10 things I love about you

Snapped these shots last Sunday afternoon, while the boys were chilling in their church duds...10 things I love about Mr. Graham these days {at 3.5 lovely months}:1. The beginnings of baby babble and raspberry bubble blowing
2. He is so BUSY. Seriously the busiest baby ever.
3. Getting more and more coordinated & interested in the world around every minute
4. Reaching for his toys and shoving them directly in his mouth
5. The other day he figured out how to pull out his own pacifier...Too bad he hasn't figured out how to plug it back in!
6. On the verge of rolling, even if it's just side to back to side...
7. He's even giggled and squealed with delight once in awhile when we munch on his cheeks just the right way.
8. Stretching out his feeds to about ever 3 hours, instead of every 2
9. Finally getting over his dirty ear infection...1 month and 3 miserable rounds of antibiotics later. Very exciting!
10. The way he perches in the crook of Jeff's arm and looks like such a Mini-Me. He's seriously the spitting image. And I love that. xo

zucchini bread

Ahh summer. The time for more garden fresh veggies than you know what to do with. Last weekend a garden fresh zucchini larger than my arm fell into my hands. Too huge to handle! Perplexed, I began digging through old cookbooks and recipe boxes. That's when I was reminded of this tasty, moist recipe for Pineapple Zucchini Bread from my mom's friend Anne. The thing I love most about recipes, or at least good home cooking recipes, is that they never go out of style. They usually taste even more delicious than the first time around and evoke more and more memories of warm summer days and freshly baked zucchini bread. It's been way too long since I've shared a recipe around here...So enjoy!
First, grate that gourd into 4 cups of shredded green.
Mix together all ingredients in your trusty Kitchen Aid.Bake, savor aroma, cool, slice, butter, enjoy!

dr. seuss

inspiring literacy on a tuesday morning.

born again thrifter

True confession: I've never been much of a garage sale queen. In the past, the mere thought of a second-hand shopping spree would leave me cowering with the urge to scrub my hands and sanitize my clothes. Not that I've never visited my local thrift stores or scoured over Craigslist. It's just that consignment stores and clearance racks were not my forte. I found the chaos of unwanted, surplus, and used items to be completely overwhelming to say the least.

But that was then, and this is now. I am officially coming out of the closet and proclaiming myself to be a born again thrifter. Second-hand, reused, re-purposed, rediscovered, vintage, antique, you name it, I appreciate it. The past year has really changed my perspective on the value of stuff.

Exhibit A: Martha Stewart Crafts glitter + cards kit, clearance aisle

Some of this stems from Graham's entrance in the world. Kids gear is soo spendy! Once I found his nursery furniture on Craigslist, I was on fire. Yesterday I visited my first kiddy-consignment shop and left with a grin. I'm officially hooked. I found the most darling down jacket and snowpants that will fit him perfectly this winter! Bring on the Minnesota snowstorms, we will be set.

But the thrifting bug bit epecially hard when our budget shrank like my pre-Graham jeans. Leaving cosmopolitan San Francisco, its outrageously-inflated standard of living, and our dual full-time incomes and moving to rural Minnesota jobless has been a dramatic lifestyle change, to say the least. (Not jobless for long--more details soon!) Not to mention, we're house shopping, and all of our loose change is being stashed in the down payment fund. :)

Exhibit B: Antique immigrants' trunk spied at an estate sale $40

Plus, thrifting has become just plain chic. In a culture where it's hip to go green, in an economy where it's wise to pinch pennies, and a society where things sold at Wal-Mart and Ikea are designed to last maybe 5 years, it's a smart choice to reevaluate what is truly needful and make an effort to live a bit more simply. Packing up and moving sooo many boxes made me feel completely disgusting and materialistic. Pretty sure we could live without 80% of that stuff.

Exhibit C: Giant shoebox of rick rack, every size, every color. Thanks to this find at a g-sale, I'll never have to run to the craft store or pay full price ever again.:)

To me, it's exciting to live for less, not to mention addictive. Finding a bargain gives me such a rush. You just never know what treasures are in store. In the right circles, thrifting stories can be like fishing stories. Soon everyone will be getting together to score bragging rights about who found the biggest deal for the smallest price. So go forth, get your thrift on. There are deals to be scored and cash to be saved!

summer treats

First of all, thank you so so much for saying such sweet things about my hair yesterday. I was not expecting that sort of reaction--I am blushing! Then again, I am blessed to have the sweetest people in the world reading this. Yes, I mean you. So anyway, just wanted to share these enormous blooms I snatched from my grandparents' farm last weekend. Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite summer flower--and these look like a giant puffs of cotton candy. Delish.

in short.

call it fresh
call it exciting
call it just in time for the end of summer.
call it Camilla Belle,
call it my inevitable mom chop.
But it's official. My first short hairstyle since freshman year of college. Not sure yet how I feel about it or how I'll style on my own tomorrow morning...

p.s. this tee is on sale here!

