RoddyLife

Snow Days

2012-01-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

The more it snows ~~
tiddely pom,
The more it goes ~~
tiddely pom,
The more it goes ~~
tiddely pom
On snowing ~~

And nobody knows~~
tiddely pom ,
How cold my toes ~~
tiddely pom,
Are growing.

-A.A. Milne

It's been snowing off and on in Seattle since Saturday. This is a rare and wondrous event in our area, and hills, temps, urban tree canopy, and little plowing make for a city-wide snow holiday when it snows this much for this long. Schools have been closed since Tuesday. Ice storms had Sea-Tac airport grounded yesterday, trees falling, and hundreds of thousands of people without power. It's a big deal around here.

This morning a warm front and rain are slowly melting our deep freeze, but we've been holed up at our house all week and it's been so much fun.

Tuesday afternoon, Matt, the eminent bread-maker in our family, made a Peter Reinhart recipe for cinnamon rolls. He's become so attached to "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day," that he nearly lost faith, but he pulled through in the end.

We were all glad he did--especially Avonlea, who woke up on Wednesday morning and promptly took over my plate of cinnamon roll, declaring: "Avi's!" I think she mostly liked the frosting.

Matt's a brave Minnesota-bred boy, and he took Avonlea down the hill to Nonny and Bob's (Avo's names for them these days) for some play time while I beavered away on my manuscript revisions.

It's been so lovely to have been together in a snowy parentheses for the past five days. I can't help but think of Narnia and the Hundred Acre Wood when the snow casts a spell over our world for a little while. Sometimes cancelling everything in what my friend Jonna called a "forced sabbath," is such a gift. And now, when spring finally comes, I'll feel like we've really had a winter.

Avonlea's Second Birthday

2012-01-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

On December 31, New Year's Eve, our sweet Avonlea turned two-years-old. This tired mama was recovering from a cold, a bit burnt out from holiday doings (see previous post), and overall uninclined to coordinate a big toddler-friendly activity in the middle of winter. And so, with an evite to family and a couple of Avonlea's playmates, I decided: breakfast. I can do breakfast.

And breakfast is really all I would have done if it weren't for the fabulous effort put forth by my new sister-in-law Mari to gussy our place up a bit. Both of us inspired by this pancake fete for a little girl's birthday, Mari went to work on our apartment, and I went to work in the kitchen.

We had Matt's favorite Jamie Oliver potatoes, bacon, and scrambled eggs...

and a pancake bar with three batters to choose from: whole grain, buttermilk, and red velvet. Plus blueberries and chocolate chips to drop in on the griddle.

Toppings included chopped hazelnuts, whipped cream, berry compote, butter, pure maple syrup, marmalade, and a lemon marscapone topping especially for the red velvet pancakes.

My wonderful sister Jessica showed up early, vacuumed my house, and steady rocked that griddle all morning, God bless her.

It's a good thing that I had Mari and Jessi's help, too, because family + a couple of friends = almost 30 people at a our place. Did I mention we have a tiny apartment? In the end, though, it felt cozy, not crowded.

And not because we put all the kids in Avonlea's crib, I promise.
Sweet Lilly here.

And Wesley, who later put "the moves" on Avonlea. Not that kind. Think WWF. I have a video, but can't figure out how to make iPhoto vids compatible with blogger. I could probably make that claim for nearly every post I do. (This is a cry for help. Anyone who knows how, feel free to chime in on the comments.)

The "Roddy" girls: Matt's brother's GF Melissa (in town from Minny), Mari, Heather, and Matt's cousin Lindsay

Avo's birthday "cake."
The sequence below is Avonlea blowing out her birthday candles. She LOVED everyone singing to her.

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since Avonlea turned one and had chocolate for the first time!

Phew! We all survived, and I think Avonlea felt pretty special. Onto 2012 and having a two-year-old in the family!

Merry and Bright 2011

2011-12-28T11:24:00.001-08:00

Before the New Year, I'd love to share the Christmas cheer from this past month. I love this season so much--the opportunity to bring warmth and beauty inside from the darkness and the cold.

Our Christmas season this year was so rich. From going to cut our own tree with Avonlea (cold, adventurous tradition), to seeing the Nutcracker at the Pacific Northwest Ballet (magical), to seeing Santa downtown with the adult Roddy kids and a $10, twenty minute secret Santa gift exchange at Ross (silly fun), to singing "Holy, holy, holy," in a white clapboard church on Christmas Eve (heavenly), to seeing Avonlea wake up and wander out in her nightgown to discover her kitchen set from Santa aka Nonny and Poppy (wonderous), to feasting and gathering with family several times over (delightful): it was all so good. Here are some images I'm treasuring up in my heart after this last month.

Also, here are some fun backblog shots from our excursion to the mountains to cut down our tree with the Roddy fam.

And, finally, I'll leave you with this gem. The Roddys get their photo taken with Santa every year and this was no exception. It was an after-work evening event with dinner after and we had to stand in line for three (yes, that's right, THREE) hours, so Avonlea didn't come along. Regardless, baby boy Roddy made it into the picture, although I told Santa when he offered, NO, I did NOT want him to put his hand on my belly in the shot.

I hope your Christmas was as lovely as ours. We feel so very blessed.

Backblog: Family Portraits 2011

2011-12-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Ashley DeLatour and One Thousand Words Photography!

Backblog: Roddy Autumn

2011-12-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin farms...

Trick-or-treating...
Baking...

Baking with no pants on... (This was during our potty training boot camp weekend: bare-bottom all the time!)

Visting Nonny and Poppa in Arizona...

Backblog: Project 2!

2011-12-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Well, as many of you know who keep up with Matt and I on Facebook or in the real world, our other big project these days is RODDY BABY 2!

I was very sick with this pregnancy and was on the couch from the end of August through most of October with nausea, exhaustion, and headaches. My wonderful mother-in-law took Avonlea most mornings so she could have some time to play outside of the house, but it was a long and challenging season for all of us. Hence, not a lot of fun family photos, creative endeavors, or delicious meals. :)

Despite all of that, we couldn't be happier with the news of a new addition to our family. And a few days before Thanksgiving, we found out that we're having a BOY!! Our family feels complete.

Photo taken at 18 1/2 weeks

I'm 21 weeks along now (almost 5 months) and baby is due on April 24. (That's two days after Matt's birthday, and the day after St. George's day--patron saint of England and slayer of a dragon!). I'm growing way quicker than I did with Avonlea and feeling a bit monstrous myself, but generally feeling much better than the first half of my pregnancy and getting excited to start making way for another life amidst ours.

When I found out I was pregnant, I picked up these two little things for him. They are his only possessions at the moment, but the benefit of having a big sister is that he has lots of things to inherit from her, minus all the pink clothes.

Can't wait to meet this little guy, and when we have a named picked out, we'll let you know. If it goes anything the way things did with Avonlea, it might be two weeks after he's born. :)

Projects Cooking

2011-09-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

The summer months have flown by and I've been busy on some big projects that have kept me away from here. Every time I had creative energy for sewing ideas, blog posts, and cooking feats, I intentionally channeled it into the project at hand--a very difficult form of discipline, to be sure! I'm happy to say that intense season is over for the moment and I can share my progress with you.

The main project has been my novel. You can read the story about how I wrote it over the past 4 years here. I finished my first complete draft in April and spent the rest of the spring and summer editing. (I also did a post about editing on my author site here). I was working hard to have a polished manuscript ready by the time I attended the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association conference at the beginning of August. I was also honing my pitch and drafting up query letters since I had appointments to meet with literary agents at the conference.

Summer seemed like the worst time to be working hard when so many of my teacher friends were on break and everyone else was planning vacations, but I felt ready when I showed up at that Bellevue Hyatt Ballroom on August 4th, and that made every moment worth it.

I met with 8 agents and a publisher at the conference and everyone asked to see more of the novel. August was filled with last-minute edits from the wealth of craft learning I had gleaned from the conference, and then writing and sending those queries and samples to agents. I'm currently waiting to hear back--a process that could take a few months.

Matt went to Africa for two weeks at the end of August and Avonlea and I visited friends in California during his absence. We missed him terribly and Avonlea woke up every morning asking, "Da-da? Da-da?" We skyped almost every day.

September was supposed to be about all those back-logged sewing projects and blog posts, but another project unexpectedly got in the way of that. I'll share more about that later, but in the meantime, I'll put up some content from our summer, which despite all the work still had its share of camping, beach time, and family adventures.

Also, non-coincidentally, in the past month I've gotten an iPhone (for $9!) and signed up on twitter. I promise that's not why I haven't been blogging. ;) My twitter feed is @joannaroddy.

Avonlea's Sandbox

2011-06-27T15:31:00.001-07:00

Recipe: One tupperware storage bin, two bags of play sand, two cinder blocks, shovels, buckets, pine cones, and one busy little girl.

Summer Days

2011-06-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Amazon Mom

2011-06-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Diapers are expensive. Especially if you just pick them up at the grocery store. Convenient, but pricey. So I've got my diaper-buying down to a discount science. I go to Target for my disposables and wipes, and I go to Babies R Us for our gDiaper inserts. We use cloth diapers at home during the day, but we use the biodegradable gDiaper disposables at night for absorbancy and traditional disposables when we're out and about. I can only find the gDiapers at Babies and Target has the best price around (now that we dropped our Costco membership).

I hate making these special trips once a month or so. It's such a time-waster.

I just have to share my new discovery: Amazon Mom. My friend Rachel told me about it. Here's what it boils down to: It's free. It comes right to your door. Delivery is free. And the prices are better than anywhere else. How perfect is that?

Here are the details: You sign up for Amazon Mom, which is free, and you are automatically given a 15% discount on products for mom and baby. They also run special deals on other products, like right now they have some for Father's Day.

You are automatically given the benefits of Amazon Prime members, which usually costs a membership fee. Amazon Prime gives you free two day shipping on anything, not just Amazon Mom products. And as long as you continue purchasing a certain dollar amount of Amazon Mom products (I think $25), this benefit is extended for another month. Just from the two packages of diapers I ordered, and a pack of cloth diaper liners (something I can only find in specialty stores, so I seldom buy), I now have free shipping through October.

Here's the best part. When you select the diapers or wipes you want delivered, you have the option to "Subscribe and Save." You can select to have that product delivered every month, two months, three months, or six months. By selecting this option, you save 30% on that product. And it comes automatically without having to think about it. That kind of thing makes me nervous because I don't always want to be locked in, but you can change the frequency or cancel altogether at any time.

You can also buy formula, bottles, baby food, carseats, strollers, and maternity clothes--all with the 15% discount and free shipping.

How genius is that? Saving time AND money. I'm so used to having to choose one or the other. I'm in mommy heaven.

Morning on the Deck...

2011-06-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

...with friends and books.

It was so fun to see Lilly and Finn DeLatour today!

Treehouse Point: a Fairy Forest Escape

2011-06-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

I feel as if I've just returned from a visit to the elves.

Matt and I wanted to get away this weekend with Avonlea, and we had planned to crash at a friend's cabin out near the coast. But they were having some problems with their plumbing, and bugs, and we were beginning to wonder if we'd be better off camping somewhere instead.

Then someone gifted us unexpectedly to go spend the night at a lodge somewhere! We've been wanting to visit Treehouse Point, where you can stay in beautiful handmade treehouses, only a 30 minute drive from where we live. Matt booked the reservation and we headed out on Saturday afternoon.

We thought it would be smart to stay in the main lodge this time, with a toddler in tow. We didn't feel at all deprived by not staying in an actual treehouse, though. The lodge was gorgeous, a craftsman style home with lovely grounds all around it.

We stayed in the Fir Suite, which had a private bath, a four-poster bed, a window seat, and even a little sunroom where we set up Avonlea's crib.

I don't know if it's just a girl thing, but there's something wonderful about needing a footstool to crawl into bed.

I couldn't help thinking how Avonlea's sunroom would make the perfect mini-office for a writing retreat.

Downstairs, the main building felt like a home. We were the only ones staying in this part of the resort this weekend, and although the main floor is a public space, we were the only ones who made use of it in the evening. We lit a fire, sat in armchairs and read, drank wine, and pretended we lived there for real.

