Our Life Lately 9.3.14

I used to post picture updates like this often, but there are so many sweet moments in daily life that I don't capture in pictures.   Partly because I don't have a camera phone (crazy, right?) and partly because we are on a hands-free journey right now. But here are a few!

OUR GARDEN OF DELIGHTS: Every morning, Sisi and I run outside to see how many passion flowers have popped open.  I will always be fascinated by these freakish blooms, and the fact that they only stay open for one day makes them even more special.  Still haven't seen any passion fruit yet.

BABY "SPRINKLE". I helped throw a mellow baby shower for a sweet friend at church.  It's her third baby, so she didn't want a big fuss.  Good food, pretty flowers, and sweet friends were all we needed.

Which one is 8 months preggers?? :) 

Thank you Trader Joe's for the cheap stock, snapdragons, mums and roses.  $30.00 of flowers was more than enough to decorate the whole house.

CAMPING TRIP:  We had our first family camping trip in a pretty remote part of Big Bear.  And about an hour after we arrived and set up camp, a very large bear came super close to us.  He was sitting kind of dopey-like on his haunches, staring at Joe, just hoping he'd share our pulled pork with him. Us women-folk jumped into the truck, and Joe scared him away with a rusty old machete. The first thing I said to Joe was, "You said there were no bears in Big Bear!!!"  I guess there are, but they are more like raccoons than bears.  Still gave this suburbanite a scare!

belly shot, about 22 weeks.  I'm 25 weeks now and feel twice as big as this pic!

 

Joe's camping coffee setup.

Joe said that this was a more comfortable spot to sleep than the tent!  

He scampered up that rock face in 2 minutes like a squirrel.  My husband is such a stud.

Sheep's milk yogurt with grain-free granola (essentially "nut-ola") for breakfast.  

FAMIILY DINNERS. Lately, most of our dinners take place al fresco, on the patio.  This was a particularly yummy paleo meal- cauliflower mash, almond flour breaded pork chops, and artichokes dipped in drawn butter. 

I am also heeding the advice in the book French Kids Eat Everything by making dinner time special every night.  An everyday dinner is the perfect occasion for candles, flowers, and music.  I even splurged on real cloth napkins yesterday, which is a first.  I am also making an effort to sit still and wait for Joe and Sisi to finish eating before I hop up and tackle the dishes.  This is a tough one, since I'm always the first one done and I am eager to get on with the clean-up duties.  But dinner time is such a special time and should be savored, right?

Not pictured: a major water damage/mold issue in our home, scouring craigslist daily for furniture for baby #2's nursery, and lots of etsy mask orders. 

Read more...

Mardi Gras Masqerade Masks

Hi friends!  It's been a wild couple of weeks.  Equal parts awesome and awful :/  Life can be really, really difficult sometimes, but God always sustains me and brings me to a place of joy.

One of the awesome things was this pretty purple Mardi Gras photo shoot, recently featured on Green Wedding Shoes.  My dear friend Christina of Simply Modern Weddings orchestrated this romantic, burlesque inspired shoot.  She asked me to create some male and female masquerade masks in shades of black, white, gold and purple.  I've never made a male mask before (kind of intimidating) but this was my chance.  It's tricky to make a mask masculine and luxe at the same time, but these handpainted masks with gold leaf accents worked out perfectly. Beautiful photos by Krista Mason photography.

Does this model look like Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey to you, too?

All masks from this shoot recently listed in our Etsy shop!  

Read more...

Sisi the Flower Girl (again!)

I absolutely treasure these pictures captured by Orange Turtle Photography of my dear friends Helen and Jordan's wedding.  I am having a hard time picking which ones to frame.   Orange Turtle is so so so good.  They also photographed my friend Kim's wedding (which was featured in The Knot Magazine!)

This dreamy sequence of me getting Sisi ready makes me daydream about the day when I'll be buttoning up her very own wedding dress and creating a special bridal bouquet just for her.  I'm sure the time will fly by faster than I can even imagine.

Helen wore a Petal and Thorn cathedral length veil, sprinkled with handmade hydrangea blossoms.  She looked beautiful!

