craft nostalgia: friendship bracelets.

happy friday friends!
earlier this week while catching up on blogs and pinterest i noticed that lots of lovely friendship bracelets had popped up here and there (and here too!) i thought... hey! i know how to do that! so with little miss and i still feeling a bit yucky and all of the other projects waiting to be started seeming a little too daunting while under the weather i pulled out my embroidery floss and went to town.

i immediately started thinking about summers past and was transported right back to my camp days. back then we made crazy bracelets... 2 inches thick... with names and hearts knotted into them... rushing to the counselors at every activity to beg for their clipboard to use. and we wore the hell out of those bracelets... NEVER took them off to go swimming or take a shower. i'm fairly certain i could still find some of them among my boxes at home or in storage (i know i have a hair wrap from a random trip to disney world tucked away too).

thinking back on those days makes me so excited to watch as abby grows up and discovers her world! i can't wait to start introducing some of my favorite craft activities from back in the day and witness as she spends countless hours tying knots and gluing things together. a whole new generation of crafters to experience the joy of making stuff with and share it over giggles, secrets, playtime, and great adventures.

i plan on making lots and lots more friendship bracelets during my lifetime... they never get old. i made abby a little bracelet of her own. she studied it for a minute and then decided she liked it enough to keep it on and go about her reading for the day...


very much her mother's daughter, haha.

we really are feeling much better so thank you for all of the well wishes here and on facebook. my little lovebug is a trouper and always has a sunny disposition even when not feeling so hot. (all the the extra cuddles we a big bonus this week!)

hope you have a great weekend!

love.

sick day.

hello friends.
sorry i don't have something amazing and wonderful to share today... little miss and i are feeling everything but amazing and wonderful. its the same old story... daddy works really hard for two weeks straight with no breaks and super long nights. daddy and his coworkers develop a slight cough and general ickyness and daddy brings it right home to us. no matter what we do we get it. we wash our hands, are careful not to share glasses or too many kisses with daddy, take extra vitamins, eat fruit, drink lots of fluids... but we still get sick (and have a million extra diapers to boot!)

today both abby and i started feeling it pretty hard and by the end of the day were both totally drained of energy. we had some good moments... lots of playtime... lots of cuddles while watching yo gabba gabba, fraggle rock, and random gordon ramsey shows. i had a few brief episodes where i felt motivated to get started on a real task but trying to figure out "what to do next" made my head hurt.

little miss had a super hard time getting to sleep tonight... and her frantic cries only made her throat worse. in the end a little pear snack and the chance to be awake when daddy came home was all it took to usher her off into dreamland. and now it's time for mommy to follow!

i hope all is well in your worlds and that you are having a great week! i'm hoping we are all feeling better by tomorrow so that we can be a little more productive... the original plan today was to take a few snapshots of the happy places in our home to share as part of mrs. rachel denbow's {smile and wave} photo challenge but as i obviously took a sick day it will have to wait until tomorrow.

goodnight.
love.

hooks & needles: a housewarming lap throw

crocheted 'housewarming' lap throw
size: 44" x 44"
yarn: loops & threads cozy wool
7 colors/ 2skeins per color +1 extra of border color
hook: P-15

good evening!
i hope everyone is having a good monday night... little miss is giving me a run for my money tonight but hopefully she'll be 100% settled soon. we might have caught joey's little cough but i'm praying we didn't.

today i finished a lap throw for my sister. she chose the pattern and i chose colors to match her new condo's great room/open kitchen. (on a side-note the condo is GORGEOUS and i'm totally jealous of it!)

the throw is just one large granny square with a stripe variation that i eyeballed on my own based on which colors i wanted to be dominant vs the accents. the border is two rounds of double crochet.

if you'd like to know how to get started with this style of throw there is a great pattern to use as a base from lion brand called the 'pansy patch throw'.

also... if you are new to crochet &/or knitting or want to get started check out lion brand's instructional videos and how-to's at their online learning center. they are very clear (in my opinion) and a great way to see if you are interested in yarncrafts. if i taught myself you can too!

if you ever have any questions about projects i post or my crafts of choice in general please feel free to ask... if i can't answer them i can always help point you in the direction of the resource that can!

tfl.
love.

mommy + me style: new feature!

hi friends!
i'm really excited to be starting my new feature 'mommy + me style'! as i shed my cotton tee & yoga pant uniform of the past year i will be sharing some of the fun things little miss and i have in our closets...

