good things #4-5 of 5

4. A Notion or Two quilting bee

These are all the blocks I've received so far. They are so adorable! The last ones are completed but I haven't gotten them yet - so you have to go to our photo pool on Flickr to see them. Or not. You can just wait until the whole thing is finished and I post it here. But really, do you want to wait THAT long?

5. Smitten Kitchen's Apple Cake

I made this recipe for Andrew's 1st birthday. It is so delicious!! If you need some inspiration in the kitchen Smitten Kitchen is the place to go.

good things #2-3 of 5

so maybe I'll post 2 today.


2. Garmin Nuvi 760 and Southwest Airlines and some random good person.

Remember my husband the excellent gift giver (see #1)? He gave me a Garmin GPS for Christmas. It's true I'm a gadget geek. And this thing is great. Not only does it tell me how to get places, but it answers my phone for me and reads my text messages! How cool is that?

To make a long story short, I took it with me to Utah and it fell out of my bag on the plane on our trip back and I didn't realize it until the next day. I called SWA lost and found 2 times the following few days with little hope that it would be returned. Then. THEN! The third time was the charm and someone had turned it in. And it just came in the mail today. and I AM SO HAPPY!!! I was literally sick about it. for days. Lesson learned: People are inherently good, don't love stuff - it just breaks or dissappears - but take care of what you do have, and even little prayers are answered. (I was so desperate I emailed Garmin to see if they would donate a couple to me - one to try out and one to give away. Ummm, it was a long shot and I haven't heard back. But if I do I'll be having one SWEET giveaway!)

So to help me in the future, I bought a dymo label maker so I can label all my belongings with the following: "I am mother of 2 small children. If you have found this it's because I can barely keep track of my mind let alone my personal items. I'm sure I will realize soon that this is missing and would appreciate a phone call to let me know I need to make arrangements to retrieve it. And maybe you could pick up a couple things at the store for me while you're out?"

3. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

One of my favorite blogs, Blue Yonder, has talked a lot about the quest for good homemade bread. She raved about this book and so I ordered myself a copy and it arrived today! I am so excited to get started! I'll let you know how it goes. They even have a web site if you want to learn more.

good things #1 of 5

Maybe not in the same style as Martha's good things - but good things, in my humble opinion, nonetheless. I just put all 5 in one post and decided I'd spare you the lengthy reading and post one a day for the next few days.....

1. My husband's birthday present to me.

It was my birthday back in December and my husband dear (who is a great gift giver) got us tickets to see a new stage production of Les Miserables. He heard ads for it on the radio and thought I would enjoy it. We were able to go last Friday night and IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE.

I didn't really know what to expect going into it, because from the description on the Signature Theater's web site it sounded like it was sort of like the broadway musical but they had changed it up a bit. I wasn't really sure what that would mean. I have to admit, since High School I've been a Les Mis junkie. I've seen the Broadway production 4 times. The last time I saw it was actually on Broadway and until this weekend was the best because it was one of the final weeks of their run in New York and a lot of the original cast members came back for it. It doesn't help that I lived in France and am a secret (or not so secret) francophile.

But this. This 280 seat theater meant big broadway sound and acting in a venue where every seat was a great seat. I could have touched several of the actors, I was THAT close. If you've seen the broadway version than you know how grand the staging, sets, and costuming is. Here everything on the set was black. The costumes were a variation of black, grey and white - with a little symbolic red thrown in here and there. Javert, Jean Valjean and Cosette had all played these parts in the broadway production. Javert was so passionate and angry we could see his spit flying!! (Granted, not that pleasant - but gives you an idea of the intimacy of the venue.)

I could ramble on even more, but really, there are no words to describe it.

I was in tears within the first 5 minutes.

It was the best birthday present, ever. (Now if I can convince him of an actual trip to Paris for my 40th *UGH* in a few years. . . .)

Even my husband, who is not all the emotional or into stuff like this was blown away and teared up (don't tell him I told you!)

If you live near D.C. you really should go. If you don't live near here you should make a trip of it. Let me know and I'll tell you about the great Thai place we ate at just before the show.

i'm a winner! (again!)

I read this blog, Light Refreshments Served. They have frequent giveaways and of course I'm always entering. I was a little skeptical about needing leg warmers for babies - but then I won. And then they came! and then I put them on my little guy. How cute! It was a generous prize - 3 pairs of leg warmers, a hat and flower. You can go to the SnuggleLuv web site and see all of the cute choices and order some of your own!

