Sketchbook Series

This is based on a photograph from, um, Vogue, I think. Maybe it was Elle.

Dressing Up

I Heart You

So I just added some Valentine's Day goodness to my little ol' shop.

If you want to know what these little, reversible pillows are good for, I'll tell you. They are excellent for occupying a toddler while you make dinner. I have a gift bag full of them and all I do is say, "Beatrice, go get your hearts!" and off she runs. They are soft and cute and they look good when they are scattered around the living room floor. It doesn't look quite so messy when the mess is pretty!

New Obsession

Reading wine labels. Wine is even more delish if you know exactly what to expect.

 The nose is ripe and fruity with plums and dark fruits. The palate is soft and long.

Flavors: mulberry, spice, smooth vanilla
Enjoy: with a good steak or in front of a roaring fire

It's approachable, fresh, flavorsome and has a personality all of its own.

Lush ripe flavors of black cherry and strawberry with a soft finish. Pour a glass and add a little fun to any occasion.

A luscious wine with alluring flavors of boysenberry and chocolate. Hints of anise and subtle tannins complement the silky, decadent finish.


edit: DANGER I never get headaches from wine and this gave me one DANGER (I was drinking it while I composed this post and didn't realize until this morning what it had done to me. And I only had one little glass!!!)










That's pretty much all I've had so far this year, not counting the bottle Jake and Lulu brought over for a little dress-up wine night.

Someday...

Last weekend when things were even more hectic than usual and both children were screaming, I imagined the ideal Saturday afternoon. Here it is:

(This is ten years from now when the kids are old enough for it to be possible.)

On a warm Summer morning, I prepare a delightful picnic and we all four pile into the car. We sing songs together in harmony as we drive out of the city and into the wilderness. We find a perfect picnic location. James parks the car and we walk a little way into the vine and fern-filled wood to a glade beside a stream or small river.

On the grass, I set up our lunch. Boiled eggs, fried chicken, potato salad, sweet tea, pie, wine and other picnic essentials. (And we don't use paper plates either.)

After lunch, James gets out his guitar and he sings us all softly to sleep under the dappled shade of maple trees, birch and dogwood. We are lying on beautifully hand-quilted blankets, of course.

When we rise, the boys toss a ball around and Beatrice and I wade in the stream, searching for the prettiest rocks. I find time to draw and read. Perhaps we all go for a little hike. We point out all the songbirds and the children name them.

As the afternoon turns to evening, we wrap ourselves in blankets and James and Ambrose build a little fire. We all enjoy s'mores and we sing our hearts out in the dark.

The kids fall asleep on the ride home and James and I reminisce about the night we met all those years ago and how we fell in love.

The end.

(images via weheartit)

More Vintage

in the SHOP.

Sick Day

This is the first time in Bea's little life that she has spent all day sick in bed. 

She had a fever.

She told me Pooh was sick too and we needed to take his "tempy." I read her some stories and put the radio in there so she could have NPR for company when I went out. But mostly, we all stayed in the nursery today. 

Ambrose, Mama and Bea.

I'm in love...

with her feet!

Aren't those toes crazy? They've always been like that and I think it is just the icing on the cake. When she was an infant, we feared it would make walking hard for her, but it doesn't slow her down a bit. It just ups the cuteness.

She's telling Rocket to dream: "Dweem!"

 Oh, you wanna see something else that's awfully cute? Him:

Sneak Peek

I'm making a quilt for a friend. I could finish it in a couple days if I were uninterrupted. But that's not gonna happen. I am a nursing mama after all. I fit it in during naps and sometimes I get a chance in the evenings too.

click the pic to see it big

click the pic to see it big

 

Sometimes Beatrice wants to help. She says, "sew? sew? sew?..." If you've ever had a toddler around, you know what it's like. You get to hear the same word on (cute, lisping) repeat.

All I have left? Put all the strips of strips together to form the quilt top. Add pretty dot-dot border. Assemble quilt top, batting and back. Baste and quilt lines radiating out of various centers like clusters of sunshines. I want it to look pretty on both sides so it is reversible. (Don't tell Lindsay, but I saved some of the coolest fabric ever because the possibility of shams popped into my head :)

Neighborhood

I drew/painted these during our recent bout of snow days. Here's how it works: I get the pretty pink one and James is next door (Frida/Diego style). My folks have always wanted a little bungalow and I made it so small they can't have any adult children mooching off 'em! The blue one is Emma's. It look's like Uncle Monty's house which I think she'll appreciate. Isobel gets the purple one which would have been James' except that he wanted to stick close to me ;) The boys are all crammed together in the yellow one. From top to bottom, Raleigh, Justus, Reuben, Cooper, Hudson.

Sketchbook Series: Mirror, Mirror

A Giveaway (that totally rocks!)

A while back Lucy posted a link to this camera:

And I want one. Really bad.

This blog is giving one away. Just leave a comment. 

