New in the Shop (*gasp*)

I know, I know. It's been a LONG time since I listed anything new in the shop. I have my reasons, which will have to remain a mystery for now. But these gift tags went up yesterday and I think they're so cute! I'm such a sucker for cupcakes. :)

Back from So-Cal

Our trip down south (and, might I mention, our first real trip anywhere in the last 3 years) was a huge success. Traveling with a toddler who has an early bedtime made us rethink our usual stay-in-a-junky-hotel-because-we'll-only-be-there-to-sleep strategy, so we shelled out a bit more cash to stay in nicer two-room suites. And MAN, was it worth it! We lead a pretty humble existence up here on the farm - we only have one bedroom (yes, the 2 year old shares a room with us), don't have cable, and do what needs to be done to fit three people's schedules into one bathroom. So imagine our collective joy when we entered our first hotel room in Santa Barbara: two bedrooms, two bathrooms, large kitchen, and a flat screen TV with CABLE!!! Holy cow - if the beach hadn't been 100 feet away I think we may have just locked ourselves in there for a week.
The great thing about Santa Barbara is that you can pretty much walk anywhere you need to go. We walked to the beach and Moses got to fulfill his long-time dream of "putting his tummy in the sand," then walked up the road to dinner. It was great. 
The whole point of our trip, however, was not to stay in luxurious hotels, but to attend my brother Daniel's graduation from San Diego State University. So we continued on to San Diego and managed to fit in a trip to the zoo (in the rain, incidentally, but it was still fun) before the ceremony. Daniel hadn't told us this, but he was graduating not only with honors, but as the "most outstanding student" in the philosophy department, so instead of sitting amidst the sea of other graduates, he was up on stage with the faculty. That was really cool and we're totally proud of him. And, except for screaming out "PENIS" in the middle of the ceremony (he was explaining what would eventually happen to the crackers he was eating - you can figure it out), Moses did really well through the entire thing. The whole trip was a success and a much-needed break from daily life. It's nice to be back - lots of laundry and cleaning up to be done, no more Discovery channel, and back to sharing the room with a toddler, but it's still home. :)

Masterpiece in Progress...

I know it's tacky to call something you have made yourself a masterpiece, but I'm just so excited about how this quilt is turning out! It is for my cousin's new baby, and I probably won't have any pictures of the finished product since I'll be hand-stitching the binding on our road trip to San Diego this week. The quilt (hopefully finished by then) will be dropped off at their house when we get to LA. 

In other news, I'm starting to rethink the genius of buying my son Crocs. Wet feet + Crocs + chasing bubbles + cement = scab face. Poor little rascal. This one wasn't as bad as last summer's "first big boy owie" but it still hurts to look at.

Summer Project: Dress-up Box

When I was a kid one of the best sources for imaginative play at our house was the dress up box. It wasn't anything fancy - just an old wicker chest full of remnants of Halloween costumes, funny hats, old cast-off shoes and clothes from my parents, scarves, the odd wig... We used to spend HOURS dressing up and goofing around in our costumes. I remember this old pair of see-through plastic high-heels that were in the chest - I used to pretend they were Cinderella's glass slippers. *sigh* All four of us kids would tell you the dress-up box was one of our favorite things in the house.

This summer I'm going to make Moses a dress-up box. Finding the clothes should be the easiest part - a quick stop at Savers and the Good Will store by our house will fill it up in no time. The challenge will be figuring out where to put the box in our ever-shrinking house. Maybe if I stop buying fabric I'll find some room... ha!

Pretty Things

Well, the new computer is up and running, but I have NO idea how to work a Mac, so I apologize ahead of time if this post is a bit weird. We bought a Mac mini (when you live in a small house, anything with the word "mini" in it sounds appealing) and I am quickly realizing it is NOTHING like a PC. How in the heck do I highlight text? And why does everything on the screen have a purple tinge to it? Hmm... anyways, since I still have no photo editing software on here, I decided to post some pics of pretty things I've recently found on etsy. This beautiful "ranunculus" photo is by dsbrennan - SO perfect for spring! She has lots of other beautiful photographs in her shop.

And I am totally loving this clutch by rikrak - it's made from recycled vintage fabric, as are most of the items in her creative and colorful shop. 

I've been eyeing this sweatshirt from Rose LaBiche for a while. Such a pretty take on the typical hoodie, don't you think? 

And that's my virtual shopping for today. It's probably a good thing I can't get this computer to work or I may have just emptied my paypal account after looking through all my etsy favorites. Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Back... Sort of...

Man, you would think getting a new computer would be easy. Just go to the store, right? But with everything that's been going on around here that has seemed like a large task. We currently have a mess of laptop-hooked-to-still-functioning-computer-parts situation on the desk, which I'm using to make this post. I also have no picture uploading software, which has been driving me crazy! BUT Brett and Moses are at the "computer store" right now getting a new computer, so soon I should be back up and running.

Anyways, I realized it's May and time to announce the winner of April's giveaway. (You thought I forgot, didn't you?) The winner is Amy Q. of the fabulous Bandamy - and this couldn't be any more perfect because she and her husband just found out that they're expecting a boy in August. Congrats Amy! (I PROMISE these drawings are random :)) Above you can see one of the amazing purses she sells in her shop - I've seen these in person and they are even more fabulous than they look here.

As for future blogging, I will be back soon, though I can't promise when or with what regularity. With a busy 2 1/2 year old, a house for sale, summer just around the corner, and a bunch of other things "in the works," I'm going to be figuring out how to fit this in. But I will be back, and soon on a shiny new computer!