Entry

dining area

Hearth

Upstairs, there were two other rooms: the Cedar Suite, with its magnificent built-in bed, and the Madrona room, an add-on for families or bigger groups.

Cedar Suite

Madrona Room

Matt, Avonlea, and I loved exploring the grounds, which are situated beside a bubbling creek that feeds into the Snoqualmie River, and filled with wandering trails through the old-growth forest.

The Treehouse Workshop building and event space

The deck of the Pond Room beside their pond

Upper Nest treehouse, Japanese maple tree

Back of the Pond Room

Trilium treehouse

Temple of the Blue Moon treehouse

We were delighted by all the unexpected features on the property, open to all guests. In addition to those I've photographed below, there was a spot on their property map labeled "Big Dream Net." When we got there, we found a huge net high up in the trees, with a long ladder leading up to it. It seemed an ideal place to disappear for hours with a book and a cup of warm, swaying up in the treetops.

The Outlook platform

A fairy forest stage in the woods

The Hermitage: a tiny treehouse with a built-in desk and 180 degree view of the creek

The River Nest, for dreaming

first river

After a down-home meal at the Fall City Roadhouse, and our lovely fireside evening, Matt and I snuck outside to peek at the Big Dipper, perfectly framed by the treetops of cedars. We fell asleep to the sound of frogs in the marsh and woke to the sound of birds. I snuck out early with my journal and a sweater to sit in the River Nest and welcome the day.

Breakfast back at the lodge was far more than we expected: homemade granola (I asked for the recipe), plain yogurt, honey, oatmeal, fruit, strawberry turnovers hot from the oven, boiled farm fresh eggs (mine had a light blue shell), coffee, and orange juice.

After a family hike on Rattlesnake Ridge, just a few exits further up I-90, we headed home.

This place was truly magical, stirring Matt's sense of creativity in design and nature, and stirring my own desires for homesteading and hospitality. It isn't often that one's experience of something so far exceeds expectation. We're keeping our ear tuned to their summer concert series, and may be back to visit this summer. What a perfect event venue.

We also can't wait to come back sans Avo--I want to stay in Trilium.

Curls

2011-06-03T08:53:00.001-07:00

I love Avonlea's freshly-washed hair--so full of soft little curls.

It reminds me of when Matt and I were in college. He wore his hair loooong for a while--I think it was a social experiment--and my friend Ashley and I used to try to find the "curl of the day." Which, of course, meant the curliest, fattest, spirally-est curl we could find protruding from that fierce mane.

Hopefully Lady A won't have such a crazy 'fro as her daddy, but I do love her sweet little waves.

Avonlea's Baby

2011-05-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law brought home a baby doll for Avonlea. They had been at a consignment store and, according to Maggie, Avonlea had picked up the doll and so Maggie bought it for her.

It's been a source of entertainment around our place ever since. Avonlea doesn't have a favorite stuffed animal, nor does she respond particularly interestedly to other babies. She hasn't done any pretend/ make-believe play up till now that I can recall.

But when I started to ask her about her baby, and to show her how to hold it and give it a pacifier and cover it up for night-night, she started doing these things to the doll on her own almost immediately.

The baby goes night-night, has made a visit to the potty, gets held whenever I ask where she is, and we even took her for a spin around the living room in the umbrella stroller today.

The best/worst thing has been a little joke I like to play on Avonlea with the doll. If you press its hands, the baby says mama or dada. If you press one foot, it sings a little song, and if you press the other, it cries. Whenever the baby cries, Avonlea makes her own little cry of distress, as if to say, "Oh no! Why is my baby crying? This is terrible!"

I think it's hilarious (maybe this is some kind of repressed pay-back going on?) One afternoon, I was like "Hey Matt, check this out." I pressed the foot, the baby cried, Avonlea whimpered, and I started laughing. I did it again. And again. "Isn't this funny, Matt? Don't you find this hilarious?" He only looked at me half-horrified. I don't know if he said it out loud, but he definitely got his point across: "What's wrong with you, woman?" I stopped.

Evil runs in the women in my family, in my defense.

Also, I don't think I've permanently scarred Avonlea with this. I tried making the baby cry again last week and instead of crying too, she looked at me with a kind of questioning smile, like "Isn't there supposed to be something funny about this?" Either I've totally destroyed her sense of empathy, or she's getting a good sense of humor. Let's hope the latter.

Mothers Day Photo Book

2011-04-19T10:18:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Thanks to Groupon, we were able to make these for our moms this year for Mother's Day. Here's the digital version of the Roddys' book. I like having a little retrospective of Avonlea's last year.

My New Website

2011-04-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I've been a little quiet lately. That's because I've been beavering away on a brand new website: joannaroddy.com!

It's important to have an online presence as a new author and I wanted to create a space where I could also write about my journey as a writer, share personal essays, and talk up other writers I love. Hopefully, as my book finds a life outside my laptop, I can post information about its progress there too.

Please come by and visit and please share with any writers, creatives, or readers whom you think would benefit!

Sunday Morning

2011-03-21T15:33:00.001-07:00

Matt made Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day yesterday morning. I just had to share.

Growing Up Fast

2011-03-21T15:29:00.001-07:00

Something about her pigtails, jeans, and hoody just makes Avonlea look like such a little girl--and not a baby anymore.

Back Blog: Avonlea's First Birthday Album

2011-03-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it took me forever to get the photos together to post Avonlea's birthday party back in January. She turned 1 on December 31, but we had a little family party (to fit in our little apartment) on January 1, since everyone would have the day off.

Unfortunately, our camera was acting up, so I couldn't take any of my own photos. Most of these are from an iPhone, so a little grainy, but I didn't want to miss out on sharing her special day.

The birthday girl with Auntie Mari, Auntie Heather, and Eric

Owl cupcakes

Lil Wesley

Nonna Rice

Cupcake time! (Her first sugar treat ever)

"Pretty good, dad."

"Yeah!"

"Dear chocolate, where have you been all my life?"

Avo in her new hoody from Heather and Eric

Poppa Rice and Grandpa Roddy
Avonlea's vintage table and chairs from Nana and Grandpa Roddy!

First Boo Boo, First Pigtails

2011-03-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

My poor baby... Avonlea fell off of a kiddy chair onto a linoleum floor on Friday afternoon. On her face.

It being so late on a Friday, we headed to the ER to have her checked out instead of my doctor's office down in Green Lake, nose bleeding and snot from her ongoing cold flowing. My mom came with for moral support.

The ER doc told us that if it was broken, then there was nothing they could do. Since she didn't have any concussion symptoms or fall from high up, there was no need for a CT scan. We were sent home.

After the initial impact, she hasn't cried. At the ER she was charming the nurses and dancing around happily. The ensuing shiner has been a sorry sight, but she has seemed fine, and now on the mend.

In happier news, Avonlea's hair is finally long enough for pigtails! That certainly makes her overall appearance less tragic. Lovin' these pics of her in action over the weekend. :)

Baking Up a Storm

2011-03-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Matt's been baking loaf after loaf of gorgeous artisan bread from the cookbook I gave him for Valentine's Day: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

He's made the classic Boule (above), Ciabatta, Baguette, Batard, and below you can see the Couronne and Olive Bread. He's also made some with fresh herbs in the dough. Yum.

It's such an easy technique. Mix up a big batch (just flour, water, yeast and salt) and let it sit for two hours. No kneading. After the two hours you can put it in your fridge and just cut off a grapefruit-sized hunk of dough whenever you want to bake some. Shape your dough, preheat your oven, cut the top, and put it in. I highly recommend the book, although I am starting to worry that I'll soon be made of flour. I'd like to try experimenting with other glutenous grains like spelt.

Last night, Matt made pizza from our dough! One had caramelized onions and menchego cheese, the other had tomato, oregano and mozzeralla.

The crust was unbelievable and the rest of the ingredients made it delicious too. $4 raw pizza dough from Trader Joe's no longer necessary, thank you very much.

Later today, I'm so excited to take this little bundle of bread love over to a friend who deserves a big thank you for hosting a certain birthday party.

I'm SO glad I have a husband who loves to cook.

New Pants for Avo

2011-03-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

It took me just a few hours to make these simple, reversible pants for Avonlea. I used the Quick Change Trousers pattern from Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner.

Here's one side:

And here's the other:

I love the how the back yoke allows for another pattern on the bum and lots of color. I can't wait to try them on Avonlea when she wakes up from her nap!

I am from... (My Seattle)

2011-03-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

"Give to me miles of tall evergreens,

the smell of the ocean and cool mountain breeze,
would you please?
I just want to live there, love there, and die there."
-The Lonely Forest

I seldom post anything directly from my writing life on this family and home-centered blog, but my friend Alisha encouraged me to share this little exercise I churned out at our Monday night writing group last week. In a 25 minute session, the prompt was to write about the place I come from without writing about my personal history. I chose to write about the Pacific Northwest, Seattle.

It's unedited, mostly in the form it came out on my laptop on Monday night. Thought you might enjoy. Also, all photos from this post are by Matt!

I am from…

a place where carabiners were once social currency and state-of-the-art outdoor gear is a fashion statement (why yes, that is Gort-tex, thank you very much). Between REI's flagship, Nintendo, Starbucks, and, oh yes that little company called Microsoft, I come from a place where the best ideas of the nineties were born.

I come from a place where, despite the masculine cultural aesthetic, the land is something else. Verdant, green, wet with deep lakes and rainforests. Stunning with Alpine vistas, white-peaked volcanoes, and twin spines running North and South down the coast --the Olympics and Cascades.

I come from a place where people recycle. Where we spend more of our paychecks on socially conscious purchases and organic groceries than most of the rest of America. I come from a place where people bike to work, subscribe to CSAs, and are prone to be vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free.

I come from a place where we've perfected the experience of drinking a bean into an entire culture of houses and flavors and music and art-form. I come from a place where it is not only blasphemous to drink coffee from somewhere inept, like Dunkin Donuts or MacDonalds, but, worse, where it is heresy to drink it from a multi-national conglomerate, nevermind its CEO lives in Madison Park.

I come from a fjord country, where mountainous islands shoot, green-backed like turtles, from deep, glacier-carved inlets and lakes. I live in a place where there is no greater beauty than in the brilliant springtime sunsets, set against their mountain and evergreen backdrops, water glowing like sapphires beneath.

I come from a place where pink blossoms explode from branches as early as late February, and we might not have seen a snowflake all winter. Despite this, we have a rainy season we all must bear--6 months or more of oppressive grey cloud-cover and the ever-constant threat of rain. Never a hurricane, a blizzard, or a thunderstorm, our weather majors in subtleties.

I come from a place where first nation tribes have named our rivers and our cities. Salmon and orca that once sustained them still run in our waters, and cedars that made their totem poles and homes still fill our forests, or make paper for the rest of the country. Asian immigrants from the Pacific Rim are more common than illegal aliens from Mexico and if you meet a black person, they are more likely to have come from Ethiopia in the last ten years than from the descendants of American slaves. Diversity here is more about diversity of lifestyles than skin color. Gay bars, drag queens and the infamous naked cyclists are common sitings.

I come from a place where elementary children are trained in earthquake drills. If they are lucky, field trips entail catching and eating sea cucumbers on a marine science boat in the Puget Sound or reading The Lorax and dissecting owl pellets on the Olympic Penninsula or snowshoeing on Hurricane Ridge. Children pick blackberries from brambles on the side of the road, growing like weeds (both the kids and the brambles). If you don't grow up skiing or playing soccer, you're in the minority.

I come from a place where standards of conduct are reduced to being cool. Don't worry about dressing up for the theater. Whoever heard of not wearing white after Labor Day or not wearing Birkenstocks with socks? No matter holding a door out for the elderly or passing on the right. Whatever you do, just don't make a fuss.

I am from a place that is small enough to be easily overlooked, but vibrant enough to hold its own.

I am from Seattle, the Pacific Northwest.

