Picture of a soul

I recently read Nick Kelsh's parting column in the final issue of "Lasting Moments" magazine and I'm so sorry to see his series end. He's always shared such wonderful "pick it up and use it right now" kinds of tips for improving your photography and I feel I've learned so much from him. One quote from his article really struck home with me: "If you photograph someone in color, it's a fashion shoot. If you photograph them in black and white, it's a picture of a soul." He credits a "famous photographer" for that quote. But no matter who said it, how those words ring true. His overall article was on simplifying your photos to make them stronger. But his most important point was if nothing else try a little black and white. Today I thought I'd share one of the photos from my new wall gallery in it's before and after state. I've always enjoyed the color version, but was blown away by the change to black and white. Before: I still love the color version. My little peanut is all rosy and pink and I love the sweet angle of my "first baby's" neck as he gives the peanut a little kiss. But I notice my eye is drawn to her little pink bow on her dress or to Gino's red collar. I notice the pattern of the chair, and her pink curtains, and my eye just jumps around a lot. After: With the black and white, all I see is that sweet little kiss, a face full of innocence, and the world's gentlest dog. How I love this moment between two little souls.

A most perfect twirling uniform

I have wanted to try my hand at dressmaking ever since the peanut arrived. Until now, I've always been a little petrified of the curves naturally involved in such a project. The very thought of sleeves and necklines put me into a cold sweat. I took one look at Portobello Pixie's Claire dress and knew I had found the project worth trying out this adventure. Lucky lady that I am, I happened to win this pattern from a giveaway over at the Fat Quarter Shop. The timing and prize could not have been more perfect. I just managed to put the final touches on the dress this afternoon and we gave it a spin in the front yard: I love the bow in the back and that sweet little apron. The skirt is so full and made perfect for twirling. The peanut has referred to this as her "Pretty Princess Dress" and lit up the room when she was finally allowed to put it on. Now that I've finished my first dress, I can honestly say this was way easier than I ever imagined! I hit a few little stumbling blocks but managed to figure things out in the end. I can safely recommend this pattern for anyone out there interested in trying clothing that hasn't before. I'll be making other versions of this dress in the coming months, this was more of my "practice" model. Now I think I need to get my hands on the ruffle pants she offers, too! This was the perfect little mental break between quilting projects in my opinion. It was fast enough to not get me off schedule and has fantastic payoff. Can't wait to plan out another outfit soon.

Reader or Rockstar?

Last week I mentioned I made Diary of a Quilter's diaper clutch from her handy tutorial. The other fantastic tutorial I've gleaned from her site is for an adorable peanut-sized messenger bag. With the very best of intentions, I sewed up a library book toting version for the peanut. Comes complete with its own library card pocket right on the front: But as you can see, my peanut had other ideas of what to store within her tote bag. Seems it is just the right size to carry her new guitar: Maybe we'll put the bookworm fantasies aside for today and play rockstar instead. Don't all musicians need coordinated tote bags for their instruments?!

Ode to Cherries

My husband's Uncle Tim owns a fantastic fruit orchard in Oregon. Every July, he generously disseminates a portion of his cherry harvest amongst the family far and wide. We were the lucky recipients of an extremely large offering of cherries a few days ago. Pictured here is just about half of the care package: My Tim has such sweet memories of helping Uncle Tim during harvest season when he was a young boy. Those days eating the ripe fruit straight from the tree has left him one of the more discerning cherry tasters I've ever known. It becomes quite the challenge to use our bounty in a way that does justice to Tim's favorite fruit. I think this year I finally hit on the winner. After years of trial and error, I'm going out on a limb to say that this is likely the best Cherry Crisp recipe you will find. It comes from testing out recipes from dozens of recipe sites and gathering the bits and pieces we like the best from each. I'm dubbing it after our fabulous cherry benefactor: ------------- Uncle Tim's Cherry Crisp Ingredients: Filling: 6 cups fresh pitted Bing cherries, sliced in half 1 1/4 cup sugar 3 tbsp tapioca 1 tsp almond extract Topping: 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour 3/4 granulated sugar 3/4 cup light brown sugar 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 cup oatmeal 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter healthy sprinkle cinnamon Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Toss to coat and let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Pour filling into a 9x13 pan and spread topping evenly over the cherries. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Serve warm or room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream. If you can get your hands on this, all the better. (And yes, it would be worth the shipping.) -------------- I think maybe once my crisp has cooled enough, we'll be enjoying our treat during a family picnic on the peanut's blanket. This last spring I snatched up some "Oh Cherry Oh" fabric from Moda and made a denim-backed blanket for her birthday gift. Today seems like the perfect occasion to serve up its inaugural meal.

