Since it’s still February somewhere…
I made these for Evan this year in our effort to give heartfelt, frugal Valentines to one another. The framed ninjas sit on his desk at work now. I brought them home for a photo shoot because it’s just so dark in his office.
And a few extra pounds via these yummy peanut butter twists. Evan and I (but mostly Evan) made these for… no particular reason. That’s 2 1/4 cups of powdered sugar and a far lesser amount of peanut butter. I’m thinking misnomer? So I ate like 4 today. Whew. A few extra pregnancy pounds are OK, right? In my guilt, I made it my mission to deliver at least a few of them to a neighbor.
Today was so beautiful here that Emily and I finally went Outside. Or “siiide,” as she calls it. The first neighbor we encountered was the lucky recipient of a baggy full of peanut butter goodness.
I hoped to accomplish something extra on this extra day, but it seemed that all I really did was take a few pictures and play with Em. It was great. Oh, and I ate too much.
I think the finale airs tonight, but I sure couldn’t figure it out from Bravo’s website. So I’m about to go turn on the TV and just wait for a commercial that clarifies this mystery. In the meantime, I have my own little fashion creation to share:
What a great little model Miss Emily is! Even when Mama puts her in something this chunky and unflattering to her bulbous figure, she still smiles and poses for me.
I’m hoping that it will look much sweeter with a super-simple dress. The flowers on her shirt today and the ribbon on her pants were just too much with the chunky bolero. Emily’s tummy really does bulge a bit. Since the bottom of the sweater hit her right above her midsection, it just didn’t work well over a shirt. But it might be OK with a summer dress… ? I may try again in another color and make it longer.
For now, it’s time to sit down to a bit of this:
This being Evan’s homemade, San Francisco-style sourdough bread, some berries, and a splash of kefir. Yum.
Emily may get a rose-colored jacket instead of a gray one. I thought I had a skein of gray yarn, but I appear to be all out. I do, however, have lots of this rose stuff from the Vanna’s Choice line. It’s cheap, but Emily doesn’t care and doesn’t wear anything for more than a few months anyway. I’m developing the pattern from scratch with only a basic idea of kimonos… and I’m leaving the sleeves very short. I hope this works. If so, I’ll try my hand at actually writing the pattern and sharing it!
This is the first time I’ve ever made lace, and I found it quite addicting. This pattern is “Droplets Trim” from The Crochet Stitch Bible (Thank you awesome Tulsa library!). I’m thinking it would make a lovely trim on Emily’s Easter dress. Although I haven’t planned any other part of it yet. This will be my inspiration. I’m thinking a little knit jacket in gray and some pale pink cotton fabric for the dress. Hmm…
In other news, our little family is fairly obsessed with the Oscars. I planned to work on some crafty project while watching them this year, but it is hard to focus on two obsessions at once. We had a little party with some friends, ate lots of popcorn and dry brownies (which were still quite good), and called out our predictions throughout the show. At the end, we tallied our correct guesses. Evan, of course, won. What was surprising was that none of us guessed right on Best Supporting Actress… And I believe we all cast different votes. I fell asleep during Michael Clayton (which I blame on being a pregnant beached whale), and never saw Tilda Swinton’s apparently fantastic performance.
I have to tell you that had I not gone with my heart on Best Picture, I would have guessed correctly (and tied with Evan for the win!). I just couldn’t bare to see another bleak film win. So I held out hope in the underdog, Juno. I knew it was a lost cause. But I sure hope it’s remembered, and I’m darn glad that Diablo Cody got an Oscar.
After a little morning drama yesterday whilst trying to make coffee and get productive, Emily received this sweet little package from her Great-Grands. It’s so pinkish and girly, and it allows us to continue the celebration of Valentine’s Day just a bit longer. Truly, with our anniversary just days after the holiday, we might as well make February an entire month of hearts and sweetness. Why not?
In fact, Evan took me on another (!) date last night. To see U23D. Therein lies the extra bit of night music. If you like U2, you will love this. If you don’t like U2, well, it’s a U2 concert, so…
I especially loved the supposed “cheesiness” of Bono singing in my face and almost hitting me with his guitar. Love, love, love. And I will tell you why going to a concert on film is much better than a real concert: first, it cost us $10 each. And we are People On A Budget. Second, no crowds, no traffic, no mosh pits, no crazy-high guy to curse at for pushing you. (At an Arcade Fire concert, I had to get all assertive on some skinny punk. Think me, turning around and yelling, “Get off of me! I’m pregnant, you idiot!” Then think many stunned college kids watching their elbows and inching away from me for the rest of the concert.) Third, Bono in all his awesomeness up close.