Sewing Inspiration

2011-03-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Oh man, I'm in trouble. The day is gorgeous, my house is clean, and despite having a manuscript that very much needs my attention, all I want to do is sew. It doesn't help that Handmade Beginnings and Making Children's Clothes arrived in the mail today, or that Jo-Ann's is having a huge coupon sale right now.

So, I broke down and went to Jo-Ann's. Normally I strike out on fabric there, but today I found all kinds of things to be inspired by. It's a good thing kid's clothes don't require much yardage.

So I'm thinking of these fabrics for the Quick Change Trousers from Handmade Beginnings. I fell in love with them on SouleMama's blog, when she made a pair for her youngest here and again here.

And I'm thinking of something in this vein for the Baby-in-the-Hood Jacket, which I couldn't resist wanting to make when I saw that gorgeous blue-eyed baby in his stylish little hoody.

*Sigh* I don't think I'll be starting any of these projects today, but maybe as a reward once I'm done drafting, or a Sunday afternoon treat.

Vintage Floral Scholastic on Renton for Life

2011-02-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

Check out Jenny's great post about the party and some photobooth fun here!

Sneak Peek:
Thanks again, Jenny!

Turning 30

2011-02-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, wow, wow.

Sipping Stumptown coffee in my pajamas this morning, I am still in awe of what a wonderful 30th birthday I have had this weekend. My friends are truly such creative and generous people and I am left feeling so loved and celebrated, washed in beautiful settings and meaningful interactions.

I spent yesterday celebrating my 30th birthday. The early part of the day was spent relaxing. I went to yoga at the Y and then met up with a group of ladies at Olympus Spa in Lynnwood, a Korean spa with saunas, hot tubs, elemental heat rooms, spa services, and an Asian cafe. The experience of a public bathing culture was a new one for me, and something I'm sure I'll write more about at some point. After a day spent soaking, baking, being with friends and getting a massage, I rendezvoused with Matt and we went to Jenny's for a birthday dinner with a small group of friends.

Jenny and Alisha had been in cahoots with Matt, preparing a feast for the eyes in Jenny's house. They called the aesthetic something like "Vintage Floral Scholastic." I was so thrilled when this little love tent/photo booth greeted me in Jenny's foyer. I had told her how much I had loved this Valentine's Fort on Design*Sponge earlier this month.

Trophy Cupcakes (my favorite) were waiting to be devoured...

And Jenny and Alisha had transformed Jenny's living room into a magical dinner setting with vintage fabrics, glowing lights, handmade floret streamers hanging from the box-beams, mason jars filled with roses and candlelight, and stacks of hardback books. I also made hand-sewn bookmarks as a favor for all the guests.

Alisha whipped up a signature cocktail for the evening, called the Oxford Comma--a mix of Pimms, ginger ale, and fresh fruit. Notice my own use of an Oxford Comma between the words ale and and in the previous sentence.

Dinner was flank steak and Dungeness crab--absolutely delish.

I'm still waiting to get my hands on some of the photo booth shots and other candids from the evening, but here are a few of my sweet friends who blessed me with their presence last night.

Andrew and Stephanie Platter

Elisa--fresh off a string of night shifts (as in ALL night) and a triathlon training session. What a trooper.

Jenny, Jenn, Jessica, and me

What a lovely, lovely evening. The setting and the company were such a gift. I can't think of a better way to have rung in the next decade than with these people on such a magical night.

Violet Beauregarde

2011-02-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

Or, in other words, our little human blueberry:

Ha! I laughed out loud when I saw her in her snow getup this morning. She's wearing a down vest under her suit, making her look extra round.

Also, Matt snapped this last night as the snow began to come down:

I love how magical everything is to a child. I so look forward to the age when Avonlea can express what she's thinking and more fully grasp what is going on around her. For now, I look at that photo and imagine her my little Lucy Pevensie, discovering Narnia for the first time.

Our little reader...

2011-02-22T10:49:00.000-08:00

We have been reading to Avonlea every day since she was born. When we were working on her daytime sleep and naptime routines, we built in a story before every naptime. When she napped a lot, that was at least three books a day.

As Avonlea's naps have decreased (one a day now), we find her often reading by herself. Or at least turning the pages of her books. She also will bring Matt or I a book, sit down in our laps and want us to read to her. It's one of my favorite things to do with her.

Having a reader is definitely something I can handle. The other day I was struck with a thought that semi-terrified me. What if Avonlea turns out to be an athlete?! I guess it's a good thing I have Matt around for her to have a parent she can relate to. ;)

Design inspiration from classic kids lit

2011-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

Look at this lovely illustration from The Travels of Babar:

Isn't that just the sort of thing to get your little one inspired to go on adventures to places with tall cypress, wide bays filled with sailboats racing on a fast wind, and red-tiled roofs? Italy, anyone?

The full spread is even better, and though my camera couldn't capture it as well as I would have liked, here it is:

"The land of the elephants is now far away. The balloon glides noiselessly in the sky. Babar and Celeste admire the landscape below. What a beautiful journey! The air is balmy, the wind is gentle. There is the ocean, the big blue ocean."

This isn't the first time that one of Avonlea's storybooks has got me all dreamy-eyed. Does anyone remember the Little Golden Book, The Color Kittens? As soon as I laid eyes on it again (one of my favorites when I was little), I couldn't help thinking about how perfect it would be for a design theme in a nursery. Image a rose-mural headboard, mustard yellow crib. Owls and comets swooping against a black ceiling, or a teal green river with fish running through it. Could be very inspiring!

And last of all, I can't help imagining, every time I see this illustration from Goodnight Moon, what it would be like to replicate it in real life. Imagine having that gorgeous hearth in your child's room! But even if you don't live in an English manor house, I bet with a healthy dose of creativity, you could go pretty far to create a space as classic, whimsical, and magical as "the great green room."

Happy dreaming!

Latest Avo Pretty

2011-02-18T16:05:00.001-08:00

Goofball

2011-02-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

Although Matt and I had a lovely evening out to dinner last night, complete with our first-ever paid babysitter (!), the early part of our day was very sweet. We woke up early for coffee and croissants together.

Avonlea even had her first Valentine's date! Wesley Gough (and Jenny) met us at Walnut for breakfast and then a play date at our place afterward. The two did pretty well together, actually. Wesley made Avonlea laugh by making faces, and they even shared a potty time together. I love how kids have no shame.

For Matt's V-Day gift, he got some Theo caramels from Avonlea and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day from me.

I heard about this book from my friend Rachel, when she brought a gorgeous loaf over for writing group one night and then confessed that she'd made it when I commented that it was still warm. After our baguette making class and adventures a few years ago, we've fallen out of baking practice and are certainly in need of a recipe that doesn't require 12 hours of babysitting. I'm excited to try the pecan sticky rolls, the pizza dough, the flatbread, and the basic boule, of course. I know, it was supposed to be Matt's gift, but I'm hoping he'll share the apron with me. :)

Scenes from a Writing Life

2011-02-13T21:21:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, my dear friend Alisha and I took our writing life on the road. She's been working on her memoirs of four years living in England, and as many of you know, I'm rushing to the finish line to complete my novel by this summer.

I've been dreaming about getting the time to be totally alone with my novel, preferably somewhere far away (maybe all new mothers dream of themselves on remote islands at some point). I've been craving the space to work without all the lovely interruptions of my real life, at least for a little while.

An excerpt from an essay I wrote about the longing last fall:

I imagine myself in a cabin on an island in the Puget Sound somewhere, steely water lapping the rocky shoreline. A low-slung marine layer filters the cool grey light on tall evergreens. I have a fire going in the woodstove. The hours stretch before me silent and pristine with my laptop, pen and a few books.

We were delighted to find just the place: a Barn Loft cottage out on Orcas Island, one of the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. As a bonus, we would be catching the ferry there from Anacortes, so I got to show off my old stomping grounds to Alisha.

Friday morning we packed up my truck, did a little grocery shopping, and hit the road North. We stopped for lunch at my favorite Skagit Valley curiosity spot: the Rexville Grocery.

"Writer's Tuna" sandwich--I took it as a good omen

By the time we got to the ferry line, we were ready to get down to business. We made prime use of our 1.5 hour ferry ride too. (Ok, I admit I napped for about 1o minutes too).

On Orcas, the light was already failing, so we buried in for the night with our woodstove going and our pomodoro ticking off set after set of 20 minute sessions, after which we would pause, read aloud what we'd just written, and get back to writing. By the time we hit the sack, we'd done 4 20 minute pomodoros, and a 25 minute set that went on and on well after the buzzer rang. I was 7 pages and 2000 words up on my manuscript.

I had hoped to sleep in, since I never get to with Avonlea up before 8:00 every day. But I was awake by 7:45. I like to think I trained her sleeping, but I guess she's got me trained too. Alisha decided to join me a little later and we set out to take in our lovely surroundings: the Barn Loft, the gardens, and the beach.

And here's the inside of our sweet accommodations. More blessing than curse, we only got reception/ wifi if we stood near the West Window. We also brought flowers and fruit to make our space homey.

The morning (powered with coffee and 3 minute eggs on toast) was nearly as productive as the previous night. I was 11 pages and over 3000 words ahead after several longer pomodoros. We decided we deserved a well-earned lunch break and headed to Eastsound village, about 15 minutes away. We loved Rose's Bakery and had foody-worthy soup (crimini, potato and thyme for me, and harvest squash for Alisha) and shared a beer while reminiscing about our own childhood vacations and how we'd love to bring our theoretical children here someday.

After a visit to the bookstore, the wind and rain drove us back to our cottage, and we settled in for another afternoon and evening of writing. Dear chocolate, thank you for getting us through many more pages.

Another friend from our writing group sent along her manuscript, which is nearly complete. We were both riveted, up till 12:30 reading.

The next morning we had to leave our sweet place, heading home to our sweet husbands who held down the forts for us while we were gone. Of course, we pomodoroed our way through the ferry ride, and our lunch in Anacortes before heading home.

Final page count over the weekend: 19 pages and nearly 5000 words. Possibly the most productive weekend I've ever had in my writing life. On top of that, I was able to share my work with Alisha and give and receive feedback, which was wonderfully valuable. I also edited and finalized a one-page summary of the entire novel and an excerpt from it that I'll be submitting for a literary contest.

How to go on a writing retreat:

1. Bring a friend, at least the first time. Must be as motivated as you are and have an active project they are working on. Alone, you might go crazy with how to attack your project and spend your time. Together, you can encourage, find a rhythm, stop and read aloud what you're working on, and laugh.

2. Eat lots of healthy food so that you have no scruples over the copious amounts of chocolate and coffee you consume late into the night.

3. Pick a place that's beautiful, but not too distracting. Somewhere you can walk outdoors to clear your head, and be cozy and warm inside. Wood stove is not a prerequisite, but a plus.

4. Use the Pomodoro Technique liberally. One double-spaced page for every 25 minute pomodoro is ambitious, but do-able. 50 minute pomodoros are nice once you get into a groove.

5. Limited wifi might seem crippling, but it can also be that updraught you need to get up above your normal life.

6. Traveling there can pique the imagination, but the real work starts once you arrive. Try not to go too far away and stay at least two nights.

Happy writing!

Cousin Date

2011-02-05T15:34:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas gift to my sister Jessica and her husband Damion for Christmas was an overnight babysitting session with their girls: Betty (18 months) and Luci (3 1/2). So when my sister's birthday came up last weekend, they seized the opportunity.

We loaded the three girls up in my parent's car and headed down to Seattle for an adventure: The Seattle Aquarium!

Betty, Luci and Avonlea

Who doesn't love a good felt board?

That night we got all three home for dinner and bathtime. I've never seen Betty smile so much.

In the morning we had eggs, chocolate croissants and berries before getting dressed for the day and heading back to mom and dad.

When we dropped the car off back with my mom she asked how it went. "You don't want to get your tubes tied or anything, do you?"

I had to admit, caring for three kids under the age of four was challenging. Mostly because OUR daughter can't stand being in the car and cried most of the time or kicked her cousin when we weren't looking. And then, carrying 25 pound toddlers all over the aquarium can make one's arms feel like they're going to fall off and induce headaches. But, overall, we loved making this sweet memory with our neices (and Luci's our god-daughter to boot).