*disclaimer: there is absolutely nothing wrong with cotton tees, yoga pants, or any other uniform you adhere to. to be honest my wardrobe is still and forever will be full of my favorite cotton tees from target BUT after leaving my job at anthropologie, a pregnancy, and my first year as a SAHM i have gotten lazy and complacent in the fashion department... this is an opportunity for me to share as i kick myself in the butt and fall back in love with my clothes and my closet.

{mommy's accessories: ag denim jacket/anthropologie, vintage restyle necklace/anthropologie}

sunday morning was again super crazy hot here. looking at me in a jean jacket makes me break a sweat... the idea was that little miss and i would wear our jackets in church but it was so hot inside even that we didn't need them!

i stepped a little out of my norm and opted to let my hair down. i surrendered to my natural wave and used a few pearl pins from anthropologie to twist back the front (still waiting for a good opportunity to get my bangs cut).

{on mommy: top/eloise by anthropologie, skirt/bcbg}

this skirt is several years old and is one of the few things that has survived through many closet purges post florida. it did have a dumb hot chocolate stain on the front that was about 4 years old and so last week it was put into the bag to donate this month. but for some reason i was determined to wear it and keep it yesterday. on a whim i thought i'd try to get the stain out once more so i poured straight bleach onto a paper towel and went to town. lo and behold it came right off! i had washed and taken this thing to the dry cleaners several times but for some reason never tried straight bleach. now i know i guess know!

{on little miss: top/koala kids, bloomers/carters, shoes/faded glory}

abby was not in the mood to stay with me for some photos... she wanted to show off how good she is at standing and stepping. not quite confident enough to walk in her sandals but she does these cute little step outs and then bounces and claps for herself. so cute. she also wanted to get down and crawl to daddy with the camera... not happening on the sidewalk with those chubby bare little knees!

hope you all had a great weekend and stayed cool... sunday began our tiny break from the heat wave hitting the east coast. i'll be sharing more a bit later and introducing more new features all week!

love.

inspired by: the rv life.

morning!

it's friday! joey has the whole weekend off and i couldn't be more happy... it's been a very long 14 days with no day off for him. it's so crazy hot outside so i don't think we'll be spending too much of it outside of our little flat but we are planning to hit up the st. ann's fest (our church's big street festival) and maybe try a little park time. regardless of what we do it's going to be heaven having our little family together!

this week i've been obsessed with all things summer vacation. we are gearing up for i guess what would be considered an 'indian summer' vacation in september to california and i seriously can't wait. this trip is going to be the first 'real' vacation for our little family that isn't specifically to see family or celebrate a holiday so it's going to be fun to have just the three of us explore and have fun. getting ready for this trip has made me dream about all of the future summer vacations we'll have and the amazing times we'll share.

my number one dream... RV's.

one day we will have one. it's probably my biggest dream to have a home on wheels that we can take anywhere we want and really explore this country like neither of us have before. i want to take a crazy picking adventure in some of the states we've only breezed through and i want my kids to really experience true Americana before it disappears. check out Sara's amazing family at walk slowly, live wildly . they have done some fantastic rv remodels (they use veggie oil too!) and LIVE on the road. literally. this is their photo stream...


how can you not fall in love with these little slices of heaven?

{source}

{source}

{source}

or how amazing would it be to run a business out of a restored vintage camper...

{enjoy cupcakes}

{fresher than fresh}

{adelante's curb service}

*sigh* love.

vintage 70s floral dress // for sale

hello friends.
i bought this little cutie at a 60s/70s vintage store in new york city on the lower east side... it's in beautiful condition. unfortunately the print is a little young and doesn't look great on me so i'm offering it up to a better home. i don't have my etsy store up and running yet, but i thought i'd offer it here before taking it somewhere around here for consignment.

there's no tag/brand on the dress so i'm guessing it's handmade... and it's made very well! the ruffles/bow on the back are so cute!

i took the measurements with the dress laying flat so you'll have to double where appropriate. it fits me well and i'm about a 8-10ish right now...

bust: 16"
hips: free
length (armpit to bottom): 25"

price: $25 OBO

this is such an affordable little vintage sundress! i priced it way below what i bought it for because i think NYC vintage prices are crazy insane...

i have a paypal vendor account and if you feel better going through our ebay i can accommodate. i will charge flat rate shipping to USA only.

please share this post with anyone who might be interested!

thanks. love.

little miss: just another monday.

