a house

Hello. I know I have been gone from this space more lately and I thought it was time to explain why... I mentioned we might have good house news soon, and well, we do! Except, it's not completely finalized yet so I have been hesitant to spill the beans. Without going into too much detail, our offer was accepted on a 1950's ranch house and we are currently trying to get all of the details settled...and, boy, are there a lot of them! So, life has been a bit more hectic and stressful than usual, but also a whole lot of exciting. We will need to do quite a bit of fixing up to get the house back to its original beautiful state, but we are ready for the challenge and feel blessed to have close relations who are experts in the field to help guide us.

So, that is what my head has been wrapped around all day and night. House dreams, turning into house plans...

More details to come once we have the keys in our hands.
Crossing fingers a million times over.

pattern remix: shorts

The other day I got the itch to make LM a pair of shorts for the summer. I had an idea of what I wanted them to look like but I needed a base pattern to work from, so I searched through my stash of vintage patterns until I found one in her size that I could remix.  

After a little chopping and tweaking, as well as the addition of some ties in front and a pocket in back, this is what I ended up with:

Overall I am really happy with the result! I am loving the extra details and the contrasting fabric. I know these shorts will get a lot of use this summer and I just may end up making another pair. Have you ever remixed a pattern? I thought it was fun to add a little personal touch.

I'm linking up with KCWC!

xo,

S

shop update//life update

Aqua Periwinkle Plaid Dress//Blue Daisy Dress 

Sheer Pink Shirt//Yellow Peter Pan Collar Dress 

Sunshine Yellow Dress//Pink Scallop Shirt 

Terrycloth Romper//Pink Scallop Collar Dress

Hello! Our trip last weekend was oh, so fun, and just what I needed. We traveled down to Las Vegas to celebrate my SIL's 30th birthday in style and stayed in a posh condo overlooking the strip. Lark and LM did great with Grandpa on the night we were away from them. The night we came back, however, Lark protested us leaving her and stayed up until 3 am! My SIL has all of the pictures of everyone together, but here are a couple of shots from my instagram...

I know I promised the shorts this week, but let's just say someone had an accident right before we were going to take pictures of them. I won't name names. Hopefully I can squeeze in an accident-free photo session soon. ;)

In the meantime, I was able to snap some photos for the shop today. Check out the full update here, or click on the links above to go directly to your favorite piece. Thanks!

p.s. We may have some exciting house news soon. Cross your fingers!

bijou market

The only reason I am sad I will be out of town this weekend (because I really do need a vacation) is I will miss the Bijou Market. If you live in Utah you should stop by and see all of the great handmade and vintage vendors. I will only be a little jealous of the awesome items you will most likely need to bring home.

If you go, let me know how is was and who was your favorite!

Happy Weekend friends!

wonder

(waiting for the rain to fall)

We are heading out of town early for the weekend. I meant to take pictures of my latest sewing project to share with you before we left, but laundry, errands, and rain clouds rolling in put my plans on hold. Next week.

Instead, I would like to share some of my recent thoughts and feelings... During this trip, Husband and I will be away from both girls overnight for the first time since Lark was born (just one night). I am a little nervous, but also proud and excited to have reached a point where leaving Lark for a short time is possible. I am still nursing her morning and night, but she has slowly dropped her day feedings over the last few weeks. This year of nursing went by so incredibly fast I am not sure I am ready for it to end. I am hoping to be able to continue nursing her for a while after this trip, but knowing her weaning is most likely imminent is filling me with bittersweet emotion.

As for my oldest, she is growing up so fast I feel like I need to hug her every five seconds to hold onto her and make her stay little forever (and I pretty much do). The other night I looked at a family picture we took exactly one year ago today when LM was 2 1/2 and Lark was 2 months old. My eyes unexpectedly filled with tears as I realized I will never get to hold that sweet and spunky 2 1/2 year old again. After a good cry followed by laughing through my tears while reminiscing about baby LM with Husband, I snuck into the girls room and sat on the floor and covered her sweet sleeping face in kisses. I thought my heart would burst.

This mama business is keeping my emotions on the brink lately, in the best possible way. I never could have imagined how wonderful motherhood would be. I think this week I reached a new level of wonder.     

easter

We had a fun Easter weekend and hope you did too! On Saturday we dyed eggs naturally using beets, blueberries, and onion skins and I think the colors turned out quite lovely. The Easter bunny dropped off the girl's baskets later that night and decided to make it a tradition to give books, art supplies, and a few snacks each year. 

