Miscellaneous Monday

(Yes, I know this is posted on a Tuesday, but it should have been Monday)

1) Don't read Paris to Die For by Maxine Kenneth. I was completely sucked in by the intriguing description and interesting cover (I was shopping for real, paper books at Barnes and Noble, by the way). It was one of those books where you're sitting there thinking, "How in the heck did this get published?" The dialogue was terrible, the plot went nowhere, just bad, bad, bad.

2) Do read The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison. I've read a few of her books and there's something about them that I just really like. They do have a bit of fantasy woven throughout, but it's not over the top and I'm usually really hooked by the plots and characters. I started this at about 7:00 on Sunday night and didn't stop until I was finished at almost 1 am.

3) I'm such a Gilmore Girls fan! I just want to watch them all the time and memorize the lines and be friends with Lorelai and Rory and live in Stars Hollow...Anyway, I saw that a new show is coming out called Jane by Design on ABC family by the same executive producer as the Gilmore Girls, I don't have hopes that it will measure up, but...maybe the witty dialogue and endearing characters will carry over? A girl can dream.

4)  Moving to NOLA has been really great, but one thing that is sadly lacking is Panera. The closest one is an hour away and it hasn't been built yet. :( I really miss the bagels and the coffee and it was such a nice place for a quick, casual breakfast. Well, I was a little homesick Saturday morning (when W is home on Saturdays, we would often go to Panera for breakfast) and crying and moping around the house, so we decided to get in the car and find a good breakfast place. Driving...driving...no luck, close, just beignets, yuck, fast food, $$$$$$, when suddenly we see a little place called La Madeleine. W makes a quick left turn and we are rejoicing to see "Coffee, Pastries, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner" when we see the blue lights behind us. We've made an illegal left turn. Awesome! Thankfully, W has a good record, we still have our KY license plates and the police office let us off with a "Watch what you're doing, sir." This morning could only go up from here, so we walk into La Madeleine and it's soooo cute! Country french decor, yummy looking pastries and muffins, fresh fruit, omelettes and more! It's casual too, you can either order at a counter or order from a menu and sit down. The coffee was just ok, the NO'ians tend to put chicory in their coffee (more on that later). It could be our new Panera, but with crepes!


 5) I know I already mentioned breakfast, but here is another little place we found that we looove. It's actually not just breakfast, they have a great lunch menu too and lots of creole and cajun options. It's the Broken Egg Cafe, about 30 minutes away in Mandeville, so it's kind of a special occasion place.  Can't wait to go there with girl friends when they come to visit :)

My friend Hannah and her incredible looking (and low fat/sugar free) stuffed french toast.

Baby P was mad here because the little half 'n' half cannister he'd been
chewing on, popped open in his face. It was very, very funny.

Super cute inside, it's an old house just a little ways up the street from Lake Pontchartrain.

My eggs benedict!!

"Those are yo-yo's, baby."

I was chilling on the couch watching the new Jane Eyre yesterday when W got home from work, it is absolutely fabulouse (BTW). I want to own it, watch it every day and...well, you get the idea.

I was on the couch, watching the movie with a pile of these beside me:

W says, "What the heck are those? Tiny berets?"

I sigh, "No, they're not berets. Those are yo-yo's, baby."

W: "What the heck do you do with them."

Me: "Ummm, you make things with them."

I understand his confusion, they don't look like much, but check out this inspiration photo from one of my new favorite blogs, The Purl Bee. It's a mini quilt made of yo-yo's.

So gorgeous, right?! And such an improvement from the ones that they used to make in the early 1900's, those tend to look kind of frump and chaotic. They can also look country if you don't watch out. I really like the idea of grouping colors and textures in interesting ways like they did at Purl Bee,  so...I made a bunch of yo-yo's and put them together to make a pillow. There is not a single throw pillow in my house, that's the honest truth, and we do need one or two.

