Paper Pie

To The Zoo

One day last week Ryan said, "I think Rylie would really dig a trip to the zoo." I agreed. Later that same day I opened my email to find a note from my sis-in-law asking if we wanted to join them for a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo and I said, "Yes please!" This was not Rylie's first visit to a zoo, we went to the San Diego Zoo last year (note: I posted the same animals back then as today - flamingos and giraffes - must be the necks!), but it was our first time to the one in Santa Barbara and it was so nice. It is a gorgeous drive up the coast, and if traffic is light, you can get up there in just about 2 hours. The zoo itself was really manageable and not packed, just enough folks to feel neighborly, but not claustrophobic. I think Rylie's favorite part was running from exhibit to exhibit with her cousin Liam. She is way into him now and runs around yelling his name: "Lim! Lim!" Even when he is no where in sight.

Highlights for me were feeding Audrey the giraffe and this photo of Rylie as part of the primate family tree. I love that my hat is sticking up above the sign. Classic!

For Little Toes

I knit up a couple of pairs of booties (from this book) for two special brand new people this week. My friend Heather's daughter Eleanor is already 7 months! Good thing those booties are stretchy. And our lovely neighbors made a wonderful addition to the neighborhood with baby Lukas back in March. When I packaged up Eleanor's booties I used this cute cat bag that I have had for so long and was waiting for just the right occasion to use it.

Now, I'm working on more knitted bits for baby toes - this time it's socks for a very special baby that lives far in distance but close in our hearts. I am reading Make Your Place by Raleigh Briggs. It is a beautiful little volume about how to live more simply and includes lots of DIY stuff like how to make your own all-natural cleaners. The entire book is written by hand and illustrated by the author. I am especially getting into the chapter about gardening since I plan to plant some seedlings this weekend. Joining Ginny's Yarn Along here.

For the Summer Holidays

I was excited to find these dresses waiting for me on the front porch this afternoon. I bought them last week while doing a little Etsy search for festive Fourth of July ideas. This year we will be at our family's lake house in rural Pennsylvania. Just the perfect place to lounge around in these fetching frocks and sip iced tea while embroidering pillowcases or knitting socks or something. I love it there. It is so peaceful and rejuvenating. The home has been in Ryan's family his whole life and he has many fond memories of family vacations at the lake each summer. It is very important to both of us that Rylie knows it well.

I found this dress here (it was her first sale!) and though I can be a bit trepid about buying vintage online, this dress is in perfect shape and is exactly my size. I love the folksy country charm mixed with elegant details: white, ankle length, empire waist. Check out the gingham:

And the ribbon:

And for Rylie, I couldn't pass up this little sailor number from this shop.

The mock shirt part with the dot in the middle buttons in and is removable. I'm sure there is an actual term for something like this, not sure what it is called though.

I think we could break these dresses in early this coming weekend. Red, White and Blue is appropriate for Memorial Day too, right?

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Amanda Soule

Woodland Dress

I was off on a tear when I started this dress. I got all the way to the smocking in 2 days and then I messed up and it was all off. I attempted to rip out the stitches to get back to the part where I didn't mess up and it was a mind-numbing, painstaking process. So I frogged it. The whole thing. Actually I threw it aside (literally threw) and started from scratch with a new ball of yarn. This time I was beyond confdent in what needed to be done so I took off on an all night knitting party (that's what Ryan calls it) and got to the smocking part in less time. On this go round I knew what I was doing and made it through the smocked part in 2 days. I knit the straps in a day. Went to the fabric store and got buttons the next day and sewed on one of the straps. I also blocked the dress and the straps in there somewhere, too. Probably the day I went to the fabric store. So, I had it all done less the other strap that needed to be sewed on. Sewing on the second strap would have taken 30 minutes tops. But I didn't sew on the strap. You know what I did? I put the all-but-finished dress in my knitting basket and cast on for a blanket for Rylie. I did a few rows on that and then put it in the knitting basket, too. And then do you know what I did? I started sewing with fabric instead of yarn. I was on a roll with that for a while forgetting all about the projects in my knitting basket. I even mentioned to Ryan from time to time about how I hoped the dress would still fit Rylie once I finished. Well, last week I finally pulled this dress from the basket and sewed on the final strap and finished it up. Just in time to put my babe in it on Mother's Day. She brought me to Descanso Gardens for the day and, I didn't know it when I was knitting, but this is the perfect woodland dress.

It allows trail walking in relative ease.
When the contemplative baby inevitably brushes into twigs, leaves and bark it can be picked clean in a jiffy.
Sitting in the dirt?
Sure, it's brown.
Digging in the dirt?
Yep! Playing peek-a-boo?
Of course!

And forest floor exploration is a breeze.


Not bad, for one dress. I sure am glad I finished it. Oh, and it definitely fits her and will for a while as it is quite stretchy. I ended up criss crossing the straps in back because they are too long for her right now. So I think she can wear it for a long itme yet as a dress and then probably even as a shirt after that.

