Sunday, July 26, 2009

a whole lot of random blog

at week's end we embarked on our usual ritual of fridays after five, and this time ran into molly & john. it was such a pleasure as it's been a long time since we've seen molly & john!



in addition, we saw patricia and chris, who also seem to have a weekly fridays after five ritual. we are very excited for chris who had an art in place piece approved!

speaking of art, and not to belabor the point, but i have photos for sale in downtown charlottesville! vijay of sugar snap consignment (in york place on the downtown mall), thought some of my images would be appealing to parents setting up nurseries. but of course, anyone can buy them if they so desire.



and at long last, here are two prints by erica vess that i purchased from a hip little craft fair *** three *** years ago. yes, three. i wanted to have them professionally framed but kept putting it off, as framing is not on the top of the list of priorities when it comes to expenses. finally i decided to purchase two floating frames. they make me happy.





this week also brought a wee bit of thrifting success. i found this little treasure: a vintage suit for tristan. at first i thought it was a bit feminine, what with the lacy collar and all. but the fact of the matter is, there once was a time when little boys wore lace. the grandma looking through the bin with me was adamant that this outfit was indeed for a boy. we'll say gender neutral at least.



and i also found this sweet little tugboat suit.



which is just as cute from the back.



and for myself, two linen skirts and a couple of shirts. here i am standing on the edge of the bathtub modeling one thrifted shirt/skirt combo. you can't beat a linen skirt in perfect condition for $3, which when new would probably retail for $60 or more.



finally, i can't leave out a tribute to tashi. she has been so patient and helpful this summer. it won't go down as one of the most exciting summers in the history of her life, but it will be the summer of fond newborn brother memories. and lots of reading. and re-reading.



and boundless creativity. recently i came home with fresh corn on the cob from the farmer's market and my talented girl went right to work with the husks.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

quick tribute

i forgot to mention the great show we saw at the charlottesville pavilion last "fridays after five." it was bill kirchen and his band, the hammer of the honky tonk gods. an ann arbor native, he is well known for his 60's band, commander cody. i was skeptical at first, thinking i was about to see some old washed up guy. but from the start i was blown away by the energy, talent and humor he laid before us. "hotrod lincoln," is a song dan has performed with his various bands. it was really cool to see the original, all ten minutes of it!



amongst other tunes, he also did some terrific bob dylan, not immortalized on youtube unfortunately . it was a fun evening: eating dinner on our blanket, running into friends, watching hoopers nearby, and in general relaxing with the family.



other than that, we have been engaged in a serious study of the hand around here.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

sugar snap consignment



when tashi was a baby and we lived in the san francisco bay area, i used to frequent consignment shops that sold kid items. many were the clothes i acquired (as well as an old wooden changing table) from the consignment shops. thrift stores are great, but rather hit or miss. when you walk into a consignment shop that specializes in children's stuff, you are guaranteed some good finds.



just as i was bemoaning the fact that charlottesville had no consignment shops for kidstuff, vijay owens took it upon herself to open one up!



sugar snap consignment, located in york place on charlottesville's downtown mall, has a plethora of items: baby accessories & furnishings, clothing for infants to children size 10, and locally hand crafted items such as awesome wool soakers, pretty hair accessories and paintings and photographs for the nursery. some of those photographs are taken by me!!! [yes i have just slipped in a little shameless self promotion]



consignment is a great way to go, not only for purchases, but for recycling your own items and getting a little return for your efforts. it is also a great idea to buy gifts for the new parents from a consignment shop; vijay has put together some beautiful baby shower baskets filled with the early essentials. so i encourage parents and those seeking gifts to support this new venture in charlottesville, and the wonderful woman who is putting her heart and soul into it!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

pantastic



i wasn't sure if the creative family instructions for pants would work for a child's size 10. but it was no problem. i made tashi a pair from a nice linen dress that was way too big for me. the odd factor is that the dress had long slits up the sides. so now the pants do as well. i certainly could sew the slits closed, but tashi and i both agreed that they were fun and breezy. and so there you have it.





Monday, July 13, 2009

weekend ingredients

another pair of hand sewn trousers, based on amanda soule's instructions in the creative family. the vintage pajama shirt was given to me long ago by a roommate, and i decided it was time to transform it.



tristan, in his usual good natured manner, approved.



flowers, butterflies, horses. there was a neighborhood walk to visit our horsefriend. and there was a drive through the deep jungles of nelson county in order to pick up tashi from a friend's rustic homestead.









and pizza at dr. ho's humble pie. mmmm.



hope your weekend was full of good ingredients.

oh deer

tristan and i went on a twilight walk the other evening. there was a deer in the wood and i snapped a photo of her.



i thought i'd try the flash, as dusk was setting in and it seemed my photos were turning out a bit blurry. below is the silly result.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

summer red



just a couple of pics with the trusty little point and shoot. i find it hard sometimes to lug around the slr with the baby in tow. above is a preview of my awesome new bloomers sent from our pal sonic in san francisco. they are made by smarty jones designs and have reflective ribbon on them for those days that you've got to bike in your bloomers!



nothing says cozy like the carpe donut truck parked at the charlottesville pavilion for fridays after five. what better way to celebrate the end of a week but with star hill on tap, a steamy organic donut and fine music!

by the way, this post does not originate on facebook. my blog has a feed to facebook. i just felt the need to clarify that, just in case you are reading this on facebook. i sometimes consider disabling the feed, because i feel like blog entries lose some context when not viewed within their blog framework. but maybe it's just me!

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

who wears the pants in this family?

at last, i've sewn an actual garment (unless bibs count as garments)! amanda soule's book -- the creative family -- in hand, as well as a t-shirt i'll never wear, i followed the instructions for making kid trousers from old shirts.

tristan was sleeping.



tashi was reading.




and i was sewing. in no time, i made these!



when tristan woke up, despite the terribly clashy onesie, we tried them on right away (after nursing and pooping of course). it's a nearly perfect fit, with some room to grow. and i think he approves!



i can't wait to sew up a whole stack of them! it will bring a new light to shirt shopping at thrift stores. . .

Friday, July 03, 2009

country moment



even though the baby slept for eight hours straight last night, i somehow managed to go to bed late. he awoke this morning for a 6am nursing, kicked and cooed for about an hour, and now lies blissfully asleep as i consider baking cinnamon rolls! someday i will catch up on my sleep, but right now, the rare moment of quietude and possibility can't be avoided! a cacophony of birds urges me to begin the day.

this last week marked my return to work with baby in tow. simultaneously i came across this article on mothering.com. it helped to boost my confidence. things went quite well, really. tristan had good stretches of sleep in the sling both days i was in the office. tashi did a great job of entertaining him while he was awake. we nursed and visited co-workers when restlessness set in. there were a few high stress moments. we're just going to have to learn how to navigate those. it helped when i brought in a standing lamp on my second day, so i could turn off the overhead fluorescent lights. phew.

free time is rare now. i also have to put in work hours from home. so many things that have already fallen to the wayside slip even further out of reach (remember that baby mobile i was making? hahahahaha). we will find our routine and some sort of balance. and i will really have to learn how to prioritize things (like maybe i should read some poetry before bed rather than clicking through everyone's facebook status?). but for now, i'll take advantage of the 6am wakings, so i can eek out a blog entry, bake cinnamon rolls and perhaps leaf longingly through some sewing books.

off to the kitchen!