clean desk

this is my old desk. my used-to-be, very messy creative space. it was not very conducive to creativity as you can imagine. my master's degree has really taken a toll on my cleanliness (much to my husbands chagrin plus i was not the tidiest of people to begin with...). as i look at these photos i feel like one of the people on the british show how clean is your house. i watch and i wonder how people can let their house get so out of control messy. well now i know. firsthand.

here is my desk now:

beautiful, huh? i have already sewn a few things and kept it clean. i tried to label everything so that every 'thing' has a place. (i was very inspired by the office of my friends kelly + jen).

i feel so lucky to have a sewing space that can be a permanent space (in our old apartments i always took over the dining room table and had to pack up everything after a project was complete or when we wanted to eat dinner, ugh) so i am determined to keep it tidy. maybe i will try to post a monthly picture here so that i am accountable to you for keeping it straighted up. maybe that is too much commitment. i do believe that creativity leads to a messy desk, but also creating needs space, clean organized space. okay, i will keep it clean. at least for today.

and the winner is...

sorry this took so long...

the winner of the 'make it yourself'' book is...dadadadadadada...(that's a drum roll)... jessica. congratulations jess! i am looking forward to seeing the macrame bag that you make!

make it yourself and a give-away

i first saw this set of books here and i was instantly smitten. i found the entire set on ebay for $4.99. these books are dated, but filled with how-to's for everything that involves fabric, yarn, embroidery, beads, rug making, and other assorted crafts.

i am in the middle of deciding what to make first. with 20 volumes i have been doing a lot of perusing and page flipping.

this is volume 2 and it can be yours. post a comment to this post between now and friday may 16th and i will randomly pick a winner.

it includes directions for making this "gay bedcover" (i am in love with that cradle bed!) and house slippers you can knit for the man of the house. awesome. happy commenting!

on a different note, i got a postcard today from a friend that sends lots of postcards. it was hilarious and made me laugh just when i needed a laugh. i love postcards. there is something about them that email could never replace. i love that they only have a bit of space to write so one has to carefully think about which details to include and which to leave out. don't get me wrong... i love technology, but there is something special about a postcard.

mother's day

i woke up this morning (after sleeping in until 8:15! which was my one mother's day request) and found homemade waffles, strawberries, some delicious chocolates, a sweet note and a share in a local csa. sam and i have been talking about do this for awhile and i am super excited to get my first box! it was a perfect mother's day surprise.

later on calvin and i planted some sunflowers that will hopefully bloom in august. they are the super giant kind of sunflowers which will be fun to watch grow. hopefully they will grow. i never have confidence in these types of things. if nothing happens at least calvin very much enjoyed playing in the dirt.

this is a picture of my mother, my sister and me. maybe on christmas. she was so young when she had us, i have no idea how she did it. being a mom is one of the most wonderful and rewarding jobs, but it is also tiring and never-ending. it must have been so tough doing it on her own. i admire her strength. we are far apart this year but thinking of each other. i am looking forward to june when she visits with my sister and nephew. woo hoo! happy mother's day mom!

favorite things

calvin is rapidly changing from a baby who goes along with life to a toddler with specific ideas and expectations. it is amazing to watch. his vocabulary in the last few weeks has doubled. he has added apple, help, book and hot. he only says them though, when HE wants to.

of course he understands way more than he can say. sam and i love to give him a specific direction to see if he follows it. sam asked him to go get the ball and he did. also when faced with two differently sized blocks, he can also pick up the bigger one. one of my favorite things is to watch him think. it is hard to believe that just a year ago calvin was a helpless, cuddly peanut, who slept the day way.

here are a few of calvin's favorite things:

dirt

apples and blueberries

hummus

(notice that two of them are food...)

i have been busy with school. finals are coming up and i should be studying (now), but i have found some time to create. i am almost done with a quilt for baby leo, then i begin one for baby joey.

another friend of mine just told me she was pregnant on friday, so there is one more quilt to add to the to-do list. this is her second baby... her first was born the same week as calvin! i can't imagine being pregnant again. although on my college friends' blog i seemed to be a favorite to have another wee one soon. seeing all of the brand new tiny ones lately has got me thinking...just thinking.

bakin' and bacon

i am on a constant quest to make a delicious, yet healthy snack that is good to eat on the go and also easy to make. someone at work introduced me to these babies. they are made from Country Choice organic whole grain cereal (i found it at trader joe's). the recipe is on the back. they are low in sugar, but still taste yummy. i used whole wheat flour and added some flax to pack in more nutrition. there is a topping that i did not include when i made them, but my friend at work topped hers and wow! it was good. calvin LOVES these muffins. so i'm sure i will be making them weekly.

speaking of trader joe's... have you tried their turkey bacon? delicious! it is thick, but still crisps up when cooked. we love it around here.

two quilts done

it feels like everyone i know is having a baby. i am in a serious quilt jam. i finished two quilts recently though. one for baby ava (who is nine weeks old tomorrow) and one for baby jack, who is almost three weeks old.




but in the meantime, my other friend ari became a mom yesterday! i am so excited for her and little joseph.

also i have been super inspired by these. i want to make a series of small quilts for calvin's room. he doesn't have anything above his crib on the wall because i have been super paranoid about anything heavy that could fall on him, so a small lightweight quilt might be just perfect.

i went to the brooklyn flea last sunday with a friend. it was super posh and mostly had new stuff and very cool (expensive) vintage stuff. calvin got a super chic jacket for next winter and i got to meet lotta jansdotter so it was worth the trip.

this next week is spring break for elementary so i have the week off of teaching but i still have class at TC. i have big lofty plans for all of the days. you have to think big, right?