I've seen Luci a couple time this week and she keeps asking when she can come over to Aunt Joey's house again. "I love you, Luci," I say. "I love you too," she answers. Now that's worth any amount of headaches, isn't it?

Our Christmas Album

2011-02-05T14:08:00.001-08:00

It may be WAY late for this sort of thing, what with Valentines Day next week, but I had to share a little of our sweet Christmas with you. If nothing else, at least of the sake of historic continuity.

Avonlea gets ready for Christmas Eve service with Nana and Grandpa Roddy

Post-service snacks at Nana and Grandpa's house.

Auntie Heather plays Avo's favorite game: snuggle.

Opening Christmas PJs and reveling in new-found standing abilities (mom spots against head injury) :)

After opening gifts at our place with our little family of three, it was over to the Roddys for breakfast Christmas morning.

Mari, Drew, and Maggie prepping lady cakes (mini-man cakes)

Mike came from snowy Minnesota

Grandpa and Uncle Mike are fun!

All the Roddys

(plus one Wennberg: Heather's beau)

At midday, we headed over to my parents' house for the Christmas feast with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. I made Figgy Piggy Cornish Hens from Epicurious (thanks for the recipe, Maria), mashed potatoes, braised spinach, and peas. Somehow, the only photo op occured in my dad's cell phone.

Christmas dinner

All the cousins opening gifts=lovely mayhem

3 1/2-yr-old Luci and Avonlea with her new riding giraffe

Teaching my 9-yr-old neice Kya how to make a friendship bracelet

The best gift Matt and I received Christmas Day was watching Avonlea's first steps! She walked during Christmas breakfast, and again later at my parents' house. We do have a video of this, but haven't been able to transfer it to the computer. As soon as we do, we'll share!

12 months of Avonlea

2011-02-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

December 31st was Avonlea's 1st birthday. Party pictures are still forthcoming (our camera wasn't working at the time). Meanwhile I thought I'd show photos of Avonlea from each month of her life.

Just born

3 weeks old

8 weeks old with her only living great-grandparent, my grandma Phillips

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old

7 months old

8 months old

9 months old

10 1/2 months old

a week before her first birthday!

Photo sessions have become a regular thing (I think most parents can relate) and it was hard to pass over so many other photos I just adore of her. Maybe I'll find an excuse to post a big collage at some point.

Return

2011-01-27T13:11:00.000-08:00

Oh, long neglected blog, I'm sorry. I promise I haven't forgotten you. It's just that sometimes life intervenes.

For me, life intervening right now equals:
-Holiday madness: 3 huge Saturday bashes in a row, planned by yours truly. 1. My mom's 60th, 2. Christmas day, complete with cornish game hen for thirteen people, 3. Avonlea's 1st birthday party with family.

-Finishing Fall Semester: Three weeks of classes after a nice long Christmas break would be hard for anyone. Add to that cleaning out my desk and training my replacement, and I had a pretty intense January.

-Writing: Oh the joy! I'm working hard to finish my novel in time for a literary conference in August. More on that later, but I've been very absorbed. And now that I'm home with Avonlea too, I haven't had much time to spare between chasing her around and beavering away on the manuscript.

All of this to say, my reasons are noble and many, but I realize it can't go on like this forever. Lots of posts to come, as I'm able. :)

2010-12-28T16:50:00.001-08:00

Who wouldn't want to blog in exchange for a chance to win this gorgeous fabric?

Check it out here! http://retromummy.blogspot.com/2010/12/flower-sugar-giveaway.html

More Merry and Bright 2010

2010-12-23T12:04:00.001-08:00

Just in time for Christmas, the last of our decorations have gone up and I'm loving the festive feeling in our home. Yesterday I finished my shopping and last night I wrapped all of our presents. This morning Avonlea and I went shopping for ingredients for figgy piggy cornish hens, which I'll be making for my family (all 13 of us!) on Christmas Day. Maria made it at a dinner party last week and sent me the recipe--I can't stop thinking about it. Now Avonlea's down for her nap and I'm sipping coffee and nibbling panetone, one of my favorite Christmas pastries, also made by the industrious Maria.

Christmas cards

Our little tree and presents

wreath and paperwhite

cyclamen and December Bon Apetit

Our little elf (nearly walking!)

more paperwhites and Christmas spirits

Avonlea's Nutcracker Christmas ornaments from my childhood
and an Uncle Drosselmeyer from last year

Mount Granola--Matt's holiday cooking project

We feel so incredibly blessed this year. We have both sides of our family nearby and Matt's Minnesota brother Mike is even flying out on Christmas Eve. Avonlea's too young yet to understand Christmas, but having a child around adds a certain magic to the season. Our house is filled with candlelight and little treats and the season greetings from friends all over the country. The two week break from teaching is a welcome respite. It's a merry Christmas for us, truly.

Merry and Bright 2010

2010-12-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

A few of our little Christmas touches this year:

A little tree... to keep little hands out of trouble

Last year when I made these, the middle one had no name! Welcome to the family, Avonlea.

I've gotten very inspired by a certain Etsy shop I ran across and have been busy making my own versions of its yarn and felt wreaths. I've used hot glue, yarn, a 12 inch foam wreath form, felt, pearl-ended pins, and little bird ornaments to tuck in with the handmade flowers.

The dark light of winter makes this less-lovely to photograph, but on my wall and front door, they are looking so cozy and sweet.

Avonlea's First Christmas Tree

2010-12-09T16:13:00.000-08:00

Taken at Sky Nursery in Edmonds...

Merry and bright to come...

2010-12-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

After a month-long hiatus that included a very productive local writing retreat and getting my novel back on track, as well as King's midterms, a bout of the stomach flu, seeing the Harry Potter 7 premier, and my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving: food. Go figure), I'm full of blog posts that have been gestating over the past month:

-Yarn and felt Christmas wreath crafting
-Epicurean homemade gifts
-Family holiday adventures
-Writing inspiration
-Avonlea's upcoming 1st birthday

We'll see how much I get to, but keep a lookout for upcoming posts!
Happy Merry and Bright!

Home Sweet Gnome

2010-10-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

Yay, Halloween finally arrived! Here are some fun shots of Avonlea (our garden gnome) with Lilly and Finn (Butterfly and Monkey, respectively) along with the kids' entourage. U-Village was a wonderland for "Clown Spotting" as my dear friend Stephanie likes to call the spectator sport of watching mini trick-or-treaters. We had so much fun. Maybe next year Avonlea will get to actually eat her loot, you know, once she can chew. :)

Finn, Ashley, Me, Avonlea, and Stephanie

Uncle Drew and Auntie Mari

The sweetest little monkey

The gloves were for warmth, not part of the costume. Matt commented they had an ovenmit look and wondered if she could be a kitchen garden gnome.

Luke and Lil

The kiddos

A gnome belongs in a field of flowers.

Best treat of the night--Uncle Drew's sweatshirt strings.

Oh look, a wee garden friend!

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday Morning

2010-10-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the Mac's in the shop, I've got some great inspiration for my personal writing, and the sun's shining... Suffice it to say, my school laptop will not have the privelege of helping me create a fabulous new post today.

Upcoming: Avonlea's Halloween duds have arrived! Can't wait to document all the costume goodness on Sunday and promptly share.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with this: Ina Garten's Beef Bourguignon recipe. Yes, I've posted it once before, but it was, afterall, August. Now that it's truly fall and we're all bundling up here in the Northwest, it's time to pull this baby out and make a freezer backstock for cold rainy nights and blustery days in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Ta ta for now!

Wednesday Morning

2010-10-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

At long last! A morning in the cafe again.

The Lonely Forest is rocking in my ear buds. This music is a-mazing- the lyrics transportive, the sound a rolling force that sweeps you up into it. "The light of day, it warms my heart, and I will not die here. Let the current take me away... to Zion." Band of Horses, watch your back.

The girls in my writing group turned me onto Goop, Gwenyth Paltrow's blog newsletter, just as winsome as she is. It's nice to know that some celebrities are home with a glass of wine and their laptop while their kiddos sleep (and, presumably, their rockstar husbands are off being incredible) instead of snorting cocaine and getting on the cover of the tabloids at some nightclub. Gwenyth, thanks for keeping it classy.

I heard about her gentle detox regimen, and I'm sincerely considering when I'll begin doing it myself. She mentions doing a quarterly fast or detox and this appeals to me. I find myself feeling sluggish, my skin looking dull, and my body packing a few extra pounds at least once a season. Currently, not getting to the gym and too much chocolate is really taking its toll. I also finally ordered my own copy of Natalia Rose's Raw Food detox diet, after lamenting its departure both times I had to turn it back in to the library. You'll remember my post about it last fall.

I also stumbled upon this great online fabric shop in the UK, full of hand selected fabrics, pattern books, and a very chic sensibility. If you've ever sorted through the mountains of mundanity at Jon-Ann's just trying to find one cute thing, it's nice to find a place that's gathered together so much great stuff in one place, streamlined. I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth the exchange rate and shipping to actually get anything. At least it's a nice platform to find inspiration and maybe US retailers who carry the same thing.

I'm loving these gorgeous collage on canvas creations by Kate Endle on the walls around me here at Walnut. It's getting me all inspired to get some of my own projects going in this vein--Christmas gifts, Avonlea's room walls. The possibilities are endless. You know, after I get my grading and writing done, and after I refinish that desk for Matt, and finish my knitting projects (not to mention errands and housework)... Ah, for a 36 hour day!

Can anyone guess what Avonlea's going to be for Halloween?

2010-10-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

I just bought this dress off of Etsy...

and I downloaded this pattern and purchased some red baby cashmerino yarn on amazon tonight.

If we hadn't already been talking this up for months, I think it would still be easy to guess, but just in case I'll give you one more clue. Matt's annoyed that I'm not going with the beard-wearing variety of this little creature.

Happy guessing!

Avonlea 9-months-old

2010-10-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Favorite Foods: Bananas (you feed yourself now), sweet potato, toast with butter, egg yolks, chicken and potato soup, whipped cauliflower and anything mommy eats (though if you get your own bowl of it, suddenly it's not so interesting).

The night I made sauteed zucchini and mushrooms for dad and I with rosemary oven potatoes and chicken sausage, and you had chopped up versions of everything we ate was a very cool moment. Welcome to the wide world of food, kid!

Favorite stuff to play with: You have become a voracious eater of books. I'm trying to break you of the habit, but I must say, you have good taste. Below: The Importance of Being Earnest. You also have started to bring a book to dad or I to read to you.

Bathtime = Fun time. The other night you tromped around your room in your bear towel afterward ala Max from Where the Wild Things Are. You still love to take off buck naked down the hall whenever possible.

You've got 3 new teeth for a total of 7 (and another on its way): 3 on top and four on bottom. No fussing, no drooling, no nighttime interruptions. Yay!

You're pulling up and cruising anywhere you can. You can even stand a little. You're well into your 9 month clothes and 12 month too. You like to squish your face up against mine and laugh. You are still sleeping like a champ and doing two naps, but I can sense that you're straddling one nap already. (Seriously?!) Some days your naps will be super short. Ah well! Loving those 12 hours at night.

I don't know if it counts, but you are sort of saying your first word: "Num Num." You say this whenever you taste something you like, or when you're about to eat, or when someone else is eating something you want. Since the context is always the same, I think (?) we can count this as a word. You still say Pa-pa, ba-ba, ma-ma, and da-da, but never about anything in particular, so I still count it as babbling. You also discovered how to use your tongue and now say la-la and wave your tongue back and forth. It's pretty hilarious.

You get prettier every day and I love your silly, sweet, sensitive nature. We love you, Avonlea!

Back Blogging

2010-10-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

A Saturday late morning, Matt's off to work on the boat he's building with our brother-in-law, and I'm home alone with the baby sleeping for her morning nap. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm hoping over the course of this weekend to get caught up on some neglected blogging. (I told you that going back to teaching would slow me down!)

This morning's inspiration came unexpectedly from The most recent New York Times Magazine article by Michael Pollan (that guy who writes about food ala Food, Inc. and The Omnivore's dilemma) entitled The 36-Hour Dinner Party. Isn't this breakfast gorgeous?

