M is for Maris

My sweet friend Shelby welcomed her second child, Maris, into the world two weeks ago and boy is she cute. I made this little dress for her this weekend, and although it looks huge now, I bet she'll be in it by the time she's three months old.

I never want to find out the gender of my babies before I have them, but this time around it is much more tempting. With Andrew, I was just starting to sew. Now, I feel like there would be no end, especially with little girl things. Just as well I don't know, I suppose...

This is a easy pattern, New Look 6576. It sure does make me long to have a serger, though. I can never figure out the best way to bind those edges.

A Very, Very Romantic Valentine's Story

Pete: " I'm going to Krogers - do you need anything?"

Me: "I could use some flour."

Pete: "Not to take the surprise out of it, but what kind of flowers do you want for Valentine's day?"

Me: "Oh, I don't care." [Then I start to think about how we're having company all weekend.] "Actually, don't worry about it because we're going to keep having to move them on and off the kitchen table for meals...."

Pete: "And they do jack up the prices this time of year..."

Me: "You're right. That's fine. Maybe we should just wait and get some next week."

Pete: "Sounds good."

YIKES!! (and an announcement)

Oh, lordy! Where has the time gone? Actually, I can tell you. I just endured a rather unfortunate adventure in midwifery, so I have quit my job and am now (and hopefully temporarily) a kept woman. The crazy thing about creativity is that even though it can flourish during stressful situations, it can also wilt away. That's pretty much what happened. Ahem. So that's that.

I tend to love all spring holidays (or the two of them, Valentine's Day and Easter) and this year Andrew and I are going to a Valentine's party at our friend Julie's house. She has 2 cuties about A's age, and other neighborhood kids are coming too. Getting Andrew to sit down to make a Valentine was nightmarish, so I decided to take charge. Fortuitously, I got an email from The Toymaker. Such a lovely little website, and I decided to cut and construct these little paper chocolate trucks for the boys at the party (a 4:1 ratio!) and fill them with chocolates.





We're having company for the weekend, so I have done some cooking today: a carrot cake with orange-cream cheese frosting, orange scones, and passionfruit curd. The first two recipes are from my new very favorite cookbook, The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. I used to live just a few streets down from the bakery in Brooklyn and loved to go. In fact, I ate there all the time when I was pregnant with Andrew.

Sooooo, it is fitting that I cook and eat my way through it now as well, as Pete and I are expecting a sweet little addition of our own come late August. We are thrilled.