(I never know when I will be married to a civil war general - Husband likes to surprise me with different facial hair, ha!)

After church on Easter Sunday, we spent the day with my family and had a big dinner, egg hunt, and games. LM and Lark both wore a pretty vintage dress. I had been saving LM's dress for quite some time and it is one of my very favorites ever with that darling scalloped eyelet lace yoke. As I was dressing her I realized this makes two Easter's in a row she has worn a yellow dress with that purple headband. Lark's dress was a darling pink floral print and she looked so cute with those knee-highs showing off her chubby thighs!

 

LM wore: dress, vintage//tights & headband, Old Navy//shoes, Nordstrom Rack

Lark wore: dress, vintage//socks & shoes, Target//headband, gift from my sister

Now we are looking forward to a week of egg salad sandwiches, jellybeans, and lots of sunshine! Happy Easter friends!

mom's best hot products party

Last week I met up with my friend Bri at the Mom's Best H.O.T. Products party, a fun blogger event put on to promote a new site where you can nominate and vote for H.O.T. products for moms and kids. It was such a nice evening chatting with some lovely ladies and discovering new-to-me products and brands.

We were provided with a delicious dinner from Marley's and yummy cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy for dessert. Both places I had heard were good, but had never tried before - I am happy to say now I can recommend them myself as well! I don't generally crave cupcakes, but I think I need to stop by The Sweet Tooth Fairy for a coconut creame cupcake real soon.

We were asked to look over some items nominated as H.O.T. products and provide feedback. It was nice knowing all of these products had been recommended by other moms, and I could see why - they were beautifully designed as well as functional.

The Beco baby carrier looked well made and I know LM would love wearing the one made for kids. I think everyone was smitten with this mixing bowl/measuring cup/colander/mesh strainer nesting set from Joseph Joseph. I mean, it has it all and it is a total eye catcher with those colors! I flipped through the catalog and spied more than one product I wouldn't mind gracing my kitchen.

I came home with a Zipfy Mini Luge and it has already become a big hit! LM couldn't wait to try it out so we tied a jump rope to the handle and with a little pull it zips down the grass quite well. We can't wait to see how it performs in the snow!

There were so many awesome products, you can check them all out and vote for your favorites at Mom's Best H.O.T. Products until April 7th. Thanks for the lovely night!

(All photos excepting the last by Bri)

it never hurts to ask...

Oh, how I would love to pick out a brand new gorgeous sofa (among other things) for our home, but it just isn't in our budget right now. That is why I am always on the lookout for furniture when I am out thrifting. I have found some amazing deals on mid-century dressers, bookcases, and chairs in the past - I love the design and quality as much as the price tag. So, when I spied this couch the other day I hurried over with our lack of seating in the living room forefront in my mind. Although it wasn't my ideal color, it was still pretty, didn't have any funky smells, and was in fantastic condition. For a mere $35 I was sold...except, according to the tag, so was it.

A bit disappointed I checked out the rest of the store and found some other hidden gems (including a couple of beautiful 40's little girl dresses - be still my heart) but I couldn't stop thinking about that couch! I passed by it again and this time noticed that it was on hold. I found a worker and asked him if there was any way to find out if the person didn't come back to purchase it. He gave me a puzzled look, took the tag off and said he would be right back. A couple of minutes later he told me if I wanted the couch it was mine!

I should have thought about it, but the thrift store doesn't put things on hold all day long. If you don't come back with your receipt as proof of purchase within an hour or two the furniture goes back up for sale - the workers had just forgotten to take the sold tag off of this particular couch. I certainly wasn't complaining though because that 'sold' tag kept my couch sitting pretty for me all day long!

Lesson learned - it never hurts to ask! Have you found any good finds lately?

shop update: more dresses

 Embroidered Peach//Sleeveless Pink

 Sheer White & Pink//Blue Flowers

 Blue & Pink Plaid//Purple Gingham

Folk Print//Yellow Purple Flowers

Hello! Here is another round of pretty dresses newly added to the shop. It took me a lot longer to get this update listed than I had planned since all of us girls spent the weekend fighting off colds. Thankfully, Husband and his super-human immune system that never lets him get sick took good care of us. We are all feeling better now, but it seems like it always takes a few days to get everyone back into a good routine after a sick spell. I am no exception.

You can click on the links above to go directly to your favorite piece, or head over to the shop to see them all. Thank you!

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