I also got to put together some bouquets for the wedding in soft dusty pinks and purples.  It really was a joy!  The only stressful part was waiting for Joe to inch his way to San Diego in crazy traffic with a truck full of flowers on a very hot day.  I was worried Helen would have to walk down the aisle holding Sisi's flower girl wand :/  Thankfully, Joe made it just in time.  Thank you hubby!

juliet roses, blush lisianthus, blue scabiosa, lavender, hydrangea, eucalyptus and brunia

Sisi's walk down the aisle didn't go nearly as well as her first walk back in May.  She was pretty worn out from the drive down, and just wanted mommy to hold her.  But I was a bridesmaid, so I couldn't hold her. Then she had a meltdown during the entire ceremony and Joe had to lock themselves in the bathroom so as not to disrupt the ceremony.  Sheesh.

Luckily, the reception went pretty smoothly.  We toasted, we boogied, and we watched the cake cutting with great expectation. 

"mmmm cake!"

"mmmm cake!"

Thank you Helen and Jordan for sharing these images with me!  Helen, you have been the most supportive, loyal and protective friend these past 12 years. We are total opposites in many ways, but we have formed a lasting and true friendship.  I know you guys don't like your faces plastered all over the internet, so I tried to keep it vain and posted mostly pics of Sisi and me.  Just in case anyone is wondering why there are no pictures of the darling couple.  They are totally darling, just take my word for it. 

Such a happy day!  Thanks to Orange Turtle for capturing it so perfectly!

Read more...

Life Is Beautiful

...Even in times of grief.  Here are some things that are making me smile, despite our recent loss.

A new picture for the photo wall... 

Pretty good, right?  

Not only do we have half a steer in our freezer, we also bought a grassfed lamb from Primal Pastures.  I LOVE lamb.  And I love how the butcher packaged the meat all old-fashioned-like with paper and string.

My herb/veggie garden is actually doing ok! Big surprise to me.  Growing our own herbs has definitely saved us a ton of money.  It's wonderful cutting a snip of this and that for each meal.  

Women's tea.  Makes me feel like I'm doing something good for my lady parts, as they've been through a lot the past few weeks.  Placebo effect? 

My precious friend Julie sent the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers.  1 1/2 weeks later, they are still blooming beautifully.  

Ok, this is the coolest toy we've ever bought.  They are called "river stones" and Sisi has found so many ways to play with them.  She pretends the carpet is the water and she has to hop across.  She also pretends they are linked trains and rides around with her friends. I have a feeling these will be a big hit at our next playdate, too.  These would be a rad Christmas gift!

Yes, she's wearing a dog collar.  Don't worry, we don't put a leash on her :)

Sisi is finally old enough to know that glue is for creating, not eating or pouring on furniture.  We have fun collecting stuff around the house for collages.  And then I throw them away.  I can't stand the clutter.  The old me would have saved every single one.

I love that it's December and sunny enough to craft outside.  

Although we started clearing out our office to prepare for the baby that we lost, we decided to keep the momentum going and finally moved our computers to the sunroom.  This Ikea kitchen island is the perfect standing desk, and Sisi can do art right next to me while I work.  It's fun working right next to Joe, like we're office buddies or something.

Sisi's "tail phase" has lasted for months now.  Shoe laces, ribbons, boas, lily grass- you name it, I've pinned it to her butt.  

I ordered this lovely banner from Joyful Joyful  because I knew it would be good for us to sit down and write out things we are thankful for, even through our tears.  The banner included those little leaf cutouts and clothespins exactly for that purpose.  

The old office is now Sisi's new room.  Soft yellow, Sisi's favorite color (probably because of her thing for ducks?)  When I was pregnant, I allowed myself to relax, sleep in, take it easy (as all pregnant women should!).  Now that I have my energy back, I decided to put it to good use and fix up our house.  I'm not a handy woman by any means, but I'm trying.  I patched up the drywall, hung a bunch of pictures, and painted two rooms in two days, all by myself. I'm super proud, even if I complained every second of the job.

I hope you're all finding things to smile about, too! 

Read more...