{mornings are daddytime!}

abby just turned 13 months, and (taking after her momma) already knows everything. she's fiercely independent, smart, loving, and so curious.

mornings are her daddy time and this morning was no exception... despite getting in around 4am this morning he sprang up when she called at 6:30. (don't worry i'm not an awful wife, i took over and let him sleep!) when it was time for daddy to wake up she was so excited to jump in the bed... we always play this ridiculous game where she & i bang on the wall at the head of the bed and say 'help! help! i'm stuck in the wall! how did i get in here?' she cracks up. we crack up. perfect way to wake up!

{always in her book corner}

in between meals & snacks (the most important parts of the day) little miss has lots of work to do. she pulls out her toys and puts them back again... takes her blocks out of the drawer to taste, throw, and put back again... watches a couple of shows or baby einstein dvds... takes apart the stereo. yup. she's gotten so good at taking things out and putting them away. she hands things to me and is giddy when i say thank you or give them back.

her reading time is very important to her. it's not my job to read any book she's currently interested in. i can read a book that she's not interested in out loud and show her occasionally... but her special stack of books that she pulls out is off-limits. period. don't touch mom, in fact, stay a few feet away.

abby is constantly learning new things and showing me. it's so amazing to watch her when she 'gets' something new a about a toy or an object. she lights up, gets so ecstatic, claps, waves, yells, babbles. it's phenomenal to watch and you can't help but laugh and be excited with her.

she loves learning about color & music... lots of baby dancing! today we pulled out the crayons for the second or third time...

{picking her own colors}

we didn't have to talk to much about eating them this time... she has decided i'm correct and they are not something she considers edible. she did want to pick out her own colors from the box instead of the ones i picked to show her how to draw on the paper.

{all ready! so excited! where to start!?!}

{figuring it out}

she did so good this time and was really working on figuring these skinny little things out! she actually made some marks on the paper and stayed near the paper instead of losing interest or trying to use the crayons in another way (i know i'll find them stuck in her train or something at some point, ha). as she does when she's trying to learn anything she did lots of yelling at the crayons to make them work...

{!!!!}

and at the paper!

we had fun and when she got bored of the paper she spent another 10 minutes taking crayons out of the box and putting them back in.

little miss is not quite a walker but definitely pushing herself out of the crawler stage very quickly. she's a perimeter cruiser and furniture mover... if she encounters an obstacle she will literally throw all of her effort and strength into getting around it. sometimes that means moving a dining room chair or using her bouncer (which i move everyday but still think is heavy) as a walker.

until about 4pm we were having a super typical, chase the baby from one room to the next, work on 'no please' (as in no please don't play with mommy's typewriter)... monday. and then tragedy struck!

in an attempt to stand up using the small tub we keep her 'little people' in little miss fell face first and scored herself a bloody lip. oh she was not pleased. not at all. but we survived.

she recovered from the incident & cleanup a lot faster than she recovered from the swelling she woke up to after a tiny sleep. she had rolled into her 'downward sleeping dog' pose and i think the rush of blood exacerbated her condition. not happy, but again we survived.

and so we come to the end of our monday. bedtime was really quite normal this evening... little miss stayed up a bit later than usual so we could take our time with dinner and still blow off a little steam before bed. she told grandma + grandpa about her day and performed a couple tricks before letting me know it was time to call it a night...

cuddles... a song or two... and another monday, all done.

love.

a long daddy-less weekend.

so long.
long playtimes... long naps.
long rounds

(resisting the urge to add a lot of o's...)

we didn't have daddy this weekend which was a huge bummer. not having him around means that my kitchen is a wreck, i didn't make sunday dinner, and the laundry is now taking over my bedroom... but i won't think about all that right now.

we did have lots of long laughs, which was lovely. little miss is doing all kinds of new things and just can't stand it when she conquers a task... she screeches, laughs, excitedly chatters to all who will listen, and there are several rounds of applause. she's too much. quite obviously my daughter!

my sister's blanket is coming along. the rounds are getting super long and still haven't decided if i want to end it with panels & then a border, or keep doing rounds and do a thick border. decisions, decisions.

naptimes are really the only time i can work on it, as evidenced above. if i keep working on it while little miss is awake i have about 5 minutes before she wants to help. i've started giving her cast off yarn to play experiment with...

