Instafriday 2/10/2012

A beautiful summery day in February spent at the dog beach.

 

Boyfriend jeans and aqua toes.

 I walked into the kitchen to find Joe's bacon-drying apparatus.

Joe's crazy bulletproof coffee ritual.

Shih tzu ponytail.

Beading a dragonfly for an etsy customer.

In my bead box, I found an abandoned project from long ago.

Pesto got a puppy haircut.

Aww flowers.  No, wait!  Those are thai chili peppers!  No touching!

delicious paleo cookies using this recipe.

q-tips are going back on the grocery list.

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Crafting, Little by Little

When it comes to events, I am an anti-procrastinator.  I learned as a florist to order vases, supplies, and flowers way ahead of time in case something was out of stock and I needed time to hunt for other options. I didn't want to be sued.  I'm not even kidding- I once was straight up fired by a couple because I couldn't provide them with the exact same vase they saw in a magazine.  3 years later, I'm still a little stunned by what happened, but you better bet it taught me a lesson:  Events are important, emotional, and (sometimes) a little chaotic, and therefore you need to prep everything you possibly can ahead of time so you have the time and energy to deal with any last minute stuff that comes up.

Angel's shower wasn't stressful at all, thanks to her wonderful assistants Anna and Michelle who planned everything to perfection.  All I had to do was make it look pretty, which was easy in such a lovely restaurant.   But I still applied my anti-procrastination tactics and started working on the decor over a month ahead of time just to be sure I finished everything. Now that I'm a full time mom, I can really only work during Sisi's naps and after I've put her to bed for the night. 

Here are some of the projects I'm so glad I started early:

Half of these pots I already had at home in my garden from Home Depot, and half I painted with spray paint to compliment them for 1/5 the cost. Simply tape off the tops of the pots and paint several coats until you get the glazed look you're going for.  I  will spray them again with some glossy water seal so I can use them for an herb garden I'm dreaming up (when it comes to gardening, I'm most definitely a procrastinator). 

These thumb tack balls are so fun and easy, but SUUPPERR time consuming.  I could finish 1 or 2 per episode of Felicity, not even counting the time it took to paint them with primer and then a few layers of spray paint.  I wanted at least 25 to make a statement on the tables. Do the math- that's a lot of Felicity episodes.  Had I left these until last minute, I would have made 5 and quit, with 2 billion thumb tacks left over.  The fabric balls were a much cheaper and easier project- I could make 5 or 6 per episode of Felicity.

 These faux craspedia were a little harder than I imagined.  I wrapped 100 wires with stretchy floral tape.  Then I had to use a sharp wire to poke a hole in each wool ball.  I then dotted the tip of each wrapped wire with a little glue, and inserted them into the holes in the balls.  Definitely cute, and it cut down on the number of fresh flowers I needed to buy. Quite tedious though.

 I made 3 pretty pillows for Angel's nursery, and did 1 per day.  It took a few episodes of Felicity to finish each one. 

 It took a few days to cut various shapes for her felt mobiles.  Awesomely, they only took about 10 minutes to sew together.  Simply feed the shapes under the presser foot one by one, overlapping a bit. 

Now you all think I'm a Felicity freak, don't you?  The show definitely went downhill once she cut her hair off, but I wanted to get through the whole entire show on netflix.  I've moved on to Wonder Years and Scrubs.  Anyway, hopefully this inspires you to do a little crafting!

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Instafriday 2/3/2012

The weekend was all about Sisi's party, and this week has been about the aftermath.  Parties are a lot of work!

Freezer paper + silhouette cameo + cheap onesies= fabulous and useful wall art!

Dead balloons...

Most brides were anti-gerbera daisy so I rarely used them as a florist. But I think they're adorable and perfect for a kiddie party, so I bought 3 bunches from Traders Joe's and spread them around the house for the party.

I threw away most of the decor, but just couldn't toss these Pesto and Basil heads.  I'm sure they will come in handy some day.

The few vases I kept after selling off my supplies.  I'll use these babies forever!

Right after I washed and folded these drapes, Sisi managed to pull them off the table and roll around in them on the dirty floor. 

Bird watching.

Escargeot shells keep fussy babies entertained.

My in-laws treated me to wonderful Austrian cuisine for my birthday.  I was going to just combine my and Sisi's bdays, but I admit it was nice to be spoiled a little on my own special day.  I ordered duck breast with cherry brandy sauce, with sweet red cabbage and spatzle. 

Sometimes getting cute pics of baby sleeping is well worth the risk of waking her up.

It's hot spot central over here, hence the cone of shame.

lots and lots and lots of citrus, mostly gifted.

baby LOVES her sardines.

so does Pesto...

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"FUN-stration"

Siena at 4 months

 funstration [fuhn-strey-shuhn]: noun.  an intense state of being both delighted and frustrated at the same time.

I discovered this new emotion (that Joe cleverly named) when I took Sisi to Party City to shop for her birthday party, and they gave her a free helium balloon.  Sisi looked up, mouth wide open in wonder, babbled, and smiled.  I thanked the Party City gal and said, "Yay! Now she'll be entertained for the next hour."

When we got home, I gave her the balloon to play with.  Try to picture this, because I didn't get any video footage:

More babbling, more smiles as she pulls the string back and forth and the balloon bobs in the air.  Then suddenly, tears and wailing, as the balloon bops her in the head.  Then a second later, cheerful babbles as she kisses the balloon.  Then crazy ape tantrum as she kicks and screams on the floor.  Then, she sits back up and sings as she caresses the balloon.  Then, she's balling again and trying to bite the balloon.

I'm standing there, staring in amazement, not sure whether to kill the balloon or let her work out her funstration.  What's a parent to do?

I tell her I'm taking the balloon away, let it rise to the ceiling, and welcome her to my lap for cuddles. She points to the balloon and says, "mama!", asking me to get it for her.  I decide to give it another try, and the same Jekyl and Hyde fun-strated episode occurs.  I decide it's nap time, and stab the balloon to death once she's fast asleep.

But guess what Nana brought Sisi for her birthday a few days later?  A big shiny mylar balloon.  The second I saw that thing, I knew we were in for trouble.

Parents, tell me, have you ever witness a "fun-stration tantrum"?  What did you do?  Why do you think this happens? 

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First Year Photo Shoot!

I am in love with these pictures!  The conditions were less than ideal- for the first time ever, Sisi had refused her second nap that day (she's going through that infamous 2-1 nap transition) so she was uber-cranky.  Also, I chose The Lab Antimall as the location because it's colorful and quirky, not knowing that they tend to kick out photographers. Oops!  Of course, Trista worked with it, we stuck to the alleys and perimeter so we couldn't get caught, and in 45 minutes, captured some really priceless moments.  She is so talented, and I'm so blessed to call her a friend. 

Without further adieu:

I love my little chubby monster :)  These are just a few of my favs, check out the full post on Trista's blog!

P.S. DIY tutorial for the "I'm This Many" onesie coming soon! 
P.P.S. I got that adorable monster hat on etsy from justbehappy. Super pleased with her products and customer service :)

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