It reminds me a bit of the delicious breakfast I had a couple weekends ago at Cafe Presse on Capitol Hill. Matt and I were celebrating our 5th (!) wedding anniversary with our first overnight apart from Avonlea and I was so excited to finally visit this cafe for our late breakfast after sleeping in for the first time in 9 months! I had the "Oeufs plats, jambon, fromage"--an oval baking dish layered with ham, gruyere, and two eggs, put under the broiler until the eggs were perfectly over easy, gooey and hot. Yum. I'll be investing in individual gratin baking dishes soon.

Also, I've taken up a bit of knitting again in honor of the coming cold. This lovely little's girls headband on Anthro has me attempting a replica. I'll share results when they come.

Here's my progress so far:

Back to my chai tea with honey and milk and my "stack" of photos to sort through from the past month. Happy weekend!

September Family day-Kingston Ferry

2010-09-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

We've happily split up our Saturdays each month into sweet little categories to make sure we're taking good care of ourselves and our family before giving all our time away to social functions: one day off for me, one day off for Matt, one day to be social, and one day for a family adventure and taking care of stuff at home together.

This Saturday we lucked out on the weather, the last Indian day of summer (post autumnal equinox-lucky us) before the rains of fall set in. We took a ride on the Kingston ferry and back.

wind-swept

What a gorgeous afternoon spent on the water, wandering Kingston, and back again. I hope Avonlea has an intrinsic memory of the feel of waves beneath and wind in the face. Nothing better.

Avonlea 8-months-old

2010-09-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Avonlea, you are 8 months old!

The last month was a big one for you in a lot of ways. First of all, you got two new teeth. It seemed like forever between when the first top tooth came in (with only a day or so of fussing) and the second one followed (weeks of fussing). It's finally here and just today you started taking bites out of your favorite food, banana. Yay! In fact, you eat nearly a banana a day and we've started calling you "our little monkey." Where you find room to put away that much banana, I have no idea.

You have become way more mobile this past month. You really mastered crawling early in August and now you zip all over the house. Then on one of our trips, you discovered you could climb on top of a suitcase and you've been pulling yourself up on things ever since--mommy's legs, the coffee table, the couch, and basically anything you can reach with those chubby little hands.

You've rounded out your travel experience to include another plane ride, a road trip, another state and a new country! We traveled to Montana for a family wedding first. You didn't sleep on the plane, but you were quiet and good and we had nice people sitting next to us who didn't mind you squirming. Then we went to Canada to see Uncle drew and Aunt Mari get married. You were the flower girl, and I must say, you stole a few hearts.

Current nicknames: Avo, Avo davo, Monchichi, Aves, Little One-der, Little Monkey, among others.

I should also mention that while Armstrong continues to regard you as an alien being who might possibly poison him if he even brushes up against you, Ella and you have become the best of friends. That white kitty snuggles up every morning after you've had you've had your milk--on top of my lap, on top of the boppy, on top of YOU. She purrs, soaking in your warmth. You look at me with wide eyes and say, "Oo!" You grab her fur, touch her paws. But most of all you seem fascinated with her ears, which you tug and squeeze. And she lets you! Later, she'll walk past you and let you grab her tail. Either she's completely love starved (possible), or she genuinely has taken a liking to you. Maybe we can get her to plead your case to the orange one.

You're loving to babble, laugh, and be tickled. We're teaching you "kiss!" and you lean in with an open mouth sometimes. You also learned how to do peek-a-boo and you love to hold any kind of cloth over your head and then pull it down quickly to try to surprise us. It's adorable. It's also my favorite way to appease you after wiping your face after you're done eating. You hate it, but you don't mind so much if you get to play with the washcloth afterward.

You also graduated from the sink to the bathtub since you're getting so big and mobile. Sometimes when mommy's getting you ready to get in the tub, or afterward when I'm trying to dry you off and get you in your pajamas, you make a break for it and crawl off buck naked. I'm not sure where you think you'll get to that way, but it's pretty cute to see your little bum disappearing down the hallway at top speed.

I love you, my little bear!

The Roddys

2010-08-31T21:06:00.001-07:00

It is so sweet to be our little family of three these days...

Thanks for all the fun we had at your wedding, drew and Mari!

Letter to my 16-year-old self

2010-08-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Joey,

You're 16 years-old. The age you always wanted to be. You are full of dreams. Full of ideals. Full of hope. You believe that unless you do something extraordinary with your life, you will waste it. You imagine African safaris, Parisian cafes, falling in love to a backdrop of summer fields and evening skies. You don't want a typical American life: kids, a house, a 9-5 job. You want love and truth and beauty--as much as you can drink of it. You want God. To know him and be known by him and to bring his love to other people.

I know you are dying to know the things I do. Especially whether you find someone to love you and what he's like. I know you want to know what's become of you, where you've traveled, what your life is like. And I shall tell you this: you are well-loved. All is well. You have had many adventures and many still promise to come. I've not abandoned you for a paper cut-out version of yourself--a convention of the world, a cliche, a soul lost to the culture of conformity. You are dear to me and I'm still full of the passions and ideals you hold so closely.

Christmas-I'm on the far left, Ashley and Alisha on far right

Yet there are things I wish that I could tell you. No, not instructions to keep you from making choices I wish you hadn't. I won't ask you to obey my wishes when it comes to the road ahead of you. You have a good heart, a good mind, and good intuition. You'll do well, and you'll learn from your mistakes.

But I wish that you could carry some things inside you. Things I wish I could confide in you to make you strong. To save you grief. To make you freer. Truer.

The first thing I would tell you is the most important: There is nothing you need to do to make love come to you. Stop posturing, making yourself available, pining, and trying to be noticed. You are enough. You are not too much. Believe that and be at peace that the one God intends to love you will see you and pursue you in the right timing. It sounds so cheesy and it's so hard to trust. But it's true. You don't need to find someone to set your hopes on. You'll always settle for what seems the best of what's around you, instead of waiting for what actually is best. You'll squander your heart, your time, and you will fear that there is something wrong with you when your affections aren't returned. Trust me, when love comes, it will bowl you over in its extravagance. Just be patient.

posing, as usual

In the meantime, work on becoming the best version of yourself--but not for him. Be a good friend. Be concerned for others. Stop being so concerned about what people (especially guys) think of you. Learn to listen well. Learn to ask good questions. Learn to be quiet. Learn to let others steer, to not have to prove yourself or force your way. don't look to other people to tell you who you are. In caring for others' needs, you will find joy. All of this can be done, if you just rest in the knowledge that you are loved. It will free you to love others more wholeheartedly.

I love that you are a romantic, but you think that romance must lie with falling in love. There is so much romance in this beautiful world that doesn't require sharing it with a young man to be as winsome as it already is. You won't understand this until, having the one you love beside you, you encounter the world's beauties and see that though their charms are not diminished, they aren't made complete by his presence. Beauty was made to set us longing--no matter how much of it we already possess. Let the sweet ache drive you to the one who is romancing you all along--your God. It's not a cop out. It really is His beauty after all. But the ache of longing will always be a part of it so long as you are in this world. Meanwhile, drink it in. Let it wash over you. Your wonder at life's enchantments is romance and virtue in itself.

Epic journey to the Washington Coast with Ashley and Alisha spring break of sophomore year. Little did we know that Forks and La Push would someday become international literary phenomenons, nor did I ever dream that I would one day live a few miles from this Edmonds Macdonalds.

Another thing about beauty--your own: I know you feel insecure about yourself. You feel different from other girls who don't seem to struggle so much with food and exercise and weight. You feel sort of helpless. I will tell you something I wish I had known then: Food does have an affect on what you look like. You don't know this yet because, bless you, you've never really been on a diet. don't worry. I don't suggest you go on one. Just know this: sugar is not your friend, nor are processed foods and take-out. Fat is not the enemy you think it is now. Just eat whole foods. Learn to listen to your body--when it's really hungry, when it's full. Also, you'll be surprised how much you love the gym. In the meantime, learn to love yourself and give yourself grace. You are lovelier than you know.

Once Upon A Mattress--the first production of my theatrical career at Lake Washington High School, which later included playing Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible and Sandy in Grease.

Keep being creative and writing everything down. Keep acting and singing and making things. Keep falling deeply in love with cobalt skies, foreign lands, haunting music, moving poetry. Keep seeking God in everything, listening for His voice, fighting for what is true in the face of pettiness and disappointments. Keep striving for that extraordinary life. When you find yourself on some Mediterranean beach drinking champagne, or living in an Alpine village, or seeing things you've created take on a life of their own, it will prove worth it.

I have to say that so often, when I have thought of you and the person I must have seemed to the people around me in high school and college, I have been so ready to dismiss you. Apologize for all the ways you aren't enough yet. The rough edges. The immaturities. The silliness. But what's always true in life is that all the grace and the wisdom we need to get through something, we don't have until it's over. And the reason we don't have it until afterward is because it's the process itself that grows us up into it. And you are growing--willing and wanting to grow. And what amazes me now, is that in telling you all this, I find that I remember you. And what I really want to say is that I love you. And I hope that you can love you too.

***Remember to go here to post the link to YOUR letter to your younger self****

Reminder

2010-08-23T09:28:00.001-07:00

Joey and Ashley circa 1997

Remember that we're posting our letters to our 16-year-old selves tomorrow! Alisha will have a place on her blog to link to your blog post, so make sure to go there tomorrow to show us where we can read your post.

Looking forward to it. And remember, be kind to your (former) self!

Look who's standing!

2010-08-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

It's a bit alarming to peek over into her play area from the kitchen to find she's pulled herself up onto something.

She's up...

and then she's down.

Kneeling too!

Back to School

2010-08-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a big change coming for our household in the next couple of weeks. I will be going back to work, teaching one class at King's High School this fall semester. This decision was hard to make, especially because it would mean leaving Avonlea in someone else's care for a couple of hours every weekday. Also because I have made a commitment to myself to work on my novel again for 1-2 hours every day. When on a normal day right now I can easily feel overwhelmed without any of these new responsibilities, I had to really ponder if I could go back to work and be true to myself and my home.

Even though I had these hesitations, in the end I felt like this was the right choice for our family. A lot of things just seem to line up--not least of which being that both sets of grandparents have moved within a few miles of us and are available to provide the childcare I will need. Also, I'll be teaching journalism, a class I helped to revitalize four years ago when I was on the faculty at King's. The software and structure I put in place then is the same now and I still have all my old lesson plans saved.

I'm trusting that this will be a blessing to King's and to us, even if it means I might be a bit more off the radar than usual this fall and winter. Now to my favorite part of all. School supplies and academic planners!

New Couches!!

2010-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show off my new couches (*finally*) now that I've finished the pillows I was making for them. You might remember my dilemma over whether to recover my old couches. In the end, I decided that they were too nice to have me screw them up with an amateurish reupholstering job. Instead I found these beauties on Craig's List, found the cover color I wanted on eBay and bought pillows and fabric to add some personality. And thankfully someone bought my old couches. (Thanks mom and dad!).

If some of you are cringing at having white couches sharing residence with small children and pets, I know what you're thinking. But I bought this style specifically because it is slipcover based. Every cushion and the couch cover can be removed and washed (even bleached! It's white, afterall). In fact, one cushion already needed a few turns around my washing machine and it's still looking good.

As for the pillows, I still was able to incorporate that charcoal grey that I was hoping for originally. Then I found this gorgeous printed linen from Japan at Pacific Fabrics. What do you think?

Thanks for all the feedback on the first post. Maybe I'll get into the upholstery thing once I've had a class and gotten my hands on the proper tools. Meanwhile, this project has been fun and I'm glad it's finito.

Simul-blog: Letter to my 16-year-old self

2010-08-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

Alisha and Joey (and Ashley) circa 1997--both 16 yrs old

Alisha and I have decided to do a simul-blog posting (in which we simultaneously post about the same topic) and we want to invite YOU to participate with us.

Here's how it works:

~The topic is "A letter to my 16-year-old self," inspired by a post Alisha saw here.
~Write your blog post on this topic. This can be funny, serious, or whatever suits you.
~Simultaneously post with us on Tuesday, August 24.