** Adding this to yesterday's post to join in Ginny's Yarn Along. I am putting that frogged dress to good use as a pair of booties for a very special baby. And I just picked up this book at the thrift store today called Country Life in America. It has a collection of quaint essays, poignant poems and beautiful photos from the likes of Emily Dickinson and Laura Ingalls Wilder and many others. I mean, how could I pass it up?

Simple Food: Easy Lunch

One day last week I was scrambling around trying to put a lunch together and was rather disappointed with the bowl of arugula and tomato staring back at me. That's when I remembered that I had a little leftover roasted chicken from the night before and some roasted chickpeas - and then I was way more satisfied. This chickpea (I call them garbanzo beans, too) trick is really rocking my world right now and Rylie loves them as well. I saw this recipe in the most recent issue of Everday Food. All you do is drain and rinse two cans of chickpeas and let them dry a little for 15 minutes on a paper towel lined baking sheet. Then, remove the paper towel and toss them with a good amount of olive oil and bake for 40 - 50 minutes at 425 degrees - until they are crunchy and brown. Let them cool and then season with salt and cinnamon. We snack on these by the handful, and add them to our more lackluster lunches. They are highly delicious and highly addictive - and it just so happens, an addiction to beans is a good thing to have.

Butterflies And Roses

A running joke between Ryan and I is that the two of us have the exact same brain. We are truly convinced that we speak to eachother telepathically. We oftentimes begin humming the same tune spontaneously. I'll suggest a plan for the day and he'll already have the details sorted out. He emails me answers to questions I have not asked him yet, you get the idea. I think this happens when you spend your life together - it's magic. The same thing is starting to happen between me and my best gal, Mandy. She suggested last week that we take the girls to the Natural History Museum and Butterfly Pavillion. Rylie and I were definitely on board and I was wondering if we could take the new Metro line that just opened a few short weeks ago. I opened my email and whamo! there was a note from Mandy suggesting we take the train. Our plans were in alignment and we decided to meet at the train station at 2:30 on Monday. When we arrived we were delighted (and kind of astonished) to find that we had dressed our girls just alike without consultation. On the train, Mandy had her camera at the ready when she realized her battery pack was dead. I assured her not to worry that I had my camera and would get plenty of shots. Well, I got that top photo and then my battery pack went kaput too. Weird, right? The rest of these shots were taken with my phone and it's a real bummer because not only was there a hoop house full of exotic and rare butterflies lightly fluttering all around my head, but there was a massive rose garden with about a bajillion different types of roses of all colors right next door (and it was dusk on a very sunny day so they were all dripping golden light.) So yeah. Live and learn, right? Next time, next time. Instead of focusing on all of the amazing photo ops I was missing out on, I decided to focus on how wonderful it is to connect with friends.

Feeling Spring

It really is in the air, isn't it? I love this time of year, this transition between the extreme of winter and summer, this slow and gradual intro into the warmer months ahead. The mornings can be particularly gloomy this time of year, giving way to afternoon sun. But on the mornings when the sun is shining bright the whole world outside our door is glittering with pure light. The springtime is certainly much more subtle here than in my native Michigan where the first warm days after that unbearably long and cold winter are down right exuberant. Here, in this mild and tropical climate, we look to the bottle brush tree (what is the proper classification, anyways?) in our backyard which is in full and glorious bloom this time of year. It is as if the peak of the season lasts about a week or so, until slowly, one by one those red bristles begin to fall to the ground. Oh, and the Farmer's market too, the arrival of spring veggies let us know the season. Those cabbages were unbelievable, and for only three bucks, jeesh.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Amanda Soule

Cousins!

Oh my goodness, well, where has all of the time gone to? Ryan, Rylie and I have traveled to and from Michigan since the last time I was here. And for the best reason: My sister had a baby! Her fourth! And a boy! His name is Kyler and since meeting him, Rylie has paraded around the house shouting: Baby Kyla! Baby Kyla! endlessly. Needlees to say she was quite taken with him and had no problem with me holding him as long as she was right by my side.

He is as perfect as perfect can be and looks exactly like his daddy, it's uncanny, really. And remember her cousin Kenzi that was born on the exact same day as her? Here they are now at 20 months.


While we were there we got to play frisbee and blow bubbles at my Grandpa's. Those rad throwback neon hightops belong to Rylie's older cousin Kelci.

After a long day of playing, we did one of my favorite things to do in Muskegon: we took a ride around the lake. That phrase may lead you to believe that we were out on a boat or actually interacting with the water, but no, it is just what my family has always said when they take a drive by Lake Michigan. Every time I go back I am struck down by the quality of the light: the angle, the brightness, everything is in focus. And the moments before dusk that we call The Golden Hour here, lasts for four hours there. It seems endless and stays light until 9 pm this time of year.


After the long flight back we were all pretty excited to be on the ground and heading home. Rylie, so much so, that she squealed the whole way down the colorful corridor to the baggage claim. We are happily settling back in, but we are truly missing our cousins too and we know that baby Kyler has probably already turned into a different baby since we saw him last.