#1 we are working on not eating it. after we settle that she tends to throw it around for awhile, pull it apart, and hand it back to me in little fuzz balls. good times. she is really into handing me anything she comes across that she feels is out of place. she's delighted when you thank her for it!

and yes... that is an ipood tee she's wearing. i think i mentioned the laundry earlier.

so now babe is finally asleep, i'm going to think about cleaning the kitchen for a minute while i fake a dinner for myself, and then crochet and watch american pickers on netflix until joey comes home. it could very well be a late night but i'm praying it's not.

is it too soon to start a countdown to california? i think so.

oh. oh. speaking of cali... i almost completely forgot! a little later i'll go more into it but i'm super excited about putting together a real travel wardrobe for our trip. real dresses. put together outfits. vintage for me (and little miss too!). no easy cotton tees... etc. and the plan is to blog the process. putting this together is a little nerve-racking because these are going to be some of my first big fashion purchases since losing the majority of my baby weight and i still have a bit to go before September 1st. so every piece i order i have to pray that it will 'close' to fit, which is scary sometimes when ordering vintage or indie. but i digress...

the cause of my present excitement is my first purchase! i've been eyeing this dress at the red velvet shop and last night i took the leap... into my cart it went.


so i've broken the ice and i'm really happy. i hope to be just as happy when the dress comes home to me! i think it will... i don't want to spoil it but i am 99.9% sure that i'll be choosing this to wear for our friend's wedding. i'm planning on styling it with some off-white/antique white tights (as it will be post-labor day) and wedges.

and now it's time to get back to my hook and yarn zone. i noticed i used 'break the ice' like they do in american pickers... wouldn't that be an amazing job to have? my dream.

love.

finally claiming it. please follow.

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today i made... banana bread!

and not just banana bread...
peanut butter banana bread! yum!

ok to be honest banana bread is not my favorite thing in the world but apparently joey likes it, so when i saw three perfectly overripe bananas i figured a loaf of banana-na-ny goodness was called for. i used a simple bare bones recipe from the pillsbury family cookbook. i love this old thing and want to use it a lot more. we picked it up at a church book sale, besides having some really simple classic recipes the beginning chapters on technique and meal planning are retro-wonderful.

(yeah i just said that)

i used basically the same recipe as the book with a couple of changes... i added a little over 1/4c. of creamy peanut butter and skipped the vanilla & the nuts.

ingredients:

2c. flour
1tsp. baking soda
1/2c. milk
3tsp. baking powder
1/2c. butter
1/4c. peanut butter (be generous!)
1c. sugar
2 eggs
3 medium bananas

(you can add 1/2c. of nuts if you'd like!)



preheat oven to 350.
mash bananas.
sift flour & baking soda in one bowl.
combine milk & baking powder in another bowl.

in another BIG bowl:

mix together (hand whisk is easiest, no need to get your mixer dirty!) butter, eggs, & peanut butter until creamy. then add your sugar a bit at a time until your mix is pretty smooth.

fold in your mashed bananas & mix well.

now add your dry ingredients and milk to the banana mixture. the trick here is to add a little of each alternately. as you get to the end of your milk & dry ingredients be sure to check the consistency of your batter... if it seems too runny add a little more flour, if too thick add milk.


{at 30 min. bake time}
bake at 350 for 45-65min.
bread should be springy when done
have a nice golden/honey crust
and a wooden skewer/tooth pick should come out clean

quick baking tip: your butter, eggs, peanut butter, & milk should be at room temperature before mixing together... makes for a much nicer smoother batter.

joe arrived home and immediately started eating the bread so he approves! little miss tried some earlier but was unimpressed... we'll try a little again tomorrow and see what she thinks. it usually take two tries for her to commit to an opinion on tastiness.

hope you give it a try... OR if you have a favorite banana bread try changing up some of the ingredients! add peanut butter, or nuts, 1/2c. seasonal berries, or even chocolate chips (okay must try that next time... it might convert me into a banana bread lover!)

love.

p.s. while reading this joe said "banana bread with chocolate chips, ew" so maybe he wouldn't like it... but since when does adding chocolate chips to something do anything but make it more fabulous?