the weekend is here!

today sophia and i got lots of things done. and one of them was making baby t a new onesie! it's a rocket ship design. i've been wanting to make it for a while and finally did it!





today was another nice day (although cooler than the past few), and tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler and rainy i think. so jamie and i might do my suburbs idea tomorrow. a few weeks ago i got the brillant idea to spend the day in the suburbs: going to all the chain stores, the mall, eating at a chain restuarant, and seeing a movie at a mega theater. we want to see iron man 2, hopefully it will work out.

well, i hope everyone has a great weekend and happy mother's day to all the mom's out there!

cupcakes and flowers

so i have been craving strawberry cupcakes for weeks now! i finally decided to go ahead and make some and went to the store to buy a mix, and they didn't have any! crazy. so then i went to 2 other stores and NONE of them had any! i was so bummed. i have a recipe to make them from scratch, but honestly i like the mix ones better (not to mention they are way easier!) so last night after dinner i started the process. the cupcakes themselves took so long to make that i decided to just go to bed and make the icing today. now, i have never considered myself a baker. in my opinion you are either a cook or a baker, and baking is just not my thing. but the icing for the strawberry cupcakes is what i always have trouble with. i don't know why but it NEVER turns out like it should. it's always kind of runny and grainy. today i even made cream cheese icing and added some pureed strawberry to it, hoping that it would help the consistency. no such luck. i don't get it. AND it doesn't taste that great in my opinion either. however, when combined with the cupcakes it's not too bad. the only thing is, now i have 24 cupcakes on my hands! jamie isn't a big dessert person, so i'll end up eating as much as i can and then throwing out the rest. unless... does anyone want to come over and help me eat???









i had a very pleasant surprise while searching for the cupcake mix yesterday--peonies are in season!!! if you know me you know i LOVE peonies! i saw 2 bushes in people's gardens and lots for sale at the markets. maybe i'll get lucky and jamie will buy me some for mother's day, hint hint!





oh! and one more thing. today while sophia and i were at the dog run, one lady (with 2 dogs) had a frisbee. of course all the dogs were surrounding her and excited about the frisbee. i was on the phone, but watching sophia the whole time. anyway, one of her dogs had a wire muzzle on when we got there. i thought that was odd, but then she took it off and i didn't think any more about. the dog with the muzzle seemed to be doing some agility training, and at one point the lady had it sitting up on a tree stump. all the other dogs were on the ground looking at it and waiting for the frisbee to be thrown. i saw the dog jump down and heard a slight yelp and the next thing i know the lady is examining it's nose. then i see her wrapping it up in a bandanna. now none of the other dogs are excited or fighting, or anything, just standing around. then the lady says "who's chocolate lab is this?" i say "mine." she says "your dog just broke my dog's nose!" i'm like "what???" so i go over there and she tells me again that my dog broke her dog's nose. i said "how?" she never really gave me an answer, just said they were playing or something. i'm like "i just don't see how my dog could have broken your dog's nose." she said "it was an accident, it wasn't her fault. i'm going to have to take her to the emergency room, she'll need surgery! do you have contact information?" i said yeah, but i didn't have anything to write with, so she had me call her cell. i never gave her my name or anything though. i asked her if she needed help and she said no and left. it was so strange. there were lots of people there and no one saw anything happen but everyone thought it was weird. i kind of think the dog had a previous injury since it had that muzzle. i hope it's okay, but i also hope she doesn't contact me, because it clearly was NOT sophia's fault.
so, that was my day. and tomorrow is friday : )

can't sleep

so i haven't been sleeping much lately (which, if you know me, you know is normal). last night after dinner i decided i wanted to start this sun hat i had been wanting to make for baby t. it went pretty smoothly (even though i was making it up as i went!) so i kept going. and going. and going. i finished it and started getting ready for bed when i realized it was after midnight! and once i laid down i was still wide awake.
anyway, i am really happy with how it turned out, even though it's not the most perfect thing i've ever done. now that i've done it once, and figured out the kinks, it will only get better. i had originally planned to put a button on the top (on both sides) in the opposite fabric, but once i started to add them i decided not to. what do you think? does it need a button?







and here are some more pics of our trip to brighton beach/coney island.







and this week's baby bump. i started the 3rd trimester this week!

