putting the pieces back together.

they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions... and well, i had the best of intentions for this blog in december and january. the reality of our situation the past few months however has been pure mayhem. not bad, scary, or unhappy mayhem... but mayhem just the same.

after the holiday traveling settled we completely threw our little 16a home into disarray once again. with abby working very hard to become a more mobile baby i desperately needed room in our living area that we just did not have. i also needed to finally have some workspace that i could actually work in... instead of a jumbled mess of random storage and a dining room table that was almost always covered with piles of whatever.

then just to top it off my computer decided to break down on me. which is why this post will not include the before photos that i want to share of my space... joe tells me that all is not lost but i'm still quite nervous that i may have lost the first 6 months of the little one's life. i'm trying not to think about it.

so the good news... it's done. well my space is. the little middle room that was first a bedroom, then a dumping ground is now this...


i have the expedit mega shelves that i've been dreaming of for so long. for those ikea lovers like me i'll explain... it's the expedit 4x4 bookcase with desk and then we added the smaller 2x4 on top with flat brackets. then just for now and because i had room (and always need more room) i added my craft cubes on top. i could sit and look at my shelves all day... they make me so happy.


and all of that storage space means that i don't have a single thing cluttering my desktop. there is nothing like pure empty workspace. ahhh....

oh, and did you see the room for the vinyl. bliss.

the living room isn't quite done but the space that we have in there now is amazing. we have a little nook for our dining room table where we can actually eat as a family, an amazing concept (oh and it's also clear for the first time in 3 years!!) and i am pleased to say that abby has a big open space to roll around (and maybe figure out the crawling thing).

so i'm back in business. now i just need to salvage my computer's memory and finish setting up joe's computer to be compatible to my ocd organizational standards... i can't even explain the mess his filing system on this thing is in.

and did i mention all of this we keep getting...


well... that's all the update for now. the whole family now has colds so it's time to get back to my sniffly little cuddle bug who currently wants to help with this post. i don't usually like to post photos out here in the wide open web but i can't resist just one...


she loves her puppy (but it will need to major sterilization after this bout of nasal drip).

this weekend:
stitching valentines
more paint swatches
a quick knit for abby

love.

daily december: week 1.

again. sorry for the delay!
the blog is still the one area of my life that seriously suffers when we are all feeling under the weather. but i'll write more about that later...

since i'm playing catch up with sharing my daily december journal i decided to share the first "week" of december in two parts... above is through december 4th.

for this book i'm using primarily basic grey "eskimo kisses". i love the colors of this line (especially the pink and green!) other products i'm using:

elle's studio journaling & christmas tags
sassafrass lass numbers chipboard
making memories fa la la
hambly christmas decor rub ons
alphas: scenic route, adornit (carolee's creations), making memories,
& american crafts

i might be missing some things but i'm sure they'll show up on another page and i'll list them then... if you have a question about something just ask!

december 1st is a library pocket for my goals for this holiday season...

sometimes i just hate tab labels - they never seem to stick and stay stuck for me. this one will get a staple before the month is over.

as i'm not usually interested in a bunch of journaling i decided that each week one of my days would be used to sum up the week...

hope you like the journal so far... i absolutely love it and can't wait to share the other half of the week tomorrow!

p.s. i know i'm missing this turntable tuesday, i'm going on a christmas vinyl dig tomorrow in the city and will share my spoils on thursday!

hope everyone is staying warm & cuddly...

love.

coming soon.

sorry for the delay.
nursing little miss who developed a bit of the nasal drip.
finishing up in between sneezes.
putting together a list of the bits & pieces.
love.

turntable tuesday.

over the next few days/week i'm officially starting some new features on the blog. i've been wanting to get a "real" feature schedule going for awhile and this is the perfect time!

turntable tuesday is the first that i'm rolling out. the inspiration for this feature was found via dust and grooves an awesome photoblog devoted to vinyl collections. the articles and interviews are great and i love seeing the huge collections from all over the country (and world!!) i was specifically inspired by this interview with pat from jersey city (our town!!) - in it he talks about a tradition where his dad would pull three records to play and discuss each thursday... joey and i thought this would be an smart tradition to start in our family as a way to really appreciate our collection and to pass down the musical education we inherited from our dads.


this past week we were able to pick up joe's dad's vinyl collection while we were in tampa. he kept them in great shape but they need a little tlc before we can play any of them. there are a ton of great ones that i can't wait to hear and share... i'm doing my best to resist the urge to dig out three for this week but i really want joey and i to go through them together and get them in play-ready condition.

so for this week i'm going to share three of my personal favorites to listen to at this time of year...

jethro tull: songs from the wood
probably my favorite jethro tull album... it always reminds me of winter, watching dad put up the tree while sipping a brandy, the warm fire, and helping mom get all the christmas decorations out. love the rich sound and ian anderson's voice is so haunting and perfect.


