big spring dreams

Greenness is returning to our corner of the earth — and with it, delicious birdsong a la Bambi. Tomatoes, squash, dahlias, and herbs are sprouting inside, and we planted chard and baby greens in our back-porch planters (and uncovered some lovely volunteer mint!). Our garden will be small as far as gardens go, but my history with gardening is not exactly illustrious, so small is good.

Unrelated, but has anyone read Zeitoun? Was it worthwhile? I have mixed feelings about Mr. Eggers’ work (though I did meet him once at a book signing and he was very interesting), but this one made me curious.

Massive shop update in the works. I’ll quit inundating you with cute pictures of my kids soon, promise. Though they are pretty cute, aren’t they?

(Yes. The right answer is yes.)

today i’m excited about

:: It’s a warm, sunny day & right now I have baguettes baking to eat with dinner tonight). They smell so good.

:: Gold strike! Embroidered mumus have been on my perpetual hunt-for list ever since Rachel at Smile & Wave fixed one up last summer. (What’s on your perpetual hunt-for list, by the way?)

:: Also found this fun little book, published in the 1960s by a guy who wanted to preserve his grandfather’s country wisdom and know-how. Chapter titles include “Sugaring,” “Doing with Stone,” and “Indians.”

:: Heather’s Joyful Life Library! Advertising with a beautiful purpose; I hope we start seeing more projects like this on the blogosphere.

:: MM scrap pack giveaway on the Vintage Sheet Blog! Jen’s been hosting a whole month of giveaways in celebration of her one-year blogaversary. Congratulations, Jen!

:: Babies taking pretend naps in the laundry. The 3 of us had dinner at Denny’s last night (the man was in the field) and had the. best. time. Kids eat free Tues/Thurs, so it cost less than McDonald’s usually does. And with a lot less chaos.

:: Baguettes making happy crackling noises as they cool. Surely we won’t need all four for dinner…

snacks and books for cozy days

It’s true, Oriental flavored Ramen is my very favorite snack, and — apart from a lasting affair with melted cheddar on rice cakes — it always has been (incidentally, it is one of the few foods on earth that R hates). I add carrot, celery, scallion, sesame oil, and today, a handful of spinach, to mine.

We are normally not book-buying people. But our micro-library was having some trouble getting a few titles I wanted, and I found them used for good prices. It is an untold luxury to have a huge stack of new books that are all mine — no due dates here, my friends.

Rained all Saturday. Snowed all Sunday and straight through the night. Blah.

bookish

Really, this is a post about books, but I had to throw this in here:

Those girls love them some playin’ on mama’s bed.

And I have been lovin’ me some good books lately –

The Worst Hard Time, adult nonfiction about the Dust Bowl disaster in the Plains States during the 1930s. What a time those folks had of it. Egan does a fantastic job of tying individuals, science, geography, and politics together in a way that’s completely non-boring. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s one of those books that I take to the playground in hopes of sneaking in an extra paragraph or two while the girls play.

Freakonomics, another piece of adult nonfiction. The author uses principles from economics to explore social questions and problems — some of which you probably didn’t know were social questions and problems. Take, for example, the first three chapter titles: “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?”; “How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real Estate Agents?”; and “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms?”. It’s such a rad book. I dare you to not swallow it whole.

Anybody else have some good book lovin’ to spread around?

scrap happy

I’ve been meaning to do this for-ev-er…

Scrap packs! Now available in the shop in three different flavors. Yum!

Also, this probably deserves its own post, but oh well — if you haven’t already read Three Cups of Tea, you really, really should! I learned so much about the cultures, customs, and landscapes of rural Pak/Afghanistan, felt majorly inspired to do some good in the world, and thoroughly enjoyed every page.

Also-also, R and I saw Inception last night. Loved it. We hated Dark Knight (way too much gratuitous violence), so we were a little skeptical about seeing it, but we are still thinking and talking about it. Fab movie (and it doesn’t hurt that Ellen Page has a really cool wardrobe and is just generally totally awesome).

things that make my heart smile

Nothing much crafty to show for today — I just finished a custom job for a teacher friend — 30 classroom chair covers, all in black canvas. They look sharp, but not terribly exciting (love you, K!). Instead, I wanted to direct you to some photos — along with some thoughts on skirt-wearing — that Courtney just posted of her three chickies wearing Modern Marigold skirts. I love it! There isn’t much in the shop right now, but I’m hoping to finish up some customs this week, then get rockin’ again on shop stuff.

Also, something that made my heart go pitter-patter the other day — my girls reading together. Every once in a while, L would call M’s attention to something interesting, like a bunch of pandas.

In case you’re looking for a good book, right now I am ripping through In the Heart of the Sea, a true story about a 19th century whaling disaster at sea (written, incidentally, by the author of Mayflower, which is also fantastic). If you like maritime survival nonfiction, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea is another really, really good one.

Happy Thursday!

vintage knitting leaflets

In college, I did a lot of knitting. Somewhere along the line, I dug this stack of vintage knitting leaflets out of my mom’s stash and claimed them as my own. Most of them belonged to my Grammy; the oldest one in there is from 1942, when she was just 19 years old and (apparently) into knitting baby clothes. There are even a few typewritten patterns in there — one for “Army Man’s Sleeveless Sweater with ‘V’ Neck in Khaki Only” — meant for knitting sweaters for the boys in WWII, I presume.

The scope and detail of many of these patterns astounds me. Can you imagine knitting some of these pieces?

So many neat images to share (and fun to see how many of these fashions are back in vogue now — I would totally wear most of these, wouldn’t you?) –

Anyway, along with all that college knitting, there was also a lot of typing and some piano classes, too. Add all that up, and you get a killer case of tendinitis, which means no more knitting — probably ever (sad face). Happily, my pal Lara said she’d be more than happy to give these leaflets a new home — and one where they’ll definitely get some use; she is a total fiber fool!

on the pile

Two books loaned by a sweet friend and a big stack of headbands for the shop.

The books came just in time; I’m about to finish The Help, which is the best novel I’ve read in recent memory. I was starting to get worried about what to read next.

But the most notable thing on the pile right now is not actually a thing — it’s a nap. And I’m off to snag one.

adverts

R and I are developing a bad habit of reading in bed when it’s already so, so late at night. The conversation (as we’re climbing into bed) usually goes something like this –

“Oh, I thought you were going to read.”

“No, but you can read.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. But if you’re going to read…”

So last night I started a delicious new book called La’s Orchestra Saves the World. It’s by Alexander McCall Smith, best known for The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which I have read and was also delicious. Jan, the manager at the (sadly) now-defunct Chapter Two Books in Logan, always told people that his writing style is “sweet without being sentimental.” And smart, I’d add. I’m one chapter in and indelibly hooked.

And speaking of hooked — be sure you take a peek at Amanda Sasikirana’s new Etsy shop (the above image is a sweet little pair of pins you can get there). I love her blog, too — her fabric choices, designs, and ideas always inspire me. So check it out — she’s got a great giveaway going on right now!

two happy little things

Hey, thanks for all the amazing potty-training advice! It’s going to come in handy…sometime. I’m seriously procrastinating Day One, but whenever I get around to it, I’m sure you’ll be hearing about it. So thanks.

Just popping my head in today to show you two library books I’m over-the-moon excited about…

…and my pretties that I got out this morning in preparation for some slammin’ swatch portraits in the girls’ rooms.

I decided to go all-out vintage in their rooms — quilts, curtains, kitschy little details — it’ll be a work in progress, but I am so excited.

Off to the races again!