Spring Time Goodness

I really love March. The yard is doing its springtime thing and the birds are happily chirping outside as I type this with the window cracked open. March for me is the true springtime in California, because once April rolls around, we start getting really warm days that boarder the feel of summer. March of course is my babies birth month as well. This year Caitlin asked for a cheesecake for her birthday treat, and I pulled out my favorite recipe that is always no fail and is just so, so good. I jazzed it up with this cute banner that is from the brand Meri Meri.  I have always loved this party brand, and I'm happy to see how they have branched out more with their products available here in the US.
We had a lovely dinner out with Caitlin and Cyrous, then came home to have the cheesecake. Caitlin wanted a very low key day and mainly just rested. She is getting so close to delivery time! May 4 is her official due date, but if she is like me, this little baby might just come a bit early. Will she be an April baby or May baby? Stay tuned.

I've been really busy filling orders for the shop. I can no longer anticipate the capes being made only in the fall, because I'm getting quite a few orders in the spring as well. I just recently made three of them. I also worked on the little blue linen overalls that are pictured above. This was a fun special order for a little birthday boy who was having a Peter Rabbit themed birthday party.
I'm still planning very soon to put the shop on vacation mode around the time Ruby is born, and reinvent the merchandise. It takes time of course to do this so I'm still working out how to go about it.

Today I'm looking through recipes for Easter dinner. I'm going to try out a French lamb recipe that is pretty non traditional, here anyway. I love having lamb for Easter, but since Caitlin can't eat rare meat, having a leg of lamb wouldn't be a great idea, unless I made sure one part was cooked well for her. So, I found this really nice recipe in one of my French cookbooks that I will give a try. It involves a lot of garlic! What are you making this year for Easter dinner, or do you just have a brunch and call it a day?

I Skyped with Nicole the other day and while I was on with her, she had just gotten an email to say that she is in the final stages of being considered to show at London Fashion week in September! Really excited for her. Her collection she has been working on is really pretty. We are all very proud and happy for her, since she has worked very hard on it.
On that note, I'm going to line up something to sew, and finish with the Easter menu......Have a very happy Easter everyone!

Summer's End

Oh wow, I didn't realize I let my blog collect dust since August 3rd! I'll do a quick round up of what I've been up to. The first couple of pictures are at the Alameda Flea Market. We took our niece Natalia with us, along with Caitlin and Cyrous, to wander through 800 plus vendors of all sorts of goodies. I love going to this flea market, yet I always arrive around 1 and it shuts down at 3, so I never give myself enough time to really look at more than a dozen or so. It was still a fun day, and we ended up at the St. George gin distillery that was near by. We love their product and had lots of fun trying some of their other spirits.

Not long ago I came across a funny post on Instagram that read: August is the Sunday of summer. I thought that was pretty funny, and envisioned sad summer lovers kicking and screaming because the season is almost over. Meanwhile I'm already looking everywhere for signs of fall with joy in my heart haha. Caitlin and I took a little walk around Berkeley not long ago and I snapped a few pics of the beautiful leave that you see above. I know that technically Fall isn't official until late September, but soon as I turn the calendar to September....Summer is OVER hahaha.

We are finally finished with all the peaches on the trees!! Sheesh there were so many this year, that I just ran out of things to do with them and started giving them away for others to enjoy. They were so beautiful this year. I never ended up making a pie with them like I had planned. I think mainly because I made a lot of rustic tarts, and was just burnt out. I also don't like having too many desserts hanging out in the house.  The tomato tart that is pictured was so good! It was such a simple recipe from one of my French cookbooks, that I really wondered if it was going to be any good since it was so simple in the ingredients. I could easily make another one of those. They only taste good of course with those beautiful heirloom tomatoes, and soon those will be gone in the markets.  I also managed to make my favorite blueberry coffee cake not long ago, after I over bought some blueberries. It's what I do all the time...I go to Berkeley Bowl and have a zillion ideas for meals and treats, then over buy. I seem to forget there are only so many hours in a day, and I can't possibly be making elaborate meals and get other things done, like pieces for my Etsy shop, and my part time Anthropologie job.

Speaking of my shop, I just completed the little outfit above and it was very fun to make. The embroidery part turned out nice I think, and I want to do more pieces like this.
Today I worked on a co-workers baby gift, and tomorrow I'm making another outfit for the other lovely lady that is due a month after. Both are having girls, so naturally I had to make them something. I hope they like what I chose to make them. I see both of them on Friday and will present them with their little gifts.
The picture of my living room is the day of the eclipse. I didn't go outside to try and see it. I just watched how odd the lighting got in the house, and laughed when my little Riki bird got weirded out and thought it was time to go to sleep. He napped for a solid 20 minutes, something he never does in the morning hours.
 No other news from my camp, just chugging along. I'll share photos of the gifts I made for my co-workers in my next post. Right now I have to get in that room and get cutting and sewing the last outfit.  Catch you later!

Dog Days of Summer

When August rolls around I'm always looking for signs of fall. Am I the only one doing this? It's hot out, yet I see the light changing bit by bit.The peach and plum trees yielded a lot of fruit this summer, probably because of all the rain. I've made a few tarts with the plums and have so far made muffins with the peaches. We have been just eating the peaches off the tree outside the kitchen window.  I'm really sad that one of the peach trees became so heavy with fruit that two branches snapped. I'll be going out on Friday to pick a bunch of them off, then we can survey the damage to the tree. The deer are happy about it, and visit nightly to snack on the accessible treats. I've scared a few of them when I shut the windows for the night! When they bolt you can hear the force when they run and jump. In the morning I see the sidewalk covered in peach pits hahah. This year we have many, many avocados! They will not be ready until late fall early winter. They look so cute swinging in the wind like tree jewelry.