I’ll admit–there’s no substitute for the adrenaline rush one gets from “being there.” But this was still pretty great.
The message of the concert is obvious–it’s not just a string of fun sing-a-longs. It’s more of a sermon about humanity. Afterwards, I felt convicted about so many things, but I’ll spare you. Instead, here’s an excerpt from Beautiful Day:
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Touch me, take me to that other place
Reach me, I know I’m not a hopeless case
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
You don’t need it now, you don’t need it now
Beautiful day
EDIT: See Evan’s review of the film here.
There’s little that will make one more desperately needy for an outing than handling a cranky baby all day long. Last night I wanted to escape, but with temperatures below freezing, I decided to stay in. With Sufjan Stevens and U2 on the iPod, I holed myself up in the bedroom and began my free-hand embroidery for the quilt I recently began. I made quite a bit of progress–finished 4 squares and started another. I’m 1/3 of the way there! The fabric used on these bunnies in the book Softies by Therese Laskey was a great inspiration for me. And being “alone” for a few hours was just what I needed to recharge.
Even now as I type, Emily is sitting on my lap. I can’t seem to reason with her that she needs a nap. She doesn’t feel well, but she’s not whining. A sweet but clingy baby is way better than a crying, snotty, inconsolable baby.
EDIT: Emily is now crying inconsolably in her crib. Now where did I put my iPod?
This is the gorgeous (and rather huge) rose Evan gave me on our anniversary. A single flower means much more to me than a dozen–I think it’s easier to appreciate its beauty.
Today we have a “Winter Weather Advisory” in our area. Since 8 am, I’ve been longingly peeking out the window in hopes of seeing a little of the white stuff. But all I see is dreariness and a light dampness on the ground. On top of the ickiness, Emily is sick-ish and grumpy (hopefully just cutting teeth). Maybe after I get a shower (this is almost always an afternoon event), I can start fresh on some project that will brighten the day. I’ve cut a few quilt squares, and now I’m seriously thinking of free-hand embroidering the solid pink squares with flowers. I also need to cut borders for all my squares, so I have quite a bit of work ahead of me: 12 embroidered squares and about 100 rectangular strips to cut.
than a little girl riding the rocking horse her Great-Grandaddy made her for Christmas. Not every handmade gift is so thoroughly appreciated by its recipient. Emily actually dragged her horsey over to me and more or less begged me to help her on. Such sweetness. Unfortunately, when she attempted to dismount, she somehow ended up with horsey on top of her. But no ouchies, so all was well.
I wanted to show you the pretty rose Evan brought home for our anniversary last night, but I’m having trouble moving the pictures from the camera to the computer. Usually it’s just a matter of plugging it in and clicking a button, but something is just not working today. He also brought home cheesecake which he subsequently drizzled with cherries. Yum. We couldn’t get a babysitter in time to go out, so we watched Jane Austen’s Persuasion (the new, ITV version). What a good man to watch yet another predictable love story with long dance sequences. I gotta say, I loved it but could do without the modern elements the director threw in. I’m just not a fan of weird camera angles and movement in a film that is otherwise completely 1815. It was distracting. But I still loved Wentworth and Anne. Great chemistry there.
Tonight we have reservations for dinner at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower. We stayed there when I was 8 months pregnant with Emily. Now that we’re making a second trip, I’m 7 months pregnant with Baby Brother.
These two little birds on a limb are appropriate today as Evan and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. It was a long, hard road getting to our wedding day in 2005–it took a lot of work. We liked each other for years in college (and nearly drove all of our close friends crazy!), and then we finally dated for about a year. That year was miserable. We had “Define the Relationship” talks every few weeks, which inevitably resulted in me crying and knowing that Evan would break up with me in due time. Why did I hang in there? That’s a bit of a mystery. I was actually quite relieved when we did break up in the spring of 2003. I was about to graduate, and I could finally make some life decisions about where to go next. Maryland: with wonderful family, including my Grama who is responsible for the lovely bird embroidery.
For several months, Evan and I had no contact with one another. And that was a very good thing. Time and distance indeed made our love grow, and by the fall of 2004, we were engaged. That’s the simplest way to put it. If Evan wrote this entry, you would hear of great anxiety and struggles. But that didn’t happen on my end of the relationship (on the second time around), so I can’t speak to that. Alas, it’s a miracle that we did finally get together. I guess I just always loved him.
Having just made a Valentine for him (I’ll share a picture of that later), I’ll just have to express my love in another way. I’m thinking a nice, old-fashioned love letter is the way to go.
