My Coral and Jade Birthday

First, I am so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and well wishes for me on my birthday this year.  My phone was "blowing up" all over the place with facebook notifications, text messages, tweets, etc.  If nothing else, social media, you know how to make a girl feel special!

I really did feel special this weekend.  I got to find some "me" time and spend the morning with some lovely ladies from my church doing Holy Yoga.  It was great exercise, worship, and socialization, all things that I get way too little of regularly!

That's me on the green mat!

Afterwards, I go to go home, enjoy a long hot shower while the girls naps overlapped (thanks little ladies!) and then B took me out to celebrate.  In the last couple of years, it's been harder and harder for us to stay out, never mind get out, and usually we are home by 9:00pm.  Lame!  We were determined not to fall victim again this year!

We started off by going to Henninger's in Fells Point.  It's a few blocks away from the hub-bub of Fells, but on this night it was a bit more subdued since there was a playoff football game going on that pulled people away from fancy dinners.  We were the only people in the restaurant section and we enjoyed our meal at a leisurely pace.  The food was great and the atmosphere was true to Baltimore in its quirkiness, mixing up elephants with UFOs in their decor.

In an effort to prolong our excursion, we went to a different location for dessert.  Truly, in Baltimore, this is the only place to go for dessert on your birthday, Vaccaro's in Little Italy.  I ordered the Franciscan from the specials menu and was awarded with a dinner sized plate of Hazelnut Cake, coffee gelatto, and a glob of whipped cream that could stand alone as dessert.  I maybe had 4-5 bites, was totally stuffed, and took the rest home.  My apologies to my friends on the "Whole30" diet who were forced to see this picture and be reminded of what you're missing.  

Enough cake to feed the whole city!

Then we started to falter.  What do we do now?  We considered our options and settled on checking out Patrick's Irish Whiskey and Cappuchino bar just a few blocks from our house.  We've driven past this establishment for 7 years now without ever going in and figured it was about time.  I am so glad we did!  I had had sufficient caffeine and alcohol already (one drink limits for both!), so I had water while B enjoyed a pint off the tap.  

Smile for the camera kids!

The bartender introduced himself as Tommy and was friendly and inviting, despite our meager imbibing.  We were the youngest people by at least 20 years, which on my 35th birthday, felt pretty good to be considered a young'un.  The best part was the live Irish fold singer who knew my two favorite songs, Fields of Athenry and Whiskey in the Jar (apparently based on the Dread Pirate Roberts, marrying another favorite topic of mine).  It was a great ending to my celebration!  

Gah!

Ok, I thought it was bad when my December looked like this.  But now my days are even worse!

Today, fexample, (taking a deep breath...):
drop T off at daycare this morning
came home to take the dog out one more time
made the spinach artichoke dip for one of three Christmas parties tomorrow that I will bake at 5:00 am tomorrow morning
ran into work to get an experiment started by 9:00 am because it has specific timed steps throughout the day (at 10, 11, 12, 1, 3, 4, and again at 9 and 10pm)
pick up T after work
come home
get ready for B's holiday party (fancy event, I'll be posting my first "What I Wore" post, complete with my DIY bead and ribbon necklace and sweater to cardigan refashion)
go back to work after the party (yep you read that right)
come home and collapse.  Phew!

Oh, by the way, I'm 24 weeks pregnant, still getting sick, trying to resubmit a paper, write my thesis and defend my thesis next month. 

Ok, that's enough of my pity party.  Thanks for letting me get that out!

On a positive note, we are nearly finished getting the Christmas cards mailed out, the above mentioned spinach artichoke dip looks amazing (had to stop myself from eating it raw), and I get to go to a fancy dinner party tonight.  Woohoo!

Because I need to add some cuteness to my otherwise self-indulgent vent storm, here is T singing happy birthday on the way home yesterday!

Our first Luau

One of Miss T's bff's from church turned one last week.  So you might be thinking, "Ok, cute little one year old birthday party.  Probably a cute little bug or animal theme."  But, no.  See, M's parents are from Hawaii and they have a custom of throwing an amazing luau for their babies to celebrate the milestone of turning one.

Here's a picture of the inside of the function hall:

Yep, that's an authentic ukelele band way in the back.  They were amazing!