A couple of weeks ago I hurt my back making my bed of all things. Really nerdy and annoying, but it had me on the couch for a good five days. I'm usually really careful with my back, but one false move is all it took.  For long time readers you may remember that I had a full hip replacement back in 2010. After a lifetime of hip dysplasia, it messed up my back big time. It took me almost 6 month to recover from the operation and work on my herniated disc. I had a wonderful physical therapist that taught me how to take care of my back. Soon as I hurt myself a week ago, I went back to all the techniques that he taught me. Nine days later I was back to my normal. My normal is still chronic back pain and very fragile back, but at least I can walk and move around somewhat normal. It really scares me somedays thinking about how I'll be when I'm really old!  I'm back to work both at Anthropologie/BHLDN, and also back to making some of the pieces for my little fall line for the shop. I finished the cute little linen romper with the bunny as the final summer piece. I had envisioned this one day and decided to throw it in there before I start on fall/winter. It's ready to buy, just click on the side bar under my Etsy.    I had fun embroidering the little collar on the white cotton batiste baby top. I'm making some little winter bloomers in the fabric that you see paired with it in the photo. I just love this print. Normally I like working with small florals, linen, and Liberty of London, but I couldn't resist this print. It's designed by Rifle Paper Co. They recently printed an Alice in Wonderland book with these illustrations. The flower print, below the Alice print, is also theirs. I haven't decided what I want to make with the floral one, but the Alice one, I will be making bloomers, skirts, and possibly a top.  I always have many ideas, it's the time that trips me up as usual, along with the capes. Ah the capes....around now I start to get people favoriting the cape listing and I can usually get a count of how many I have to make. It's already started, and I'm ready with all my red wool and cotton Little Red Riding Hood prints...bring it on :)
Well, I'm writing this at midnight, and I need to go into BHLDN tomorrow. Catch you all later, and enjoy the rest of the summer, even if you might be like me where you are chasing the fall light!

Hello June

The year is half over. Every year when I turn the calendar to the month of June, that is my first thought. I always have a visual or feeling for each month in my head, does anyone else do this I wonder? June reminds me of a basket of fresh picked strawberries and a pitcher of cream to go with it. Of course June also reminds me of our wedding and birthdays of many family members, including my husband and daughter. June is the fresh start to summer, and probably the only month in summer that I really enjoy. By mid July, I'm over summer.  I will have to say though, that I have really enjoyed summer living in this house. The best part for me, is when the deer start to come down from the hills to eat the wild plums, and some of the fruit on the side of the house. In the evening we hear them walking on the side of the house, checking out the peaches and plums. Little stinkers though, will eat many of the ones that are within their reach very quickly if you don't pick them quick enough! The other night, they were roaming very close to our bedroom window. David had gone to bed before me, when all of a sudden, he comes into the living room to tell me that they were making a lot of noise by the window. Heavy breathing and flipping rocks in the landscaping. We turned all the lights out and looked out the bedroom window, to see them gingerly walking on the large rocks, and eating what had dropped from the orange tree and wild plum tree. It is always amazing to see these creatures up close.  A few weekends ago, while looking out my kitchen window, to my surprise I saw a wild California brush rabbit hanging out in the flower bed. I've never seen a wild rabbit in all my years in California.  We have a sensor light in the backyard, and it is constantly going off in the evening, because of all the raccoons and other little animals. I keep wounding what goes through their heads when that light trips! Most likely......Run!!!

I meant to post pictures of Brooke and Trevor's wedding that we attended in May, but alas time got away from me again. Better late than never, so I posted just a few from the day. It was a sweet wedding, and the bride looked gorgeous. Brooke had invited several of her childhood friends from elementary school, so it was fun to go down memory lane, as well as celebrate the beautiful couple of course. Hard to believe all the kids are grown up and getting married, when not long ago we were going to girl scouts, and having sleepovers!

I finally got to work on a few baby items for the shop, they were fun quick little projects and hopefully I can get more items in very soon. I think at the end of June, I'll start working on some fall/winter items and this time be somewhat ahead. I say that now of course, when it isn't blistering hot. My studio tends to be the hottest room in the summer, even though there is an AC vent! I'll go in there, and work for a few minutes, then give up after I start to sweat. Hopefully there won't be too many super hot days.

Lots of changes at work. Many have quit from the original crew that opened the store, and we have a whole new batch of people to get to know. This Anthropologie is huge, so sometimes we never see some of the workers for days, and to commit so many names to memory is tough I must say! Our shop manager from BHLDN is moving on. She was such a good manager, and we will all miss her. Hopefully the right person will take her place, as we have such a great team and it would be a shame to upset the balance we have. I have been getting more styling appointments as it has gotten busier. I think my favorite appointments are the accessories and the moms. The moms tend to get lost in the process I feel, and I like to make them feel just as special.

Today they are filming in our little town. The show they are filming is "13 Reasons Why." Not a light hearted show, but still kinda neat that they chose our town to film some scenes for season two. Caitlin and I went downtown and had some coffee and watched all the big Paramount trucks roll in to set up in a building to shoot. We stood out there for a while with mostly teen girls hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the stars. One of the workers, told us we might be bored as all the filming was going to take place inside. We left for a bit, but then returned later, to see them start to leave and pack up. Out walks the character named Tony. He waved to us and he was then whisked away in an SUV.  We also found out that earlier in the morning, they had filmed about a block away from Caitlin and Cyrous' house! It will be fun to watch what it looks like once they air season 2.
On that note, I'll post soon on celebrations and June fun. Take care and enjoy the beginning of summer!