simon and garfunkel: bridge over troubled water
just a classic favorite. beautiful sounds to listen to curled up with cocoa and a giggly baby.

fleet foxes
so excited about this! i've been listening to fleet foxes since the album came out digitally but joey bought me the vinyl last week... it's my first brand spankin' new album i've ever had! i usually only buy used so it was so cool to be the first to open up and listen to this one. fleet foxes are one of our go to bands for soothing abby to sleep on cranky nights and she's been listening to them since she was in the womb. i know this is going to be a family favorite for a long long time.

i'm really excited about sharing this new feature each week and watching our vinyl collection grow as i do!

love.

back home. time flying.

i can't believe how fast november has flown by... we just returned home from a week in florida to show our lovely girl off to her tampa taylor family. it was a great trip and abby did so well on her car rides and being in so many strange places every day. it was amazing to see the huge bright giggly smile abby gave each new relative as she met them. she totally knew this was her big family and she was so pleased to be welcomed into it!


the best was getting to spend some thrift time with abby's new favorite cousin helen.

we went out for cuban sandwiches first - there is no cuban like a tampa cuban. they are amazing and we always get our fill when we are there... we went to The Cuban Sandwich Shop (aptly named) on Florida Ave.

crazy good. and although abby has yet to enjoy the simple magic that is a tampa cuban she had fun and enjoyed the company...


after lunch we went to several thrift stores but the best was definitely Sherry's Yesterdaze...


i could have spent hours in there but it was our first stop and we wanted to make sure to hit a few other places. sherry has an amazing housewares selection but i could not get over the amount of clothing... i look forward to going back next trip!

all in all it was a great trip and we can't wait to go back... we already miss all of the aunt's, uncles, and cousins that we live just too far away from for our liking. we're hoping to see them up in new york soon!

it was a shock to return to the cold north but i'm so excited for the start of the holiday season. we haven't decided when we are going to pick up our tree but i'm going to talk sweetly to joey and see if we can't get it next weekend after painting the living room (finally).

this week:

announcing some new blog features!
starting handmade christmas gifts #1 & #2
finalizing our christmas card design

love.

inspired by: vintage kiddo

one of my goals in the coming year is to buy more vintage, especially clothes for abby and myself. i'm so inspired by this cute duo... rachel and ruby are so sweet and i'm in awe of how much rachel can accomplish professionally & creatively while being a work at home mommy to two little ones. i've just started scouring etsy for fun vintage finds for abby and i thought i'd share some of my favorites...

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is there anything sweeter than this rocking horse.
i'm so coveting the space to have this in abby's room... oh well

finally i wanted to share an etsy store called Vintage Tot Spot. it's a little pricey for our everyday vintage but some of the outfits are kind of amazing...


love.

goals.

28. i can't believe how fast 27 flew by... i'm sure it had something to do with being pregnant with abby and all the business to get ready for her arrival. last year i didn't do a list of what i wanted to accomplish - well strike that i did several lists of what i needed to accomplish, but nothing just for me and official.

so here it is. everything i really want to do and create in my life before next year.

1. throw a picnic party in central park
2. give 10 handmade gifts
3. refab the nightstand dresser for abby's room
4. 2011 weekly gratitude journal
5. finish abby's quilt
6. take a midwest flea/vintage road trip with my mom
7. learn to (really) crochet
8. start an art/inspiration wall
9. open an etsy store
10. take a trip to new orleans
11. see a broadway show
12. make abby some dresses/jumpers
13. 100 scrapbook pages (at least!)
14. walk the brooklyn bridge
15. get new glasses
16. make a huge granny square throw
17. take more photos of joe & myself
18. grow something
19. take a trip to california
20. make sushi at home
21. read at least one book each month
22. send snail mail to 5 friends
23. go to a taping of late night
24. volunteer
25. fill an art/inspiration journal
26. take more walks with abby & the pups
27. get back in shape
28. redefine my personal style

it's a little late in the game but i'm also going to try to stick to accomplishing 4 simple goals inspired by this project. there are a few things i want to get done before we enter 2011.

1. send out christmas cards. this has been a goal of mine since joey and i got married but i can never seem to get it done or even started on time. now with our family growing by one i dream of sending out a family holiday photo each year to our friends and family. i'm crossing my fingers that we'll have time to get a photo done by mr. charles dudley while we are in naples this next week to send out!

2. redesign the blog. it's way late in coming. i put up the text blog banner several months ago expecting it to be totally temporary. i've been mulling over the redesign and new direction of this blog for months and it's time to start fresh in the new year.

3. make abby toy storage... we already are overwhelmed with the amount of toys this little lade has. i LOVE this toy box from wooli on etsy.

