Tribute

The mixer was a couple of weeks ago on the 18th. We had it at Common Ground, a really nice loungy feel bar in the East Village. I liked it so much, we are having the September mixer there on trivia night on a Wednesday! And Robyn is pregnant! Woohoo!! She’s due December 30th.

For my mix this month I did a tribute to John Hughes as he passed away earlier this month. I hunted for a bunch of quotes from his movies and was really happy with the way the mix turned out. I did so much work on the actual mix that I got lazy to do the cover so here is just a screen shot of the playlist:
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I have the mix uploaded so if you are interested in downloading it, leave me a comment and I’ll send you the link and password.

Stamping Again!

For those that don’t know, I was quite an avid rubber stamper in the early 90’s while I was in college. I had a huge collection of stamps and pads and cardstock. I was always stamping cards or sending mail art making something with stamps. I even attended a few stamp conventions in CA and OH! I didn’t stamp as much once I started working and getting more involved with graphic design on the computer. Then eventually fell out of it and sold a huge part of my collection (not all of it!). I got back into it again once I was home and pregnant and looking for some mail to fill my days. And then of course, once Sienna came and was more active and demanding of my time (like in the last year), I didn’t stamp as much. Then I came across this Stampin’ Up meetup group in Bay Ridge run by Heather. Woohoo! My old ‘hood! I signed up and attended the first meetup on the 16th to do some cards. We did 3 designs and made 5 cards of each. It was fun to start stamping again and actually setting aside time to do it. Since the class was at 10:30, Yves was kind enough to take Sienna to the playground in the area. I thought I would have been down by noon but I was just getting started! I told Yves to take Sienna home and I would find my own way. Here is what I did that day!
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A kid friendly card
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A feminine card
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And the masculine. This design was easy to alter and change up whereas the other 2 were pretty straight forward.

And look at this storage unit she has!!!! DROOL!
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Pizza success!

We have reached thin crust pizza success! Last week’s pizza was perfectly thin and crunchy and didn’t fluff up in the middle. Yves decided to use a little less dough and it worked out perfectly. We still had problems transferring the pizza so on Wednesday me and Sienna went to get a pizza peel at BB&B. That night’s pizza was equally delicious and the pizza peel did make it easier to transfer the pizza (no pics from last night’s dinner). Last week Sienna made a pizza in her little pan. We couldn’t find it last night so I just shared mine with her.

Why does Sienna have a goofy smile?
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Because her mommy had a goofy smile!
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Sienna next to her pizza (we actually put the toppings on for her!)
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Yves next to his pizza
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My pizza
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Cooked!
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Thinness galore!
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Score!

I read a lot of blogs (thank goodness for google reader!) and of course, I read a lot of craft blogs. In doing so, I come across lots of contests and giveaways. I don’t really enter that much unless it is something I am really, really into (I feel if you enter a contest just to win something free, it just ruins your chances for that future contest in which you really want to win). Most of the time, I don’t end up winning but guess what?! Yes! I won!! As I mentioned, I recently got into felt and making stuffies and appliques (soon) and came across the felt-o-rama blog and of course added it to my google reader. I entered their contest and I was so surprised and happy to find out I won!! It was a stash of their eco-felt and it came today!! Wow!! It was a big box!!! (Thank you April of felt-o-rama!)feltbox500.jpg
I was actually expecting the shorter, smaller box. Woohoo!! What a score! See all the yummy felt goodness inside? Did I say WOW?
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And here are some of the fake food I’ve made so far for Sienna. Some cookies, a petit four (although I think it’s too big to be called that) and the cake with the whipped topping that I didn’t quite put on top (my first one). Yves was asking for some fruits and veggies for her and used a pear pattern in my Tasty Crochet book for that instead of using felt. It’s pretty huge in comparison! I also made a bagel half but Sienna was playing with it this morning and we left it in the car!
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Ok, so I do have to practice some more before my pieces will look as nice as this artist’s! Amazing!

The Movies

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Sienna at her first movie probably picking her nose. ha!

So I wanted to write about this before I forget! I took Sienna to her first movie at the end of July. They offer free movies at the theatre by our house during the summer on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 am. I thought it was perfect to escape the heat and humidity. We went to see the Curious George movie and it took all my strength to keep it a surprise for Sienna. She loves CG. The theatre was packed (not surprising) and it was a pretty pleasant experience given the fact that I haven’t gone to the movies in ages mostly because people suck at the movies (they talk too much or kick your chair or just make too much eating noise). Sienna really enjoyed herself! I was looking forward to free movies all summer!