Gepetto's new look

Yesterday I was all about the big fancy store, today I'm looking at independent toy creators on Etsy for special items to add to our collection. We have a new found obsession with building towers in the living room, so blocks were first on my list. How adorable are the following sets? How will I ever choose?! My peanut has an extreme fondness for all things animal. I loved finding these fantastical ocean creatures in wooden form from You're Inspired: These eye-popping beauties from Lissa would be sure to create magical towers for future fairy princesses to live within: On a simpler scale, these adorable alphabet blocks would make such a cute toy or a room decoration if I had gone with the primary color scheme I originally had in mind. Lilly & Lou are even offering them for a discount right now, might want to jump on them before I do: But at the end of the day, I think I'm probably going to have to keep it simple with a natural classic set like the one from Four Corners Toys. You just really can't go wrong with the all natural look and I love that it keeps things open for imagination: I'm still hunting for just the right doll stroller (we destroyed our first one with love) and a puzzle set. I would love to hear where you're finding great toy options lately, let me know in the comments!

Christmas in July

Growing up, my parents decided to spread the giving around throughout the year vs. having enormously generous holidays. As we grew and needed more challenging toys, they were provided to us on random days throughout the seasons. We've taken on a similar philosophy with our little peanut in her first 2 years. I think it gives us time to figure out what her preferences are and then find just the right thing at the right time. Yesterday I spent a good hour absolutely clearing the living room of all the outdated toys littering the floor. This morning was a bit of Christmas in July as peanut and I made a big pilgrimage to the local Land of Nod outlet and store. If you aren't lucky enough to have a store near you, be sure to check out their web site and catalog. They have some of the best copywriting I've ever seen and carry such a phenomenal collection of quality items. I couldn't be more ecstatic about my finds: First off is the crowning glory of today's hunt: A $5 guitar found at the outlet!! It's missing a string which I assume can be easily replaced. Next to it you see a $5 wooden recorder. We took a Kindermusik class this spring and peanut fell in love with all the teacher's instruments. Now we'll start up our own band at home. At the store, I practically fell over when I laid eyes on this: I remember having a nearly identical tool kit complete with tin carrying case and rubber saw. It brought back so many of my own memories, I had to get it. I can't tell which I love more, the little saw or that little drawing of the girl on the metal case. Where do you even see metal toys these days?! So excited they didn't make it plastic! And finally, I picked up several card games to give us something more specific to play together other than our pretend games. I absolutely loved "Memory" as a kid but these sets won me over with their darling illustrations and bright colors. I admit this is the part of parenting I find the most exciting and fun--sharing the childhood memories I cherish most with my own little one. These are just some of my kiddie fave's, what classic toys do you remember as a kid? Have you been able to find them to share with your own children?