catch up

sorry i've been MIA the past few days. i've been pretty busy, i will try to get you all caught up. this weekend was GORGEOUS! on saturday jamie had a friend doing a painting in the park, so we took sophia and headed up the slope. we found an area of the pond where dogs are allowed to swim (lucky for sophia!) it's a big pond, but the area for dogs was pretty small, that didn't bother her though. as i've mentioned before, the rules at the park are that dogs can only be off leash before 9am or after 9pm. we weren't sure if this applied to the water or not. when we first got there, there was only one other dog in the water, and he was off leash. of course we immediately let sophia in (off her's). instantly about 10 other dogs appeared (i think people just watch for someone else to do it, and when they see that they jump on the band wagon). anyway, all the dogs were having a great time, and then 2 cops come over and tell us they need to be on their leashes. everyone except one lady with 2 dogs left. we put leashes on the dogs but let them stay in the water. then some kids from a little league baseball team came over to see the dogs swim. one little boy was so sweet and i let him throw the ball for sophie. they instantly fell in love! he threw the ball for her for like 45 minutes, and only stopped because i could tell she was tired so i made her get out. then we went over to watch the painting. it was such a hot day. i had put sunscreen on (jamie did not) and when we left he was bright red. i also got burned on my shoulders (i guess i missed a few areas).

















there was also a craft/food fair going on in our neighborhood this weekend, so we took sophia home and then went to check that out. and THEN we went to a birthday party that night. so it was a long day, and LOTS of walking.

on sunday we decided to go to brighton beach/coney island. we got a late start, so we didn't get there until like 2:00 or so. it was fun, but would be more enjoyable if we got there earlier and brought our own food. that way we could have relaxed on the sand. instead we spent most of the time walking and walking and walking trying to find some food.















as you can see it was a very busy but fun weekend! and the weather is hot, which is how i like it. now if only we can get our apartment cooled down without paying a fortune on our electric bill!

it's almost may!!!

sorry i didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday. you didn't miss much though : ) today was cool and super windy, so i didn't really leave the house. i did work on lots of projects though. i made several fabric rosettes, they can be used as hair clips, or broaches, or anything really. for more information check out the Ladybird Designs blog or order here.







on monday my good friend stacey was in town and we got to have dinner with her. it was really great to see her, it had been way too long! sophia loves stacey as well, and just to make sophia love her even more, she brought her a present! it's a tug of war toy, shaped like a "z" and it's made of that incredibly durable rubber. sophia, however, thinks it's a great toy for fetching. she's so crazy.





anyway, we are looking forward to warmer weather. i think the rest of the week is supposed to be nicer. cross your fingers!

soho weekend

saturday was actually a really pretty day. it was a bit chilly, but nice in the sun. a fabric store i like was having a grand opening party in soho, and since there are plenty of expensive clothing stores there, jamie decided to come! we spent basically the whole day there. i got some really awesome fat quarters at the fabric store, which i'm not sure what i want to do with yet, but i love them. we went in several other stores too, then met some of jamie's coworkers for a late lunch. it was a really nice day. sunday, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. don't get me wrong, it was a good day, but it was cold and rainy all day. we didn't even leave the house! jamie and i both did some work and sophia was miserable (as always).


these are my fabrics, aren't they cute?



today i started a new project for ladybird designs, women's t's. the first one is a ruffle t. i was inspired by all the texture t's at jcrew right now. i really love them but they are so expensive, so i made my own version. i think it turned out pretty cute. for more info or to order one, visit my etsy store.






and here is a current belly shot. it's coming along!

Friday

i finished the tray today! it turned out better than i thought. as it dried the air bubbles went away. there are a couple creases, but i don't know how i could have avoided that. anyway, it looks much better than what was in it's place!


finished tray


my husband is a lot of things: sweet, kind, creative, considerate, but one thing he is not is neat or organized. here is his side of the bed.


it's just so random and cluttered.


so i did this. looks much better, right? when he got home he didn't even notice!



i also have been wanting to organize my craft room/jamie's office. i have a lot of crafting stuff, but it's all just in plastic boxes with no organization whatsoever, and not in convenient spots. so today i began that task. i created ribbon storage, and just organized some of the boxes. i want to buy some cubbies to really organize it, but this is a start.







today is the final day of Hair Accessory Week for Ladybird Designs. the accessory today is another felt flower, but this one is on an elastic headband. for more information or to order, please visit my etsy store.