Baking Sugar Cookies With Max

Today Max decided he wanted to make cookies. On a recent trip to Travel Town I had picked up some train cookie cutters in the gift shop so I was pretty excited to give those a try. I found a super easy cookie recipe and got started.  Max was super helpful and very creative with his cookie creations, he even made a volcano and filled it up with icing or what was left of the icing that he hadn't eaten while I was mixing it. 

Supplies

So, I've been waiting patiently for this latest shipment from Impress Rubber Stamps. It may not look like much but each piece is extremely important and I can't live without...well, I couldn't live much longer without them so now I can go on with my life and create! I'm quite excited about the notch and die setting tool. I think this will make my cards look super cool.  I haven't quite figured out my Christmas card design yet but this tool will probably be used. 

Fabric For Our Quilt

This is the fabric for our quilt. I've been collecting fabric for this quilt for a while now and it's finally time to start cutting. I'm not sure how long this quilt will take to make because I'm so used to making baby quilts which just take little time and can usually be completed in a weekend. I have a feeling this will take several weekends and weekdays.  We'll see how motivated I stay as most of my projects are fairly quick and can hold my attention. I should really give myself a deadline for this....hmmmm....Dec 14th. Maybe that's too ambitious....

My Etsy Shop

So I've finally done it!  I've placed some items on Etsy.  It only took 2 1/2 hrs to set up but it's there and ready for customers. I'm totally excited!  

Flea Market Finds

One of my favorite flea markets is in Long Beach and takes place the 3rd Sunday of the month. It's been a while since I've been down there so I grabbed some girlfriends and headed down in the morning to shop.  Lot's of good deals and here are just a few of them. The clip-on earrings totaled $35.  The triangle table was $10 and fits nicely between my two red chairs. 

 

Camellia

It's that time again. My favorite flower is blooming and will continue to bloom for the next 5 months. I've spotted one and was so happy to take it's picture. 

A Day With Max

So I had an entire day with my little man and it was anything goes.  Our first stop Travel Town to play on the tracks and trains and have a popsicle. Next stop sushi. Max's favorite thing to eat is a crunchy California Roll (hold the avocado). Then back home to watch Spiderman 2.  There was no sewing, no crafts and no cooking for me but I loved every minute of my day with my Maxwell.

ll.

Max's Haircut

So picture day is coming for our little Maxwell and he was in desperate need of a haircut.  We took him to our favorite hair salon Lock Starz in Monrovia so our pal Cynthia could work her magic and she did as you can see.  

 

Yummy Lasagna

Got a lot of sewing done yesterday.  Max was at school and Chris was at work so I had the whole day to myself.  On days like that I love to cook something yummy for us.  Chris loves lasagna so I decided to give it a go.  I jumped on the net and found a pretty interesting recipe The Ultimate Lasagna and it was! 

And here's the wine we drank with it.  This is the 2006 Zinfandel from Grey Wolf  and it's excellent but then again all the wines from Grey Wolf are. 

Butternut Squash Soup

Okay so yes LA doesn't get a true autumn but the time change really helps you get in the mood. Our trees hardly change colors (what good is the palm tree?), spring and summer fruit is still growing and we're still not wearing our coats but then again how often do we wear coats?  So this brings me to soup. Don't you just love a good soup?  Here's my favorite at the moment. 

1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced

1 potato or 2 depending on size, peeled and diced

1 leek chopped

2 carrots diced

1 celery diced

butter

32 oz chicken stock

curry

nutmeg

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a large pot and throw in veg to cook about 5 mins. add chicken stock, bring to a boil, add a dash or two of curry and nutmeg, cover and reduce heat to low for about 35 mins. in a food processor or blender puree the soup in batches.  

Serve with yummmmmmy parmigiano-reggiano toast.

xmas sox

the inspiration to sew came over me. here's one of my latest creations...

Autumn finally arrived in LA and I felt inspired to sew, to create, to cook and to try some new things like start a blog. I never thought I'd have the time so we'll see how long this lasts. Hope you enjoy.