We look forward to reading your letters! Leave a comment to let us know if you're considering joining us. We're so curious. :)

10 on 10: August: Warm

2010-08-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

I hadn't intended it, but a theme slowly emerged this month. Warm colors, warm objects, warm smiles. Cozy in!

Red gladiolas: my new obsession.

Yarn and books

Morning Joe

Smiling Avonlea (with a newly cut tooth today!).

Ina's Beef Bourguignon-my first attempt, a success.

Snugglin'

Flower girl dress for later this month

Edamame at Alisha and Dan's

Avo pulling herself up, orange couch.

Alisha's ramen dinner, candlelight.

Backyard Wedding, Homespun Magic

2010-08-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Jon and Katie Chisum's wedding this past weekend was an unexpected delight. We were too busy having fun to take enough pictures of the event, but imagine Italian bistro lights hung from towering cedars, hand-painted signs directing guests through a winding path of antique furniture, ribbon-bedecked branches, and chandeliers hanging from the canopy above. An antique tub filled with beer and beverages. Hand-sewn buntings strewn over fence-posts. A bridal party dressed in vintage inspired frocks for the ladies and vests and shirtsleeves for the gents. I was taken with the entire evening.

One of the biggest highlights was reuniting with old college friends:

Best Man in our wedding, Sunny

Sobes (a charmer with the ladies)

And there were lots of babies to socialize with.
Avonlea,

meet Ransom.
(I just love that name. Any CS Lewis Space Trilogy fans out there??)

They're just a week apart in age. He was born late on our due date; she was born early on his due date!

I just love his little rolled up hobbiton pants!

The dancefloor was constructed from lumber from an old barn

Avonlea came alive on the dancefloor! (Note her fancy pajamas)

A stolen moment with the groom.

As we departed under a darkening sky with handmade candy favors and the promise of fireworks later for the non-child-encumbered late-nighters, I sighed to Matt, "I wish our wedding had been like this one." Those brave enough to bank an outdoor wedding in Seattle can be rewarded handsomely. I am so happy for Jon and Katie--both for their lovely wedding and for their even lovelier pairing. Thanks for a gorgeous evening.

Avonlea 7-months-old

2010-08-02T09:15:00.001-07:00

Avonlea, you are 7-months-old now! Your first year of life is more than half over. In the last month, we've discovered more about you as your little person emerges.

You love to laugh and crack up over the randomest things. Mommy said "Yuck!" one day and had you going for 20 minutes. You also crack up to silly voices when mommy reads to you and squeal in anticipation when mommy says, "I'm gonna get you!"

You LOVE your solid food (especially apple sauce and sweet potatoes) and make happy grunting noises as you eat, opening your mouth wide for the next bite. You've had lots of foods now: rice, apple, peas, squash, sweet potato, avocado, green beans, banana, zucchini, and pears. Next, carrots, plums, peaches, asparagus, turkey, lamb and lentils.

You've learned how to really splash in the tub. You love your Sophie giraffe chew toy. You could spend hours in your jumparoo (as long as you can still see mommy or daddy). And when you play on the floor, you scoot, roll, crawl (a little), stand on your head, and pull yourself up onto anything low enough. You can make it across the apartment in just a few minutes.

You also babble and talk to yourself and to other people a lot. Nana Maggie says that you sing to her. While we mostly hear "babababa," we keep hoping for a distictive "mama" and "dada" soon.

Overall, here are the words I would use to describe you: pleasant, joyful, silly, explorative, sensitive, tender, cute, playful, loving, cuddly, feminine, chubby, smart, talkative, homey, sweet, and smiley. You are my baby! I love you.

Happy Weekend!

2010-07-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

We'll be giving our felicitations to a good friend as he gets married to the girl of his dreams this weekend. This is the first of five (five!) weddings we'll be attending this summer. Party dresses and patent leather shoes being modeled by a certain 7 month old will make an appearance too. Photos to follow.

Meanwhile enjoy all this summery goodness while it's here!

Deeper down the crafting rabbit hole...

2010-07-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

So, I think I have a new addiction. Sewing.

(Why can I hear Christopher Walken in my head saying, "I've got a fever... And the only prescription... is more cowbell."?!)

Here are a few things I've been up to recently

Elisa loved a certain Etsy shop, so I decided to try my own hand at the same idea for her birthday gift. The two below are from Tuuni's collection.

tuuni

And here are the results of my attempt (I made two identical pillows from organic cotton and vintage lace):

When a friend of ours had a baby shower last weekend, I determined to make something myself. Of course, Jenny served as my main inspiration, since she's always coming up with (and generously giving away) beautiful hand-crafted items. She made us a soft, snuggly carseat blanket with little owls all over it that has become Avonlea's most-used blanket. I decided to use some of the vintage-print fabric I purchased a few weeks ago at Pacific Fabrics to make the same thing. I also found a softer-than-soft pre-quilted fuzzy fabric for the backing. What do you think?

Next, I'm in the midst of making some sucking pads for the straps of our Ergo baby carrier. Avonlea sucks on the straps themselves, so the idea is to snap on something removable so it can be thrown in the wash. Ergo sells a terrycloth version, but when I saw some jersey an cotton designer pads in a baby store, I knew I had to make my own.

I'm using white jersey for backing and the same vintage-print fabric from the carseat blanket for the front. I'm also having fun using my zig-zag stitch to add some color. The velcro I first tried didn't work out so well and I had to remove it. Any sewers out there that can recommend a strong velcro to use?

That's all for now, but more projects are percolating in my little brain. Deeper down I go.

Leg warmers

2010-07-29T11:00:00.001-07:00

Macrina's Tuxedo Cake (or, how to glut oneself)

2010-07-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

So, Leslie Mackie's cakes are kind of elaborate. I've made two before from the Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook: the almond cake with marscapone cream and blackberries (but I used nectarines and strawberries), and the lemon butter cake with fresh strawberries and lemon cream. They both involved at least three layers, a flavored syrup brushed into the cake base, a fruit filling, and a flavored whipped cream frosting. With at least four different components to the confection, it's a lot more than just some cake and some frosting.

My friend Elisa recently had a birthday, AND recently came into a copy of the aforesaid cook book--a perfect excuse for a cake making party! Little did I know that Mackie's tendency for elaboration really meets its fullness in the cake Elisa wanted to try: the Tuxedo Cake. I'm sure it's named that for its layers of dark chocolate ganache contrasted with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. That's right. Dark chocolate, white chocolate, and cream cheese. And that's just an abbreviated summary. Oh yes, there's more!

This cake has:
1. A chocolate cake base (which I cooked on my own the day before to give it time to cool).
2. A vanilla syrup to be brushed into the already sticky moist cake layers (four cake layers, to be exact).
3. The dark chocolate ganache, made from heavy whipping cream and two kinds of chocolate. This goes after the first and third layer.
4. Vanilla whipped cream. This goes in the center with...
5. Raspberries.
and 6. White chocolate frosting, made from butter, cream cheese, melted white chocolate, and lemon juice.

I mean, seriously?

!

Elisa came over this afternoon and we proceeded to make all the remaining elements, since the cake base was already done. Stephanie arrived just as we were finishing (we paused for an Italian peasant soup dinner, a family recipe) and then we assembled the cake. Four layers of decadence, a hot day, and thickly laid chocolate made for an oozing statue that I admit I had some doubts about. Elisa applied the "crumb layer" of frosting while I put the baby to bed and we let the whole thing cool in the fridge before applying the rest of the frosting and raspberries.

immortalizing our handiwork

May I just say, when we finally cut a slice for ourselves and lifted a forkful to our long-suffering mouths, it was a moment of transcendence. Sour/ sweet cream cheese frosting, bitter ganache, soft whipped cream, moist crumbly cake, and the zinging tart fruit of raspberries. People. This is it.

But, I gotta say, this is the most elaborate, over-the-top baked good I have ever attempted in my life. Why anyone would want to make a living baking cakes like this is beyond me. The time! The labor! And, I couldn't even finish the small slice on plate for the richness of the thing. Before the night was over, I was groaning with discomfort at my over-taxed tummy (and not alone). Wow.

It could make a girl giddy.

The birthday girl wound up with half the cake to take home. Thankfully her husband is training for the ironman and burns like 3000 calories per work-out.

This is a cake for annuls of history. A cake to die with. That is, if it doesn't kill you first.

Feeling ambitious... Overly ambitious?

2010-07-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

I could use a little advice for a project I have cooking up and I need to make a decision this week about it.

So the thing is, I really want new couches. I'm so grateful for the pair I have (hand-me-downs when Matt and I first got married) but as the years have passed, I am more and more antsy to have something more my own style. But couches are expensive and so we've held onto the ones we have, which are still in great condition.

The more I've gotten into sewing, though, the more I've started eying those couches in a new light. First it started with this design*sponge article about how to install your own piping on pillows. I thought, Hey, I could recover all the pillows and cushions on our couches! But the more I look at it, I'm beginning to wonder if I could recover the whole thing if I had Matt's staple gun and maybe a glue gun.

Then there were these Before and Afters on d*s that really had me falling in love with slate gray and white piping with colorful accent throw pillows:

Kate's Couch

Beth's sofa:

So, here's my couch. It has a sister, a loveseat with just two bottom cushions. Lots of pillow possibilities, don't you think?

And here's a swatch of gray duck canvas that I can get for just 4.79 a yard during JoAnn's big coupon sale this week.

But here's what I want to know. Is it too ambitious to recover the entire couch? Should I just do the cushions? Should I sell the couches and get a used couch off of craigslist to recover? What would you do? (And, Rebekah Gough, if you're reading this, I know you took an upholstery class, so I would LOVE your feedback).

Thanks for your help! Can't wait to hear what you think would work.

How we're staying cool...

2010-07-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

Wednesday Morning

2010-07-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! It's glorious in Seattle--sunny and slated to be in the upper 80s by the end of the day. After all that holiday weekend gloom and drizzle, this comes as a welcome change. And here I am again with my cup of decaf drip (still good, though I do miss lattes) and plenty to share.

First off, my sewing projects continue as I've added these adorable ruffle bums to my repertoire. My original inspiration for the dresses served the same purpose for these complementary under-roos. I found a simple pattern and added ruffles. I find myself squealing with delight over their cuteness--something I don't often do.

I plan to make another pair to complement the other dress I made. Will definitely share results when I have them.

Saturday Matt and I had an afternoon to ourselves for the first time since Valentines Day (where does the time go?!) and we had a wonderful time: breakfast at Portage Bay, exploring our local chocolate factory Theo Chocolates (the only organic, fair-trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US!), stopping by the English Pub, George and the Dragon, to catch a few minutes of the Paraguay vs. Spain game, and a stop into the local fabric store for some eye candy.

But the best part of our day came unexpectedly. We wanted to catch a flick (something very difficult to do in the theater with a squirmy little one), so we decided to swing by the three dollar theater near our house and see an animated film entitled The Secret of Kells. We had heard it had gotten good reviews, but we were totally blown away by this short (1:15) feature film with its stunning and intricately worked visuals, haunting music, and thought-provoking themes.

The Secret of Kells follows a young boy, Brenden, living at the medeival monastery of Kells in Ireland during the times of the Viking invasions. Over the course of the film, he learns the art of illuminated manuscript making from a legendary illuminator named Brother Aiden, befriends the fairy wolfgirl Aisling in the forest beyond the abbey walls, and struggles with his uncle, the Abbot of Kells, whose obsession with fortifying the abbey walls to protect from the invading Northmen comes in direct conflict with Brenden's pursuit of scholarship and art.

This film is as much about the power of art to rescue the world from darkness as it is its own playful and masterful excursion into creativity. Irish legends and Irish-inspired original music compositions form an enchanting backdrop.

Little did we know that this film has won scores of awards, and was nominated this year for the Academy Award for Animated Feature; as much as I adored "Up," I can't believe this didn't win. Go see it while you can! It will be out on DVD in the fall. I have it saved in my Netflix queue. You can watch the trailer here.

