence being kinda grossed out.

Anyways, yesterday was the first day in a week where I didn't pass out as soon as the baby fell asleep for his naps. I took every opportunity I had, from when the baby slept to when he would actually play in his jumperoo without throwing a fit, to prep and cook up the stew. I even had the time to clean up the kitchen in the process! Now that's what I call a successful day!

The stew came out absolutely deeelish! I'm quite proud of myself! Especially since I have never made a stew before. There are a few things I would change the next time I make this recipe though, like following one recipe rather than the 2 versions given. Yes, that's right. This recipe has 2 versions. The online/Food Network version, and the Barefoot Contessa's version from her very own book. I had bought ingredients given in the latter's version, then freaked out when some ingredients weren't mentioned in the former version. Very confusing! Luckily I watch enough of the Food Network to kinda know the gist of how to make a stew. Next time though, I would definitely omit the dredging of the marinated beef chuck in flour before browning it. Not unless I did it wrong (which is highly likely!), but my beef ended up having a thick crust and didn't really brown the meat itself - and the whole point of browning the meat is to add flavor. I would also hide the wine from Brett next time too. The recipe calls for marinating the chuck in an entire bottle worth of wine. I used only half a bottle. Which made Brett think the leftover wine was fair game. I'm just glad that I had extra beef stock on hand to make up for the difference.

Overall, the stew was a success...and there is soooo much left over! We'll be eating well for the next few days with the leftovers!

Yummm....stew!

*Sorry for the abbreviations...I'm just too tired and really didn't want to sound repetitive in having to say and type Le Creuset and dutch oven so many times!

Le Creuset

One of my dreams have (finally!) become a reality:

I am a proud owner of a Le Creuset 5-quart dutch oven in cherry red!! I've been wanting one for as long as I can remember, but the expensive price tag (and my lack of cooking skills) had always deterred me from getting one. But now, thanks to Airmiles I have one to call my very own!!

It just arrived today via UPS, and it's sitting on top of the desk as I type this...I just can't stop staring at it. It is truly a thing of beauty! I can't wait to use it!! I plan on cooking this Ina Garten beef stew as the first recipe to 'break in' my new pot tomorrow night. Yes, I secretly am a 50's housewife.

Ever since I saw that Airmiles was offering this LC pot as a reward, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I don't know why I didn't just get it as soon as I saw it on the website. I think a part of me didn't want to get it, knowing I couldn't give the pot the home it deserved - a home where it would be used on a regular basis, and not just held and gazed upon. It's only been in the last few weeks that I've been finding recipes that require the use of a dutch oven. Mainly stews. I've been craving a good hearty stew for quite some time now. Actually, scratch that. I always crave a good hearty stew. Even though I've never made one in my entire life. Brett thinks it's the cold weather that's making me crave it. Truthfully, I'm a soup person. I love soup. If I could, I would live off of nothing but soup and a good chunk of bread. Speaking of which, I keep coming across recipes like this one where you bake the bread in the dutch oven. That is next on the list. Recipes like that and the intense and growing craving for stew is what forced me to finally cave in and get the coveted LC pot.

Arg! I just looked on the Airmiles website and discovered that they are now offering the same pot that I just got...but in blue!!!!
My new mission: to earn as many reward miles as possible ASAP so that I can acquire the blue LC pot to go with my red one. Clearly you can never have too many of these LC dutch ovens! Anyone who has one can tell you that, when taken care of, these pots can last for well over 15-20 years! And anyone who has one will swear that food just tastes better after being cooked in one of these bad boys. I don't know how or why, it just does.

One of my goals in life is to own this set in teal:
Brett thinks it's weird that I covet this, and weirder still that I am obsessed with having a cupboard-full of LC pots in every color. But mainly the teal ones. If they had pink ones...I would seriously go N-U-T-S!!! Aside from the dutch ovens, I love the rectangular casserole dishes and the petite casserole pots with the lids. I can envision making shepherd's pie and individual chicken pot pies in them. One day I strive to have a kitchen like Anna Olsen from the Food Network. In her show Fresh, she has a shelf lined with LC dutch ovens in various colors.