I'm happy with how it turned out, I wanted it to look handmade so I stitched it kind of roughly and used old-fashioned cotton ticking (a fabric I'm kind of obsessed with right now). I arranged the colors sort of dark to light in rows and didn't want the entire pillow to be covered with them. The stripe looks sort of clean and simple-good contrast for the froo-froo yo-yo's. Ha, froo-froo yo-yo's...

NOLA

I'm finally updating my blog, for you sweet friends who actually read it and have been asking for an update. I'm a terrible "bloggist" and cannot believe that my last post was in May!

Since May we have relocated to NOLA, yes, that's New Orleans, Louisiana! It's such a fun town and we are quickly eating our way through it. Here are a few things I've learned about this place.

Po' Boy:   Do not pronounce "Poor Boy" or you'll get
                 "Silly out-of-towner" eye rolls.
                 These are delicious sandwhiches, eat one soon.

Muffaletta:  It's "muff-uh-LAH-tuh" not muffaletta.
                     These are delicious sandwhiches, eat one soon.

Praline:  Do not pronounce it "Pray-leen" or you will be mocked ruthlessly.
                It's "praw-leen." YUM, YUM. This is the home of the
                praline. It's a candied pecan, they make praline coffee and syrup
                among other things and I know it's a flavor I'm going to miss!

More to come!

What I've been up to:

           SEWING!!  ...when not enjoying the wonderful, warm weather, power walking with my walking buddy Hannah and our strollers , feeding Baby P (who is getting to be such a chub and pulling up on everything), grilling out, packing for the big move, and of course reading, singing, cooking and cleaning.

 

 

Here are a couple of examples of what I've been making for Baby P. Little bubble leg overalls, diaper covers and trousers, gotta have that seersucker in the spring and summer!

These are a fun substitute for shorts and just look so precious and babyish. Find the tutorial here at MADE.

A summery clutch for me...there's a chance it was an attempted mother's day gift that didn't turn out just right. :) Everybody has those projects, good enough for me to use but not perfect enough for a gift. I love the fabric though!

 

...and a summery top for me...Simplicity 2360, adapted from a dress... My next project is a romper because I'm built with a long torso, I can't find one that fits me right. I ordered some fabric that I love (below)! I also ordered a piece of black and white polka dot jersey, I might make the romper out of that and a cute dress out of this. I want to be able to wear it a lot and I'm afraid rompers might come and go.

And this fun, little beside-the-bed pocket for my books and kindle and such. Tutorial here.

Allrighty! More on rompers soon!

Easter, Babies and Puppies to brighten up your Monday...

You can't help but smile, look at those chunky little legs!!

There were seven...or was it eight of these little cuties! A lapful of puppies, what is cuter? Other than a chubby baby playing with puppies?

This was from earlier in April when it was still a little cold, but Baby P loves his buddy Leo!

I'm in Love...Again

Lately, I've been noticing that lots of the sewing blogs I keep track of mention"Shabby Apple" in posts, on patterns or tutorials or they have a "Shabby Apple" button on the sidebar.

I finally got around to checking it out and everybody needs to know about this site! So, so cute and everything they have is droolworthy. I'm completely in love with the vintage style bathing suits, every single dress they have and the overall fun, flirty style-super wearable! I also love that they have great pictures of every angle of the garments and they have a really descriptive, specific fitting guide. (Important if you're going to order without trying on!)

I'm in love!!

My sweet husband, in anticipation of Mother's Day (and my birthday a few months from now, and Christmas :) gifted me with a new sewing machine!! Let me just tell you:

I. am. in. love.

         It is amazing! It has features built in that my old sewing machine only dreamed about in its dreams. It's a Pfaff, which in my opinion (after researching and trying out Berninas, Brothers, and Vikings) is a superior machine...and quite beautiful (and really on sale). It sews through tons of layers of fabric without a hitch, makes perfect button holes, has INTEGRATED DUAL FEED (patented, specific to Pfaff, and wonderful!!), and has more than 100 stitches (including little turtles :). I really can't say enough great things!

If you're in the market for a sewing machine (Ashley and Sarah :), get a Pfaff!