Last of all, my friend Tiffany introduced me to this wonderful craft and domesticity blogger, Soulemama. She has a large, lovely family bedecked in hand-knitted and hand-sewn garments, enjoying an idyllic (and beautifully photographed) life in Maine. Ironically, her "Around Town" series features places like Knitwit and Z Fabrics--just around the corner from my old office in Portland, Maine. Little spots of sunshine for me in an otherwise grey, cold, snow-enveloped season of my life.

SO glad today doesn't fall into that category--literally or figuratively. Enjoy the sunshine. Tomorrow you can find me at Edmonds beach, basking.

Curried Lentils and Brown Rice Salad

2010-07-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just made the most delicious salad and I have to share.

Well, being on this cleanse and weight loss campaign has lots of temporary limitations. I have to say, necessity truly is the mother of invention. I picked up a delicious curried quinoa and lentil salad from PCC last week and decided to do my own take on it. It was a lot of improv using brown rice, pre-cooked beluga lentils from Trader Joes, golden raisins, and lots of fresh veg from my produce box this week. I'm so pleased with how it turned out!

Here's how I did it:

I sauteed 1 cup of brown rice in olive oil with 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 1/2 tsp. curry powder, 1 1/2 tsp. ginger powder, and a pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes. Then I added 2 cups of water and the juice from 1/2 a lemon, brought to a boil, then reduced heat and simmered for 40 minutes or until rice is cooked. (Coconut milk would make a lovely substitute for the water--I'll be trying that next time).

Meanwhile, I took a head of escarole (spinach, kale, chard or other braising greens would be a fine substitue), chopped roughly, and sauteed with olive oil and salt until wilting and tender.

I finely sliced 3 small carrots, the greens of 3 scallions, and chopped a tablespoon of fresh parsley (cilantro would be even better). I also cut the tips off of 1/2 pound of snap peas and halved them. I put these all in a bowl along with the cooked escarole, an 8 oz. bag (1 1/4 cups) of cooked beluga lentils, and 1/2 cup (maybe more?) of golden raisins.

When the rice was done, I tossed to combine. That's it.

I'm telling you, people, this has been one of my more brilliant moments in the kitchen. But that might just be my sweets and meats deprived self talking--the raisins are seriously doing it for me and I'm told brown rice and lentils make a whole protein when combined. Whatever the case may be, with this in my fridge, I'm definitely going to be able to stick to my plan and feel happy doing it.

Happy Half Birthday, Avonlea!

2010-06-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Avonlea, you're six months old! You're growing up before my eyes. This month, you've done so many new things.

You love to be tickled, danced with and you squeal in delight and give us peals of laughter.

You're well into your 6 month clothes (outgrown a few things already) and even wearing some 9 and 12 month.

Airplane!

You LOVE food (yes!) and so far you've had rice cereal, squash, peas, and avocado. Next, apple sauce!

You'll be sitting up on your own any day now. You can already go a long time without tipping over.

And, although you aren't crawling yet, you are scooting and can cover tons of ground. Check it out.

I love you, my sweet one.

Wednesday Morning

2010-06-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks since I've done a Wednesday round up of all that I'm thinking about these days. Last week I was too distracted by Alisha and Dan and all the fun we were having with "parallel play"--a term more used to describe toddler interaction, but which we've lovingly adopted for setting up our laptops side-by-side and attacking creative endeavors while enjoying the occasional chin wag. We've got a triple parallel going this morning at Fiore as Alisha's hubby Dan is with us. He's just shown me his newly published article about the Northwest music scene this morning and I'm beaming with pride for him.

News in my life is slightly egocentric. I started a 6 month post-partum gentle cleanse and weight loss campaign last week. I know I've blogged about this before, but to be honest I've been very undisciplined and fell back into my chocolate and pastry eating ways without setting some stricter boundaries for myself. Anyway, the last week and two days have been really good, getting free of all that sludge in my veins, and I've already lost 5 pounds without depriving myself of any calories or doing too intense of a detox, so that my milk supply stays up for nursing.

I've approached weight loss from different angles in the past and there are a few things I've learned about myself.

1. I do much better avoiding food groups, but eating as much as I want of what I can have rather than counting calories or limiting my overall intake. I love that I can eat until I'm stuffed right now, no need to be hungry, but I'm just avoiding certain food groups. This does a good thing for my morale.

2. As much as I love to be my lower weight, I love life more. I'd rather be happy than skinny. Food makes me happy. I can bear to live with an extra 10 pounds if it means I can enjoy some indulgences and celebrate life. Exercise and being strong also makes me happy, so I just have to make sure I'm balanced.

3. When I do need to do some maintenance, say for example after having a baby!, I'm very encouraged by doing a strict two week thrust that gives me good results, then easing up for slow loss after that. If I go too gentle at first, the length of the program seems to stretch out into eternity and I never get any momentum going. Plus I need to break all those sugar and carb addictions cold turkey if I'm going to be able to hit the reset button on my cravings.

Here's the plan I came up with. It's got some of the structure of a diet I did a few years ago (South Beach), but the content of a more naturalistic approach, gleaned from a cleanse my naturopath gave me last year, and some advice from The Raw Food Detox Diet.

Stage 1: Fast Loss/ Gentle Cleanse-Two weeks
-No Coffee, Sugar, Wheat, Dairy, Meat/eggs/nuts, or Alcohol
-No processed foods/ artificial ingredients/ preservatives
-Raw vegetable juice and raw fruits until lunchtime
-Fruits, veggies, whole grains (quinoa, spelt, brown rice, etc.), beans, and herbal tea for the rest of the day. This allows avocado, olive oil, coconut oil milk/oil, and flax seed meal for fats and cooking options, since they are all plant derived. I can even have potatoes.
-Daily activity: walking or to the gym

Stage 2: Slow loss-until reach weight goal
-Same as above, including going raw until lunch
-Add back dairy, eggs, nuts and white meat in moderation
-Decaf coffee and red wine permitted
-Still no sugar, wheat, other coffees or alcohols, or red meat.

Stage 3: Maintenance
-Red meat, alcohol, sugar and wheat permitted in moderation
-Go back to stage 2 if weight gain occurs

Some of the delicious meals I've had so far:
-Veggies fajitas with spelt tortillas, brown rice, guacamole and pico de gallo
-Garden in a Pot soup
-Tabouleh with quinoa
-Veggie kabobs with baked potato and hummus
-Vegetarian Panang Curry with brown rice
-Curry quinoa, lentils and veg
-roasted mushrooms
-Vegetarian tikka masala (a little dairy in this) and brown rice
-spaghetti squash and marinara
-toasted spelt tortillas with mashed avocado
...and, of course, tons of fresh fruit, salads, and applesauce and herbal tea when I have sweet tooth or need a cup of warm. I'm also really looking forward to getting my protein intake back up next week with eggs, chicken, fish, cheese, and nuts.

In other news, I've *finally* finished the children's series I was reading, called The Dark is Rising. Overall, it was a captivating read through these five books. As a great lover of the literature of great imaginations, i.e. C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkein's Lord of The Rings, Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet and many others in this tradition, I was happy to come upon another series in that vein. (Not to mention, it's a Newberry Medal and Honor winner for two of its books as well--an honor I could not esteem more highly).

The backbone of these books is Susan Cooper's writing. The style is luminous, poetic, moving, filled with meaningful ideas and among some of the best I've read in quite some time . And the imaginative power of her writing to move the reader seamlessly through fantastic situations and setting only strengthens her talent. However, like L'Engle, I find her lacking in the ability to create a plot sequence that feels grounded and logical, and therefore something in which the reader can be fully invested. Reading Cooper is like moving through a series of rooms filled with interesting and emotionally charged objects and atmospheres. The ideas and even the end-game in each of her novels have substance and depth. But the line of arrival feels sometimes arbitrary and disjointed. If I was hoping for another Lewis or Tolkein, *sigh*, I am a bit disappointed. But for what it is, it's very beautiful work.

New Book

2010-06-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Paul surprised me with this book, saying he had seen it in a shop and thought of me. While the patterns are still a little big for Avonlea, I am SO excited to delve into this. There are definitely patterns I can modify to fit her now (like that adorable smock on the front cover) and others I can save for later. Thank you Paul!

Thoughts on Motherhood

2010-06-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's amazing that nearly 6 months have gone by since Avonlea's birth. As we approach what seems like a major milestone of being halfway through the first year of her life, I've been reflecting on my journey into motherhood so far. I feel that I have some distance and perspective now to judge the things I'm glad I've done and the things I wish I'd done differently. There are plenty of both.

I heard a quote once that "It seems like all the strength and wisdom you need to get through something, you don't have until it's over." It's so seldom that I approach anything in life with the full picture, with all the grace and intelligence it requires. I often wish I could go back and do junior high over again with the strength and self-possession I have now. But I guess that's the point of the trials and challenges of life, isn't it? We're not supposed to be up to task when we face them. It's the facing them that makes us capable (if just barely) of surviving them. It grows us up, sets us up for the next challenge.

So while I feel like a pro with a newborn named Avonlea (conveniently, now that she's no longer a newborn) I'm still finding my footing as a mom of a six-month old (all those nap time challenges!) and I certainly have no idea how to be a mom to a different child.

For what it's worth, here's what I'm glad I did:

1. Having a hospital birth

I'm glad I ended up there, but I'm also glad that I was an informed consumer who knew how I felt about things like epidurals, vacuum extractions, c-sections, pitocin and all the other medical interventions that exist. I believe that they all exist for a good reason, often because it saved someone's life or brought immense relief. However, a hammer is good for a nail, not a screw. In other words, I believe it's important to use the right tool for the right purpose, something which I think hospitals have become cavalier about in their fear of lawsuits and their tendency to see birth as a medical condition, rather than a natural life occurrence.

All that being said, as an informed consumer, I'm glad I was there. The nursing staff and lactation consultancy were an immense aid to me as a first-time mom with a all the challenges of post-partum recovery. Luckily, I was in a hospital with amazing ratings for their support of moms and babies and with a nursing staff that truly cared for me. Surprisingly, I was also glad to have access to pain relief measures. I'm leaning toward hospital birth again next time, but I really love and believe in natural and home birth as well.

2. Reading

I'm a student at heart, and a reader. Some of my friends told me not read parenting books, but I'm glad I did because it really helped me find my own way with my unique child with the knowledge and advice of many experts behind me. I like the balance between learning MY child and using wisdom that applies to MOST children. I also like to avoid the extremes of accidental parenting with little intentionality versus strictly prescribed parenting from a book that leaves little room for creativity.

A few of the books I read:
-Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simkin: Taught me about pregnancy and labor and newborn care
-On Becoming Babywise by Ezzo and Buchnam: Taught me how to help my child regulate her sleep and hunger patterns from the beginning. Without this, I would have been very confused and I owe Avonlea's good nighttime sleep to their counsel
-Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg: Taught me how to read my child's cues and to be more actively involved in her winding down process before sleep. A more balanced approach than some of the extremes.
-Dr. Sears Baby Book: Taught me a great deal about newborn care and my reference for medical concerns.

3. Breastfeeding

For those who can, I highly recommend it. While breastfeeding is a very big commitment of time and physical effect, I am so glad to know that Avonlea is getting the best food I could give her and that we have this special time together. That being said, when she's one, I plan to wean. I may not if she shows signs of not being ready, but based on how voraciously and enthusiastically she goes at her peas and squash, I have a feeling she'll be happy to move onto solids and goat's milk at that point. Anyway, I feel able to make this commitment to her for a year, although pumping when I want to go somewhere and the effect of funky hormones (think: two different types of deodorant at once still don't cut it, "honey I'm too tired," and these 10 extra pounds just still won't come off) take their toll over time. I love it, but I'll love it when I'm done.

One of the best investments I've made has been in a hand pump. Those first couple weeks of breastfeeding, with all it's challenges for us, had me reeling and I remember thinking "I'll never have a life again! I can't be apart from her for more than 2 1/2 hours at a time!" When I finally bought that breast pump, it was like the world opened up before me. I could pump ahead and leave her with someone. I introduced the bottle early to this end and she took it. I'm so glad I pursued this for the sake of my own sanity. Which leads to my next point.