There was a lot going on outside too!  Water slide, moon bounce, fishing prize game, baby sprinkle pool (similar to this one, I will have to look into this for next year!).  It was amazing.

Unfortunately, Miss T was having a bad teething day.  Little girl wouldn't eat and was just so uncomfortable.  I felt so bad.  I was willing to do anything to make her smile.  Unfortunately, some of that got caught on film.

B loved that a picture was taken of me right at that moment.  Can ya tell?

Well, even the fishy face didn't cheer up poor Miss T.  We headed home soon after that.  We heard the rest of the luau was amazing and the cake was great (I didn't even stay for cake!  Me!  Can you believe it?)  We can only hope there will be more of these lovely events! 

A huge thanks to our hosts, the Spains, for inviting us and including us in their little girl's special day! 
Hau'oli lā hānau, M! (Happy Birthday M!)

BTW, I'm linking up this post with The Anderson Crew for Embrace the Camera Day (Yay! Emily is back!).  I figure this is a good one for T to see the lengths that I am willing to embarass myself for her! :)

Birthday month wrap up

My baby is 13 months old now.

Wait, what?  Wasn't her birthday just yesterday?

The birthday month flew by! Here's a "quick" recap:

Her birthday was on a Sunday, so we had a "small" gathering on Saturday.  Check out this link if you missed that story.

B picked out this party dress for T way back in September!  It fit perfectly!

There's a sneak peek in this photo of the  birthday decorations I made for T.  I'll post more later!

The next day, we had church in the afternoon and B and I dedicated Miss T to Christ, that we would raise her in a home that loves Jesus and that we would teach her how much He loves her.  She did great during the ceremony.  The highlight for some might be that she wore her white squeaker sandals and they made sooo much noise as we walked up the aisle!

Later in the brithday week, we took Miss T and her grandparents to Washington DC during the Cherry Blossom festival. We went during the week so it wasn't too crazy. We parked at Union Station and then walked the whole length of the mall. B's parent's hadn't been to DC since they were little kids. They got to experiece the Vietnam War Memorial Wall and the Korean War Monument for the first time. We got to experience a poignant reminder of how important it is for us all to remember the soldiers that sacrificed for our freedoms. We stopped by the World War II monument as well. This is one of the newer monuments and it is beautiful. I've been on a historical fiction reading kick lately, focusing on that period of time. I think it made it all the more real to me as I walked around that monument.
(BTW, if you're looking for a recommendation, pick up "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand. True story and a page turner!)

Our last celebratory event with T's grandparents was a trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  It was awesome, and Miss T loved it!  The only part she didn't like was the really loud waterfall in the Australia exhibit.  Besides that, she loved seeing the dolphins swim by, the jelly fish glow, and the turtles.  Ok, the turtles were my favorite! 

As our last birthday hurrah, T's cousin K came to visit with her parents a week later.  K just turned 2 and we planned a special trip to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.  B has some contacts and arranged for a personal behind the scenes tour!  We got to wake up sleepy polar bears, listen to lions roar, feed giraffes, and get pecked by penguins!

Well, I finally finished Miss T's Cherry Blossom dress, the 2011 edition! I went with a very cute pillowcase dress pattern from my favorite pattern maker Little Lizard King. Her patterns are so cute, her instructions are super clear and easy to follow, and when you're done, you have an amazing creation!



Miss T has just recently learned to kiss.  It is so sweet and she smiles so much after she gives you a kiss!

 I did end up choosing the pink and orange fabric from Studio E and a coordinating brown fabric with butterflies. It came out super cute, but I didn't get it done in time for T's birthday, so she wore it for Easter this year!

BTW - we're linked up at Embrace the Camera over on the Anderson Crew.  Go check it out!

What I've been up to and a giveaway announcement!

Things in bloggy world have been a little quiet lately.

We've had lots of visitors...

Miss T turned one and subsequently started cruising and crawling...

I've been sewing...

Here are some of the things I've made recently...

 

(top right: The Georgia Dress - made for my new favorite local photographer, Kliiq, for his daughters to wear on Easter; top left: Ribbon Pillowcase Dress - made for Miss Ts BFF, Miss H for her 1st birthday; Bottom right: Ribbon Pillowcase Dress - made for FUN! Size 18-24months, available in my shop; Bottom left: Made one for Miss T for her Easter dress, love the Cherry blossom print! Made another for one of my BFFs back home, well for her adorable daughter anyway, Miss A!)

