Ahem..hello?

Is this thing on?  Helloo-oooo?  Anyone still out there?

Radio silence for just under a month, and it's not that I haven't thought about the blog. I'd like to say (or, more aptly, I had prepared to say) that I've been so busy with my "40 bags in 40-ish days" project that I haven't had time for any other recreational activities.

False.

I have actually crossed a few things off the list, and am pleased with the progress of decluttering.  It got a little overwhelming there in the beginning when husband, inspired by my commitment to organization, decided to purge all of the basement clutter into the living room/dining room/porch.  Most of it has found its way to the Goodwill, or back to the basement, save for one lonely box of Kitten's 3-6 month clothing which just can't seem to get back to its home.  (ha!)

I can't really recap a month of stuff.  Mike completed his final of four summer classes. It still astounds me that he spent the past few months as both a full-time stay at home dad AND a full-time grad student.  Amazingly we still got to go on a nice long vacation and he got straight A's (along with much praise from all of his professors).  I couldn't be more proud of him!

Hen has been doing things that are decidedly "very Hen".  He's still golfing, also playing baseball and making up a lot of really clever jokes. He's memorizing his favorite songs and books and asking us how to spell certain words (uh-oh).  This week he moves into the next room at daycare--the room that you turn four in--I can hardly believe that my boy is this big. It's just not possible.

On to his sister. Oh sweet Alice. Alice is phenomenal.  No, really, she is.  She is phenomenally huge, phenomenally smart, phenomenally cute.  We've changed her middle name to Phenom, that's how outrageously phenomenal this kid has become (or, arguably, always was). One fun development over the summer has been Alice's increasingly sassy attitude. She comes from sassy genes (long line of 'em), so this shouldn't surprise us at all. When a student recently asked me "How do Henry and Alice spend their day?" I thought for a moment and then said "Henry plays every sport known to man, stopping occasionally to request sustenance and Alice makes sassy faces and sounds while army crawling around the house looking for things to eat...not always edible things, just 'things' in general."  This is still accurate.

As for me, life has been busy with increased numbers of visitors to campus and preparations for the fall. I'll be traveling, which I can't even talk about yet because it means that I'll be away from my kids and hubs for a period of time and I haven't yet come to terms with that reality. Aahh!  Stop talking about it!! Since part of my job has involved social media and writing (a part that I absolutely adore) my excuse for being absent has to do with the "work-life" balance that I try so desperately to find. Writing/blogging was feeling very "work" to me for a while, and I just needed a break. I'll post more about that later, but will say quickly that I'm REALLY excited about new developments at work and am looking forward to doing more in the area of marketing and communications.

Well, that's it.  Back to the kitchen to clean up dinner mess and gather things for tomorrow. Thanks for hanging in there while we were incognito! Good to be back.

40 Bags...40(ish) Days

I have been totally uninspired this past week. Maybe it's due to post-vacation blues. Maybe it's the exhausting, imposing, heat and humidity keeping my creativity at bay. For whatever reason, I just could not write this week.  Come to think of it, I couldn't do much of anything this week.

I am pushing myself out of this hazy, heat-induced, post-vacay creative slump. Pushing, I say. Yesterday, out of the blue, I remembered that cute little summer "to do" list I created back in mid-April (when I was sleep-deprived and crazy). Damn! It's August! I've done next to NONE of those things.  Summertime fail!! Recognizing an opportunity to get my "push-out-of-slump" on, I selected a few of the things on this list that we had yet to do and confidently wrote them up on the blackboard in the kitchen as our to-do for the week.

1. Make a kite & fly that kite 
2. Go on a bug hunt with Hen
3. Goodwill bag
and as a "maybe if you have enough time": 4. Make ice cream

Perhaps a bit high from the excitement that comes along with actually doing the things you say you'll do (shock! awe!) I took one of these tasks a bit further.

Behold! Forty Bags in Forty(ish) Days! (the "ish" because I know myself too well)

Forty locations throughout our home (including vehicles).  In each of these places, an opportunity to declutter. It's simple, really. I go to the cabinet under the kitchen sink and I take everything out, isolate and organize the stuff that we use/need, donate what I can, ditch the rest. Some locations are easier than others (basket in first floor bathroom is a five minute job...my dresser, a different story) but having all of these locations more organized will certainly help us feel less frazzled.

With that said, I'm going to go select a few of these on the list that I can take care of before Kit's nap is over. If there is one thing I enjoy more than making random lists, it's crossing things off of them!

We're Baa-aaack

Guess who has returned from va-caay-caaay?! That's right, our favorite little friends, Hen and Kitty. A week in the Outer Banks at Finis Terre (Latin for "End of the Earth") leaves us sun-kissed and in a bit of a beachy daze.  This was the perfect vacation, and the first with Liam and Alice, which made it especially wonderful.

