Red Rompers and Red(dish) Velvet Cake

Elvis Modeling his new romper

 

 

 

Wow; Spring has finally sprung! It's been a very cold and damp spring; which happens every few years here; it seems that it will always be winter; and then, POOF! Spring! A late spring, but spring nonetheless! Today the weather was just gorgeous; 75 degrees and beautiful sun. I'm sure we'll still have some damp weather over the next few weeks, but days like this are such a treat!

Today I received a romper in the mail from Mary Beth at Monkey and Friends. She's sending me an outfit for each of my boys who wear the sizes of clothes she makes; in return for taking a few pictures of my boys wearing them. What a deal! It's a win-win situation, because she doesn't have to hire a model, which can get expensive. Although I must say, I feel I've gotten a better deal than she! The romper for Elvis is just gorgeous, the fabric is high quality and adorable, and her workmanship is just superb. I can't compare to her skill at all! I snapped a few "unofficial" pics of Elvis, because I was so excited at how cute he looks in it! Tomorrow, I'll be having a photo shoot with him in our backyard....come to think of it; I better put the romper in the wash, because it was so darn cute on him I left it on him the rest of the day!

I also made us our slightly belated anniversary cake; using the recipe for Red Velvet cake I blogged about a few months ago. I felt very rushed and although the batter was a bright red color, I was initially disappointed that the finished cake was only slightly red. I think next time I need to add more food coloring. The frosting is cream cheese, which I love; but I had to quickly frost the cake while making dinner in a big rush (as always); and so I didn't make as pretty a cake as I would have liked, had a had more time. I bought chocolate covered strawberries to garnish the cake with, a fun treat that is sold at our grocery stores bakery; and one of those things we always drool over but never buy. The cake was quite delicious, but not exactly Food Network material; but I'm glad I made it. I usually make a cake for our anniversary, and try to make a new recipe every year; this will definitely be in my cake arsenal; to bake when I have the time (and the red food coloring).

I also finally made it back to the gym; after completely neglecting it from around the time of our vacation, because I was literally working 18 hours and day and felt I couldn't get away. I am really trying to find a better balance; and doing things that are important to me; whether or not I feel I have the time.

I have plenty of stories about things I've done in an effort to find balance; more to come!

Happy Friday!

Farmers and Brides

Ahhh....such awful cell-phone pics of the bride! I promise that as soon as the real pictures are back I will post them! The first picture is taken with a camera, at least; as I was finishing the dress; you can see it's a beautiful shade of pale yellow; and I hope you can see enough to know that my mother made a lovely bride for her wedding last Saturday. After the wedding, which was at her home; she opened up her pool and the boys went swimming and ate Hawaiian food, which they had never had, but loved!

Saturday was also my first day selling at at Farmer's Market. I was so nervous and had so much to do, I couldn't sleep! Once we were there getting everything set up, I felt more comfortable, but it takes some getting used to to have people look at your items, ask you questions, and then walk away without buying. I know that happens hundreds of times a day to my online site, but it feels more personal when the customer is standing there! After I loosened up a bit, and got a couple sales, I started to enjoy chatting with customers and only felt a twinge of disappointment when they would walk away. The weather was as good as could be expected for fickle Idaho springtime; and I can't wait for the weather to improve further, so I don't have to freeze every Saturday! I learned of a lot of things I need to change and get better at, but all in all I think it was a success!

This picture is my display; I wasn't totally happy with it, I felt like a big dork with hardly any items, but I do plan to expand on this for next week; and I hope to be better prepared and less stressed that way.


Sunday was our 12th anniversary! I had a great day, I slept in thanks to James; which was amazing, since I've been so sleep-deprived lately! He made us a great breakfast, and then we had a relaxing morning. My little sis Rachel, who is so great with our boys, came over in the afternoon to babysit; so James and I had a great date afternoon. I treated myself to a real haircut at a salon, and even had my eyebrows shaped; Jean Harlow's got nothing on me! James got a haircut and a shave, then we drove out to Ste. Chapelle, our local winery, and had lots of fun deciding on our wine order. We are members of the "wine club", which gives us a discount on the wine we buy; it actually turns out to be an economical, and fun, option. We decided on 12 bottles; which will probably last us three months or more; and it seems so decadent to so many lovely bottles to choose from.

I feel like I've been so busy lately I don't know which end is up! I'm trying desperately to catch up, and to find my joy again; it's been really hard lately, because I feel like I'm doing so many things all at once; and none of them well!

One of the many things I've been neglecting is my blog; I hope I will have more interesting and less whiny posts soon!

Happy May!

You Should be Kissed Often and by Someone Who Knows How

Ahh, Gone with the Wind! I absolutely believe in that sentiment! It's important in a marriage to not forget the "little things". I've seen the saying "Always kiss me Goodnight", which is a nice thought, but honestly; half the time James and I don't even go to bed at the same time, or else we both collapse on the couch; so there's not a lot of Good night's going on in our house! I say; kiss when you can! Somebody should put that on a coffee mug!

I've got marriage and weddings on the brain right now because my anniversary is coming up, and yesterday I realized that my mother's wedding is in nine days, so I really need to finish her dress this weekend. I'm coming right along with it, the skirt is bias cut and has five pieces, so getting those contoured seams perfect is crucial to the flow of the dress. The skirt is put together, and the bodice and facing are done, I just have to put the lining together and do the zipper and the hem. And the train...and the waistband....And the straps....EEK! I must work faster! I don't have any pics yet, because...well, it doesn't look like a whole lot yet, so I'll wait until it's at least recognizable!

There's no point in saying I'm busy; or tired; so I won't! I'll just say that I'm feeling very hopeful about the way things are going business-wise; and I'm trying to not sweat the small stuff. I heard that song on the radio today, the one by Tim McGraw called "Live like you were dying"; which basically is about living your life to the fullest, as if each day were your last. Certainly if everyone followed that to the "T"; there would not be a lot of bills being paid or laundry done; but I appreciate the message. Truly, getting my darn laundry put away doesn't help anyone (much); but having a (relatively) calm mother helps my boys tremendously. My final hang-up about the "letting it go" method is because of ingrained habits and attitudes, and the (unfounded) fear that if I don't keep up appearances; so to speak; James will not see the value in what I do. He's told me a million times that he would rather have a happy wife than a clean house, so I suppose it's really all just me. I have a tendency to be pretty hard on myself, and others; and it's hard not to have the cleanest house and the best cooking and be the happiest, busiest Mama in the whole world! I guess it's just admitting I'm human, and fallible, and recognizing that I don't have to be perfect to be a pretty good person.

Must sew tonight! As soon as the dress looks like a dress, I will be sure to post pictures of it, and I really hope my mom's not reading this; because she'll think I won't have her dress ready in time! (It's ok, Mom; I'll get it done, no matter what!).

Tomorrow's Friday; have a great one!