That hat kills me. So do chubby legs in argyle.

I have been in absentia since we got back - but I'm working on a few things and hope to have some more time to post this week now that we are somewhat back into a routine. See you soon!

feeding the addiction

Of course I had to buy some fabric while I was in Utah. There are so many cute quilt shops there. I met Amy, Park City Girl at Elaine's Quilt Block where I got some cute stuff for a bag, Alison's bedding and those purple fat quarters just because they were cute. AND $1!

Then yesterday I was reminded of Material Girls, a fairly new shop (to me) that I have heard good things about. Amy had emailed me to ask if I had been there before - my mom and I left within 5 minutes to go check it out, we only had one day left together, and I'm always looking for a good reason to procrastinate! It was good therapy - got my mind off of the packing and the flight. Plus I got those cute blue and green fat quarters for $1 too!

Nadine and her cute shop did not dissappoint! I got to visit with her and she let me take some pictures!

She had so many cute samples up and a great selection of fabrics from Amy Butler, Sandi Henderson, Heather Bailey, etc. She told me that Sandi Henderson was in her shop one day and everyone was going crazy! I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels starstruck by these designers.

Aww, more birdies.

There were so many cool quilts to look at! I love the window pane look of this one on the left. I think that's what I am going to do with my bird blocks. And I just liked this one on the right - Amy Butler Midwest Modern. So pretty. An Amy Butler Quilt is on my list to make this year.

Now back to my normal life. It's been a while. I'm looking forward to my own bed, a routine and some quality time with my sewing machine.

homeward bound

So much to blog about, so little time.

Life has been a whirlwind since Thanksgiving! We've had holidays, birthdays, transcontinental flights, inaugurations, and a quilting bee all in the space of about 8 weeks! I barely got my house put back together from Christmas when I decided to fly across the country with my 2 small kids, BY MYSELF. Slightly crazy if you ask me. I will be glad to get home and back into our normal routine.

I've spent the last two weeks in Utah visiting my family. This is what it looked like from the airplane when we were getting ready to land.

That's right. Cold. Snowy. White. And yet, we haven't had one snowstorm the whole time I've been here. Lame.

We've had a great time visiting and letting my kids spend time with cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandma Suzie, that we don't get to see very often. Not to mention the dear friends I've been able to catch up with. There's never enough time to see everyone either...

Two very exciting things have been going on in my crafty life. My quilting bee group, A Notion or Two, has left me speechless with the blocks that have been made for me so far. I keep checking back constantly to see if new pictures have been posted. I can't wait to get home and get the mail and then start to put this beauty together!

I also got to have my first bloggy meet-up! With one of the Blogging Amys! Amy from Park City Girl was able to meet me at my favorite local quilt shop to check out the 1$ bargain fat quarters and an excellent selection of other fabrics.

(I'll have to take a picture of the fabric I bought to post later.) We had a great time getting to talk and get to know each other better in person. We had five kids between us so it was definitely an adventure! We laughed about understanding why we shop for fabric online! It's so much easier. I just love how I have made some great friends in the blogging community who have the same interests as me. It makes it fun to share with people who understand! So to meet face to face with a 'virtual' friend was really a treat! Thanks, Amy!

Amy wrote about our meet-up here.

Tomorrow will be spent packing up and getting the last snuggles and hugs in with grandma. Wish us luck on the flight home!

quilting bee-utiful!

oh wow. I had no idea what I was in store for when I decided to join the little quilting bee, A Notion or Two. You have GOT to see what has been created so far. I am speechless. And I keep going back to look at the pictures. They make me SO happy!!

well, here's a little sneak peak. I'm so glad I decided to have them add the little birdies after all!



And do you see that new little button over there? The one that says "Blogging Amys"? No, it's not a new band. But it's a cool name! Amy at Commonplace noticed (like many of us Amys) that there were a lot of blogging Amys. So she compiled a list. And made a button. And now I feel like I'm part of a special club! How funny is that!? Click on it and it will take you to the list. And if you are a blogging Amy, ask her to add you to the list! And if you aren't an Amy, well then, I'm so sorry. Hey, do you think we could get Ms. Butler to join our club?