There are many things that I enjoy about the beach. A general disregard for time is one of them. Keeping time at the beach matters very little. The clock doesn't limit our activities or dictate where we must be and when we must be there. There is not "9 o'clock" or "half-past three" at the beach. When you want to eat lunch, it's "lunch time", when you want to go to the beach, it's "beach time", when you want to nap, it's "nap time".  You're saying, "Hey, time, I really don't care that it's only noon and that I ate breakfast, oh, two hours ago, I'm having a margarita." It's my favorite part of beach vacation (second only to the memories we create with our family...and the aforementioned loose rules regarding how late it must be for one to enjoy a cocktail).

As for our schedule-loving kids, they did quite well. Naps still happened (for Kitty, at least...Hen held out for most of the week) and food was ready before bellies could eek out the first grumbly growl. Hen was a huge fan of beach time and took to the ocean like...well...a fish to...you know.

I took a ton of instagram photos throughout the week and posted many to my facebook page, but I've put many of them into a slideshow (previously posted) and included photos that Megan and Brigid snapped.  Hope you enjoy a little recap of our week of relaxation. If you haven't vacay-ed yet this year, maybe it will inspire you to do so!

June 11-June 16: In pictures

 

What better way to start a post than with a yummy, summer mojito!  The only thing "wrong" about this amazingly refreshing summer cocktail is the way that I pronounce it (because sometimes it's just more fun to mispronounce things intentionally...mah-jaih-toe).

Last summer I was all knocked-up and such and due to my "condition", our wonderful, fancy friend, Dave Bender, mixed me my very own "faux-jito".  Tonic, simple syrup, squeeze of lime and sprig of mint and I was like a proud little girl at the grownup table.

 

The post-mojito morning brought a beverage of a different kind. Above you'll find a sweet photo of Albie and I having our morning cup of coffee. While dining out, Al is one of those obnoxious types that tells the waitress, "high test, please!" instead of "regular" and puts her hand OVER the top of her mug when the poor girl tries to "top off" her cuppa joe.  Seriously lady?!  That hot coffee could have burned your hand!  Couldn't you just say "No thank you"?  Noo, you had to be super weird about it.  I don't understand people sometimes. Neither does Alice.

*We gave Alice her own "teensy" mug when she kept trying to wrestle my actual cup of coffee out of my hands. Greedy gussy.

 

Ohh, we haven't seen the last of "Pooey the Builder", here, overseeing her crew (Mike and Hen) as they redo the driveway. "Lay the bricks EXACTLY half an inch apart, guys! I'm not kidding. I'll come over there with my ruler and check your work if I have to."

Ohhh, last but not least...tonight's dessert!  Raspberries from Grandpa Mac & GiGi's garden (picking them is so zen for me) with chocolate & vanilla ice creams. This is a fun little series...

My bowl of ice cream (L) and Hen's bowl of ice cream (R) about two minutes after I'd dished them out.  Notice which dish has already been nearly finished.

Hen arguing that we should "switch ice creams", and forcefully pointing to the dish that I should claim as mine. "You take THIS one, mommy. It is prettier for YOU". I declined and he switched tactics "We should share. That is the nice thing. Will you share with me, please??"

Closeup of my raspberry/chocolate/vanilla delight. Pre-sharing. I did give him a few friendly bites, but saved the raspberries covered in melted chocolate ice cream for mah-self. Yummm.  Nothing gets between this lady and her dessert.

Molly vs. Butterick Pattern B5629

Steps to sewing success:

Take a staycation. Go into start of staycation expecting to focus on LARGE list of honey-do projects that have been amounting while incorporating lots of play time, reading time, relaxing time with two adorable children.  Two days into staycation, decide that honey-do list is boring, and that completing to 65% is just as good as completing the whole way.  Shrug off the remaining 35% in favor of a "project". Surf internet for awhile, spend midnight hours on mommy-blogs, wonder why other moms are so awesome. Feel both strong dislike, and great admiration, for these D.I.Y. moms (seriously, they basically have their own sorority...sisters of DIY, we don't think we're better than you...we know we are). Only half-decide on a project, figuring that you can "flesh out the details" at the store.

Arrive at local Jo-Ann Fabrics.  Wander through aisles filled with colorful bolts of fabric. Having been seduced by said fabric (on sale! of course) and with delusions of crafting grandeur, venture into the abyss of the "sewing patterns" section. Go against better judgement to elect an easy project that could be completed over the course of an afternoon (new throw pillows, kitchen curtains...), instead, decide to sew a dress for your daughter.  (The plans said "Very Easy"...so it really can't be that difficult).

Emerge from fabric & pattern section half an hour later, with ridiculously well-behaved children in tow ("Oh, yes, thank you, they're always like this"). Pay for two yards of fabric, two Butterick sewing patterns, fusible interfacing and $15 worth of bonding/elastic/hook-eye closure/bias tape "stuff" that you know nothing about, but that you seem to remember as "important"...maybe...maybe not...who cares, just buy it.

Reward angel-boy with a trip across the mall to the sporting-goods store (or, "The Golf Shop" as it is referred to in our home).  Let him putt on the mini-green for 10 minutes, or until angel-baby wakes up and decides to pitch a fit.  Escort rumply, fussy, once perfectly-behaved children out of store.

Make it to car in just-in-time moment, only to realize that keys are lost.