kimberly's shower

This weekend, we threw a basket-themed bridal shower for my soon-to-be sil Kimberly. Our friend Kathy's gorgeous house was the perfect setting for such a girly event. Everything came together so nicely and we had a great turn out! In the invitations, we asked each guest to bring a basket filled with goodies for Kimberly & Ben's new home...Everyone chose their own gift basket theme! The posibilities were limitless--picnic baskets, laundry baskets, kitchen baskets, home organizing baskets, gardening baskets, and well, you gather the idea. My mom and I put together a bedroom basket. We found a large rectangular basket with a lid and filled it with a mattress pad, sheets, candles, champagne, and of course a pretty nightie. So fun!
The invites read: "A tisket, A tasket...Let's shower her with baskets!" I crafted the die-cut heart by weaving two patterned purple papers together and sewing around the edges. Hard to tell in the picture, but the little diamond gem sticker in the center helped snazz them up and finish them off.
To carry on the basket theme, we served fruit pies with lattice crusts a la mode...and one key lime pie for some tasty, summer variety.These flowers came fresh from my mom's garden!
I made up little 4x6 cards for each guest to write a piece of advice for the bride. It could be anything from wedding, to happy marriage, to stain-fighting tips. Some were funny, some were profound, and all were highly entertaining. Am planning to tuck them into a mini photo album with snapshots of the shower and mail it off to Kimberly this week. What a fun day to remember!

chair revival

So exciting+inspiring to see my friend Becca featured on Apartment Therapy for showing how she brought this chair and a few other vintage finds back to life. It's amazing what a can of spray paint and funky fabric can do, when combined with a great imagination and a little elbow grease. I heart this chair!

yellow + green shower

Just wanted to share a peek at this adorable surprise-gender baby shower thrown by the lovely Nicole. She contacted me several weeks ago via my etsy, and I had the privilege of crafting this set of fabric flags for her. The party turned out so cute, I couldn't resist sharing! {See more pics on Nicole's flickr page.} This is completely motivating me to get back to crafting...But considering that we're still stuck in transition with all of my supplies packed up in boxes, it might be a few months before the shop is back in action. Sigh, as they say, this too shall pass. Stay tuned!

3 months

Lookie Lookie who's 3 months old today...Isn't he such a hunk in this picture? I feel like it deserves a caption that reads something like, "Single white male, 24" tall 14 lbs, chubby build, enjoys long walks in the front pack." No...I'm not that cheesy.

But seriously, I think he gets a little more yummy every day. We can't stop the smiles and coos. And he's so very busy. He's become quite a fan of his play Gymini and wiggly toys. He's been following things around with those bright blue eyes, kicking uncontrollably, batting with those warm little hands, and almost reaching. Lately, he's even been a bit more tolerant of tummy time. He'll get a good 3-4 minutes in before the squirming and squawking set in. We're so proud of the fact that he consistently sleeps between the hours of 11p-5a. However the naps are a different story. He's quite the cat napper...but we'll figure him out eventually.

Yes, he's become one fine piece of baby boy.

independence day recap

Happy {belated} 4th! Hoping you had a very fun and safe weekend. How is it possible that summer is half over already? The same way, I suppose that this week got away from me. Our happy 4th was packed with cookouts, family time, fireworks, and melt-on-your-tongue angel food cake and berries. And lately, we've even been gussying Graham up in his Twins gear and introducing him to the great American pastime during lazy evenings with the uncles. Now that we are beginning to settle in after the big move, it seems like the sunshine and lemonade sipping have only just begun...

In other BIG news, last night Jeff & I went out on a date to start looking at houses! Very exciting, yet very intimidating. Somehow, experiences like scoring real jobs and birthing babies have not felt nearly as grown-up and committal as this. Home owning feels like the culmination of adulthood. I am just beginning to appreciate how much dreaming and fretting go into playing the real estate game! But--we're just in the preliminary phases...will keep you posted!

graham the gnome

On our last night in San Francisco, Jeff & I dragged Graham all over the city to be sure he visited all of our favorite sites before we left. One day, we want to be able to flip open an album and show him what a cool birthplace he had, since he's too little to remember any of it now. So remember those classic Travelocity commercials? With the garden gnome all over the world? That's where we drew our inspiration--only this time we popped on Graham's gnomey hat {made by Becca}, and hit the S.F. highlights. {Isn't that hat crazy, perfect? You wouldn't believe the compliments we received as we toured the town!}And an update on the move: The dust has settled. We made it to Minnesota, safe and sound, but it's been one wild week. Graham slept through our red-eye flight last Saturday, settled in at Grandma's house, and promptly came down with his first ear infection, fever, and dirty cold. :( Poor fella. Thankfully, he's feeling and eating much better now! Jeff and his little bro braved the monotonous journey in the Budget rental truck + car trailer across the country and finally made it here. Don't even get me started on the perils of renting a moving truck...The boys got stranded twice, once with a flat tire, and once with a car dolly that had completely snapped in half. Thankfully, no one was hurt (except for the underbelly of our car!). I'm disgusted that they let those rusty pieces of junk out on the open road. Seriously friends, resist the tantalizing deals, never rent from Budget.