February « 2012 « mayjuneandjuly.com

Archive for February, 2012

mothering

Monday, February 27th, 2012

Recently a friend of mine posted this article; To The Mother With Only One Child, on her blog. Every once in awhile I read an article that hits close to home or tugs at my heart. This was one of those times. In the midst of so much change, so much new, and doing so many things outside of what I feel comfortable with or knowledgable in, I often feel alone, out of place, and just plain un prepared. Its easy to look at others and wonder how they do it. They seem to have everything together and at such ease. Its encouraging to be reminded that I am not the only one fumbling around and I will ease into this new role of mine.

“Dear mother of only one child, don’t blame yourself for thinking that your life is hard. You’re suffering now because you’re turning into a new woman, a woman who is never allowed to be alone.”

I am excited to be on this journey of becoming a new woman. Even if right now it feels very hard. Good things never come easily, right??

If you too are a new mother, I hope that you will find peace and encouragement where you are.

And remember:

“Dear mother, don’t worry about enjoying your life. Your life is hard; your life will be hard. That doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong—it means you’re doing it right.”

Posted in Babies | 1 Comment »

sewing: I cant believe its actually done

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

Almost a year later and its finished! I feel relieved. And am so excited that I actually accomplished it. My first quilt:

Those mitered corners were tough (I did a lot of googling) but I finally conquered them and am pretty proud of my first time binding. Okay, I’m pretty proud of the whole thing:)

And we are already putting it to good use. It’s perfect for night time snuggles. (It even kept us warm for our first family movie night ever. So fun)

Posted in Crafts, sewing | 2 Comments »

A budding photographer

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

With lots of family around for the holidays, Adelaide had her picture taken a lot. She finally decided she wanted to be the photographer. Aunt Mariana had a few disposable cameras so she finally got to be behind the camera. The best part was, she still posed for the picture even though she was the one taking them. I think thats the sign of a true photographer.

She is so skilled she does not even need to look through the view finder.

Thats one serious pose.

Posted in Adelaide, Family | Comments Off

sewing: ipad cases

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Josh has been wanting me to make him an ipad case for oh, a year and a half. Obviously his desires are at the top of my crafting list. We stumbled upon a great felt shop in Barcelona so before we left Josh picked out some beautiful thick orange felt for me to attempt to make an ipad case out of. I finally got around to doing just that. There was enough felt for three cases. So we did some brainstorming, joined our ideas, utilized supplies on hand, and this is what we came up with:

ipad case #1: This case was inspired by an old man in a suit (I even made a pocket square). We were trying to come up with a way to use this piece of teal leather I had and thought, why not a pocket. It was my first time sewing with leather. I think it turned out so fun.

ipad case #2: This one was by far the hardest to make and our least favorite. I used a different type of leather, a much softer piece and it was so difficult to work with. I could not get the lines straight and it kept pulling. The idea of it is really fun but I am just not very happy with the execution.

ipad case #3: The big winner. We loved how this one turned out. And it really was not too hard to make. We wanted to use a fun color of elastic and wanted something pretty simple. This is what we came up with.

I am glad my husband pushed me to work on this project. It was a fun challenge to use supplies I already had and to create three different cases.

Posted in Crafts, sewing | 1 Comment »

baby style: love

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Happy Valentines Everyone!! Our day has been pretty low key. We made Dad some valentines and cant wait for him to get home so we can celebrate more. I mentioned before about a package we received from Barcelona. Well along with the knitted items were a few adorable outfits for A (thanks Vanessa and Tina!). Of course we had to try them out this week.

Amour dress: chiquiboy (gift)

Red stripped leggings: unkown (gift)

grey boy mary jane’s: H&M (gift)

red pom pom hair tie: handmade by me

Eiffel Tower long sleeve tee: chiquiboy (gift)

grey military style skirt: chiquiboy (gift)

white tights: H&M

grey bow mary jane’s: H&M (gift)

green felt bow: handmade by me

Posted in Adelaide, Babies, Fashion, Kid Clothes, What She Wore | No Comments »

San Francisco boat tour

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Some friends of ours were out visiting a few weeks ago and amongst the many fun things we did while they were here was a boat tour through the San Francisco Bay. We sailed under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz. We all loved it and I would absolutely recommend it if you are new to the area or just visiting. We went at 3:45 just as the sun was starting to set. It was perfect.

Leaving the city.

Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco in the background.

Going under.

Alcatraz.

Heading back to the city.

Posted in California, Friends, Traveling | No Comments »

baby style: knitted hat

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

We got a package in the mail last week from Barcelona. It was a wonderful surprise! One of the things inside was a pink knitted handkerchief style hat. It feels so European to me and I love it. I think A looks like an adorable little hobo. Even though its not very cold here right now we found lots of excuses to wear the hat.

orange llama shirt: Carters (gift)

tan low crotch Catalan pants: Zara

grey shoes: TOMS (gift)

pink knitted hat: handmade by a friend

She was very concerned with finding the owner of those abandoned shoes at the park.

grey dress: H&M

BE VICTORIOUS baseball tee: Crewcuts

burgundy polka dot tights: Zara

grey shoes: TOMS (gift)

pink knitted hat: handmade by a friend

And the best part:

I got one too!

Posted in Adelaide, Babies, Fashion, What She Wore | No Comments »

day trip: San Francisco

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

While my brother Danny and his girlfriend Paige were here visiting we took a day trip into San Francisco. It was a gorgeous day (as have most been since moving here) and we soaked in the sun and the city.

We started out with a picnic in Alamo Square park right in front of the painted ladies. It was the perfect spot. The whole time Danny and Paige were singing the Full House theme song.

We ate some delicious pizza from Pizzeria Delfina.

Afterwards we walked over to Chile Pies which was an adorable little restaurant with incredible pies. We each had a pie shake although I dont know what we were thinking. We should have ordered one to share. I ordered a festive blend of peppermint pie with chocolate ganache ice cream. yummmm

Afterwards we headed to fisherman’s warf, saw some boats, and walked along the beach.

We made a quick stop by Ghirardelli square and got a glimpse of an old trolly car.

Uncle Danny found some balloons to entertain A, although they were gone in about 10 seconds. (this seems to be a trend)

Lastly we made a quick stop at the Golden Gate Bridge before heading home. Its been fun having visitors out giving us ever more reason to explore our surroundings. There is so much to see!

Posted in California, Family | No Comments »

sewing + a friend

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

I made a new friend. She is cool. And she pretty much has the same name as me so that makes her really cool. Her name is Diana (pronounced like it looks) and she runs a sewing business in Haiti that employs amputee woman. Its called 3cords and you should absolutely go check it out. So I think that means she is actually extremely cool:)

Before Christmas I helped her come up with some kind of make up bag/clutch for the 3cords women to make. It took several prototypes but we finally came up with something good. Its so much fun sewing with a friend and even better that it has purpose. I need more of these types of projects. Below are a few of the bags that we made.

Now go check out the website, read their story, and buy something. You’ll be glad you did.