Back into mall.  Tempting fate.  Search frantically through fabric store with crying baby and close-to-fit preschooler.  Allure of fabric store is lost after purchase has been made, and these other shoppers really seem to know what they're doing.  Feeling regret for such an ambitious project, but no time to revisit.  Keys are missing.  Run across to sporting goods store, smartly avoiding golfing section ("But I neeeed a 5 hyyyyybrid, mommeeeee"), realize five minutes into this crazy-lady search that keys were in front of stroller all along. Sigh of relief. Slap forehead with hand.

Lunch at Issei with Lizzie (best part of the trip!) and then home to piece through the goodies in the Jo-Ann bag.

After wrestling preschooler down for nap-time (unheard of), revisit contents of the shopping excursion with excitement and some uncertainty.  Sense of false confidence--check!  Am convinced that if Butterick says "Very Easy", it should be a walk in the park.  Get started making that "very easy" reversible dress with empire waist, button closure and gathered skirt for Kitty!!

About 2 minutes into instructions, realize that people who sew have their own super-special secret language.  Understitching? Grainline? Easestitch? Out-facing? Ok, that last one is sort of self-explanatory, but in the context of the overall plans it is just as confusing as the rest.  W.T.Elf Butterick Pattern B5629? Very Easy? Very easy for who, exactly? Martha Stewart?!

I managed to cut out pieces for the "bodice" (who uses that word?!) and have decided to just wing it for the rest.  Above is a photo of a cleaned-up version of what my dining room table looked like an hour into the project.

I'm going to preserve my crafting self-esteem and finish two projects that were already on my to-do list.  Sewing a ring-bearer pillow for the upcoming nuptials (SOOO SOOOON!!!  We are giddy with excitement--can you tell?) and a wedding bow-tie for my dapper nephew, Liam.  I'll post photos of those projects once completed and my confidence (or, over-confidence) in my sewing abilities will be restored.  Someday I'll finish that dress, I just hope Alice is still wearing size 12 months when it's complete.

Now, to enjoy the last day of staycation with a trip to visit my sister and Liam in Chambersburg.  A much nicer way to spend the day.

April 25: In Bloom

Remember those tightly closed tulip buds from last week's monster post?  They've found their voice and are now making our home a bit more beautiful.  I would loooove to say that I just have such a green thumb, I planted and nurtured these myself and reaped the rewards of my patience and hard work.  FALSE!  The last thing I enjoy is dirty work, and that includes planting things.  I do love reaping the rewards of other peoples hard work and silently claiming it as my own.  These were planted by the very thoughtful, organized homeowners who lived in this abode before we bought it.

With all of that said, we will step outside of our comfort zone and plant a little garden this summer.  I've already begun preparing the raised bed (that should have been done two weeks ago...whatevs) and am hopeful that we'll get things planted this weekend.  I tried my hand at a plot in the community garden two years ago, but that only ended in public garden shame and humiliation, and a lot of plants that "went to seed".  I still don't really know what that means,  but my super-crazy garden plot neighbor made it PRETTY clear that this was NOT a good thing.  I failed, but like a good sport, I will try again, this time, from the privacy of my own backyard where the only judgment passed will come from my husband and two children.

I don't know why it's been so difficult for me to get on board with gardening.  I love the idea of cooking straight from the garden, and have heard that if children grow food, they will be more likely to eat that food.  I get secret garden envy when I visit the homes of friends and family members, and my parents have been known to grow spectacular gardens full of flowers and vegetables.  My grandfather was the greenest thumb you'd ever meet, I admire those that can commit to gardening, but honestly, the thought of having to do it myself?  CHECK PLEASE!  No thank you ma'am.  I'm really hoping  that this summer will change things.  Keeping a garden feels like something that a 30-year-old would do.  Just to be sure that it stays interesting, I'll be bedazzling my gardening gloves and coming up with as many summer garden cocktails as I can think of.  Fancy drinks and sparkly gloves?  That's my kind of outdoor activity.

April 16: Rainy Day Activity: Creating my Summer List

 From me, to me.  Twenty things that I will make an effort to do this summer.  Mostly serious...

1. Plant beautiful things. Plant delicious things. Attempt to keep said things alive.
2. Make a kite and fly that kite
3. Use the ice cream maker often. Use it to make Lavender-Lemon Sorbet. Try not to eat it all yourself.
4. Move picnic table onto front porch for more family dinners outdoors
5. Yard Sale all of that tacky crap in the basement
6. Seek out more interactions with neighbors. Attempt to be less awkward around neighbors...I'm just sayin', they think you're a little strange
7. Read for pleasure
8. Sew a sundress for Alice in honor of the Magpie (Great Grandmother)
9. Make Project Share or Goodwill donations a monthly event (and get Henry to help)
10. Go on family walks
11. Picnics!!!
12. Martini Picnics!!!
13. Porch Parties!!!
14. Dance Parties!!!
15. Dance Club Martini Picnic Porch Parties!!!
16. Go on bike rides...once Mike fixes my bike...which he was supposed to fix two years ago...Mike!
17. Turn...er...can't say it...30.
18. Hit up the pool on weekday afternoons
19. Bug hunts with Henry
20. Finding joy in simple things