In addition, I recently finished my first custom bedding order.  A crib skirt and bumper for Miss A's soon to be born brother - pictures coming soon (I hope!).  I was so excited to finish this project and send it out that I didn't even take any pictures of it!  I should get some soon all set up in his nursery.

I'm also working on another custom order for my other BFF back home for her two daughters.  Pictures to come soon.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, my favorite dress patterns come from the lovely and talented Little Lizard King.  A mom and entrepreneur, she is about to hit a huge milestone for what she once thought was a small operation.  She is about to hit her 10,000 sale!  She is such an inspiration to people like me.  I just had my first official etsy transaction.  1!  Woohoo!  To celebrate this huge milestone (my one, her 10,000!), Ms. King with the help of some sponsors is announcing a huge prize giveaway.  The details can be found here.  If you love sewing (or would love to buy a pattern for me to try out, hint, hint), check out her shop, her patterns and her giveaway!

Embrace the Camera (and the fact that I have a one-year old!)

So, it's embrace the camera day again!  I'll admit, I haven't been embracing this for a while now.  I haven't felt camera-ready for some time.  Whether it is the tired lines around my eyes or the fact that I lost so much hair between month 6 and 9 of T's life (or the fact that it's all growing back in at once and I have these funny little 12-year old bangs!), I just haven't been too kind on myself lately.  However, this ETCD I had to post. 


(link up your ETCD with Emily of the Anderson Crew!)



We recently celebrated Miss's T first birthday. 
It was a great day - sun was shining, it was warm, the house was clean...

OK, so the house wasn't too clean. 

And the grandparents almost didn't make it because Southwest had an airplane with a hole in its roof and cancelled their flight (along with 300 others!). 

Oh, and T decided not to play along with our napping plan and skipped nap #2 altogether (gave new meaning to "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to"). 

Besides all that though, this moment is one I am so glad we have a picture of.  I am truly living in this moment and enjoying this beautiful little creature that I am so blessed to take care of, raise, and love.  This was the moment T got to have cake for the first time.  Knowing how much of a sweet tooth momma has, I figured she would dive right in.  Nope.  She's definitely inherited both her momma's and her daddy's analytical side (for a synergistic effect) and investigated this sugary confection for 20 minutes!  I was dying laughing.  I couldn't contain myself!  She was just so serious and intense!

This girl really cracks me up. (Can you tell??) 

For a person that can be all too serious, OCD,

anal(ytical), routined, etc., I am so lucky

 to have a daughter that can make me enjoy life

 this much and just laugh and be silly.

(BTW, this was my best attempt lately at trying to look cute, note the 12-year old bangs!)

p.s. Huge thanks to Kliiq photography for being there with camera ready and getting this picture for us.   You know what else?  They even surprised us the next day with a huge print of this and one other picture!  You guys rock!  I'm definitely calling on you for our next milestone photo shoot!

You can also check them out on facebook too!  click Kliiq!

Signs of Spring

The Cherry Blossoms are getting ready to burst in fluffy pinkness.
Thus is one of my favorite times of the year.
I can't help but remember that the day I brought Miss T home from the hospital,
each one of these trees was a burst of color,
delicate pink flowers everywhere.
In about two weeks, T turns one years old!
Get out the tissues, I'm going to be weeping mess!

I've decided that in honor of the time year that we celebrate Miss T's birth,
I am going to bring her to Washington DC to see the Cherry Blossoms
and take part in the yearly Cherry Blossom Festival.
I hope this can turn into an annual family tradition.
I'd like to even purchase or make a Cherry Blossom outfit for her each year too.
This is the outfit I brought her home in -
 (Gap, Cherry Blossom Infant collection 2010)
She was swimming in it, the tiny thing she was!
I haven't been able to find anything to purchase this year, but I did find a few fabric options!
   
I especially like the second fabric because of the orange and pink flowers. 
Orange in our family serves as a reminder of my brother-in-law who passed away nearly 8 years ago.
I love when I get to incorporate his memory into the things I create!
I'll keep you posted on what I make for her...