The following week was Mr. Bean’s Holiday. I like Mr. Bean. I thought maybe Sienna would too but wasn’t sure. She was super cranky that day so opted not to go as I didn’t want to deal with her in case she didn’t like the movie. The week after that was Wallace & Gromit. I know she isn’t familiar with these characters but thought she would like them. I was a little surprised that the theatre wasn’t packed at all. More empty seats than full ones. Hmmm. Once the movie started and the credits rolled, I thought ‘uh oh!’ It was the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (although I’m not sure now if they do have other movies). I looked over at Sienna but she didn’t seem scared. Whew. Maybe I am overreacting. About 30-40 minutes into the movie, I really had to use the bathroom. I asked Sienna to go to the bathroom with me and she willingly went. Once outside the theatre, as we are walking toward the bathroom, I hear gasping and look down to see Sienna starting to cry! I asked her what was the matter and she mumbled something about the man and the dog and nenna wanna go to the car! The man and the dog meaning Wallace & Gromit. I tried to calm her down and in the meantime figure out what to do while I went to the bathroom. Should I continue with the movie to show her that it ended happily? Or do I risk giving her nightmares later that night? I opted to leave because I did not want to have to deal with nightmares! As I was walking out, another mom was coming out of that theatre with her 2 kids. Apparently the scene right after we left was the one where they show the giant were-rabbit. The mom told me her daughter (who is 3!) screamed out “I wanna go HOME!” Her other daughter was just 18 months so didn’t really know what was going on. Good thing we left when we did!

So the following week was Clifford. I figured that was safe! A big red dog! Friendly and nice! Nothing scary about that, right? Well, I have come to realize that Sienna is still a tad too young for movies. She was taking everything in the movie way too seriously! There was a small sad part, she was crying. There was a part where a cow was walking a tightrope and looking like she would fall, she was yelling ‘cow gonna fall! cow gonna fall!’ All excited. We made it to the end of the movie but not without more drama in between. She cried afterwards because she wanted to see it again.On the way home, all she kept saying was ‘big red dog’, want,’big red dog.’ Sigh…she has a few Clifford books handed down from Eli and Maia and has now started asking for them on a regular basis. She even picked out a Clifford book at the library all by herself! And didn’t want to let it go. Huh. I’m exhausted! 😉

Blah to Hurricane Bill!

Hurricane Bill thwarted our beach plans (they closed the beaches due to rough riptides) but we had a nice weekend regardless! Friday afternoon the skies opened up and it rained pretty heavily. It didn’t last too long. Saturday there was a threat of rain and it did rain for a little bit but it wasn’t too bad. Yves took Sienna to play in the back while I baked banana cupcakes with a whipped peanut butter frosting. Then I ran over to the market so Yves can grill up some burgers. I laughed out loud when I came back to discover Sienna was totally carefree (see photo for specifics)! The pool and sprinkler was out and they were wet and running around and having a great time. Yves finally turned out a batch of burgers he was very happy with.
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The frosting tasted a lot better later on in the day and the next day.

siennahelppancakes500.jpgbaconchocochippan500.jpgSunday I made bacon chocolate chip pancakes (thanks for the mix Brenda!) and Sienna even helped. At first Yves wasn’t interested in trying it but then he did and we all liked them. Sienna even asked for more (although I made hers without the bacon chocolate). Then we went down to Park Slope so I could take my film into get developed at Accurate Photo. Yves and Sienna went to the playground by the Stone House while I waited by the photo store to be opened. I waited. And waited. And waited. Then gave up. Turns out they were closed when we drove by at 1pm! I usually go on Saturdays but thought they were open on Sundays as well. So disappointed! Anyway, we had lunch at Perch cafe. The food is good but service is slow as molasses! It also totally annoys me when a table that orders after us gets their food before us! Clearly the waitress does not have kids  and doesn’t understand the urgency of keeping the visit as short as possible. atperchcafe500.jpg
Sienna got mac and cheese

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My turkey bacon club
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Tired of playing tea party, Yves talked her into playing blocks instead!

Tea Party!

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Just this week Sienna has gotten into having tea parties (thanks to Yves, isn’t that funny?) Here are some recent photos from one the other morning.
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As you can see, she is seriously lacking in some tea party food. The 2 cupcakes with the sprinkles on the right came from the tenants who gave Sienna their daughter’s old play house with oven, sink and washer. The cupcake with the strawberry on top was from a swap and the cake behind it I just made from a softies kit from Chronicle Books. I just got into felt and had ordered a bunch of felt last week. After this tea party phenomenon started, I ordered a bunch of felt food patterns off Etsy from Gulf Coast Cottage. I made a petit four for her last night and plan to make a bunch more things!