4. start abby's 1st year scrapbook. i've been collecting supplies since she was born but other obligations have kept me from getting it started. i'm using this book from elle's studio as inspiration, i love the clusters and layering.

so lots to do in the coming weeks! those goals, plus decorating for abby's first christmas. saturday we are leaving for a road trip down to florida for thanksgiving to see the taylor's and our naples friends. it's going to be a much needed and appreciated vacation.

love.

plus one.

it's been a really great weekend with my little family of three. saturday we went shopping for some new fall/winter jeans, a jumper/activity center for abby, and a few other odds and ends. then we spent the evening listening to records and cuddling in our warm home.

today adding an hour in the morning helped me finally get us all dressed, fed, & out for church early! we were even able to stop for hot chocolate and coffee beforehand. abby wore her skinny jeans + flats. so cute.

after church we did our grocery shopping and dropped some things off at the salvation army & another church's book sale. it was so nice to get those random boxes out of my space. purging always feels great.

the rest of the day has been spent helping joe clean up his pile of randomness, discovering that we need to buy a new computer (and consolidate our two into one family machine), brainstorming crazy ideas for the future, and putting together the week's goals.

one of my big goals this week is to gather up and take care of the majority of my winter mending. i started today with this sweater that i got back in high school.


i love the sweater... it's long, warm, and so comfy. it has definitely seen better days. some of the cables are getting loose and a few of the buttons are missing.

there was this snagged stitch that i decided to tackle right away before it got any worse...

to fix it i pulled the stitch back into the wrong side with a crochet hook, snipped the thread so it could be tied, and then secured it tight...


it worked nicely. tomorrow i plan on going over the whole sweater to check and tighten all of the cables and then find new old buttons. i'm not really a fan of the current ones even though i have them all. i'm hoping i might find some nice ones in the vintage stash i inherited in my grandma's sewing chest.

this week:
joe + my mending for the season
send out a special delivery
go fabric shopping
finish + mail abby's thanksgiving cards
plan our christmas photo styling

i hope everyone enjoyed their weekend & extra hour!

love.

record love.

this week we picked up a record player.
so happy that i can finally play the records that were given to us by my parents. we are about to inherit a large collection from joe's dad - so many amazing albums between the two families... i'm hoping we can fit in a trip to the record store in this weekend after church.

tonight i'm getting the place ready to start decorating and do some serious crafting over the weekend. joe's home so he's going to be giving me a little break from 24/7 baby duty. the house is already looking great this evening and i'm starting to get that holiday feeling.

jethro tull record playing and snow on cedar candle burning.

almost time to wake the child and give her a bath.

have a happy weekend!
love.

happy halloween: quick knit.

hello.
bad blogger. bad bad blogger.

i'm a day late but it's nov. 1st and i'm ready to really commit to sharing on this blog again so i thought i'd start off with the cute and quick little hat i knitted up for abby's halloween costume yesterday.

it was a working weekend for joe and we only had sunday to be together as a family so we decided to keep it low-key. i knitted these mouse ears for abby while we watched movies and abby used the opportunity to show her daddy how good she is at rolling all over her playmat.


the ears we super easy to make. i used wool-ease chunky (it was what i had in my yarn basket in black) with size 11 straight needles. the hat was knitted on two needles and then sewn together.

i didn't work off a pattern, so here is a really basic outline of how i made the hat... you can experiment with changing it up based on the weight of yarn you want to use. i really like how thick the hat was, reminded me more of the felt & plastic ears from the old mickey mouse club & it helps with the structure of the ears.

based on abby's head circumference i casted on 40 stitches for the hat. i worked about 1.5 inches in garter stitch and then switched to stockinette. i did two rows stockinette (K on RS, P on WS) and then started with my decreasing. this was my decreasing pattern:

K8, K2TOG, K8, K2TOG, K8, K2TOG, K8, K2TOG
Purl Row
K7, K2TOG, repeat to end of row
P6, P2TOG, repeat to end of row
K5, K2TOG, repeat to end of row
P4, P2TOG, repeat to end of row
K3, K2TOG, repeat to end of row
P2, P2TOG, repeat to end of row
K1, K2TOG, repeat to end of row

8 stitches were then left on the needles. break yarn and pull through 8 stitches. make sure you leave a tail that is at least double your seam edge. sew the hat edges together. i usually sew it together inside out so if my whip stitch gets messy it's more hidden.

the decrease is 4 evenly spaced stitches per row so you can adjust it based on your own cast on (changes with different yarn or different size of work).

for the ears i casted on 11 stitches (be sure to leave a long tail to sew ears to hat):

Row 1: K
Row 2: P
Row 3: K
Row 4: P
Row 5: K
Row 6: P
Row 7: SSK, K to last 2sts, K2TOG
Row 8: P
Row 9: SSK, K to last 2sts, K2TOG
Row 10: SSP, P to last 2 sts, P2TOG
Bind Off

then attach your ears and you are all finished! i added the ribbon to make them minnie ears.

hope everyone had a great halloween!

love.

p.s. lots of things coming up. going to get back on my inspiration posts... and i'm looking forward to sharing my diy christmas list & holiday projects. i have big goals this season and for 2011!