(But hopefully I will win. I'm just letting you know so I can get an extra entry ;-)

Happy Birthday, Mama!

And by Mama, I mean my own mama: Emily Beth Jelley Knights. 

The best mama I know.

ABCs

It's wine night so I probably shouldn't be trying to type, but whatever. I'm really excited about this. Zulily gave me $20 credit for Christmas and I got flash cards for the kids.

Beatrice is confused by Dd because she thinks it should be B for Bambi. (And FYI, I'm interested in Jellyfish after reading this. Insane!)

Vintage Lady

Added a few little somethings to my etsy shop this morning. You like?

Isobel and I made good use of our snow days. We took a whole bunch of great pictures of vintage lady wear. Then, like the genius I am, I promptly deleted them all from the camera. Isobel was kind enough to do a re-shoot. Even though she abhors vintage. She is a total germ freak. The idea of other people having worn the clothes before (doesn't matter that I've washed them!) makes her skin crawl. I'm amazed she let me put her through this!

Bloglovin'

I'm trying something new...

Follow my blog with bloglovin

A Stylish Girl

Emma watched Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time last night. Of course, she is in love with the amazing 60s glamour. Aren't we all? I mean, who doesn't want to flit around in beautiful cocktail dresses all day with perfect hair and enormous eyelashes, right? Audrey is IT.

 

But as a huge Roald Dahl fan? I have to give props to his wife, Patricia Neal. She really owned it in her role as Freddy's, err, whatever. And she's awfully pretty, too!

She even (kinda) got Audrey's attention:

James Gets Famous!

My husband James (who sometimes contributes here on my blog) is a musician. He has music here and here and even here and it's free. Well today, his stuff got reviewed on a pretty cool site. Here's what they had to say:

The three member band from Greenville named No Yes originally released the LP Goodbye, Strange Planet in 2008, but re-released back in October with alternate versions of some tracks. In addition to the title, the LP features songs entitled “All You Earthlings Look the Same,” “Androgynous World,” and “We are Aliens,” giving a true Science Fiction outside appearance. The music further supports that feeling.

James Noyes is responsible for the main vocals, but also plays a wide variety of other instruments on the LP. First on the second track (“Beam Me Up”), and later throughout the album, Lily Darger*, does backup vocals and the pair is comparable to Mates of State. Jake Xingu occasionally sings, but primarily plays the keyboard and drums. Additionally, other friends of the band harmonize on the LP.

James’ vocals are upbeat, cheerful, and very easy on the ears. The lyrics go along with the title of the LP and its tracks, concentrating on life in space/another planet and keeping the Science Fiction theme going. The background handclaps that are featured in many songs add to the cheery vibe.

All around, the music is playful and helps to create the imagery provided by the song titles and lyrics. It could be loosely described as Pop Punk. As the LP moves into the latter songs, the fast drums and guitar give off a more powerful sound, equivalent to old school punk rock. In some parts, it just sounds like a collection of noise, but quickly snaps back into the less cluttered music from the beginning.

A few personal favorites on the LP include “Hurtling Through Outer Space” and “Swimming the Cosmic Sea.” “Hurtling Through Outer Space” starts off with strong vocals that echo and remain catchy throughout the song. When you listen to it, you feel like you really are hurtling through outer space in some sort of space craft, making the song adventurous. “Swimming the Cosmic Sea” is a softer song, with multiple vocalists in the chorus, chanting “Come with us.” No Yes does not show this softer side often, but when they do, it gives a good break from the more fast paced music and blends pleasantly. 

I'm awfully proud of his work. I know that if you give it a listen, you will LOVE what you hear! Make sure you let him know by leaving him some kind words on his blog!!!

*I am Lily Darger, but I had to change it in the text because everyone assumes that I have the same last name as my husband.

Snow Day

"And if the snow

buries my, my neighborhood" 

(arcade fire)

Today was a major snow day. Snow like we haven't seen since 1989. James and Beatrice went out early while I fixed some eggs, b. and t. as well as some traditional, made-from-scratch, snowy day hot cocoa. Here is Beatrice very seriously contemplating the phenomenon of Snow:

She had on so many layers she could hardly move! When she came in, I gave her hot cocoa in her sippy cup because that's the kind of mama I am. Then, after breakfast when the kids napped, James and I went for a walk outside. 

It was so powdery that we couldn't even make a snowman. :( But s'tch-k :)

So happy to have boots!

Later on, we made a tent.

Jamey Ambrose took a little nap (so did I).

Wolf Note: What I Wore

Today I got to be a celebrity judge for Greenville's 50th Anniversary "Men Over 50 as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz Costume Contest." As the Celebrity Judge, obviously I was not allowed to dress as Dorothy. So here's what I did wear:

Those jeans are hot if I do say so myself! Lock up all your loved ones.

shirt: thrifted, jeans: thrifted, shoes: thrifted, oh yes sunglasses: dunno