Etsy Lab fun!

Etsy labs has a free craft night every Monday night at their location in downtown Brooklyn. I don’t go as much as I want to go. They are moving to a new location in Dumbo so for the month of August their craft night was being held at the Museum of Art and Design on Thursdays. I’ve gone to 2 so far. Their first one was crochet jewelry. I made these crochet earrings I dubbed fat and skinny:

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This was before I put the earring wires on. I also made a boutineare but I haven’t taken a photo of it. The place was mad crowded and I met a couple of very nice girls while there. I was really excited about going to the next week. It was T-shirt reconstruction and it was being held by Megan Nicolay of Generation-T fame! Woohoo! I have her book and am ashamed to say that I never got around to cutting up any shirts. I had every intention to but you know how it goes. She totally rocks! She was very friendly, funny and articulate and did the demo very well. If I was an uber craft geek, I would have had my photo taken with her! She has a 2nd book out (which I might have to get!) and she demo’d 2 shirts from that book. The first one I did.
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Megan demo-ing
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This design
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Before (front)
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After (back)

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And I wore it the next day!

I probably won’t be going to the 3rd one. They haven’t announced what it was going to be plus I am already going out twice this week and I feel bad to leave Yves a 3rd night. Hopefully the last one will be good too.

Beach Rd2

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Although we said we would go to the beach more often because of it’s close proximity, time certainly flies and we didn’t find ourselves there again until a little over a month after our first visit! We went 2 weekends ago on the 8th and we would have gone this past weekend if it weren’t for other commitments. We really had a great time, more so than the first! Sienna wasn’t as obsessed with going in the water every 5 minutes and she actually played quite awhile in the sand. Her and Yves even took a walk along the beach. It’s such perfect timing as we get there by 9:30 and leave by 11:30 when most of the people are coming in. We get a spot right by the entrance so it’s easy in and easy out! This time we picked a different spot and found the showers. That was a lot better!

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I was intrigued by this tiny little mussel!

Cookin’

Here are some recent things I made in the kitchen. I just want to say, I LOVE MY STAND MIXER!! Making bread type items is so much easier with it! We’ve been having homemade pizza every week now and invested in a pizza stone. We’re still trying to perfect the thin crust. It’s fun trying every week.

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Yves is a better roller than me, I’m like a rolling retard.
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Yves and his creation. He cut off the extra bits to make it round. Looks great! I did not buy a pizza peel so we thought we’d be able to slide the pizza off of this baking sheet. Didn’t work out quite as planned but we did it!
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Out of the oven! There’s leftover meatloaf, red onion and goat cheese
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A slice. The pizza stone really makes a difference! The crust was very crisp. The middle puffed up more than it has in the past. Yves thinks he needs to roll it out even thinner or use less dough.
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My square pizza with some veggies. The recipe makes a lot of dough so we always make 2 pizzas and have leftovers for lunch!

Yesterday I made monkey bread. I never even heard of this until I saw the recipe. It’s sort of like cinnamon rolls but not as sweet. The tasting committee loved them! It was half gone by the evening.
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Here’s a blurry photo of it. I just get so excited when it comes out of the oven. (Hmm, a light bulb just went off! I should use Yves’ gorillapod! DOH!) I got the recipe from the King Arthur flour website. That website is dangerous!

Some other goodies of the past few weeks:
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Homemade chocolate pudding!! So EASY! You just need whole milk, cornstarch and hot cocoa powder and an hour in the fridge! I actually used soy milk since I didn’t have enough whole milk and I betcha it would be even more creamier with whole milk. I used Trader Joe’s mint cocoa powder so all 4 bowls were for ME since Yves doesn’t like mint!
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Baked Egg Rolls from a recipe on Joyful Abode! I added meat to mine and used fresh mushrooms instead of canned in her recipe. YUM! I should see if there is a homemade duck sauce recipe! (ooh! Found one on Meg’s Vegan Recipes! Duck sauce: 1/2 cup of water, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of apricot preserves, 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch, 1 TBS white vinegar, 1 tsp salt. Stir over medium heat.)

And baked corn dogs. These didn’t go over so well with Sienna. I used Trader Joe’s chicken sausage but they didn’t have the flavor she likes (oddly enough, she likes the savory ones and not the sweet apple, which is the one I used). I enjoyed them and Yves thought it was a bit too much. There was cheese in the coating too. I guess this is more of a lunch item and just one each too. Or perhaps with a salad?
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I know the last two items are usually fried but I have to try to cut calories somewhere! With all the baking I’m likely to be doing, a girl’s gotta watch it! 😉

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