I'm also madly in love with these:
LC heart-shaped ramekins. Ah, ramekins...another obsession.

WIP: All-Star Half Apron

I had mentioned in a post on my Facebook page (it's actually one of the responses to the survey about the '25 random things' that seems to be making its rounds on FB) about how I wanted to start an apron collection and how I plan on sewing a few in order to get that collection started. I do have that Emmeline apron that I had made last summer (which still needs the shoulder straps to be handsewn!). But one apron is not enough to call a collection!

I found this thin cotton navy star fabric and decided that it must be an apron too. Just a simple, basic, half apron. Nothing too fancy as the fabric itself is quite loud. After looking at a few basic aprons online I drafted a basic apron pattern. Let's just hope that it works out!

I hope to get this cut out tonight and sewn before the weekend. I'm dying to do some sewing and this should be an easy enough project to get me started!

Welcome to my house!

My very first project of the year completed!! Inspired by a similar project that I saw in the current Cotton Time magazine, I thought it would be a real cute way of welcoming guests to my new home.

I bought the frame at Walmart, the Cotton Time version featured a simple unpainted wooden frame. I thought since I wasn't going to be using linen that my version wouldn't need such a natural looking frame. I used black Kona cotton from my stash, and hot pink embroidery thread for the words and running stitch. The original idea had 3 apple appliques with embroidered stems and leaves. That idea really wasn't "me", but was going to follow suit anyways, using hot pink fabric for the apples. That is, until I saw these cupcake stickers from the Martha Stewart crafts line. Bingo!

This sweet welcoming project took only half an hour, done late one night when the baby finally fell asleep! This was a pretty easy peasy and fast project that was quite the instant gratification, which got my creative juices flowing. Yay! Onto the next project...

'Ello from the new hood!

Yay! We're finally moved into the new house and I'm happy to report that we are 90% done unpacking!! That's quite the shocker for me! I honestly thought that it would take us weeks to get the place unpacked, since Brett will be working and Master Kole will be a handful. Well, Brett powered through a lot of boxes and Kole has actually been letting me put him down during the day all week so that I can get stuff done!

I personally think the real reason why this was all made possible is the fact that we have the room to put everything. I just have to keep in mind that just because we have all this space that I don't need to go out and get more crap just so that I can fill it.

The one area that needs to be unpacked is my sewing closet. When that gets sorted I'll take pictures. 'Til then, here's the view of the Parliament building from Kole's bedroom balcony!

Buh-BYE!!

So long studio suite!! So long McClure Street!! So long silverfish infestation!!!

Today was moving day!! Both Brett and I couldn't wait for this day to arrive. We were seriously counting down the days 'til we were out of this joint. We ended up doing all of the packing yesterday - yes, we packed enough stuff that can fit in a 2-bedroom townhouse in one day. I was hoping to be more prepared but Kole wasn't going to have any of it. This past week he was ever more fussy and needed to be held like his life depended on me holding him. Oh well, the packing is done nonetheless, and I'm sitting in the livingroom, sprawled out on the floor, without a single worry that a silverfish is going to scuttle on by!

Now the hell of unpacking and trying to figure out what to put where. The beauty of it all is the fact that we have a place for everything! No more open concept living for me. I'm sorry for those that like the idea of an open concept place, but I like the minimalistic look (except for my sewing/crafting area, that can be hectic...organized chaos, if you will), I like having everything out of sight.

I've been looking online at The Container Store for organization ideas and tools, and am hoping to order a few things before the week is over. Hopefully I can get the house completely unpacked within a week so I know what I need to get. Eek!! I'm so excited!!

On the move!!