In the gardens

Today was a rare treat. We made the pilgrimage over to the Chicago Botanic Gardens--my true happy place. I take the peanut there frequently to let her run around and burn off some energy, but trying to take pictures while keeping an eye on her is a total challenge. Today we went as a complete family so I was able to do my thing knowing that Tim would wrangle the wee one. I'm just simply not good enough of a writer to explain in words what this place means to me. All I can say is that it is my own personal slice of heaven, breathtaking views at every angle. Guess I'll let the photos do the talking. It was a perfect morning:

Trash Ties

Expected delivery #1 arrived today. I'm so excited to try Heather Bailey's Trash Ties out on the peanut. Her hair is so fine and slippery, we've been using these relatively painful tiny latex bands to keep her hair out of her eyes. I was worried the Trash Ties wouldn't wind tightly enough around her piggy tails to hold them, but sure enough they worked! So excited to have found a cuter option than clear latex rubber bands! I put these in her hair in about two seconds. Now I need to go back and read through the pamphlet to see other suggested styles for them. I can't wait till her hair grows out just a pinch longer for full blown pig tails! Soon enough, I know.

Labor of Love

An impromptu game of quilt wrestling just exploded in my living room. As my playful husband chased the peanut around the coffee table with my fresh-out-of-the-dryer quilt and wrapped her up for some tickle tackling, it occurred to me that this is why I take the time to quilt. Seeing my tiny girl all wrapped up from head to toe in a blankie that I labored over with her face all lit up with delight was enough to make my heart swell. These blankets are going to be the background of her childhood and will still be with us when she's grown far too big for me to even imagine right now. I can't wait for the arm chair games to come.

Summer is here

The weather is just too unreliable to determine the seasons around here so we have to look for other markers. Today I realized it must be summer because the local Farmer's Market opened this afternoon. Perfect timing compared to my very low stock of produce in the house and a day the peanut chose to skip her nap. Is it the blue moon, too?! 

Last year we had to navigate the market with a stroller. Today I decided to chance it by letting her run around on her own. Generally positive results but eventually realized we were somehow repeatedly running into the same golden retriever. Guess the peanut was more interested in puppies than produce. 

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Now I'm off to wash up some of the sweetest strawberries. Summer, heaven, whichever. 

Peas and Carrots and Peanuts

I've been completely absent from here for too long because Peanut Blossom's "better half" came for an extended visit last week. My great friend and partner, Zina, brought her own little peanut so that our girls could hang out and bond for the first time ever. We saw each other through our pregnancies but life took our families in opposite directions before the girls really got to meet. This visit with our babies was something we've always chatted about and finally got the opportunity to follow up on. 

Zina is definitely my "peas and carrots" friend. You couldn't find two more opposite ladies but we connect and complement one another on every point that counts. She is my creative inspiration and personal design director. You can thank her for the lovely header at the top of this blog. We filled our visit with plenty of pent-up chatting, a fantastic visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, playtime for the girls, and blueberry mojitos for the moms. I couldn't have wished for a better way to end out the week.

Planting season

The first year the peanut was here, I was too overwhelmed with her tininess to even consider dealing with growing plants. Last year, her main goal in being outside was to run away from me as fast as possible so I was too busy chasing to find time to water flowers. This year, we've finally reached a stage where I knew she'd love being outside and tending to a garden together. We spent this week scouring stores for herbs, veggies, and flowers that will work on our deck. There's more work to be done, but this afternoon proved every ounce of effort will have been worth it.

My first baby

Wispy thin, 13 pounds, and remarkably under-appreciated since the arrival of the peanut, my first baby has consistently shocked me with his never ending patience. God bless Target and their puppy stickers, today's shopping adventure scored us two of them. In her spirit of sharing, the peanut decided to adorn little Gino with one of her precious stickers. He is indeed the most tolerant puppy on the planet.

"A Day in the Life Of" Photo Blog

Next week I'm participating in the second annual "Day in the Life Of" photo blog project. While trying to organize this event on a grander scale with my friend and partner Zina, I looked through last year's project to find my best sample to attach to the instructions. It took my breath away to compare the difference in my little peanut over the last 12 months. I found a photo of her clinging to the open dryer door for stability and now she's simply running circles around me. I'm so excited to participate in this year's event and see all the fantastic submissions from the other photographers. But I'm mostly looking forward to documenting another set of everyday moments to look back on next year.