4. Taking time off from being a mommy

I've never spend the night apart from her, and she's never tasted formula. But I've found a way to get time for myself and I'm so glad I've fought for that. A woman at my gym mentioned that she always took Saturdays off and left her kids with her husband so she could have time to do what she wanted to do. She said it was the best decision she'd ever made. I knew Matt and I couldn't do this every week, but we decided to try it once a month. I pumped all week and took my pump with me to keep up my supply while I was gone. That first Saturday I got coffee at my favorite bakery in our old neighborhood, I went to a movie, I valeted parked downtown and went to Nordstrom. It was heaven. I was also sort of lost for a significant amount of time. Not sure what to do with myself or where to go. Go figure. It's a mixed bag when you love someone so much and you are always with them. Love the freedom when you get away, but also hate it. I'm such a cliche.

Now Matt gives me Wednesday mornings too when he works from home and I still get one Saturday a month all to myself. Such a gift.

5. Having a gym membership with childcare included

For my sanity, it's such a mercy. Sometimes it's hard to bear the cold Avonlea might bring home (it's happened twice now), but the childcare is great and it's worth it for the physical and emotional well-being I receive from regular physical exercise. And there's a pool and YMCA programs for her too as she gets bigger. I really believe that a happy mommy makes for a much happier baby. Killing myself to be a mom to Avonlea doesn't do her any service. Taking care of myself teaches her to value herself too and gives me the emotional reserves to be the best mommy I can be.

6. Creating a sleeping and eating rhythm for Avonlea

There are great books about this, so I won't go into the details of how I did it, but I will say that I knew going into parenting that sleep would be the biggest challenge for me personally. I'm a 9-10 hour a night sleeper and the horror stories of sleep deprivation for the first year really got to me. I knew I would need to find a way to help my child sleep through the night. I learned that this was tied closely to hunger and feeding patterns and daytime sleep. Getting Avonlea on a rhythm resulted in her sleeping through the night at 8 weeks without ever making her "cry it out" and me having some (not total, but a lot of) predictability for our days. I call it a rhythm (and not a schedule) intentionally because while the clock helped to inform me, I still listened closely to her cues too and made adjustments accordingly. I am so glad that this worked out for us.

7. Cloth diapering

Ok, so I used disposable diapers the first month. Just to get my bearings on everything else, and to give her time to grow into the small (not newborn) sized diapers I had purchased. There are many great options out there. We chose gDiapers, so that we could use biodegradable disposable inserts (flushable) for when we didn't want to bother with cloth (babysitters, being out for the day, or for extra nighttime absorbency), but I sewed cloth inserts from prefolds and polar fleece (to wick moisture away from her skin) for the rest of the time. I don't want to get on some high horse here, but I just want to say that diapers do have a drastic impact on the environment--even for just one baby. I also feel that cloth diapers are a healthier choice for baby, and are more budget responsible. You can find out more diaper facts here.

I am so glad we chose to at least try cloth, and not just for the principal. I have been surprised how easy it is. I just put my diaper liners into my diaper pail (no water, baking soda or anything else in there). And when I get low on diapers, or enough of my diaper covers are soiled, I do a load: rinse once on cold, wash once on hot with a dash of fragrance free detergent, then dry for 90 minutes on high heat. That's it.

Now that Avonlea is eating solid foods, this is a little more of a challenge (for non-parents, things definitely change after introducing solids!). I'm now rinsing soiled diapers in the toilet before putting them in the pail, but I don't mind the extra step. I admit that you do have to get over the "ick" factor to do cloth, but I think it's worth it.

8. Tummy Sleeping

I trusted my instinct on this one and I'm glad I did. All the books say no tummy sleeping for babies because of suffocation risks. But Avonlea was born with a very strong neck and an ability to lift up with it. By two weeks she was able to lift up and turn her head from side to side on her tummy. It was around that time that we were at our wit's end trying to help her get to sleep at night. I tried everything I could think of--co-sleeping, mylicon (gas) drops, rocking, swaddling, etc. All she did was cry. Finally, some tummy sleep and a pacifier was the magic answer. She still sleeps that way now.

9. Independent playing

I've made a point of putting Avonlea down on her back or tummy to play independently from the beginning. At first, she couldn't do much, but as time has gone on she can go longer and longer periods of time playing with her toys on the floor. She does fuss sometimes and wants to be held, which I either indulge or I sit with her and help her to refocus on play. Either way, I'm grateful that we get lots of snuggle time, but I can set her down if I need to and she'll be alright.

Things I wish I'd done differently:

1. The pacifier

The jury's still out on this one. I did little reading about it, but what I did read encouraged using a pacifier after some time has passed and baby is latching well (so as not to interfere with the latch), but cautioned against it becoming a sleep prop. Well, I'm glad we have it for comfort and to help her get to sleep, but there was a phase of her development at about 4 months when she couldn't yet put it in her mouth, but she was mobile enough to dislodge it, and she cried whenever it fell out. I spent way more time at her cribside repositioning a bink in a restless baby's mouth than I care to admit. I really do think it became a sleep prop for us and I'm not sure how to do that differently in the future because it helped as much as it became a frustration. Any advice would be appreciated.

2. Naptime

Avonlea hasn't been a great napper. Sometimes she doesn't want to sleep, even though she's obviously tired. Sometimes she doesn't sleep long. In navigating this with her, I really regret a season when Matt and I would let her cry if she woke up too early in a nap. We believed she was just going through an active sleep stage and would resettle into sleep, but she would get really worked up. At that point if we let her get up, she would be a grumpy wreck. So we'd let her keep crying until she exhausted herself and went back to sleep. It wasn't pleasant and if I had it to do over, I'd do what I do now--if she's slept a little, try repositioning her. If she goes back to sleep (which happens rarely), great. If she's still awake and asking to be up, let her get up. It's a battle not worth fighting, as far as I'm concerned. The more I've been doing this, the happier she is when she wakes up--often squealing and giggling in her bed before I come to get her, even if it has only been 45 minutes. However, I don't mind some crying at naptime when she goes down, but I stay by her crib with her until she calms down. I feel like it's a good balance between letting her know I'm there if she needs me, and giving her the skills to sleep on her own.

3. Using a shield for breastfeeding

Breastfeeding was a challenge at first and the shield helped me get through the really painful stage. Avonlea had a not so great latch. My milk took 5 days to come in and by that point, I was in pretty bad shape with a lot of tissue damage. But I wish that I had had the discipline to stop using it once I healed. I tried, but it was hard. Anyway, now we're both used to it, and both a frazzled (me) crying (her) mess when I can't find it. I'll definitely not be doing that the next time around.

4. Trying to do it all

Every baby's different and my baby is kind of a homebody. It was easier when she was just a little lump and would sleep anywhere in anyone's arms. But I suppose having such a great crib sleeper should have been a signal to me that she was a bit more of an "I need my space" kind of girl: something we discovered when we traveled to California at 3 1/2 months old and she had screaming fits at the end of each day. Now, I see the thread of consistency. She hates the carseat, she hates the car, and if I try to push her to go more than one place in a day, she hates the world. It kind of cramps my style, but then again, I've got good babysitters around if I need them and I like a slower pace myself. God has a way of teaching us through our children. Avonlea is already teaching me.

That's about it for now. I'm sure I'll have a slew more as she nears a year and I can reflect on the stage we're in now. I offer all of this out of my own love of learning. I recognize it's what has worked for me, and not necessarily for everyone. Take the good, forget what's not for you.

June Garden Update: Thinning and Microgreens

2010-06-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

the strawberries redden...

Matt and I are new to the whole gardening thing. So when it came to planting our little seeds, we made what is probably a classic mistake. We dumped tons of seeds down our planting rows, mostly uncertain about how many of them would survive to emerge through the soil in the weeks until germination. Oh we of little faith!

Here's what our burgeoning rows were looking like:

lettuce sprouts

onions

rows of lettuce sprouts

We had no idea our yield would be so abundant. But considering these babies need room to grow big, I had to accept the reality that we added another step to the gardening process: thinning. Finally this morning I had a chance to have a go at the rows, both thinning the sprouts so that they have room to grow, and replanting some of the starts so that our rows aren't so far apart. Here are the results:

thinned onions

thinned lettuces

unthinned carrots

I'm waiting to thin the carrots until they get a bit larger. I'm hoping to use them for some mini carrot cupcakes, like the ones we had in Napa (photo here).

The upside to all this work is that we now have some beautiful microgreens for tonight's salad. I brought in all my starts, double washed them in cold water, spun to dry, and look forward to eating them raw with some cold pressed olive oil from our visit to Napa Valley and some balsamic vinegar. The lettuce starts are tender and a little bitter and the onions are chive-like--sweet and mild, but onion-y too. Can't wait.

Wednesday Morning Musings

2010-06-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

This morning before I left the house for a Queen Anne cafe, I half-lamented to Matt, "I have too many books to read!" (A delightful sort of problem, really). Now I know I recently posted my stack of books, but now that I'm using my local library with liberality, I have a whole new priority system with books I'm reading. Despite the lack of fines (God bless em), I still feel beholding to that little due date on my check-out slip. AT LEAST to renew it by then, and not ad infinitum.

Here's what I've got checked out or on hold at the moment:
~The Unprejudiced Palate, by: Angelo Pellegrini
~Silver on the Tree, by: Susan Cooper
~Sea of Monsters, by: Rick Riordan
~Little Stitches for Little Ones, by: Amy Butler
~Murder on the Orient Express, by: Agatha Christie
~Super Baby Food, by: Ruth Yaron
~Swallows and Amazons, by: Arthur Ransome

Phew! Those first two really need to be finished soon--I think I've had them out since April. I find it a bit funny that my library account looks like it either belongs to an elderly woman or a prepubescent boy. I guess there are those domestic mama books as well. And then there are all those theology books I intend to place holds on as well. Just need to get through some of this first. (Besides, it's summer!)

In other news, I've started little miss on solids. It's just a few tablespoons of rice cereal for now, but I've made a large batch of squash baby food and frozen it already for next week. Avonlea will eat enthusiastically for a few bites and is quickly over it. I would be less than keen on rice cereal myself, so I'm hoping she'll be more excited for vegetables. Jenny lent me this wonderful book on baby food, broken down by the age it is appropriate to feed to baby. I'm looking forward to making pea puree, apple sauce, and, eventually, asparagus risotto, carrot cupcakes, and all sorts of other things I think I would like to eat.

I recently semi-dismantled my facebook page. I'm still keeping it active and keeping my friends, but I've decided to pare down my online communication to emails and blogging. I'm following the wisdom of a few other friends who have gotten off of it completely. I don't mind the connection factor, but the constant inundation has just gotten to be too much for me (and, often, too much of a temptation away from more meaningful interaction or creativity). No more status updates for me, or probably reading much of other people's. I think I'm already having a bit of withdrawal, but I think it will help me to focus what I want to share here and cut out the unnecessary/ disctracting/ inane. Wish me luck!

That's all for the moment. Some more in-depth writing awaits me. Hopefully my day off on Saturday will afford me some focus for those ideas.

Summer Dresses for Avonlea

2010-06-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

So, if you remember from this post, I was more than a little inspired by a certain Etsy shop I discovered. After arming myself with fabric and sewing supplies from my local craft store and a few vintage sheets from a second-hand shop, I still had to wait through grading that interminable pile of papers. Finally (finally!) I was able to work on my little summer dresses for Avonlea. Here's how they turned out:

Pretty fetching, I think. I'm off to make little ruffled underoos now. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

***Just an added disclaimer. I only recently learned to sew. My friend Jenny taught me how to make some curtains about a year and a half ago. Then when I was pregnant, the nesting urge overtook me and I borrowed my mom's machine to make Avonlea's nursery curtains and a pillow case. Then at Christmas, some stockings (Jenny taught me on these too). Finally, I did a small diaper project recently, and now my first patterned project with these dresses. All this to say, if you think "Oh, but I don't sew," you might be surprised how far you can go if someone just gives your little boat a nudge out into the current. Thanks Jenny.

10 on 10: June

2010-06-10T22:01:00.000-07:00