Life with baby has been nothing but feeding, changing diapers, soothing, and trying to sleep. And now I can throw in 'trying to pack up the house' into the mix!! I've been attempting to pack for the past 2 weeks now, but having a baby that does not want to be out of my arms has made that feat uber hard.

Brett and I had decided that we needed to move back when I was still pregnant. It became more evident that we needed to move after I had my baby shower and the baby items I had been given had nowhere to go. The need to move intensified ten fold after our summer vacation to Kelowna and Nelson, when we came back home loaded with bassinets, strollers, and such. Unfortunately the market here in Victoria is beyond insane. I know Victoria is full of very rich people, but how can you honestly think you can charge $1000 for a bachelor suite?? Better yet, $1500 for a 1-bedroom suite and demand only one occupant to live in there?? How can any average person afford such a high rent?? Brett and I had been searching for months and were coming up empty-handed. This town just didn't want to have more than one person living in a suite/apartment/house! And yet with each day, our current place was getting smaller and smaller, and can barely accomodate the 3 of us.

Then out of the blue, Brett's sister called us to tell us that she had a lead on a 2 floor, 2-bedroom townhouse!! Long story short, we jumped on it, looked at the place, paid the damage deposit, signed the agreement, and then it became ours! So we're set to move for the end of this month, and I can't believe that it's the middle of November already! Where has the time gone!! I'm starting to freak as we have a lot of stuff to pack up, and so far nothing has been packed.

Most important though, trying to pack so that silverfish don't follow us to the new place. I was very adamant with Brett that we are not using cardboard boxes to move. A difficult task, I know. But it is do-able. The only time I will allow the use of cardboard boxes is if and when we get a box, we'll store it in Brett's truck until we are ready to use it. When we are ready to use a box, we'll quickly pack it (during the day, cause apparently silverfish are nocturnal), and just as quickly put it back into Brett's truck. Why must we do all this? Cause silverfish love cardboard boxes and can hide in the corrugated folds of the box. So because of this, we'll mainly be using those huge Rubbermaid totes to transport everything. I'm just glad that we're allowed to slowly move things over, which means that we don't have to spend a fortune on a million totes. Just pack and dump, and then re-pack and dump again.

I'm really hoping that silverfish don't follow us to the new place. I'm being extra careful and anal about how we're packing. I want to go through all papers and books to make sure none of those f*uckers are hiding. I distinctively remember a few months ago, when I went to open one of my pregnancy books a huge silverfish came scuttling out among the pages. I was so surprised/grossed out that I screamed and slammed the book down. The ugly bastard wasn't fast enough and got squished between the pages. I still shudder at that memory. Hence the reason for being anal retentive about going through all books and papers!

Anyways, the baby is finally sleeping (and not in my arms)!! I must take advantage of this opportunity and pack a little while I can! Wish me luck on the packing and the move!!

Drool...

When I was in Williams Sonoma I had spied this little number that I've been wanting forever now, but did not know that it had also come in pink! I'm in heaven!! I think I'm on my third hand held mixer at the moment. The other 2 couldn't handle the amount of baking I was doing. So far the current one is holding up, but I still wouldn't turn down the KitchenAid 9-Speed hand mixer at all!! I had always thought that this mixer was expensive...like in the $200 range. To my utter surprise, it's actually quite reasonable at $99 CDN!! My birthday is in 8 days, I've been dropping mad hints but have a feeling I'm going to have to wait for another time to get my hands on this.
Another kitchen appliance that I've had my eye on for the past, oh, 5 years now...the KitchenAid Artisan Stand mixer...in pink of course! I've never had a stand mixer before, and if I were to ever get one, it would be this one and only this one. I have dreams of baking cakes, breads, and cookies in massive quantities with this magnificent machine. My holiday baking would go by so much faster and smoother with it. I...must...have...NOW!! *sigh* I've waited 5 years for this, I'll probably have to wait another 5 in order to call this mixer mine...how sad.